demos/forty/about.htm

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   7 <font size=+1><b>Forty Thieves</b></font> <p>
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   9 a game of patience<P>
  10
  11 (c) Chris Breeze, 1998-2002
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  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).
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