   French Solitaire Version 1.01 for the Psion Series 3a and 3c
   ============================================================

                          By Alan Chambers 
                          ----------------

        (c)Copyright R A Chambers, 1996 All rights reserved.
        ----------------------------------------------------


About the Game
==============

This is a simple but surprisingly absorbing patience card game that 
you can learn in a minute or two.  Although at first it seems so
simple that you may think there is no skill in it at all, you will 
soon start to find that there's more to it than you first thought.

This version is my first program of any size for the Psion though
I have been programming GUIs for almost 10 years now, mostly on OS/2.
I was keen to give the game a good look and feel so you will find 
fully formed playing cards, nice animation of cursor movements and 
prompted and automatic playing modes that can help you learn the game.

Hope you enjoy it!



Installation
============

There are only two files to download to your Psion:

        FRSOL.OPA  -  the program file
        FRSOL.PIC  -  contains card images etc.

Download FRSOL.PIC into the OPD directory and FRSOL.OPA
into the APP directory.  You can then install the 
program in the usual way (Psion-I) and then start
playing immediately.

The program requires less than 18k of space to install
and around 30-40k of free memory to run.  

Until you have registered, the About panel is displayed when
you start the program and every time you start a new game. 
This panel can be cleared by pressing any key but only 
after a pause of a few seconds.  The High Scores panel
maintains a record of the best 5 scores (actually the 
lower the score the better - perhaps it should be called
the Low Scores panel?) but this information is lost
when you end the program.  Registering allows these scores
to be remembered indefinitely.


Registration
============

If you like this program, please support the development of 
further shareware by registering. The benefits to you are:

- The High Scores information is maintained indefinitely.

- The About panel will not appear every time you start a new 
  game and if you choose to display you can remove it 
  immediately by pressing any key.

- You will have the pleasure of seeing your name on the About
  panel.

- Your use of the program will become legal.

Although I will always welcome bug reports or suggestions for
improvements from registered users, I cannot guarantee to 
fix bugs or make enhancements.

The registration fee is $13.99 which should be paid using the
Software Registration facility on Compuserve (GO SWREG - 
registration ID: 13787).  When you have registered I will 
send you, by Compuserve e-mail, a key that you can enter 
into the Restristration Panel (Psion-R in the game), which 
will immediately unlock it.

Although I would normally intend to respond within a week,
there may be times when I can't access Compuserve for up to
four weeks.  Therefore, if you don't receive a registration
key immediately, please be patient and accept my apologies in
advance.  I will do my best to provide a good service most
of the time.


Change History
==============

25/11/96 

- Fix a bug that made the registration appear to fail when
  it had actually worked.

- Fix a bug that allowed you sometimes to match the last two
  cards (which was always against the rules).

- Allow use of fastpath keys without using the Psion key (for
  example, N as an alternative to Psion-N to start a new
  game.

- Better prompting for the user at the end of a game making
  it clearer what options are available.


19/12/96 

- Version 1.0 released.


Copyright and Disclaimer
========================

This program is owned by and is Copyright R A Chambers, 1996.
You may install it and use it for a period not exceeding
one week, after which you must either register it with the
author as described above or remove it from your computer.

This software is supplied as is and no responsibility can be 
accepted for any ill effects or loss of data that may result
from its use on your machine.

History
=======

Earlier this year a friend came to stay for the weekend.  Picking
up a pack of cards she started playing a patience game that we
had never seen before.  She explained it to us and we were then 
hooked for the rest of the weekend.  I was convinced there was no 
skill in it but the more we played the more we realised there
was to the game.

Around that time I was teaching myself Java and was wanting a simple
game that I could program in Java that wouldn't be too complicated.
My Java version of the game was a nice demonstration of the effective
use of images and multithreading in Java and I used it in a number
of demonstrations I was giving including one in which a member
of the audience commented "Oh - it's French Solitaire!".  Until then
no-one seemed to have seen the game before and no-one knew its name.

Later, on holiday in California, my wife wanted to play the game and,
as I don't take my laptop on holiday with me, I decided to have a go
at writing a version in OPL.  I managed to get a version working on
that holiday but have subsequently improved it a lot.
