\i\cw{NETGAME.EXE} to avoid clashing with Windows's own \cw{NET.EXE}.)
I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called \i{FreeNet}
-\k{FreeNet}, written by Pavils Jurjans. The computer prepares a
+\k{FreeNet}, written by Pavils Jurjans; there are several other
+implementations under the name \i{NetWalk}. The computer prepares a
network by connecting up the centres of squares in a grid, and then
shuffles the network by rotating every tile randomly. Your job is to
rotate it all back into place. The successful solution will be an
-entirely connected network, with no closed loops. \#{Is it also true
-that a correct solution will not contain any cycles?} As a visual aid,
+entirely connected network, with no closed loops. \#{The latter
+clause means that there are no closed paths within the network.
+Could this be clearer? "No closed paths"?} As a visual aid,
all tiles which are connected to the one in the middle are
highlighted.
also unlock it again, but while it's locked you can't accidentally
turn it.
+The following controls are not necessary to complete the game, but may
+be useful:
+
+\dt \e{Shift grid}: Shift + arrow keys
+
+\dd On grids that wrap, you can move the origin of the grid, so that
+tiles that were on opposite sides of the grid can be seen together.
+
+\dt \e{Move centre}: Ctrl + arrow keys
+
+\dd You can change which tile is used as the source of highlighting.
+(It doesn't ultimately matter which tile this is, as every tile will
+be connected to every other tile in a correct solution, but it may be
+helpful in the intermediate stages of solving the puzzle.)
+
\dt \e{Jumble tiles}: \q{J} key
\dd This key turns all tiles that are not locked to random
As in Sixteen, \I{controls, for Netslide}control is with the mouse.
See \k{sixteen-controls}.
-\I{parameters, for Netslide}Game parameters are the same as for Net
-(see \k{net-params}).
+\I{parameters, for Netslide}The available game parameters have similar
+meanings to those in Net (see \k{net-params}) and Sixteen (see
+\k{sixteen-params}).
\C{pattern} \i{Pattern}
make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press
Space to clear it again (or use the Undo feature).
+If you \e{right}-click in a square and then type a number, that
+number will be entered in the square as a \q{pencil mark}. You can
+have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square.
+
+The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you use
+them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a
+particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about a
+particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible
+numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like.
+
+To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type
+the same number again.
+
+All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type
+a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and
+pressing space will also erase pencil marks.
+
(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
\H{solo-parameters} \I{parameters, for Solo}Solo parameters
a large puzzle size.
+\C{mines} \i{Mines}
+
+\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.mines}
+
+You have a grid of covered squares, some of which contain mines, but
+you don't know which. Your job is to uncover every square which does
+\e{not} contain a mine. If you uncover a square containing a mine,
+you lose. If you uncover a square which does not contain a mine, you
+are told how many mines are contained within the eight surrounding
+squares.
+
+This game needs no introduction; popularised by Windows, it is
+perhaps the single best known desktop puzzle game in existence.
+
+This version of it has an unusual property. By default, it will
+generate its mine positions in such a way as to ensure that you
+never need to \e{guess} where a mine is: you will always be able to
+deduce it somehow. So you will never, as can happen in other
+versions, get to the last four squares and discover that there are
+two mines left but you have no way of knowing for sure where they
+are.
+
+\H{mines-controls} \I{controls, for Mines}Mines controls
+
+This game is played with the mouse.
+
+If you left-click in a covered square, it will be uncovered.
+
+If you right-click in a covered square, it will place a flag which
+indicates that the square is believed to be a mine. Left-clicking in
+a marked square will not uncover it, for safety. You can right-click
+again to remove a mark placed in error.
+
+If you left-click in an \e{uncovered} square, it will \q{clear
+around} the square. This means: if the square has exactly as many
+flags surrounding it as it should have mines, then all the covered
+squares next to it which are \e{not} flagged will be uncovered. So
+once you think you know the location of all the mines around a
+square, you can use this function as a shortcut to avoid having to
+click on each of the remaining squares one by one.
+
+If you uncover a square which has \e{no} mines in the surrounding
+eight squares, then it is obviously safe to uncover those squares in
+turn, and so on if any of them also has no surrounding mines. This
+will be done for you automatically; so sometimes when you uncover a
+square, a whole new area will open up to be explored.
+
+(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.
+Even Undo is available, although you might consider it cheating to
+use it!)
+
+\H{mines-parameters} \I{parameters, for Mines}Mines parameters
+
+The options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type}
+menu are:
+
+\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
+
+\dd Size of grid in squares.
+
+\dt \e{Mines}
+
+\dd Number of mines in the grid. You can enter this as an absolute
+mine count, or alternatively you can put a \cw{%} sign on the end in
+which case the game will arrange for that proportion of the squares
+in the grid to be mines.
+
+\lcont{
+
+Beware of setting the mine count too high. At very high densities,
+the program may spend forever searching for a solvable grid.
+
+}
+
+\dt \e{Ensure solubility}
+
+\dd When this option is enabled (as it is by default), Mines will
+ensure that the entire grid can be fully deduced starting from the
+initial open space. If you prefer the riskier grids generated by
+other implementations, you can switch off this option.
+
+
\A{licence} \I{MIT licence}\ii{Licence}
This software is \i{copyright} 2004-2005 Simon Tatham.
~mdw / sgt / puzzles / blobdiff