The Best of Select: Games 3/cd.iso/games/backgamm/pcgammon.hlp

Text File | 1992-11-02 | 17KB | 460 lines

Introduction:

  PC-Gammon V has an easy to use menu system.
  At the bottom right portion of the  screen you will see  the
  menu area. To select a menu item, you may either type the first
  character of the menu item (i.e. "F" for Forfeit), or click the
  mouse cursor (if you have a mouse) on the desired menu item.


Main Menu Commands:

  Options:

  Selecting the Options entry from the main menu will display
  the options sub-menu consisting of the following (a detailed
  description of the options is at the end of this file) :

    Load/Save       : Load a previously saved game or
                      Save a game in progress

    Modem Play      : Allows you to Play PC-Gammon over a modem
                      with another PC-Gammon user. See the
                      "Modem Play" section of your printed
                      manual for more information on modem play.

    History         : Select player/View score history

    Prt Scn         : Provides a graphics or asicc dump of
                      the screen to an IBM PC Graphics
                      printer/HP Laserjet or compatible.
                      (See command line parameters for
                      printer selection).

    Defaults        : Allows you to define the "Default"
                      configuration settings for PC-Gammon.

    Tourn           : Allows you to play a point based
                      tournament against the computer.

    Game Log        : Writes a log of all moves to the disk.

    Edit Game       : Displays the game edit menu.

  Redraw:

    If for any reason the board display should become corrupted
    the Redraw command will redraw the board for you.

  Double:

    The Double command is used to double the stakes of the game.
    Initially neither player owns the doubling cube, and it's
    value is set to 1, it appears in the middle of the board.
    Either player may offer to double when the doubling cube is
    unowned. As soon as one player offers to double the player
    who accepts the double gets possession of the cube and then
    only he may double (the cube changes color to the color
    of the player). If either player refuses the double, that
    player forfeits the game.

  Style:

    The style command allows you to change the games style of
    play. There are three styles of play available:

          Conservative, Aggressive, and Out For Blood.

    When the style options is selected, the list of available
    styles will be displayed. Use the keyboard up/dn arrows
    or the click the mouse cursor on an un-highlighted style to
    hightlight the desired style. Pressing the Enter key or
    clicking the mouse cursor on a highlighted style will make
    that the active style.

  Backup:

    Allows you to backup to the beginning of your move. For
    instance if you rolled a 6,1 and you played the six, and
    then decided you could have made a better move, use the
    backup command to back-up to the beginning of your roll.
    The program also asks you if you are sure at the end of
    each move. If you respond negatively, your move will be
    backed up.

  Forfeit:

    If you clearly see you are loosing and you don't want to
    hear the snide remarks the computer makes when it wins,
    type the "F" key and the computer will start a new game.
    (It will however be scored as a loss for you).

  Quit:

    When dinners ready or you simply can't tolerate any more
    backgammon, type the Q key and the game will return you
    to DOS.

  Help:

    Selecting help will display this help file on your screen
    during play.


  Rolling the Dice:

    The space bar is used to roll the dice. When it's your turn
    to move, hit the space bar to roll the dice. You can't roll
    the dice more than once per move. The dice are rolled at the
    beginning of each game to see who goes first (yours is the
    left die). The player that wins that roll must use the roll
    as shown. Additionally if the first roll is a double, the
    doubling cube is incremented to 2 (provided auto doubles are
    enabled), and you roll again to see who goes first.

    Mouse Users may roll the dice by clicking the left mouse
    button anywhere on the playing board or in the dice area
    when it is their turn to roll the dice.


Moving/Playing:

  Please note: The "BAR" is slot 0.

  Keyboard Users:

    To move a man type an "M". A form will appear near the bottom
    of the screen. Enter the location you wish to move from and
    the value of the dice you wish to use separated by a comma,
    (e.g entering a "12,5", would move your man from the 12 slot
    5 spaces). The bar is designated as slot 0. Press enter to
    complete the move or the ESC key to cancel a move.

  Mouse Users:

    To move a man simply click the mouse cursor on the man you
    wish to move, a dot will appear in the center of the man to
    indicated it has been selected. Then click the mouse cursor
    on the appropriate slot you wish to move to. To deselect a
    man (i.e. you changed you mind and don't wish to move
    the man you selected), simply click the mouse cursor on the
    selected man a second time (The dot will disappear).
    Alternately, after you have selected the man you wish to move
    you may click on the dice you wish to use for the move and
    the man selected will be moved the appropriate number of
    spaces. If you attempt an illegal move the computer will
    notify you with an appropriate message.

    Multiple-Move: You may move a man more than one dice at a
    time, for instance if you rolled a 5 and an 3, you could
    move one man eight spaces by selecting the destination slot
    as 8 from the origin slot. However either the 5 or the 3
    move must be a legal move for that man.

    AutoMove : There are 4 levels of "Auto Move" available, see
               the explanation of  Auto Moves in the
               "Defaults Info" section.

Bearing Off:

  Keyboard Users:

    Bearing off men is the same as moving them, simply select
    the man you wish to bear off followed by the dice value you
    wish to use to move the man.

  Mouse Users:

    There are two ways you can bear off using the mouse. In both
    ways select the man you wish to bear off by clicking the
    mouse cursor on that man, then you may either click the
    mouse cursor on the die you wish to use to bear the man off
    with, or you may click the mouse cursor in the "OFF" area.


The Options Menu:

  Selecting the Load/Save option will cause the program to ask
  you if you wish to load or save a game, select the appropriate
  option, or press the ESC key or click the right mouse button to
  abort.

    Load Game:

      Selecting the Load Game option will bring up a directory
      of previously saved games. Use the arrow keys to select
      the game you wish to load and press enter, or mouse users
      can click on the file name they wish to load to highlight
      it and then click again to enter it.

    Save:

      Allows you to save a game in progress. Simply enter an
      eight character name you wish to save the game under.
      File names must conform to normal DOS file naming
      conventions and must not contain a file extension.

      Examples:

           Legal Names  : MYGAME
                          MY_GAME
                          GAME001

           Illegal Names: MY.GAM          (Has File Extension)
                          MY?GAME         (Illegal "?")
                          TOOLONGNAME     (Name Too Long)
                          SAVE GAME       (Name Has a Space)


  Modem Play:

     Selecting the Modem Play option will allow you to play
     backgammon over the modem with another PC-Gammon user.
     For more information on modem play consult your printed
     manual.

  Score History:

    PC-Gammon will maintain a score history for as many players
    as you wish.  PC-Gammon also stores your "Default" settings
    with your score history, thus each player can configure
    PC-Gammon to their own liking without affecting any other
    players.

    If there are no players in the score history file,
    the program will prompt you to enter you name, enter your
    name (up to 15 characters) and press enter when done, press
    the ESC key to disable score keeping.

    When one or more players is already in the history file then
    the names of the players will appear on the screen with an
    optional scroll bar. (depending on how many players are in
    the history file). Use the arrow keys to highlight your name
    and press enter or mouse users can click the mouse cursor on
    their name to highlight it and then click a second time to
    select it.

    To enter the name of a new user press "N" or click the mouse
    cursor on the "NEW" button, then enter the name as described
    above.

    Press "C" or click the mouse cursor on the Cancel button to
    disable the score history.

    Player selection may be done at any time, and the games score
    is not actually updated until the end of the game.

    The score history display consists of five pairs of numbers,
    each pair shows the number of wins for "You vs. Computer"
    as follows:

      Tourn    : Number of tournaments won
      Games    : Number of games won (not counting doubles, etc).
      Wins     : Points won for straight wins.
      Gams     : Points won for Gammons.
      Bkgs     : Points won for Backgammons.
      [Points] : Total number of points each player has won.

    All score history numbers are cumulative.


  Print Screen:

    Select this option item to get a graphics dump of the screen
    to an IBM Graphics Printer or HPLJ II. Be sure you have
    selected the correct printer type in the defaults options.

  Defaults:

    Selecting this option will bring up the default settings
    selection screen, see "Default Settings" below.

  Tournament:

    Selecting the "Tournament" button will let you play a
    tournament against the computer. A tournament is played
    for a specified number of points (not games). Enter the
    number of points for the tournament desired. The Score
    box will show the total tournament points and points
    earned by each player until the end of the tournament.

  Game Log:

    This feature will keep a log on the disk for each game
    played. The log will include the players name, the date
    and time of the start of the game, and each move made by
    both players.

  Edit Game:

    Selecting this option will bring up the game edit menu.
    See the Edit game section of the printed manual for more
    information.


The "Default Settings"

  Auto Roll:

    Selecting this menu item will turn computer dice rolls
    on and off. When on (the startup default), the computer
    will generate all dice rolls. When turned off, you will
    be prompted to enter the dice rolls for both yourself and
    the computer. This mode is made available for those who
    prefer to roll real dice.

  Auto Dble:

    This menu item allows you to select whether or not the
    doubling cube will automatically be doubled on the opening
    roll, if the opening roll is doubles.

  Auto Move:

    There are for levels of automatic moves available:

      Level 0 : Automove is turned off

      Level 1 : Automove turned on only for last die value, this
                is the same as the old version of Automove.

      Level 2 : Automove Level 1 Plus, automatically bear a man
                off if there is only one possible move. For
                example, if you rolled a 6,5 while bearing off
                and your last man is on your 22 point, clicking
                on that man will automatically bear it off
                without your having to click again in the bearoff
                tray.

                Remember, this level will only automove if there
                is no other move, in the above example if you
                rolled a 6,2 and clicked on the man on your
                22 point, the program would not automatically
                bear the man off because you have the option of
                moving the man from the 22 to 24 point.

      Level 3 : Automove Level 2 Plus, automatic moves of any man
                if doubles are rolled. This allows you to click
                once on any man and have it moved without having
                to click on a destination. Since there is no
                ambiguity on moves with regard to doubles this
                works during bear-off as well as normal play. The
                only detrement to this option is it eliminates
                the ability to move one man all four values of
                the double with just two clicks, etc.



  Sound:

    This menu item will turn the sound on or off (i.e. dice
    rolling, etc.).

  Printer:

    This menu item defines the printer type connected to your
    computer. PC-Gammon supports either the IBM-PC Graphics
    Printer (or compatible), or the HP Laserjet series
    (or compatible).

  Quadtrant:

    PC-Gammon allows you to define which quadrant of the board
    you would like your #1 point to start at.

    Quadrants are as follows:


               +-----------------------------+
               |             | |             |
               |     Q1      | |     Q2      |
               |             | |             |
               +-----------------------------+
               |             | |             |
               |     Q4      | |     Q3      |
               |             | |             |
               +-----------------------------+


  Speed:

     You can adjust the speed at which the program will move
     the men around the board. Speed can be set from 0 to 255.
     Slower computers will want to use a lower number (e.g. 25)
     faster computers, will want to use a higher number
     (e.g. 100), adjust the speed factor until it suits your
     taste.


The "Edit Menu"

  When the game edit mode is first entered, the status of the
  player, dice and cube will be displayed in the message area
  (e.g. "Dice Rolled, Player = White, Cube=4, held by Black").

  Keyboard users:

    The following commands may be selected from the Edit menu:

    "S" : Save Game - Allows you to save the game as you
          have edited it. (see save game instructions in
          options menu).

    "M" : place Men - Allows you to place men on the board, the
          program will redraw the board, and place all the men
          in the bear-off trays, it will then prompt you to enter
          the number of men on each slot. To place White men on
          a slot enter a positive number (e.g. 2), to place
          black men on a slot enter a negative number (e.g. -3).

    "P" : Player - Allows you to define whose turn it is, the
          program will  prompt you to enter a player, enter
          'W' for white, or 'B' for black.

    "I" : Init Board - Places all the men in the bear off trays,
          this command is only of use to users with a mouse.

    "C" : Cube - Allows you to set the value for the cube.
          The program will ask you to enter a value for the
          cube (i.e. 1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256, or 512), if a
          valid value greater than 1 is entered the program
          will ask you to identify the player who owns the cube
          (enter a 'W' for white, or 'B' for black);

    "D" : Dice - Allows you to enter the values for the dice,
          enter a positive value for an unused dice, and a
          negative value for a used die, if entering doubles you
          must enter 4 dice values.

    "R" : Rolled - Turns on or off the "dice rolled" flag.

    "F" : Finished - signals you done editing and wish to play
          the game as you just set it up.





  Mouse Users:

    Men  :  To move a man simply click the mouse cursor on the
            man and then drop it where you want it to be.

    Dice :  Click the left mouse button on a die to increase
            it's value, click the right mouse button on a die
            to indicated it has been used or unused.

    Cube :  Click the left mouse button on the doubling cube to
            increment it's value. Click the right mouse button on
            the cube to change the owner (white/black).

    Player: Click the right mouse button on any man to indicated
            that color is the current player.

    Other:  Mouse users may of course click on any edit menu
            button to invoke that feature as described above.



    (****************  END OF HELP FILE ********************)