RUMMY 500 (Version 4.02) - READ500.TXT
======================================

Rummy 500 is an exciting member of the Rummy family of card games.  Its
main differentiating feature is that you can pick up any number of discards
if you can lay down some of them immediately.  Rummy 500 is believed to be
the first shareware Rummy game available for Microsoft Windows.

You play against the computer, which can be set to use a number of different
skill levels.  At expert and champion level, the computer is hard to beat and
provides a very challenging game.

Customizable features include:
	Colors
        Sound effects
	Card backs
	Screen resolution (600x480 or 800x600)
	AutoMouse (moves mouse pointer automatically between deck and hand)
	Opponent skill level
        Rule variations

The only installation requirements are that RUMMY500.EXE, RUMCARDS.BMP, and
RUMMY500..HLP, and the wav files reside in the same directory; and that
VBRUN300.DLL and VBCTL3D.VBX are present in your path (typically in the
windows\system directory).  VBCTL3D.VBX is included with this distribution.
VBRUN300.DLL should be downloaded separately if you don't already have it on
 your system.

To use the sound effects, you must either have a sound card installed in your
system, or have the speak.exe driver installed to use your system's regular
speaker.  Speak.exe is a freely distributed product from Microsoft, and is
available on most online services and bulletin board systems.  Rummy 500 is
distributed with a few sound files, others may be obtained from libraries on
most online services and bulletin board systems.  To enable sound effects,
you must check the "Enable Sounds" box from the "Sounds..." option under the
"Configuration" menu.  Remember to "Save Configuration" to make the setting
permanent.

Rummy 500 is shareware, and is fully functional.  You may evaluate this
program for a period of 21 days after which you must register it or remove it
from your system.  To not comply with this condition is a violation of United
States and international copyright law.

You register your copy of Rummy 500 by sending $12 (check or money order,
U.S. funds only) to:

	Carol Bufton
	58 Prendiville Way
	Marlborough
	MA 01752
	USA

There is a printable order form under the "Help" menu of Rummy 500.

You will receive your registration code by mail.  The registration code is
encoded from your name, so be sure to provide your name exactly as you wish
to be registered.  Please allow 28 days for your registration to arrive,
although every effort will be made to mail your registration within 5 days.
Your registration code licenses you to use the version of Rummy 500 that you
are currently evaluating, irrespective of which is the latest version
currently available on America Online, CompuServe, or registered diskette.
Your registration may also be valid with future versions as they become
available.

****************************************************************************
IMPORTANT NOTE: MeggieSoft Games does not process any registrations between
December 15th and January 15th.  Any registrations received during this
period will be processed after January 15th.  The registration reminder
will not be displayed between December 20th and January 15th.
****************************************************************************

If you require a diskette (3" only), add $3 making the total cost $15.  The
diskette version may contain a later version of Rummy 500 if improvements
have been made since the release of your evaluation copy.  Because we cannot
track which versions are currently available at what locations, it is very
possible that Rummy 500 will have been updated since your evaluation copy
unless you downloaded a recent version from CompuServe or America Online.

You may not share your registration code with others.  Your registration
permits you and other users to use Rummy 500 on any single-user computer
system. You may also use Rummy 500 on any other computer system of which you
are the primary user, such as a laptop.

You may distribute Rummy 500 to others provided that you derive no revenue
other than that associated with the act of distribution, and provided that
you distribute the following, and only the following, files intact:

        READ500.TXT  - This file
	RUMMY500.EXE - The program
        RUMMY500.HLP - The help file
        FAQ500.TXT   - The "frequently asked questions" file
	RUMCARDS.BMP - The card images
	VBRUN300.DLL - The Visual Basic Runtime
        VBCTL3D.VBX  - The Visual Basic 3D Effects extension

To use Rummy 500 you need Microsoft Windows 3.1 and a mouse (with at least
two buttons).  An Intel 386 class system with 4 megabytes of RAM is
recommended as a minimum.  Rummy 500 has not been evaluated on less capable
systems, but should present no problems other than responsiveness and speed.

You are recommended to take advantage of the comprehensive help file
information in order to learn how to play Rummy 500.  Perhaps the best
first step to learning Rummy 500 is to use the "Player | AutoPlay"
option and watch the computer play against itself.  Enjoy!


Upgrading From Version 2.x
--------------------------

If you already have Version 2.3 or earlier installed on your computer, you
should delete the file RUMMY500.INI from your windows directory before
installing or running version 4.02 for the first time.  This is because
versions 3.0 and later use a new format and will ignore the previous content
anyway.  If you do not delete RUMMY500.INI, no ill effects will occur, but
RUMMY500.INI will contain redundant and unused data.


Revision History
----------------

Version 1.x  - Development versions.

Version 2.0  - First Shareware release.  Fully functional.

Version 2.1  - Scoreboards.
        2.11 - Minor improvements.

Version 2.2  - Player can freely select the last discard.

Version 2.3  - Startup window.

Version 3.0  - 3D-style user interface.
             - Multiple player scoreboards .
             - AutoResume.
             - Sound effects.
        3.01 - Maintenance release
        3.02 - Maintenance release

Version 3.5  - Conforms to "Hoyle's Rules Of Games".
             - Suggest.
             - Undo.
             - Hall Of Fame.
             - League Table.
             - Displays of total games won.
             - Swap Cards.
             - AutoPlayer.
             - Quick Display.
             - Animate Display (removed in version 3.9).
             - Updated Help.

        3.51 - Revised discard algorithms.

Version 3.6  - Changed method of taking discards.
             - Undo

Version 3.7  - Sort by Suit
             - Show Remaining

        3.81 - Overlap Melds
             - Display Turn Count
	     - "Master" skill level

Version 3.9  - Updated to include new features introduced with the first
               release of Gin Rummy (Rummy 500's new companion product).
               * Stagger player hand: displays suits offset from each other
               * Shortcut buttons on status bar for hint, undo, stagger and
                 sort order
               * Separate option saving for Configuration, Opponent and
                 Rules
               * Ability to have each game start with a "cut for deal"
               * Reset Scoreboard
               * Printable Order Form
             - When AutoPlayer ends, player options remain where they were,
               instead of being reset from the saved options.  (However, a
               round in progress will be restarted.)
             - Restart Game is now Redeal Game. Added Restart Round (no
               shuffle).
             - Fixed problem when canceling the color configuration window
               did not cancel correctly.
             - Various other minor problem fixes.

        3.91 - Resolved display and memory problems with higher color
               resolutions. (RUMCARDS.BMP is now WMF metafile format).
             - Removed dependency on CMDIALOG.VBX (no longer required)
             - If scoreboard file is damaged, choice of reset or exit
               (in case the user can restore it) is offered.
             - Fixed problem when opponent would meld ace high when "Ace
               Must Be Low" was selected.
             - Fixed problem where opponent could meld four of a kind and
               not leave card for discard (when "must discard" rule is in
               effect).
             - Fixed problem when hint before undo caused the undo to fail.

Version 4.0  - Added custom card back capability to support user defined
               card designs (WMF format).
             - Added "Trim Corners" option to display cleaner card images
               on more powerful systems.
             - Added capability to remember custom color definitions
               between sessions.
             - Enhanced scoreboard capabilities now display skill level
               the date played.  Display colors are customizable from
               the "Configuration | Colors" menu option.  Previous
               scoreboard data are automatically converted with a skill
               level of "Unknown" and a date of "1/1/94".
             - Scoreboards can now be displayed for all games or only
               those against a specific opponent skill level.
             - Added "AutoMouse - Dialogs" to extend the AutoMouse feature
               to and from messages and information windows.
             - Undo now deselects highlighted cards (even if there is
               nothing else to undo).
             - Fixed a number of minor problems.

        4.01 - Fixed "input file not found" problem at end of round.
             - Scoreboards now display skill level.

        4.02 - Fixed rare interaction problem with meld overlaps, changes
               to screen resolution, and changes to "overlap melds" menu
               option.
             - Revised date calculations and removed need for msafinx.dll
               file.
             - Cleaned up detection and termination of second instance
               when Rummy 500 is already running.
             - Cleaned up detection of when and how scoreboard has changed
               since it was loaded (for "do you want to save.." prompts).


 MeggieSoft Games 1994, 1995.  All Rights Reserved.
