BISI's Mah-Jongg.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
v 1.0
(c) 2002 / Juan Pablo Peloso.



  Welcome to another Because I Say It !!! quality software.
This time we offer you a version of the ancient oriental
game called Mah-Jongg.


  GETTING STARTED:
  ----------------

  To play BISI's Mah-Jongg you need three files:

MAHJONGG.EXE    (double click it to start the program)
MAHJONGG.DAT    (default theme set)
MAHJONGG.GFX    (same as above)

  At first you'll be asked to select a language.
Select from these two options:
1) English
2) Spanish

  Then you'll be asked to input a tile set:
Here you can input the name of the theme file of your choice.
Right now there are three theme sets available:

MAHJONGG     (Default - Super Mario themed)
MVSC         (Marvel VS. Capcom themed)
POKEMON      (Pokmon themed)
  If you do not type anything and press Enter, the program will
default to MAHJONGG tileset (MAHJONGG.DAT and MAHJONGG.GFX).
  If the specified filename does not exist, the game will
crash miserably.
  More themesets coming soon (hopefully).


  MAIN MENU:
  ----------

  You can choose from five different options:

1) Easy Game:
     Start a new game in easy mode.
2) Medium Game:
     Start a new game in medium mode.
3) Hard Game:
     Start a new game in hard mode.
4) Retry:
     Start over the previously played game.
5) Exit game:
     Quits to OS.


  RULES:
  ------
  Keyboard commands:
Arrow keys:   Move cursor.
Enter:        Select/deselect a tile.

  When you start a new game, you'll see a lot of tiles
ordered in a formation called a dragon (Well, I modified
the layout a bit to make it QBasic friendly).
  The tiles are set in four layers. You can tell in which layer
is each tile by watching its frame:

Layer 1: Blue frame.
Layer 2: White frame.
Layer 3: Dark grey frame.
Layer 4: Light grey frame.

  The layer 1 is the top-most layer and there are only
four tiles on it (the central ones). Layer 4 is the bottom
layer and it has the most tiles on it.
  Under a blue-framed tile (layer 1) there's always a
white-framed tile (layer 2) and so on.

  As QB's 3D simulations are a bit too much difficult to
implement, I just used a flat 2D graphic interphase.
  It means that, at first, you'll have hard times trying
to figure out how's the game layered and which tile is
upper than which other and so on, so I added several
features that will help you understand the game.
  More on this later.

  The main goal of the game is to remove all tiles from
the board.

  To remove them you must select a pair of matching tiles
and they must meet two conditions.

1) They MUST match:
           They have the same picture on it.

2) They both must be FREE:
           see below.


  LOCKED TILES / FREE TILES:
  --------------------------

  A tile is locked if there are, in the same level, two other
tiles adjacent to it.
  If there is no or there is just only one, then that tile
is free, and therefore selectable.

  Example: We have some tiles and they are H, K, P, O and M:

HKPOM: H and M are free. The others are locked.

HKM:   H is free, K is locked, M is free.

KM:    Both are free.

K:     K is free.

  The difficulty level you choose at the beginning defines how
many times a certain tile will repeat.
Easy:   There are 8 of each tile. (18 different pictures)
Medium: There are 6 of each tile. (24 different pictures)
Hard:   There are 4 of each tile. (36 different pictures)
  The total number of tiles is always 144. The hard mode is
the closest to the original Mah-Jongg game.


  IN-GAME DATA:
  --------------
  When playing, there are some indicators at the top of the screen.
All of them shows you very helpful information:

GAME MODE: It shows the difficulty level.

TILES LEFT: Shows how many tiles are left.

AVAILABLE MOVES: Shows how many moves you can do
                 at that moment.

CURRENT TILE: Shows you if the current tile is either
              locked or free.

LAYER:        Shows you that tile's layer number.

  In addition to that, I included a sound indicator.
As you move the cursor around you'll hear short beeps.
If the beep is high-pitched, that tile is free.
If the beep is low-pitched, that tile is locked.
  This sound indicator is really useful, but if it bothers
you or you're getting confident, you can toggle it on/off
anytime by pressing T.


  GAME OVER:
  ----------
  When you can no longer make valid pairs, the game is over.
As you remove tiles, the program calculates how many moves you can
do. When "available moves" shows zero, then it means that you cannot
go any further because there are no more valid pairs.
  When it happens then it is game over...


  RESULTS:
  --------
  Either you win or lose (or quit) a results screen will show up.
It will show you some game stats. The fun part is that if you
choose to Retry the same puzzle, you can compare both results!
  Now you can compete for the grand title of Best Mah-Jongger of
All Times!

  The previous game results are only available if you choose
Retry. That info is erased when you start a new game.
(It's pointless to compare results for two different puzzles)


That's all for now (I know. Very incomplete readme).
Have fun!
