Frequently Asked Questions for Entropy distribution.

1. I HAVE ANOTHER PROGRAM CALLED SKIBIT THAT SEEMS TO BE THE SAME PROGRAM.
   WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?

2. WHEN THE COMPUTER SOLVES A PARTICULARLY COMPLICATED PUZZLE, I FIND THAT MY
   SOLUTION IS NOT ONLY DIFFERENT, BUT EASIER. THAT IS, I USE FEWER MOVES.
   WHY?

3. ALTHOUGH ENTROPY RUNS FINE ON MY WINDOWS COMPUTER, IT WILL NOT RUN ON MY
   OLDER DOS SYSTEM, EVEN THOUGH IT IS A DOS PROGRAM.

4. I CANNOT KEEP UP WITH THE SPEED OF SOLUTIONS SHOWN BY THE COMPUTER.

5. IS IT POSSIBLE TO SAVE A PUZZLE FOR LATER USE?

6. WHEN I TRY TO START ENTROPY, I RECEIVE A "CGE GRAPHICS ERROR".

7. THE GAME TELLS ME I HAVE SOLVED MORE THAN 5 PUZZLES IN A ROW, BUT IT DOES
   NOT GIVE ME AN AUTOMATIC LEVEL ADVANCE.

8. THIS PROGRAM REMINDS ME OF ANOTHER PROGRAM I'VE SEEN BEFORE.

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(This is a mixture of questions that have been asked and those which I feel
would be worth answering just in case.) --JB

Q:
 I HAVE ANOTHER PROGRAM CALLED SKIBIT THAT SEEMS TO BE THE SAME PROGRAM. WHAT'S
UP WITH THAT?

A:
 When I first created the game, I struggled to find an appropriate name for it.
Skibit was a pattern-recognition game that I had made up back in the early
1980's for the home computers that were available back then. I first settled
on that name, seeing some similarities between the two games.
 Within a month or so, I decided that this game is more about entrop and order
than about pattern-recognition, so I decided to rename it.


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Q:
 WHEN THE COMPUTER SOLVES A PARTICULARLY COMPLICATED PUZZLE, I FIND THAT MY
SOLUTION IS NOT ONLY DIFFERENT, BUT EASIER. THAT IS, I USE FEWER MOVES. WHY?

A:
 When the computer solves the puzzle,  it is actually recreating the exact
moves it used to create the puzzle. This is determined by the system's
random number generator, which randomly selects a tile and a direction. In the
event that two of these selections are the same, the computer will make moves
that are not necessary to solve the puzzle. The main reason for the solve
selection is to prove to the user that the puzzle is actually solvable in the
required number of moves or less.


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Q:
 ALTHOUGH ENTROPY RUNS FINE ON MY WINDOWS COMPUTER, IT WILL NOT RUN ON MY
OLDER DOS SYSTEM, EVEN THOUGH IT IS A DOS PROGRAM.

A:
 A 486-66Mhz computer is required to use all aspects of the program. If a
program will not run on an older system, you will need to start the program
with the command-line parameter, S. (Type 'entropy s'  to start the program.)
This will turn off the tile animations, but will allow the system to run. It
is also possible that some Window's settings may prevent Entropy from running
on a faster system. In this case, you may want to try the above-mentioned S
parameter.


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Q:
 I CANNOT KEEP UP WITH THE SPEED OF SOLUTIONS SHOWN BY THE COMPUTER.

A:
 Unfortunately, on more complicated levels, it can be very difficult to keep
track of all the computer's moves. You should instead, just concentrate on
how the computer solution is different from your won. Often, just noting one
move and incorporating that move into your own solution will help you see a
method of solving the puzzle.
 Note that you can watch a demonstration of general methods of playing by
pressing F1 in play mode, then press 'D' and follow the instructions.



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Q:
 IS IT POSSIBLE TO SAVE A PUZZLE FOR LATER USE?

A:
 All puzzles are automatically saved when you exit the game. (Exceptions are
if disk access is denied due to sharing violations, restricted folders, or any
other reason that prevents the program from writing to the disk.)
 If multiple users are playing on the same system, and you want to save a
puzszle for the next time you use it, you will need to exit the game, then
rename the file, puzzle.sav to some other name that you will recognize. To
later solve that puzzle, you will need to rename or copy the file to
puzzle.sav before starting the game.


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Q:
 WHEN I TRY TO START ENTROPY, I RECEIVE A "CGE GRAPHICS ERROR".

A:
 Graphics for the game are stored in the two files, entropy.cge and jbfont.cge.
These files are required in order to run the game. When starting from the
command prompt, the cge files must be contained in the CURRENT DIRECTORY, or
in an appended directory. When starting from Windows, it is best to use a
shortcut whose "working folder" is the folder which contains the two cge files.
(Normally, Windows will automatically create the proper shortcut if you create
the shortcut by using "Send To" or "Create Shortcut".



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Q:
 THE GAME TELLS ME I HAVE SOLVED MORE THAN 5 PUZZLES IN A ROW, BUT IT DOES NOT
GIVE ME AN AUTOMATIC LEVEL ADVANCE.
The following questions are addressed here:

A:
 The game reports to you the number of puzzles you have solved, even if that
series is not consecutive. In order to receive a level-advance, you must have
completed 5 successive solves without returning to the menu, without seeing a
solution demonstrated by the computer, and without using undo for more than
one consecutive move. You will always be given a warning before committing any
action that will disqualify you from receiving an auutomatic level-advance.


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Q:
 THIS PROGRAM REMINDS ME OF ANOTHER PROGRAM I'VE SEEN BEFORE.

A:
 In 1993, Soleau Software published a game called "Raku Master" as shareware. 
This game was a good part of the inspiration for "Entropy". Entropy was
programmed from scratch, with what I feel are more interesting graphics and
an indefinite number of puzzles. The input of Soleau Software's game to this
program is greatly appreciated and is hereby acknowledged. Because of the 
significant changes (Improvements?), and because no code from Soleau's 
program was used or copied, I feel that this work is an independent work and
does not infringe on Soleau's copyright. It should also be noted that 
"Raku Master" will not run correctly on some newer computer systems unless a DOS emulator is used. 
 If you would like to try Raku Master, it is available to try as shareware at "http://www.soleau.com/dosgame.html".



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