============ ==================================================== MAZEMAKR.HLP HELP FILE FOR MAZEMAKER by CUSTOM REAL-TIME SOFTWARE ============ ==================================================== GENERAL INFORMATION The MAZEMAKER is capable of generating an assortment of different types of mazes with varying levels of difficulty. When MAZEMAKER is first started it creates a "Maze of the Day." (You may select the default type of maze; see TYPES OF MAZES and SETUP.) Each maze may be thought of as a house. You must find your way from the entrance to the exit, travelling through the rooms of the house. There are one or more floors to each maze. Each floor is laid out as a rectangular array of rooms. If there is a wall between rooms, then passage between those rooms is prohibited. Conversely if there is no wall between rooms then travel is permitted. Rooms that have an arrow in them are ones that have stairways leading to other floors. Arrows may be up arrows, down arrows, or bidirectional arrows, and they indicate the direction in which travel is permitted. MAZE TRAVEL Maze travel begins at the upper-left-hand (northwest) corner of the first floor and the goal is to reach the green dollar sign in the lower-right-hand (southeast) corner of the first floor. All mazes have at least one solution path. Many mazes have some loops and, in these mazes, if the a portion of the loop lies along the solution path then there will be more than one solution. To travel from one room to another on the same floor just move the cursor to the room you want to go to. To travel from one floor to another click on an arrowhead to move in the direction indicated. As you travel you will (usually) leave a trail of red "breadcrumbs." On some advanced mazes, floors may be "No Breadcrumb Floors" (xBC) which means that no trail is left on floors so designated. THE STICKY CURSOR MAZEMAKER uses a STICKY CURSOR which resists being pulled through walls. If you pull hard enough the cursor will change from a transparent arrow to a cross to indicate that you are no longer following the maze path. (You may do this intentionally to select a menu item, or switch to another Window.) To regain the arrow cursor and resume travel at the point where you left off, either click the mousebutton while the cursor is on the MAZEMAKER Window or move the cross back to the room where you left the maze. (If you have scrolled a large maze so that the place you would resume from is not visible, the you must press the SPACEBAR while MAZEMAKER is the active Window to get going again.) TYPES OF MAZES MAZEMAKER can create the following types of mazes: 1) SINGLE FLOOR MAZE One floor mazes which are changed daily. 2) EASY "MAZE OF THE DAY" Two, or occasionally three, floor mazes which are changed daily. 3) "MAZE OF THE DAY" Four, or occasionally as high as six, floor mazes which are changed daily. 4) "MAZE OF THE WEEK" Seven through nine floor mazes which are changed weekly (every Sunday). There are no breadcrumbs on a few of the floors. You must complete the "Maze of the Day" before you are given the option of selecting this maze type. 5) "MAZE OF THE MONTH" Eight through ten floor mazes, changed monthly. Larger floors and fewer breadcrumbs than "Mazes of the Week." You must have completed the current "Maze of the Week" before you can try the "Maze of the Month." 6) "MAZE OF THE YEAR!" Mazes with ten large floors and with hardly any breadcrumbs, which are changed yearly. To be eligible you must have completed the current "Maze of the Month." Persons attempting these mazes may be considered certifiably insane. Persons solving them may be honored. Call CRTS (201-228-7623) for details. 7) NAMED MAZES "Maze of the Day" style mazes. Each named maze is unique. Named mazes may be declared to be "Stock" mazes. 8) CUSTOM MAZES Mazes where maze parameters (size, breadcrumbs, etc.) are specified. Custom mazes may be declared to be "Stock" Mazes. 9) STOCK MAZES Named or Custom mazes which are so designated in order that they may be easily selected from a list. MAZES OF THE DAY/WEEK/MONTH/YEAR are sometimes referred to as "competiton" mazes because they identical on all computers and are intended for competition among pathfinders working throughout the PC world. Some options which might make it easier to solve these mazes are disabled when you work on them. MAZE SELECTION The maze generated each time MAZEMAKER starts is referred to as the "default" maze. Initially the default maze is the "Maze of the Day." (You may change this from GAME\SETUP menu option.) You should set the default to a maze type which you find challenging, but not impossible. Beginners may prefer either the Single Floor Maze or the "EASY Maze of the Day," while people who are good puzzle solvers should probably stick with the standard "Maze of the Day" as their default. You may also choose a Custom maze with parameters you specify as your default. You may ask the MAZEMAKER to display a different maze at almost any time. Choose from the OTHER MAZES menu, which shows the different selections you are permitted to make. Your choice here depends partially upon which mazes you have previously solved. The MAZEMAKER determines this from the History it keeps and from whom you have told the MAZEMAKER you are. (The MAZEMAKER will ask you for your name when you solve a maze. You can sign in anytime using the RECORD BOOK\SIGN IN menu option.) MAZEMAKER ETIQUETTE The MAZEMAKER may become seriously upset with Pathfinders who set their system clocks to anything other than the correct date. It must be assumed that the reason for doing this is to attempt some maze which the Pathfinder is not presently entitled to work on. THE MAZEMAKER MENU The menu presented by MAZEMAKER normally has four items. They are "Game," "OtherMazes," "RecordBook," and "Help." If the MAZEMAKER window is sufficiently narrow, though, the menu will merely indicate "Menu." Selecting this little menu will elicit a popup menu with usual four items. In other respects the normal and little menus are identical. If you request a "Demo," you get a DEMO MENU until you stop the demo. The Demo Menu different from the main MAZEMAKER menu, and is discussed later. The menu bar occasionally contains non-menu information near its right margin. Specifically the elapsed time, and floor data may be presented in this manner. This will occur when the MAZEMAKER window is too small to display this information inside the window, or when the MAZEMAKER window cannot show an entire floor of the maze. The organization of the MAZEMAKER menu is as follows: GAME \ DEMO GAME \ HINT GAME \ RETURN TO START GAME \ SWEEP BREADCRUMBS GAME \ SETUP ... GAME \ EXIT OTHER MAZES \ MAZE OF THE DAY/WEEK/MONTH/YEAR OTHER MAZES \ STOCK ... OTHER MAZES \ EASY MAZE OF THE DAY OTHER MAZES \ SINGLE FLOOR MAZE OTHER MAZES \ NAMED ... OTHER MAZES \ CUSTOM ... RECORD BOOK \ SIGN IN ... RECORD BOOK \ COURSE RECORDS \ ALL TIME RECORD BOOK \ COURSE RECORDS \ RECENT RECORD BOOK \ HISTORIES \ THIS MAZE RECORD BOOK \ HISTORIES \ THIS PATHFINDER RECORD BOOK \ HISTORIES \ THIS TYPE RECORD BOOK \ HISTORIES \ COMPLETE HELP \ GENERAL INFO HELP \ MAZE TRAVEL HELP \ THE STICKY CURSOR HELP \ TYPES OF MAZES HELP \ MAZE SELECTION HELP \ DEMO MODE HELP \ STAT WINDOW HELP \ MAIN MENU HELP \ DEMO MENU HELP \ DIALOGS \ SETUP HELP \ DIALOGS \ NAMED MAZE HELP \ DIALOGS \ STOCK MAZE HELP \ DIALOGS \ CUSTOM MAZE HELP \ ABOUT GAME \ DEMO (or D) causes the MAZEMAKER to enter "Demo" Mode. While in Demo Mode the MAZEMAKER attempts to solve the maze and you watch! See discussion on Demo Mode below for more information. Demo Mode may not be initiated after you have spent five or more minutes on the maze in progress, nor may it be initiated on a Maze of the Week/Month/Year. GAME \ HINT (or H) presents a hint from the MAZEMAKER. Hints are not normally given on "Competition" mazes unless the MAZEMAKER senses that you are in serious trouble. Hints are limited to five on any maze. GAME \ RETURN TO START repositions the cursor back to the beginning of the maze (for those who cannot find their own way). This option is disabled on "Competition" mazes. GAME \ SWEEP BREADCRUMBS clears all the breadcrumbs (red stuff) from the maze. Normally this takes only a few seconds but it may take a while on larger mazes. This option is disabled on "competition" mazes. GAME \ SETUP ... presents a dialog box which allows you to customize the way MAZEMAKER operates. The changes you make are recorded in the MAZEMAKER's data file, and so these changes affect future MAZEMAKER sessions as well as the present one. GAME \ EXIT causes MAZEMAKER to terminate. Once MAZEMAKER is terminated the maze in progress is lost and cannot be restored. To suspend MAZEMAKER so a maze can be resumed later, shrink MAZEMAKER to an icon. OTHER MAZES ... Selection of a maze from this menu item causes the maze in progress to be discarded. That is, it cannot be resumed from the point at which one left off. If you wish to start a new maze and be able to continue the maze in progress at a later time, you should shrink the present instance of MAZEMAKER to an icon and launch another instance of MAZEMAKER. OTHER MAZES \ MAZE OF THE DAY/WEEK/MONTH/YEAR causes a new maze of the type specified to be displayed. The actual menu choice here (and the type that will be drawn) depends upon the mazes that the present "Pathfinder" (the person who has "signed in") has solved. For example, to qualify for the "Maze of the Month" one must have solved both the current "Maze of the Day" and the current "Maze of the Week." OTHER MAZES \ STOCK ... presents you with a dialog from which you may select an existing Stock maze. OTHER MAZES \ EASY MAZE OF THE DAY causes the "EASY Maze of the Day" to be generated. The maze in progress is lost. OTHER MAZES \ SINGLE FLOOR MAZE causes the "Single Floor Maze" for the day to be generated. The maze in progress is lost. OTHER MAZES \ NAMED ... causes the Named Maze Dialog to be initiated. It is used to request that a specific "Named" maze be generated. OTHER MAZES \ CUSTOM causes the Custom Maze Dialog to be initiated. Unlike other maze types where the MAZEMAKER chooses the maze parameters (height, width, etc.), "Custom" mazes are ones where you define the parameters. The Custom Maze Dialog allows you to ask the MAZEMAKER to generate a maze of the type you define. RECORD BOOK \ SIGN IN brings up a dialog screen which allows the current pathfinder (You!) to sign in. You are presented with a list of known pathfinders and may choose from the list or enter a new name. This menu item may not be selected if the maze in progress is the "Maze of the Week/Month/Year." This dialog is also presented whenever a maze (except Week/Month/Year) is solved. You may want to sign in before you solve a maze if you have already solved the "Maze of the Day" or if you want the MAZEMAKER to keep track of mazes you do not solve. RECORD BOOK \ COURSE RECORDS \ ALL TIME displays a selection of bests and fastests for the default maze type, and for all non-trivial mazes. RECORD BOOK \ COURSE RECORDS \ RECENT displays a selection of bests and fastests for the default maze type, and for all non-trivial mazes among the 100 most recent mazes attempted. RECORD BOOK \ HISTORIES \ THIS MAZE displays statistics about previous attempts to solve the maze in progress. RECORD BOOK \ HISTORIES \ THIS PATHFINDER displays information about each maze the current Pathfinder (the one who has signed in most recently) has attempted. RECORD BOOK \ HISTORIES \ THIS TYPE displays information about each maze, previously attempted, which is of the same type as the maze in progress. RECORD BOOK \ HISTORIES \ COMPLETE displays information about all previous maze attempts. HELP (or ) asks the MAZEMAKER to show you some relevant portion of this MAZEMAKR.HLP file. (The MAZEMAKER chooses based upon your sub-menu selection or your current situation.) Once you are viewing some text you may scroll to view any other part of the file or return to whatever you were doing. MAZEMAKR.HLP is a normal ASCII text file, so you can print it out if you wish. HELP \ ABOUT displays the usual message about the copyright owner of MAZEMAKER. RECORD BOOK INFORMATION Obviously all RECORD BOOK HISTORIES contain information only from your own computer and from a single file on that computer. This information is kept in the file MAZEMAKR.DAT in the same directory as the "exe" file. If you manage to have more than one "exe," then you will have a "dat" file for each "exe." THE SETUP DIALOG The SETUP dialog allows you to specify the "Startup Maze," "Maze View," "Stat View," "Program Manager Resizing," and if you would like to start up in "Demo Mode." The startup, or default, maze is initially the "Maze of the Day." You may choose instead the "EASY Maze of the Day," a "Single Floor Maze" which changes daily, or the "Default Custom Maze." The default custom maze uses the date as a randomizer so it, too, changes daily. The size and other parameters associated with the default custom maze are specified in the dialog associated with the OTHER MAZES \ CUSTOM menu item. The maze view controls the initial shape the main MAZEMAKER window each time a new maze is generated. The choices are "Normal" and "Restricted." Normal means that the window will be sized large enough to show an entire floor of the maze, or as much of a floor as is possible. (except for custom/stock mazes marked "Restricted View Only." These mazes are always shown in a restricted view window which cannot be resized.) Restricted means that the window will be only large enough to show a small number of rooms at one time. It is more difficult to traverse, and more similar to being in an actual maze if the maze view is restricted. The stat view controls whether an auxiliary "STATS" window is shown. Initially the stat view is set to "Auto." Alternatively, you may set the stat view to "On" or "Off." On means that a STATS window is displayed in the lower right hand corner of the screen if the mazeview is normal or directly below the main window if the mazeview is restricted; Off means the STATS window is not displayed. When auto is selected, the MAZEMAKER decides when it first shows a maze based upon whether any part of the STATS window would obscure a part of the maze. If it would then STATS are not shown; otherwise they are shown. Cursor stickiness controls the force required to pull the "In Maze Cursor" (the transparent arrow) through a wall and change it to a cross. When the cursor changes to a cross you stop traversing the maze and are free to move to the menu, or to perform other Windows functions. Set the control to the left to make it easier to pull through walls (make the cursor less sticky); or to the right to make it harder to pull the cursor through walls. Initially cursor stickiness is set to a middle position. Program Manager Resizing when enabled, causes the Program Manager Window to shrink to an icon when MAZEMAKER is started; and to be restored to its original size when MAZEMAKER is terminated. (No other control over the Program Manager Window is exercised, so it may be manipulated normally while MAZEMAKER runs even if this feature is enabled.) Initially Program Manager Resizing is disabled to be consistent with other Windows programs. You will probably want to enable this option. You may request that Demo Mode be initiated as soon as the MAZEMAKER has completed creating the default maze. This may be useful for those who want obvious activity on their Windows Display and invoke MAZEMAKER from the WIN.INI file. NAMED MAZE DIALOG The Named Maze Dialog allows one to specify that a "Named" maze be generated. Each unique name causes a corresponding unique "Maze of the Day" style maze to be generated. The dialog allows the maze to be designated as a "Stock" maze. Once designated as a stock maze, the name cannot be reselected as a named maze. (Others wishing to try the same maze must select it via the stock dialog.) The Named Maze Dialog may be aborted by selecting the CANCEL button. STOCK MAZE DIALOG The STOCK MAZE DIALOG displays a list of available stock mazes, one per line. For each maze, the name, height, width, number of floors, difficulty, and best time are shown. Also shown is an indication of whether some, none, or all the floors are designated as "No Breadcrumb" floors, whether the maze is marked as "Restricted View Only," and whether the maze was originally defined as a "Named" (N) or a "Custom" (C) maze. Along with the list are three options: OK, LIST, and CANCEL. CANCEL aborts the Stock Maze Dialog and restores the cursor to its most recent position in the maze in progress. OK and LIST each require that an item from the list be selected before they do anything useful. OK causes the selected maze to be generated. LIST causes a history of previous attempts at the selected maze to be displayed. (After a LIST is viewed the dialog is resumed, and the selection may be changed.) CUSTOM MAZE DIALOG The Custom Maze Dialog allows you to specify Width, Height, number of Floors, Difficulty, which floors will not have Breadcrumbs, and whether the maze is a "Restricted View Only" maze. These parameters essentially determine the Type of maze that will be generated. You must also specify a Name. It is the name that determines which of the several Billion (with a B!) mazes of the type you defined the MAZEMAKER will actually create. In addition the dialog allows you to specify that the maze you are defining should become a "Stock" maze, and if you want the type of maze described to become the "Default Custom Maze." You will notice when you begin the dialog that the MAZEMAKER has filled in all the answers. These are the default values. You are free to change these, of course, to define the type of maze you presently want. And you can also declare that your new values should become the new default by checking the "Make Default" box. This set of values is also used to determine the maze type if you specify "Default Custom Maze" as the startup maze. (See SETUP DIALOG.) The Custom Maze Parameters are: Name - A character string which has at least one character and is not the same as an existing "Stock" maze name; Width - The east-west dimension of the maze specified in rooms (minimum 5, maximum 999); Height - The north-south dimension of the maze specified in rooms (minimum 5, maximum 999); Floors - The number of floors the maze has (minimum 1, maximum 10); (The product of width, height, and floors - the house size - may not exceed 32,000.) Difficulty - a parameter used by the MAZEMAKER when generating the maze, but which is hard to define; (Mazes with low difficulties like one or two are almost certain to be trivial. Increasing the difficulty above ten percent of the house size is not likely to make the maze significantly harder to solve, and may actually result in an easier maze. The best way to get a feel for the difficulty parameter is to experiment with it. For example if you try a one floor maze with a difficulty of one, you will find that the shortest solution path does not stray much from the diagonal.) No Breadcrumb Floors - specifies the floor numbers separated by spaces or commas, where no breadcrumbs (red stuff) will be dropped as the maze is traversed; (When left blank, all floors have breadcrumbs. If "all" is specified, none of the floors will have breadcrumbs.) THE STAT WINDOW The "Stat" Window shows statistics which are updated continuously as you work on a maze. These include some or all of the following: 1) PL - The pathlength, or distance you have traveled (in rooms) since the start of the maze; 2) Spd - Your speed in Rooms per Minute; 3) RV - The number of Rooms you have Visited in this maze; 4) SV - The number of Stairways you have Visited in the current maze; 5) %RV - The percentage of Rooms in the maze that you have Visited; 6) %SV - The percentage of Stairways that you have Visited; 7) Time - The number of hours, minutes, and seconds, you have been working on this maze. Items <3> through <6> do not appear on "No Breadcrumb" floors. (These numbers, if shown, could be used to determine whether one were retracing one's steps, or not; counteracting the reason for not having breadcrumbs.) Items <4> and <6> are not shown on mazes that have only one floor. (No stairways!) Item <7> appears only if the maze, when first created, requires scrolling. (Otherwise time is shown in the main Window.) DEMO MODE Demo Mode allows you to watch as the computer tries to solve the maze currently displayed. It is initiated by selecting GAMES\DEMO from the MAZEMAKER's main menu, or by selecting the DEMO MODE STARTUP option during SETUP. While MAZEMAKER is operating in Demo Mode, the usual menu is replaced by the DEMO MENU. Demo Mode can be exited by selecting QUIT from this menu, or by pressing the ESCAPE key on the keyboard. Demo Mode may not be entered if the current maze is the Maze of the Week/Month/Year, of if more than five minutes have elapsed since the maze was started. No information is recorded in the MAZEMAKER's history about any maze worked on during Demo Mode. While Demo Mode is active, the MAZEMAKER leaves the normal Windows cursor on the screen as well as displaying a Demo Mode Cursor (with a small "D" inside) that traverses the maze. You continue to control the Windows cursor with the mouse, but the computer controls the Demo Mode cursor. You may even switch to another application, but the Demo will continue as if MAZEMAKER were still active. Demo Mode attempts to solve the maze with a reasonably intelligent approach, but without actual knowledge of the solution. Half a minute after the maze has been solved, Demo Mode starts over at the beginning (of the same maze) and repeats in this manner until you ask it to stop. Unless the maze is relatively easy, the computer is likely to take different paths each time it attempts to solve the maze. DEMO MODE MENU There are five options on the Demo Mode Menu: 1) Quit Demo 2) Pause Demo 3) Resume Demo 4) Help 5) Exit MAZEMAKER QUIT DEMO causes the MAZEMAKER to resume normal mode. The Cursor is switched from the Demo Mode Cursor back to the usual MAZEMAKER cursor, and placed where the Demo Mode left off. The menu is also switched back to the normal menu. Remember, though, that once you have been in Demo Mode, your result on the present maze will not be recorded in the MAZEMAKER's History. You may also quit Demo Mode by pressing the ESCAPE key or D if MAZEMAKER is the active Window.. PAUSE DEMO causes the computer to stop moving the Demo Mode Cursor around the maze. The Demo may be resumed later. The SPACEBAR key may also be used to pause the demo if MAZEMAKER is the active Window. RESUME DEMO causes a paused demo to be resumed. The demo continues just as if it had never been interrupted. The SPACEBAR key may also be used to resume the demo if MAZEMAKER is the active Window. HELP enables you to view information contained in the MAZEMAKR.HLP file in the same manner as the it does when selected from the main menu. EXIT MAZEMAKER does just that; it terminates the program. Do not confuse this option with the one that merely quits Demo Mode. MULTIPLE MAZEMAKER INSTANCES You can create multiple instances of MAZEMAKER. You may wish to do this if you are in the midst of one maze, and want to begin a second maze without losing what you have done on the first. Multiple instantiation also allows one to create some interesting demos. (For example try running several restricted view instances in Demo Mode.) The only limits on multiple instantiation are ones imposed by Windows itself, by the amount of memory that is available, and by the processing power of your CPU. Obviously if some Windows resource (a timer is an example of a Windows resource) is not available, then the new instance will not execute normally or possibly at all. Also each instance requires its own memory, and memory is a finite resource too. MAZEMAKER always tries to degrade as gracefully as possible. MAZEMAKER MEMORY REQUIREMENTS MAZEMAKER memory requirements are strongly tied to the size of the maze you ask the MAZEMAKER to generate, and to your video resolution. This is because the MAZEMAKER asks Windows to keep an exact image of each floor. The image sizes are based upon the number of pixels required to display each room, and the number of rooms. The largest mazes (like the MAZE OF THE YEAR!) require approximately 4MB free memory for VGA resolution. (Click on HELP/ABOUT in the Program Manager to find out how much free memory you have.) If you run out of memory and you cannot make more available to MAZEMAKER (by terminating other applications, adding "Virtual Memory" and/or reconfiguring you extended memory) you must either ask for smaller mazes or reduce your video resolution. (Video Resolution is a Windows Setup parameter. You might switch down to VGA from Super VGA, or from VGA to EGA.) # # #