China Tiles Documentation.
China Tiles V1.0
Copyright (c) 1993 Easisoft.
By Stephen Hughes.
System Requirements:-
=====================
To run this game, you need an Amiga, at least 1MB of memory and a mouse.
It was developed on a 1MB A500 with Kickstart 1.3, but should work on any
Kickstart or Workbench, provided AMOS is compatible with it. It is also
beneficial to have some form of VDU when playing the game.
Note:- China Tiles is PAL only. Sorry, NTSC users. I might do a NTSC
version later, but it is unlikely.
The game will work with only 512K, but all external drives and peripherals
must be disconnected. Also, don't try to access the HELP screens,
otherwise the program will crash due to lack of Chip memory.
The Game:-
========
This game is based on the old Chinese game Mahjong. It is extremely
simple to play, and provides hours of hair-tearing fun.
The basic idea of the game is to remove all 120 tiles from the board. The
problem comes in the fact that you can only remove matching pairs of tiles.
Easy eh? Well it would be if that were the only restriction. To further
complicate matters, a tile has to be 'free' before it can be selected. By
free, I mean it has to have a blank space to either the left of right of
it. There can be tiles on the piles to either side, as long as there are
none on the same level. Once all 120 tiles have been removed, or there are
no more available pairs, the game is over. And, there you have it. That is
basically all there is to the game. It's so simple, even John Major could
play it! But, What is this I hear? Cries of 'Old Hat!' and 'Been done
hundreds of times before!' from the Honourable Gentleman opposite? Well,
of course it's been done before, haven't most games? Of course, there are a
few features that make this version better than any of the competition. For
instance, the game features a built in help function, easily enough for
even the slowest learner. Then, there is the fantastically useful search
function, to help people who can't tell a pair of floppy disks from a can
of coke. Of course, there is that old favourite undo for people who
couldn't hit a dead elephant at 6 inches with a frying pan. And for the
lazy among you, there is a cheat function built in. Of course, you don't
get any satisfaction from cheating, but it also helps of you make a
complete mess of the level. 'But surely, these are nothing major?' Well, if
my Honourable friend will kindly button it for a bit longer, I will reveal
the feature that will have you gasping in the polluted air. The feature
that puts all other games of this type to shame. Now, many of you will have
seen other games of this type. Hands up how many have seen them with just
one level? Quite a large number I see. Now how many have seen them with
between 2 and 15 levels? Thankyou, the lady in the corner. Now I wonder if
anyone out there can guess how many levels this game has? 5? Now come on,
be serious! 20? Still way short. 100? Not a hope. Well, I'll tell you. The
game has infinite levels. (Well almost) You see, This game has that most
revered of features, a LEVEL EDITOR! And, unlike most, you are not limited
to the number of levels you can design. The only limit to the number of
level files you can create is the available disk space. And, with 15 levels
to each file, it will take you a long time to complete even a hand full of
files. Thankyou, Madam Speaker, that is all.
Features:-
========
Here is a quick rundown of all the features in the game.
FIND - Finds and removes a matching pair of free tiles.
UNDO - Takes you back a move.
HELP - Pops up a help page if you forget what to do in the game.
CHEAT - Allows you to remove a pair even if they are not free, or even
visible.
Level Editor - Allows you to design levels to your hearts content. The
only restriction is that a level must contain 120 tiles
before it can be used. Following are a list of the features
to be found in the level editor.
LOAD and SAVE - Allows levels to be save to or read from disk.
HELP - In case you forget what a button does.
SHOW - Gives you a preview of what the level will look like in
the game.
CLEAR and RESET - Deletes level data from memory.
Level Editor Instructions:-
=========================
When you first enter the level editor, you will see the 15 loaded levels
at the top of the screen, several buttons and a grid at the bottom. The first
level will be highlighted, and the grid will contain an enlarged version of
it. The 5 buttons to the right of the grid determine how high the piles of
tiles will be. You place a pile of tiles by simply clicking in the grid
where you want them. Blank means that the pile will be erased.
To select a level to edit, simply click in one of the 15 boxes at the top
of the screen. If they contain a level, it will be zoomed into the grid. If
you want to erase a level, select it, then click on CLEAR. A requester will
be displayed for you to confirm your decision, in case you click clear by
accident. RESET clears all level definitions in memory. This also has a
confirm requester.
If you want to edit another levels file, simply click on load and select
the required one, then click OK to confirm you choice. QUIT exits without
loading any levels.
Once you have selected the level you want to edit, or a blank level to
create one of your own, you simply place piles of tiles in the grid. A proper
level should have 120 tiles in it, you can create levels with less, but
you can't play them. Once you have edited or created all the levels in
memory you want, click on SAVE to save them to disk. A file requester
will appear asking you for a name. You can either enter a new name, or click
on an old file then OK to replace the old definitions with the new ones.
You don't have to save the levels to be able to play them, but once you
exit the game, or load other levels, they will be wiped unless you have
saved them. As ever, QUIT exits back to level editor without saving the
levels.
If you want a preview of what a level will look like in the game, simply
click on SHOW. This will display the level with random tiles. Once you have
finished examining the level, click the left mouse button to return to the
editor.
If you get stuck, simply click on HELP for another look at the instructions
for the editor.
With the editor, you can define easy levels, hard levels or just plain
impossible levels, and you can easily give your friends a copy of your levels
by copying them the levels file.
Have fun!
What can I do at the intro screen?
==================================
Well, you have one of three choices. You can click the left mouse button
to start the game, Click the Right Mouse Button on the top line of the
screen to QUIT, or simply read the scroll text until your eyeballs start to
wrap around in your head.
Once I have started the game, what do I do next?
================================================
When you click the left mouse button on the intro screen, a level selection
screen appears. This shows the levels currently loaded in miniature form.
If you like the look of any of these levels, simply click on the one you
have picked, and this will take you to the game proper.
If none of the levels tickle your fancy, then you can click on the 'Load
Levels' button. A file requester will pop up, asking you to select a new
levels file. If you see a file you like, simply double click on it, or click
once then click OK.
If you can't find any levels files, or none of the them take your fancy,
then click on QUIT to return you to the level select screen. Don't worry if
you click on the wrong file, as the program checks to make sure you have
picked a levels file before it loads it.
If you want to design your own levels, then simply click on the 'LEVEL
EDITOR' button.
How do I remove a pair of tiles once I have located them?
=========================================================
All you have to do to remove tiles is simply click on them. When you click
on the first tile, a small arrow will appear in the top left corner of it.
If this does not appear, then either you missed the tile, or the tile
cannot be selected. When you click on the second tile, both will disappear.
Again, if nothing happens, try clicking on the tile again. If it still
doesn't respond, then it isn't free. When you have removed 2 tiles, there
is a slight delay before they disappear. This is simply because the computer
needs to redraw the screen, so don't get too impatient. The delay is only a
fraction of a second.
How do I use the FIND function?
===============================
Simply click on the FIND button in the game. The computer will search all
available tiles and find the first 2 free tiles that match. It then
automatically removes them. If no pairs exist, then nothing happens when
you press this button.
How do I Cheat?
===============
Well, you shouldn't really have to cheat, but if you get completely stuck,
click on the cheat button. This activates the cheat mode. Now, simply click
on any tile, free or not, and the computer will find its pair and remove
both. You can then resume play as normal. If you decide not to cheat, then
simply click the right mouse button to cancel cheat mode.
Help! I can't remember how to play the game!
============================================
Well, first give up the hypnosis classes, then click on the HELP button.
This gives full instructions (Albeit shortened). Once you have refreshed
your Swiss cheese, click the left mouse button to return to the game.
Oh *!%$, I've removed the wrong pair!
=====================================
First, sober up a bit, then click on UNDO. This returns the board to the
situation before your last move. Note, this only works for one move, and
cannot be used after a FIND or CHEAT operation.
I can't see any more pairs, Find can't either and I don't want to Cheat.
========================================================================
First, full marks for honesty. Now, click on QUIT. This returns you to
the intro, from where you can do what you like.
I want to load some new levels, but I can't find any! Help!
===========================================================
The most likely reason for this is that you have either booted from a
different disk, or copied the game to hard disk or similar and forgotten
to copy the levels as well. If you click the Right Mouse Button on the main
window if the file requester, a list of devices appears. You can now click on
any of these to try and find the levels files. They should be in the Levels
directory on the program disk, but if you have copied the game to HD or
similar, they might be anywhere! If you can't find any levels files, then it
is likely they have been deleted. If this is the case, you will have to
create some more with the editor.
I have tried to save some levels to disk, but the program complains.
====================================================================
The most probable reason for this is the disk you are saving to is Write
protected, or has been removed from the drive. To write enable a disk, slide
the black tag in the bottom corner so that is covers the hole.
If this doesn't work, then either the disk is damaged, or your disk
drive is defective.
To exit the Disk Error requestor, simply click a mouse button.
Note:- Don't try to save over the default levels file, as this is write
protected as the program needs this to run.
The program says it can't find the default levels! What can I do?
=================================================================
If this happens, a file requester will appear prompting you to select
an alternative levels file. Any levels file can be used, just click
on it then OK.
This also tells you that something has happened to your default levels
file. Either it is missing or in the wrong directory. You can either
rename another levels file as 'CT_LEVELS' (without quotes) or if it
does exist, move it to the root directory of the boot disk.
When I click on a level to play it, nothing happens. Why?
=========================================================
The level you have picked does not have 120 tiles in it, therefore it
cannot be played. You will have to edit it so that it does have 120 tiles
in it.
The game gets so far then crashed out! What's wrong?
====================================================
The most probable reason for any seeming inexplicable crash is that the
game either cannot find a file it needs, or a file has become corrupted.
Check all files against the list below, and if none are missing, contact
me and tell me what you were doing when the program crashed, because you
have probably found a bug! (What? A bug in MY code? Come off it, bugs only
happen to the John Whelans of this world!)
The only bug that might occur is in the FIND routine, because this has
given me serious grief in the past, but I think it is fixed now (After 3
or 4 complete re-writes).
This should solve all problems with the game, but if you come across any
others, or find any bugs (It's a lie, that was O.K. before!) then please
contact me at the address given at the end of the file.
Disk Error messages:-
===================
Here is a list of the cryptic error messages that may occur when saving
levels to disk, and what to do about them.
Error Cause/Action
Device not available. The disk/device specified is not connected to
your computer! This can be caused if you remove a
disk before the data is saved. To correct, simply
specify a new file/drive/device and try again.
Disk full. There is no free storage space on the disk. Try
another disk, preferable a blank one.
Disk not validated. Either AmigaDOS cannot find a disk validator, or
the disk has become corrupt. Copy a fresh disk
validator from workbench (Found in the L drawer)
or run the disk through FixDisk or similar.
Disk is write protected. The slider on the bottom left corner of the disk
needs to be covering the hole before data can be
saved to the disk. Move the slider and retry.
File is write protected. You have tried to save over a file which is
protected against this. Simply use a different
file name to save the data.
I/O error. AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!! Your disk is probably
corrupt! Try again, and if the same happens, run
the disk through FixDisk or a similar program to
try and recover it. Note, I don't recommend using
DiskDoctor, as it is about as useful as Neil
Kinnock and about as friendly as Saddam Hussein!
Illegal File Name. The name you have used is not allowed under
AmigaDOS. Try again with another name. Note, file
names generally have to start with a letter.
Not an AmigaDOS disk. The disk you are trying to access has not been
formatted for use under AmigaDOS. Try another.
Hard drive users:-
==================
It is possible to install China Tiles on a hard drive. You need to create
a directory called 'China_Tiles' (No quotes) in the root of your hard
drive. This should contain sub-directories 'Levels' and 'Fonts'. Note the
fonts sub-directory is optional, and is not needed if you are booting from
a partition that already contains a Fonts directory.
The following files should then be copied from this disk to your hard
disk:-
China_Tiles to the China_Tiles directory.
China_Tiles.info to the China_Tiles directory.
Levels/CT_Levels to the China_Tiles/Levels directory.
Any other level files and icons (optional) to China_Tiles/Levels.
Fonts/Swiss.font to your fonts directory.
Fonts/Swiss/36 to your fonts directory.
Levels/Def_Icon to China_Tiles/Levels directory.
C/Assign to your C directory.
Devs/Ramdisk.device to your Devs directory.
L/Ram-Handler to your L directory.
Libs/DiskFont.Library to your libs directory.
China Tiles should then run directly from hard disk. Note, I haven't been
able to test this, as I don't have a hard disk (Any donations of 240MB GVP
A530's gratefully accepted!), but if it doesn't try copying all libraries,
handlers and C commands from your workbench disk (or this disk) to your hard
disk. They should be there already if you've installed workbench properly.
To be 100% sure, install China Tiles in the same partition as workbench.
Final Word
==========
I think that's all you need to know about how to work the program. If
you do have any problems or suggestions for improvements, then contact me
at:-
Stephen Hughes
21 Milton Lane
Easington
Peterlee
Co. Durham
SR8 3DR.
See you in China Tiles 2, or any other Easisoft productions that may
appear in the near future!