			Spades The Card Game
			    Version 2.8

	1) Introduction
	2) Installation
	3) File Description
	4) What's New/Upgrade
	5) Comments



Introduction

Spades has always been one of my favorite card games, and , in my opinion,
I'm a pretty good player. I did my best to instill my knowledge of the
game into this program so that it will be challenging. You, of course,
will be the final judge of how well I did.

Spades is Shareware. Feel free to pass the shareware evaluation version
(SPADE2.ZIP) along to anybody you see fit, or upload it to any BBS you
want. All I ask is that you pass the ZIP file along with out altering its
contents in any way.

The registration price is $19.95 plus S/H. There are three ways to register:

	1) Cash, Check or Money Order
		When the program first starts click on the Cash Order
		button and fill out and print the order form. Mail the
		order form and the amount due in the form of Cash, Check
		or Money order to:

			Greg DeBacker
			638 San Jaun Av
			Santa Cruz, CA
			95065

		Send U.S. dollars or checks drawn on U.S. banks only.
		
	2) CompuServe's Shareware Registrstion Forum
		If you are a member of CompuServe you can use their
		Shareware Registration forum to register the software.
		GO SWREG to get to the forum. Once there follow the on
		screen instructions. Use ID# 6808

	3) Credit Card Orders
		You can order with MC, Visa, Amex, or Discover from 
		Public (software) Library by calling 800-242-4PsL(4775) 
		or 713-524-6394. Order by FAX to 713-524-6398. You can also 
		mail credit card orders to PsL at P.O.Box 35705, Houston, 
		TX 77235-5705.
		
				Order Product Number 14698

		THE ABOVE NUMBERS ARE FOR CREDIT CARD ORDERS ONLY. THE 
		AUTHOR OF THIS PROGRAM CANNOT BE REACHED AT THESE NUMBERS.

		Any questions about the status of the shipment of the order, 
		refunds, registration options, product details, technical 
		support, volume discounts, dealer pricing, site licenses, 
		non-credit card orders, etc, must be directed to:

			Greg DeBacker
			638 San Jaun Av
			Santa Cruz, CA
			95065
			Internet: 71042.36@compuserve.com

		To insure that you get the latest version, PsL will 
		notify me the day of your order and I will ship the 
		product directly to you.

See the Q & A section in the help file for the above registration
informtaion along with the benifits of registering.


Installation

Aside from the ZIP file SPADE2.ZIP you will need one other file to
successfully install and run Spades. You will need:

	VBRUN300.DLL

VBRUN300.DLL is the run-time module needed to run all programs written in
the language Visual Basic. VBRUN300.DLL can be found on all on-line 
services. It is usually stored as VBRUN3.ZIP. You can also get it from my
web page (See below for the URL). After logging on to my homepage go to
the "What You Need" section. Once you have VBRUN300.DLL put this file in 
your C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.

Installing Spades is pretty easy. 

	Windows 3.1
		If you have the files on a disk in drive
		A: you would select Run from the File menu of the 
		Program Manager and then type in A:\setup and hit
		the Enter key.

		If the files are in a directory on your hard drive
		you can Double-Click on the SETUP.EXE file from the
		File Manager.

	Windows 95
		If you have the files on a disk in drive
		A: you would select Run from the Start menu of the 
		Windows 95 Task Bar and then type in A:\setup and hit
		the Enter key.

		If the files are in a directory on your hard drive
		you can Right-Click (click the right mouse button)
		on the SETUP.EXE file from the Explorer and then select 
		Open from the menu that appears.

	File Description
		Below is a list of the files that are in the archive file
		SPADE2.ZIP. The files that end in an underscore (_) are in a
		compressed state and can not be used until they are 
		uncompressed by the setup program.

		SETUP.EXE  Setup initialization (Run this to set up program)
		SETUP.LST  Used by setup program  
		SETUP1.EX_  The set up program.
		SPADES.EX_  The executable Spades card game
		SPADES.HL_  Spades Help file
		FILE_ID.DIZ  File identification file
		README.TXT  This readme file
		BUZZ.WA_  WAV file used in game
		APPLAUSE.WA_  WAV file used in game
		BOING.WA_  WAV file used in game
		DRIP.WA_  WAV file used in game
		RATCHPOP.WA_  WAV file used in game
		GLASSBRK.WA_  WAV file used in game
		SETUPKIT.DL_  Used by setup
		VER.DL_   Used by setup

What's New

Version 2.4
	Added Custom scoring.
	Added trick over penalty option.
	Added no-pass on Nil option.
	Cosmedic changes.
Version 2.5
	Not released.
Version 2.6
	Improved card and suit selection routines.
	Improved Nil bidding.
	Improved animation.
	Four new card backs.
	Changed jokers from second played in a trick wins to a High
	Joker and a Low Joker.
	Cosmedic improvments.
	Suggest button is available at all times.
Version 2.6a	
	Fixes the occasional "Subscript out of range error"
Version 2.6b
	Fixes problem of no card selected by a player going nil who
	has already taken a trick. This would throw their card count off
	and set a faulty suit.	
Version 2.7
	Finally fixed the errors that were supposed to be fixed 
	in version 2.6b. Also fixed the bug where a player bidding
	nil would sometimes pass two of the same cards to his/her
	partner. This error always ended up with two kings of the
	same suit being passed. These bugs were actually all 
	inter-related and embarrassingly simple to fix. It was
	just a matter of me staring at the screen long enough.
Version 2.8
	Fixed problem that would cause a critical error when certain
	fonts were not installed on the user's system.


To upgrade the registered version follow these steps:
	1) Make a backup copy of the distribution disk
	2) Copy this readme.txt file and the file SPADE.EX_ onto
	   the distribution disk overwriting the existing files
	   on the disk.
	3) Insert the distribution disk into the floppy drive and
	   run the Setup program to install the upgrade.

Comments

Any comments, suggestions, money, or critiques can be sent to me at one of
the following addresses:

      CompuServe - 71042,36

      InterNet - 71042.36@compuserve.com

      World Wide Web - http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/gregdebacker

      U.S. Mail - 	Greg DeBacker
			638 San Juan Av.
			Santa Cruz, CA
			95065

Thank you and enjoy,

Greg

P.S.

Be sure to visit my homepage on the WWW for other shareware games and
utilities.