
                      RiscOS Tiles

           Version 1.19  dated 1st January, 1999
                   by R.I.D.Macfarlane

INTRODUCTION

This application has been written to provide a letter game,
which is fun to play, but may also be used to teach a
variety of skills: 
  strategy, 
  vocabulary, 
  foreign languages,
  spelling and
  arithmetic
as well as use of the computer and the WIMP interface.    

The application contains a number of boards, each having a
crossword layout, of various levels of complexity and
arranged in folders of several foreign languages, as well
as English, spelling and arithmetic. The players' names,
the rules of the game and the board layout may be altered
for the following game and these settings may be saved for
future use.

Supplementary discs containing many crosswords in different
topics and languages are available and additional boards may
be added by the user.  The dataset that relates to a board
may also be altered by using a text editor that can handle
Comma Separated Variable [CSV] files or raw text.  Examples
are Pipedream and Edit.

Note that most of the datasets,  which are included,  are
different from each other, having different rules and
display features.  If you think there is something wrong, 
please compare the settings of each dataset first.
                 

FOR THE TECHNICALLY MINDED

The application demonstrates how a traditional board game
can be transferred into the RiscOS multitasking WIMP
system.  The application uses unique routines for sprite,
menu and incarnation handling, together with drag
mechanisms featuring pointer/sprite exchange.

The program will multi-task with itself or others.  Each
incarnation is given a different screen position for its
windows initially.  The program detects the presence of
Acorn's Interactive Help application and outputs messages
to this application instead of to an error message window.
Speech is optional when ARCticulate [copyright The Fourth
Dimension] is available. The XWord application from Panda
Discs can output data that is in a suitable format for
loading into Tiles.


THE SUPPLIED MANUAL

The manual covers the operation of the software in detail. 
This deals with specific topics, which will not be repeated
in this file. However a brief summary is given below:- 


  DISPLAY: covers those options available in the display
item of the setup menu item, selected from the bar or small
window menus.  This relates to the options in displaying a
PLAY window:
    display of racks; clues and examples; letters
    selection of case and font of the letters
    background colours and patterns
    border selection and patterns


  ENVIRONMENT: covers the needs of the software in terms of
the modules that are necessary to be present and any known
incompatibilities with other software which may be present.
The use of copies of the application are also explained.


  GETTING STARTED: enables the Tiles novice to pick up the
basic ideas involved in loading and running the application
within the WIMP environment.
    

  LANGUAGES: deals with the creation of text files for both
the Info and Messages directories within the !Tiles folder
for other foreign languages.  All of this application's
text may be translated into another language without having
to alter the program files.  Note that the text in the data
files cannot be translated word for word for the same
reasons that crosswords cannot be directly translated.


  LOADING: covers the procedures involved in loading and
saving data files, the error messages that may occur, the
valid file types and the building of new data files with
the options that are available.  The printing to a file of
the board data as a crossword and as a list is also
explained.


  OPTIONS: covers the menu options that are available from
the three main menus in the play window, the small window
and the icon bar.  However the 'Setup' menu item has many
submenu items so that the main ones are described in the
separate chapters: Players, Rules and Display.


  PLAY: covers the playing instructions  and the
application messages that may result.


  PLAYERS: covers this menu item from the 'Setup' menu.  It
describes the selection of the number of players and the
input of the player's names.


  RULES: covers this menu item of the 'Setup' menu.  The
following items are discussed:-
    Tile swapping
    Scoring options
    End play options


  SUMMARY: provides a quick reference of the rules of the
game and how to play it.  This is also reproduced as a file
for on screen help.



VERSION HISTORY

0.00  06-01-91 From !Solitaire, version 4.00
3.00  01-05-92 First Review Release
3.10  10-09-92 General release
3.20  23-04-93 Clues and word use examples added
3.25  25-10-93 Special needs keying
3.39  02-01-95 Tile dragging improved for Risc PC
3.46  26-12-98 Acorn's FontMenu used for RiscOS version> 3.10
3.47  27-12-98 32K+16M coloured sprites
3.50  01-01-99 Freeware version



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to express his sincere thanks to his
wife, Louise, daughter, Lucy, Tina Draper and Jayne Hansley
for their invaluable help in the production of some of the
data files and sprite designs and for proof reading the
text files.

The author is indebted to J.Rling for the use of the
FontMenu module.

Thanks to the directors of The Fourth Dimension for
their co-operation in incorporating speech using the 
ARCticulate application.

Finally thanks to Mark Smith for permitting to use of the
decompression filing system, ArcFS, which permits much
more data to be held on the disc.



SOFTWARE OWNERSHIP  &  TERMS OF USE

The software contained within the !RunImage file is
entirely the work of the author.  It is NOT intended that
you should copy the application and its files, other than
for your own use.  You must ensure that the copyright
notices contained within the software and on the disc are
reproduced in any copy of the software you make.  You must
not make any part of the software available to a third
party by way of a hire or sale.

No part of the application can be copied for commercial
purposes or included on a disk for which a charge is being
made.  The application must not be uploaded to a bulletin
board.  The application must not be changed, with the
exception of the !Boot, !Run and Data files,  although you
may add files to the Info, Data, Messages and Sprites
folders.

This text file must always accompany the application.
