Unlimited Hangman
=================

Installation
------------

Extract all the files into a directory of your choice (e.g.
C:\Games\Hangman). Note that the only file required to run
the game is 'Hangman.exe'.

Files contained in ZIP package:

(1) Hangman.exe - The actual game. Run this!
(2) Hangman.icn - Icon file for HP palmtops.
(3) Readme.txt  - The file you're reading now.

For those who wish to add the game to System Manager, the game
requires 90 kb of memory, so add "|90" to the end of the "Path"
field. Placing an upside-down question mark in the "Comments"
field (press Fn-3 on the palmtop) will mean that you won't have
to press a key each time you quit.

The game automatically creates a 'Hangman.dat' file the first
time it is run. This file serves to remember the game settings.


Running the game
----------------

To play the game, run 'Hangman.exe'. If you wish, you can also
specify a words file to use a parameter (see the 'Single Player'
section below for details). At the main screen, you can press
any of the following keys:

F1: Brings up the Help screen which, as the name suggests, gives
    help and advice, as well as contact and web site details for
    the game and its author.

F2: Displays the Options screen. See the 'Options' section below
    for more information.

F3: Turns the sound on or off.

F4: Turns the screen saver on (see the 'Screen Saver' section
    for more details).

F10: Quits the game (you can also press the Esc key).

To play a game, you choose between 1 and 4 players by using the
arrow keys (or the Tab key) to move the selection bar, which
highlights 'Single Player' at first. Once you are happy with
your choice, press Enter or the space bar to begin the game.


The Single Player game
----------------------

For single player games, the game will get words from a text
file which you can specify. The first time you play the game,
unless you alter it, the file to use is set as 'Readme.txt'
(this very file!). If the words file specified can't be found,
the game looks for a file called 'Words.txt' in the game
directory as a "last resort".

There are two ways of specifying which file the game should use
to gather words from:

(1) Give the name of the file as a parameter when running the
    game.
    E.g. Hangman c:\data\myfile.txt

(2) Using the Options screen (see the 'Options' section further
    down for more details).

In both cases, once you specify which file to use, the game will
remember it and use it in future games, until you change it by
using one of the two methods above.

Assuming a suitable text file is found, the game will randomly
get proper words from that file which you have to guess. If you
manage to avoid being the hangman's noose, you gain a point. If
not, you lose a life. You carry on playing until you are out of
lives. All very simple!

There are ways of gaining extra lives and points to aid you in
your quest to obtain a record score, but you'll have to be on
top form!


The way Unlimited Hangman works out what makes up a "proper
word" is as follows:

Valid words can contain only letters, and can only be ended by:
(1) ' ' - space.
(2) '.' - full stop.
(3) ',' - comma.
(4) ';' - semi-colon
(5) '?' - question mark
(6) '!' - exclamation mark
(7) '|' - bar

Note that the vertical bar was added to allow use of the 10,000
English words file available at the S.U.P.E.R. site (point your
browser to www.palmtop.net/super.html).

Words must be preceded by a space or the end of a line (unless
at the very beginning of a file).

Obviously, you might well want to use a dictionary listing as
your words file. At the time of writing, the following two were
freely available:

(1) 10,000 English words and phrases:

    This is a dictionary of 10,000 English words as the name
    suggests. The only problem is that some of these are
    actually two words or more joined together (e.g.
    "americanfootball", "dothehonours"). A fun challenge!

    At: www.palmtop.net/super.html

(2)  In/System Software Words Lite:

     This is a free text file containing 30,000 English words.
     Be warned, however - the file, once unzipped, is 3.4 MB!
     This is one dictionary that should last you!

If you're having any problems or difficulties at all, feel free
to contact me at aj93@dial.pipex.com so that I can try and help!


The Multi-player game
---------------------

Up to four players can pit their wits against each other in
Unlimited Hangman. Each player, after having entered their name,
gets a chance to think up a word or phrase for the others to try
and guess. If that player's word is not successfully guessed and
the opposition is hung, they then gain a point. If not, nobody
gets anything!

The game continues until, by mutual agreement (or otherwise!),
Esc is pressed at the scores screen which appears at the end of
each turn.


Options
-------

You can call up the Options screen either at the main screen or
during a game by pressing F2. The options are as follows:

(1) Character displayed for letters not yet revealed:

    This is the character shown to indicate the letters that
    have not yet been guessed.

(2) Accept capital letters when getting words from words file:

    For single player games, this determines whether words with
    capital letters should be accepted as valid or not. This
    might be useful where you have a text file which contains a
    lot of acronyms written such as: HTML.

(3) Screen saver delay:

    Allows you to specify how quickly the screen saver will come
    on.

(4) Screen saver speed:

    Determines how fast the screen saver works.

(5) Words file:

    Allows you to choose the file from which the game will get
    words in the single player game.


The Screen Saver
----------------

Don't ask me why there's a screen saver - it was just a bit of
fun! Just press any key to stop it when you've had enough!


About the game
--------------

Unlimited Hangman is completely FREE! The only thing I ask is
that if you wish to distribute it on, for example, a CD, disk,
or other medium which will not be free, that you ask for my
permission first. Thanks!

Needless to say, I disclaim all responsibility for any harm or
damage done to your computer caused as a result of using this
software. So, don't blame me if your new palmtop suddenly
starts venting blue smoke, and growling "Feed me!"...

If you have any comments, questions (or complaints!) about the
game, I'd be delighted to hear from you.

E-mail me, Mike Wagstaff, at: aj93@dial.pipex.com

For updates to this game and others, and lots more besides,
visit my homepage:

http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/plaza/aj93/waggy/hp

Have fun playing Unlimited Hangman!