			Helpfile for Mah Jongg.
			-----------------------

Version : 0.02 (06 Jul '98) - FreeWare.

What Is Mah Jongg?
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	Mah Jongg is a simulation of the ancient Chinese game of Mah Jongg.  Some historians date Mah Jongg back to the time of Confucius -- over 25 centuries ago!

	It's believed that sailors and fishermen played Mah Jongg as a diversion from the monotony of their long voyages.  The game was originally played with cards, but eventually bone and bamboo tiles were substituted since these were less likely to be blown off the deck.

	Desktop Mah Jongg recreates the beauty and addictive pleasure of Mah Jongg, but uses modern data processing techniques and high-resolution graphics instead of bamboo tiles.


What Do I Need?
---------------

	Mah Jongg should run on any machine, although this version has only been tested on the author's RiscPC version 3.5 through to 4.02

	You will need at least an 800x600 resolution in 16 colours. However, for best results, I'd recommend at least a 256 colour mode with a resolution of 1024x768.  Screens smaller than 800x600 will require the entire screen to display the Mah Jongg window.  Furthermore, with only 16 colours, the tile colours will not be reproduced properly because of the way the palette manager operates.


The Game Of Mah Jongg
---------------------

THE TILES

	There are 42 different tiles used in Mah Jongg as follows:  27 Suit tiles (nine tiles in each of three suits), 3 Dragons, 4 Winds, 4 Seasons, and 4 Flowers.


THE SUITS

	The Suit Of Dots - This suit goes back to the original sailor's version of Mah Jongg. The dots probably represent money.

	The Suit Of Bam - Bam stands for Bamboo.  Because bamboo was used to make deadly spears, this suit is thought to represent power or victory.

	The Suit Of Crak - These are also called Characters or Actors. Crak may represent actual people or may simply be characters from the Chinese alphabet.

	The Dragons - In the ancient Mah Jongg, each suit was associated with a Dragon as follows:

		   White dragons - Suit Of Dots
		   Red Dragons   - Suit Of Bam
		   Green Dragons - Suit Of Crak

This association has no direct bearing on the current play of the game.

	The Winds - These tiles simply represent the four directions of the winds...North, South, East, and West.

	The Flowers - The four flowers - Orchid, Plum, Mum, and Bamboo - were introduced by a medieval princess to add beauty and romance to the game.

	The Seasons - This is another direct representation -- this time of the seasons - Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.  It is thought that the seasons were added to Mah Jongg by river gamblers.


THE GAME BOARD

	Each game board consists of 144 tiles made up of four of each type of tile EXCEPT for the Seasons and Flowers of which there is one each. The tiles are laid out in a formation called a Dragon.  The position of each tile in the dragon is completely random, making each dragon unique. Some are more formidable than others. Some are actually impossible to defeat. But all are challenging and exciting.

	The tiles are placed in stacks ranging in height from one tile at the edge to five tiles at the centre.  The easiest way to understand the dragon is to see one.  Run Mah Jongg, the dragon you'll see will be a far better explanation than I can give.


PLAYING MAH JONGG

	The object of Mah Jongg is simple...remove all of the tiles by matching pairs.  But there IS a catch. Only tiles which are "free" can be removed.

	A tile is considered "free" if there's nothing on top of it and if it can slide out to the left OR right.  If tiles on both sides are stacked to the same height the tile is not "free" to be removed.

	Two tiles MUST be free and MUST be an exact match (exceptions later) before they can be removed from the dragon.  Removal of mismatched tiles and removal of un-free tiles is not allowed.

	The exception:  Since there is only one each of the Seasons and the Flowers, these tiles cannot be matched identically.  So any flower can match with any other flower.  Likewise, any season can match with any other season.


STRATEGY:

	During my countless hours of testing Mah Jongg, I've found a few pieces of strategy that seem to help:

--> Concentrate on removing the four tiles which are blocking the most moves - the top tile, the single tile on the left, and the two tiles on the right.

--> Look for quadruples.  If all four of a given tile are free, remove them all immediately.  This will get them out of the way and won't cause problems later.

--> Keep an eye out for doubles (two tiles free) of tiles with only two left. These should also be removed immediately.

--> Before removing two tiles of four remaining, be sure that no OBVIOUS harm (trapped tiles) will occur.

--> Always check for triples. If you've found a pair with four remaining, see if any more are free. Then, take the two which will free up the most tiles.


PLAYING MAH JONGG
-----------------

THE BASICS

	To start Mah Jongg, just launch it like any other application.

	Tiles are removed by first selecting one, then selecting its mate. To select a tile, just point to it with the mouse and press the left mouse button. The tile will change colour to show that it has been selected. You don't have to double-click to remove the tiles. When two tiles have been selected, they will (after validation) be removed.

	To de-select a tile, just click on it again. The tile will return to normal.

	If you try to select a tile that's not free, you'll get a warning sound (if the sound is turned on) and the tile will NOT be selected. Likewise, if you select two tiles which don't match, you'll hear the warning sound and both tiles will de-select.

	The counter at the bottom right of the Mah Jongg window will show how many tiles remain in the dragon.
	The elapsed time clock is displayed at the bottom left of the Mah Jongg window.

	Scoring is carried out automatically, the lower the number of points scored the better your score is. The quicker the tiles are removed, the lower your points tally will be at the end of the game. To achieve a Hiscore entry, it is not necessary to remove all the tiles, but 80 points is added to your score for each remaining tile on the board.

	This is all you really need to know to play the game. But, there are some other features which make the play a lot more enjoyable. Most of them can be accessed through the main board window menu.


THE ADDED FEATURES

	For convenience, I'll describe the features as they appear in the menus from top to bottom.

Options
======

Tile Set

	With this option, you can load in an alternate tile set. Just select 	the set from the list and click on OK. You'll then see a warning 	message telling you that loading another tile set will start a new game.
        You can load in tilesets that you create yourself from this menu too.

Board

	>Board colour
	With this you can change the board background colour by selecting the
	up and down arrows on the colour template and clicking 'Update'.

	>Frame colour
	Choose the colour of the board frame from here. Once again, you can 	also choose frames that you create yourself.


Move check

	When Move check is turned on, Mah Jongg will check for available moves 	after each tile removal. As soon as no additional moves are available, 	you'll be notified by a message window.

Sound

	This function determines whether the game sounds should be generated or 	not during gameplay...Pretty obvious really.

Help
====

	This will show an available move by highlighting a free, matched pair 	for a quarter second. Very useful for determining tricky moves!
	Selecting the help function affects your score by adding 20 points each 	time it is used.

Undo
====

	This option will be greyed out initially until the first pair of tiles 	has been taken, then the option will undo the last move, or as many 	moves as required, right back to the beginning of the game.

Hiscores
========

	This will show the present high score table.

New game
========

	Selecting New Game will start a new game of Mah Jongg. The computer 	will shuffle the tiles and a new dragon will be drawn. The help 	counter, tile counter and clock are all reset.
	A warning message will be shown in case of accidental selection.


Save options
============

	Choosing this option will save all the current settings on the board, 	including choice of tile, board background colour, frame colour, sound 	and movecheck options.


Quit
====

	This will quit the program but without saving any changes made during 	the game.


DISCLAIMER

	In no event shall the Author be liable to you for any damages, including any lost profits, lost savings, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of, or inability to use this program, even if the Author has been advised of the possibility of such damages, or for any claim by any other party. The copyright remains with myself David Chapman.

Contact
-------
Any comments, queries, or bug reports can be sent to David Chapman at :

E-Mail : david-chapman@wydchr.idps.co.uk
URL    : not yet
ICQ    : 45234085
