PySolFC/html-src/howtoplay.html

<h1>How to use PySol</h1>

<h2>Mouse Usage</h2>
<p>
Left mouse button:
<ul type="disc">
<li> Drag cards around
<li> Click on the Talon to deal new cards
</ul>
<p>
Right mouse button (or double-click the left button):
<ul type="disc">
<li> Drop cards to the Foundations
<li> Quick play (if enabled)
</ul>
<p>
Middle mouse button (or Ctrl-click the right button):
<ul type="disc">
<li> View partially overlapped cards
</ul>
<p>
Ctrl-click the left mouse button:
<ul type="disc">
<li> Highlight all matching cards on the table
</ul>
<p>
Shift-click the left mouse button:
<ul type="disc">
<li> Highlight all cards with the same rank.
</ul>


<h2>Two-handed play</h2>
<p>
Put three fingers of one hand on '<i>A</i>' (auto drop),
'<i>S</i>' (undo) and '<i>D</i>' (deal).
You can also reach '<i>R</i>' (redo) from there.
<p>
Left-handed people may prefer using '<i>L</i>' (auto drop),
'<i>K</i>' (undo) and '<i>J</i>' (deal).

<!--
<h2>Point-and-Click play</h2>
<p>
If you prefer Point-and-Click over Drag-and-Drop you can enable
<i>Quick play</i> and use the right mouse button. See below.
-->

<h2>Automatic play</h2>
<p>
Note that automatic play can spoil the gameplay, so purists should
not enable any option but maybe <i>Auto face up</i>. Also, some games
disable certain features as they would be trivial otherwise.
<p>
Auto face up
<ul type="disc">
<li> Automatically face up all cards.
</ul>
Auto drop
<ul type="disc">
<li> Automatically drop cards to the Foundations.
</ul>
Auto deal
<ul type="disc">
<li> Automatically deal cards to the Waste stack if it is empty.
</ul>
Quick play
<ul type="disc">
<li> Use the right mouse button to move piles around quickly.
     The logic involved is not too clever on purpose
     (i.e. it does not consult the hint system).
</ul>


<h2>The animation is too slow...</h2>
<p>
Unfortunately the Tcl/Tk toolkit lacks a sprite concept, so
there is a lot of (invisible double-buffered) redraw going on
when dragging cards around.
<p>
Disabling <i>Card shadow</i>, <i>Shade legal moves</i>,
background table tiles and sound will somewhat improve the display speed.


<h2>The table tiles look strange</h2>
<p>
Background table tiles should only be enabled when using
a true-color video mode - otherwise they may look bad
because of dithering.
<p>
BTW, you can add your own background tiles by copying the images
to the main <i>data/tiles</i> or your home <i>~/.PySolFC/tiles</i> directory.
<!-- They must be in GIF or PPM format. -->


<h2>Some notes about scoring</h2>
<p>
<ul type="disc">
<li> Scoring only begins after you make your first move.
     Also, if you undo all your moves back to the start
     the game won't score either.
<li> You will lose a game if you consume a hint or start demo mode.
<li> You can restart any time to get another chance to win this game.
<li> If you don't want to score a lost game you can temporarily change
     the player options.
<li> Loaded games don't count.
<li> If you win a game without using <i>Undo</i>, <i>Quick play</i> and
     any other of the assist functions you will be given special awards.
<!--
<li> There are no score values in PySol - you win a game, or you lose it.
     And don't even think about asking me to implement this nonsense - get
     a nice pinball game if you're a highscore freak...
-->
<li> And finally always remember that this is a <b>Patience</b> game.
     Relax and enjoy.
</ul>


<h2>Undocumented key bindings</h2>
<ul type="disc">
<li> <i>Space</i> - Deal
<li> <i>S</i> - Undo
<li> <i>Backspace</i> - Undo
<li> <i>Ctrl-A</i> - Auto drop and face up cards in one step
<li> <i>Ctrl-B</i> - Change card background
<li> <i>Ctrl-H</i> - Show internal rating when giving a hint
<li> <i>Ctrl-I</i> - Change table tile
<li> <i>Ctrl-N</i> - Start a new game with the next game number
<li> <i>Ctrl-P</i> - Change player name
<li> <i>Ctrl-U</i> - Play the next music song
</ul>