| 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{html-contents-filename}{index.html} |
| 9 | \cfg{html-template-filename}{%k.html} |
| 10 | \cfg{html-index-filename}{docindex.html} |
| 11 | \cfg{html-leaf-level}{1} |
| 12 | \cfg{html-contents-depth-0}{1} |
| 13 | \cfg{html-contents-depth-1}{2} |
| 14 | \cfg{html-leaf-contains-contents}{true} |
| 15 | |
| 16 | \cfg{info-filename}{puzzles.info} |
| 17 | |
| 18 | \cfg{ps-filename}{puzzles.ps} |
| 19 | \cfg{pdf-filename}{puzzles.pdf} |
| 20 | |
| 21 | \define{by} \u00D7{x} |
| 22 | |
| 23 | This is a collection of small one-player puzzle games. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | \copyright This manual is copyright 2004 Simon Tatham. All rights |
| 26 | reserved. You may distribute this documentation under the MIT licence. |
| 27 | See \k{licence} for the licence text in full. |
| 28 | |
| 29 | \cfg{html-local-head}{<meta name="AppleTitle" content="Puzzles Help">} |
| 30 | |
| 31 | \versionid $Id$ |
| 32 | |
| 33 | \C{intro} Introduction |
| 34 | |
| 35 | I wrote this collection because I thought there should be more small |
| 36 | desktop toys available: little games you can pop up in a window and |
| 37 | play for two or three minutes while you take a break from whatever |
| 38 | else you were doing. And I was also annoyed that every time I found |
| 39 | a good game on (say) \i{Unix}, it wasn't available the next time I |
| 40 | was sitting at a \i{Windows} machine, or vice versa; so I arranged |
| 41 | that everything in my personal puzzle collection will happily run on |
| 42 | both, and have more recently done a port to Mac OS X as well. When I |
| 43 | find (or perhaps invent) further puzzle games that I like, they'll |
| 44 | be added to this collection and will immediately be available on |
| 45 | both platforms. And if anyone feels like writing any other front |
| 46 | ends - PocketPC, Mac OS pre-10, or whatever it might be - then all |
| 47 | the games in this framework will immediately become available on |
| 48 | another platform as well. |
| 49 | |
| 50 | The actual games in this collection were mostly not my invention; I |
| 51 | saw them elsewhere, and rewrote them in a form that was more |
| 52 | convenient for me. I do not claim credit, in general, for inventing |
| 53 | the rules of any of these puzzles; all I claim is authorship of the |
| 54 | code (or at least those parts of the code that weren't contributed |
| 55 | by other people!). |
| 56 | |
| 57 | This collection is distributed under the \i{MIT licence} (see |
| 58 | \k{licence}). This means that you can do pretty much anything you like |
| 59 | with the game binaries or the code, except pretending you wrote them |
| 60 | yourself, or suing me if anything goes wrong. |
| 61 | |
| 62 | The most recent versions, and \i{source code}, can be found at |
| 63 | \I{website}\W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/}\cw{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/}. |
| 64 | |
| 65 | Please report \I{feedback}\i{bugs} to |
| 66 | \W{mailto:anakin@pobox.com}\cw{anakin@pobox.com}. |
| 67 | You might find it helpful to read this article before reporting a bug: |
| 68 | |
| 69 | \W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html}\cw{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html} |
| 70 | |
| 71 | \ii{Patches} are welcome. Especially if they provide a new front end |
| 72 | (to make all these games run on another platform), or a new game. |
| 73 | |
| 74 | |
| 75 | \C{common} \ii{Common features} |
| 76 | |
| 77 | This chapter describes features that are common to all the games. |
| 78 | |
| 79 | \H{common-actions} \I{controls}Common actions |
| 80 | |
| 81 | These actions are all available from the \I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu |
| 82 | and via \I{keys}keyboard shortcuts, in addition to any game-specific |
| 83 | actions. |
| 84 | |
| 85 | (On Mac OS X, to conform with local user interface standards, these |
| 86 | actions are situated on the \I{File menu}\q{File} and \I{Edit |
| 87 | menu}\q{Edit} menus instead.) |
| 88 | |
| 89 | \dt \ii\e{New game} (\q{N}, Ctrl+\q{N}) |
| 90 | |
| 91 | \dd Starts a new game, with a random initial state. |
| 92 | |
| 93 | \dt \ii\e{Restart game} |
| 94 | |
| 95 | \dd Resets the current game to its initial state. (This can be undone.) |
| 96 | |
| 97 | \dt \ii\e{Undo} (\q{U}, Ctrl+\q{Z}, Ctrl+\q{_}) |
| 98 | |
| 99 | \dd Undoes a single move. (You can undo moves back to the start of the |
| 100 | session.) |
| 101 | |
| 102 | \dt \ii\e{Redo} (\q{R}, Ctrl+\q{R}) |
| 103 | |
| 104 | \dd Redoes a previously undone move. |
| 105 | |
| 106 | \dt \ii\e{Copy} |
| 107 | |
| 108 | \dd Copies the current state of your game to the clipboard in text |
| 109 | format, so that you can paste it into (say) an e-mail client or a |
| 110 | web message board if you're discussing the game with someone else. |
| 111 | (Not all games support this feature.) |
| 112 | |
| 113 | \dt \ii\e{Solve} |
| 114 | |
| 115 | \dd Transforms the puzzle instantly into its solved state. For some |
| 116 | games (Cube) this feature is not supported at all because it is of |
| 117 | no particular use. For other games (such as Pattern), the solved |
| 118 | state can be used to give you information, if you can't see how a |
| 119 | solution can exist at all or you want to know where you made a |
| 120 | mistake. For still other games (such as Sixteen), automatic solution |
| 121 | tells you nothing about how to \e{get} to the solution, but it does |
| 122 | provide a useful way to get there quickly so that you can experiment |
| 123 | with set-piece moves and transformations. |
| 124 | |
| 125 | \lcont{ |
| 126 | |
| 127 | Some games (such as Solo) are capable of solving a game ID you have |
| 128 | typed in from elsewhere. Other games (such as Rectangles) cannot |
| 129 | solve a game ID they didn't invent themself, but when they did |
| 130 | invent the game ID they know what the solution is already. Still |
| 131 | other games (Pattern) can solve \e{some} external game IDs, but only |
| 132 | if they aren't too difficult. |
| 133 | |
| 134 | The \q{Solve} command adds the solved state to the end of the undo |
| 135 | chain for the puzzle. In other words, if you want to go back to |
| 136 | solving it yourself after seeing the answer, you can just press Undo. |
| 137 | |
| 138 | } |
| 139 | |
| 140 | \dt \I{exit}\ii\e{Quit} (\q{Q}, Ctrl+\q{Q}) |
| 141 | |
| 142 | \dd Closes the application entirely. |
| 143 | |
| 144 | \H{common-id} Specifying games with the \ii{game ID} |
| 145 | |
| 146 | There are two ways to save a game specification out of a puzzle and |
| 147 | recreate it later, or recreate it in somebody else's copy of the |
| 148 | same puzzle. |
| 149 | |
| 150 | The \q{\i{Specific}} and \q{\i{Random Seed}} options from the |
| 151 | \I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu (or the \q{File} menu, on Mac OS X) each |
| 152 | show a piece of text (a \q{game ID}) which is sufficient to |
| 153 | reconstruct precisely the same game at a later date. |
| 154 | |
| 155 | You can enter either of these pieces of text back into the program |
| 156 | (via the same \q{Specific} or \q{Random Seed} menu options) at a |
| 157 | later point, and it will recreate the same game. You can also use |
| 158 | either one as a \i{command line} argument (on Windows or Unix); see |
| 159 | \k{common-cmdline} for more detail. |
| 160 | |
| 161 | The difference between the two forms is that a descriptive game ID |
| 162 | is a literal \e{description} of the \i{initial state} of the game, |
| 163 | whereas a random seed is just a piece of arbitrary text which was |
| 164 | provided as input to the random number generator used to create the |
| 165 | puzzle. This means that: |
| 166 | |
| 167 | \b Descriptive game IDs tend to be longer in many puzzles (although |
| 168 | some, such as Cube (\k{cube}), only need very short descriptions). |
| 169 | So a random seed is often a \e{quicker} way to note down the puzzle |
| 170 | you're currently playing, or to tell it to somebody else so they can |
| 171 | play the same one as you. |
| 172 | |
| 173 | \b Any text at all is a valid random seed. The automatically |
| 174 | generated ones are fifteen-digit numbers, but anything will do; you |
| 175 | can type in your full name, or a word you just made up, and a valid |
| 176 | puzzle will be generated from it. This provides a way for two or |
| 177 | more people to race to complete the same puzzle: you think of a |
| 178 | random seed, then everybody types it in at the same time, and nobody |
| 179 | has an advantage due to having seen the generated puzzle before |
| 180 | anybody else. |
| 181 | |
| 182 | \b It is often possible to convert puzzles from other sources (such |
| 183 | as \q{nonograms} or \q{sudoku} from newspapers) into descriptive |
| 184 | game IDs suitable for use with these programs. |
| 185 | |
| 186 | \b Random seeds are not guaranteed to produce the same result if you |
| 187 | use them with a different \i\e{version} of the puzzle program. This |
| 188 | is because the generation algorithm might have been improved or |
| 189 | modified in later versions of the code, and will therefore produce a |
| 190 | different result when given the same sequence of random numbers. Use |
| 191 | a descriptive game ID if you aren't sure that it will be used on the |
| 192 | same version of the program as yours. |
| 193 | |
| 194 | \lcont{(Use the \q{About} menu option to find out the version number |
| 195 | of the program. Programs with the same version number running on |
| 196 | different platforms should still be random-seed compatible.)} |
| 197 | |
| 198 | \I{ID format}A descriptive game ID starts with a piece of text which |
| 199 | encodes the \i\e{parameters} of the current game (such as grid |
| 200 | size). Then there is a colon, and after that is the description of |
| 201 | the game's initial state. A random seed starts with a similar string |
| 202 | of parameters, but then it contains a hash sign followed by |
| 203 | arbitrary data. |
| 204 | |
| 205 | If you enter a descriptive game ID, the program will not be able to |
| 206 | show you the random seed which generated it, since it wasn't |
| 207 | generated \e{from} a random seed. If you \e{enter} a random seed, |
| 208 | however, the program will be able to show you the descriptive game |
| 209 | ID derived from that random seed. |
| 210 | |
| 211 | Note that the game parameter strings are not always identical |
| 212 | between the two forms. For some games, there will be parameter data |
| 213 | provided with the random seed which is not included in the |
| 214 | descriptive game ID. This is because that parameter information is |
| 215 | only relevant when \e{generating} puzzle grids, and is not important |
| 216 | when playing them. Thus, for example, the difficulty level in Solo |
| 217 | (\k{solo}) is not mentioned in the descriptive game ID. |
| 218 | |
| 219 | These additional parameters are also not set permanently if you type |
| 220 | in a game ID. For example, suppose you have Solo set to \q{Advanced} |
| 221 | difficulty level, and then a friend wants your help with a |
| 222 | \q{Trivial} puzzle; so the friend reads out a random seed specifying |
| 223 | \q{Trivial} difficulty, and you type it in. The program will |
| 224 | generate you the same \q{Trivial} grid which your friend was having |
| 225 | trouble with, but once you have finished playing it, when you ask |
| 226 | for a new game it will automatically go back to the \q{Advanced} |
| 227 | difficulty which it was previously set on. |
| 228 | |
| 229 | \H{common-type} The \q{Type} menu |
| 230 | |
| 231 | The \I{Type menu}\q{Type} menu, if present, may contain a list of |
| 232 | \i{preset} game settings. Selecting one of these will start a new |
| 233 | random game with the parameters specified. |
| 234 | |
| 235 | The \q{Type} menu may also contain a \q{\i{Custom}} option which |
| 236 | allows you to fine-tune game \i{parameters}. The parameters |
| 237 | available are specific to each game and are described in the |
| 238 | following sections. |
| 239 | |
| 240 | \H{common-cmdline} Specifying game parameters on the \i{command line} |
| 241 | |
| 242 | (This section does not apply to the Mac OS X version.) |
| 243 | |
| 244 | The games in this collection deliberately do not ever save |
| 245 | information on to the computer they run on: they have no high score |
| 246 | tables and no saved preferences. (This is because I expect at least |
| 247 | some people to play them at work, and those people will probably |
| 248 | appreciate leaving as little evidence as possible!) |
| 249 | |
| 250 | However, if you do want to arrange for one of these games to default |
| 251 | to a particular set of parameters, you can specify them on the |
| 252 | command line. |
| 253 | |
| 254 | The easiest way to do this is to set up the parameters you want |
| 255 | using the \q{Type} menu (see \k{common-type}), and then to select |
| 256 | \q{Random Seed} from the \q{Game} or \q{File} menu (see |
| 257 | \k{common-id}). The text in the \q{Game ID} box will be composed of |
| 258 | two parts, separated by a hash. The first of these parts represents |
| 259 | the game parameters (the size of the playing area, for example, and |
| 260 | anything else you set using the \q{Type} menu). |
| 261 | |
| 262 | If you run the game with just that parameter text on the command |
| 263 | line, it will start up with the settings you specified. |
| 264 | |
| 265 | For example: if you run Cube (see \k{cube}), select \q{Octahedron} |
| 266 | from the \q{Type} menu, and then go to the game ID selection, you |
| 267 | will see a string of the form \cq{o2x2#338686542711620}. Take only |
| 268 | the part before the hash (\cq{o2x2}), and start Cube with that text |
| 269 | on the command line: \cq{cube o2x2}. |
| 270 | |
| 271 | If you copy the \e{entire} game ID on to the command line, the game |
| 272 | will start up in the specific game that was described. This is |
| 273 | occasionally a more convenient way to start a particular game ID |
| 274 | than by pasting it into the game ID selection box. |
| 275 | |
| 276 | (You could also retrieve the encoded game parameters using the |
| 277 | \q{Specific} menu option instead of \q{Random Seed}, but if you do |
| 278 | then some options, such as the difficulty level in Solo, will be |
| 279 | missing. See \k{common-id} for more details on this.) |
| 280 | |
| 281 | \C{net} \i{Net} |
| 282 | |
| 283 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.net} |
| 284 | |
| 285 | (\e{Note:} the \i{Windows} version of this game is called |
| 286 | \i\cw{NETGAME.EXE} to avoid clashing with Windows's own \cw{NET.EXE}.) |
| 287 | |
| 288 | I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called \i{FreeNet} |
| 289 | \k{FreeNet}, written by Pavils Jurjans; there are several other |
| 290 | implementations under the name \i{NetWalk}. The computer prepares a |
| 291 | network by connecting up the centres of squares in a grid, and then |
| 292 | shuffles the network by rotating every tile randomly. Your job is to |
| 293 | rotate it all back into place. The successful solution will be an |
| 294 | entirely connected network, with no closed loops. \#{The latter |
| 295 | clause means that there are no closed paths within the network. |
| 296 | Could this be clearer? "No closed paths"?} As a visual aid, |
| 297 | all tiles which are connected to the one in the middle are |
| 298 | highlighted. |
| 299 | |
| 300 | \B{FreeNet} \W{http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm}\cw{http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm} |
| 301 | |
| 302 | \H{net-controls} \i{Net controls} |
| 303 | |
| 304 | \IM{Net controls} controls, for Net |
| 305 | \IM{Net controls} keys, for Net |
| 306 | \IM{Net controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Net |
| 307 | |
| 308 | This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse. The |
| 309 | controls are: |
| 310 | |
| 311 | \dt \e{Select tile}: mouse pointer, arrow keys |
| 312 | |
| 313 | \dt \e{Rotate tile anticlockwise}: left mouse button, \q{A} key |
| 314 | |
| 315 | \dt \e{Rotate tile clockwise}: right mouse button, \q{D} key |
| 316 | |
| 317 | \dt \e{Lock (or unlock) tile}: middle mouse button, shift-click, \q{S} key |
| 318 | |
| 319 | \dd You can lock a tile once you're sure of its orientation. You can |
| 320 | also unlock it again, but while it's locked you can't accidentally |
| 321 | turn it. |
| 322 | |
| 323 | The following controls are not necessary to complete the game, but may |
| 324 | be useful: |
| 325 | |
| 326 | \dt \e{Shift grid}: Shift + arrow keys |
| 327 | |
| 328 | \dd On grids that wrap, you can move the origin of the grid, so that |
| 329 | tiles that were on opposite sides of the grid can be seen together. |
| 330 | |
| 331 | \dt \e{Move centre}: Ctrl + arrow keys |
| 332 | |
| 333 | \dd You can change which tile is used as the source of highlighting. |
| 334 | (It doesn't ultimately matter which tile this is, as every tile will |
| 335 | be connected to every other tile in a correct solution, but it may be |
| 336 | helpful in the intermediate stages of solving the puzzle.) |
| 337 | |
| 338 | \dt \e{Jumble tiles}: \q{J} key |
| 339 | |
| 340 | \dd This key turns all tiles that are not locked to random |
| 341 | orientations. |
| 342 | |
| 343 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
| 344 | |
| 345 | \H{net-params} \I{parameters, for Net}Net parameters |
| 346 | |
| 347 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the |
| 348 | \q{Type} menu. |
| 349 | |
| 350 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} |
| 351 | |
| 352 | \dd Size of grid in tiles. |
| 353 | |
| 354 | \dt \e{Walls wrap around} |
| 355 | |
| 356 | \dd If checked, flow can pass from the left edge to the right edge, |
| 357 | and from top to bottom, and vice versa. |
| 358 | |
| 359 | \dt \e{Barrier probability} |
| 360 | |
| 361 | \dd A number between 0.0 and 1.0 controlling whether an immovable |
| 362 | barrier is placed between two tiles to prevent flow between them (a |
| 363 | higher number gives more barriers). Since barriers are immovable, they |
| 364 | act as constraints on the solution (i.e., hints). |
| 365 | |
| 366 | \lcont{ |
| 367 | |
| 368 | The grid generation in Net has been carefully arranged so that the |
| 369 | barriers are independent of the rest of the grid. This means that if |
| 370 | you note down the random seed used to generate the current puzzle |
| 371 | (see \k{common-id}), change the \e{Barrier probability} parameter, |
| 372 | and then re-enter the same random seed, you should see exactly the |
| 373 | same starting grid, with the only change being the number of |
| 374 | barriers. So if you're stuck on a particular grid and need a hint, |
| 375 | you could start up another instance of Net, set up the same |
| 376 | parameters but a higher barrier probability, and enter the game seed |
| 377 | from the original Net window. |
| 378 | |
| 379 | } |
| 380 | |
| 381 | \dt \e{Ensure unique solution} |
| 382 | |
| 383 | \dd Normally, Net will make sure that the puzzles it presents have |
| 384 | only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more |
| 385 | difficult and more subtle, so if you like you can turn off this |
| 386 | feature and risk having ambiguous puzzles. (Also, finding \e{all} |
| 387 | the possible solutions can be an additional challenge for an |
| 388 | advanced player.) |
| 389 | |
| 390 | \C{cube} \i{Cube} |
| 391 | |
| 392 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.cube} |
| 393 | |
| 394 | This is another one I originally saw as a web game. This one was a |
| 395 | Java game \k{cube-java-game}, by Paul Scott. You have a grid of 16 |
| 396 | squares, six of which are blue; on one square rests a cube. Your move |
| 397 | is to use the arrow keys to roll the cube through 90 degrees so that |
| 398 | it moves to an adjacent square. If you roll the cube on to a blue |
| 399 | square, the blue square is picked up on one face of the cube; if you |
| 400 | roll a blue face of the cube on to a non-blue square, the blueness is |
| 401 | put down again. (In general, whenever you roll the cube, the two faces |
| 402 | that come into contact swap colours.) Your job is to get all six blue |
| 403 | squares on to the six faces of the cube at the same time. Count your |
| 404 | moves and try to do it in as few as possible. |
| 405 | |
| 406 | Unlike the original Java game, my version has an additional feature: |
| 407 | once you've mastered the game with a cube rolling on a square grid, |
| 408 | you can change to a triangular grid and roll any of a tetrahedron, an |
| 409 | octahedron or an icosahedron. |
| 410 | |
| 411 | \B{cube-java-game} \W{http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm}\cw{http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm} |
| 412 | |
| 413 | \H{cube-controls} \i{Cube controls} |
| 414 | |
| 415 | \IM{Cube controls} controls, for Cube |
| 416 | \IM{Cube controls} keys, for Cube |
| 417 | \IM{Cube controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Cube |
| 418 | |
| 419 | This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse. |
| 420 | |
| 421 | Left-clicking anywhere on the window will move the cube (or other |
| 422 | solid) towards the mouse pointer. |
| 423 | |
| 424 | The arrow keys can also used to roll the cube on its square grid in |
| 425 | the four cardinal directions. |
| 426 | On the triangular grids, the mapping of arrow keys to directions is |
| 427 | more approximate. Vertical movement is disallowed where it doesn't |
| 428 | make sense. The four keys surrounding the arrow keys on the numeric |
| 429 | keypad (\q{7}, \q{9}, \q{1}, \q{3}) can be used for diagonal movement. |
| 430 | |
| 431 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
| 432 | |
| 433 | \H{cube-params} \I{parameters, for Cube}Cube parameters |
| 434 | |
| 435 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the |
| 436 | \q{Type} menu. |
| 437 | |
| 438 | \dt \e{Type of solid} |
| 439 | |
| 440 | \dd Selects the solid to roll (and hence the shape of the grid): |
| 441 | tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, or icosahedron. |
| 442 | |
| 443 | \dt \e{Width / top}, \e{Height / bottom} |
| 444 | |
| 445 | \dd On a square grid, horizontal and vertical dimensions. On a |
| 446 | triangular grid, the number of triangles on the top and bottom rows |
| 447 | respectively. |
| 448 | |
| 449 | |
| 450 | \C{fifteen} \i{Fifteen} |
| 451 | |
| 452 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.fifteen} |
| 453 | |
| 454 | The old ones are the best: this is the good old \q{\i{15-puzzle}} |
| 455 | with sliding tiles. You have a 4\by\.4 square grid; 15 squares |
| 456 | contain numbered tiles, and the sixteenth is empty. Your move is to |
| 457 | choose a tile next to the empty space, and slide it into the space. |
| 458 | The aim is to end up with the tiles in numerical order, with the |
| 459 | space in the bottom right (so that the top row reads 1,2,3,4 and the |
| 460 | bottom row reads 13,14,15,\e{space}). |
| 461 | |
| 462 | \H{fifteen-controls} \i{Fifteen controls} |
| 463 | |
| 464 | \IM{Fifteen controls} controls, for Fifteen |
| 465 | \IM{Fifteen controls} keys, for Fifteen |
| 466 | \IM{Fifteen controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Fifteen |
| 467 | |
| 468 | This game can be controlled with the mouse or the keyboard. |
| 469 | |
| 470 | A left-click with the mouse in the row or column containing the empty |
| 471 | space will move as many tiles as necessary to move the space to the |
| 472 | mouse pointer. |
| 473 | |
| 474 | The arrow keys will move a tile adjacent to the space in the direction |
| 475 | indicated (moving the space in the \e{opposite} direction). |
| 476 | |
| 477 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
| 478 | |
| 479 | \H{fifteen-params} \I{parameters, for Fifteen}Fifteen parameters |
| 480 | |
| 481 | The only options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type} |
| 482 | menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory. (Once |
| 483 | you've changed these, it's not a \q{15-puzzle} any more, of course!) |
| 484 | |
| 485 | |
| 486 | \C{sixteen} \i{Sixteen} |
| 487 | |
| 488 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.sixteen} |
| 489 | |
| 490 | Another sliding tile puzzle, visually similar to Fifteen (see |
| 491 | \k{fifteen}) but with a different type of move. This time, there is no |
| 492 | hole: all 16 squares on the grid contain numbered squares. Your move |
| 493 | is to shift an entire row left or right, or shift an entire column up |
| 494 | or down; every time you do that, the tile you shift off the grid |
| 495 | re-appears at the other end of the same row, in the space you just |
| 496 | vacated. To win, arrange the tiles into numerical order (1,2,3,4 on |
| 497 | the top row, 13,14,15,16 on the bottom). When you've done that, try |
| 498 | playing on different sizes of grid. |
| 499 | |
| 500 | I \e{might} have invented this game myself, though only by accident if |
| 501 | so (and I'm sure other people have independently invented it). I |
| 502 | thought I was imitating a screensaver I'd seen, but I have a feeling |
| 503 | that the screensaver might actually have been a Fifteen-type puzzle |
| 504 | rather than this slightly different kind. So this might be the one |
| 505 | thing in my puzzle collection which represents creativity on my part |
| 506 | rather than just engineering. |
| 507 | |
| 508 | \H{sixteen-controls} \I{controls, for Sixteen}Sixteen controls |
| 509 | |
| 510 | This game is played with the mouse. Left-clicking on an arrow will |
| 511 | move the appropriate row or column in the direction indicated. |
| 512 | Right-clicking will move it in the opposite direction. |
| 513 | |
| 514 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
| 515 | |
| 516 | \H{sixteen-params} \I{parameters, for Sixteen}Sixteen parameters |
| 517 | |
| 518 | The parameters available from the \q{Custom...} option on the |
| 519 | \q{Type} menu are: |
| 520 | |
| 521 | \b \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory. |
| 522 | |
| 523 | \b You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed on |
| 524 | the grid. By default, Sixteen will shuffle the grid in such a way |
| 525 | that any arrangement is about as probable as any other. You can |
| 526 | override this by requesting a precise number of shuffling moves to |
| 527 | be performed. Typically your aim is then to determine the precise |
| 528 | set of shuffling moves and invert them exactly, so that you answer |
| 529 | (say) a four-move shuffle with a four-move solution. Note that the |
| 530 | more moves you ask for, the more likely it is that solutions shorter |
| 531 | than the target length will turn out to be possible. |
| 532 | |
| 533 | |
| 534 | \C{twiddle} \i{Twiddle} |
| 535 | |
| 536 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.twiddle} |
| 537 | |
| 538 | Twiddle is a tile-rearrangement puzzle, visually similar to Sixteen |
| 539 | (see \k{sixteen}): you are given a grid of square tiles, each |
| 540 | containing a number, and your aim is to arrange the numbers into |
| 541 | ascending order. |
| 542 | |
| 543 | In basic Twiddle, your move is to rotate a square group of four |
| 544 | tiles about their common centre. (Orientation is not significant in |
| 545 | the basic puzzle, although you can select it.) On more advanced |
| 546 | settings, you can rotate a larger square group of tiles. |
| 547 | |
| 548 | I first saw this type of puzzle in the GameCube game \q{Metroid |
| 549 | Prime 2}. In the Main Gyro Chamber in that game, there is a puzzle |
| 550 | you solve to unlock a door, which is a special case of Twiddle. I |
| 551 | developed this game as a generalisation of that puzzle. |
| 552 | |
| 553 | \H{twiddle-controls} \I{controls, for Twiddle}Twiddle controls |
| 554 | |
| 555 | To play Twiddle, click the mouse in the centre of the square group |
| 556 | you wish to rotate. In the basic mode, you rotate a 2\by\.2 square, |
| 557 | which means you have to click at a corner point where four tiles |
| 558 | meet. |
| 559 | |
| 560 | In more advanced modes you might be rotating 3\by\.3 or even more at |
| 561 | a time; if the size of the square is odd then you simply click in |
| 562 | the centre tile of the square you want to rotate. |
| 563 | |
| 564 | Clicking with the left mouse button rotates the group anticlockwise. |
| 565 | Clicking with the right button rotates it clockwise. |
| 566 | |
| 567 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
| 568 | |
| 569 | \H{twiddle-parameters} \I{parameters, for Twiddle}Twiddle parameters |
| 570 | |
| 571 | Twiddle provides several configuration options via the \q{Custom} |
| 572 | option on the \q{Type} menu: |
| 573 | |
| 574 | \b You can configure the width and height of the puzzle grid. |
| 575 | |
| 576 | \b You can configure the size of square block that rotates at a time. |
| 577 | |
| 578 | \b You can ask for every square in the grid to be distinguishable |
| 579 | (the default), or you can ask for a simplified puzzle in which there |
| 580 | are groups of identical numbers. In the simplified puzzle your aim |
| 581 | is just to arrange all the 1s into the first row, all the 2s into |
| 582 | the second row, and so on. |
| 583 | |
| 584 | \b You can configure whether the orientation of tiles matters. If |
| 585 | you ask for an orientable puzzle, each tile will have a triangle |
| 586 | drawn in it. All the triangles must be pointing upwards to complete |
| 587 | the puzzle. |
| 588 | |
| 589 | \b You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed on |
| 590 | the grid. By default, Twiddle will shuffle the grid so much that any |
| 591 | arrangement is about as probable as any other. You can override this |
| 592 | by requesting a precise number of shuffling moves to be performed. |
| 593 | Typically your aim is then to determine the precise set of shuffling |
| 594 | moves and invert them exactly, so that you answer (say) a four-move |
| 595 | shuffle with a four-move solution. Note that the more moves you ask |
| 596 | for, the more likely it is that solutions shorter than the target |
| 597 | length will turn out to be possible. |
| 598 | |
| 599 | |
| 600 | \C{rectangles} \i{Rectangles} |
| 601 | |
| 602 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.rectangles} |
| 603 | |
| 604 | You have a grid of squares, with numbers written in some (but not all) |
| 605 | of the squares. Your task is to subdivide the grid into rectangles of |
| 606 | various sizes, such that (a) every rectangle contains exactly one |
| 607 | numbered square, and (b) the area of each rectangle is equal to the |
| 608 | number written in its numbered square. |
| 609 | |
| 610 | Credit for this game goes to the Japanese puzzle magazine \i{Nikoli} |
| 611 | \k{nikoli-rect}; I've also seen a Palm implementation at \i{Puzzle |
| 612 | Palace} \k{puzzle-palace-rect}. Unlike Puzzle Palace's |
| 613 | implementation, my version automatically generates random grids of |
| 614 | any size you like. The quality of puzzle design is therefore not |
| 615 | quite as good as hand-crafted puzzles would be, but on the plus side |
| 616 | you get an inexhaustible supply of puzzles tailored to your own |
| 617 | specification. |
| 618 | |
| 619 | \B{nikoli-rect} \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/7/index_text-e.htm}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/7/index_text-e.htm} |
| 620 | |
| 621 | \B{puzzle-palace-rect} \W{http://www.puzzle.gr.jp/puzzle/sikaku/palm/index.html.en}\cw{http://www.puzzle.gr.jp/puzzle/sikaku/palm/index.html.en} |
| 622 | |
| 623 | \H{rectangles-controls} \I{controls, for Rectangles}Rectangles controls |
| 624 | |
| 625 | This game is played with the mouse. |
| 626 | |
| 627 | Left-click any edge to toggle it on or off, or click and drag to draw |
| 628 | an entire rectangle (or line) on the grid in one go (removing any |
| 629 | existing edges within that rectangle). |
| 630 | |
| 631 | When a rectangle of the correct size is completed, it will be shaded. |
| 632 | |
| 633 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
| 634 | |
| 635 | \H{rectangles-params} \I{parameters, for Rectangles}Rectangles parameters |
| 636 | |
| 637 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the |
| 638 | \q{Type} menu. |
| 639 | |
| 640 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} |
| 641 | |
| 642 | \dd Size of grid, in squares. |
| 643 | |
| 644 | \dt \e{Expansion factor} |
| 645 | |
| 646 | \dd This is a mechanism for changing the type of grids generated by |
| 647 | the program. Some people prefer a grid containing a few large |
| 648 | rectangles to one containing many small ones. So you can ask |
| 649 | Rectangles to essentially generate a \e{smaller} grid than the size |
| 650 | you specified, and then to expand it by adding rows and columns. |
| 651 | |
| 652 | \lcont{ |
| 653 | |
| 654 | The default expansion factor of zero means that Rectangles will |
| 655 | simply generate a grid of the size you ask for, and do nothing |
| 656 | further. If you set an expansion factor of (say) 0.5, it means that |
| 657 | each dimension of the grid will be expanded to half again as big |
| 658 | after generation. In other words, the initial grid will be 2/3 the |
| 659 | size in each dimension, and will be expanded to its full size |
| 660 | without adding any more rectangles. |
| 661 | |
| 662 | Setting an expansion factor of around 0.5 tends to make the game |
| 663 | more difficult, and also (in my experience) rewards a less deductive |
| 664 | and more intuitive playing style. If you set it \e{too} high, |
| 665 | though, the game simply cannot generate more than a few rectangles |
| 666 | to cover the entire grid, and the game becomes trivial. |
| 667 | |
| 668 | } |
| 669 | |
| 670 | \dt \e{Ensure unique solution} |
| 671 | |
| 672 | \dd Normally, Rectangles will make sure that the puzzles it presents |
| 673 | have only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more |
| 674 | difficult and more subtle, so if you like you can turn off this |
| 675 | feature and risk having ambiguous puzzles. Also, finding \e{all} the |
| 676 | possible solutions can be an additional challenge for an advanced |
| 677 | player. Turning off this option can also speed up puzzle generation. |
| 678 | |
| 679 | |
| 680 | \C{netslide} \i{Netslide} |
| 681 | |
| 682 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.netslide} |
| 683 | |
| 684 | This game combines the grid generation of Net (see \k{net}) with the |
| 685 | movement of Sixteen (see \k{sixteen}): you have a Net grid, but |
| 686 | instead of rotating tiles back into place you have to slide them |
| 687 | into place by moving a whole row at a time. |
| 688 | |
| 689 | As in Sixteen, \I{controls, for Netslide}control is with the mouse. |
| 690 | See \k{sixteen-controls}. |
| 691 | |
| 692 | \I{parameters, for Netslide}The available game parameters have similar |
| 693 | meanings to those in Net (see \k{net-params}) and Sixteen (see |
| 694 | \k{sixteen-params}). |
| 695 | |
| 696 | Netslide was contributed to this collection by Richard Boulton. |
| 697 | |
| 698 | \C{pattern} \i{Pattern} |
| 699 | |
| 700 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.pattern} |
| 701 | |
| 702 | You have a grid of squares, which must all be filled in either black |
| 703 | or white. Beside each row of the grid are listed the lengths of the |
| 704 | runs of black squares on that row; above each column are listed the |
| 705 | lengths of the runs of black squares in that column. Your aim is to |
| 706 | fill in the entire grid black or white. |
| 707 | |
| 708 | I first saw this puzzle form around 1995, under the name |
| 709 | \q{\i{nonograms}}. I've seen it in various places since then, under |
| 710 | different names. |
| 711 | |
| 712 | Normally, puzzles of this type turn out to be a meaningful picture |
| 713 | of something once you've solved them. However, since this version |
| 714 | generates the puzzles automatically, they will just look like random |
| 715 | groupings of squares. (One user has suggested that this is actually |
| 716 | a \e{good} thing, since it prevents you from guessing the colour of |
| 717 | squares based on the picture, and forces you to use logic instead.) |
| 718 | The advantage, though, is that you never run out of them. |
| 719 | |
| 720 | \H{pattern-controls} \I{controls, for Pattern}Pattern controls |
| 721 | |
| 722 | This game is played with the mouse. |
| 723 | |
| 724 | Left-click in a square to colour it black. Right-click to colour it |
| 725 | white. If you make a mistake, you can middle-click, or hold down |
| 726 | Shift while clicking with any button, to colour the square in the |
| 727 | default grey (meaning \q{undecided}) again. |
| 728 | |
| 729 | You can click and drag with the left or right mouse button to colour |
| 730 | a vertical or horizontal line of squares black or white at a time |
| 731 | (respectively). If you click and drag with the middle button, or |
| 732 | with Shift held down, you can colour a whole rectangle of squares |
| 733 | grey. |
| 734 | |
| 735 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
| 736 | |
| 737 | \H{pattern-parameters} \I{parameters, for Pattern}Pattern parameters |
| 738 | |
| 739 | The only options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type} |
| 740 | menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory. |
| 741 | |
| 742 | |
| 743 | \C{solo} \i{Solo} |
| 744 | |
| 745 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.solo} |
| 746 | |
| 747 | You have a square grid, which is divided into square or rectangular |
| 748 | blocks. Each square must be filled in with a digit from 1 to the |
| 749 | size of the grid, in such a way that |
| 750 | |
| 751 | \b every row contains only one occurrence of each digit |
| 752 | |
| 753 | \b every column contains only one occurrence of each digit |
| 754 | |
| 755 | \b every block contains only one occurrence of each digit. |
| 756 | |
| 757 | You are given some of the numbers as clues; your aim is to place the |
| 758 | rest of the numbers correctly. |
| 759 | |
| 760 | The default puzzle size is 3\by\.3 (a 9\by\.9 actual grid, divided |
| 761 | into nine 3\by\.3 blocks). You can also select sizes with |
| 762 | rectangular blocks instead of square ones, such as 2\by\.3 (a |
| 763 | 6\by\.6 grid divided into six 3\by\.2 blocks). |
| 764 | |
| 765 | If you select a puzzle size which requires more than 9 digits, the |
| 766 | additional digits will be letters of the alphabet. For example, if |
| 767 | you select 3\by\.4 then the digits which go in your grid will be 1 |
| 768 | to 9, plus \cq{a}, \cq{b} and \cq{c}. |
| 769 | |
| 770 | I first saw this puzzle in \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-solo}, although it's also |
| 771 | been popularised by various newspapers under the name \q{Sudoku} or |
| 772 | \q{Su Doku}. |
| 773 | |
| 774 | \B{nikoli-solo} \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/1/index_text-e.htm}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/1/index_text-e.htm} |
| 775 | |
| 776 | \H{solo-controls} \I{controls, for Solo}Solo controls |
| 777 | |
| 778 | To play Solo, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then |
| 779 | type a digit or letter on the keyboard to fill that square. If you |
| 780 | make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press |
| 781 | Space to clear it again (or use the Undo feature). |
| 782 | |
| 783 | If you \e{right}-click in a square and then type a number, that |
| 784 | number will be entered in the square as a \q{pencil mark}. You can |
| 785 | have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square. |
| 786 | |
| 787 | The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you use |
| 788 | them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a |
| 789 | particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about a |
| 790 | particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible |
| 791 | numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like. |
| 792 | |
| 793 | To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type |
| 794 | the same number again. |
| 795 | |
| 796 | All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type |
| 797 | a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and |
| 798 | pressing space will also erase pencil marks. |
| 799 | |
| 800 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
| 801 | |
| 802 | \H{solo-parameters} \I{parameters, for Solo}Solo parameters |
| 803 | |
| 804 | Solo allows you to configure two separate dimensions of the puzzle |
| 805 | grid on the \q{Type} menu: the number of columns, and the number of |
| 806 | rows, into which the main grid is divided. (The size of a block is |
| 807 | the inverse of this: for example, if you select 2 columns and 3 rows, |
| 808 | each actual block will have 3 columns and 2 rows.) |
| 809 | |
| 810 | You can also configure the type of symmetry shown in the generated |
| 811 | puzzles. More symmetry makes the puzzles look prettier but may also |
| 812 | make them easier, since the symmetry constraints can force more |
| 813 | clues than necessary to be present. Completely asymmetric puzzles |
| 814 | have the freedom to contain as few clues as possible. |
| 815 | |
| 816 | Finally, you can configure the difficulty of the generated puzzles. |
| 817 | Difficulty levels are judged by the complexity of the techniques of |
| 818 | deduction required to solve the puzzle: each level requires a mode |
| 819 | of reasoning which was not necessary in the previous one. In |
| 820 | particular, on difficulty levels \q{Trivial} and \q{Basic} there |
| 821 | will be a square you can fill in with a single number at all times, |
| 822 | whereas at \q{Intermediate} level and beyond you will have to make |
| 823 | partial deductions about the \e{set} of squares a number could be in |
| 824 | (or the set of numbers that could be in a square). At |
| 825 | \q{Unreasonable} level, even this is not enough, and you will |
| 826 | eventually have to make a guess, and then backtrack if it turns out |
| 827 | to be wrong. |
| 828 | |
| 829 | Generating difficult puzzles is itself difficult: if you select |
| 830 | \q{Intermediate} or \q{Advanced} difficulty, Solo may have to make |
| 831 | many attempts at generating a puzzle before it finds one hard enough |
| 832 | for you. Be prepared to wait, especially if you have also configured |
| 833 | a large puzzle size. |
| 834 | |
| 835 | |
| 836 | \C{mines} \i{Mines} |
| 837 | |
| 838 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.mines} |
| 839 | |
| 840 | You have a grid of covered squares, some of which contain mines, but |
| 841 | you don't know which. Your job is to uncover every square which does |
| 842 | \e{not} contain a mine. If you uncover a square containing a mine, |
| 843 | you lose. If you uncover a square which does not contain a mine, you |
| 844 | are told how many mines are contained within the eight surrounding |
| 845 | squares. |
| 846 | |
| 847 | This game needs no introduction; popularised by Windows, it is |
| 848 | perhaps the single best known desktop puzzle game in existence. |
| 849 | |
| 850 | This version of it has an unusual property. By default, it will |
| 851 | generate its mine positions in such a way as to ensure that you |
| 852 | never need to \e{guess} where a mine is: you will always be able to |
| 853 | deduce it somehow. So you will never, as can happen in other |
| 854 | versions, get to the last four squares and discover that there are |
| 855 | two mines left but you have no way of knowing for sure where they |
| 856 | are. |
| 857 | |
| 858 | \H{mines-controls} \I{controls, for Mines}Mines controls |
| 859 | |
| 860 | This game is played with the mouse. |
| 861 | |
| 862 | If you left-click in a covered square, it will be uncovered. |
| 863 | |
| 864 | If you right-click in a covered square, it will place a flag which |
| 865 | indicates that the square is believed to be a mine. Left-clicking in |
| 866 | a marked square will not uncover it, for safety. You can right-click |
| 867 | again to remove a mark placed in error. |
| 868 | |
| 869 | If you left-click in an \e{uncovered} square, it will \q{clear |
| 870 | around} the square. This means: if the square has exactly as many |
| 871 | flags surrounding it as it should have mines, then all the covered |
| 872 | squares next to it which are \e{not} flagged will be uncovered. So |
| 873 | once you think you know the location of all the mines around a |
| 874 | square, you can use this function as a shortcut to avoid having to |
| 875 | click on each of the remaining squares one by one. |
| 876 | |
| 877 | If you uncover a square which has \e{no} mines in the surrounding |
| 878 | eight squares, then it is obviously safe to uncover those squares in |
| 879 | turn, and so on if any of them also has no surrounding mines. This |
| 880 | will be done for you automatically; so sometimes when you uncover a |
| 881 | square, a whole new area will open up to be explored. |
| 882 | |
| 883 | All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available. |
| 884 | |
| 885 | Even Undo is available, although you might consider it cheating to |
| 886 | use it. If you step on a mine, the program will only reveal the mine |
| 887 | in question (unlike most other implementations, which reveal all of |
| 888 | them). You can then Undo your fatal move and continue playing if you |
| 889 | like. The program will track the number of times you died (and Undo |
| 890 | will not reduce that counter), so when you get to the end of the |
| 891 | game you know whether or not you did it without making any errors. |
| 892 | |
| 893 | (If you really want to know the full layout of the grid, which other |
| 894 | implementations will show you after you die, you can always use the |
| 895 | Solve menu option.) |
| 896 | |
| 897 | \H{mines-parameters} \I{parameters, for Mines}Mines parameters |
| 898 | |
| 899 | The options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type} |
| 900 | menu are: |
| 901 | |
| 902 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} |
| 903 | |
| 904 | \dd Size of grid in squares. |
| 905 | |
| 906 | \dt \e{Mines} |
| 907 | |
| 908 | \dd Number of mines in the grid. You can enter this as an absolute |
| 909 | mine count, or alternatively you can put a \cw{%} sign on the end in |
| 910 | which case the game will arrange for that proportion of the squares |
| 911 | in the grid to be mines. |
| 912 | |
| 913 | \lcont{ |
| 914 | |
| 915 | Beware of setting the mine count too high. At very high densities, |
| 916 | the program may spend forever searching for a solvable grid. |
| 917 | |
| 918 | } |
| 919 | |
| 920 | \dt \e{Ensure solubility} |
| 921 | |
| 922 | \dd When this option is enabled (as it is by default), Mines will |
| 923 | ensure that the entire grid can be fully deduced starting from the |
| 924 | initial open space. If you prefer the riskier grids generated by |
| 925 | other implementations, you can switch off this option. |
| 926 | |
| 927 | |
| 928 | \C{samegame} \i{Same Game} |
| 929 | |
| 930 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.samegame} |
| 931 | |
| 932 | You have a grid of coloured squares, which you have to clear by |
| 933 | highlighting contiguous regions of more than one coloured square; |
| 934 | the larger the region you highlight, the more points you get (and |
| 935 | the faster you clear the arena). |
| 936 | |
| 937 | If you clear the grid you win. If you end up with nothing but |
| 938 | single squares (i.e., there are no more clickable regions left) you |
| 939 | lose. |
| 940 | |
| 941 | Removing a region causes the rest of the grid to shuffle up: |
| 942 | blocks that are suspended will fall down (first), and then empty |
| 943 | columns are filled from the right. |
| 944 | |
| 945 | The game generator does not try to guarantee soluble grids; |
| 946 | it will, however, ensure that there are at least 2 squares of each |
| 947 | colour on the grid at the start (and will forbid custom grids for which |
| 948 | that would be impossible). |
| 949 | |
| 950 | Same Game was contributed to this collection by James Harvey. |
| 951 | |
| 952 | \H{samegame-controls} \i{Same Game controls} |
| 953 | |
| 954 | \IM{Same Game controls} controls, for Same Game |
| 955 | \IM{Same Game controls} keys, for Same Game |
| 956 | \IM{Same Game controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Same Game |
| 957 | |
| 958 | This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse. |
| 959 | |
| 960 | If you left-click an unselected region, it becomes selected (possibly |
| 961 | clearing the current selection). |
| 962 | |
| 963 | If you left-click the selected region, it will be removed (and the |
| 964 | rest of the grid shuffled immediately). |
| 965 | |
| 966 | If you right-click the selected region, it will be unselected. |
| 967 | |
| 968 | The cursor keys move a cursor around the grid. Pressing the Space or |
| 969 | Enter keys while the cursor is in an unselected region selects it; |
| 970 | pressing Space or Enter again removes it as above. |
| 971 | |
| 972 | \H{samegame-parameters} \I{parameters, for Same Game}Same Game parameters |
| 973 | |
| 974 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the |
| 975 | \q{Type} menu. |
| 976 | |
| 977 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} |
| 978 | |
| 979 | \dd Size of grid in squares. |
| 980 | |
| 981 | \dt \e{No. of colours} |
| 982 | |
| 983 | \dd Number of different colours used to fill the grid; the more colours, |
| 984 | the fewer large regions of colour and thus the more difficult it is to |
| 985 | successfully clear the grid. |
| 986 | |
| 987 | \dt \e{Scoring system} |
| 988 | |
| 989 | \dd Controls the precise mechanism used for scoring. With the default |
| 990 | system, \q{(n-2)^2}, only regions of three squares or more will score |
| 991 | any points at all. With the alternative \q{(n-1)^2} system, regions of |
| 992 | two squares score a point each, and larger regions score relatively |
| 993 | more points. |
| 994 | |
| 995 | |
| 996 | \C{flip} \i{Flip} |
| 997 | |
| 998 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.flip} |
| 999 | |
| 1000 | You have a grid of squares, some light and some dark. Your aim is to |
| 1001 | light all the squares up at the same time. You can choose any square |
| 1002 | and flip its state from light to dark or dark to light, but when you |
| 1003 | do so, other squares around it change state as well. |
| 1004 | |
| 1005 | Each square contains a small diagram showing which other squares |
| 1006 | change when you flip it. |
| 1007 | |
| 1008 | \H{flip-controls} \i{Flip controls} |
| 1009 | |
| 1010 | \IM{Flip controls} controls, for Flip |
| 1011 | \IM{Flip controls} keys, for Flip |
| 1012 | \IM{Flip controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Flip |
| 1013 | |
| 1014 | Left-click in a square to flip it and its associated squares. |
| 1015 | |
| 1016 | If you use the \q{Solve} function on this game, it will highlight |
| 1017 | some of the squares with red blobs. If you click once in every |
| 1018 | square with a red blob, the game should be solved. (If you click in |
| 1019 | a square \e{without} a red blob, a red blob will appear in it to |
| 1020 | indicate that you will need to reverse that operation to reach the |
| 1021 | solution.) |
| 1022 | |
| 1023 | \H{flip-parameters} \I{parameters, for flip}Flip parameters |
| 1024 | |
| 1025 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the |
| 1026 | \q{Type} menu. |
| 1027 | |
| 1028 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} |
| 1029 | |
| 1030 | \dd Size of grid in squares. |
| 1031 | |
| 1032 | \dt \e{Shape type} |
| 1033 | |
| 1034 | \dd This control determines the shape of the region which is flipped |
| 1035 | by clicking in any given square. The default setting, \q{Crosses}, |
| 1036 | causes every square to flip itself and its four immediate neighbours |
| 1037 | (or three or two if it's at an edge or corner). The other setting, |
| 1038 | \q{Random}, causes a random shape to be chosen for every square, so |
| 1039 | the game is different every time. |
| 1040 | |
| 1041 | |
| 1042 | \A{licence} \I{MIT licence}\ii{Licence} |
| 1043 | |
| 1044 | This software is \i{copyright} 2004-2005 Simon Tatham. |
| 1045 | |
| 1046 | Portions copyright Richard Boulton and James Harvey. |
| 1047 | |
| 1048 | Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person |
| 1049 | obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files |
| 1050 | (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, |
| 1051 | including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, |
| 1052 | publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, |
| 1053 | and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, |
| 1054 | subject to the following conditions: |
| 1055 | |
| 1056 | The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be |
| 1057 | included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. |
| 1058 | |
| 1059 | THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, |
| 1060 | EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF |
| 1061 | MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND |
| 1062 | NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS |
| 1063 | BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN |
| 1064 | ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN |
| 1065 | CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE |
| 1066 | SOFTWARE. |
| 1067 | |
| 1068 | \IM{specific} \q{Specific}, menu option |
| 1069 | \IM{custom} \q{Custom}, menu option |
| 1070 | |
| 1071 | \IM{game ID} game ID |
| 1072 | \IM{game ID} ID, game |
| 1073 | \IM{ID format} ID format |
| 1074 | \IM{ID format} format, ID |
| 1075 | \IM{ID format} game ID, format |
| 1076 | |
| 1077 | \IM{keys} keys |
| 1078 | \IM{keys} shortcuts (keyboard) |
| 1079 | |
| 1080 | \IM{initial state} initial state |
| 1081 | \IM{initial state} state, initial |
| 1082 | |
| 1083 | \IM{MIT licence} MIT licence |
| 1084 | \IM{MIT licence} licence, MIT |