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- ║ TOMMY'S BASRA, DOS VERSION, (C) COPYRIGHT 1998 BY ║
- ║ TOMMY'S TOYS (TM). ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ║
- ║ MAILING ADDRESS: P. O. BOX 11261, DENVER, CO 80211 USA. ║
- ║ CATALOG #TM-236-1A ║
- ║ HTTP://WWW.TOMMYSTOYS.COM TOMTOYS@AOL.COM ║
- ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
-
- INTRODUCTION:
- BASRA (A.K.A. ASHUSH) IS A CARD GAME POPULAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST, WHERE ITS
- EXPERT PLAYERS, IN COFFEE HOUSES AND ELSEWHERE, PLAY THE CARDS DOWN SO FAST IT
- IS A HYPNOTIZING DISPLAY, LIKE A SHELL GAME. IT IS A FISHING GAME, SIMILAR TO
- THE MEDITERRANEAN GAMES CAS(S)INO AND SCOPA, WITH THE 'SWEEPING JACK' THAT IS
- THE SPECIAL FEATURE OF MANY LEVANTINE GAMES. SO GET SOME STRONG ARABIC COFFEE,
- SOME DATES, GOAT CHEESE, HUMOUS, PITA BREAD, SHEEP'S EYES, OR OTHER FAVORITE
- SNACK, PULL UP YOUR PC, AND TRY THIS PROGRAM.
-
- NO, THE GAME HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MODERN IRAQ'S SECOND-LARGEST CITY AND
- LARGEST SEAPORT, ON THE WEST BANK OF THE SHATT AL-ARAB IN SOUTHEAST IRAQ,
- 70 MI. FROM THE PERSIAN GULF. BASRA WAS THE HOME OF ALI BABA OF FORTY THIEVES
- FAME.
-
- BONUS: THE PROGRAM ALSO PLAYS THE CLOSELY-SIMILAR PERSIAN GAME PASSUR.
-
- *NOTE: IN THE EVALUATION VERSION THE PROGRAM EXITS IF YOU TRY TO START A NEW
- DEAL AFTER 5 MIN. OF GAME PLAY. SORRY, BUT WE HAVE TO BE FAIR TO THE PAYING
- CUSTOMERS (GRIN). PLEASE PURCHASE THE FULL VERSION.
-
- TO ANSWER A Y/N (YES/NO) QUESTION FROM THE COMPUTER:
- WITH THE MOUSE, JUST POINT TO THE "Y" OR "N" IN THE QUESTION (OR ANY "Y" OR "N"
- ON THE SCREEN) AND CLICK; WITH THE KEYBOARD, JUST HIT THE "Y" OR "N" KEYS.
-
- THE DECK:
- A STANDARD FRENCH 52-PACK IS USED. THE CARDS RANK ACE (LOW) 23456789T (HIGH).
- THE FACE CARDS HAVE SPECIAL USES.
-
- PLAYERS:
- 2-4. IN TOMMY'S BASRA ONLY THE 2-PLAYER VERSION IS IMPLEMENTED, YOU VS. THE PC.
- YOUR HAND WILL BE DISPLAYED AT THE TOP OF THE SCREEN, THE PC'S UNDERNEATH.
-
- THE DEAL:
- THE DEALER IS RANDOMLY SELECTED FOR THE FIRST HAND. THEREAFTER THE DEAL
- ALTERNATES.
-
- DEALER SHUFFLES THE CARDS AND THE OPPONENT CUTS. THE BOTTOM CARD ON THE CUT
- IS SHOWN TO BOTH PLAYERS SO THAT EACH KNOWS WHAT THE LAST CARD WILL BE.
-
- THE DEALER THEN GIVES THE OTHER PLAYER FOUR CARDS, THEN HIMSELF 4 CARDS, THEN 4
- CARDS ARE TURNED FACE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TABLE. THE AREA WHERE THE FACE UP
- CARDS ARE SET OUT IS KNOWN AS THE "FLOOR" -- MAYBE THE GAME WAS ORIGINALLY
- PLAYED ON THE FLOOR, THOUGH NOWADAYS IT IS NORMAL TO PLAY ON A TABLE BECAUSE
- PEOPLE AREN'T SO USED TO CAMEL DUNG (HA HA, JUST KIDDING). IF THE CARDS ON THE
- FLOOR INCLUDE ANY JACKS OR THE SEVEN OF DIAMONDS, THE DEALER PUTS THESE CARDS
- ON THE BOTTOM OF THE UNDEALT PACK AND REPLACES THEM BY DEALING NEW CARDS TO THE
- FLOOR FROM THE TOP OF THE UNDEALT CARDS. THIS IS AN ADVANTAGE FOR THE DEALER,
- AS THE LAST FOUR CARDS OF THE PACK WILL ULTIMATELY BE DEALT TO THE DEALER.
-
- PASSUR RULE:
- THE SEVEN OF DIAMONDS HAS NO SPECIAL USE IN THIS VARIANT, SO IT IS NOT REDEALT.
- IN CASE 2 JACKS OR 3 QUEENS OR 3 KINGS ARE DEALT TO THE TABLE, THE DEALER HAS
- TO TAKE ALL THE CARDS IN AND DEAL ONCE AGAIN.
-
- PLAY:
- THE PLAYERS TAKE TURNS TO PLAY; THE NON-DEALER PLAYS FIRST. EACH TURN CONSISTS
- OF PLAYING ONE CARD FACE UP TO THE FLOOR AND POSSIBLY CAPTURING SOME OF THE
- CARDS THAT ARE THERE. CAPTURED CARDS ARE PLACED FACE DOWN IN FRONT OF THE
- PLAYER WHO CAPTURED THEM. WHEN BOTH PLAYERS HAVE PLAYED THEIR FOUR CARDS, THE
- DEALER GIVES THEM EACH ANOTHER BATCH OF FOUR FROM THE UNDEALT CARDS (BUT NO
- MORE CARDS ARE DEALT TO THE FLOOR) AND PLAY CONTINUES. WHEN THE WHOLE PACK HAS
- BEEN DEALT AND THE PLAYERS HAVE PLAYED THEIR LAST FOUR CARDS THE PLAY ENDS.
-
- CAPTURING A SINGLE CARD BY MATCHING RANKS:
- IF YOU PLAY A CARD WHOSE RANK MATCHES ONE OF THE CARDS ON THE FLOOR, YOU
- CAPTURE THAT CARD, AND PLACE BOTH THE CARD YOU PLAYED AND THE CAPTURED CARD
- FACE DOWN IN FRONT OF YOU IN YOUR WIN PILE. IN TOMMY'S BASRA, YOUR WIN PILE
- IS DISPLAYED ON TOP OF THE COMPUTER'S WIN PILE ON THE SCREEN.
-
- BASRA (SUR):
- A BASRA (SUR IN PASSUR) OCCURS WHEN A PLAYER CAPTURES ALL THE CARDS FROM THE
- FLOOR, LEAVING IT EMPTY. THE CAPTURING CARD IS PLACED FACED UP IN THE PLAYER'S
- CAPTURE PILE AS A WAY OF REMEMBERING THE BONUS WHEN THE TIME COMES TO SCORE THE
- HAND.
-
- JACKS:
- JACKS HAVE A SPECIAL PROPERTY. IF YOU PLAY A JACK WHEN THERE ARE CARDS ON THE
- FLOOR, IT CAPTURES ALL THE CARDS FROM THE FLOOR, 'SWEEPING' IT AND LEAVING IT
- EMPTY, BUT THIS DOES NOT COUNT AS A BASRA/SUR. IF YOU PLAY A JACK WHEN THE
- FLOOR IS EMPTY IT DOES NOT CAPTURE ANYTHING, BUT JUST REMAINS ON THE FLOOR. IN
- LEBANESE THE JACK IS CALLED ASHUSH, WHICH IN COLLOQUIAL ARABIC MEANS AN IMAM.
- IN PASSUR, A JACK WINS ALL CARDS FROM THE TABLE APART FROM KINGS AND QUEENS --
- THEY ARE LEFT ON THE FLOOR, AND IF THERE WERE NO OTHER CARDS OTHER THAN KINGS
- AND QUEENS, THE JACK STAYS ON THE FLOOR TOO.
-
- CAPTURING BY COMBINING:
- IF YOU PLAY A NUMERAL CARD WHOSE VALUE (ACE IS 1) IS EQUAL TO THE SUM OF THE
- VALUES OF SOME CARDS ON THE FLOOR, THEN YOUR CARD CAPTURES THAT GROUP OF CARDS.
- FOR EXAMPLE IF THE FLOOR CONTAINS 2457 AND YOU PLAY A 9, YOU CAPTURE THE 4 AND
- THE T AND PLACE THE 459 IN YOUR CAPTURE PILE. YOU CAN CAPTURE AAAA222 WITH A
- TEN, THE BIGGEST POSSIBLE COMBINATION THAT CAN BE CAPTURED WITH A SINGLE CARD.
- IT IS POSSIBLE TO MAKE MORE THAN ONE CAPTURE WITH THE SAME PLAY. FOR EXAMPLE,
- IF THE FLOOR HAS A973T AND YOU PLAY A TEN, YOU CAPTURE EVERYTHING. CAPTURING
- IS NOT OPTIONAL, SO IN TOMMY'S BASRA IT IS AUTOMATIC.
-
- CAPTURING BY COMBINING (PASSUR):
- IN PASSUR, YOU CAN CAPTURE PIP CARDS BY COMBINING ONLY IF THE VALUE OF THE PIPS
- ADDS TO 11 (THE ACE COUNTS 1).
-
- THE FLOOR:
- IF YOU PLAY A CARD THAT DOES NOT MATCH ANYTHING, IT STAYS FACE UP ON THE FLOOR,
- AND IS AVAILABLE FOR CAPTURE IN FUTURE TURNS.
-
- QUEENS AND KINGS:
- QUEENS AND KINGS HAVE NO NUMERICAL VALUE, AND CAN ONLY CAPTURE OR BE CAPTURED
- BY OTHER QUEENS AND KINGS RESPECTIVELY.
-
- SEVEN OF DIAMONDS (BASRA ONLY):
- THE SEVEN OF DIAMONDS BEHAVES IN A SIMILAR WAY TO A JACK. IT CAPTURES ALL THE
- CARDS ON THE FLOOR: IF THEY ARE ALL NUMERALS, AND THEIR VALUES ADD UP TO 10 OR
- LESS, THIS COUNTS AS A BASRA, AND SCORES THE 10 POINT BONUS. IF THE FLOOR ADDS
- UP TO MORE THAN TEN, OR INCLUDES PICTURE CARDS, THE 7 OF DIAMONDS STILL TAKES
- ALL THE CARDS BUT IT DOES NOT COUNT AS A BASRA. IF YOU PLAY THE 7 OF DIAMONDS
- TO AN EMPTY FLOOR IT STAYS THERE, AND CAN LATER BE CAPTURED JUST LIKE A NORMAL
- SEVEN.
-
- LAST CARD:
- AFTER THE LAST CARD IS PLAYED, ANY CARDS THAT REMAIN ON THE FLOOR ARE TAKEN BY
- THE PLAYER WHO LAST MADE A CAPTURE, BUT THIS DOES NOT COUNT AS A BASRA.
-
- SCORING:
- WHEN ALL 52 CARDS HAVE BEEN PLAYED, THE CARDS IN EACH PLAYER'S STACK ARE
- COUNTED. SCORING IS DIFFERENT FOR BASRA AND PASUR:
-
- BASRA:
- THE PLAYER WHO WON THE MAJORITY OF THE CARDS (27 OR MORE) SCORES 3 POINTS. IF
- IT IS A TIE (26-26), NO ONE GETS THESE 3 POINTS. EACH BASRA SCORES 10 POINTS.
- IN ADDITION ONE POINT IS SCORED FOR EACH JACK AND EACH ACE IN EACH PILE, TWO
- POINTS FOR EACH 2, AND 3 POINTS FOR EACH 10.
- THUS THE TOTAL POINTS TO BE SCORED IN EACH HAND ARE 28 PLUS 10 FOR EACH BASRA.
-
- PASSUR:
- THE PLAYER WHO WON THE MOST CARDS OF THE CLUBS SUIT SCORES 7 POINTS. THE
- PLAYER WITH THE MOST SURS SCORES 5 POINTS FOR EVERY SUR HE HAS WON MORE THAN
- THE OPPONENT. EACH JACK AND ACE SCORES 1 POINT, EACH 2 OF CLUBS SCORES 2
- POINTS, AND THE 10 OF DIAMONDS SCORES 3 POINTS.
- THUS THE TOTAL POINTS TO BE SCORED IN EACH HAND ARE 20 PLUS THE SUR POINTS.
-
- GAME:
- WHOEVER REACHES THE GAMEPOINT (20 TO 999, DEFAULT 101) FIRST WINS THE GAME.
- IF BOTH PLAYERS REACH GAMEPOINT IN THE SAME HAND, HIGHER SCORE WINS, AND IF
- THERE IS A TIE, ANOTHER HAND IS PLAYED, AS NEEDED, UNTIL THERE IS A WINNER.
-
- MATCH:
- IT IS USUAL TO PLAY THE BEST OF FIVE GAMES -- THE PLAYER WHO WINS THREE GAMES
- WINS THE MATCH AND THE LOSER PAYS FOR THE SHISA AND BEVERAGES WHICH HAVE BEEN
- CONSUMED IN GREAT QUANTITIES ALL THROUGH PLAY. IF AFTER FOUR GAMES, THE PLAYERS
- HAVE WON TWO EACH, THEN BY COMMON AGREEMENT THE DECISIVE FIFTH GAME IS PLAYED TO
- 150 POINTS RATHER THAN 101. (SORRY, TOMMY'S BASRA DOESN'T DO IT, THOUGH.)
-
- GAME OPTIONS
- ------------
- *NOTE: OPTIONS NOT AVAILABLE IN EVALUATION VERSION. PLEASE PURCHASE THE FULL
- VERSION.
-
- SHOW PILES OPTION:
- WHEN THIS OPTION IS ON, YOU THE WIN PILES ARE ALWAYS DISPLAYED FACE UP.
-
- ACE HIGH OPTION (BASRA ONLY):
- WHEN THIS OPTION IS ON, ACES WILL COUNT AS 14 INSTEAD OF 1 WHEN PLAYED AGAINST
- COMBINATIONS.
-
- NO 7 OF DIAMONDS SWEEPS (BASRA ONLY):
- WHEN THIS OPTION IS ON, THE 7 OF DIAMONDS CAN NO LONGER SWEEP THE FLOOR.
-
- OPEN HANDS OPTION:
- WHEN THIS OPTION IS ON, YOU CAN SEE BOTH HANDS BUT THE PC CANNOT.
-
- REPLAY HANDS OPTION:
- WHEN THIS OPTION IS ON, YOU ARE PROMPTED EACH TIME AS TO WHETHER YOU WISH TO
- PLAY THE LAST HAND OVER.
-
- FUNCTION KEYS:
- --------------
-
- FUNCTION KEY FUNCTION
- ------------ --------
- F1 * SOUND EFFECTS ON/OFF TOGGLE
- F2 * DEMO MODE TOGGLE. IN DEMO MODE THE COMPUTER PLAYS YOUR
- HAND AS WELL AS THE OTHERS.
- F3 POP-UP GAME OPTIONS MENU.
- F5 DISPLAY THESE INSTRUCTIONS
- F7 QUIT
- F8 * AUTO COMMENT DISPLAY TOGGLE. WHEN SET, THE COMPUTER WILL
- DISPLAY A MESSAGE ONLY 'XDELAY' SECONDS (SEE GAME SPEED
- BELOW), ELSE IT WILL PROMPT FOR YOU TO HIT THE SPACEBAR OR
- <ENTER> KEY, OR CLICK THE MOUSE, TO ERASE THE MESSAGE AND
- CONTINUE EACH TIME.
- F9 * SMART ABDUL COMMENTS TOGGLE
- F10 (COLOR MONITORS ONLY) CHANGE THE SCREEN BORDER COLOR
-
- *NOTE: FOR TOGGLE SWITCHES, THE SCREEN LEGEND INDICATES THE MODE THAT WILL BE
- ENTERED BY PRESSING THE KEY, WHICH IS THE OPPOSITE OF THE MODE IN EFFECT AT
- THE TIME.
-
- GAME SPEED:
- THE UP ARROW (ON THE NUMERIC KEY PAD) INCREASES, AND THE DOWN ARROW DECREASES
- THE VIEWING DELAY 'XDELAY' BETWEEN MOVES. THIS VALUE, IN SECONDS, IS SHOWN AT
- THE BOTTOM RIGHT OF THE SCREEN.
-
- STARTUP MUSIC:
- TO SKIP THE STARTUP MUSIC: HIT THE <ENTER> KEY TWICE INSTEAD OF ONCE WHEN
- RUNNING THE PROGRAM FROM DOS.
-
- COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS:
- S START UP WITH SOUND OFF
- M FORCE MONO DISPLAY MODE
- C FORCE COLOR DISPLAY MODE
- * SKIP THE STARTUP SHOW
- D DISABLE MOUSE CHECK
-
- EXAMPLE: >BASRA MS
-
- A NOTE ON STRATEGY
- ------------------
- IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THE CARDS THAT HAVE BEEN PLAYED. TOWARDS THE END
- YOU KNOW WHAT CARDS YOUR OPPONENT IS LIKELY TO HAVE AND WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN
- PLAYED AND YOU CAN USE THIS KNOWLEDGE TO COLLECT VALUABLE CARDS. AN IMPORTANT
- TACTIC IS TO CLEAR THE FLOOR WITH A JACK WHEN YOU KNOW THAT YOUR OPPONENT'S
- NEXT PLAY TO THE EMPTY FLOOR IS LIKELY TO GIVE YOU A BASRA. IN THE LAST DEAL OF
- THE HAND, IF BOTH PLAYERS HAVE BEEN CONCENTRATING THEY WILL EACH KNOW EXACTLY
- WHAT FOUR CARDS THE OTHER HAS AND CAN PLAY ACCORDINGLY.
-
- ----------------------
- DID YOU LIKE THIS TOY?
- DON'T FORGET TO TRY OUR GOBS OF OTHER NEAT LOW-PRICED TOYS AND GAMES FOR THE
- IBM PC AND COMPATIBLES. OUR NIFTY DEMO DISK, CONTAINING AN ELECTRONIC TOY
- CATALOG AND OTHER GOODIES, IS ONLY $2 SHIPPING/HANDLING TO ANY U.S. ADDRESS,
- $3 OUTSIDE U.S. (PLEASE SPECIFY 5.25 INCH OR 3.5 INCH DISKETTE. U.S. DOLLARS
- ONLY).
-
- IF YOUR PC BORES YOU WRITE US NOW.
-
- TOMMY'S TOYS, P.O. BOX 11261, DENVER, CO 80211 USA.
-
- ENJOY!
-
-