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1 | <html> | |
2 | <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" VLINK="#000000" LINK="#000000" ALINK="#000000"> | |
3 | ||
4 | <font color="#000000"> | |
5 | ||
6 | <center> | |
7 | <font size=+1><b>Forty Thieves</b></font> <p> | |
8 | ||
9 | a game of patience<P> | |
10 | ||
11 | (c) Chris Breeze, 1998-2002 | |
12 | ||
13 | <p> | |
14 | ||
15 | </center> | |
16 | ||
17 | <P> | |
18 | ||
19 | Forty Thieves is a patience game played with two full packs of | |
20 | cards. At the start of the game forty cards are dealt on the | |
21 | eight 'bases' along the top of the window. The object of the | |
22 | game is to place all the cards onto the eight 'foundations'. The | |
23 | foundations are built starting with the ace and adding cards of | |
24 | the same suit up to the king. Cards are dealt from the pack and | |
25 | placed on the discard pile. Cards may be moved from the discard | |
26 | pile or one of the bases to a base or a foundation. Only one | |
27 | card can be moved at a time. Cards can only be placed on a base | |
28 | if the top card of the base is of the same suit and is one | |
29 | higher in pip value or the base is empty e.g. the eight of | |
30 | spades can only be placed on top of the nine of spades.<P> | |
31 | ||
32 | When the mouse cursor is over a card which can be moved it | |
33 | changes to the 'hand' cursor. The card can then be moved by | |
34 | double clicking the left button.<P> | |
35 | ||
36 | The mouse cursor also changes to a hand when a card is dragged | |
37 | by placing the cursor over the card and holding down the left | |
38 | button. This feature can be enabled and disabled by selecting | |
39 | the 'Helping hand' option from the Edit menu.<P> | |
40 | ||
41 | The 'foundations' are the eight piles of cards down the left | |
42 | side of the window. When the game starts these piles are empty. | |
43 | The object of the game is to place all the cards on the | |
44 | foundations. An ace can be placed on any empty foundation. Other | |
45 | cards can only be placed on a foundation if the top card is of | |
46 | the same suit and is one lower in pip value e.g. the three of | |
47 | clubs can be placed on the four of clubs.<P> | |
48 | ||
49 | The 'bases' are the ten piles of cards along the top of the | |
50 | window. At the start of the game four cards are dealt face up on | |
51 | each of the bases. A card can be added to a base if the base is | |
52 | empty or if the top card is of the same suit and is one higher | |
53 | in pip value e.g. the queen of hearts can be placed on the king | |
54 | of hearts The top card of a base can be moved onto another base | |
55 | or a foundation.<P> | |
56 | ||
57 | Cards can be only moved one at a time. The top card of the pack | |
58 | can be dealt onto discard pile by placing the mouse cursor over | |
59 | the pack and pressing the left button. The number of cards | |
60 | remaining is displayed to the right of the pack.<P> | |
61 | ||
62 | Cards can be moved from the discard pile or the bases either by | |
63 | 'double-clicking' or by dragging. If the left button is | |
64 | double-clicked when the mouse cursor is over a card and it can | |
65 | move to another pile, it will do so. This is a quick way of | |
66 | moving cards when their destination is unambiguous.<P> | |
67 | ||
68 | A card can be dragged by placing the mouse cursor over the card | |
69 | and holding down the left button. The card will follow the mouse | |
70 | cursor until the left button is released. If the card is over a | |
71 | pile on which it can be placed it will be added to that pile, | |
72 | otherwise it will be returned to the pile from which it was | |
73 | dragged.<P> | |
74 | ||
75 | One point is scored for every card that is placed on a | |
76 | foundation. Since there are two packs of 52 cards the maximum | |
77 | score is 104. A record is kept of the number of games played, | |
78 | the number of games won, the current score and the average | |
79 | score. This information is displayed at bottom right of the | |
80 | window and is stored on disk between games. A game is deemed to | |
81 | have started if the cards have been dealt and any card has been | |
82 | moved. If the game is abandoned before it is finished (i.e. by | |
83 | starting a new game or closing window) it counts as a lost game. | |
84 | New players can be added by selecting the 'Player' option from | |
85 | the Game menu. A summary of players' scores can be displayed by | |
86 | selecting the 'Scores...' option from the Game menu.<P> | |
87 | ||
88 | All moves are recorded and can be undone. To undo a move select | |
89 | the undo menu item from the Edit menu. A quicker way of undoing | |
90 | is to press the right mouse button (it doesn't matter where the | |
91 | mouse cursor is). Right button undo can be enabled and disabled | |
92 | by selecting the 'Right button undo' option from the Edit menu. | |
93 | Pressing the right mouse button with the control key pressed | |
94 | re-does a previously undone move.<P> | |
95 | ||
96 | An empty base or two is very useful as it gives the opportunity | |
97 | to unscramble other bases. Try not to build onto kings which | |
98 | obscure valuable cards as it will be difficult to get to them | |
99 | later. The undo facility is very useful for going back and using | |
100 | 'hindsight'.<P> | |
101 | ||
102 | Don't be put off if you can't win every game. I reckon winning 1 | |
103 | in 10 is pretty good (winning 1 in 3 is excellent). | |
104 | ||
105 | </font> | |
106 | ||
107 | </body> | |
108 | </html> | |
109 | ||
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