Citation: Canasta is Copyright ® 1994 by Mark-Jan Harte


Index

Canasta for Windows

Index

The Game

Introduction to Canasta

The Rules of Canasta

The Canasta screen

Mouse Controls

Scoring

Frequently Asked Questions

The Menu

Game menu

Options menu

Register menu item

Help menu

Shortcut Keys

The Shareware

Registering your copy

Contacting the author

Credits


What is Canasta
What is Canasta ?

Canasta is a card game, which has been played for many decades. It developed in Argentina, and has become popular all over the world. The word ´canasta´ is Spanish for basket.

Canasta is played with two decks of cards, with 54 cards each (52 standard cards, plus two Jokers). Canasta can be played with two to four players, but in this Windows version there are always two players: you and your computer.

A quick overview of the game:

* Your goal is to beat the computer by scoring more points than it does. You score points by melding cards, and making as many canastas as possible.

* Each player starts with 15 cards in hand. Yours are visible at the bottom of the window.

* Both players take turns in drawing one card from the draw pile, and discarding one card on the discard pile (in that order). The human player always has the first turn.

* After drawing a card, a player may meld cards (melding is not obligatory). Once a card has been melded, it cannot be taken back into the hand (except with the Undo meld option).

* When a player has melded his cards, he ends his turn by discarding a card. At that point, his melded cards are checked to see if they conform to the canasta rules. Discarding a card is not necessary if a player can go out by melding all of his cards.

* Instead of drawing a card from the draw pile, a player may take the entire discard pile. However, this is only allowed if he can directly meld the top card.

*  One round is over when one of the players has no cards left in his hand, or when there are no cards left on the draw pile. The scores of both players are then computed, and a new round is dealt.
A player can only finish a round when he has at least one or two canastas (see Rule Options).

* A game of canasta is over when either one of the players reaches 5,000 points.


Melding a card
Melding a card means playing it from the hand to the table, so that it becomes visible to the other player. It is done by left-clicking on the card.


Discarding a card
Discarding a card means playing it from the hand to the discard pile. This ends the turn, and is done by right-double clicking on the card (or by right-clicking, depending on the Options|Customize|Discarding a card setting).


Rules of Canasta
The Rules

The rules in Canasta for Windows have been set by the National Canasta Laws Commission. The options mentioned below all refer to the Options | Rules dialog box. The rules are defined as follows:

1.	If a certain kind of card is melded, there must be at least three cards of that kind on the table at the end of the turn.

2.	It is possible to add a wildcard to a column of cards of any kind on the table. The wildcard is then seen as a card of that kind (but the value remains unchanged). However, the restriction is that there may never be more wildcards than other cards within one column.

3.	At the beginning of a round, the top card of the draw pile is automatically turned around and placed on the discard pile. If this card is a Red Three or a wildcard, the procedure is repeated until the top card of the discard pile is neither a Red Three nor a wildcard.

4.	When a new round is dealt, the hands of both players are checked to see if they contain a Red Three. If there is one, that Three is then automatically melded, and an extra card is dealt to the hand out of which the Red Three came. This procedure is repeated until neither player has any Red Threes left in his hand.

5.	Black Threes may not be melded, except when the player can go out by melding a column of three or four Black Threes, or two Black Threes and a wildcard. These Black Threes must then be the last cards to be melded.

6.	The discard pile can be frozen by discarding a wildcard or a Red Three. A freeze is indicated by an asterisk ( * ) and means that both players are only allowed to take the discard pile if they can meld the top card using only the cards in their hand, as if they had no cards on the table.
For example, if the discard pile is frozen and the top card is a Seven, the pile may only be taken if the player has two Sevens in his hand, even though he has a column of three Sevens on the table. Also, no wildcards may be used in melding: if he has one Seven and a wildcard in hand - instead of two Sevens- he may not take the discard pile.

7.	If you have taken the discard pile but discover that you cannot use the top card, you can restore the pile by clicking on it. This carries a penalty of 50 points.

8.	It is never allowed to take the discard pile when the top card is a Black Three, a Red Three or a wildcard. Thus, Black Threes can be used as a refridgerator for a single turn.

9.	The first time a player melds cards in a round, their value must be at least a certain minimum. When a player goes out in one turn (´goes out blind´), this requirement does not apply.

10.	A player can only go out when he has at least one or two canastas, depending on the Canastas needed to go out setting. If a player has less than this number of canastas, and only has one card left that he should discard, he has to ´pass the discard´, i.e., he does not discard that last card.

11.	When there are no more cards on the draw pile, the player may choose to stop playing, or to turn the discard pile upside down and use it as the new draw pile.


Registering

New Users

Canasta is a shareware program. This means that it is not free, but you can use it without paying for a period of three weeks. After that, you can do one of two things: delete Canasta from your harddisk, or purchase Canasta by ´registering´ and earn the right to keep on playing it.

Please note that the shareware version of Canasta is not crippled: you are able to evaluate the full force of the algorithms that Canasta uses to give you as much opposition as possible. On top of that, all options for customizing, rules, decks, sound, highscores and load & save are fully functional, with the small exception of self-definable cardbacks.

The benefits you receive when you register are designed to increase the fun in playing Canasta, not to remove obstructions that seriously limit the program.

This means that I have to rely on you to voluntarily purchase Canasta. If you like this game and support the shareware concept, please register.

The cost of Canasta is $20 (US) or the equivalent in a European currency. See Prices for a pricelist in other currencies.

Checks and cash should be sent to the following address:

Mark-Jan Harte

Cort v.d. Lindenlaan 84

1412 CB Naarden

The Netherlands

Bank transfers can be made to:

Bank:	PostBank, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Account Number:	4375889

Name:	Mark-Jan Harte

Add $5 if you pay with a check or money order, or if you transfer the money by bank from a non-Dutch account. The costs of international transfers are quite high, unfortunately.

If you want to avoid these extra costs, you can also simply put $20 in cash in an envelope and mail it to the address above. Fold cash in a sheet of paper, so that it is not visible from the outside.

Remember to make sure that your own address is included !

For easy registration, print and fill out the Registration Form topic in this Help file or the REGISTER.TXT file.

Note 1: CompuServe members can register with GO SWREG. The id for Canasta is 3124.

Note 2: European residents can pay with a Eurocheque. The $5 premium does not apply for Eurocheques.

Benefits of Registering

When I receive your payment, you will be sent a registration key for Canasta. You can use this key to register your copy. Registering has the following advantages:

* It is the right thing to do.

* The annoying opening and closing screens reminding you to register disappear.

* On 800x600 and 1024x768 resolutions, optimized card designs will be used instead of the default 640x480 card set. These tailor-made cards look much better and are drawn much faster.

* You receive the cheat key combination that lets you view the computer´s hand during play!

* You can customize Canasta to use your own cardback bitmaps, instead of the predefined ones.

* New interim releases can also be registered with the key. For example, if you register version 2.0, you can also use your key to register version 2.1 when it is released.

* You will get unlimited product support. Regular mail and E-mail will always be answered.

* Registrations enable me to continue improving the game, which means that you will profit from extra options, smarter opponents etc.

Users of versions 1.x who register get a registration key for version 2.0.

Registered Users

Future major version upgrades, like 2.x to 3.0, will require registered users to get a new key. They can upgrade for $10 or f 12,50 (Dutch).

See also: 	Contacting the Author

Registration Form


How to Play

When you start the game, the Canasta screen looks like this:

The meaning of the various parts of the screen is as follows:

Draw pile

The cards which have not been used yet.

At the beginning of your turn, you can take a card from the draw pile by left-clicking on it with the mouse.

To the right of the draw pile is a number that indicates how many cards there are on it.

Discard pile

The cards which have been discarded.

At the end of your turn, you must add a card to this deck by right-double clicking on the card you want to discard (or by right-clicking, see Options | Customize).

To the right of the discard pile is a number that indicates how many cards there are on it. An asterisk ( * ) before this number means that the discard pile is frozen, i.e., there is a wildcard or a Red Three in the discard pile.

At the beginning of your turn, you can take the entire pile by left-clicking on it.

If it is frozen, or if you have no cards on the table of the same kind as the top card (e.g., the top card is an Eight, but you have not played any Eights to the table yet), you will first only receive the top card.

When you have added two cards from your hand to the top card (so that there is a column of at least three cards), you receive the rest of the discard pile.

However, if you had zero points on the table before taking the discard pile, you must have melded at least the minimum amount of points.

If you left-clicked on the discard pile by mistake, you can put the top card back by left-clicking on the discard pile again. However, this is only possible if you have not yet received the rest of the pile in your hand, and it carries a penalty of 50 points.

Cards in Player´s hand

The cards you have in your hand.

These cards are not visible to the computer (trust me, it does not cheat).

Melding a card is done by left-clicking on it. If you want to undo your last move, use the Undo Meld option in the Game menu.

You can meld a complete column of cards by holding down SHIFT while left-clicking on one of the cards. This saves you the trouble of clicking five times to meld five cards.

Holding down CTRL while clicking melds as many cards as needed to have a column of three cards on the table. This is useful if you want to meld, but also want to keep some cards in reserve.

Discarding a card is done by right-double clicking on the card. This ends your turn.

Adding a wildcard to a column of cards on the table is done in the following ways:

1. 	Press the left mouse button on the wildcard you want to add. In a column with multiple wildcards you must select the lowest one.

2.	Keeping the left mouse button pressed, drag the wildcard to the column you want it to be added to.

3. 	Release the left mouse button.

Also, you can left-click on a melded column to add a wildcard. Pressing SHIFT while clicking will add as many wildcards as necessary to create a canasta (if possible).

Note that adding a wildcard to a column is only possible if this column is non-empty.

Cards in Computer´s hand

The cards the computer has in his hand. In the registered version, you can sneak a peek at them with a special key combination.

Space for Player´s cards on the table

The area of the screen where your melded cards are placed.

Space for Computer´s cards on the table

The area of the screen where the melded cards of the computer are placed.

ScoreBoard

Here the current score for the player and the computer is recorded. It may be negative.

Left-clicking on the ScoreBoard shows the minimum amount of points you need for your first meld, and the amount of points you currently have on the table.

Right-clicking on the ScoreBoard shows the ´Detailed Scoring´ dialog box as it is shown at the end of a round. The information about the computer is partially hidden with a question mark.

See also: Mouse Controls


Definition of a Canasta
A Canasta is a set of at least seven cards of the same kind (e.g., seven Kings or four Kings and three wildcards). If all cards are non-wildcards, the canasta is called natural, otherwise it is called mixed.


Definition of a Black Three
A Black Three is a Three of Spades or a Three of Clubs.


Scoring

Card Values and Bonuses

The cards have the following values:

Card	Value
Four, Five, Six, Seven, Black Three	5 points
Eight, Nine, Ten, Jack, Queen, King	10 points
Two, Ace	20 points
Joker	50 points
Red Three	100 points

The following bonuses are awarded:

*	A natural canasta is worth 500 points, and a mixed canasta 300 points.

*	The player who goes out first gets a bonus of 100 points. If this player had no cards (except Red Threes) on the table directly before finishing (´goes out blind´), this bonus is doubled to 200 points.

*	If a player has all four Red Threes on the table, their score (400 points) is doubled to 800 points.

*	If a player goes out and his opponent has melded nothing but Red Threes, the value of those Red Threes is deducted from his opponent´s score.

Total Score

At the end of a round, the total score is calculated as follows:

1.	The sum of the values of the cards on the table forms the initial score value.

2.	Bonuses for canastas, going out and Red Threes are added to the score.

3.	The values of the cards in hand are deducted from the score.

However, if you have selected Yes in the ´Canasta required for positive score´ option in the Options | Rules dialog box, this calculation is only valid if you have at least the number of canastas as it is shown in the ´Canastas needed to go out´ setting ! If not, a negative score results consisting of the sum of the values of the cards in your hand and on the table. It is therefore always wise to get a canasta quickly, so that you don´t run the risk of holding a large collection of cards if the computer goes out.

If you have selected No, the above does not apply.

Minimum

The first time in a round that a player melds cards the sum of their values must be at least a certain minimum. This minimum depends on the score in the ScoreBoard, in the following way:

Score	Minimum

Less than 0	15
Between 0 and 1495	50
Between 1500 and 2995	90
3000 or More	120

Note 1: The values of any Red Threes on the table do not contribute to the required minimum score.

Note 2: If you turn off the option ´Top card counts for initial meld´, you must add the value of the top card to the minimum needed when taking the discard pile. E.g., if the minimum is 50 and you took an Ace from the pile, you must have 50 + 20 = 70 points on the table to get the rest of the pile.

Note 3: If you took the top card of the discard pile but you discover that you cannot use it, you can put it back by clicking on the pile again. This carries a penalty of 50 points.

If you want to know the minimum you need with your current score, left-click on the ScoreBoard.


Definition of a Red Three
A Red Three is a Three of Diamonds or a Three of Hearts.


Definition of a Wildcard
A wildcard is either a Joker or a Two of any suit. There are four Jokers and eight Twos in the game, so there are twelve wildcards in total.


Game Menu
The Game Menu

The Game Menu has the following items:

New

This item starts a new game; the scores on the ScoreBoard are set to 0, and a new round is dealt. Use this if you want to change the rule options: they are disabled during a game. Starting a new game will allow you to change them.

Load...

This item lets you resume a game of Canasta that you saved earlier. Your current game will be lost.

Save...

This item lets you save your current game of Canasta. The suggested name is the first eight characters of the name of the player taken from the Options | Customize dialog box plus the extension .can.

Canasta games have a default extension of .can. The default directory is your canasta directory.

HiScores...

This item shows you separate top ten highscores for each difficulty level (Beginner, Advanced and Expert). The scores recorded are for one round of play, and are the difference between the scores of the player and the computer. So, in your quest for the highest score, don´t let the computer get too many points!

The Clear button will delete all entries in the current table, so be careful using it.

Win Ratio...

This item shows you the win ratio statistics for a player.

Undo Meld

This item moves the last card you melded back into your hand.

The number of melds undo ´remembers´ is limited only by memory size, however due to the rules of Canasta you cannot undo the following things:

1) Discarding a card.

2) Melding cards that you were obliged to meld to get the discard pile.

You can undo taking the discard pile by clicking on it again (see How to Play).

Exit

This item exits from Canasta. If you set the option ´Save on Exit´ in the Customize dialog box, your game will be saved automatically. Otherwise, you will lose your current game. If you want to keep it, press F4 before exiting to save the game to disk.


Options Menu
The Options Menu

The Options Menu has the following items:

Customize...

This item brings up the Customize dialog box in which you can personalize your copy of Canasta.

Deck...

This item brings up the Card Deck dialog box, with an overview of the predefined cardbacks in Canasta.

Sound...

This item brings up the Sound dialog box where you can customize the sounds that Canasta uses.

Rules...

This item brings up the Rule Options dialog box in which you can set and view the rules for Canasta.


Customize Options Dialog Box
Customize dialog box

Player

Here you can select the current Canasta player, and enter new players. The buttons have the following meaning:

Add - Enter a name for a new player. The win ratio statistics are set to zero.

Edit - Edit the name of the currently selected player. The win ratio statistics are unchanged.

Delete - Delete the currently selected player.

The name of a player may be truncated if it does not fit in the space available.

If the player list is empty, the default name used is Player.

Discarding a card

Here you can indicate whether discarding a card should be done by a single or a double right click.

If you are having problems with the mouse buttons, and sometimes press the right mouse button when it should be the left one, you should select ´double right click´.

If you never press the wrong button, you can select ´single right click´ to speed up the game.

The default setting is Double Click.

Level of computer

Here you can set the intelligence level of the computer to Beginner, Advanced or Expert. The level cannot be changed during the game.

On Expert level, a scrollbar appears that allows you to set the aggressiveness of the computer. You can set this value to match your own style. Aggression is expressed by fast melding and quick going out. Try different settings to see what you like best.

The setting works as follows: at the beginning of each round, the computer determines whether it should play aggressively or not. The chance for aggression is given by the scrollbar. During the round the style does not change; the computer will not suddenly switch from aggressive to non-aggressive.

The default setting is Beginner, the default aggression level is 50%.

Background Color

Here you can select your favorite color for the background of the Canasta window. The default color is Dark Green.

Delay

Here you can set the amount of time delay used when the computer melds cards. After every card melded, the computer waits x milliseconds, where x is the value you specify. x may be between 0 (no delay) and 10,000 (ten seconds).

The default delay is 0.

Save on Exit

Here you can choose if Canasta should save your game automatically when you exit the game. It is saved as ´autosave.can´ and will be automatically loaded the next time you run Canasta.

When you turn this option off, the existing autosaved game (if any) will be erased.

The default setting is Yes.

Window Size

Here you can set the size of the Canasta window. You can select the following sizes:

* 640x480

* 800x600

* 1024x768

The first number is the horizontal, and the second number the vertical screen size, in pixels. If your video driver does not support a particular resolution, it will be grayed and cannot be selected. E.g., if your current driver is 800x600, you cannot select 1024x768.

The default size is 640x480.

Note that there is a difference in the way cards are displayed in the shareware and registered versions of Canasta.

In the shareware version, the card set used is always 640x480. For the higher resolutions, the cards will be enlarged by stretching them. This is a rather slow process, and does not yield cards of optimal visual quality. In the registered version however, specially designed card sets are used for the higher resolutions. They are drawn very fast, and have a crisp and sharp look.

For example, compare the Ten of Clubs on 800x600 resolution:

Registered	Shareware


Rule Options dialog box

Rule changes can only take place immediately after the cards have been dealt in a new round. During the game it is not possible to change the rules, and all items in this dialog box are disabled to prevent an ´on-the-fly´ rule change.

The Rule Options dialog box contains the following items:

Canasta required for positive score

Here you can indicate whether Canastas are needed to make the value of the cards on the table count positively, when a round is finished.

If you select No, the cards on the table will always add to the score, regardless of whether you have made a Canasta or not.

If you select Yes, the cards on the table will only add to your score if you have made at least the number of Canastas indicated by the ´Canastas needed to go out´ setting, otherwise their value will be deducted from the score.

The default setting is No.

Canastas needed to go out

Here you can indicate whether one or two canastas are needed before a player is allowed to finish a round.

The default setting is One.

Cards drawn each turn

Here you can indicate how many cards each player must draw in each turn.

The default setting is One.

Red Three options - Draw extra card

Here you can indicate if it is allowed to draw a second card from the draw pile, when the first drawn card is a Red Three.

The default setting is Yes.

Red Three options - Freeze discard pile

Here your can indicate if it is allowed to use a Red Three to freeze the discard pile as with a wildcard. Discarding a Red Three is done by right-clicking on it, as with an ordinary discard.

The default setting is No.

Discard Pile options - Add top card to canasta

Here you can indicate if it is allowed to take the discard pile by adding the top card to a canasta you have made on the table.

The default setting is Yes.

Discard Pile options - Top card counts for initial meld

Here you can indicate if the value of the top card of the discard pile counts for the required minimum, when you use the pile to create your first meld in a round (see Scoring).

The default setting is Yes.

Discard Pile options - Initially frozen

Here you can indicate if the discard pile is frozen, when a new hand of cards is dealt. This is regardless of whether there is a wildcard or Red Three in the pile!

If you have set this option to ´yes´ (so there is always an asterisk in front of the pile counter), you can see if there are wildcards in the pile by looking at the counter. If it is larger than one, there must be some ´hidden treasure´.

If you have set this option to ´no´, the pile will only be initially frozen if there is a wildcard or Red Three in it.

The default setting is Yes.


Help Menu
The Help Menu

The Help Menu has the following items:

Index

This item brings up the index of the Canasta help system.

Rules

This item brings up the help topic about the rules of Canasta.

How to Play

This item brings up the help topic about the screen layout and mouse control in playing the game.

Mouse controls

This item brings up the help topic with an overview of the mouse controls.

Scoring

This item brings up the help topic about the scoring rules used in Canasta.

Registering

This item brings up the help topic explaining how to register your copy of Canasta.

About

This item brings up a dialog box which gives information about the author of Canasta and shows the name of the registered user of Canasta, if there is one.


Shortcut Keys

The following keys can be used as shortcuts for items in the game menu and help menu:

Key	Menu Equivalent
F1	Help | Index
F2	Game | New
F3	Game | Load
F4	Game | Save
Del	Game | Undo meld


Credits

I would like to thank the following people, who have helped me in various ways with the development of Canasta:

	Thank you for :
Raymond Arts	Testing
Wim Bax	Introducing me to Canasta, Testing & Sound
Eva Bendix	Testing & Design
Arjan de Gast	Testing
Ger & Mieke Harte	Financial and moral support
Paul Johannsen	Suggestions, Distribution & Hardware Supply
Silvia de Kloe	Testing
Sacha Prins	Technical advice

Of the numerous people who made suggestions, I want to mention the following:

Lee Deuell, who did his best to get me some .wavs (but failed miserably);

Michelle Hébert, who teaches me French (but will fail miserably);

Paul Johannsen, my American Godfather (but who won´t get an Oscar).

To you, and to all the others who made a contribution: Thanks, people!

Mark-Jan Harte

September 28, 1994


Register menu item

This item allows you to enter your User Name and Registration Key that you receive when you register Canasta (see Registering). If the key fits the name, your copy of Canasta is automatically upgraded to the registered version. The key only has to be entered once.

The Register menu item is removed after a succesful registration.


Contacting the Author

If you:

* Have a question about Canasta;

* Want to report a bug;

* Have a comment or suggestion;

* Want to convince yourself of the existence of product support;

* Want to send me a birthday card (September 26);

You can contact me in the following ways:

My name:	Mark-Jan Harte

Regular mail:	Cort v.d. Lindenlaan 84

1412 CB Naarden

The Netherlands

CompuServe:	100407,2632

Internet:	100407.2632@compuserve.com

If you report a bug, please include the version of Canasta you are using and all options that were enabled when the problem occurred. This makes it easier to find the error in the program.


Registration Form

========================================

Canasta for Windows 2.41

Registration Form

October 1994

========================================

Date ______________

Name ______________________________________________________

Address ____________________________________________________

City __________________________  State/Country _________________

Zip/Postal Code _______________  [Phone] _______________________

[E-mail address] _____________________________________________

[Your age]          _______

Where did you get Canasta ? ___________________________________

Registration at $20	______

Add $5 if payment by check or money order	______

TOTAL AMOUNT	______

Please write any suggestions or comments on the other side.

9410-03

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Send to:	Mark-Jan Harte

Cort v.d. Lindenlaan 84

1412 CB Naarden

The Netherlands


Fequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: When will there be a version for more (4) players? Playing in pairs is fun!

A: I know, but the answer is lack of space. There´s already a problem fitting two hands on the screen, let alone four.

Q2: When will there be a network version?

A: I have absolutely no idea. Currently I have no access to a network for development, so it´s unsure when (if at all) a multi-player network version of Canasta will be released.

Q3: When will there be Samba (consecutive) and Bolivia (wildcard) Canasta?

A: I know about them, and a version is planned. However, this is a long-term project and not scheduled for release before 1995.

Q4: When I play with two Canastas needed to go out and Canasta needed for positive score, my cards on the table count negative when I have one Canasta on the table. How come?

A: You need both Canastas on the table for your cards to count positively.

Q5: Why do I have to pay $5 extra when I pay with a check?

A: My Dutch bank charges me $11 for each American check I cash. My complaints haven´t helped so I´m afraid those costs must be partially added to the price of Canasta. Pay with cash or via CompuServe to avoid the premium.

Q6: Are you an American living in Europe?

A: Nope, I´m Dutch born and raised. My language has downgraded from Dutch to English after watching too many American movies and reading Stephen King novels :-).


Win Ratio

This dialog box shows the following statistics for the currently selected player:

Wins:	The number of won matches.

Losses: 	The number of lost matches.

Win Ratio: 	The percentage of won matches.

For example, if you´ve won three matches and lost one, your win ratio is 75%.

The Reset button sets the Wins and Losses counters to zero.

Note that the win ratios depend heavily on the computer level (and, to a lesser extent, the rule options). If you change these, you may want to reset the statistics to keep their informative value intact.


Mouse Controls

The mouse buttons have different functions, depending on the area of the Canasta window the cursor is placed over. They are listed here for reference:

Area	Left click	CTRL + left click	SHIFT + left click	Right click
Card in hand	Meld one	Meld three	Meld all	Discard*
Melded card	Add wildcard		Add wildcards until canasta
Melded red three				Discard**
Wildcard in hand	Start dragging
Draw pile	Draw card
Discard pile	1- Take pile 2- Undo taking pile
Scoreboard	Show required minimum			Show current detailed scoring

*: This is a double right click if you set the ´Discarding a card´ setting in the Options | Customize dialog box to ´Double right click´.

**: This is only allowed if you set the option ´Red Three options - Freeze discard pile´ in the Options | Rules dialog box.

Melding a column of two cards will automatically cause a wildcard to be added (if available).

See also:	How to play


Card Decks

This dialog box shows the predefined cardbacks in Canasta. Click on a card to select it.

In the registered version of Canasta, you can create your own cardbacks! Select ´Define...´ and you will be presented with a dialog where you can enter the name of the bitmap you want to use as a cardback.

Warning:

Be sure that you are familiar with Windows bitmaps! Selecting files with an invalid format may cause Windows to crash.

The bitmap must have the following specifications: 2, 16 or 256 colors; no RLE compression.

Note 1: 256 colors bitmaps may be used, but will be shown as 16 color bitmaps.

Note 2: Bitmaps of any size may be used. They will be resized to fit the Canasta card size. However, using bitmaps with default dimensions will allow Canasta to draw them much faster, as no resizing is required. These default card sizes are the following:

Resolution	Card Size

640x480	43x65

800x600	53x81

1024x768	67x104


Sound

This dialog box lets you configure the sounds that Canasta uses. It has the following elements:

Enable Sound

Enabling this option makes Canasta use its sound functions. Disabling it turns off all sound.

Canasta Event

This list box shows all events that can occur in Canasta, and that can have one or more sounds associated with them. Scroll through the list to see all of them.

Associated Sounds

This list box shows the sounds that are currently associated with the event that is selected in the ´Canasta Event´ list box. The sound file shown here will be played when its associated event occurs. When there is more than one sound file, one of them will be picked randomly. A maximum of three sounds may be associated with any event.

Changing the associations is done with the following buttons:

Add...

This button brings up a file dialog where you can browse your disks for .wav sound files. Canasta will only play .wavs, not other types of sound files.

Remove

This button removes the currently selected sound file from the association list. It does not erase it from your disk. It is allowed to remove all sounds; in that case no sound will be played when the event occurs.

Play

This button plays the currently selected sound file.

Default

This button resets the association for the current event to the default. Pressing this button affects only the current event, not the other ones.


Prices

Canasta can be paid for with most common Western currencies. The preferred currency is American dollars, but the following are also acceptable:

Currency	Canasta Price
American dollars	$20
Australian dollars	$25
Canadian dollars	$25
Dutch guilders	ƒ30
English pounds	£13
French francs	FF100
German Marks	DM 30