Club Amiga de Montreal - CAM/CAM_CD_1.iso/files/431.lha/PokerSolitaireDemo/PokerMan.Txt

Text File | 1990-11-10 | 15KB | 364 lines

All materials included in this ARC are (C) 1990 UnSane Creations.
This demo version of Poker Solitaire is freely distributable,
provided all files are included, and none are modified.

This file contains material excerpted from the manual included
with the complete version of Poker Solitaire.  As such, this
manual is incomplete and does not explain every feature of Poker
Solitaire.  However, everything is pretty self-explanatory.  If
you have a problem with something in the program, hit the help
key.  If a requester is displayed when you hit the help key,
you'll get help with that requester.  You can click on any brown
text in Help to get more help on that subject.

To order the complete version of Poker Solitaire, send a check or
money order for US$34.95 to:

   UnSane Creations
   815 Windingpath
   Manchester, MO 63021
   USA

Overseas orders please add US$5.00 for shipping.


The Poker Solitaire Manual
--------------------------

Standard Rules
--------------
Note:  UnSane Creations' Poker Solitaire allows you to play with
many different sets of rules.  In order to explain the game, this
section describes the standard rules used in the game. Variations
on these rules are described in the "Variations" section.
Alternative game modes are described in the "Game Modes" section.

Poker Solitaire is different from most other forms of solitaire.
There is no "building" of cards - you don't try to get things
stacked up to a king.  Instead, you construct 10 poker hands in a
5 by 5 matrix, (see figure 1) and try to get the highest score
possible.  Each poker hand gives you a certain number of points,
and your score is the sum of the points for each of the ten
hands.  See the section on scoring for the number of points for
each hand.

When you first run the game, Poker displays a requester.  This
requester is used to start a new tournament.  There are five
string gadgets, for the names of up to five people who are
competing in the tournament.  Poker will not continue until you
have given it the name of at least one person.  (Your own name
would be a good one to start with.)  Don't worry about this right
now, because you can change these names or start a new tournament
later.  Just enter at least one name and select "New Tournament".
(You will not be forced to do this the next time you run the
game, because Poker saves this information on disk.)

Poker now displays another requester, called the "Startup
Requester".  This requester allows you to change many things
about the way Poker plays.  This section doesn't discuss any of
Poker's variations, so we'll just discuss what happens when you
select "Start Game".  When you do, another requester is
displayed.  (Will these requesters never end?!)  This is the "Go
Requester", and it's the last one before the game starts.  The
names of the people competing in the current tournament are
displayed in the middle of the requester, and there are four blue
lines, and one blue arrow to the left of the names.  The arrow
points to the name of the person who is going to play this game.
Click on one of the lines if you want a different person to play.
When you have the arrow pointing to the right person, click on
the Go! gadget in the lower left.

When the game starts (finally!), the computer deals a single
card.  You must pick this card up and move it to your hand.  When
you have placed the card, the computer deals another card, which
you must move to your hand.  Play continues in this fashion until
all squares in your hand are occupied.

Once a card is placed in your hand, it must stay in that square
until the end of the game, with one exception.  You are allowed
one reject.  That is, one time you are allowed to take a card
out of your hand and remove it from play.  Once a card has been
rejected, you cannot put it back in your hand.

Blue squares show where cards can be legally placed.  At first,
all twenty-five squares in your hand are outlined in blue, as
well as your one reject.  When you place a card, most of the blue
squares turn black.  The remaining blue squares have edges which
touch the card you placed.  This is because every card you place
must have an edge touch a previous card.  As you add cards to
your hand, any squares with touching edges turn blue.

Also notice that cards in your hand are outlined in blue.  This
is because these cards can be discarded.  (When deciding whether
to outline cards in blue, Poker doesn't actually check to make
sure you have a discard available.  More on this later.)

As you play, a running total of your score is displayed below
your hand.  At any time, this total shows what is in your hand at
that time.  Incomplete straights and flushes are not counted in
this total.  However, one pairs, two pairs, etc. are counted,
even if they are part of an incomplete hand.  In figure 1, poker
hand #6 is almost a straight flush, yet it still counts as
nothing, because it is not yet complete.  Hand #8 could be a full
house with the addition of the seven of spades, but it counts as
two pair, because that's all it is at this time.

Figure 1:

  5H  5D  6D  --  KC   (1) One Pair
  6H  2D  6S  2H  6C   (2) Full House
  7H  JD  7C  QS  2C   (3) One Pair
  8H  10D 7D  JD  --   (4) Nothing
  --  3D  --  JS  --   (5) Nothing

  (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
   N   F   T   O   N
   o   l   w   n   o
   t   u   o   e   t
   h   s           h
   i   h   P   P   i
   n       a   a   n
   g       i   i   g
           r   r

When you are done playing, select "New Cards" or "Same Cards"
from the Project menu to start a new game.  You can start a new
game at any time, but if you haven't yet filled your hand, Poker
will ask you to make sure you want to start over. "New Cards"
will shuffle the deck and start a new game.  "Same Cards" will
allow you to replay with the same cards.

After you select "New Cards" or "Same Cards", a requester
(please, not another requester!) will be displayed showing your
highest, lowest, and average score.  It will have two gadgets at
the bottom, one that says "Same Game", and one that says "New
Game".  "New Game" will cause the startup requester to be
displayed, while "Same Game" will take you directly to the "Go!"
requester.

If the same person re-plays with the same cards, the second game
will only affect the low score, and, if you start a new game
without first completing your hand, Poker will not ask you if
you're sure.

Game Mode
---------
The are seven different modes of play in Poker Solitaire.  Game
modes can only be changed from the startup requester.

One Hand
        One player uses one matrix to construct the best hand
        possible, according to the current rules.

Best of Two
        One player uses both matrices to construct one hand.  In
        effect, one matrix may be used as 25 discards.  However,
        cards should be discarded in the best configuration,
        since this hand could turn out to be better.

Sum of Two
        One player uses both matrices to construct two hands.
        The player's score is the sum of the scores of the two
        individual hands.

Race
        Two players compete to get the best hand.  Players race
        each other to get to cards as they are dealt.  The game
        is over when one player fills his matrix, and clicks on
        his 'Done' gadget.

Race Both
        The same as Race, but both players complete their
        matrices.

Alternate
        Two players alternate moving cards.

Same Deck
        The same as Alternate, but every card gets dealt twice,
        so both players have a chance to get it.

If you play in a one player mode with two matrices, you will have
the chance to use 50 cards.  Since there are only 52 cards in a
deck, you can pretty much construct the hands you want.
Therefore, it is suggested that you only play these modes when
placement is restricted or when you are playing with two decks.

If you start a new game from the Project menu in a two player
mode before both matrices are filled, the game will not affect
the players' scores.

In the two game modes where players alternate taking cards, two
gadgets get added, one in each bottom corner.  The gadgets say
"Pass", and enable a player to pass her turn if her matrix is
full.  If Stealing and/or Planting are enabled, one player's
matrix may get filled long before the other's.  The game will not
be over, but a player may not be able to or want to make a move.
That player can click on her "Pass" gadget, and it will be her
opponent's turn.

Variations
----------
Poker Solitaire allows you to change its rules, giving you a
total of 48 variations per game mode.  You change the rules by
selecting Change Rules in the Startup requester, or in the Edit
menu after the game has started.  When you do, you see the
following choices:

        Edges must touch
        Corners must touch
        Cards go anywhere

        Cards can't move
        Cards can move

        Count 10 Hands
        Count 12 Hands

        English Scoring
        American Scoring
        Make Pat Hands
        User Scoring

You can vary the game's difficulty by changing these options, to
make the game more challenging, or to provide a handicap to a
better player.  Notice that you can change some of the rules
independently for Player 1 and Player 2.  The rules for Player 2
are ignored if you aren't in a two player game mode.

The first group controls where cards may be placed.  The first
card can always be placed anywhere.  If Edges Must Touch is
selected, subsequent cards must have their edges touch the edges
of cards already played.  If Corners Must Touch is selected,
subsequent cards must have edges or corners touching.  If Cards
Go Anywhere is chosen, subsequent cards can also go anywhere.

The second group controls whether or not cards can be moved once
they are placed in the hand.  If Cards Can't Move is chosen,
cards cannot be moved within the hand.  Cards can still be
discarded.  However, once you discard a card, you can't get it
back.  If Cards Can Move is selected, cards can be moved within
your hand, and retrieved from the discard squares.

The third group allows hands to be counted diagonally as well as
horizontally and vertically, for a total of twelve hands.  This
rule is ignored if "Make Pat Hands" is chosen in the fourth
group.

The fourth group controls the scoring.  Four different scoring
systems are available - English, American, Pat, and User.
English scores are based on how hard the Poker hand is to
construct in Poker Solitaire.  American scores are based on how
difficult the hand is to construct in Poker.  User scores are set
by you with the SetOpts program.  "Make Pat Hands" means that you
try to make five pat hands with the five horizontal hands.  A pat
hand is one that can not be improved without destroying its
present status.  (Pat hands are listed in the scoring section.)
When playing with this rule, you don't get a score.  You either
win or lose.

Also in this requester are the options to change the number of
rejects, the number of cards dealt, and the number of decks used.
You must always deal at least one card.  The number of cards
dealt and the rejects must total five or less.  (Poker will not
let you set dealcards and rejects that don't fit these
requirements.)

A common reject is one that can be used by either Player 1 or
Player 2.  Player 1 Rejects are for the exclusive use of Player
1, and player 2 rejects are for the exclusive use of Player 2.
Either player can take any card that has been dealt.

It is suggested that you not change the dealcards or rejects once
the game has started.  Poker will not move any of the cards that
are already in play, so Player 1's rejects may become common
rejects, etc.

Changing the number of decks has no effect until you re-shuffle
the cards.

Hand Scoring
------------
Poker Solitaire can recognize 81 different poker hands.  Many of
these hands, such as a round-the-corner-kilter-flush, or a
three-of-a-kind-four-flush-blaze, would never be used in Poker,
and are not used in the standard scoring methods.  Additionally,
some of the hands can only be formed with two decks, such as
five-of-a-kind, pair-flush, and two-pair-flush.  The normal hands
and scores are:

            English   American    User    Pat
                -------   --------    ----    ---
Five of a Kind    30        100        65     Yes
Royal Flush       30        100        65     Yes
Straight Flush    30         75        53     Yes
Four of a Kind    16         50        33     Yes
Full House        10         25        18     Yes
Flush              5         20        13     Yes
Straight          12         15        14     Yes
Three of a Kind    6         10         8      No
Two Pair           3          5         4      No
One Pair           1          2         1      No
Nothing            0          0         0      No


When the scoring option is "Pat Hands", you have to make five pat
Poker hands using the 5 horizontal hands.  In this variation, you
do not get a score, you either win or lose.  The "User" scores
can be set with the "SetOpts" program. The user column, above,
shows the default user scores.

The Advice Column
-----------------
1. Always put the first card in the center of the matrix.  When
edges or corners must touch, this gives you the maximum number of
legal moves later.

2. Try to construct flushes with the horizontal hands.  It is
usually possible to make four flushes with four of the horizontal
hands.  This is less important with the English scoring system,
because flushes count for less.

3. Try to get matching cards going up and down.  While getting
four flushes horizontally, it is usually possible to get at least
two pair in all vertical hands.

4. It's not a good idea to try to make a hand a straight.  If you
have four cards in a hand, and it can be a straight, then go for
it.  If you try to make a hand a straight from the beginning
though, you'll probably mess up other hands and it won't be worth
the gain.

5. Remember to note which cards have been used.  If you don't pay
attention, you may find yourself hoping to get a card your
opponent has.

6. Remember your discard, and use it wisely.  It's a good idea to
save it for use toward the end of the game.  Make sure your
opponent doesn't need the card you're discarding.

7. Use any common discards first, for the obvious reason that
they won't be available to your opponent if you have used them.

8. If you can't decide where to put a card, put it in the poker
hand that's worth the fewest points.  That way, it doesn't mess
up better hands.  In tests of the computer player, this heuristic
added about 15% to its score on average.

9. If stealing is enabled, steal all your cards from your
opponent's hand.  She can't steal cards that have been stolen, so
she can't steal them back.  This strategy is most effective
against the computer.

10. If planting is enabled, keep an eye on your opponent's game.
It's fun to mess up her royal flush when she has four cards in
it.  If the game is too fast to watch her play, then toss a card
in her hand at random occasionally.

11. Don't enable steal or plant when playing a friendly game with
someone.

12. And finally, like many other prominent psychologists,
astrologists, and Advice Columnists, I may not have the slightest
idea what I am talking about.  Use your own judgement.