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Midnight Oil Version 2.23 Copyright 1989-91 By Randy Rasa 18215 Troost Olathe, KS 66062 What Is It? ___________ Midnight Oil, also known as "La Belle Lucie" and "Three Shuffles and a Draw", is one of the few solitaire card games that offers both challenging play and a reasonable chance to win. It is also highly addictive; once you get into it, you'll be "burning the midnight oil" more often than not. Program Requirements ____________________ Midnight Oil requires 256K of memory, EGA or higher graphics capability, and a Microsoft-compatible mouse. If you are not sure you have the right hardware, just run the program. If there's a problem, the program will let you know. Incidentally, the text- mode-only version of Midnight Oil is still available on request, for those of you without EGA graphics. In addition to the program file (MO.EXE), the game requires that the card definition files (CARDS.CD1 and CARDS.CD2) be in the current directory. These files contain the bit-maps for each cardface in the deck. Using The Mouse _______________ The mouse pointer will appear as a white arrow with black edges. In general, the left button is used to select the object being pointed to (a card or a button), while the right button is used to exit menus or prompts. If you have a three-button mouse, the middle button will blank the screen. This can also be accomplished by pressing the left and right buttons simultaneously. How To Play ___________ Midnight Oil uses a standard 52-card deck (no jokers). To begin the game the deck is shuffled, then dealt face-up, one card at a time, into seventeen piles of three cards each. The last card is Midnight Oil Documentation Page 2 placed by itself as an eighteenth pile. These piles are also known as "fans". The object of the game is to move all of the cards from the eighteen fans into four new piles, arranged by suit, in order from Ace (low) to King (high). These four destination piles are known as the "foundations". Only the top card of each fan is available for play. In addition to moving cards from fans to foundations, cards can also be moved from one fan to another, building down in suit. In this way submerged cards can be freed up for play to the foundations or to other fans. Once a fan becomes empty (which will be represented my a dashed line where the fan was), no moves can be made to that fan. When you have made all the moves you can, from the fans to the foundations and from fan to fan, the remaining cards in all the fans may be reshuffled and re-dealt in the same manner as at the beginning of the game (three cards to a fan). In all, the deck may be shuffled three times (once to begin the game, and twice more during the game). At some point during the game, you may draw one submerged card from a fan and play it on any valid foundation or fan. It is generally better to save this draw for as long as possible. You can point to one of the foundations and click the mouse button to initiate "manual'auto" mode. This function is, as the name inplies, a cross between manual mode and automatic mode. When you click on a foundation, the fans are scanned for possible moves, and any valid moves to that foundation will be made automatically. Buttons _______ Along the right side of the screen are a number of "buttons", which may be selected by pointing and clicking with the mouse. The buttons are: Shuffle: This button will initiate a shuffling of the deck, in which all of the cards in the fans are picked up, shuffled, and then re-dealt. If no shuffles are left, the program will display the message "No shuffles left". Draw: When you select this button, you will be asked to select a pile (fan) to draw from. When you select a fan, it will be displayed in the lower right corner of the screen, and you will be allowed to select one card from that fan to draw. If you change your mind and decide that you don't want to draw a card after all, press the right button to exit draw mode. If you select a card, it will be removed from the fan and displayed in the lower right corner of the screen, and you will be prompted to select a destination. Point to the Midnight Oil Documentation Page 3 desired fan or foundation and press the left mouse button to move the drawn card to the selected fan or foundation. Peek: This is similar to a draw, in that an entire fan will be displayed in the lower left corner of the screen, but you are only allowed to look, not touch. To exit peek mode press the right mouse button twice. Options: This button brings up the options menu, which you can use to set your preferences for the following: Sound: Select "Off" to disable the beeps, clicks, and various other noises the program makes. Select "On" to enable the sounds. Auto Mode: When this is set to "On", the program will attempt to move cards from the fans to the foundations automatically. This will relieve you from having to worry about missing obvious moves, so that you can concentrate on strategy. When this is set to "Off", the game is essentially in manual mode, and you will need to make all moves to the foundations by yourself. This option is provided for those traditional-minded souls who might consider auto mode to be cheating. Auto Speed: This allows you to adjust how fast the cards are played in auto mode. Click on the left and right arrows to move the pointer along the scale from "Slower" to "Faster". At the fastest setting, cards are moved as fast as possible (a blur of action). The slowest setting is "single-step" mode, in which you will be prompted before each automatic move. You will need to experiment to find an acceptable setting for your computer. Session Statistics: When this option is set to "On", the program will keep track of your statistics (games played, games won, change in average score) throughout the game and then display them when you quit. (Note: During play, you can also display the session statistics by clicking on the score box.) Trefoil Option: 'Trefoil' is the name of a variation of Midnight Oil in which all the aces are placed on the appropriate foundations at the start of the game. This is supposed to make the game a little easier to win, since there are four fewer cards to move to foundations. If you change the Trefoil option while a game is already in progress, you'll have to finish the current game before the change takes effect. Replay Option: When this option is turned "On", you will have the choice of whether or not you want to replay a game that you have lost. Midnight Oil Documentation Page 4 Easy Mode: When this option is set "On", then a special algorithm will be used when shuffling the deck. Essentially, it will prevent lower cards of a particular suit from being buried by higher cards of the same suit. This will have the effect of removing most of the potential blocks in the game. in this mode you will still not win every game, but it's the closest thing I've seen to a sure thing. This mode is set as the default the first time the program is run. Background Color: Click on the up-arrow and down-arrow to step through the available background colors, until you find one that suits your tastes. Once you've set things to your liking, you may click on the "OK" button to save your preferences to disk, or on the "Cancel" button to exit the Options menu without changing anything. Undo: This button allows you to undo the last inter-fan move, that is, the last move from one fan to another. You cannot undo moves to the foundation, a shuffle, or a draw. Help: This button will bring up several pages of help screens, which you can view by clicking on the "Next" or "Prev" buttons to move from page to page. When you are finished reading the help, click on the "Done" button to exit. New Game: This button will end the current game, update your statistics, and start a new game. Note that the stats will only be updated if you have a score greater than zero. This allows you to evaluate the layout of the cards and, if you don't like what you see, to begin a new game without having it count against you. Quit: Click on this button to exit the program. If you have a score greater than zero, your statistics will be updated and displayed briefly before returning you to DOS. Another way to exit the game is to press the "Abort" key (F10). If you press F10 (and select the "Exit This Program" option in the pop-up dialog box), the program will quit to DOS without saving the data file (and thus not giving you a low score if you have to quit the program in the middle of a game). Midnight Oil Documentation Page 5 Command-Line Options ____________________ /LCD -- This option may improve the screen display on monochrome LCD displays. This option simply changes a few color combinations to improve contrast on LCDs. /Rxxxxxx -- This option is used to convert a shareware version of the program to a registered version. Refer to "A Note To Registered Users" at the end of this document for more information. /SW -- This option is used to convert a registered version to a shareware version. filename.ext -- This option is for alternate data files (see discussion below). Statistics __________ Midnight Oil keeps track of the score (the number of cards you've moved to foundations) and the number of shuffles and draws you have left during the course of the game. Also displayed are the total number of games you've played, the number of games you've won (expressed as both a number and a percentage, and your average score. At the end of each game, the statistics are written to disk, either in the default MO.DAT or in the data file specified on the command line. The data file also contains the preferences you set in the options menu (sound on/off, auto mode on/off, and background color). To specify a data file on the command line, start up Midnight Oil with the following syntax: MO filename.ext This allows several different people to use the same copy of Midnight Oil on the same machine, yet keep separate statistics for each person. For example, suppose three people (Tom, Dick, and Harry) played the game at various times on the same machine. They could each easily keep personalized data files, containing their scores and preferences for sound, auto mode, and background color. Tom would use his data file by typing: MO TOM.DAT Likewise, Dick and Harry could have data files called DICK.DAT and HARRY.DAT. Note that the "DAT" extension could be "SCR" or "HGH", or whatever, as long as it is three letters or less. Midnight Oil Documentation Page 6 Legalese ________ Midnight Oil is shareware. As such, you can play it, copy it, and give it away as you wish. In fact, you are encouraged to distribute the program to friends, family, and strangers alike. This includes distribution via electronic bulletin board systems (BBS), user's groups, and disk-distribution services. All that I ask is that the program remain unaltered, and be distributed in an archive consisting of: MO.EXE ............. the program MO.DOC ............. documentation CARDS.CD1 .......... card definition file #1 CARDS.CD2 .......... card definition file #2 Registration ____________ Midnight Oil is shareware. If you enjoy the game, please support it. There are three registration packages available: 1. Basic Registration ................................... $5.00 This minimum registration will get you the latest registered (no shareware "beg" message) version of Midnight Oil on a diskette of your choice, along with a registration code good for all future updates. 2. Package Deal #1 ..................................... $10.00 This package consists of the latest registered version of Midnight Oil, plus shareware versions of of my other programs, along with a menu program to tie them all together. Note that all of the additional programs are unregistered versions (with shareware "beg" screens). You will also receive a registration code good for all future updates of Midnight Oil. 3. Package Deal #2 ..................................... $15.00 This package consists of the latest registered version of Midnight Oil, plus registered versions of my other programs, along with a menu program to tie them all together. Note that all of the additional programs are fully registered versions (no shareware "beg" screens). You will also receive registration codes good for all future updates of Midnight Oil and the programs included with your registration. Basic registration is available on a 5.25", 360K disk or on a 3.50", 720K disk. The package deals are available on two 360K disks (with the programs ZIPped (with the PKZIP compression program) to pack as much as possible onto each disk), one 720K disk (ZIPped), or one 5.25", 1.2M disk. If you do not have access to PKZIP, you'll need to order the package deals on a 1.2M disk. Midnight Oil Documentation Page 7 No matter what option you choose, you'll be getting a lot of quality software for just a little dough. Please consider registering. The programs that you will get with the package deals are: Monte Carlo: An EGA-based solitaire card game in which you try to remove pairs of cards from a 5 x 5 matrix. This easy-to- play game offers hours of relaxing fun. It keeps statistics in much the same way as Midnight Oil, has selectable card designs, and a "hint" button that makes the game especially easy to learn. Calculation: This EGA-based solitaire card game is a real brain- teaser in which you build up four foundations, each in a different sequence. It requires skill and logical thinking to win, but on-screen assistance makes learning and playing the game a snap. It keeps a statistic file like Midnight Oil and has selectable card designs. Osmosis: In this EGA solitaire card game you have four foundations to build, but a card can only be played to a lower foundation if it has also been played to an upper foundation. This addictive game is simple to play but difficult to win, with success often depending as much on luck as skill. It keeps statistics on-disk, offers selectable card backs and has a "peek" option to give you an extra edge. Idiot's Delight: An EGA version of "Aces Up", a simple but addictive game of luck and skill. This is one of those games that leave you saying "just one more game" time after time after time. As in my other EGA games, it keeps a statistic file and offers selectable card backs. Royal Cotillion: This is a two-deck EGA solitaire in which you must build up eight foundations in suit by twos. It offers good opportunity for skillful play, a pleasing layout, and hours of engrossing fun. It keeps a statistics file, has selectable card backs, and a time-saving auto mode. Concentration: An EGA graphics version of the classic memory- stretching solitaire. It keeps a statistics file, features selectable card backs, and offers a unique multi-player mode. Midnight Oil Documentation Page 8 You can print the registration form from the initial shareware screen. Simply select the "Print Registration Form" button, then select a destination, either to a printer or a file. If you elect to send the form to a printer, make sure it is on-line and ready. The form should print on any standard 80-column printer. If you want to save the form to a file, the file "MO.FRM" will be created in the current directory. You can then print out the registration form by entering the following command from the DOS prompt (with your printer connected and ready): COPY MO.FRM PRN Then just fill out the form and send it, along with cash, check or money order, to: Randy Rasa 18215 Troost Olathe, KS 66062 Revision History ________________ 1.00 11-08-89 First Public Release. Text-based version. Through the next year, the program went through about a dozen revisions as bugs were fixed and features were added ... 2.00 12-19-90 New EGA version released. 2.01 01-03-91 A few small enhancements and bug fixes. Documentation upgrades. 2.02 01-05-91 A few cosmetic changes. 2.10 01-11-91 Added "Session Statistics" option. More cosmetic changes. 2.11 02-08-91 Fixed bug in draw routine. More cosmetic changes. 2.12 02-24-91 Added auto mode speed adjustment. 2.13 03-12-91 Added Trefoil option. Added registration procedure. 2.14 03-23-91 Modified registration procedure. 2.15 04-09-91 Fixed bug in "Peek" mode. 2.16 04-23-91 Added option to print registration form. Changed card definition filenames to CARDS.CD*. 2.17 05-17-91 Fixed problem with equipment test. 2.20 06-14-91 Added replay option. Added F10 (abort) key. Added "Easy Mode" option. 2.21 07-08-91 The program now exits to DOS after running the registration procedure, and the program date and time are set correctly. Added command-line help ("MO ?"). 2.22 07-31-91 Added /LCD command-line switch. Added /M command-line switch. 2.23 09-02-91 Rewrote mouse initialization routine. Removed /M command-line switch. Added "manual-auto" mode. Midnight Oil Documentation Page 9 A Note To Registered Users __________________________ The registration procedure allows previously-registered users to update to the new registered version of the program by entering a special 'registration code' that was included as part of your order. Run the shareware version of the program with an "/R" command-line switch, followed by the registration code, like this: MO /Rxxxxxx You would, of course use the proper registration code in place of the "xxxxxx". Note also that there should be no space between the "R" and the registration code. After running the program with /R switch and the proper code, you'll have a brand-spanking new registered version of the program. What this essentially amounts to is unlimited, free updates with each registration. The registration procedure comes with the following limitations: 1. The name your EXE file must be MO.EXE. 2. You cannot perform the registration procedure on a compressed version (ie: an EXE file processed with PKLite, Diet, or LZEXE). The EXE file may be compressed after the registration procedure, but not before. 3. Please do not distribute registered versions of the program. 4. Since the registration procedure is a new feature (as of version 2.13), there are a number of people who have registered earlier versions that won't be able to take advantage of it just yet. But if you send me a self- addressed stamped envelope, I'll be happy to send you the registration code. Note: You can also change the program back to the shareware version by using the "/SW" command-line switch. This function is subject to the same limitations as with the registration procedure (ie: the program must be properly named and uncompressed). Please use this option to "un-register" the program if you wish to pass it along to anyone. Also, please include all of the files listed under the "Legalese" section of this document. Thanks.