HEARTS.TXT (Ver. 6.6) -- Requirements -- This program requires a computer with color monitor capabilities, DOS 2.xx or greater, and the following files present (in the same directory) to operate properly. HEARTS.EXE - HEART65.DAT - HEART65.TXT -- How to Play -- HEARTS is a very easy card game to play and one that will give you many hours of enjoyment. The rules for this game are quite simple. After the cards are shuffled, they are dealt clockwise to each player. There are four players in this game with each receiving 13 cards (a total of 52). The direction of play, like most card games, is clockwise around the table. A player must always match the SUIT of the first card in play. If a player does not have the LEAD suit then he or she can play any card in their hand. The cards are RANKED in descending value from the Ace to the 2 with the Ace being the HIGHEST rank. The player having the highest ranked card in the lead suit takes that TRICK and BEGINS play on the next trick. There are four cards in each trick (one from each player) and 13 tricks per hand. You cannot lead a HEART or the QUEEN OF SPADES until they are BROKEN (one has already been played), or unless this is all that remains in your hand. Each NEW HAND is started by leading the TWO OF CLUBS. 3 The players are numbered from 1 to 4, with YOU playing 2 4 position number "1" at the bottom of the table. 1 -- Scoring of Hearts -- The scoring of HEARTS is what makes this game unique from most other card games. The LOWEST accumulated score wins the game. The score is determined by the number of POINT CARDS that a player has received in the tricks that he or she has taken. The point cards are - all HEARTS, each counting as one point and the QUEEN OF SPADES, which counts as 13 points. There is a total of 26 points for each hand. The score from each hand is then added to your Game Score. When a player reaches or exceeds the Game Point, then the game ends and the player with the LOWEST score wins that game. -- Shooting The Moon -- If a player is able to take all 26 points in a hand, then that player "SHOOTS THE MOON" (a run) and each of his or her oppon- ents will receive 26 points. Remember, LOW score wins, and a score of 25 does not qualify as a run. -- Passing Three Cards -- At the beginning of each hand all players have the opportunity to PASS three cards to another player. The direction of the pass is counterclockwise. The first pass is to the player on your RIGHT. The next pass is to the player ACROSS from you, and the last is to the player on your LEFT. The next hand is a HOLD hand, in which no cards are passed. The pass rotation then begins again. When selecting your cards to PASS, you may void your selection at any time by pressing the ESCAPE key, UP arrow, or RIGHT mouse button. The passing process will then begin again. -- The Option Menu -- The Option Menu can be called at any time throughout the game. This is done with the ESCAPE key, UP arrow, or RIGHT mouse button. The hand you are playing will be SAVED and the game will continue upon your return from the Option Menu. When using the DOS Shell from the Option Menu, be sure that Hearts can find the file COMMAND.COM. This can be done by setting the environment variable COMSPEC. At the DOS prompt, type and Enter - set comspec=[location]\command.com. An example of this entry would be - set comspec=c:\sys\command.com. Be sure that COMMAND.COM is located where you say it is! -- Game Commands -- Use the RIGHT and LEFT arrow keys or ROLL the mouse to select the card to play. After you have selected your card, press the ENTER key or LEFT mouse button to play that card. The keyboard CURSOR will skip played cards and will jump to the low card of the suit in play. The CURSOR also will wrap from end to end. Pressing the ENTER key or LEFT mouse button after each trick will bypass the Delay and speed the game along. The DOWN arrow key or LEFT mouse button will act the same as the ENTER key and will respond "Y" to a question and the UP arrow key or RIGHT mouse button will act the same as the ESC key and will respond "N" to a question. This allows game play to be conducted entirely from a centrally located area. Within the Game Point Option screen, you have the choice of whether or not the Trick Points received by each player is to be displayed on the score board. After entering your Game Point number or selecting the default, you are asked if you would like to show the Trick Points. Answering No (N) will remove the Trick Points for each hand from the score board. The Game Points are not affected and will continue to be displayed. You can reset the Games Won counters to zero by typing an "x" in place of a Game Point number while in the Game Point Option screen. Any comments or suggestions will be gratefully accepted and an honest attempt will be made to answer them. Please read the file REGISTER.TXT for additional information. This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a Compuserve message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. _______ ____|__ | (R) R. J. Crouch --| | |------------------- CareWare | ____|__ | Association of 307 Gracie Road | | |_| Shareware Nevada City, CA 95959 |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER