Re: online Games Monopoly
- From: "Rob" <musicmaker365@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:41:40 -0500
http://www.x-sight-interactive.net/rsgames/Monopoly.php?view=2
Monopoly: A ZanoSoft and Rs Games Production
Updated January 19, 2010
Version 1.1
1. Introduction
Thanks for downloading Monopoly, an accessible version of the classic board
game Monopoly developed by RSGames and ZanoSoft. This document will give you an
introduction to the game itself,
as well as introduce you to the features specific to this accessible version.
Monopoly is server based, meaning you must have an internet connection in order
to play. Once connected, you can play against your friends, or computer
players called bots.
1.1. System Requirements
Monopoly requires the following:
* A windows PC with an Internet connection. Windows XP, Windows Vista, and
Windows 7 are known to work well with the game.
* Speakers or headphones
* A screen reader, JAWS, Window Eyes, or System Access. Alternatively, the
Microsoft Sapi 5 speech engine can be used.
* The .Net Framework version 3.5. If you do not have this, you can download it
from the Microsoft website at
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=333325FD-AE52-4E35-B531-508D977D32A6&displaylang=en
* The latest version of DirectX 9.0C. If you do not have this, you can download
it from the Microsoft website at
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2DA43D38-DB71-4C1B-BC6A-9B6652CD92A3&displaylang=en.
Note that updates to DirectX were released during 2009, so if the game does
not run, please redownload directX.
1.2. License Agreement
RSGames Monopoly is freeware. You may freely distribute it to anyone so long as
it is kept, unmodified and untampered with, in the original setup package
released by Zanosoft and Rs Games. By downloading this software, you agree not
to reverse engineer or obtain illegal access to the source code of this game.
2. Monopoly Rules
The object of Monopoly is to own as many properties on the board as possible,
thereby bankrupting your opponents. The game is turn based, so you can only
perform in game actions when it is your turn. Your turn begins by rolling two
dice to determine the number of spaces you will move around the square Monopoly
board. At the beginning of the game, you start on Go, which is one of the
corner spaces of the board. Whenever you pass or land on this space you collect
$200. Initially, you start off with $1500. There are a number of types of
spaces you can land on.
Properties
If you land on a property, a number of things can happen. If the property is
not owned by anyone, as is the case for all properties at the beginning of
the game, you may buy it from the bank at a certain price. Moving around the
board from Go, properties become progressively more expensive. If the property
is owned by another player, you must pay them rent. Rent is based on the value
of the property, as well as the houses or hotels on the property (explained
later). If you own the property, nothing happens.
Chance and Community Chest
You can also land on Chance or Community Chest spaces. A number of these spaces
are spread throughout the board. Landing on one results in you drawing
a Chance or Community chest card. These cards will tell you to do something,
for example, collect money or pay money to other players, move a certain number
of spaces, or move to a certain property.
Jail
If you land on the Jail space, you are considered to be just visiting. However,
if you land on the Go to Jail space or draw a "Go to Jail" card, you go
directly to Jail, without passing Go. When it is once again your turn, you can
either pay the $50 fine to get out of jail, use a "Get Out of Jail Free"
card if you have one, or try to roll doubles. If you use 3 turns without
rolling doubles, you will be forced to pay the $50 fine.
Mortgaging and Unmortgaging Properties
Should you ever need to generate a little extra cash, you can mortgage any
property you own to the bank, in exchange for half its value. While mortgaged,
you still own the property, and nobody can take it from you. However, you may
not collect rent from others landing on your mortgaged properties. Furthermore,
if you mortgage a property, none of the properties in that color group may have
any houses or hotels, and none may be built on any of those properties
until all of them are unmortgaged. When you want to unmortgage a property, you
pay the mortgage value of the property back to the bank, plus 10% interest.
Monopolies
The properties on the board are divided up into color groups. If you own all
the properties in a particular color group, you are said to own a monopoly
in that color group. Any time you own a monopoly, the rent you collect from
others landing on those properties is doubled. You may also build houses and/or
hotels on a property once you own a monopoly.
Houses and Hotels
Once you own a monopoly in a color group, you can buy houses or hotels to put
on those properties. Each property can have up to four houses, or one hotel.
A hotel costs the same as five houses. The more houses or hotels you have on a
property, the more rent you will collect from others landing on that property.
You must build evenly. For instance, if you have two houses on one property in
a group, you may not put any more houses on that property until the other
properties also have two houses. You may sell houses off a property at any
time, for example, when you need to generate some cash to get out of debt.
However,
you will only receive half what you paid for them.
Building Shortages
There are only thirty-two houses and twelve hotels available in the game. When
there are no more houses/hotels available, or when the number is lower than
what a player wants, this is called a building shortage. During a building
shortage, no, or very few, houses/hotels may be purchased until some
houses/hotels
become available, either by a player selling them, or going bankrupt.
Going into Debt
Quite simply, you can not go into debt. Any time you must pay more cash than
you have at the moment, you must generate the needed cash by either mortgaging
properties, selling houses or hotels, or trading with someone else. If you
still cannot generate the needed cash, you are considered to be bankrupt, and
out of the game. In this case, everything you have of value is turned over to
the creditor (the person you are required to pay). If you are required to
pay taxes, fines, or some other payment not related to any other player, you
turn over everything you have to the bank. In either case, all the houses
and hotels on all your properties are turned back over to the bank.
Trading
You may initiate a trade with any other player in the game. You may trade
properties or "Get Out of Jail Free" cards, and you may offer, or ask for, cash
in the deal. No houses or hotels may be traded. If you want to trade, or
receive, a property that has houses or hotels on it, those houses or hotels must
be sold back to the bank first. Properties and "Get Out of Jail Free" cards may
be traded at any price agreeable to both parties.
Official Rules
This is just a summary of the rules of the game, enough to get you started. A
copy of the official rules of Monopoly, in PDF form, may be downloaded here:
http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/monins.pdf -
Note that the official rules assume a game with a physical board, and all
players physically located in the same room. There are also a few differences
between the official rules and this version. For example, in the official
rules, any time a player decides not to buy a property, that property is
immediately
put up for auction and sold to the highest bidder. In this multi-player
networked computer version, this auction does not occur. Also, in the official
rules, any time someone lands on your property, you must ask the other player
for rent before the second player following rolls the dice, otherwise, you
are not entitled to receive the rent. In this version, all rents are
automatically paid.
3. Starting The Program
To start Monopoly, start the program from Start menu/Programs menu or the
desktop shortcut as with any other standard windows application. You can leave
your screen reader active to have speech spoken through it, or you can use Sapi
if you prefer. Monopoly supports JAWS and Window Eyes.
When the game starts, it will attempt to automatically detect which screen
reader you are using, and if a screen reader is not running, Sapi will be used
by default. However, if the screen reader you want to use is not detected, or
if you want to use Sapi while running a screen reader, you can press F7 at
any time to switch screen readers.
Once the program loads, it will attempt to connect to the Monopoly Server. You
must have an Internet connection in order to play as mentioned before. Upon
successful connection, you will be presented with a menu with two options. You
can use the up and down arrow keys to move through the available options,
which are Login to an existing account, and Create a new account. If this is
your first time playing, you will need to create a new account. When you select
this option, you will be asked to enter a username. This can be anything you
like. Once you type it in and press enter, you will be asked to type in your
email address. You must enter a valid email address as a password will be sent
to it. This is to prevent spammers from repeatedly creating accounts. After
entering
this information, check your email, and you should receive a message containing
your password. If you don't receive an email, send an email to
rsgames@xxxxxxxxx with the username you chose.
After you've created your account, or if you are a returning player, choose the
login option and enter your username and password. The password you receive
in the email is randomly generated, and you can change it once you are logged
in by pressing F8.
4. The Main menu.
Once you are logged in successfully, you are presented with the Main Menu,
where you can either choose an option with the up and down arrow keys and the
enter key or wait for a notification that someone has created a game. The Main
Menu has three options:
4.1. New Game
This option will start a new game, after which you can wait for players to
join. While waiting, you can press B to add a bot or R to remove a bot. When
you are ready to begin playing, press Enter.
4.2. Join Game
Selecting this option will present you with a menu of available games, if there
are any. You can arrow through the games and press enter to join one.
4.3. List Games.
This option simply speaks a list of active games which you can join, and the
players in each game.
5. Starting The Game
If you choose to start a new game, you can press enter to start it as mentioned
above. Otherwise, the game master will have to start the game. Once this
is done, the dice will be rolled, and the player who rolls the highest number
will go first. Each player will then be asked to choose a token. This prompt,
along with most other prompts in the game, is presented in a menu. Use the
arrow keys to move through the choices and enter to select one.
5.1. Your Turn
When it is your turn, you are presented with a menu:
Roll Dice: Rolls the dice and proceeds with your turn.
Manage Assets: Presents you with a menu of your assets. You can press Enter on
any one of them to buy/sell houses and mortgage/unmortgage the property.
View Assets of Other Players: Allows you to select a player and hear a summary
of his or her assets.
Trade: Allows you to make a trade with another player. You are first asked to
select the player to trade with. Then, you can select the properties you
would like to give to the player in the trade. You can select each property in
the menu, and select done when finished. If you do not want to give any
properties in the trade, select done without choosing any properties. Next,
enter the amount of money you would like to give in the trade, or hit enter
for no money at all. The process then repeats itself, except you select
properties and enter an amount of money you would like the other player to give
you. Once you finalize the deal, it is read to the player, and he or she can
choose to accept or deny it.
Leave Game: Allows you to leave your current game.
If you are in jail, you can either roll the dice and attempt to role doubles,
press j to use your get out of jail free card, if you have one, or press p to
pay the $50 fine. If you roll three turns and fail to roll doubles, you will
automatically pay the $50 fine.
The game is entirely menu based. This includes selection of properties and
other options, as well as Yes or No prompts. Use the up and down arrow keys
to move through the options. The escape key automatically chooses the last
option in the menu, which in most cases will return you to the previous menu.
In a Yes or No prompt, the escape key chooses No.
5.2. Chat
While playing, you can chat with other players in the game by pressing F2. Type
in a message and it will be sent to all players in your current game. Also,
the players will be notified when you are typing a message, and vice versa.
If you type #who as your message, you will receive a list of players currently
connected to the server.
You can also chat while in the main menu. In that case, your messages will be
sent to other players who are waiting for a game.
5.3. The History Buffer
The history buffer stores all messages from the game so they can be reviewed
later. The following keys can be used to navigate the buffer:
Page Up or A: Move up one entry in the buffer.
Page Down or Z: Move down one entry in the buffer.
Home: Move to the top of the buffer.
End: Move to the bottom of the buffer.
5.4. Game Information
There are several ways to get information on your current game. To hear who's
turn it is, press T. For a list of players and bots in the game, press Tab.
In the menu accessible when it is your turn, there is an option called "View
Assets of Other Players", which allows you to view information on properties
owned by yourself or other players. This feature can also be accessed when it
is not your turn, by pressing the V key.
5.5. Chat with an Administrator
If you have any questions while playing the game, or would like to report a
bug, press F1, and type a message to the administrators in the text box that
appears. An administrator will get back to you if one is online. The message
will only be sent to online administrators, so please use this feature for
urgent issues only.
6. Game Keys
The following keys can be used during game play:
C: Tells you how much cash you have.
P: Used to pay the $50 fine to get out of jail.
J: Allows you to use your get out of jail free card, if you have one.
T: Tells you who's turn it is:F2: Chat a message to the other players.
V: View assets when it is not your turn.
R: Speaks each player, his or her token, and his or her location on the board.
Tab: Speaks information about the current game, such as the players, bots, and
who the game master is.
F3: Lower volume of background music.
F4: Raise volume of background music.
F5: Lower volume of sound effects.
F6: Raise volume of sound effects.
F7: Switch screen reader.
F8: Change password.
Q: Leave game.
F1: Chat with an administrator. Use this if you have a question or problem,
and an administrator will help you if one is online.
W: Get a list of who is currently online on the server. This command works in
the main menu as well.
When using Sapi:
Control+F2: Change Sapi voice.
Control+F3: Decrease speech rate.
Control+F4: Increase speech rate.
S: Stop Sapi speech.
7. Credits:
RSGames Monopoly was programmed by Michael Forzano, Ryan Smith, and Jayson
Smith.
Some sounds and music were downloaded from www.findsounds.com and
www.freeplaymusic.com,.
Thanks to the beta Testers for testing the game, helping to fix bugs and ensure
the game worked properly. The beta testers were Derek Roberts, Peter Mahacz,
Brett Boyer, Harrison Tu, Shaun Everiss, Sean Randall, Shane Davidson, Liam
Erven, Philip Bennefall, Oriol Gomez, and Andy Smith.
A big thanks goes out to all the players who have reported bugs and made
suggestions since the initial release.
8. Technical Support and Contact Information
For any game related questions, please email RSGames at rsgames@xxxxxxxxxx
This game is Copyright 2009-2010 by ZanoSoft and RSGames.
9. Change Log
Version 1.1:
Fixed the game to be a lot less of a processor hog. This should fix reported
problems of a long delay between pressing an arrow key and hearing speech.
Added System Access Support. This includes support for the free System Access
to Go screen reader found at www.satogo.com.
Switch to a standard DLL for the JFWAPI, this should fix any problems with JAWS
not being autodetected.
Fixed the game to be a lot less of a processor hog.
Added the ability to view assets when it is not your tur, by pressing Vn.
Added the R key which will read out each player, his or her token and his or
her location on the board.
Switched the chat with admins keystroke from A to F1, to avoid the key conflict
with A being used to move up in the history buffer.
Switched the game info key, previously F1, to Tab.
Added the ability to change the rate of speech when using Sapi. Use Control+F3
to decrease the speech rate and Control+F4 to increase it.
Added Control+F2 to change the Sapi voice. This keystroke will step through the
available Sapi voices on your system.
Added the S key to stop Sapi speech.
You can now change your password while in the main menu as well as while in a
game, using the F8 key.
Version 1.0.1:
The game should now work on 64Bit systems.
Hopefully fixed some JFWAPI errors. If the game uses Sapi even though you have
a screen reader loaded, the API did not load properly.
Fixed autodetection of Window Eyes.
The manage assets menu will now tell you the cost of a house if you can buy
houses on the property.
Re-added A and Z as alternate keys to move up and down the history buffer,
respectively.
The volume keystrokes for sound effects, F5 and F6, should now adjust the
volume of all sound effects including tokens and dice rolls.
Added F1 key to give you information on the current game.
Added G key to set your gender.
Added w key to get a listing of who's currently connected to the server.
Added A key to chat with admins.
Game announcements are now stored in the history buffer.
The history buffer keys now work in the main menu as well as in games.
Fixed various server errors.
Version 1.0: First release.
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