home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- README for Double-Deck Pinochle Version 4.0 PRE-BETA
-
- Double-Deck Pinochle is Copyright (c) 1994-98 by Christopher Chapman.
- All rights reserved, except as provided in "Licensing and Legal Notices"
- below.
-
- This program is shareware ($15). It is free for you to try, but you must
- register it for continued and complete usage. See the file REGISTER.TXT
- or the program's "Help | Register" command for full information.
-
- THANK YOU FOR TRYING DOUBLE-DECK PINOCHLE!
- I hope this program will give you many enjoyable hours of Pinochle fun.
-
-
- Contents of this file
-
- 1. System requirements
- 2. Installing Pinochle to your hard drive automatically
- 3. Installing Pinochle to your hard drive manually
- 4. Running the program
- 5. Uninstalling Pinochle
- 6. Restoring the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectory
- 7. Troubleshooting
- 8. Licensing and Legal Notices
- 9. Contacting the author
-
-
- 1. System Requirements
-
- Pinochle 4.0 requires Windows 95, 98, or NT. It should run on almost
- any computer that runs Windows 95. Pinochle 4.0 does NOT run under
- Windows 3.1. Users of Windows 3.1 may visit my web site to find an older
- version of the program that they may use.
-
- The program requires a Pentium class processor, 8mb of main memory,
- and about 3mb of hard disk space. Recommended minimum configuration is
- Pentium at 90mhz or faster, and 16mb or more of RAM. It also requires a
- mouse or other Windows pointing device.
-
-
- 2. Installing Pinochle on your hard drive automatically
-
- Pinochle was designed for Windows 95 and higher. Users of Windows 3.1
- will need to obtain Pinochle 3.6 from my web site <www.doubledeck.com>.
-
- To install the program, simply execute the file SETUP.EXE.
-
- You may use the automatic installation if you run Windows from a local
- hard drive or a network with full write privileges. This should be the
- case unless you have an unusual system setup. If this is not the case,
- then follow the directions in part (3) below for a manual installation.
-
- Installation Procedure
-
- First, CLOSE ANY PROGRAMS YOU HAVE RUNNING WITHIN WINDOWS. This is a good
- safety precaution before you install any new programs.
-
- Now run the program SETUP.EXE from Windows. At the program manager, select
- FILE | RUN ... and input the directory name where you have the program, plus
- \SETUP.EXE. For example, if you are installing from your D: drive, and
- PINOCHLE is in the directory D:\AOL30\DOWNLOAD\, then you would run:
-
- D:\AOL30\DOWNLOAD\SETUP.EXE
-
- Press OK. The installer will then start the installation process.
-
- The installer will create a program group with a name you specify, and will
- install icons for both Pinochle and the Pinochle Help file. If you do not
- wish to create a program group, then blank out the group name.
-
- The install program does *not* change or add anything to WIN.INI or
- CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT
-
- **If you did not create a program group with SETUP, then after the
- installer has finished, you may move or add the PINOCHLE.EXE file icon to
- any program group. For example, if you followed the above, you would:
-
- **WINDOWS 95:
- Select: START | SETTINGS | TASK BAR | START MENU PROGRAMS | ADD ...
- Input: \PINOCHLE\PINOCHLE.EXE
-
- **THIS IS NOT NECESSARY IF YOU ALLOW SETUP.EXE TO CREATE A PROGRAM GROUP.
-
-
- That's all. You may now enjoy the game! It is probably best if you exit
- and restart Windows after any program installation.
-
-
- 3. Installing Pinochle to your hard drive manually
-
- There is no longer a manual installation process for Pinochle. To install,
- execute the program as described above.
-
-
- 4. Running the program
-
- Simply run PINOCHLE.EXE from the Windows Program Manager, either by using the
- FILE | RUN ... command or by adding PINOCHLE.EXE to a program group or to
- the Windows 95 Start menu.
-
- If you know how to play Pinochle, then the program should be pretty self-
- explanatory. For more information, or to learn how to play Pinochle, check
- out the online help system. Select HELP | CONTENTS from the main menu.
-
- Note: If you are an experienced Double-Deck Pinochle player, this program
- may use a different meld system from the one you use. There are *many*
- different scoring systems out there. Check out HELP | MELD TABLE to see
- the table used by this program.
-
- Note also that you may print the default Meld Table within Windows Help.
-
- 640 x 480 SCREEN NOTES:
- For users with 640x480 screens, some of the buttons in Pinochle may be
- obscured by the Windows 95 task bar. You may compress the vertical spacing
- of elements in Pinochle by selecting FILE | 640x480 MODE from the
- main menu.
-
- PORTABLE COMPUTER USERS:
- The screen display in Pinochle may not appear optimal on your system. In
- this case, it is recommended that you alter your default Windows screen
- color scheme. In Windows, right-click on the background and select:
- PROPERTIES | APPEARANCE. Pinochle will use the general windows settings
- specified by these color schemes.
-
-
- 5. Uninstalling Pinochle
-
- If you decide not to keep Pinochle, simply delete the following files
- from the directory where it resides:
-
- PINOCHLE.EXE
- PINOCHLE.HLP
- PINOCHLE.CFG
- README.TXT
- REGISTER.TXT
-
- 6. Restoring the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectory
-
- With Pinochle 4.0, no changes are made to the WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.
-
-
- 7. Troubleshooting
-
- Double-Deck Pinochle has been thoroughly tested, but unfortunately problems
- may always exist out in the "real world"!
-
- Note that some of these troubleshooting tips involve deleting files and
- other "dangerous" operations. They are believed to be accurate, but I cannot
- vouch for every system and configuration that is out there. Make a backup
- first! If you are unsure about what you are doing, ask someone for help.
- On the plus side, however, if you get Pinochle to work properly, you are
- likely to fix problems with other programs at the same time!
-
- A. Fonts appear garbled
-
- This appears to occur when some other program has left garbled fonts on
- your computer. Here's how to fix the problem.
-
- First, make a backup! That's always a good idea in case something odd
- occurs. Then open the Windows Control Panels and run the Fonts Control.
-
- Inside the Fonts Control, double-click on each font one at a time, and check
- to see if the sample is displayed OK. If it is OK, go on to the next font.
- If it is garbled, then DELETE that font. Windows will use a substitute font
- for screen display. When you've finished and deleted the garbled fonts,
- close the Control Panels and restart Windows.
-
- B. Install will not run
-
- You must make sure that ALL other programs are closed before running
- INSTALL.EXE. Do not simply minimize the programs; choose them and then do
- File | Exit to terminate all other programs. Close any system monitors,
- networking utilities, etc. Then run INSTALL.EXE
-
- C. Check the .DLL files
-
- If you get a "General Protection Fault" when running Pinochle, then you
- should check your .DLL files. The .DLL and .VBX files should be moved to
- your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory and should not be present *anywhere* else on
- your computer.
-
- This means that the DLL files should *not* be present in the subdirectory
- that holds Pinochle. If you ran the INSTALL.EXE file as listed above, then
- these files should have been placed in their proper locations.
-
- You should make sure that the files listed in the section above under
- "Manual Installation" are present in your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. Then
- check out your PATH by giving the PATH command at a DOS prompt. Check each
- of the directories specified in the Path list, and make sure that none of
- the DLL's listed above are present in any of those directories. If any of
- them *are* present, then check their file date against the dates of the files
- in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory, and retain the latest copy in the
- \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.
-
- The following DOS commands may be useful when performing these tasks:
-
- PATH -- to list the DOS search path
- DIR *.DLL -- to list the DLL files in a directory
- CD \ -- to change to the root subdirectory
- DIR *.DLL /S -- to list DLL's in ALL subdirectories, after CD \
- DIR *.DLL /S > PRN -- to print the above list on your printer
- MOVE CTL3DV2.DLL \WINDOWS\SYSTEM
- -- copies CTL3DV2.DLL to \WINDOWS\SYSTEM and deletes
- it from the current location
-
- If all of the DLL's check out OK, then you should consult the following
- troubleshooting tips.
-
- D. Check the Video Driver
-
- Note that some video drivers cause problems with a variety of programs. If
- Pinochle does not run at all, or if it gives a "General Protection Fault"
- then you should try using a different video driver, or update your video
- drivers from your manufacturer or by downloading from an online service. To
- determine whether the problem is with video or with another aspect of your
- system or with Pinochle, you may wish to try using the generic VGA or
- SVGA drivers from Microsoft. Right click on the icon for "My Computer" and
- select PROPERTIES | DEVICE MANAGER | MONITOR.
-
- E. Run Pinochle by Itself
-
- If you have problems that are not resolved by changing video drivers, then
- also try running Pinochle without any other programs running in Windows.
- You could have a shortage of Windows resources (memory, virtual disk space,
- file handles, etc.)
-
- Note that your DOS path specified in AUTOEXEC.BAT should contain the path for
- your Windows system. If not, Pinochle might have difficulty finding its
- system components.
-
-
- 8. Licensing and Legal Notices
-
- Pinochle 4.0 is copyright (c) 1994-98 by Christopher Chapman. All rights are
- reserved, except that this program in unregistered form may be distributed
- freely or for duplication costs only, provided that it is unaltered and that
- all files included in the original unregistered file are included.
-
- A license to use this UNREGISTERED program is granted to any individual
- for a period of 15 days. The unregistered form of the program is fully
- functional but places a limit on the total number of unique games that may
- be played (25 total). Users at educational institutions, students, members
- and employees of the U.S. military, retired military personnel, and those
- employed as staff or faculty of educational institutions may continue to use
- the UNREGISTERED program after 15 days, although the unique game limitation
- will continue to apply. This program is licensed to individual users, not
- to companies, institutions, or other corporate entities.
-
- The registered form of the program expands the number of available unique
- games to 99,999,999. Otherwise, the registered and unregistered versions
- are identical. The registered version may be activated by one-time input
- of a registration available from the author upon payment of a $15 licensing
- fee.
-
- Registered users may use the program on any computer that they own or use
- routinely. For example, a single license is sufficient to allow use of the
- program on computers at work, at home, and on portable systems. A single
- license also is sufficient for all members of a household and all computers
- that they use, and for all users of a single properly licensed computer
- (e.g., co-workers sharing a single computer). However, a single license does
- NOT apply to: multiple computers used principally by people who live in
- different households, nor to any network server that makes the program
- available to multiple people outside of a residence, nor to non-licensed
- users of any computer that a licensed user only occasionally uses (e.g.,
- a computer at work that is mostly used by others).
-
- This program is licensed to individual users, not to companies, institutions,
- or other corporate entities.
-
- No warranties, either express or implied, are made about this program or its
- fitness for any particular purpose. The author will not be liable for any
- direct or indirect damages that may arise from use or misuse of this program.
- All risk for use of this program resides with the user. Users should
- determine fitness for their own needs, and should register only if the
- program meets those needs. In no case will any liability exceed the amount
- paid to register this program. Also, because the program is licensed to
- individuals and not to companies, no liability may exist with respect to any
- company. The license as stated here constitutes the complete agreement
- between the author and user. Some states may exclude some aspects of this
- agreement, so user rights may vary from state to state.
-
- To register the program for complete function, follow the instructions in
- the online HELP | REGISTER command from within the program, or read the file
- REGISTER.TXT included with the program.
-
-
- 9. Contacting the author
-
- If you have questions or suggestiong for future versions of Pinochle,
- you may contact me at any time at the following addresses:
-
- Chris Chapman
- P. O. Box 555
- Uniontown, AR 72955
-
- e-mail: chapman@kagi.com
- URL: http://www.doubledeck.com
-
- THANK YOU FOR TRYING DOUBLE-DECK PINOCHLE!
-
-