Psider Version 1.3 22-Feb-1998

Copyright (c) 1997-98 by Holger Pfaff

Introduction
------------

Psider is a challenging double-deck solitaire. Unlike most soli-
taires, it provides opportunities to overcome bad luck in the deal.
The program features an unlimited undo facility offers move sug-
gestions and can save games to disk. The semi-automatic mode is
ideal for palmtops, as it enables you to play using single
keystrokes.
Because Psider uses the entire screen it also shows you the current
date/time and link/battery status.

New in Version 1.3
- a step-counter during auto-/replay
- undo last deal
- expand row
- red cards are now outline instead of gray (better visible)
- new card faces and new cardback
- some bugfixes

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

Copy Psider.opa to the \app directory on any drive. If you want
online help then copy Psider.rsc to the \opd directory on the same
drive. Thereis is also a saved (solved) game included (game.psd).
This can basically go everywhere, however initially the \opd dir-
ectory is searched.

Install the icon on the system screen using Psi-I.

The program will always start with a new game, unless started
with an argument, in which case it will try to load the specified
game directly. This enables you to associate .psd files with
psider.opa in a filemgr or start from command line interpreter.


Rules
-----

See file Rules.txt


Operation
---------

In automatic mode you can move cards by simply pressing keys 1 to 
0. Each number represents one column on the table (1=left 0=right)
The program will try to find the best spot to move the card(s).
Alternatively in manual mode you can place the cursor on the card
you wish to move using the cursor keys, then press the number re-
presenting the column the card should go. The enter key will
remove a completed stack.

g or Psi-G will try to find the next best move for you. However, 
the program only looks at the toplevel cards, so there might be
sometimes better moves than the ones it suggests.

If you're stuck, you can always try to undo the last couple of
moves using u or Psi-U and try a different approach. Psi-V will
undo all moves to the last deal.

Psi-Y tries to autoplay the complete game for you. It is based on
the routine used for Psi-G. Autoplay can be interrupted with <Esc>.

Psi-A plays the same game again - history will be lost.
Psi-R will replay all moves made so far - interruptable with <Esc>.
Psi-S can save a game at any stage including the history.
Psi-L will load saved games.

Cntr-L or Psi-P will redisplay the screen in case it got messed up.
<Space> will display column numbers for some seconds. An asterix
marks the cursor position in manual mode. Psi-E or e expands column.

Options
-------

There are some options that can be changed and saved to a file.

Psi-O - [Basic Options]
- Play mode - Auto/Manual:  Switches the current mode and is used
  as default startup mode if saved.
- Online score - On/Off:  Show the score online or just an icon.
- Beep - On/Off:  Beep on illegal moves and errors.
- Confirm - On/Off:  Prompt if current game will be lost.
- Display messages - On/Off:  Show informal messages.

Psi-Q - [Advanced Options]
- Animated initial deal - On/Off: Display cards as they are dealt
  or all at once (faster).
- Show number of hands - On/Off: Display the number of avail. hands
- Card gap - 5..15: Space left between visible cards. Space be-
  tween invisible cards and cards of the same sequence is always 2.
- Auto-/Replay delay - 0..9 sec: Pause <n> seconds between each
  Auto/Replay move. Timer can be canceled by pressing a key. 

<Space> will activate and save options to ini file \opd\psider.ini
<Enter> will just activate options.

Keys
----

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0  Automode: move cards from column <n>
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0  Manumode: move cards to column <n>

d or Psi-D  Deal the next hand
g or Psi-G  Suggest a move (? works also)
u or Psi-U  Undo last move
V or Psi-V  Undo last deal
s or Psi-C  Display current score
e or Psi-E  Expands a column

<Space>  Display column numbers for some seconds
<Enter>  Remove completed suit
<Esc>    Interrupt autoplay/replay

Cntr-L or Psi-P  redisplays screen (where have I seen this before?)
Diamond switches between manual and automode

Up Down Left Right - Manumode: move cursor
Psi-Up Psi-Down    - Move screen (in both modes)
Up Down            - Automode: move screen

For other shortcuts look at the menu entries.


Credits
-------

Psider was inspired by the demo game Spider included in the
XView X11 toolkit from SUN Microsystems.
Donald Woods wrote the original game.
Dave Lemke ported it to C/X11.
Bruce Martin and Heather Rose wrote the XView version.
Psider would not have been possible with all the information
available on the internet. Thanks to everybody who shared/shares
her/his wisdom with the rest of the world ...


Copyright
---------

Copyright (c) 1997-98 by Holger Pfaff
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted
provided that this notice is preserved and due credit is given
to the original author and the contributors.

Psider is Postcardware. If you like it send me one:

CLASS GmbH
c/o Holger Pfaff
Moosstr. 7
82319 Starnberg/Germany


Disclaimer
----------

The author accepts no responsibility for the use of this software and
provides it on an ``as is'' basis without express or implied warranty.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.


Bugs
----

- Autoplay might result in an endless loop moving cards back and
  forth. If this happens hit ESC to interrupt.
- As the history list grows memory is dynamically allocated. If you
  run out of memory, the program exits and the current game is lost.
- Some dialogs may pop up in the native language because system rou-
  tines are used. This can look very odd but has no side effects.
- My use of the english language is propably not perfect ...

  Mail bug reports to: holger@class.de
