Don't Hang Me (Beta) - v0.44b - 2007/01/19

That's Orange
http://www.thatsorange.com/yakcentral

--------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS

0. Beta Release Info
1. Release Notes
2. Installation Instructions
3. Game Rules


--------------------------------------------------

0.

[Beta Release]

This is a beta release copy of Don't Hang Me. There may be known issues with the code that keep it from running properly (see website).

[Disclaimer of Warranty Thingy]
(That's Orange is a website operated by Sean Corse, and will henceforth be used to refer specifically to his person)

That's Orange makes no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the stability of your PC's operation or its performance, including but not limited to:
-Memory Leaks
-Crashes
-Inability to stop playing the game (whether by lack of force of will or code error)
-Llamas

By downloading, unzipping, installing and/or running the beta version of this Application you hereby indemnify That's Orange against any perceived or proven loss of data, system instability, or physical damage to your PC or its components.


--------------------------------------------------

1.

[Release Notes]


Beta 4 - [v0.44b] - 01-19-2007

Updates/Fixes: 
-Tutorial screens 
  -About 
  -Controls and Scoring 
  -Game Studio Sets 
  -Game Types and Rounds 
-Graphical tweaks
  -Intro screen, "Pretentious Pilot"
  -Default Set background
-New Phrases (for existing Categories)


Beta 3 - [v0.43b] - 04-19-2006

-Updates/Fixes:
  -4Letter Round Implemented
  -Onscreen Hints
  -Randomized Contestant selection at game start (Caleb/Dustin)
  -Corrected script error where one of the Player sounds was marked as "wait"
  -Fixed piglatin to consider Y as a vowel
  -Added Victim:
    -Nesting Doll
  -Space bar can be used to clear in-game messages
-Beta 1 Open Issues resolved:
  -Memory leaks in Sound/Renderer/Script subsystems corrected
-Beta 2 Open Issues resolved:
  -Reloads image/sound data if rendering device is lost
  -Fixed available phrase list so that phrases will not appear more than once in a given round


Beta 2 - [v0.41b] - 04-01-2006

-Updates/Fixes:
  -Included nifty setup program
  -Fixed issue that kept game from running on some system configurations.
  -More extensive trace logging of game processes, and seperate files for:
    -String issues
    -General game path
    -DHM OP execution (mostly TRYLETTER and round/game changes)
    -General Game errors
-Beta 1 Open Issues resolved:
  -Corrected string data leaks
  -Fixed Piglatin Round suffix creation algorithm
  -Categories and Phrases properly checked for Round attributes
  -Better randomization
  -Fixed error where Victim body parts would not match up with number of incorrect letters
  

-HSF Core (v0.20a)
  -Mouse position detection based on window position (if running in windowed mode)
  -Fixed OpVar memory leak



Beta 1 - [v0.40b] - 03-15-2006

-Updates/Fixes
  -Initial implementation for Trace logging
    -Trace files are stored as .TXT at program root directory


--------------------------------------------------

2.

[Installation Instructions]

Please follow these instructions for installing this Beta and/or uninstalling any previous Beta versions. This will make upgrading to newer releases much, much easier. Please follow these instructions for all future Beta releases.


Pre-Installation (uninstalling a previous version): 

*) - It is recommended that you uninstall the previous release. (If you are running Beta 1, you will have to remove the program manually from wherever you unzipped the files onto your computer. Apologies!) 
1) - Go into your control panel and fire up the Add/Remove programs 
2) - For all Beta releases after Beta 1, the application name should be "Don't Hang Me Beta". Select this program and remove. This will remove: a) the application directories, b) the application, c) start menu objects 


Installation: 

1) - Run the setup.exe file 
2) - Choose the installation directory 
*) - If you wish, you may delete the temporary installtion directory and/or the downloaded zip file (if applicable)


Run the Game: 

1) - From the Start Menu in the Don't Hang Me Beta folder, run the application link with the curent installation version number and date in the name. NOTE: if you have installed the Beta concurrently with a previous or later version, there may be multiple selections in this folder; please select the version you wish to run.

--------------------------------------------------

3.

[Game Rules]

There are three types of Don't Hang Me game rounds: Hangman, Piglatin Hangman, and 4-letter Words. A round will end when the first of the following three requirements are met:
-Maximum number of victims have been hanged (1)
-Maximum number of phrases have been displayed, whether or not successfully completed (5)
-Time has elapsed (N/A)

Available Rounds:
-Hangman           - Regular hangman
-Piglatin Hangman  - Single-word phrases from regular Hangman game turned into piglatin -- same rules apply
-Four-letter Words - Guess which letter out of the ones displayed shows up twice in the word

A game is completed once all rounds have been completed (4).


There are three difficulty modes -- Easy, Medium, and Hard -- that may change from round to round. The more difficult the round, the fewer guesses the player(s) will have before the victim is hanged, but the base point score is increased.

Points in the form of dollars are awarded for correct guesses. If there are multiples of the same consonant in your phrase, your score will be multiplied by that number. Vowel scores are not multiplied.

An incorrect guess will subtract points.

Completing a phrase will award you bonus points (except 4-Letter Round).
Failing a phrase will lose you bonus points(except 4-Letter Round), as well as hang the poor sap who depended on you for his/her life.


Victims are selected at random from an available pool. If any survives your machinations, s/he is eligible to be hanged again for the next phrase.

Hanged victims will not be available again for the remainder of any one game (although if there are more rounds than available victims, they may be "revived" to continue play).


[Controls]

Don't Hang Me is controlled by the keyboard and mouse interfaces:
-Keyboard is used during gameplay to make guesses; only alphabetical characters are used (has no effect from main screen)
-Pressing the ESC key at any time will end the game.
-Left Mouse Click is used to select items on the screen, such as (hopefully obvious) buttons or text messages (usually marked "click to continue")
-Space bar can be pressed at any time to clear any in-game messages

Debug Code That I Forgot To Get Rid Of, But Should Remember To Exclude In the Next Build: -Right-clicking anywhere will end the current phrase and select a new one at random. There is no in-game penalty as such for doing this -- although the mood of your character will diminish each time (your character's mood is, presently, of no consequence to the gameplay)


[Error Reporting]

If you encounter any sort of game error or inconsitency, please feel free to report it on our forums (link at the top of the file).  The game also outputs several log.txt files.  Feel free to email these files, along with the description of the error, to [ theorange@thatsorange.com ].

You may encounter pop-up windows during normal execution. This means that an error has occurred, but it has been handled by the game (although the results may be undefined). Please make a note of how the game behaves after any such messages, whether it continues to run, if there are missing graphics or sounds, if it crashes, etc. These pop-up reports should also be written to the debug trace log file.

There are several DHM files. If you're really curious, try deleting/renaming one, run the game, and "see what happens". Note: the full warranty warning still applies, even though I suggested you try this. At worst the game should just generate errors and crash. At best, it will just generate errors and keep running.


[That's it!]

Most importantly, have Funn!

Keep your eyes on the website for further Betas and, eventually, the final release!


~Sean Corse