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1 | \title Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection |
2 | |
3 | \cfg{winhelp-filename}{puzzles.hlp} |
4 | \cfg{winhelp-contents-titlepage}{Contents} |
5 | |
6 | \cfg{text-filename}{puzzles.txt} |
7 | |
8 | \cfg{xhtml-contents-filename}{index.html} |
9 | \cfg{xhtml-leaf-level}{1} |
10 | \cfg{xhtml-contents-depth-0}{1} |
11 | \cfg{xhtml-contents-depth-1}{2} |
12 | \cfg{xhtml-leaf-contains-contents}{true} |
13 | |
14 | \cfg{info-filename}{puzzles.info} |
15 | |
16 | \cfg{ps-filename}{puzzles.ps} |
17 | \cfg{pdf-filename}{puzzles.pdf} |
18 | |
19 | This is a collection of small one-player puzzle games. |
20 | |
21 | \copyright This manual is copyright 2004 Simon Tatham. All rights |
22 | reserved. You may distribute this documentation under the MIT licence. |
23 | See \k{licence} for the licence text in full. |
24 | |
25 | \versionid $Id: puzzles.but,v 1.1 2004/08/16 12:23:56 simon Exp $ |
26 | |
27 | |
28 | \C{intro} Introduction |
29 | |
30 | I wrote this collection because I thought there should be more small |
31 | desktop toys available: little games you can pop up in a window and |
32 | play for two or three minutes while you take a break from whatever |
33 | else you were doing. And I was also annoyed that every time I found a |
34 | good game on (say) \i{Unix}, it wasn't available the next time I was |
35 | sitting at a \i{Windows} machine, or vice versa; so I arranged that |
36 | everything in my personal puzzle collection will happily run on both. |
37 | When I find (or perhaps invent) further puzzle games that I like, |
38 | they'll be added to this collection and will immediately be available |
39 | on both platforms. And if anyone feels like writing any other front |
40 | ends - Mac OS, PocketPC, or whatever it might be - then all the games |
41 | in this framework will immediately become available on another |
42 | platform as well. |
43 | |
44 | The actual games in this collection were mostly not my invention; I |
45 | saw them elsewhere, and rewrote them in a form that was more |
46 | convenient for me. I do not claim credit, in general, for inventing |
47 | the rules of any of these puzzles; all I claim is authorship of the |
48 | code (or at least those parts of the code that weren't contributed |
49 | by other people!). |
50 | |
51 | This collection is distributed under the \i{MIT licence} (see |
52 | \k{licence}). This means that you can do pretty much anything you like |
53 | with the game binaries or the code, except pretending you wrote them |
54 | yourself, or suing me if anything goes wrong. |
55 | |
56 | The most recent versions, and \i{source code}, can be found at |
57 | \I{website}\W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/}\cw{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/}. |
58 | |
59 | Please report \I{feedback}\i{bugs} to |
60 | \W{mailto:anakin@pobox.com}\cw{anakin@pobox.com}. |
61 | You might find it helpful to read this article before reporting a bug: |
62 | |
63 | \W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html}\cw{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html} |
64 | |
65 | \ii{Patches} are welcome. Especially if they provide a new front end |
66 | (to make all these games run on another platform), or a new game. |
67 | |
68 | |
69 | \C{common} \ii{Common features} |
70 | |
71 | This chapter describes features that are common to all the games. |
72 | |
73 | \H{common-actions} \I{controls}Common actions |
74 | |
75 | These actions are all available from the \I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu |
76 | and via \I{keys}keyboard shortcuts, in addition to any game-specific |
77 | actions. |
78 | |
79 | \dt \ii\e{New game} (\q{N}, Ctrl+\q{N}) |
80 | |
81 | \dd Starts a new game, with a random initial state. |
82 | |
83 | \dt \ii\e{Restart game} (\q{R}) |
84 | |
85 | \dd Resets the current game to its initial state. Undo is lost. |
86 | |
87 | \dt \ii\e{Undo} (\q{U}, Ctrl+\q{Z}, Ctrl+\q{_}) |
88 | |
89 | \dd Undoes a single move. (You can undo moves back to the start of the |
90 | game.) |
91 | |
92 | \dt \ii\e{Redo} (Ctrl+\q{R}) |
93 | |
94 | \dd Redoes a previous undone move. |
95 | |
96 | \dt \I{exit}\ii\e{Quit} (\q{Q}, Ctrl+\q{Q}) |
97 | |
98 | \dd Closes the application entirely. |
99 | |
100 | \H{common-id} Recreating games with the \ii{game ID} |
101 | |
102 | The \q{\i{Specific...}} option from the \I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu |
103 | lets you see a short string (the \q{game ID}) that captures the |
104 | initial state of the current game. |
105 | |
106 | The precise \I{ID format}format of the ID is specific to each game. |
107 | It consists of two parts delimited by a colon (e.g., \c{c4x4:4F01,0}); |
108 | the first part encodes \i\e{parameters} (such as grid size), while the |
109 | second part encodes a \i\e{seed}, which determines the \i{initial |
110 | state} of the game within those parameters. |
111 | |
112 | You can specify a new ID (or just a seed) here. Pressing \q{OK} starts |
113 | a new game with the specified ID (whether you changed it or not). |
114 | Pressing \q{Cancel} returns to the current game. |
115 | |
116 | You can also use the game ID (or just the encoded parameters) as a |
117 | \i{command line} argument; see \k{common-cmdline} for more detail. |
118 | |
119 | Game IDs are portable across platforms; you can use a game ID |
120 | generated by the Windows version of a game on the Unix version, etc. |
121 | |
122 | \H{common-type} The \q{Type} menu |
123 | |
124 | The \I{Type menu}\q{Type} menu, if present, may contain a list of |
125 | \i{preset} game settings. Selecting one of these will start a new |
126 | random game with the parameters specified. |
127 | |
128 | The \q{Type} menu may also contain a \q{\i{Custom...}} option which |
129 | allows you to fine-tune game \i{parameters}. The parameters available |
130 | are specific to each game and are described in the following sections. |
131 | |
132 | \H{common-cmdline} Specifying game parameters on the \i{command line} |
133 | |
134 | The games in this collection deliberately do not ever save |
135 | information on to the computer they run on: they have no high score |
136 | tables and no saved preferences. (This is because I expect at least |
137 | some people to play them at work, and those people will probably |
138 | appreciate leaving as little evidence as possible!) |
139 | |
140 | However, if you do want to arrange for one of these games to default |
141 | to a particular set of parameters, you can specify them on the |
142 | command line. |
143 | |
144 | The easiest way to do this is to set up the parameters you want |
145 | using the \q{Type} menu (see \k{common-type}), and then to select |
146 | \q{Specific} from the \q{Game} menu (see \k{common-id}). The text in |
147 | the \q{Game ID} box will be composed of two parts, separated by a |
148 | colon. The first of these parts represents the game parameters (the |
149 | size of the playing area, for example, and anything else you set |
150 | using the \q{Type} menu). |
151 | |
152 | If you run the game with just that parameter text on the command |
153 | line, it will start up with the settings you specified. |
154 | |
155 | For example: if you run Cube (see \k{cube}), select \q{Octahedron} |
156 | from the \q{Type} menu, and then go to the game ID selection, you |
157 | will see a string of the form \cq{o2x2:911A81,10}. Take only the |
158 | part before the colon (\cq{o2x2}), and start Cube with that text on |
159 | the command line: \cq{cube o2x2}. |
160 | |
161 | If you copy the \e{entire} game ID on to the command line, the game |
162 | will start up in the specific game that was described. This is |
163 | occasionally a more convenient way to start a particular game ID |
164 | than by pasting it into the game ID selection box. |
165 | |
166 | \C{net} \i{Net} |
167 | |
168 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.net} |
169 | |
170 | (\e{Note:} the \i{Windows} version of this game is called |
171 | \i\cw{NETGAME.EXE} to avoid clashing with Windows's own \cw{NET.EXE}.) |
172 | |
173 | I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called \i{FreeNet} |
174 | \k{FreeNet}, written by Pavils Jurjans. The computer prepares a |
175 | network by connecting up the centres of squares in a grid, and then |
176 | shuffles the network by rotating every tile randomly. Your job is to |
177 | rotate it all back into place. The successful solution will be an |
178 | entirely connected network, with no closed loops. \#{Is it also true |
179 | that a correct solution will not contain any cycles?} As a visual aid, |
180 | all tiles which are connected to the one in the middle are |
181 | highlighted. |
182 | |
183 | \B{FreeNet} \W{http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm}\cw{http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm} |
184 | |
185 | \H{net-controls} \i{Net controls} |
186 | |
187 | \IM{Net controls} controls, for Net |
188 | \IM{Net controls} keys, for Net |
189 | \IM{Net controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Net |
190 | |
191 | This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse. The |
192 | controls are: |
193 | |
194 | \dt \e{Select tile}: mouse pointer, arrow keys |
195 | |
196 | \dt \e{Rotate tile anticlockwise}: left mouse button, \q{A} key |
197 | |
198 | \dt \e{Rotate tile clockwise}: right mouse button, \q{D} key |
199 | |
200 | \dt \e{Lock (or unlock) tile}: middle mouse button, shift-click, \q{S} key |
201 | |
202 | \dd You can lock a tile once you're sure of its orientation. You can |
203 | also unlock it again, but while it's locked you can't accidentally |
204 | turn it. |
205 | |
206 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
207 | |
208 | \H{net-params} \I{parameters, for Net}Net parameters |
209 | |
210 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the |
211 | \q{Type} menu. |
212 | |
213 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} |
214 | |
215 | \dd Size of grid in tiles. |
216 | |
217 | \dt \e{Walls wrap around} |
218 | |
219 | \dd If checked, flow can pass from the left edge to the right edge, |
220 | and from top to bottom, and vice versa. |
221 | |
222 | \dt \e{Barrier probability} |
223 | |
224 | \dd A number between 0.0 and 1.0 controlling whether an immovable |
225 | barrier is placed between two tiles to prevent flow between them (a |
226 | higher number gives more barriers). Since barriers are immovable, they |
227 | act as constraints on the solution (i.e., hints). |
228 | |
229 | \lcont{ |
230 | |
231 | The grid generation in Net has been carefully arranged so that the |
232 | barriers are independent of the rest of the grid. This means that if |
233 | you change the \e{Barrier probability} parameter, and then re-enter |
234 | the same game ID you were playing before (see \k{common-id}), you |
235 | should see exactly the same starting grid, with the only change |
236 | being the number of barriers. So if you're stuck on a particular |
237 | grid and need a hint, you could start up another instance of Net, |
238 | set up the same parameters but a higher barrier probability, and |
239 | enter the game seed from the original Net window. |
240 | |
241 | } |
242 | |
243 | \C{cube} \i{Cube} |
244 | |
245 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.cube} |
246 | |
247 | This is another one I originally saw as a web game. This one was a |
248 | Java game \k{cube-java-game}, by Paul Scott. You have a grid of 16 |
249 | squares, six of which are blue; on one square rests a cube. Your move |
250 | is to use the arrow keys to roll the cube through 90 degrees so that |
251 | it moves to an adjacent square. If you roll the cube on to a blue |
252 | square, the blue square is picked up on one face of the cube; if you |
253 | roll a blue face of the cube on to a non-blue square, the blueness is |
254 | put down again. (In general, whenever you roll the cube, the two faces |
255 | that come into contact swap colours.) Your job is to get all six blue |
256 | squares on to the six faces of the cube at the same time. Count your |
257 | moves and try to do it in as few as possible. |
258 | |
259 | Unlike the original Java game, my version has an additional feature: |
260 | once you've mastered the game with a cube rolling on a square grid, |
261 | you can change to a triangular grid and roll any of a tetrahedron, an |
262 | octahedron or an icosahedron. |
263 | |
264 | \B{cube-java-game} \W{http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm}\cw{http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm} |
265 | |
266 | \H{cube-controls} \i{Cube controls} |
267 | |
268 | \IM{Cube controls} controls, for Cube |
269 | \IM{Cube controls} keys, for Cube |
270 | \IM{Cube controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Cube |
271 | |
272 | This game is played with the keyboard. The arrow keys are used to roll the |
273 | cube (or other solid). |
274 | |
275 | On the triangular grids, the mapping of arrow keys to directions is |
276 | more approximate. Vertical movement is disallowed where it doesn't |
277 | make sense. The four keys surrounding the arrow keys on the numeric |
278 | keypad (\q{7}, \q{9}, \q{1}, \q{3}) can be used for diagonal movement. |
279 | |
280 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
281 | |
282 | \H{cube-params} \I{parameters, for Cube}Cube parameters |
283 | |
284 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the |
285 | \q{Type} menu. |
286 | |
287 | \dt \e{Type of solid} |
288 | |
289 | \dd Selects the solid to roll (and hence the shape of the grid): |
290 | tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, or icosahedron. |
291 | |
292 | \dt \e{Width / top}, \e{Height / bottom} |
293 | |
294 | \dd On a square grid, horizontal and vertical dimensions. On a |
295 | triangular grid, the number of triangles on the top and bottom rows |
296 | respectively. |
297 | |
298 | |
299 | \C{fifteen} \i{Fifteen} |
300 | |
301 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.fifteen} |
302 | |
303 | The old ones are the best: this is the good old \q{\i{15-puzzle}} with |
304 | sliding tiles. You have a 4x4 square grid; 15 squares contain numbered |
305 | tiles, and the sixteenth is empty. Your move is to choose a tile next |
306 | to the empty space, and slide it into the space. The aim is to end up |
307 | with the tiles in numerical order, with the space in the bottom right |
308 | (so that the top row reads 1,2,3,4 and the bottom row reads |
309 | 13,14,15,\e{space}). |
310 | |
311 | \H{fifteen-controls} \i{Fifteen controls} |
312 | |
313 | \IM{Fifteen controls} controls, for Fifteen |
314 | \IM{Fifteen controls} keys, for Fifteen |
315 | \IM{Fifteen controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Fifteen |
316 | |
317 | This game can be controlled with the mouse or the keyboard. |
318 | |
319 | A left-click with the mouse in the row or column containing the empty |
320 | space will move as many tiles as necessary to move the space to the |
321 | mouse pointer. |
322 | |
323 | The arrow keys will move a tile adjacent to the space in the direction |
324 | indicated (moving the space in the \e{opposite} direction). |
325 | |
326 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
327 | |
328 | \H{fifteen-params} \I{parameters, for Fifteen}Fifteen parameters |
329 | |
330 | The only options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type} |
331 | menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory. (Once |
332 | you've changed these, it's not a \q{15-puzzle} any more, of course!) |
333 | |
334 | |
335 | \C{sixteen} \i{Sixteen} |
336 | |
337 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.sixteen} |
338 | |
339 | Another sliding tile puzzle, visually similar to Fifteen (see |
340 | \k{fifteen}) but with a different type of move. This time, there is no |
341 | hole: all 16 squares on the grid contain numbered squares. Your move |
342 | is to shift an entire row left or right, or shift an entire column up |
343 | or down; every time you do that, the tile you shift off the grid |
344 | re-appears at the other end of the same row, in the space you just |
345 | vacated. To win, arrange the tiles into numerical order (1,2,3,4 on |
346 | the top row, 13,14,15,16 on the bottom). When you've done that, try |
347 | playing on different sizes of grid. |
348 | |
349 | I \e{might} have invented this game myself, though only by accident if |
350 | so (and I'm sure other people have independently invented it). I |
351 | thought I was imitating a screensaver I'd seen, but I have a feeling |
352 | that the screensaver might actually have been a Fifteen-type puzzle |
353 | rather than this slightly different kind. So this might be the one |
354 | thing in my puzzle collection which represents creativity on my part |
355 | rather than just engineering. |
356 | |
357 | \H{sixteen-controls} \I{controls, for Sixteen}Sixteen controls |
358 | |
359 | This game is played with the mouse. Left-clicking on an arrow will |
360 | move the appropriate row or column in the direction indicated. |
361 | Right-clicking will move it in the opposite direction. |
362 | |
363 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
364 | |
365 | \H{sixteen-params} \I{parameters, for Sixteen}Sixteen parameters |
366 | |
367 | The only parameters available from the \q{Custom...} option on the |
368 | \q{Type} menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are |
369 | self-explanatory. |
370 | |
371 | |
372 | \C{rectangles} \i{Rectangles} |
373 | |
374 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.rectangles} |
375 | |
376 | You have a grid of squares, with numbers written in some (but not all) |
377 | of the squares. Your task is to subdivide the grid into rectangles of |
378 | various sizes, such that (a) every rectangle contains exactly one |
379 | numbered square, and (b) the area of each rectangle is equal to the |
380 | number written in its numbered square. |
381 | |
382 | Credit for this game goes to the Japanese puzzle magazine \i{Nikoli} |
383 | \k{nikoli}; I've also seen a Palm implementation at \i{Puzzle Palace} |
384 | \k{puzzle-palace}. Unlike Puzzle Palace's implementation, my version |
385 | automatically generates random grids of any size you like. The quality |
386 | of puzzle design is therefore not quite as good as hand-crafted |
387 | puzzles would be (in particular, a unique solution cannot be |
388 | guaranteed), but on the plus side you get an inexhaustible supply of |
389 | puzzles tailored to your own specification. |
390 | |
391 | \B{nikoli} \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/7/index_text-e.htm}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/7/index_text-e.htm} |
392 | |
393 | \B{puzzle-palace} \W{http://www.puzzle.gr.jp/puzzle/sikaku/palm/index.html.en}\cw{http://www.puzzle.gr.jp/puzzle/sikaku/palm/index.html.en} |
394 | |
395 | \H{rectangles-controls} \I{controls, for Rectangles}Rectangles controls |
396 | |
397 | This game is played with the mouse. |
398 | |
399 | Left-click any edge to toggle it on or off, or click and drag to draw |
400 | an entire rectangle (or line) on the grid in one go (removing any |
401 | existing edges within that rectangle). |
402 | |
403 | When a rectangle of the correct size is completed, it will be shaded. |
404 | |
405 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
406 | |
407 | \H{rectangles-params} \I{parameters, for Rectangles}Rectangles parameters |
408 | |
409 | The only parameters available from the \q{Custom...} option on the |
410 | \q{Type} menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are |
411 | self-explanatory. |
412 | |
413 | |
414 | \C{netslide} \i{Netslide} |
415 | |
416 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.netslide} |
417 | |
418 | This game was submitted by Richard Boulton. It combines the grid |
419 | generation of Net (see \k{net}) with the movement of Sixteen (see |
420 | \k{sixteen}): you have a Net grid, but instead of rotating tiles back |
421 | into place you have to slide them into place by moving a whole row at |
422 | a time. |
423 | |
424 | |
425 | As in Sixteen, \I{controls, for Netslide}control is with the mouse. |
426 | See \k{sixteen-controls}. |
427 | |
428 | \I{parameters, for Netslide}Game parameters are the same as for Net |
429 | (see \k{net-params}). |
430 | |
431 | |
432 | \A{licence} \I{MIT licence}\ii{Licence} |
433 | |
434 | This software is \i{copyright} 2004 Simon Tatham. |
435 | |
436 | Portions copyright Richard Boulton. |
437 | |
438 | Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person |
439 | obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files |
440 | (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, |
441 | including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, |
442 | publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, |
443 | and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, |
444 | subject to the following conditions: |
445 | |
446 | The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be |
447 | included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. |
448 | |
449 | THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, |
450 | EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF |
451 | MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND |
452 | NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS |
453 | BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN |
454 | ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN |
455 | CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE |
456 | SOFTWARE. |
457 | |
458 | \IM{specific...} Specific..., menu option |
459 | \IM{custom...} Custom..., menu option |
460 | |
461 | \IM{game ID} game ID |
462 | \IM{game ID} ID, game |
463 | \IM{ID format} ID format |
464 | \IM{ID format} format, ID |
465 | \IM{ID format} game ID, format |
466 | |
467 | \IM{keys} keys |
468 | \IM{keys} shortcuts (keyboard) |
469 | |
470 | \IM{initial state} initial state |
471 | \IM{initial state} state, initial |
472 | |
473 | \IM{MIT licence} MIT licence |
474 | \IM{MIT licence} licence, MIT |