CHATJACK VERSION 1.0 COPYRIGHT @1992,1993 --ALL RIGHTS RESERVED-- THE MATERIAL PRESENTED WITHIN THE CONTENTS OF THIS PROGRAM IS SOLELY FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY AND NO WARRANTY FOR ITS' USE OR ACCURACY IS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED CHATJACK is a computer simulation of the casino game, blackjack. The user may function within the program in one of two ways, as an observer or as a player. In either function the user may chat with others in the program, however, as a player, the user may additionally play the casino game of blackjack. OBSERVER: ********* The observer may watch the progression of the game by other players. As play action is conducted, the video display of the observer will be updated with each action initiated by the players and/or dealer. Additionally, system messages and user messages appear within a two line window at the lower portion of the video display. Observers can broadcast messages to all other program users by typing the message on the command line and then pressing the ENTER key. The message will be broadcast to ALL other program users (both players and observers). NOTE: ALL SYSTEM MESSAGES ARE LOCAL TO THE PROGRAM, MESSAGES CAN NOT BE SENT TO OTHERS NOT IN THE CHATJACK PROGRAM. The up and/or down arrow keys will scroll the text window up and down respectively. (except when there are two message lines or less) And finally the END key will position the text window to the last message received by the user. NOTE: when there are more text lines AFTER the current display the text window will be in black and white, when the text window is positioned to the last message available to the user the text window will appear in blue and white. Messages are limited to a single line of text consisting of 60 characters or less. The character limitation is controlled by the program and will not let you type more than the limit. A bell sound will be generated when you have reached the text line limit. All other command line instructions (commands) are preceded with the / character. HELP=/H The first of these commands is the /H for HELP. Entering at the command line /H will display a brief summary of all the / commands available to both the observer and player. QUIT=/Q The quit command will terminate the user from the program. All system functions will be executed prior to releasing the user. ie: all data files will be updated before the user is sent back to TBBS. WHO=/W The who command will display in the text window all other users currently in the program (both players and observers) including the respective system line number of each. REDRAW=/R The redraw command will redraw the display screen. At times the video display may become garbled with extraneous characters generally caused by line noise. The /R command will redisplay the video screen with the current game conditions. TOPSCORES=/T The /T command will display a ten line window indicating the top ten scores for the game. The SysOp may reset all scores to zero to initiate tournament play or to repair corrupted data files. In some cases the SysOp may reset all players to zero at the beginning of each month to start a new round of play for all users. NOTE: the top score table will not be adjusted until a player quits play, therefore, if a player is currently active in the game and his/her playing bank exceeds any amount shown in the top score table, the score will NOT be added to the table until the player actually quits play and either becomes an observer or leaves the program. BELL=/B Each time the display is updated by the ChatJack program a bell sound is generated. Additionally, when the player is prompted for a bet or playing decision, the program will monitor a timer to test for response from the player within a reasonable time frame, the bell will beep every second during the timer countdown while waiting for the appropriate response from the player. The bell sound is defaulted to the OFF condition at program entry by the user. Players and/or Observers (users) may toggle the bell sound ON using the /B command. Conversely, the bell sound may be toggled OFF again using the /B command. PRIVATE=/P Private messages can be sent from one user to another, note that messages, both private and public, can be sent ONLY to users of the ChatJack program, users logged on to the TBBS system but NOT in the ChatJack program will not be able to receive messages from users who are currently active in the ChatJack program. Users not currently in the ChatJack program can however send messages to you and will most likely corrupt your display. Simply execute the /R (redraw) command after you read the message to clear the message off the screen. To send a private message to another user of the ChatJack program use the /P command followed by the line number of the of the user you wish to receive the private message, followed by a space, followed by the message, ie: /P12 this is a private message where is the ENTER or RETURN key. NOTE: there is no space between the /P and the line number AND a space IS required between the line number and the message. WARNING: Failure to correctly enter the private message command may cause the message to be broadcast to ALL users of the ChatJack program. PLAYER: ******* JOIN=/J When first entering the program the user function is that of an observer. To join the game, the user must execute the /J command. The /J command may be entered with an optional seat number ie: /J4 If the optional seat number is not entered at the time the /J command is entered, the program will prompt the user for the desired seat number. If the seat is already taken the user will be given an error message stating that the seat is taken and the user will be prompted for another seat number. If the user is already an active player then an error message will display, indicating that: ONLY ONE SEAT TO A PLAYER IS ALLOWED. Upon entering the game as a player for the very first time, your casino bank balance will be set to -100 and your playing bank will show 100 in chips. At the end of game play or upon quitting the program while an active player, your casino bank balance will be adjusted by your playing bank amount. Entering the game as a player and having an account already established with the casino bank, your playing bank will begin with your current casino bank amount. Again upon completion of play your casino account will be adjusted by the current playing bank that appears on the display screen. CHIPS=/C As a player whenever your playing bank is below 100 you may purchase more chips from the casino bank. Each purchase is in increments of 100 and for each purchase your casino bank balance will be adjusted by -100. To purchase 100 from the casino bank enter the /C command, if your current playing bank is less than 100 you will be credited with 100 more in your playing account (the account shown on the display). END=/E Ending a playing session is generally accomplished by betting 0 at the bet prompt, however, a player may optionally quit his/her seat by entering the /E command from the command line. This option has been added at the request of beta testers of this program while the author disapproves of this command and feels that the player should simply bet 0 when prompted for his/her bet amount. BETTING Minimum and maximum betting limits are set by the SysOp and can range from a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 499. The limit of 499 is set due to display constraints of the video display screen. Generally, 5 to 100 appears to be an optimum betting variance, however, the SysOp may wish to establish several tables (programs) that could be 1 dollar table, 5 dollar table, 25 dollar table, etc. Betting 0 at the player's bet prompt will cause the player to give up his/her seat and return the user to observer status. (this is the BEST way to quit play) When the player is prompted for his/her bet, a timer will begin a countdown. The player MUST enter his/her bet within the allotted time or the program will default with a 0 bet and cause the player to give up his/her seat. This function was placed into the program so that other players could continue playing and not be required to wait indefinitely for any individual player to place his/her bet. (sorry, this had to be added as a courtesy to other players) When the player enters his/her bet the bet amount will be displayed and the players bank will be adjusted by the bet amount and redisplayed on the screen. PLAYING Fundamentally, the game is played by 1) a player makes an initial bet followed by 2) the DEALER deals an initial hand to each active player followed by 3) each player is allowed to make appropriate playing decisions followed by 4) the dealer playing it's hand followed by 5) the settling of bets by the DEALER. All dealer activity is presented below under the heading DEALER. The following is a discussion of the players allowed activity. Playing decisions for the player are HIT, STAND, DOUBLE DOWN, and SPLIT with an optional side bet for INSURANCE. (It's NOT really insurance, but the casinos like to call this side bet 'insurance' to entice the player to make a foolish bet) HIT and STAND are always playing options (except after splitting Aces or Doubling Down where only one card will be dealt to each of the split hands or to the doubledown hand). DOUBLE DOWN is an option ONLY when the player's initial two-card hand point total is 10 or 11. Selecting the Double Down playing option will automatically double the size of the players initial bet and deduct the added amount from the displayed players bank amount. The SPLIT option is ONLY available when the players first two cards are of the same point value. This includes a two card hand of 10 and 10 such as a Jack and King (the Ten, Jack, Queen and King all have the same POINT value and therefore can be SPLIT if any combination of the four comprise the first two cards dealt to the player). RESPLITTING or DOUBLING DOWN AFTER SPLITTING is NOT permitted. Additionally, only one card is dealt to each split Ace. Selecting the Split option will automatically decrease the players displayed bank amount by the current bet amount, however, the two bet amounts are kept separate within the program so that each of the two split hands can be won or lost independently of the other and the appropriate bet settled for each individual hand. The INSURANCE option is actually a side bet independent of the players initial bet. The insurance option is only available immediately after the first to cards are dealt to each player AND the dealers up card is an Ace. Selecting this option the players displayed playing bank will be automatically decreased by 1/2 of the initial bet amount and a separate bet is internally set in that amount. The payoff is 2 to 1 if the dealer in fact has a natural blackjack (a two-card total of 21). If the dealer does NOT have a natural blackjack the internal bet is lost and normal play continues. Normal play allows the player to HIT or STAND. These options remain in effect until the player elects to STAND or the point total exceeds 21. The HIT option will cause the dealer to deal one card to the player, if the players hand total does not exceed 21, the player is given the option to HIT or STAND again. The object of the game is to get as close to a point total of 21 without going over (called a bust). Point values are 10 points for the Ten, Jack, Queen or King, 1 OR 11 for the Ace and the respective card value of all other cards ie: 2 of spades = 2 points, 5 of hearts = 5 points, etc. Suits have no meaning or value in the game. If your point value exceeds 21 you have busted and automatically lose even if the dealers point total later goes over 21. Having an Ace in your hand constitutes a 'soft' hand where the value of the ace is counted as 11. If the value of the Ace being 11, causes the total point value of the players hand to be OVER 21 points then the Ace is counted with a point value of 1 and the hand is said to be a 'hard' hand. Typically the player should count the point value of the Ace as 1, when totaling his/her hand, then add 10 to the total, if the total is over 21, subtract 10 from the total and count the hand as a hard total. DEALER: ******* The dealer responsibilities include accepting player bets (bets are made in any order by the players), dealing the initial two card hand to all players (from the dealers left to right), accepting the insurance bet (if applicable), allowing each player (again from left to right) to play his/her individual hand, playing the dealer hand (according to the below listed rules and after all play is complete by all active players) and finally settling all remaining bets (this time from the dealers right to left). Then the process is started over again by accepting new bets from the players. The dealer begins play by prompting all players to make their respective bets. Bets are accepted in any order, but each player is allowed approximately 20 seconds to place the initial bet for the current round of play. After the betting is complete by all players the dealer will then deal two cards to each player and the dealer hand one at a time from the dealers left to right beginning with the first active player on the dealers left. This is called the 'initial deal'. All cards are dealt face up for all to see except the first card to the dealer hand, which is dealt face down and hidden from all players and observers. After completing the initial deal, the dealer will: 1. Offer an insurance bet option to all players, if the dealers face up card is an Ace. 2. Peek under the face down card IF the face up card is a 10 value card. If the face down card is an Ace (dealer has a natural - BlackJack) and play for the current round is over. All players lose except those with a two card hand of 21, in which case the hand is a push (tie) for that player. If the current round of play is still active (dealer does NOT have a natural 'BlackJack'), each player beginning with the first active player on the dealers left, is given the play options described above for the PLAYER. When all players have been given their turn at play the dealer will play the 'dealer hand' according to the following rules: 1. The dealer does NOT play out his hand if there are no active hands left to play. (each player who busts his/her hand loses immediately an is no longer an active player for the current round of play) 2. The dealer must ALWAYS hit on a 'hard' point total of 16 or less and must ALWAYS hit on a 'soft' point total of 17 or less. 3. If the dealer busts, all active players are automatic winners otherwise player bets are settled from the dealers right to left according to the following rules: A. Dealers point total does not exceed 21 but does exceed the players hand - player loses B. Dealers point total does not exceed 21 but matches players point total - player ties (push) C. Dealers point total does not exceed 21 but is less than the players point total and players point total does not exceed 21 - player wins Once all bets are settled, betting for the next round of play commences and the above procedure is repeated. CHATJACK THE PROGRAM ******************** ChatJack is the result of more than 1,000 hours of research and programming by the authors. The intent was to create a computer game that as closely as possible simulates the casino game of BlackJack. While the current version appears to have achieved that goal, many more features and improvements are possible. The following features are intended for future versions: 1. Increased statistical record keeping ie: total hands played, number of natural 21's for both the dealer and player, number of winning sessions, losing sessions, average win/loss rate, etc. 2. Allow full screen chat for non-players (observers) 3. Multi-seat play for the same program user. 4. Playing strategy help. 5. Betting strategy help. 6. Configurable card counting systems. If you as a user of this program would like to add any features to this list or have positive suggestions for the improvement of this program please contact the author, Richard Dias via e-mail on: THE ADVANCED SYSTEM BBS (702) 334-3308 2400/8/N/1 (702) 334-3317 9600/8/N/1