RUMMY 500 (Version 4.2) - READ500.TXT ===================================== Rummy 500 is an exciting member of the Rummy family of card games. Its main differentiating feature is that you can pick up any number of discards if you can lay down some of them immediately. Rummy 500 is believed to be the first shareware Rummy game available for Microsoft Windows. You play against the computer, which can be set to use a number of different skill levels. At expert and champion level, the computer is hard to beat and provides a very challenging game. Customizable features include: Colors Sound effects Card backs Screen resolution (600x480 or 800x600) AutoMouse (moves mouse pointer automatically between deck and hand) Opponent skill level Rule variations The only installation requirements are that RUMMY500.EXE, RUMCARDS.BMP, and RUMMY500..HLP, and the wav files reside in the same directory; and that VBRUN300.DLL and VBCTL3D.VBX are present in your path (typically in the windows\system directory). VBRUN300.DLL should be downloaded separately if you don't already have it on your system. **************************************************************************** IMPORTANT NOTE: If you already have Rummy 500 on your system and it is earlier than version 4.2, you must replace the old VBCTL3D.VBX with the new version included with this distribution. Failure to do so will result in an "Invalid File Format" message when trying to run Rummy 500. If you have replaced the old version but still receive this message, there is another copy of the VBCTL3D.VBX file on your hard disk -- which must be deleted. If you are installing a shareware distribution copy, the best practice is to move (not copy) VBCTL3D.VBX to the /windows/system directory as you install Rummy 500. **************************************************************************** To use the sound effects, you must either have a sound card installed in your system, or have the speak.exe driver installed to use your system's regular speaker. Speak.exe is a freely distributed product from Microsoft, and is available on most online services and bulletin board systems. Rummy 500 is distributed with a few sound files, others may be obtained from libraries on most online services and bulletin board systems. To enable sound effects, you must check the "Enable Sounds" box from the "Sounds..." option under the "Configuration" menu. Remember to "Save Configuration" to make the setting permanent. Rummy 500 is shareware, and is fully functional. You may evaluate this program for a period of 21 days after which you must register it or remove it from your system. To not comply with this condition is a violation of United States and international copyright law. To register Rummy 500, please use the printable order form under the "Help" menu of Rummy 500. If you are unable to, or chose not to, print the order form, please make sure that you: 1. Specify that you are registering Rummy 500 (using the memo area on your check is acceptable) 2. Include sales tax if you are a Massachusetts resident 3. Enclose a check for the correct amount, in U.S. funds, payable to Carol Bufton You will receive your registration code by mail. The registration code is encoded from your name, so be sure to provide your name exactly as you wish to be registered. If you require a diskette (3½" only), add $3 making the total cost $15. The diskette version may contain a later version of Rummy 500 if improvements have been made since the release of your evaluation copy. Because we cannot track which versions are currently available at what locations, it is very possible that Rummy 500 will have been updated since your evaluation copy unless you downloaded a recent version from CompuServe or America Online. Please allow 28 days for your registration to arrive, although every effort will be made to mail your registration within 5 days. Your registration code licenses you to use the version of Rummy 500 that you are currently evaluating, irrespective of which is the latest version currently available on America Online, CompuServe, or registered diskette. Your registration may also be valid with future versions as they become available. You may not share your registration code with others. Your registration permits you and other users to use Rummy 500 on any single-user computer system. You may also use Rummy 500 on any other computer system of which you are the primary user, such as a laptop. You may distribute Rummy 500 to others provided that you derive no revenue other than that associated with the act of distribution, and provided that you distribute the following, and only the following, files intact: READ500.TXT - This file RUMMY500.EXE - The program RUMMY500.HLP - The help file FAQ500.TXT - The "frequently asked questions" file RUMCARDS.BMP - The card images VBRUN300.DLL - The Visual Basic Runtime VBCTL3D.VBX - The Visual Basic 3D Effects extension To use Rummy 500 you need Microsoft Windows 3.1 and a mouse (with at least two buttons). An Intel 386 class system with 4 megabytes of RAM is recommended as a minimum. Rummy 500 has not been evaluated on less capable systems, but should present no problems other than responsiveness and speed. You are recommended to take advantage of the comprehensive help file information in order to learn how to play Rummy 500. Perhaps the best first step to learning Rummy 500 is to use the "Player | AutoPlay" option and watch the computer play against itself. Enjoy! Revision History ---------------- Version 1.x - Development versions. Version 2.0 - First Shareware release. Fully functional. Version 2.1 - Scoreboards. 2.11 - Minor improvements. Version 2.2 - Player can freely select the last discard. Version 2.3 - Startup window. Version 3.0 - 3D-style user interface. - Multiple player scoreboards . - AutoResume. - Sound effects. 3.01 - Maintenance release 3.02 - Maintenance release Version 3.5 - Conforms to "Hoyle's Rules Of Games". - Suggest. - Undo. - Hall Of Fame. - League Table. - Displays of total games won. - Swap Cards. - AutoPlayer. - Quick Display. - Animate Display (removed in version 3.9). - Updated Help. 3.51 - Revised discard algorithms. Version 3.6 - Changed method of taking discards. - Undo Version 3.7 - Sort by Suit - Show Remaining 3.81 - Overlap Melds - Display Turn Count - "Master" skill level Version 3.9 - Updated user interface - Stagger Player Hand - Cut For Deal - Reset Scoreboard - Restart Round 3.91 - Maintenance release Version 4.0 - Custom card backs - "Trim Corners" - "AutoMouse - Dialogs" 4.01 - Maintenance release 4.02 - Maintenance release Version 4.2 - Fixed problem of "Sort Ace Low" option not being correctly saved when enabled. Also, setting/unsetting "Ace Must Be Low" rule option automatically sets/unsets the "Sort Ace Low" which must be reset independently if required. - Fixed problem when "Master" opponent sometimes failed to meld leftmost discard taken. - Expanded "Hint" now lists a complete sequence of moves from taking a card (if not yet taken) through discarding. - Added double-click "safety catch" alternative for discarding. When active, a single right-click has no effect and two successive single right-clicks on the same card will generate a reminder to double-click. - Added "Check Meldable Discard" configuration option. When selected, you will be asked for confirmation before discarding a card which is meldable. - Added "Color Opponent Melds" option to the opponent menu. When selected, either as "always" or "at end of round" the cards which the opponent has melded are displayed with a tint (default of pale yellow). This has a slight display perfomance impact that might be noticeable on slower systems. - Added "speed button" to switch between tinted and untinted display of the cards melded by the opponent. - Added option to the "Configuration | Color" menu to permit custom definition of the color of the opponent meld tint. - Added compensation to the user interface when system graphics are set to display "large fonts". In this case, the menu names are shortened to avoid menu bar wrapping, the window height is extended a little, and AutoMouse(Dialogs) adjusts appropriately. - Added compensation to overcome reported problem of Windows '95 not processing empty files the same as Windows 3.1 does - Added detection to ignore double-click where it could cause "subscript out of range" problems when used instead of a single mouse click. - Moved player-related options from the "Configuration" menu to the "Player" menu. Moved "AutoPlay" to the "Assistant" menu. - Removed the ability to save options for player or as default. Options are now always saved under the current player name. To change the local default options, change to player "Default" first. - Added "AutoSave" option to the "Configuration" menu. When selected the "Save ..." option in the the "Configuration", "Player", "Opponent" and "Rules" menus are removed and all option changes made within these menus are always saved immediately. - Added "AutoStart" option to the "Configuration" menu. By default Rummy 500 will now pause and display a large "Start" button when starting and when having changed players. This enables menu option changes to be made before starting. Selecting "AutoStart" overrides this behavior, causing Rummy 500 to start immediately - as it did in previous versions. - 3D Effects options are now replaced by a "No 3D Effects" configuration option. The effects are now enabled/disabled immediately. Previous users must replace VBCTL3D.VBX (in the windows directory) with the new version provided. - When the opponent takes a new card from the stock, the card back will now be briefly highlighted as confirmation. (This is suppressable via a new "Opponent menu" option.) - "Champion" and "Master" opponents now cease to hold off melding if they are close to potentially winning a game. © MeggieSoft Games 1994, 1995. All Rights Reserved.