Pyramid
SG
pyramid images
staticgraph 197,90
title 196,60
byline 196,218
descrip 196,261
AG
pyramid pieces
L #1 1 27,-200;27,41 15 1 B
L #2-7 #4 #3 1 415,220;351,272 16 4 B

^Cby Jason Saling


CARDS have been a universal basis for thousand of games across
the world.  Card games today range from the common Joe-Blow
games of poker and black jack to the more highly sophisticated
games of cribbage and bridge.  However, regardless of social
status, one card game which most people enjoy playing is
solitaire.  Although there are several variations of solitaire,
it is usually a simple card game played by only one player.
(Makes sense)

This month, ODM brings you a variation of solitaire known as
Pyramid Solitaire.  In Pyramid Solitaire, 28 cards are placed
down in a pyramid structure.  The object of the game is to
remove each card in the pyramid to the discard stack.  To move a
card from the pyramid, it must not be blocked by a card from the
previous row and it must be one NUMBER higher or lower than the
value of the card on top of the discard pile.

This form of solitaire is very challenging and involves a fair
amount of skill and an even greater amount of good luck to win.
So put on your thinking helmets, and get out your best four leaf
clover to try your hand at this exciting game.


^SPLAYING THE GAME^S

As was mentioned earlier the object of PYRAMID SOLITAIRE is to
remove each card in the pyramid to the discard pile.  To remove
a card it must first be playable.  A card is playable if it is
face up and completely uncovered, and the value of the card is
one NUMBER greater than or less than the value of the card on
top of the discard pile.  The suit of the card does not matter,
only the face value.  An ACE and a KING are considered to be one
card value apart.  The discard pile is located in the upper
right-hand corner of the screen.

If there are no playable cards on the pyramid, draw a card from
the draw deck.  The computer will place it on the discard stack.
The draw deck is located in the upper left-hand corner of the
screen.  The game continues until all cards have been removed
from the pyramid or until there are no playable cards on the
pyramid and the draw deck is empty.  When you run out of moves,
press ^BESC^B to end the game.


^SGAME CONTROLS^S

To select a card from the pyramid you must use the card
selector.  If you are in graphics mode, the selector will appear
as red triangles on the corners of the current card.  If you are
playing in text mode the edges of the current card will be
highlighted.  To move the selector to a different card use the
left and right arrow keys.  To move the selector up to the draw
deck use the up and down arrows.  To return from the draw pile
to the pyramid, use the left and right arrow keys.  Once you
have the selector on the desired card, press ^1ENTER^0 to move
the card to the discard stack.

The other controls of the game are fairly straight forward.  Of
course, the ^BF1^B key will bring up a simple help file in
which you use the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll the
screens of text.  The ^BESC^B key will abort any game and
return you to the Main Menu.


^SMOUSE CONTROLS^S

Pyramid Solitaire can also be operated with a mouse if you have
a mouse driver present in memory when the program is running.
To use the mouse to play the game, simply put the mouse pointer
on the desired card and click once to move the card selector to
that card.  If you click on the currently selected card it will
be moved to the discard pile.

To use the mouse to make a selection from the main menu, simply
place the mouse pointer on the desired choice and click.  This
will move the selection bar to that option.  You must then click
on the highlighted option to make that selection.


^SGAME LEVELS^S

In Pyramid Solitaire there are two levels of play.  In level one
all of the cards in the pyramid are face up.  This makes the
game easier because it allows you to see what cards are about to
become playable.  Knowing this, you can remove cards which will
give you the opportunity to remove even more cards from the
pyramid.

In level two only the playable cards are turned face up.  This
makes the game a little more difficult and more suspenseful.
You never know what card will turn up when the cards from a
previous row are removed.  The reward for playing this more
difficult level is that the scoring incentives are greater.


^SSCORING^S

The scoring procedures for each level of the game are very
similar.  In both levels you receive points for each card
removed based on what row it is removed from.  In level one each
row is worth ten points more than the previous row.  A card from
the first row is worth 10 points while a card from the second
row is worth 20 points.  These 10 point increments continue as
you ascend the pyramid.

In level two the scoring is very similar except that after the
first two rows the point values of the cards are doubled.  In
other words, rows 3-7 are worth twice as much in Level 2 as they
are in Level 1.

You may also obtain extra points by successfully removing more
than two cards from the pyramid without having to use a card
from the draw deck.  Beginning with the third successive card
you will receive increments of ten extra points per card.  The
third card is worth 10 points, the fourth is worth 20 points and
so on.  When you do use a card from the draw deck, 5 points are
deducted from your score.

If you are lucky enough to remove all cards from the pyramid you
will be awarded 500 extra bonus points.  If your score ranks
among the top ten players you will be given a chance to enter
your name on the high score board.  Simply type your name and
then press ^BENTER^B.


^SGAME MODES^S

There are two modes in which Pyramid Solitaire can be played.
The default mode is graphics mode, unless you have a monochrome
monitor.  In graphics mode you can choose from two decks of
cards.  The default deck is deck 1.  If you wish to use the
second deck, simply type the letter 2 as a command line
parameter when you start the program.  If you wish to play the
game in text mode simply type a 'T' as a command line parameter
when starting the program.  If for any reason you use two
command line parameters they must be separated by a space.  To
use these command line parameters you must run PYRAMID SOLITAIRE
outside of the On Disk Monthly shell.



^SODM Managing Editor's Warning:^S

This game has been found to produce high amounts of fun which
have been shown to cause addiction among preliminary beta
testers.


^SOUTSIDE ON DISK MONTHLY^S


   To run this program outside of the On Disk Monthly menu,
      type ^BPYRAMID^B.

   To run this program in ^BTEXT^B mode,
      type ^BPYRAMID T^B.

   To run this program using ^BDECK 2^B,
      type ^BPYRAMID 2^B.


DISK FILES THIS PROGRAM USES:
^FPYRAMID.EXE
^FPYRAMID.DEC
^FPYRAMID.HGH