BombSweeper 2.1, ©1992-4 by Scott Harker. Any mass redistribution of this program without the written consent of the author is prohibited. This file constitutes an extension of the help information provided in the program, and as such, MUST be distributed with the program UNALTERED. Failure to do this will be strongly disapproved of. (What can I really DO?) Version 2.1 contains the improved help facility mentioned in the wish list near the end of this file. It's not perfect, but it'll do. And yes, I know the help text gets formatted funny when you use "Greg's Buttons" to replace the system font. I'm WORKING on it, OK?!!? What follows is the original READ ME for version 2: ____________________________________________________ This file describes the changes made to this version of BombSweeper. To learn how to play the game, start up the game and read through the Help menuÑit's all there. Of course, any attempt to describe ALL the little ways in which BombSweeper 2 is different from the previous version would end up missing a lot, and probably be a very bad read. So here are some of the highlights: COLOR & SOUND Oooh, BombSweeper comes into the real world! I'm not really happy with the explosion icon, it looks like a red broccoli to me. But I do like the fact that the window shakes when you uncover a bomb. And of course, the Wizard of Oz sounds were an inspiration. You can turn off the sound with the Sound option, and the shaking of the window with the Shake Window option, both under the File menu. You can turn off the color by changing the display mode on your monitor. NOTE: The game will be reset (as if you re-selected the same setup under the Setup menu) when you change display mode. This is done for technical reasons that you don't really care about, trust me. Now why would you want to turn off the sound and color? Because it will improve your times. Not only is there a delay after each cover is removed so the "tick" sound can be played, but the sad truth is that it takes longer to draw a color icon than a black & white one. Even after taking these drastic measures, you'll probably still find your times a little slower with version 2. (PixMap processing is slower than BitMapÑwhat can I do?) My advice: Don't sweat the small stuff! TUTOR After I finished BombSweeper 1.1, I was fishing around for a bigger challenge, and wondered if I could write a program that PLAYED BombSweeper (in a semi-intelligent way). So I basically codified the way I play the game, then integrated it with the game itself. The result is what you get when you choose the Tutor option from the File menu. It will examine the entire playing field, and report what it thinks you should do next. The squares it's talking about will be highlighted, and you'll have two choices. If you press the "DoIt" button, the recommended action will be taken. If you press the "Don't" button, it won't. Simple as that. When it takes more than a windowful of text to describe an action, the "<<" and ">>" buttons will become active. Press ">>" to move forward through the text, "<<" to move backward. The "DoIt" button will become active only on the last windowful of text. The "Don't" button is always active. The Tutor looks for the following situations in order, and reports the first instance it finds: ¥ An overmarked square, like a "2" square with three marked neighbors. ¥ A square that obviously needs marking, like a "2" square with only two neighbors, one or both of which is unmarked. ¥ A square that obviously needs "Clearing Around", like a "2" square with two marked neighbors, and some covered, unmarked neighbors. ¥ An extended marking or uncovering situation. This involves two squares, one of which provides some clue as to which neighbors of the other square should be marked or uncovered. You will see the outlines of squares flash as it looks for these extended situations. ¥ If there are squares to examine but none yields any of the above situations, it will highlight the square whose neighbors have the lowest probability of being bombs. If you press the "DoIt" button, it will just pick one of these neighbors. NOTE: It doesn't take into account the possibility that some of the neighbors may have a higher probability than others, based on information from the surrounding squares. It also doesn't take into account the "Bombs Remaining" counter in the upper-left corner of the screen. ¥ If there's absolutely nothing to go on, it will pick the first covered, unmarked square it finds and suggest you uncover it. In this case and the case above, it's often better to hit the "Don't" button and choose a square yourself. Of course, you won't be able to blame the "stupid computer"É. Now, I'm a little concerned about putting this feature in, since people will probably abuse it, especially those who can't complete the higher levels. They'll just keep choosing the Tutor and hitting the "DoIt" button until the level is clear, just so they can get their name in the "Expert" slot in the Best Times display. For this reason, I've built several annoying things into the Tutor on purpose: ¥ You can't call up the Tutor while a large area is being cleared automatically. You have to wait until there's nothing left to process. ¥ The default button in the Tutor window is the "Don't" button, so you have to use the mouse to hit "DoIt". ¥ There is no key equivalent of pressing the ">>" button, so again you have to use the mouse. ¥ I haven't worried too much about the speed and efficiency of the Tutor. The best time you can get on the Beginner level using this method is about 30 seconds, and that's with a very fortunate arrangement of bombs. So given the Tutor's poor guessing ability, it would take an AMAZINGLY lucky arrangement of bombs to complete the Expert level using this method anyway. But let me emphasize that the whole reason I added the Tutor is not so you'll finally be able to complete the Expert level, but to teach you how to think about the game. The extended marking and uncovering logic is a very good technique to learnÑit's the reason I can do the Expert level in about three minutes. ADVICE TO BEGINNERS USE THE TUTOR! It really will improve your times (just ask my beta-testers). Try to follow what it's talking about, using the "<<" button to review if you have to. If you still have trouble following let me know, maybe the wording of the explanations is too vague. But be persistent, the way of thinking that you'll learn is really helpful, maybe even in real life: When my turn came around to take the GRE's, it happened to coincide with version 1.1 of BombSweeper. I was spending a lot of time on the program, and didn't pay much attention to preparing for the exams. When I got there I was panic-stricken when I saw the verbal and quantitative sections (though I managed to do rather well in the end), but I had absolutely no problem in the analytical sectionÑit was all BombSweeperesque logic! "If A is true, and B is true, then C must be false, and D must be true." No sweat! I ended up in the 92nd percentile in that section, and I owe it all to this stupid little game. (It's a shame grad schools are only interested in the verbal and quantitative sections!) ADVICE TO EXPERTS So BombSweeper isn't a challenge anymore, eh? You can complete the so-called "Expert" level in your sleep? Well smart guy, try some of these variations: ¥ UP THE BOMB COUNT. I usually play 16x32 with 150 bombs. Your deductive reasoning skills will improve because they'll have to, and you'll become a much better guesser. ¥ DON'T MARK BOMBS. It's very satisfying to uncover the last square and see every other square get marked automatically. You'll increase your ability to hold several things in your head at once, which comes in handy when you're doing the Cryptogram in the paper without writing anything down. Try it, it's fun! NOTE: This also means the "Bombs Remaining" count never decreases, and the Tutor is about useless. More challenges! ¥ USE YOUR FEET. In the video game world, a lot of attention is paid to hand-eye coordination, but what about those hard-working things at the end of your legs? Don't they deserve to play too? And what about other body parts? (Now, I'm thinking about elbows and knees and such here, let's not get sick.) NOTE: This has the added benefit that no one will want to touch your computer (or at least your mouse) ever again! BOMBSWEEPER 3? There's room for improvement in all things, and more in BombSweeper than most. Here are some things I'm thinking about adding: ¥ SCROLLING PLAYING FIELD. Wouldn't it be nice to have a playing field that's only limited in size by the amount of available memory? Scroll bars, a resize box and a zoom box will probably be the first things I add to the next version. ¥ IMPROVED TUTOR. In future versions, the Tutor will take into account the "Bombs Remaining" count and the number of uncovered squares, as well as probabilities when it makes a guess. Also, it will look for "superextended" marking and uncovering situations. Right now it only looks in a limited area, but it should really take the entire playing field into account. ¥ IMPROVED HELP FACILITY. I know, what I have now is crap. I'm working on a full-blown generic help facility, which can be put into other things I'm writing. It will probably appear in the next version of BombSweeper. ¥ ANIMATION. I really want to replace that explosion icon. I might put in some simple animation of an explosion. I'd also like to make the icons in the About box march around the window. Wouldn't that be cute? SHAREWARE INFO Of course, I'm going to need encouragement. I think this game is worth more than $15, but even that amount would be compensation enough for the MANY hours I've put into this thing. But you don't HAVE to send money, any fan mail (or hate mail, or kinda-in-between mailÉ) will be gratefully received, and maybe responded to. Let me know what you think of my baby. Send stuff to: Scott Harker 4410 Township Line Rd. Apt. B1B Drexel Hill, PA 19026 CREDITS I'd like to thank my intrepid beta-testers, for spending their time and effort, and for braving system corruption and total BombSweeper addiction in testing this version of the program, all so they could get mentioned here. So to Susan J. Talbutt and Jorj Bauer, thanks.