*tExcellent Card Games* *p5 Welcome to Excellent Card Games, a compilation of five new Šcard games from *p4Tower Software. *h065~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Instructions~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *h082~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The~~Games~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *h097~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tower~~~~Software~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *p5 Select the topic you require help with ...*e *tInstructions Menu* *h064~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Main~~Menu~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *h066~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Using~~~Help~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *h069~~~~~~~~~~~General~~Card~~Play~~~~~~~~~~ *h074~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Preferences~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *p5 Select the topic you require help with ...*e *tUsing Help* *p5 These help screens provide information on a wide range of Štopics, including general instructions on how to play and detailed Šhelp for each of the five games.*p4 The row of help gadgets at the bottom of the screen allow you Što move about between the different screens: *p1 MENU *p4returns you to the main menu screen. *p1 << *p4moves to the previous screen.*e *p1 >> *p4moves to the next screen. *p1 HELP *p4brings up these help screens. *p1 FINISHED *p4exits help and returns you to the game you were playing.*p5 So for help on a specific game, select MENU and then the Šparticular game you are interested in.*e *p4 Help screens may also contain icons such as the one below which Šcan be used to move directly to a specific topic. *p5 Most controls are easy to use and intuitive. Everything is Šmouse controlled for maximum convenience. *h066~~~Click~here~to~move~to~another~screen~~~ *e *tGeneral Instructions* Excellent Card Games *p1has been carefully designed to be as Šeasy to use as is possible. *p4 The next few pages provide a clear description of how to use Šthe mouse, pick up cards etc, and also illustrate some of the more Šsubtle features which you may not have noticed. *p5 When playing a game, the HELP icon at the bottom of the Šscreen provides specific help for that game.*e *tPicking Up Cards* *p5 Picking up a card, or a sequence of cards, in most games is Šsimply a matter of positioning the mouse pointer over the card, Šand clicking on the left mouse button.*p4 If the pointer is*p1 DIRECTLY*p4 over the card, (the top card Šif its a sequence), the program will try to add that card to a Šfoundation. If you want to just pick the card up, make sure you Šposition the pointer slightly above or below it.*p1 To pick up a partial sequence, the pointer must be directly Šabove the first card you want to pick up.*e *tFoundations* *p5 Most of the solitaire games have four foundations, on which Šall the cards have to be built to win the game.*p4 Some of the games differ, but most have a foundation for each Šsuit, and have to be built up strictly in the order Ace,2,3 ... ŠKing in each suit.*p1 Once placed on a foundation, a card cannot be removed.*e *tIcons* At the bottom of the screen is an icon bar, that provides some Šextra game features. If you are using an NTSC display these icons Šare replaced by pull down menus. *p5 *h072~~~Shuffle~~ turns card shuffling on and off, allowing Šyou to replay a game with exactly the same cards. *h072~~~~Help~~~ brings up the help screens, either general instructions (from the game selection screen), or specific help on the current game (when selected from within that game).*e *tIcons* *p5 *h073~~~Prefs~~~ brings up the Preferences screen, that Šallows you to change many of the game settings and Šcontrols. *h073~~~~Menu~~~ returns you to the main game menu at any Štime. *h073~~~Again~~~ allows you to play the same game again. See ŠSHUFFLE if you wish to use the same cards again. *h073~~~~Quit~~~ lets you exit the game.*e *tPreferences* The preferences screen allows you to alter and save many of the Šgame settings, to enter new players, review high scores, and Šgenerally customise the way program looks and feels. *h075~~~~~Welcome~~~~~ *h076~~~~~Scoring~~~~~ *h078~~~Customising~~~ *h080~~~~~Players~~~~~ *e *tPreferences "Welcome"* *p1 The welcome setting allows you to choose the way this Šprogram will start up. The default player is the one who was Šselected when you last saved Preferences. *p5None*p4 The program will start with the default Šplayer, but no welcome will be given. *p5Auto log*p4 The default player will be welcomed. *p5Ask for name*p4 The program will ignore the default player and Šask you to type in the player's name. *e *tScoring* All the games can be scored in two different ways. *p5 The percentage score for patience games shows how close you Šare to finishing. For trick taking games this rates your play. Š100% is perfect - you haven't made a single mistake. In Black ŠMaria you start with 100% and your score goes down - this is Šbecause points scored count AGAINST you. Your score at the start Šis perfect because you haven't scored anything yet! *e *tPoints Scoring* *p1 Points scoring rates your games out of 100 in a similar way Što the percentage score, but with bonuses given for completing a Šgame, and for skillful play. The individual game instructions have Šmore details about this, where appropriate. You start each game Šwith a negative number of points. If you can reach a positive Šscore by the end of the game you are doing well and can consider Šyourself as having "won" that game, even though you may not have Šreached 100%. *p5 Cumulative points show how well you have been playing over a Šseries of games. If your total is positive you are doing well. *e *tCustomising* There are many preferences features that can be combined to Šcustomise the game to suit your own taste. *p5 The graphical style can be changed by choosing one of three Šcard backs, or selecting wallpaper which will form a permanent Šbackdrop to your games. *p1 The way that cards are picked up can be changed, from the Šstandard "Drag & Drop" that requires you to keep the mouse button Šdepressed whilst moving, to "Click to Drop" which requires two Šseperate mouse clicks, the first to pick up the cards and the Šsecond to drop them.*e *tChanging the Screen Type* This program uses a full height PAL screen, which may not be Šsuitable for all systems, particularly those in North America Šwhich have NTSC displays. *p5 To change to an NTSC screen, click on the "Sceeen" gadget so Šthat it changes from PAL to NTSC. Then save the Preferences Šsettings, exit the program and restart. It will now have an NTSC Šscreen, with the icons that were along the bottom of the screen Šreplaced with pull down menus. *e *tPlayers* The right hand side of the Preferences screen has two Šfunctions. Firstly, it shows the current player's name and a brief Šsummary of his game scores. Click on DELETE to reset the current Šscores to zero. *p5 Secondly, a new player can be created, or a name can be Šselected from the player list. Click on PLAYERS to bring up the Šplayer list. *p1 To enter a new player, click on the current name and a Šcursor should appear. Use backspace if you need to erase the Šexisting name, then type in your new name and press ENTER. Your Šnew player will be created, with scores all reset to zero. *e *tPlayers* To select an existing player, either type in their name, just Šas if you were creating a new player, or double click on one of Šthe names in the player list. *p5 If you have quite a few players, you can use the up and down Šarrow gadgets to scroll the list, or DELETE to remove unncessary Šplayers. *p1 The player list is stored on disk as part of the preferences Šfile. If you have the auto-save feature turned off, this means Šthat you will have to use Preferences to save your scores at the Šend of each session.*e *tThe Games* *h083~~~~~~Yukon~~~~~~ *h085~~~Black~~Maria~~ *h091~~~Frustration!~~ *h094~~~~Stonewall~~~~ *h096~~~~~Baroness~~~~ *p5 Select the game you require help with ...*e *tYukon* *p4*c00,50 Yukon has a similar layout to the old patience Šfavourite, Klondike, being played with seven pillars of ascending Šsize. The objective is to build up the foundations, to the right Šof the main play area, from ace to king in each suit. *p5 Any number of face-up cards from one of the main pillars can Šbe picked up, and these can be dropped on top of another pillar Šproviding the two joining cards build down in sequence and Šalternate in colour. *i54,10,86*e *tYukon* The secret to winning at Yukon is to uncover all the concealed Šcards as quickly as possible. A common mistake is to play off any Šaces, twos etc onto the foundations at the start. *p3DON'T!!!*p4 ŠBy leaving these cards where they are you have the maximum number Šof possible moves available. *p3So, don't make any move unless it Šis essential towards exposing another face down card. *p5 Once all the face down cards are exposed, it should be a Šsimple matter to re-arrange the cards until you have four columns Šdescending from king to ace, and then all the cards can be played Šstraight off onto the foundations.*e *tBlack Maria* Black Maria is a three player trick taking game in which the Šobject is to AVOID capturing the Ace, King and Queen of spades, as Šwell as any hearts. *p5 Your cards are displayed across the bottom of the screen, Šwith your two computer opponents at the top left and right. *p1 Before the game starts three cards must be selected as Šdiscards which are the passed on to the player on your left. You Šreceive three discards from the player to your right.*e *tBlack Maria* To play a card click on it once to select it, and a second time Što actually play it. *p5 Once the discards have been exchanged, you new cards will be Šdisplayed, and play begins. If this is your first game, it is you Što lead and you can play any card. *p4 The second and third players must play a card of the same Šsuit as the card that was led, if they can. If you can't follow in Šsuit, you can play any card you like.*e *p5 A trick is won by the player who played the highest value card Šin the lead suit. If the trick contains any point scoring cards, Šthe player who wins the trick scores those cards. *U08,36,50*U24,36,51*U40,36,39*U56,36,13*U58,34,19*U60,38,17 *p5 Queen of Spades King of Spades Ace of Spades Hearts *p3 13 points 10 points 7 points 1 point Šeach *e *p5 The player who wins a trick leads the next one. *p4 At the end of each game, the winner is the player who has Šscored the least number of points. There are 43 points to be Šscored in each game. Remember, you score as many points winning Šthe queen of spades as you do by capturing every single heart. *p5 Each player starts with 17 cards. The two of clubs is Šdiscarded, so the three is the lowest club. *e *tBlack Maria Strategy* Having the lead, particularly towards the end of the game, can Šbe a serious liability. It is unusual to see many points played at Šthe start of a game, so if you have the lead at the start it may Šbe wise to play your high cards then, and keep your low cards till Šlater when they will be more useful. *p5 If you don't have any of the high spades yourself, it is Šalways a sound move to lead a low spade in the hope that one of Šyour opponents will be forced to play his.*e *tChoosing Discards* *p4 There are many possible strategies when choosing discards. ŠOf greatest importance should be spades. If you have three or more Šlow spades, the suit is relatively safe. If you have less than Šthis you will want to pass on any high spades you have, and void Šyourself in your shortest suit. This gives you a chance to get rid Šof any high spades if they are passed on to you. A void suit is always an asset. Diamonds and clubs are often Šplayed before hearts, so having one of these void (or nearly void) Šcan be extremely useful.*e *tFrustration!* *c00,50 To win this simple game all you have to do is arrange Šthe kings queens and jacks around the edges of a 4 by 4 square. *p5 The game is played in two phases. In the first you take Šcards from the deck one at a time and place them onto the grid. If Šthe card is a king, queen or jack, it MUST be placed around the Šoutside of the grid. The acceptable positions will be highlighted Šwith a tick.*i52,05,87*e *p1 Once you have filled the grid with sixteen cards, the second Šphase of the game starts during which you must remove as many Šcards as you can. Cards with a face value of 10, or pairs of cards Šthat add up to 10, can be removed. To remove a pair of cards, Šsimply click on the first card with the left mouse button and then Šclick on the second. *p5 When you have removed all the cards that you can, click on Šthe deck to turn over the top card, and begin placing cards again. *p4 The game ends if there are no cards that can be removed once Šthe grid is full, or if there is no empty space for a king, queen Šor jack.*e *p5 Of course, Frustration! involves a certain amount of luck in Šorder to win, but there is a definite strategy that can increase Šyour chances of winning each game. *p1 When you are forced to play to one of the outside squares, Šalways choose the one that has the least probability of being Šfilled. For example if two queens have already come out, but no Škings have yet been played, there is twice the chance that a king Šwill be the next card. *p4 With careful play, it should be possible to win one game Šfrom every six. Frustrating, huh! *e *tStonewall* Named after the American General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Šthe Confederate general of the American Civil War this is a pretty Šstraightforward patience game made more awkward because many key Šcards are not visible at the start of the game. *p5*c00,50 As with many patiences, the objective is to build up Šfrom Ace to King in each suit, whilst sequences can be built Šdownwards in alternating colour, on the top card of each pillar. *i56,36,59*e *p4 At either side of the main pillars are two columns of eight Šcards. You can play these at any time, but you should use them Šsparingly for a better chance of winning. *p5 Your prospects will also be improved if you postpone playing Ša card to a foundation until the move is essential. Try to clear Šall the cards from one particular pillar rather than removing one Šfrom each. Once a space opens up this can prove extremely useful. *e *tBaroness* *c00,50 The object of Baroness is to remove all the cards by Šdiscarding pairs that add up to 13, that is 7 and 6, 8 and 5, 9 Šand 4, 10 and 3, Jack and 2 or Queen and Ace. Kings can be Šdiscarded on their own.*U60,18,35*U62,22,02 *p5The cards are dealt out a row at a time by clicking on the Šmain deck. If there are any spaces these will be filled Šfirst.*i56,40,58 *p3 Thats all there is to it - good luck!*e *tTower Software* *i06,09,75*i06,40,75*c24,99*i02,16,88*p5 Tower Software produces Ša range of high quality games for all Amigas. *p4 If you have enjoyed this game, we hope you'll be tempted by Šsome of the other products in our range. *p1 Leaf through the next few pages for a description of some of Šour games, or why not use the order form on the disk to send for Šan up to date catalogue. *e *tExcellent Card Games 2* *U62,36,13*U64,44,19*U66,38,27*p4 The follow-up to Excellent ŠCard Games contains another five stunning card games, all Šbeautifully presented, with automatic high score saving for any Šnumber of players. *c00,56 *p1Featuring Cribbage, the classic English card game. ŠThe computer makes a formidable opponent. *p3 Quads and Rapide are amazingly addictive solitaire puzzle Šgames, each with two levels of difficulty. *p5 Sir Tommy is the first ever patience, and rounding off this Šcompilation is Betrothal.*e *tSerious Backgammon* The classic board game. This game includes a wealth of features Šand options, including game tutorials for beginners and experts Šalike, a choice of graphical styles, game load and save, selection Šof different start positions and a full board editor. A choice of Šfour challenging computer opponents. *i02,34,89*c24,99*p5 "Every feature you could ever expect" *p1 Amiga Force 10/93 *p5 "Excellent instructions and brilliant graphics ... a definite purchase" *p1 Amiga Mart 10/93*e *tMancala* *c00,50*i52,08,90 Reputedly the world's oldest game, this Šclassic African board game is a real test of skill. Although Šseldom found in the West, Mancala remains incredibly popular Šthroughout Africa and Asia, having evolved over thousands of Šyears. *c00,99*p5 "Impeccably programmed and presented like all of ŠTower Software's programs...Hugely challenging" *p19/10 Amiga User International, December 93*m *e *tSerious Solitaire* The definitive collection of solitaire card games. Two Šcompilations each featuring a full fifteen games. Three levels of Šdifficulty add an extra challenge to the more straightforward Šgames, whilst allowing some of the more difficlt games to be Šsolved without too much stress. *p5"Brilliantly executed, with superb presentation and Šgraphics"*m*p1Amiga Force 11/93*m *p5"Extremely user friendly...the presentation throughout is Šexcellent"*m*p1The One 8/93*m*e *tPrices* Excellent Card Games ........................... *#10.00 *p1 Excellent Card Games II ........................ Š*#10.00 *p4 Serious Backgammon ............................. Š*#20.00 *p1 Mancala ........................................ Š*#10.00 *p4 Serious Solitaire .............................. Š*#10.00 *p1 Serious Solitaire II ........................... Š*#10.00 *p3Send a blank disk and an S.A.E. for a free sample!*m *p5 If you have a printer, you can use the Order Form supplied Šon this disk to order any of our programs, a sample disk or a free Šcatalogue.*e *tPublic Domain Titles* *p5 We have also produced a range of titles that are in the Špublic domain. These should be available from your favourite P.D. Šlibrary or bulletin board, or can be ordered direct from us for Š*#2.50 per title. *p1Excellent Card Games Sampler*m*p4Serious Backgammon ŠDemonstration*m*p1Solitaire Sampler - 5 complete solitaire Šgames*m*p4Othello - complete game*m*p1CardSharp - 5 more solitaire Šgames*m*p4Mancala Demonstration*m*e *t...and Finally* *i06,09,75*i06,40,75*c24,99*i02,16,88*p5 We're always happy to Šhear of any suggestions for new games, or improvements for any of Šour existing titles. *p3 Thanks for playing! *p4 Tower Software P.O. Box 9 Gosforth Newcastle Upon Tyne NE3 1QW England *e *tThis Program Is Restricted* *p1 Sorry, this is only a restricted version of Excellent Card ŠGames. *p4Every so often this annoying screen is going to pop up Šwhilst you're playing just to remind you to buy the full version. ŠI don't want to annoy you too much of course, and you can spend as Šmuch time as you like reading the help pages, or playing with ŠPreferences. *p5The full version also allows you to save all your high Šscores to disk, along with all your game settings configured in ŠPreferences. *p3 Just click on FINISHED to return to your game...*m *e *tImportant Information!* Hey, why not pause for a minute and consider whether you'd like Što buy the full version of this program! *p1*c00,46*i50,20,88 Your measly *#10 buys you the complete, Šunrestricted game together with another sample disk crammed full Šof quality programs. *p5 Help support a small software house and at the same time Šhave a real say in which programs we'll develop next! *e *tThis Program Is Restricted* Lets face it - you must like this program if you're still Šplaying it now. I know you're going to want to do the sensible Šthing and shell out for the full version of *p3Excellent Card ŠGames! *p5When you do place your order, why not tell us which new Šgames you would most like to see on the Amiga. We're always Šlooking for new ideas, particularly from our existing customers. ŠOr, if you can think of any way this program can be improved we'd Šlike to know. *p4 Just click on FINISHED to return to your game...*m *e *tImportant Information!* Still playing huh - I guess you just can't get enough of ŠExcellent Card Games. *p5 I can't fault your judgement, but don't you really think you Šshould dip your hand into your pocket and help support the poor Šstarving orphans who created this wonderful program. *p1 And don't forget, the full version lets you save all your Šhigh scores, for any number of different players, as well as all Šyour custom Preferences settings. Not only that, but you'll never Šbe troubled by irritating messages like this again! *p3 Just click on FINISHED to return to your game...*m *e *E