RUMMY 500 (Version 3) - README.TXT
==================================

Rummy 500 is an exciting variation of the card game known as Gin Rummy.  Its
main differentiating feature is that you can pick up any number of discards
if you can lay down some of them immediately.  Rummy 500 is believed to be
the first shareware Gin Rummy type of game available for Microsoft Windows.

You play against the computer, which can be set to use a number of different
skill levels.  At expert and champion level, the computer is hard to beat and
provides a very challenging game.

Customizable features include:
	Colors
        Sound effects
	Card backs
	Screen resolution (600x480 or 800x600)
	AutoMouse (moves mouse pointer automatically between deck and hand)
	Opponent skill level
	Rule variations
        3D appearance (optional)

The only installation requirements are that RUMMY500.EXE and RUMMY500.HLP
reside in the same directory, and that VBRUN300.DLL, CMDIALOG.VBX, and
VBCTL3D.VBX are present in your path (typically in the windows\system
directory).  CMDIALOG.VBX and VBCTL3D.VBX are included with this
distribution, VBRUN300.DLL should be downloaded separately if you don't
already have it on your system.

To use the sound effects, you must either have a sound card installed in your
system, or have the speak.exe driver installed to use your system's regular
speaker.  Speak.exe is a freely distributed product from Microsoft, and is
available on most online services and bulletin board systems.

Rummy 500 is shareware, and is fully functional.  You may evaluate this
program for a period of 21 days after which you must register it or remove it
from your system.  To not comply with this condition is a violation of United
States and international copyright law.

You register Rummy 500 by sending $12 (check or money order) to:

	Carol Bufton
	58 Prendiville Way
	Marlborough
	MA 01752
	USA

You will receive your registration code by mail.  The registration code is
encoded from your name, so be sure to provide your name exactly as you wish
to be registered.  Please allow 28 days for your registration to arrive,
although every effort will be made to mail your registration within 5 days.

****************************************************************************
IMPORTANT NOTE: MeggieSoft Games does not process any registrations between
December 15th and January 15th.  Any registrations received during this
period will be processed after January 15th.
****************************************************************************

If you require a diskette (3" only), add $3 making the total cost $15.  The
diskette version may contain a later version of Rummy 500 if improvements
have been made since the release of your evaluation copy.  The diskette 
version also contains a Write format (wri) file containing all help file
content in the form of a printable user guide.

You may not share your registration code with others.  Your registration
permits you and other users to use Rummy 500 on any single-user computer
system. You may also use Rummy 500 on any other computer system of which you
are the primary user, such as a laptop.

You may distribute Rummy 500 to others provided that you derive no revenue
other than the cost of distribution, and provided that you distribute the
following, and only the following, files intact:

	RUMMY500.EXE - The program
        RUMMY500.HLP - The help file
	VBRUN300.DLL - The Visual Basic Runtime
        CMDIALOG.VBX - The Visual Basic Common Dialog extension
        VBCTL3D.VBX  - The Visual Basic 3D Effects extension
        README.TXT   - This file

To use Rummy 500 you need Microsoft Windows 3.1 and a mouse (with at least
two buttons).  An Intel 386 class system with 4 megabytes of RAM is
recommended as a minimum.  Rummy 500 has not been evaluated on less capable
systems, but should present no problems other than responsiveness and speed.

You are recommended to take advantage of the comprehensive help file
information in order to learn how to play Rummy 500.  Enjoy!


Upgrading To Version 3
----------------------

If you are not installing Rummy 500 Version 3 from diskette and you already
have Version 2.3 or earlier installed on your computer, you should delete the
file RUMMY500.INI from your windows directory before using version 3 for the
first time.  This is because version 3 uses a new format and will ignore the
previous content anyway.  If you do not delete RUMMY500.INI, no ill effects
will occur, but RUMMY500.INI will contain redundant and unused data.

Registered users installing from diskette using the automatic install
procedure can ignore this note.  The installation procedure will
automatically replace RUMMY500.INI for you.


Experiencing Problems?
----------------------

The only known problem outside of Rummy 500's control is when Rummy 500 is
initiated on a system with insufficient memory or free resources available.
This problem usually manifests itself by all cards appearing as completely
white.  The solution is to exit some of the other programs currently running
on your system and then re-initiate Rummy 500.

All other reported problems have been related to logic errors in the Rummy
500 program itself.  These are always fixed in the next release.  If you find
such a problem, please report it to us at the above address.


Revision History
----------------

Version 1.x - Development versions.

Version 2.0 - First Shareware release.  Fully functional.

Version 2.1 - Enhanced scoreboard now shows the scores of previous games and
              the scores of previous rounds in the current game.
	    - Includes ability to store game totals and round scores between
              sessions.  (See help file "Menus, Game, Quit" for details)
	    - Added "Save Scoreboard" option.
            - Fixed problem when Rummy 500 sometimes demanded discard before
              player had yet taken a card to start their turn.
	    - Fixed problem when more than two cards added simultaneously to
              an existing meld sometimes yielded an incorrect "invalid meld"
              message.
            - Fixed problem (VGA mode) when vertical compression of melds
              sometimes did not occur when meld length exceeded the visible
              display area of the table.
 	    - Improved display cosmetics when player's hand is updated.
	    - Now shows all changes to cards in opponent's hand as cards are
              taken, melded and discarded.
            - Now shows opponent's cards sorted when visible option is
              enabled.
	    - Expert mode is tougher.  The opponent now checks all previous
              discards when making discard decision.

Version 2.11 (Registered distribution)
            - Minor improvements to registration code validation process
            - Overrides an SVGA setting in ini file if screen currently set
              to VGA resolution.

Version 2.2 - RULE CHANGE.  Player can freely select the last discard as
              an alternative to taking a card from the deck, in accordance
              with the traditional rules.  The card is added to the players
              hand.  If multiple discards including the last are required,
              select (highlight) one of the others first.
            - Dramatically improved speed of opponent thinking process.
              Now 3-10 times faster depending upon current state of play.
            - Opponent now highlights card in discard pile before taking
              multiple discards and shows it highlighted when melding.
            - Added menu option to supress opponent highlighting if desired.
	    - Opponent now pauses briefly when taking and melding cards.
              This improves visual feedback of the opponent's actions on
              faster systems.
            - Added total lines to scoreboard (games and rounds).
            - Fixed "overflow" error which could occasionally occur during
              opponent's analysis of meld possibilities.
	    - Fixed problem when player could sometimes meld all cards from
              his or her hand and leave nothing to discard.
            - Fixed problem of opponent only scoring for three cards in the
              rare instance when it melds four cards of the same value
              together.

Version 2.3  (Registered distribution)
            - Fixed problem when scoreboard was not updated after the last
              round of a game when exiting Rummy 500.
            - Fixed problem when player couldn't deselect the only card
              left in the player's hand once it was highlighted.
	    - Added startup window to confirm Rummy 500 is loading (which
              takes a little time on slower systems).

Version 3.0 - Version 3 provides a full 3D-style user interface.  This is
              suppressable for users who prefer the traditional 2D look.
            - Added support for storing multiple player scoreboards and
              for changing players during a session.
            - Implemented AutoResume to remember which player was playing
              last and automatically starting up the next session for that
              player.
            - Added optional sound effects (using wav files) when Rummy 500
              starts and finishes, and when games and rounds are won and
              lost.
            - Removed "Click Here To Meld" box.  New melds are now played
              to the table by clicking on the table
            - Added "Champion" skill level.  Champion is similar to Expert,
              plus it: (i) remembers what discards the player has picked
              up; (ii) will sometimes take the last discard rather than a
              new card from the deck; and (iii) discards higher value cards
              when the player has very few cards remaining.
            - Added "Rule Variations" options.  "Ace Always High" prevents
              Ace-Two-Three from being considered a valid meld.  "Meld Last
              Discard" prevents the last discard from being taken instead
              of a new card from the deck (i.e. inhibiting the v2.2 rule
              change, see above).
            - Added status bar to accomodate status messages, error
              messages, and a traffic light replacement.  Removed menu
              options for hiding error messages and traffic light.  Current
              player name and skill level are also displayed in the status
              bar.
            - Added "hotclick" capability to status bar.  For example, 
              click on the skill level displayed to change skill levels.
	    - Completely revised the help system and implemented context
              sensitive help (F1).
            - RUMMY500.INI format now complies closer to ini file norms,
              and saves each player's options separately.
            - VGA Resolution Only: Improved meld area display.  When a meld
              extends beyond eight cards, the meld is now split into two
              parts instead of vertically compressing.
            - Reworked the user interface mechanics to make graphic effects
              more stable and interaction more snappy.
            - Fixed problem of an ace in the player's hand being considered
              an invalid meld with a matching two and three.
	    - Again fixed a problem when player could still meld all cards
              and have nothing left to discard.
            - Fixed problem when player could be trapped by not being able
              to discard the discard just taken when it is the last card in
              the player's hand.


 MeggieSoft Games, 1994.  All Rights Reserved.
