A DAY AT THE RACES: A betting horse racing game Copyright (C) LatticeWork Software, 1994 REQUIREMENTS Windows 95 VGA mouse Windows-supported sound card preferred hard drive INSTALLATION To install A Day at the Races, click on the "Start" button and move the mouse up and over to "Settings" and then select "Control Panel." Double- click on "Add/Remove Programs" and click on the "Install" button. You will see the message "Insert the program's first installation floppy disk or CD-ROM, and then click Next." Click on "Next" even though the install program is on your hard drive. On the next screen click on "Browse" and select the directory or disk where your unzipped program files are (e.g., if you downloaded this program from CompuServe, select c:\cserve\download, or if the files are on a disk on the a: or b: drive, select a: or b: ). Double-click on install, and click on "Finish." - The program will ask for the destination path. For the default pathname of C:\LATTICE\HORSE, just press . To install the program in a different subdirectory, or on a different drive, type the path name as in the following example: C:\RACES - the installation program will then create the directory, and copy files from the floppy disk or directory. NOTE: Install will exit with an ERROR message if any of the necessary files on the installation disk or directory have been erased. - Once the files have been copied, install will place the program in Start Menu Programs. To start the program click on the "Start" button and move the cursor up to "Programs" and over and down to "LatticeWork Software" and over to "A Day at the Races." UNINSTALL To uninstall A Day at the Races, follow the instructions in the file UNINSTAL.TXT. STARTING A NEW RACE Races may be run without any of the four players betting, or with only some of the players betting. To run a race, either select the Race/They're Off! menu option, or simply click on the RACE button to the right of the racing track. To bet on a race, a player must first select a player number. To do so, select one from the 'Player' menu, or click on the 'Player1', 'Player2', 'Player3', or 'Player4' text under the track. That player number will be highlighted. If an account is empty no bet may be made by that player. (If all accounts are empty, you will be asked if you wish to play another game.) Then choose a wager, horse and finish, in any order. All three must be chosen before the race can be run. Choosing a wager will allow you to select an amount to be bet. Select one from the 'Wager' menu or by clicking on one of the boxes to the left of the track. Choose one of the preselected amounts, or use the 'Other' option to select a different amount, up to $9999. If you choose an amount greater than that in your account, the wager will be reset to the account amount. If you started to place a bet, and then decide not to bet after all, select the 'Other' wager option, and enter 0, or enter a negative number. Your bet will be cleared. To select a horse, either choose one from the 'Horse' menu or simply click on one of the horses, or click on the horse name, below the track. The odds are shown next to the horses on the bottom of the screen, and influence the horse's performance. To select a finish, either choose one from the 'Finish' menu, or click on 'Win', 'Place' or 'Show' to the left of the track. Select the position in which you think the horse will finish. The 'Win' option is for a first place finish, 'Place' for second and 'Show' for third. A 'Place' or 'Show' ticket on the winning horse pays, but at a lower rate than a ticket to 'Win'. The same holds for a 'Show' ticket on the horse finishing in second. Repeat the betting process as many times as you wish for the four players. Before a race begins, players may change their bets. Finally, to run the race, either select the 'They're Off!' option from the 'Race' menu, or click on the RACE button to the right of the track. This option will work at any time except when a bet has been started but is incomplete (You must select a wager, horse, and finish to complete a bet). RESET RACE Before a player is selected, and betting begun, the 'Reset Race' option in the 'Race' menu allows you to change the horses and their odds up to three times per race. Selecting a player number, however, resets the race, if it hasn't been reset already, and now, the race may not be reset using the 'Reset Race' option. INQUIRY Every so often, an inquiry will be made. Sometimes in an inquiry, the winning horse is disqualified. WINNING THE GAME If one or more players win $500.00 they've won the game. (See Registration below. Order "A Day at the Races Pro, and you can win up to one million dollars.) You will be asked if you wish to play again. If you do, all accounts will be reset to $100. SOUND Choose the menu options to turn the voices on and off. The dimmed option is the one that is currently activated, and hence, cannot be chosen. Turning voices on and off may be done at any time during the game. NOTE: If you have a microphone hooked up to your computer you can make the game even more fun by recording your own voice messages. Use the Sound Recorder (a Windows Accessory) to record voices. See your Windows 3.1 documentation on how to do this. The voices are in files with a .WAV extension. Open one of these files using the Sound Recorder. Play it, and then record your own message, saving it to that same file name. WARNING: The file names must remain the same. Also be sure to delete any blank space before or after the actual voice message using the Edit commands. Otherwise the program will spend time playing back files containing blank spaces, which may be large. Eliminating blank spaces will also decrease the file size. SPEED The menu options for speed will cause the race to become slower or faster. Choose the time according to your preference. Initially, the speed is set to average. The dimmed option is the one that is currently activated, and hence, cannot be chosen. Changing the speed may be done only before a race. QUIT The 'Quit' menu allow you to exit the game after a race. HELP The 'Instructions' option of the Help menu shows a summary of this file on screen. SHAREWARE CONCEPT "A Day at the Races" is a "Try before you buy" program and is provided at no extra charge to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system. The essence of "user-supported" software is to provide personal computer users with quality software without high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products. For this reason, A Day at the Races gradually slows down after the evaluation period of 30 uses. DISCLAIMER - AGREEMENT LIMITED WARRANTY THIS SOFTWARE AND MANUAL ARE PROVIDED FOR EVALUATION ONLY, ON AN "AS IS" BASIS. LATTICEWORK SOFTWARE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO THIS SOFTWARE, WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NEITHER LATTICEWORK SOFTWARE NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF THIS SOFTWARE SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE SUCH SOFTWARE, EVEN IF LATTICEWORK SOFTWARE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR CLAIMS. THE PERSON USING THE SOFTWARE BEARS ALL RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE. SUPPORT The following support of "A Day At The Races" is provided: LatticeWork Software will answer questions and fix serious bugs during a one-year period after ordering. For problems involving specific hardware or software environment or feature, LatticeWork Software may choose not to modify the program. In that case, if a problem is reported within three months after ordering, then LatticeWork Software will refund the user's order price. You may contact LatticeWork Software at the following addresses: 1) LatticeWork Software P.O. Box 362 Lafayette Hill, PA 19444 2) By way of America Online mail to LatticeWrk 3) By way of CompuServe Mail 74453,2112 ASP OMBUDSMAN STATEMENT 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 49442-9427 USA, FAX 616-788-2765 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007, 3536 ORDERING This program is shareware. You have a limited license to use this program for a period of time to evaluate it. If, after this evaluation period, you wish to continue to use it you are required to order it. To do so, choose "Order A Day At The Races" from the "Order" menu, fill in the dialog box and follow instructions. Or print the file register.wri (using Windows Accessory Write) or print register.txt from DOS, fill in the form and mail to: LatticeWork Software P.O. Box 362 Lafayette Hill, PA 19444