\dd Closes the application entirely.
-\H{common-id} Recreating games with the \ii{game ID}
-
-The \q{\i{Specific...}} option from the \I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu
-(or the \q{File} menu, on Mac OS X) lets you see a short string (the
-\q{game ID}) that captures the initial state of the current game.
-
-The precise \I{ID format}format of the ID is specific to each game.
-It consists of two parts delimited by a colon (e.g., \c{c4x4:4F01,0});
-the first part encodes \i\e{parameters} (such as grid size), while the
-second part encodes a \i\e{seed}, which determines the \i{initial
-state} of the game within those parameters.
-
-You can specify a new ID (or just a seed) here. Pressing \q{OK} starts
-a new game with the specified ID (whether you changed it or not).
-Pressing \q{Cancel} returns to the current game.
-
-You can also use the game ID (or just the encoded parameters) as a
-\i{command line} argument; see \k{common-cmdline} for more detail.
-
-Game IDs are portable across platforms; you can use a game ID
-generated by the Windows version of a game on the Unix version, etc.
+\H{common-id} Specifying games with the \ii{game ID}
+
+There are two ways to save a game specification out of a puzzle and
+recreate it later, or recreate it in somebody else's copy of the
+same puzzle.
+
+The \q{\i{Specific}} and \q{\i{Random Seed}} options from the
+\I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu (or the \q{File} menu, on Mac OS X) each
+show a piece of text (a \q{game ID}) which is sufficient to
+reconstruct precisely the same game at a later date.
+
+You can enter either of these pieces of text back into the program
+(via the same \q{Specific} or \q{Random Seed} menu options) at a
+later point, and it will recreate the same game. You can also use
+either one as a \i{command line} argument (on Windows or Unix); see
+\k{common-cmdline} for more detail.
+
+The difference between the two forms is that a descriptive game ID
+is a literal \e{description} of the \i{initial state} of the game,
+whereas a random seed is just a piece of arbitrary text which was
+provided as input to the random number generator used to create the
+puzzle. This means that:
+
+\b Descriptive game IDs tend to be longer in many puzzles (although
+some, such as Cube (\k{cube}), only need very short descriptions).
+So a random seed is often a \e{quicker} way to note down the puzzle
+you're currently playing, or to tell it to somebody else so they can
+play the same one as you.
+
+\b Any text at all is a valid random seed. The automatically
+generated ones are fifteen-digit numbers, but anything will do; you
+can type in your full name, or a word you just made up, and a valid
+puzzle will be generated from it. This provides a way for two or
+more people to race to complete the same puzzle: you think of a
+random seed, then everybody types it in at the same time, and nobody
+has an advantage due to having seen the generated puzzle before
+anybody else.
+
+\b It is often possible to convert puzzles from other sources (such
+as \q{nonograms} or \q{sudoku} from newspapers) into descriptive
+game IDs suitable for use with these programs.
+
+\b Random seeds are not guaranteed to produce the same result if you
+use them with a different \i\e{version} of the puzzle program. This
+is because the generation algorithm might have been improved or
+modified in later versions of the code, and will therefore produce a
+different result when given the same sequence of random numbers. Use
+a descriptive game ID if you aren't sure that it will be used on the
+same version of the program as yours.
+
+\lcont{(Use the \q{About} menu option to find out the version number
+of the program. Programs with the same version number running on
+different platforms should still be random-seed compatible.)}
+
+\I{ID format}A descriptive game ID starts with a piece of text which
+encodes the \i\e{parameters} of the current game (such as grid
+size). Then there is a colon, and after that is the description of
+the game's initial state. A random seed starts with a similar string
+of parameters, but then it contains a hash sign followed by
+arbitrary data.
+
+If you enter a descriptive game ID, the program will not be able to
+show you the random seed which generated it, since it wasn't
+generated \e{from} a random seed. If you \e{enter} a random seed,
+however, the program will be able to show you the descriptive game
+ID derived from that random seed.
+
+Note that the game parameter strings are not always identical
+between the two forms. For some games, there will be parameter data
+provided with the random seed which is not included in the
+descriptive game ID. This is because that parameter information is
+only relevant when \e{generating} puzzle grids, and is not important
+when playing them. Thus, for example, the difficulty level in Solo
+(\k{solo}) is not mentioned in the descriptive game ID.
+
+These additional parameters are also not set permanently if you type
+in a game ID. For example, suppose you have Solo set to \q{Advanced}
+difficulty level, and then a friend wants your help with a
+\q{Trivial} puzzle; so the friend reads out a random seed specifying
+\q{Trivial} difficulty, and you type it in. The program will
+generate you the same \q{Trivial} grid which your friend was having
+trouble with, but once you have finished playing it, when you ask
+for a new game it will automatically go back to the \q{Advanced}
+difficulty which it was previously set on.
\H{common-type} The \q{Type} menu
\i{preset} game settings. Selecting one of these will start a new
random game with the parameters specified.
-The \q{Type} menu may also contain a \q{\i{Custom...}} option which
-allows you to fine-tune game \i{parameters}. The parameters available
-are specific to each game and are described in the following sections.
+The \q{Type} menu may also contain a \q{\i{Custom}} option which
+allows you to fine-tune game \i{parameters}. The parameters
+available are specific to each game and are described in the
+following sections.
\H{common-cmdline} Specifying game parameters on the \i{command line}
The easiest way to do this is to set up the parameters you want
using the \q{Type} menu (see \k{common-type}), and then to select
-\q{Specific} from the \q{Game} or \q{File} menu (see \k{common-id}).
-The text in the \q{Game ID} box will be composed of two parts,
-separated by a colon. The first of these parts represents the game
-parameters (the size of the playing area, for example, and anything
-else you set using the \q{Type} menu).
+\q{Random Seed} from the \q{Game} or \q{File} menu (see
+\k{common-id}). The text in the \q{Game ID} box will be composed of
+two parts, separated by a hash. The first of these parts represents
+the game parameters (the size of the playing area, for example, and
+anything else you set using the \q{Type} menu).
If you run the game with just that parameter text on the command
line, it will start up with the settings you specified.
For example: if you run Cube (see \k{cube}), select \q{Octahedron}
from the \q{Type} menu, and then go to the game ID selection, you
-will see a string of the form \cq{o2x2:911A81,10}. Take only the
-part before the colon (\cq{o2x2}), and start Cube with that text on
-the command line: \cq{cube o2x2}.
+will see a string of the form \cq{o2x2#338686542711620}. Take only
+the part before the hash (\cq{o2x2}), and start Cube with that text
+on the command line: \cq{cube o2x2}.
If you copy the \e{entire} game ID on to the command line, the game
will start up in the specific game that was described. This is
occasionally a more convenient way to start a particular game ID
than by pasting it into the game ID selection box.
+(You could also retrieve the encoded game parameters using the
+\q{Specific} menu option instead of \q{Random Seed}, but if you do
+then some options, such as the difficulty level in Solo, will be
+missing. See \k{common-id} for more details on this.)
+
\C{net} \i{Net}
\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.net}
The grid generation in Net has been carefully arranged so that the
barriers are independent of the rest of the grid. This means that if
-you change the \e{Barrier probability} parameter, and then re-enter
-the same game ID you were playing before (see \k{common-id}), you
-should see exactly the same starting grid, with the only change
-being the number of barriers. So if you're stuck on a particular
-grid and need a hint, you could start up another instance of Net,
-set up the same parameters but a higher barrier probability, and
-enter the game seed from the original Net window.
+you note down the random seed used to generate the current puzzle
+(see \k{common-id}), change the \e{Barrier probability} parameter,
+and then re-enter the same random seed, you should see exactly the
+same starting grid, with the only change being the number of
+barriers. So if you're stuck on a particular grid and need a hint,
+you could start up another instance of Net, set up the same
+parameters but a higher barrier probability, and enter the game seed
+from the original Net window.
}
more moves you ask for, the more likely it is that solutions shorter
than the target length will turn out to be possible.
-\H{sixteen-cmdline} \I{command line, for Sixteen}Additional
-command-line configuration
-
-The limited shuffle parameter, described in \k{sixteen-params}, is
-not mentioned by default in the game ID (see \k{common-id}). So if
-you set your shuffling move count to (say) 4, and then you generate
-a normal 4\by\.4 grid, then the game ID will simply say
-\c{4x4:}\e{numbers}. This means that if you send the game ID to
-another player and they paste it into their copy of Sixteen, their
-game will not be automatically configured to use the same shuffle
-limit in any subsequent grids it generates. (I don't think the
-average person examining a single grid sent to them by another
-player would want their configuration modified to that extent.)
-
-If you are specifying a game ID or game parameters on the command
-line (see \k{common-cmdline}) and you do want to configure the
-shuffle limit, you can do it by suffixing the letter \cq{m} to the
-parameters, followed by the move count as a decimal number. For
-example, \cq{sixteen 4x4m4} will start up Sixteen with a problem
-guaranteed to be soluble in four moves or fewer.
-
\C{twiddle} \i{Twiddle}
for, the more likely it is that solutions shorter than the target
length will turn out to be possible.
-\H{twiddle-cmdline} \I{command line, for Twiddle}Additional
-command-line configuration
-
-The limited shuffle parameter, described in \k{twiddle-parameters},
-is not mentioned by default in the game ID (see \k{common-id}). So
-if you set your shuffling move count to (say) 4, and then you
-generate a normal 3\by\.3 grid, then the game ID will simply say
-\c{3x3n2:}\e{numbers}. This means that if you send the game ID to
-another player and they paste it into their copy of Twiddle, their
-game will not be automatically configured to use the same shuffle
-limit in any subsequent grids it generates. (I don't think the
-average person examining a single grid sent to them by another
-player would want their configuration modified to that extent.)
-
-If you are specifying a game ID or game parameters on the command
-line (see \k{common-cmdline}) and you do want to configure the
-shuffle limit, you can do it by suffixing the letter \cq{m} to the
-parameters, followed by the move count as a decimal number. For
-example, \cq{twiddle 3x3n2m4} will start up Twiddle with a problem
-guaranteed to be soluble in four moves or fewer.
\C{rectangles} \i{Rectangles}
though, the game simply cannot generate more than a few rectangles
to cover the entire grid, and the game becomes trivial.
-\H{rectangles-cmdline} \I{command line, for Rectangles}Additional
-command-line configuration
-
-The expansion factor parameter, described in \k{rectangles-params},
-is not mentioned by default in the game ID (see \k{common-id}). So
-if you set your expansion factor to (say) 0.75, and then you
-generate an 11\by\.11 grid, then the game ID will simply say
-\c{11x11:}\e{numbers}. This means that if you send the game ID to
-another player and they paste it into their copy of Rectangles,
-their game will not be automatically configured to use the same
-expansion factor in any subsequent grids it generates. (I don't
-think the average person examining a single grid sent to them by
-another player would want their configuration modified to that
-extent.)
-
-If you are specifying a game ID or game parameters on the command
-line (see \k{common-cmdline}) and you do want to configure the
-expansion factor, you can do it by suffixing the letter \cq{e} to
-the parameters, followed by the expansion factor as a decimal
-number. For example:
-
-\b \cq{rect 11x11e0.75} starts Rectangles with a grid size of
-11\u00d7{x}11 and an expansion factor of 0.75.
-
-\b \cq{rect 11x11e0.75:g11c6e5e4a2_4e9c3b3d3b5g2b6c4k4g30a8n3j1g6a2}
-starts Rectangles with a grid size of 11\u00d7{x}11, an expansion
-factor of 0.75, \e{and} a specific game selected.
-
\C{netslide} \i{Netslide}
for you. Be prepared to wait, especially if you have also configured
a large puzzle size.
-\H{solo-cmdline} \I{command line, for Solo}Additional command-line
-configuration
-
-The symmetry and difficulty parameters (described in
-\k{solo-parameters}) are not mentioned by default in the game ID
-(see \k{common-id}). So if (for example) you set your symmetry to
-4-way rotational and your difficulty to \q{Advanced}, and then you
-generate a 3\by\.4 grid, then the game ID will simply say
-\c{3x4:}\e{numbers}. This means that if you send the game ID to
-another player and they paste it into their copy of Solo, their game
-will not be automatically configured to use the same symmetry and
-difficulty settings in any subsequent grids it generates. (I don't
-think the average person examining a single grid sent to them by
-another player would want their configuration modified to that
-extent.)
-
-If you are specifying a game ID or game parameters on the command
-line (see \k{common-cmdline}) and you do want to configure the
-symmetry, you can do it by suffixing additional text to the
-parameters:
-
-\b \cq{m4} for 4-way mirror symmetry
-
-\b \cq{r4} for 4-way rotational symmetry
-
-\b \cq{r2} for 2-way rotational symmetry
-
-\b \cq{a} for no symmetry at all (stands for \q{asymmetric})
-
-\b \cq{dt} for Trivial difficulty level
-
-\b \cq{db} for Basic difficulty level
-
-\b \cq{di} for Intermediate difficulty level
-
-\b \cq{da} for Advanced difficulty level
-
-\b \cq{du} for Unreasonable difficulty level
-
-So, for example, you can make Solo generate asymmetric 3x4 grids by
-running \cq{solo 3x4a}, or 4-way rotationally symmetric 2x3 grids by
-running \cq{solo 2x3r4}, or \q{Advanced}-level 2x3 grids by running
-\cq{solo 2x3da}.
-
\A{licence} \I{MIT licence}\ii{Licence}
CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.
-\IM{specific...} Specific..., menu option
-\IM{custom...} Custom..., menu option
+\IM{specific} \q{Specific}, menu option
+\IM{custom} \q{Custom}, menu option
\IM{game ID} game ID
\IM{game ID} ID, game
~mdw / sgt / puzzles / blobdiff