MYNES: Index
MYNES HELP INDEX

Mynes ver 1.0 ©1992 by John Freed

Introduction

Basics

Notes from the Programmer

Playing the Game

Square Types

Moves

The Status Bar

Scoring

Options

Grid Size

Number of Mynes

Number of Lives

Sound

Resetting the score

Strategy

Hints

A Few Moves


MYNES :Basics
Basics

Mynes is yet another variation / knock-off of the mines / mine sweeper type game.  The object is to clear the mynefield grid.  This is accomplished by marking squares known to be myned, exposing those that aren't, and guessing at the rest.

The game begins in the upper-left corner, which is always safe.  From there you may move about, exposing squares.

When an unmyned square on the grid is exposed, you are given the number of myned squares which surround it.  From this information, you try to deduce the location of the mynes.

Stepping on a myned square is, of course, fatal,  but you may finish the game in another life [image].

Next:

Square Types


MYNES: Square Types
Myne Square Types

HIDDEN.  You do not know whether it is myned or not.

EXPOSED.  A number will indicate how many of the possible eight surrounding squares are myned.  No number indicates zero.

MARKED.  You believe this square to be myned, and will avoid it.

INCORRECTLY MARKED.  At the end of a game, corrections are made, and the X indicates that you marked a square that was not myned.  Undoubtedly you ran into trouble based on the assumption that is was.

EXPLODED.  You exposed a myned square.

Next:

Moves


MYNES: Moves
Moves

Point and click the left mouse button to expose a square.  Use the right button for marking and unmarking.

If you expose a square that has no mynes surrounding it, this area will be cleared automatically, up to the point of any possible danger.  Marked squares may not be exposed.  Unmark them first with the right button.

Marking the forbidden squares will help you navigate through the grid, although to win you are not required to do so.  A game is won if all the unmyned squares are exposed.

As squares are exposed or marked, the status bar is updated to reflect these changes.

Next:

The Status Bar


MYNES: Status Bar
The Status Bar

The gray status bar at the bottom of the mynefield grid displays the number of lives left and the number of squares you need to expose to complete the game (total squares on the grid minus the number of mines ).

  If you step on a myne, that square will explode, and you will lose a life.   If there are no lives left, hasta la vista, baby.

      035       When you expose a square not myned, the counter decreases.  When the counter reaches 000, the game is won.

Next:

Scoring


MYNES: Scoring
Scoring

At the end of a game,  a dialog box with a few statistics will be displayed.  It shows the elapsed time of the game, games played, games won, and your status.

Your cumulative level of achievement is calculated from the difficulty level of the mynefileds you successfully master, as well as the number of failures you've experienced.  The three levels are Novice, Intermediate, and Expert.

Next:

Grid Size


MYNES: Grid Size
Grid Size

The main menu OPTIONS: Game Setup... command opens a dialog box in which you may change the dimensions of the mynefield grid, and set the number of mynes.

The grid size is set by clicking the small up / down Width and Height buttons, [image] [image], or by selecting the custom grid button  [image] .  The custom grid button opens a grid window in which you point and left-button-click anywhere on the grid, then drag the mouse to the width and height that you want.  By dragging down or right,  this dialog window will expand to the maximum dimensions allowed by the current display driver.

Changing the grid size will cancel the game in progress and start one with the new dimensions.

Next:

Number of Mynes


MYNES: Number of Mynes
Number of Mynes

The main menu OPTIONS: Game Setup... command opens a dialog box in which you may set the grid size, and by using the scroll bar, select the number of mynes to be hidden in the mynefield.

The scroll bar's range is between about  9% - 39% of the mynefield squares.  This prevents the game from getting way-easy or nearly impossible.

Changing the number of mynes will cancel the current game and start one with the new value.

Next:

Number of Lives


MYNES: Number of Lives
Number of Lives

Select from 1 - 5 lives using the OPTIONS: Lives menu item.  Choosing five [image] [image] [image] [image] [image] is a real wimp-out, and should be avoided unless you are prone to violent defeat tantrums.  Changing the number of lives will start a new game.

Next:

Sound


MYNES: Sound
Sound

The main menu OPTIONS: Sound allows selection of On or Off for the explosion and end of game sounds.

Next:

Resetting the Score


MYNES: Resetting the score
Resetting the score

Resetting the score is one of the options in the Game Over Dialog.  Besides setting Games Played and Mynefields Successfully Cleared to 0, your Status will again be Novice.  The old stats are lost forever.

Next:

Hints


MYNES: Hints
Hints

€ Make sure you have solved as many squares as possible from the given information before guessing.

€ When you have resorted to guessing, choose a square to expose that will yield the most information, perhaps one that is pivotal to a section of the grid.

€ Clear in every direction around squares already surrounded by the number of mynes listed on them, whether marked or exploded.

Next:

A Few Moves


MYNES: A Few Moves
A Few Moves

Clear around 1's in every direction.

Mark these three squares since they must be myned.

These squares should be marked.

Next:

Programmer's Notes


MYNES: Programmer's Notes
Programmer's Notes

June 1, 1992

Mynes was designed to run in VGA or better graphics mode.  Results are unpredictable in the lower display modes.

The program expects to find Mynes.exe, MynesBB.dll, and Mynes.hlp all in the same directory.  Mynes will create a private profile Mynes.ini in the \WINDOWS directory.

Mynes is my first stab at Windows programming.  It was written using  Borland's Turbo Pascal for Windows, version 1.0, running under Windows 3.1.  Please enjoy!  Comments would be most welcome.  My CompuServe ID is [71107,3504].

I would enjoy your gift of $5 if you find the program of value.  My address is:

John Freed
261 West 22nd Street
Apt. 19
NY, NY  10011

Thanks.

Acknowledgments:

€Mynes makes use of slightly altered code from TPW's Custom Button Dynamic Link Library, BitBtn.DLL.

€Thanks to Rob Rosenberger, CompuServe [74017,1344], for the Turbo Pascal Unit Timer, Version 1.01, released to the public domain on 20 June 1988. Mynes makes two calls to the unit in order to display the game's elapsed time.

€Windows™ is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

€Turbo Pascal® is a registered trademark of Borland International.