**************************************************
*                                                *
* SKIPPY                                         *
*                                                *
* A Skip-bo Clone for Windows and GNU/Linux PCs  *
* By Steven Hidy (subxero)                       *
*                                                *
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What is Skippy?

  Skippy is a game for Windows and GNU/Linux PCs.
  It is a clone of the popular card game Skip-bo.

  Note: GNU/Linux support is complete; however, it will not compile
  successfully on my system. Please see the end of this document if
  you can provide a Linux binary.


What do I need to play it?

  All of the required libraries for this program have been included
  in the ZIP file (for Windows only.)

  However, for convenience, the dependencies are as follows:
  SDL, SDL_ttf, SDL_image, libpng, and zlib; DLL files are
  SDL.dll, SDL_ttf.dll, SDL_image.dll, libpng12.dll, and zlib1.dll.


How do I play this?

  It's a very simple game. Your cards are laid out on the bottom
  of the window. From left to right: there is your Stock, which you
  must get rid of to win; there is your Hand, containing five cards;
  and there are four Save piles.

  In the center of the window, there is the main deck, from which new
  cards are drawn for your Hand. Around the deck, there are four
  Stacks. The object is to play cards on these Stacks in numeric
  order. For example, if a Stack contains no card, you may only play
  a 1 card. If it contains a 6 card, you may only play a 7. WILD
  cards may stand in for any card (the Number of Cards indicator is
  present on each of the four Stacks to help you decide what card a
  WILD is standing in for.) If you have cards that will play into
  all four Stacks (for example, the Stacks are empty and you have
  four 1 cards) you are not required to play them in any order.

  If, for example, a Stack has a 4 on top, and you have a 6 in your
  Stock, you must play a 5, then play your Stock card. When you run
  out of Stock cards to play, you win.

  When no more cards can be played, you must end your turn by picking
  a card from your Hand and placing it into any of the four Save
  piles. Cards from any Save pile may be played into any of the four
  Stacks in the middle of the window; however, you may only use the
  card on the top of the Save pile. It may help to devise a scheme
  for organizing your Save pile cards, to make it easier to lay down
  the right combination of cards.

  When you end your turn, the computer opponent begins playing. The
  computer will finish its turn rather quickly. When its turn is
  complete (e.g., no more of its cards are moving) you may play
  another turn.

  The computer is capable of organizing its cards very well, and in
  many cases, will win against a human player.


I think I've found a bug!

  Please contact me (see the end of this text file) about it. I love
  comments, whether they're good or bad, and I love to hear that
  anyone at all is playing a game I wrote.

  I'll try to tend to every bug that people submit, but some bugs
  may take longer to fix than others.


I'm interested in how you wrote this game... (or, I would like your
source code!)

  The full source code is available online (see the end of this text
  file) and is licensed under the GNU GPL v2.

  The source code package does not contain any game data (e.g.,
  the font or the images) although it does contain the executable's
  icon, the game's resource (.rc) file, and the compilation script
  (for Windows only.)

  If you can compile this game for Linux, please let me know!
  My distribution coughs when trying to install the SDL development
  libraries!

  It requires FreeBASIC version 0.18 (CVS).


Author:       Steven Hidy (subxero)
Web site:     http://subxero.phatcode.net/
Project page: http://subxero.phatcode.net/projects/skippy
License:      GNU GPL v2, see license.txt

