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GENIUS'S PUZZLE PACK, 
version 3.0, freeware
By Nephewsoft (Alex T. Moore)
http://nephew.cjb.net
alextmoore@yahoo.com
02/12/02
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[Table of contents]
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A (Introduction)
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A.1.Welcome
A.2.Version 3.0 improvements
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B (Instructions)
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B.1.Detention Tic Tac Toe
B.2.Part Time Job
B.3.Marbles
B.4.Scary Nightmare
B.5.Cubby Hole Trouble
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C (Miscellaneous)
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C.1.Known glitches
C.2.Updates to come
C.3.Closing note


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A.1.Welcome
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Hello, and welcome.  Please be sure to visit http://nephew.cjb.net, to 
post your opinions about this game, get support, and download others.  

Genius's Puzzle Pack features 5 ways in which our hero -- Genius -- 
enjoys himself.  These include: 
1. Playing Tic Tac Toe against his classmates in detention.
2. Goofing off during his part time job of moving boxes with a crane.
3. Trying to guess which colored marbles his cousin Jenny is hiding.
4. Bravely evading a fierce serpent in his scary nightmare.
5. Sliding parts of a puzzle he received as a party favor.

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A.2.Version 3.0 improvements
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*Changed name from "Nephew's Puzzle Pack" to "Genius's Puzzle Pack." 
*Added "Cubby Hole Trouble" game, in which the objective is to make the
puzzle match the picture by correctly manipulating its tiles.
*Added "Blitz Mode" to Detention Tic Tac Toe.  In Blitz Mode, one "X"
and one "O" will be randomly placed at the beginning of each game.  
Blitz Mode adds a new dimension of fun and challenge for the expert 
player.
*Changed level order in Part Time Job, after realizing that level 8 was
harder than level 8.
*Deleted the first 2 levels of Scary Nightmare, and added two harder 
ones.  For those who haven't detected a strategy to win in this game, 
post on the NephewBoard.
*Disallowed the player from selecting 9 beads to start with in 
programmable mode, as there is not sufficient room on the screen.
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B.1.Detention Tic Tac Toe
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Most kids are enjoying recess, but Genius is stuck in detention.  But
that doesn't mean he can't have fun!!  Challenge one of 5 opponents to
a Tic Tac Toe tournament.  The first one to win 5 games is the champ,
but don't tie too much in the process, or you'll be late for class.
The older the opponent, the more difficult he or she is.  Younger 
opponents cannot think as far ahead.  For instance, Candy does not 
even know when to block you.  Mrs. Gendazek, on the other hand, is 
unbeatable, because she thinks 3 turns ahead.  If you are interested
in how the opponents think -- which can give you some tips on better 
play for yourself -- turn ON visible thoughts mode.  If you would 
rather have a quick game, turn OFF visible thoughts mode.
---------------------------------
Are you already a Tic Tac Toe expert?  Then mayber you're ready for 
Blitz Mode.  In Blitz Mode, each game starts with one random X and 
one random O already in play.  In Blitz Mode, it is possible to beat 
Mrs. Gendazek, whereas in Classic Mode it is not.
---------------------------------
The controls are simple.  Look at the right side of your keyboard.
You will probably see a grid of numbers that looks like this:
			7|8|9     These numbers correspond to the
			-----     spaces on a Tic Tac Toe board.  
			4|5|6     If you wanted to place your X
			-----     in the middle square, you would hit
			1|2|3     the 5.  Make sure your Number Lock
is turned on, or these controls will not work.  You can also use the
numbers above your keypad, if you prefer.  Type 0 at any time to quit.
---------------------------------
The following is an example of how Mrs. Gendazek can think 3 turns 
ahead.  Imagine the game starts.  Mrs. Gendazek puts an "O" in the
middle square.  You follow by putting an "X" in the middle right 
A) | |   square.
  -----  It is now Mrs. Gendazek's turn.  First she thinks 1 turn ahead.
   |O|X  Is there any square where she can go now to win, or block her
  -----  opponent?  The answer is no, so she thinks 2 turns ahead.  
   | |   Her defense strategy is this: is there any place that you can
go on your next turn that would set up a definite victory (2 or more
possible 3-in-a-rows)?  The answer is no, so she shifts to thinking 
2 turns ahead with an offense strategy.  Is there any place that she
could go that would set up 2 or more possible 3-in-a-rows?  The answer
is no, so she thinks 3 turns ahead.  Is there anywhere that she could 
go that would force an immediate block, and -- in the event that she 
were blocked after this hypothetical move -- would there be a way to 
set up 2 or more possible 3-in-a-rows?  In this case, Mrs. Gendazek has
arrived at a strategy.  She moves in the bottom right square, forcing
you to block in the top left square.
B) X| |   Mrs. Gendazek has now set up the attack strategy that she
   -----  imagined last turn.  If she goes in either the bottom left or
    |O|X  the bottom middle squares, she would set up 2 or more 
   -----  possible wins.  She chooses the bottom left square, you block
    | |O  (as you must), and she takes the win. C)  X| |X
Nephew's Detention Tic Tac Toe is possibly the	    -----
most dynamic Tic Tac Toe game ever created, 	     |O|X 
offering a challenge to all levels of players,      -----
and highlighting the complexity of tic tac toe.     O|O|O

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B.2.Part Time Job
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Genius has landed a terribly boring after-school job!!  He must lift 
and drop colored gift boxes with a crane.  When the boss is not 
looking, though, he has some fun.  Genius likes to try to lift and 
drop the colored boxes so that each pile contains boxes of only one
color.  Adding to the challenge, no more than 5 boxes can be stacked on 
top of one another, because the last time Genius did that, the bottom
box was crushed.
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The game will first ask you which level you would like to play (0-9).
The higher the level, the harder the challenge.  Once you have selected
a level, you will be asked from which stack you would like to pick up.
Use the numbers at the top of the keyboard.  First type the number of 
the pile from which you want to pick up, then the number of the pile 
pile to which you want to drop.  Here is an example:
      B			G=green
G R   Y			B=blue
G R B Y 		R=red
-------
1 2 3 4			Y=yellow

In this example, you want to move the blue box on top of pile 4 to pile
3, so pile 4 will have all yellow boxes.  First type 4, because that is
the pile from which you are picking up.  Then type 3, because that is
the pile onto which you are dropping.  If you did this in a real game,
you would win!!  As always, hit 0 at any time to exit.

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B.3.Marbles
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Genius may be getting older, but he is not too old to play with 
marbles -- especially in the game that he and Jenny like to play.
Jenny picks out a number of marbles of certain colors.  Genius gets
12 guesses to guess the marbles.  After each guess, Jenny tells 
Genius the number of marbles that were the right color in the right
space, and the right color in the wrong space.
---------------------------------
You will be asked which level you want to play (1-9).  The higher the
level, the more colors and marbles you will guess about.  Let us say
you choose level 3, with 4 colors and 4 marbles.  You can select
which color marble to play with the number pad.  Look at the top
of the screen to see which number matches each color.  As always, press
0 to exit.  You may not play the same color marble twice on a turn.  
After each turn, a series of lines will appear.  Every gray line means
that one of your marbles is the correct color, but in the wrong spot.
Every white line means that one of your marbles is both the correct 
color and the right spot!!  The challenge comes in determining which
marbles the lines are referring to.
---------------------------------
You will also be given the option to program your own levels, selecting 
the challenge level that is just right for you.  Just select the 
number of marbles and the number of colors with which to play.
---------------------------------
What follows is a sample game.  Jenny's marbles are picked randomly,
so let's say that her marbles are these:  
		R G B Y	   R=red, G=green, B=blue, Y=yellow, W=white

Guess 1		G R Y W    gray lines=3   white lines=0
This means that 3 of my colors were correct, but in the wrong spots.  
Since I want to keep most of my correct colors, I'll try getting rid of 
only the white one (I'm a lucky guesser).
Guess 2		B Y R G	   gray lines=4   white lines=0
Now I know that all 4 of my marbles are the correct colors, they're 
just in the wrong spots.  So I will look at what failed in the past,
and try not to repeat my mistakes.
Guess 3		R Y B G	   gray lines=2   white lines=2
Wow!!  2 marbles are exactly where they should be now.  This leaves
2 that are the right colors but the wrong spots.  It looks like I'll 
have to switch Y and G...
Guess 4		R G B Y    gray lines=0	  white lines=4
It's not usually this easy.  That is only one example.  For every game,
Jenny will pick a random combination, so every game will be different!!

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B.4.Scary Nightmare
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After all of his working and playing, Genius gets tired and falls
asleep under a tree.  His friend Biff had told him a story of magical
serpents earlier in the day, and now the tale is coming back to haunt
him!!  Genius dreams that he is a small, well-meaning serpent who 
is trying to take back the gold pieces that larger, more fierce 
serpents have stolen from local villagers.  He guesses that each 
serpent stole about 30 gold pieces (he doesn't want to take the gold 
that the serpent actually rightfully owns).  After he has stolen 30 
gold from one serpent, he moves on to the next.  The scariest part of 
this nightmare is that this well-meaning serpent is too brave for his
own good, and he won't quit until he has taken back all of the gold 
that all of the serpents have stolen. 
---------------------------------		
The controls are simple.  Look at the right side of your keyboard.
You will probably see a grid of numbers that looks like this:
	| up |		 |8|      These numbers correspond to the
     ------------	-----     movements up, down, left, and right.  
    left|    |right	4| |6     If you wanted to move up, you would
     ------------	-----     hit 8, down, you would hit 2.
	|down|		 |2|      Make sure your Number Lock
is turned on, or these controls will not work.  You can also use the
numbers above your keypad, if you prefer.  Type 0 at any time to quit.
---------------------------------		
Select the level on which to start in the beginning.  Remember that 
starting on higher levels means you cannot collect as much gold!  For 
a hint on a winning strategy in this game, visit http://nephew.cjb.net.
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B.5.Cubby Hole Trouble
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Returning from Shep's party, Genius finds among his party favors a 
challenging puzzle.  He must try to form a colored box by sliding eight 
tiles on a grid that holds nine.  Shep has offered a box of candy to 
the first one to solve the puzzle.  Will Genius succeed?
---------------------------------
The controls are simple.  Look at the right side of your keyboard.
You will probably see a grid of numbers that looks like this:
	| up |		 |8|      These numbers correspond to the
     ------------	-----     movements up, down, left, and right.  
    left|    |right	4| |6     If you wanted to slide up, you would
     ------------	-----     hit 8, down, you would hit 2.
	|down|		 |2|      Make sure your Number Lock
is turned on, or these controls will not work.  You can also use the
numbers above your keypad, if you prefer.  Type 0 at any time to quit.
---------------------------------		
-------  You will notice that there is one tile missing in the lower
|a|b|c|  right corner of this diagram.  That is considered an empty
-------  space.  You may push an adjacent tile to fill this space, thus
|d|e|f|  creating a new space in the location of the old tile.  If  
-------  one wanted to push tile "f" down, one would hit "2," since 
|g|h|    that slides tiles down to fill empty spaces.  To slide tile 
-----    "h" to the right, one must hit "6," since that slides tiles to
the right.  To win, arrange the tiles to match the picture to their 
right.
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C.1.Known glitches
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I am proud to say that Genius's Puzzle Pack is relatively bug free.  
The innocuous glitches that people have found so far include the 
following:
1> A slow decision time for the AI in Detention Tic Tac Toe when it 
is moving randomly.
2> The occasional inability to drop to the same row as one picked up 
from in Part Time Job
3> Bits of monster head getting copied in the top bar in Scary Monster. 
4> An initgraph() error upon exiting Detention Tic Tac Toe with a '0' 
and then exiting the game with a '0'
5> The occasional absense of a win screen for Cubby Hole Trouble.
6> Upon quitting with '0' in Marbles, sometimes the game will first 
recognize '0' as an incorrect color.
I will work on these little bugs for the next version of Nephew's 
Puzzle Pack.  Do you have the latest version?  Check at 
http://nephew.cjb.net
If you notice any other bugs, please email me at alextmoore@yahoo.com.

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C.2.Updates to come
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Some of the future updates to expect to Genius's Puzzle Pack are
as follows:
1>The addition of a Connect 4 clone.
2>The addition of a Checkers game.
3>A new bonus freeze potion in Scary Monster, to paralyze the monster.


Be sure to check http://nephew.cjb.net often, to make sure you're not 
missing the latest version. 

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C.3.Closing note
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I hope you enjoy playing Genius's Puzzle Pack as much as I enjoyed
making it.  I am a beginning programmer who is taking computer science
classes in college.  I've been working on this game on and off for 
about two years, and it is programmed entirely in C, using the Borland 
Turbo C compiler.  Check out my website to play more free games, like 
the upcoming online adventure Westerlies.  :-)
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http://nephew.cjb.net
Nephewsoft: Games that hit close to home