This is the Read Me file which is included with Solo Deluxe 2.0 in html format.
Solo Deluxe is a Newton version of four popular Solitaire games. With Solo Deluxe, you can play Klondike, Canfield, Pyramid and Aces, each with different playing options. See the end of this file for instructions on how to play.
Solo Deluxe is Shareware and costs $15. If you like it and use it, please send your registration fee to the following address:
Marcela Seguel 3421 Aubry Longueuil, Québec Canada J4M 2W4
I know, Solo Deluxe used to be free, but times change! If you are using version prior to 2.0, you should still pay the shareware fee, or perhaps $10 if you like, isn't it worth it?
You can contact me at mseguel@scoopnet.ca or you can visit the Solo Deluxe web page at http://www.scoopnet.ca/solodx
This is version 2.0 and seems stable, but if you find any bugs, please report them to me. If you have any suggestions on anything, I'll be more than happy to read them and try to implement them as well (when time permits and if shareware fees start popping up in my mail box).
When you install Solo Deluxe on your Newton, You have the option of installing the Help File (SoloHelpII) and Extra Decks (SoloDecks and/or SoloDecksTwo) as well. These take up a little more RAM, but they're worth it! The SoloDecks file (not SoloDecksTwo) also contains a couple of sounds that are used by the game if they are there. SoloDecks (not Two) also contains Back designs for the cards. If you don't install these, you will get the default Card and Back design, and you will not get the special sounds. You may also install these packages on an external storage card, even if Solo is in your Newton's internal storage memory. SoloHelp and SoloDecks do not appear in the Extras Drawer, but you can remove them the regular way.
If you are using a Mac, simply decompress the enclosed files with a Stuffit compatible decompressor.
If you are using a PC, you might need to de-binhex the file first (depending on where you got it). There is a program called BINHEX that will do that for you. Then you will need UNSTUFF (make sure you have the latest version) to unstuff the files. Both of these programs are available almost everywhere, but if you can't find them let me know. Once this is done, you'll have all the files you need and you can then install them (using the Windows Connection Kit).
You probably know how to play some form of solitaire, and the specific rules for each game follows this topic, but here are a few pointers for general operations.
Klondike Rules
There are three components to the game: the Deck, the four Foundations and the seven Columns.
Place cards in descending order and alternating suites ( i.e. 10 of Hearts, 9 of Spades, etc.) down the columns, the King being the highest value and the only card allowed in an empty column.
Aces can go to the Foundations at the top. You then build the Foundations in ascending order of the same suite.
Canfield Rules
Canfield is similar to Klondike, except the Foundation card is selected at random. When you build the Foundations, you start with the randomly selected value, build up to the King, then you continue with the Ace, and so on. When building the columns, you go down from the card which comes just before the Foundation card (it becomes the highest value card) and build down to the Ace which is then followed by the King.
This game adds a fourth component: the Stock. Only Cards from the Stock go to empty columns until it becomes empty, at which time you can use cards from the Deck to fill these empty columns.
Pyramid Rules
Pyramid is very simple to play, but very hard to finish (the reward is good though). The goal is to combine cards whose values total 13 i.e. 6 & 7, 8 & 5, single King, etc. Simply tap on the cards each in turn to select a pair.
You go through the Deck once, one card at a time. When playing the 2 card game, the previously dealt card is fed to a second pile from which you may also combine cards. This option makes the game somewhat easierÉ
Aces Rules
Cards are dealt 4 at a time. Remove all the lowest cards of the same suite by tapping on them. Aces have the highest value. For example, if you deal the following cards:
8 (Clubs) 3 (Harts) 10 (Clubs) 4 (Clubs)
You may remove the 4 and 8 of clubs as they are lower than the 10 of clubs.
Either only aces or any card may be played in an empty column (see prefs).
You must end up with only aces on top, and all cards must be played. It's even better to end up with only the four aces and no other cards underneath.
Scoring is based on Luck Points. For every game you play, you lose a little bit of points, but when you win you get a bunch of points. The harder the settings, the more points you get. Win twice in a row and get extra points! Bring your luck to 100% and see what happens! By the way, the Joker card is good luck too!
Use harder settings and don't cheat.
Hint: flipping 1 card an unlimited number of times is not very good for your luck.
Using the same deck twice might be fun, but you'll loose a few luck points!
Winning twice in a row is considered the luckiest thing of all!
Seeing a joker card is also lucky!
If you win an average number of games, your luck will stay pretty much the same (it might improve a bit), if you win more than the average person, your luck will increase, now this is based on the statistics I (with the help of my beta testers) managed to compile by playing many games, over time, future versions of the game will be more fair, especially if you let me know how many games you've played, which settings you used and how many you've won. Send me mail!
If you ever decide to remove Solo Deluxe (why?) you might want to be aware of two things. Solo creates some preferences in your Newton's memory, they are small, but they are there. There is no way for a programmer to know when you actually delete an application (there is no difference between removing an app and removing a card which contains the app). Because of this, you can end up with some data you do not need, which is why there is an option in Solo Deluxe's preferences to clear the preferences when you quit Solo Deluxe. In such a case, the memory is freed from your Newton, and if you remove Solo Deluxe at that point, no preferences will stay in your Newton's precious memory.
Tap the "i" button and select "Prefs".
So you like the Welcome screen eh? But you decided you didn't want to see it anymore? And now you want to see it again? Well fear no more! You can display it again by choosing "Show Welcome screen" in the Preferences.
Changes in 2.0
- Fixed glitch which made the luck points appear in a strange place under Netwon OS 2.0. Fixed a bug which caused an error to be displayed when launching Solo Deluxe for the first time.
- Added the game Aces.
- Inverted the position of the Lucky Horseshoe...
- Made changes to the help file.
- Changed author info.
- Changed some interface elements to follow the Newton OS 2.0 guidelines a little more closely.
Changes in 1.62
- Fixed a bug where starting a new game after choosing the Restart with same deck function once would not use a new deck but always use the same one.
- Fixed a bug with the options dialog (the text which hides the other options when selecting options for Pyramid was draggable).
Changes in 1.61
- Fixed a bug that stopped the welcome screen to be shown, even if it was set to be in the preferences.
- Fixed the delay until the Jocker appeared when a game was won (this might affect performance just a bit).
Changes in 1.6
- Finally fixed the bug making Solo Deluxe incompatible with Extras Drawer management software (removed the code that changed Solo DX's icon during a game).
- Added an option not to hear Solo's card sounds and surprises (useful for playing during long meetings).
- Added the option to display your current luck score during game play.
- Fixed a bug that made playing using the Tap method a very unlucky experience! This was a biggie!
- Fixed another few bugs
- Made it impossible to use both the Welcome screen and Autostart together since this caused errors.
- Corrected a spelling mistake in the Help file (if you care, replace the one you have).
Changes in 1.5
- Jumped to version 1.5 to stop the confusion about the old Solo 1.41 (some people thought it was more recent than Solo Deluxe 1.1).
- Better memory management (heap space doesn't get mangled as much, especially on MP100s)
- Fixed a bug that caused problems on Newtons using utilities like ExtraExtras (please report any problems).
Changes in 1.1
- New optional SoloDecksTwo file for those of you that miss the deck used in Solo 1.41... contains another deck as well.
- Couple of changes to the Help file.
- A couple of spelling mistakes in the help file and the Joker's comments.
- Bug fix: when undoing a Deck flip, the number of remaining flips would not increase.
- Bug fix: Cannot tap through the Welcome screen anymore
- Interface: info button now complies with interface guidelines
- Interface: "How many card flipped" outline dissapears during game play.
Solo Deluxe is distributed as a stuffit file. If you do not have the decompressor for this file format, you can download it from Aladdin System's web page and other sources. Updates are available on the Solo Deluxe home page at http://www.scoopnet.ca/solodx
Here a couple of things you should know:
Solo Deluxe takes up quite a bit of RAM (about 140K), especially if you have the Help book and the extra Deck designs installed (SoloHelpII (19K), SoloDecks (45K) and SoloDecksTwo (31K)). If this is too much for you, find a copy of Solo 1.41 (regular version with Klondike only) which takes up less RAM (58K) and which also comes with Solo Lite , a lighter (35K) version that supports all the same rules, but without the gadgets. Both of these are free.
Send Registration fee ($15), comments/suggestions/bug reports to:
Marcela Seguel Internet: mseguel@scoopnet.ca 3421 Aubry Longueuil, Québec Canada J4M 2W4Thanks to Scott Leapman, Matthiew Dixon Cowles and Jeremy Wyld for beta testing! And to Scott Fringer for helping out with DOS compression stuff.
Playing a card from the Deck or Stock to the Columns, then moving it to another column (Klondike & Canfield), moving a card from the Foundations back into play or changing the number of cards flipped half way through the gameÉ
Although these moves are not valid (and illegal!), the game lets you play them anyway, but beware you may feel guilty after cheating this way (and your luck points may decrease slightly in some cases)!