Documentation for PLUNDER! by Ken Franklin
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INTRODUCTION
     PLUNDER! is a game of chance and daring for 2 to 4 players of any age.  Any or all of the players can be run by the computer.  It is written in ORCA Pascal, which uses the speed, the stereo sound, and the advantages of GSOS 5.0.2.  The program contains over 500K of digitized sound and graphics files, packed into a single file for ease of use.
     This game is Reliefware -- very similar to Shareware. Please try it out for a week. If you enjoy it, please pay for it by sending $15 to:
     Ken Franklin
     5603 81st St E
     Puyallup, WA 98371
***IMPORTANT!***  ALL money received for this game will be given to charities working for homeless relief.  I intend to choose charities that show a good record of truly benefiting homeless families.  I do NOT intend to keep any of the money.  If you enjoy having a roof over your head and a computer within it, please consider paying the Reliefware fee.
     If you don't enjoy it, or don't want to pay the $15, then please delete it or pass it on to a friend. This is NOT public domain software, and may not be sold without my written permission. It may be distributed freely on bulletin boards or to friends, as long as this complete documentation file accompanies it.
     Your honesty and constructive criticism are appreciated.

LEGAL STUFF
     This documentation and software are Copyright 1990 by Ken Franklin.  I give permission to distribute copies of the package ONLY AS A UNIT (documentation, program, and icon file) and ONLY FOR FREE.  I do not give permission for the sale of copies of this package.  All other rights are reserved.  I make no guarantees that this program will make your dog behave, or raise your computer's consciousness.  If you don't want it, toss it.
     User groups who want to distribute this package for a small "copying fee" can get permission by contacting me by mail, or by EMail (America Online "Dr Ken  FP"'; GEnie KEN.FRANKLIN).
     This program contains material from the ORCA/Pascal Run-Time Libraries, copyright 1987-1988 by Byte Works, Inc.  Used with permission.

OBJECT OF THE GAME
     In PLUNDER!, you and your competitors find yourself in the treasure room of a dungeon, filled with various packages.  You know that most of the packages contain treasures ranging in value from $100 to $15000; but two of the packages contain mystery surprises, and one contains a bomb that will destroy everyone in the room.
     In turn, each of you have a choice: open a package, or escape through the door.  If you escape, you get your share of all treasure found (minus 4 percent for panic).  If you stay, whatever you find goes into the treasure.  Naturally, if you stay and others leave, your share will grow faster.  But if you stay TOO long, you'll get nothing.
     After each "explosion", everyone gets a new life, and a new room of packages.  Once someone reaches the Goal score, the others get one last room (with the leader locked out) to try to pass the leader.  The game is over when the leader retains his/her/its lead.
     In each room, the first player is selected randomly.  The number of packages is determined by the number of players.  With 2 players, each room has 9 packages; with 3, there are 12; and with 4, there are 16.

THE MENUS
     THE APPLE MENU provides access to NDAs, as well as the shareware notice.
     THE EDIT MENU is provided for NDA junkies. This game doesn't use it.
     THE GAME MENU has four options: SETUP, BEGIN GAME, ABORT GAME, and QUIT.
Taking these in turn:
     SETUP opens a dialog box. You can enter the names of up to four players by typing them in; use TAB to move from one to the next.  The radio buttons on the left select for 2, 3, or 4 players. The radio buttons under each name select the player personality.  Select HUMAN if you want to play; select TIMID if you want a wimpy computer opponent; select AVG for a level-headed computer opponent; and select BOLD for a gutsy computer opponent.
     The AUTO-CLICK check box allows you to speed up the game slightly. If this box is blank, the computer will pause after each package opens and ask you to "please click" the mouse.  If this box contains an X, these pauses will be eliminated.  Click in the box to change its setting.
     Click on the DONE button when everything is set to your satisfaction. Open-Apple-S will also select SETUP.
     BEGIN GAME allows you to start a new game once you have finished SETUP. This will only be available after a game is finished, or after you have aborted a game. Open-Apple-B will also select BEGIN GAME.
     ABORT GAME allows you to end a game in progress. The computer will plead for you to reconsider; click YES if you're sure. Open-Apple-A will also select ABORT GAME.
     QUIT ends the program. Open-Apple-Q will also select QUIT.
     THE GOAL MENU allows you to select the winning score. A check mark shows the current choice.  During a game, you will be able to see (but not change) the goal by selecting this menu.

THE SCREEN
     Player names and scores appear in the upper right.  Human players appear in blue; computer players of all types appear in gray.  The player who gets the next choice is marked with a highlighted name and a rectangle marked UP.  If you escape or are locked out, a rectangle marked OUT will appear by your name.
     Helpful messages appear in the upper left.  The packages appear on the shelves in the lower left; select one by clicking on it.  The door in the lower right shows the current amount of treasure found, as well as how much you'd get if you escaped right then.  To escape the room, click on the door handle.

THE SURPRISES:	
     BAD NEWS:  Yep, this clown is made of plastique.  Say goodbye. (BOOM.)
     CURSE OF THE JAILER:  The door becomes magically locked.  The other surprise package holds the key.  Nobody can escape until the key is found -- or the bomb is found.
     BOMB DUPLICATOR:  One of the treasures is magically transformed into a bomb.  Now you have two to worry about...
     TIME WARP:  All packages are mixed and refilled.  Anyone who escaped, though, stays out -- tough luck for them.
     SCARED SILLY:  You are frightened out of the room, and in your terror you forget to take your share of money with you.  You get nothing this round.
     MAGIC MIRROR:  The current pot is doubled.
     WHIRLWIND:  Half the pot disappears in a magical vortex.
     THE SILVER BOOT:  The person finding this surprise gets to kick out one opponent (select them by clicking on their name).  The person booted out gets their share of treasure.
     THIS BOX IS EMPTY:  You figure it out.
     I'LL PAY YOU TO LEAVE NOW:   The person finding this surprise has a choice: leave immediately and get $1000 bonus (plus their share), or stay (and the $1000 disappears).
     REWARD FOR BRAVERY:  The person finding this surprise gets $500 added to their score immediately -- it is NOT added to the pot, and does not disappear if the bomb goes off while the person is in the room.
     
ENDING THE GAME
     When one player reaches the Goal score, he/she/it becomes the leader and is locked out of the next room.  The other players get one room to pass or tie the leader.  At the end of that round, if someone has escaped with a higher score than the leader, THAT person becomes the leader and another "Last Room" begins.  To win the game, you must remain the leader through one full round.

STRATEGY HINTS:
     1.  Know your enemy.  Timid computer players will bug out early, but can creep up on the goal bit by bit.  Bold computer players get blown up a lot, but also make some amazing leaps of score.  Average computer players are somewhere in between.  Human opponents... well, it's your job to psyche them out.
     2.  Remember that each escaping person gets a tiny bit LESS than their fair share.  Therefore, there is a slight advantage in having the other guy leave first.  But if you both stay too long, KA-BOOM!
     3.  You can estimate your risk by keeping track of the size of each treasure.  Every round starts off with one bomb, two surprises, and one "artifact".  The breakdown of other treasures is based on the number of players.  In a 2-player game it is 2 small, 2 medium, and 1 large; with 3 players, it is 4 small, 3 medium and 1 large; and with 4 players, the breakdown is 6 small, 4 medium and 2 large.
The small treasures are worth $100-$300; the mediums $500 -$1000; the larges $2500-$5000; and the artifacts, $7500-$15000.

TECHNICAL NOTES
     PLUNDER! was designed while Karl Kerchief and I were jogging one day -- we were searching desperately for distractions from the pain.  It is based on a quote by Martin Gardner, which goes something like this:  "You face a thousand boxes.  All but one contain a dollar bill; one contains a nuclear warhead that explodes on opening.  How many boxes will you open?"
     The artifacts are tributes to some of my favorites in the game world.  The Scrabble Sapphire, of course, honors the classic Selchow & Righter game.  The Brunswick Pearl looks sorta like a bowling ball (I hope).  The Golden Cubes add excitement to most games.  The Crown of Sackson commemorates American game inventor Sid Sackson.  The Ravensburger Ruby is for European game producer Otto Maier Verlag Ravensburg.
     The sounds for PLUNDER! were dressed up using Sound Shop, a utility included with Roger Wagner's Hyperstudio. The graphics were painted with Activision's Paintworks Gold and Electronic Arts' DELUXE PAINT II. The programming was done using Byte Works' ORCA Pascal. The entire project took the evenings of two weeks.  The program itself is only 32K of the file; the remainder is in the "resource fork". For the programmers out there, there are four custom resource types:
     $0BA6 = graphics bitmaps, packed using PackBytes
     $0BA7 = index of LocInfos for graphics resources
     $2BA6 = digitized waveforms in pure, unlabelled form
     $3BA6 = an array of size/speed/volume data for the $2BA6 resources
If you're interested, the number $BA6 was used because the hex digits correspond to position of my initials (KJF) in the alphabet.
     Brunhilda the Big-Boned is available for singing engagements at birthday parties and weddings.  Contact the author for booking arrangements.
     Enjoy.
               --Ken Franklin
               24 May 1990