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Text File | 1992-04-23 | 11.3 KB | 298 lines

M A S T E R M I N D A game from Invicta Plastics Inc. (C) 1972 Computer version by Kristian Halle 1989 Version 3.1 3 January 1992 If you have made a copy of this program, kindly send a postcard stating version number, where the copy is geographically located and where you copied it from, to Kristian Halle Stud.post 65 N-7034 Trondheim-NTH NORWAY For those with access to e-mail: krist@solan.unit.no Chapter 1 - How to get started ------------------------------ MasterMind comprises 5 files in all: mmind.exe mmind.pix readme.exe mmind.nor mmind.usa mmind.exe is the MasterMind program proper, while mmind.pix contains various images and other data used by mmind.exe. readme.exe is a help program for MasterMind, and mmind.nor and mmind.usa are text files used by readme.exe in Norwegian and American, respectively. To play MasterMind, both mmind.exe and mmind.pix must be present in your current directory. To run readme.exe the relevant text file must also be in the current directory. NOTE: MasterMind should not be played on write-protected diskettes, as the program at termination updates various data in mmind.pix. When you start MasterMind an opening page will be drawn, and after a while a Norwegian and an American flag will apppear. By using the arrow keys you can choose whether to use Norwegian or American texts during the game. After you have chosen language, the opening screen will gradually be replaced by the game screen proper. You may skip this gradual sequence at any moment by pressing any key. This applies also to similar sequences later in the program. If error messages should appear during the opening sequences, see Chapter 6 - Error messages. Chapter 2 - Game rules ---------------------- The main point of MasterMind is in a minimum of attempts to crack the secret color code hidden by the screen on top of the game board. The program sets the code, you are to solve it. In the menu [Setup][Duplic colors] you decide whether the code may comprise two or more identical colors. To guide you towards the hidden code, each attempt returns a message from the program in the form of small white and black pegs. These are placed on the left-hand side of the game board, and indicate how close to (or far away from) the solution you were. The significance of the colors is as follows: White peg: A code spot has the correct color, but is in the wrong hole. Black peg: A code spot has both correct color and position. Where no pegs are displayed, one of your colors is not represented in the code. Please note that the placement of the white and black pegs is independent of which color and hole they represent; you must use your brains to figure out the correct sequence! To give an example: Two white and one black pegs are returned. This indicates that you have guessed three of the colors correctly, but only one of them is in the correct position. Your next task will be to find out which code spot is the odd one, and which of the three is in the right hole. Get four black pegs, and your task is completed! Chapter 3 - Game functions -------------------------- Arrow keys are used to place color spots in the different holes, and to choose from the menus. The menus are activated with <F2>, and terminated with <Esc> or by choosing an item in them. To choose from the menus, place the bar on the item you want, and press <return>. Before the action is carried out, you will have to confirm your choice. If you regret, choose "No" or press <Esc>. After a normal selection from the menus, the keypads return to managing the choice of colors and holes. The two black blocks on the game board indicate the current hole and the current color. To change the color in a hole, you move to the hole with the left/right arrow keys, and select a color with the up/down arrow keys. Having filled the holes with the colors you think make up the code, you select [Continue] on the menu bar. The three menues [Continue], [Miscell] and [Setup] can all be activated by the hot keys <c>, <m> and <s>. Because of this, all you really have to do to continue is pressing <c>... If you think a solution is near, or you are sure that a color is correctly placed, a color can be automatically duplicated into the next row. This is done by pressing <Ins>. Move to the spot you want to duplicate, and press <Ins>. A small triangle at the bottom of the screen will then indicate that the spot is to be set automatically in the next attempt. To remove this marking, use <Del>. The triangle will then disappear. In [Setup] special functions apply. In the top two lines, [Num of colors] and [Num of rows] you increase or decrease the chosen values by pressing <+> or <->. When the lower limit for the value is reached, only the "+" remains, and at the upper limit, the "-" is left. In [Duplic colors] you must choose whether the code may consist of two or more identical colors. If you choose "No" this cannot happen; "Yes" allows it. To switch between "Yes" and "No", just press <return> and the setting will jump between yes and no. If you want to play with setup values that differ from the ones previously used, you must select the values after your wishes, and then choose [Setup][Use setup...] from the menu. These values will then be stored in mmind.pix, and will appear as defaults the next time you start MasterMind. If you wish to play another round without changing settings, simply choose [Miscell][New game]. You will then be asked if you wish to retain the old code or not. By choosing "Yes", two or more players can compete on equal terms, provided, of course, that they have not watched each others' games... If there is something you wonder about during the game, on line help is available by pressing <F1>. A little help window with compressed help information will then pop up, and by pressing <PgDn> and <PgUp> you can move between the different help pages. You can also choose "help" within the menus. To exit from the help facility, press <Esc>. During the game there will also be displayed useful information and some PR stuff on top of the screen... Chapter 4 - Screen information ------------------------------ On the game screen you will find the following: - Game board with holes for colors, holes for black and white code pegs and holes for the code spots. - Screen that hides the code. This can be removed at any moment by [Miscell][Show code] - Color bar for color selection. - Clock that shows minutes and seconds elapsed. The outer ring and the long hand indicate seconds while the inner ring and the short hand show the minutes. NOTE: This is no ordinary clock with a 60-minute rotation. One rotation of the minute hand takes only 20 minutes here. The clock will not stop when the round is completed, but runs on until the code is found or the program is terminated in other ways. The minute hand only moves each time the second hand has completed a round. - A field indicating the number of attempts used to crack the code. This is the square on the lower left of the screen. When the number of attempts exceeds the number of rows on the game board, the rows scroll down. The maximum number of attempts is 99. In passing this point, the code will automatically be displayed, and the round terminated. - A field indicating the number of possible code combinations. This is the square on the lower right of the screen. The higher the number of possibilities, the harder the code. The number appearing in the field refers to the default values of number of colors etc, i.e. the values last stored with [Setup][Use setup...]. - Small triangles on the lower part of the board (if they are switched on). These triangles indicate that the color of the color spot above the triangle is to be duplicated into the next row. This is done to facilitate coding, and the function is turned on and off with <Ins> and <Del>. Chapter 5 - Menu description ----------------------------- [Continue] - Use when you have set up a proposal for cracking the code. The program will analyze your proposal and return a message in the form of black and white code pegs to the left on the board. If the board is full, the rows will scroll down. [Miscell][Show code] - Use if your brain collapses. (For the faint-hearted ...) Removes the screen that hides the code. [Miscell][New game] - Use to start a new round. The number of rows and the number of colors remain the same as in the previous game, regardless whether the setup values are changed. To play with other set values, see [Setup][Use setup] [Miscell][Quit MM] - Terminates MasterMind. [Setup][Num of colors] - Use to determine the number of colors the code may be made up of. The more colors, the harder to crack the code. By setting [Setup][Duplic colors] to "Yes", you allow two or more identical colors in the code. [Num of colors] is adjusted by tapping +/- on the keyboard. The lower limit is four and the upper limit ten. [Setup][Num of rows] - Use to determine how many rows are to be displayed on the game board. This is used to adjust the degree of difficulty. With fewer rows, the code is harder to guess. [Num of rows] is adjusted in the same way as [Num of colors]. The lower limit is two and the upper limit ten. [Setup][Duplic colors] - Use to determine whether to allow two or more identical colors in the code. By choosing "Yes", the number of combinations increases significantly, and the degree of difficulty likewise. [Setup][Use setup...] - Use to start a new round with the chosen values. These values will be used as defaults the next time MasterMind is started. Chapter 6 - Error messages -------------------------- Sorry, MasterMind needs EGA/VGA! - To run MasterMind, you need an EGA/VGA screen. The program will not start without. Sorry, MasterMind needs more memory! - You have too little memory for MasterMind to start up. Remove any resident programs, buy more memory chips, or find something better to do than sitting indoors playing computer games ... Error reading mmind.pix. Program terminated - This error message indicates a write/read error in mmind.pix, which can have several causes. If you play from a floppy disk, it may possibly be write protected. This is no good, since the program updates mmind.pix at termination. Remove the write protection and restart. Another cause can be that the floppy was removed from its drive after the program was loaded. A third possibility is structural error in mmind.pix. In that case you must get yourself a new copy of that file.