Calculation Solitaire version 1.0 Copyright (c) 1991 by Daniel Thomas. All Rights Reserved. NOTE: If you print this from NOTEPAD, use File/Page Setup to set the Left and Right Margins to 0. Introduction ------------ Calculation Solitaire version 1.0 is a full-featured shareware Windows program that includes card dragging, top scores (records), difficulty levels, and hints. Much effort was spent to make playing it intuitive, challenging, and fun. Please read the comments on shareware at the end of this document. If you enjoy this game and want to see more like it, please register. Requirements ------------ Microsoft Windows 3.0 or higher, in Standard or Enhanced mode; it will probably run OK in Real mode, but I can't guarantee it. Hercules, EGA, VGA, or higher Mouse Installation ------------ You may copy the Calculation Solitaire files into any directory. To add Calculation Solitaire (CALCSOL.EXE) to one of your Program Manager groups, follow the instructions in your Windows manual. (Briefly, this involves selecting File/New/Program Item from the Program Manager menu, and filling in the appropriate fields.) Calculation Solitaire will create a file called CALCSOL.DAT, which contains all your settings, and your Records (top scores) information. It also will contain your registration information, when you register. PLEASE DO NOT DISTRIBUTE CALCSOL.DAT TO OTHERS OR TO BULLETIN BOARDS. (You may distribute the other files freely.) If you delete CALCSOL.DAT, you will have to re-enter your registration information. Overview -------- Calculation Solitaire tops the list of solitaire games that give the opportunity for skill. Depending on the difficulty level you play, with proper strategy you can win 2 out of 3 games, or more. Of course, playing at a more difficult level decreases the chances, but also increases the opportunity for masterful play. Foundations ----------- The Ace, two, three and four of spades are removed from the deck and placed across the top of the playing area. These cards form the Foundations. The object is to get all the cards onto the Foundations. Each Foundation is built up in arithmetical sequence (as shown below), without regard to suit or color. Foundation pile 1 counts by ones, as in: A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 J Q K Foundation pile 2 counts by twos, as in: 2 4 6 8 10 Q A 3 5 7 9 J K Foundation pile 3 counts by threes, as in: 3 6 9 Q 2 5 8 J A 4 7 10 K Foundation pile 4 counts by fours, as in: 4 8 Q 3 7 J 2 6 10 A 5 9 K (If you can't remember the sequence, on-screen help is a click away. It is discussed later.) Play ---- Turn up a card from the deck, one at a time. The card may be played onto one of the Foundations, if possible. Alternatively, place it on one of the Waste Piles (which are located below the Foundations). There are from 4 to 6 Waste Piles, depending on which difficulty level you choose. If there is already a card on the Waste Pile, simply place the new card on top of the existing card. At any time, the top card of any Waste Pile may be played onto the Foundation. No other movement of cards from the Waste Piles is possible. To win the game, play all the cards onto the Foundations, in the proper order. Mechanics --------- To turn over a card from the deck, click once on the deck with the left mouse button. There are 2 ways to select a card for movement, depending on what Option is selected. If "Drag Cards" is checked on the Options menu, you move a card by "dragging" it. This means that you point at the card, and hold down the left mouse button. The cursor will change into a "hand". When you move the mouse, you will drag the card. Release the card (by letting go of the left mouse button) when at least half of the card covers the desired new location. If it is an invalid location for the card, the card will drag itself back to its original location. If "Drag Cards" is not checked, then you move cards by first selecting the card, then selecting the new location. To select a card, click once on the card with the left mouse button. It will then be highlighted. Then click on the new location. (To un-select a card, click on it again.) You can undo the last move by selecting Undo from the Edit menu, or by pressing Alt+Backspace. Hints ----- If you can't remember the sequence for a particular Foundation, click once on it with the right mouse button. A small window will pop up with the sequence. Alternatively, you may choose to have a "Hint Window" on the screen at all times. This is a free-floating window which shows the card sequence of each Foundation. Refer to the "Options" section, below. Menu Choices ------------ Game New Game Starts a new game Records Brings up the Records screen (top scores). You can reset the records from this screen. Exit Terminates Calculation Solitaire. Edit Undo Backs up one move. You may also "undo" by pressing Alt+Backspace on the keyboard. The Undo option is only available after a card has been placed onto one of the Waste Piles or Foundation Piles. Once a new card has been turned up from the Deck, you can no longer undo the last move. Options Easy These three options, Easy, Intermediate, and Hard, Intermediate control the difficulty level of the game. The Easy game Hard has 6 Waste Piles, the Intermediate has 5, and the Hard has 4 Waste Piles. It takes an expert to win consistently with only 4 Waste Piles. Green Back- If you don't like the look of the green playing surface, round un-check this option. Hint Window Selecting this option brings up another menu, with these options: Show Check this option if you want a window with the card sequences of the Foundations. It is a free-floating window, which means that you can "drag" it to any position on the screen. If you want to move this window, use the mouse to point at the caption ("Hint Window"), press and hold the left mouse button, and move it wherever you wish. Then release the mouse button. When the Hint Window is displayed, if you hold down the right mouse button while pointing at a Foundation Pile, the Hint Window will "highlight" the corresponding hint row. NOTE: If you use Whiskers (another Shareware product), you may notice a delay when you do this. If you want to eliminate this delay, turn off Whiskers while running Calculation Solitaire. Restore Position Select this option if you want to move the Hint Window back to its original position. Drag Cards If you would rather not "drag" cards around the screen, then un-check this option. See the discussion about this, in the preceding section "Mechanics". Changing Deck The card deck shows a picture. When this option is selected, the picture on the card deck will periodically change during game play. If this is annoying, un-check this option. Start Maximized When this options is checked, Calculation always starts up in full-screen mode. If you don't like that, un-check this option. Help Help Currently, selecting this options starts Notepad, opening up this document. A future version will use the standard Windows help system. About Selecting this option brings up the "About" screen, which gives you information about the version number and the author. Strategy -------- Think ahead when you have to cover up cards on the waste pile. Try to figure out which cards are likely to be needed first. The more you play the game, the more familiar you become with the order. This is essential to winning Calculation Solitaire. Use the Floating Hint Window to help you learn the order. Remember that Kings are the last card on each Foundation, so be careful what you cover up with a King. Acknowledgements ---------------- Calculation Solitaire was written in Borland's Turbo Pascal for Windows. Many thanks to all the guys in Borland's support department, including Danny Thorpe and Rob Powell. Also I'd like to thank my wife, Gina, for believing. Trademarks ---------- Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corp. Turbo Pascal for Windows is a trademark of Borland International. A note about Shareware ---------------------- This program, Calculation Solitaire, is Copyright (c) 1991 by Daniel Thomas. All rights reserved. Calculation Solitaire is Shareware. This means that you are free to use it for a trial period, at no charge. After a reasonable trial period, if you continue to use it, you must register it. This program is a fully functional version, and is not crippled in any way. I do not believe in crippling software in order to force registration. To register your copy of Calculation Solitaire, please print and fill out the order form at the end of this document. NOTE: The order form is duplicated in the file CALCSOL.REG. You can load this file into NOTEPAD and print it. When you register, you will receive a registration number that will get rid of the reminder screen that you see when you start the program. In addition, for a small additional fee you can receive the current version on disk, along with a small printed manual. You may distribute this program freely, as long as all files are included EXCEPT THE FILE CALCSOL.DAT, and the files are not modified in any way. You can contact me on Compuserve at 72301,2164, and Prodigy at CWRF01A. Thanks for your support. Dan Thomas -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Calculation Solitaire v1.0 Registration Form Name: ________________________________________________________________ Company:________________________________________________________________ Address:________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ City: ____________________________ State:_____ Zip:_________________ Phone: (_______)___________________ Country:__________________________ Electronic Mail: _______________________________________________________ Where did you get your copy of Calculation Solitaire from: __________________________________________________________ Calculation Solitaire registration: $15.00 $___________ Printed manual and current version on disk (optional): US & Canada address: $5.00, Foreign address: $10.00 $___________ Disk size(circle one): 5.25 3.5 Total (US Funds): $___________ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Checks must be drawn on a US bank, and payable in US funds. Please make checks payable to: Daniel Thomas Send to: Daniel Thomas 2301 N. Huron Circle Placentia, CA 92670 (714) 524-5625 Compuserve: 72301,2164 Prodigy: CWRF01A