Copyright: Cheezi Help ® 1993 By: Paul T. Dawson
Citation: Cheezi Help ® 1993 By: Paul T. Dawson, P.O. Box 682, Chincoteague, VA 23336-0682 U.S.A.


Contents

Introduction

How To Play The Game

Player Names and Types

Play Until One / Play Until All

Roll For First Turn

Start On Six / Start On Any

Computer Intelligence

Computer Intelligence Settings

Creating CHE files

How The Computer Decides What To Do

Watch Computer Think

Miscellaneous

Automatic On / Off

Cheat

Load Game

Save Game

Shareware Registration Information

Introduction

Program Descriptions


How To Play The Game

Each player has four playing pieces, and the goal is to move these around the board to the finish. Take turns rolling the die, and then click on one of your pieces to move it.

You need to roll a six to move to your starting square. After that, any number lets you move. You can move to any blank space, or to a space containing an opponent's piece. You aren't allowed to land on any of your own pieces!

Any piece that is "landed on" is sent all the way back to its original location. This is bad if it's your piece, but it's good when you land on someone else's piece!

The last six squares in your route are a safety zone. No one can land on your pieces once they're that far along. You'll have to roll the exact number to finish, since you can't move past the finish square!

When it is your turn, just click the big command button, or click the die (which will be next to your corner of the board). Then decide which piece to move, and click on it.

If you can't move anything, or if you don't want to move, just click Pass.


Player Names and Types

The game can have two, three, or four players. Each player can either be a real person, or you can let the computer play.

Use the "Player Names" screen to let the program know who or what will be playing!

For real human players, just click on "Human", and then be sure to type your name into the little text box!

Each player name can be up to twenty characters long.

If you load a CHE file for a computer player, and want to switch back to the "Standard" computer player, just doubleclick on the FILENAME.CHE box - it will instantly switch back to "Standard"!

Games with three or four players can take a long time, so first try playing with just "you against against the computer"!


Play Until One / Play Until All

Traditionally, the game continues until every player is completely finished, with all pieces off the board.

That's the best choice for multi player games, so you can keep playing and see who comes in second, third, and fourth!

However, if you're in a hurry, choose the Play Until One Player Wins option. Then, as soon as one player gets all four pieces off the board, they win, and the game is completely over!

Remember, you can always stop the game at any time, so you won't ever be forced to keep on playing!


Roll For First Turn

After you enter all of the player names and click the "Start Game" button, there's still one more thing to do.

Each player has to roll the die, and then the player who rolls the highest number will get to start the game!

There will be a button for each player, and you  can click these in any order, and the highest number wins!

If there's a tie for the highest number, then you'll have to start over. A flashing button will appear, and when you click this, everything will be cleared, and you can all roll again.

If any of the players are computers, they will roll their die after all of the human players have rolled.

What if all of the players are computers?


Start On Six / Start On Any

Traditionally, you have to roll a 6 before you can move a piece to your starting square. Sometimes this can be very frustrating, especially when your opponent rolls 6 several times, and you don't roll 6 at all!

To make the game easier and faster, choose the Start On Any option. Then you can roll any number, and use it to move to your starting square!

Note: In some situations, for example four computer players,  setting "Start On Any" will actually make the game last longer!


Computer Intelligence Settings

This is slightly complicated - please pay attention!!!

The "Intelligence" screen lets you tell the computer how to think, but these settings do not instantly start working!

There are three important steps:

First, you must adjust the different values, by clicking on the red and green bars.

Second, you must save the set of values to a disk file, by clicking Save and typing in a file name. The file name should have the extension "CHE", so the program can easily find it again!

Third, you must go back to the Player Names screen, and click Computer, and then click the little "Load" button, to load the CHE file into a specific player number.

There's more!


Creating CHE files
Creating CHE files - Part 1

The reason CHE files are so complicated is because this is the only way to have unlimited disk files with different settings!

Remember, you don't need to fool around with these settings! The "Standard" computer players will do an excellent job. You only need to create CHE files if you really want to customize the game, or if you think you can beat the "Standard" computer players with your CHE creation!

Well, if you've read this far, you probably want to know about those red and green bars on the "Intelligence" screen! Those assign point values to the different possibilities for each piece. The computer adds up the total value for each piece, and then moves the one with the highest total value.

The best way to see how this works is to start a game with four "Standard" computer players, and then turn on the "Watch Computer Think" option. Then you will be able to watch the computer add up all of the different values.

There's more!


Creating CHE files - Part 2

When you design a CHE file (by adjusting the color bars), there is one important thing to remember! The first seven bars should all have positive numbers, and the last two should have negative numbers. You might think of some exceptions, so you can use positive or negative numbers anywhere - but you might end up with a computer player that never moves at all.

When you are saving a new CHE file, you can just type the filename into the upper left text box. Use up to eight characters (letters and numbers). Then the program will automatically add the CHE extension for you.

Also, when you save a CHE file, the program will check to see if the file exists. If it doesn't exist, then the program will go ahead and create it.

What about existing files?


How The Computer Decides What To Do

Here's how the computer decides which piece to move:

First, it looks at all four pieces,  and determines a total point score for each piece. If a piece can't move at all, then it gets a score of -1000. The pieces which can move get scores from 1 to several hundred points.

Second, the computer picks the piece with the highest score. If two or more pieces are tied, then the computer chooses either the leading or trailing piece. That piece is the one that the computer will move.

The "Standard" computer always selects the leading piece. You can choose trailing on the "Intelligence" screen when you're designing a computer player.

Remember, leading and trailing are only used when two or more pieces are tied with the highest score. If one piece (and only one) has the highest score, then it will always be chosen to move, no matter where it is!


Watch Computer Think

The Watch Computer Think option displays a separate window where you can see how the "Computer" players decide which piece to move.

Unfortunately, this window and the game don't quite fit onto some screens (640x350 or 640x480). You might have to resize the "Watch Computer Think" window to make both windows visible, or you can let them overlap, and then switch back and forth.

The "Watch Computer Think" window stays open until you click on the "Exit" button, or you select "W.C.T." from the options menu again.

Why does the W.C.T. text always flash?


Automatic On / Off

The Automatic option lets you choose if the "Computer" players wait before their turn, or if they just go ahead and move automatically.

When Automatic is turned off, you will have to click the main button to roll the die for each "Computer" player.

If Automatic is turned on, then the "Computer" players will just go ahead and move, and the game will continue until a "Human" player has a turn.

When Automatic is turned on, the "Computer" players move very quickly. This is because all timer delays are temporarily turned off. This extra speed should be useful when you have four different "Computer" players!

If Automatic is turned on, it will always be turned off whenever you select any of the menu items, such as Help or About. You can always turn it back on later!

What happens when Cheezi is minimized?


Cheat

This little Cheat window was required for program development,  when it was often necessary to force the computer to roll a particular number.

Just select a number, and when you click "Roll...", you will get exactly that number!

Select "Random" for a true random number, or just click "Exit" to close the Cheat window.


Load Game

To load a game, just select "Load Game" from the Game menu, and it will usually load right away.

However, there are two problems that can happen when you try to load a game:

First, if the "CHEEZI.SAV" file doesn't exist, then of course it can't be loaded!

Second, if you are playing a game, and you try to load an old game, your current game would have to be be abandoned. A little message box will pop up to warn you about this, and then you can choose exactly what to do!


Save Game

While you are playing a game, you can always save it to a disk file, and then reload everything later!

The game is saved to a file called CHEEZI.SAV, which is always located in the same directory as the CHEEZI.EXE program file.

Just select "Save Game" from the Game menu, and everything will be saved.

Note: If the game is completely stopped, then there isn't anything to save. If you try to save a stopped game, a little error message will pop up!

Note: If you are playing a multi-player game (with three or four players), and one or more players finish, those players aren't part of the saved & loaded game file. In other words, when you save a game, only players who are still playing are saved.


Shareware Registration Information
Shareware Registration Information - Part 1

Since "Pachisi" is arguably the most boring board game of all time, the author does not expect to be deluged with enormous quantities of cash from thousands of ecstatic users sending in shareware registrations.

Actually, this Cheezi program is freeware, which means that you can use it completely free! That covers your personal use only - any commercial use of this program requires written permission from the author.

However, since you have been kind enough to read this far, there are a few other programs (from the author) that you might be interested in.

These are all educational programs, and most are for elementary level math. You may have already seen some of these programs - "Googol Math Games" is sort of a shareware classic, and even "Lugnut City" is rapidly becoming world famous!

There's more!


Shareware Registration Information - Part 2

If you have children at home, then send in an order, and you'll get lots of programs that will help your kids have fun while they're reinforcing their basic math skills.

Also, please check with your local schools - if they have PCs, then the $35 Super Registration is a fantastic deal. That pays for seven complete DOS programs - for all of their students and all of their computers! If they have Windows, then the Windows programs are included free!!!

Click the >> button, or the [image] arrow, or even this to see the latest program list!

Please remember, most of these programs require EGA graphics, so they will not run on older computers with CGA monitors. Since you're reading this in Windows, there is a 99.9999% chance that you have an EGA, VGA, or better monitor!


Program Descriptions

Click these for descriptions...

Googol Math Games

Googol Bonus Disk

Googol Review

Paul's Classroom Math

Flashcards

Lugnut City

Wolfie's Music Games

Googolpede for Windows 3.1

Cheezi for Windows 3.1

Remember, Super Registration for everything is only $35,  for one family or one school building.

Look on the disk for the CHEEZI.FRM order form. If it isn't there, just click on Order from the Cheezi main menu, and you can create an order form there!


 Googol Math Games

Three fun math games for all ages! This program has been around for several years (with many new versions), and now there are kids playing Googol in all 50 states in the U.S.A., and in over 20 other countries, on every continent except Antarctica! The age range for this program is very wide - from about 5 years old up to high school. Everyone needs some math practice, and parents enjoy playing Googol too!

Googol Math Games requires CGA graphics and 512K memory.


 Googol Bonus Disk

This is a collection of six games, all of them non-shareware and available only from the author.  There are four math games (Defender, Gulper, Lander, and Multiplication Table Frenzy),  and two non-math puzzles (Clash and Fifteen Tiles) just for fun.

Googol Bonus Disk requires CGA graphics and 512K memory.


 Googol Review

This program has standard number problems with many different levels (+-x/). There are also math word problems, with millions of different combinations, and all of the options that you have seen in "Googol Math Games".

Googol Review requires CGA graphics and 640K memory.


 Paul's Classroom Math

This is a text mode math drill program, intended for classrooms. There is complete recordkeeping for up to 60 students. There are no graphics, no noises, and no frills!

This program will run on a 256K monochrome PC (or better!).


 Flashcards

This is a simple EGA math practice program, with addition, subtraction, multiplication, division,  and no high scores to worry about.

Flashcards requires EGA graphics and 512K memory.


 Lugnut City

How about a run-jump-and-shoot maze game, with just the right amount of math? Lugnut City has ten mazes to explore, and you can even design your own mazes! This is an excellent game for children ages 7 to 17 (more or less!).

Lugnut City requires EGA graphics and 512K memory.


 Wolfie's Music Games

There are ten different games in this program, and they all teach music notes and piano keys. There are many skill levels, so everyone can compete for high scores! Many of the games do NOT require any knowledge of music - you might lose some points for wrong answers, but the games keep right on going!

Wolfie's Music Games requires EGA graphics and 640K memory.


 Googolpede for Windows 3.1

This is a little version of the classic math game, just for Windows users, and it's completely resizable, even in the middle of a game. Lots of extra Windows style features, too!

Googolpede for Windows requires Windows 3.1,

and about 1 megabyte free memory.


 Cheezi for Windows 3.1

The latest version of this incredible program!

Cheezi for Windows requires Windows 3.1, and about 1 megabyte free memory.


Which pops up the world's most incredible About Box!


 Imagine that - computers  with patience and good manners!


If all of the players are computer players, then the entire "Roll For First Turn" screen is skipped. The lowest numbered computer player will go first!


Antarctica - where there are no kids!


Click on Options,

    then "Automatic".


An Incredible Bargain!


An Incredible Bargain!!!


Directly under the board!


 Just like this, only bigger!


Boo Hoo!


Boo Hoo!!


Boo Hoo!!!


Letters...

    ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

Or

Numbers...

    9876543210


 An optional custom intelligence file.


Click on Options,

    then Miscellaneous,

        then the "Cheat Window" button.


You can load CHE files for one computer player, or two, three, or all four!


The computer always checks all four.  If any pieces are finished and off the board,  they get a value of -1000.


 You will be able to copy an order form into Windows Notepad, and then you can look at it, and maybe even print it out and mail it in!


 Half of a pair of dice!


 Boxcars! Whenever you roll six, you get an extra turn free!


The program looks only in the directory where CHEEZI.EXE is located.

Use File Manager to see if the CHEEZI.SAV game file is in another directory.


If you type more than eight characters, for example "abcdefghijklmnop", the program will try to use just the first eight characters for the filename.


 Standard EGA 640 by 350 resolution.


If you try to save to an existing file,  the program will check the length of the existing file, and if it isn't exactly 200 bytes, the save is immediately cancelled!!!

That's just a safety precaution,  so no important files will ever be accidentally overwritten.


 You expected a photo?!?

        Paul T. Dawson

        P.O. Box 682

        Chincoteague, Virginia 23336-0682

        U.S.A.


 The square in the exact center of the board.


The "Watch Computer Think" text flashes once every time it's updated.

This used to be worse - it would flash several times, when the new text was updated, when the old text was deleted, and when the cursor position was changed.

This version just makes the text "invisible" by turning it white, and then after it's all changed, it switches back to black text again. Whew!


With four computers playing "Start On Any", it's next to impossible for them to get past the very next player's starting area.

They all spend a lot of time getting sent back to their starting squares!


Green bars indicate positive values.


 Which pops up this file!


Important but optional!

You can always skip this entire section, and just use the standard computer players!


The piece farthest along its route and closest to the finish.


 Up to several hours!


If you minimize the program while Automatic is turned on, and the game has computer players only, it will continue to run.

This may slow down other programs, since Cheezi uses a lot of Windows "resources"!

A message box will pop up to let you know when the game is over.


The big command button will say "Pass" on it right about now.


 One color for each player!


From -100 to +99.


Red bars indicate negative values.


On the Roll For First Turn window,

which pops up automatically.


All of the player names,

  the positions of all the pieces,

    the miscellaneous options,

      and even "whose turn it is"!


Click on Options,

    then Miscellaneous,

        then Start On Any.


When the main button says "New Game..."


The piece closest to (or still at) its starting position.


Click on Options,

    then Miscellaneous,

        then Play Until One Player Wins.


 Standard VGA 640 by 480 resolution.


Click on Options,

    then W.C.T.


 A real live human player!


 A computer player!


There is a CGA graphics driver for Win3.1,

but I can't imagine anyone actually using it!