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|5 |EBrainware|5                     ^1 Word Ladders |5                     |EBrainware|5 
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^Cby
^CJohn Allen and William Wind


^C^1INTRODUCTION
    Word Ladders is a word game where you build a list of words that differ by
 only one letter.  Each puzzle consists of a ladder containing two 4-letter
 words separated by several empty rungs, as shown below.

^CĴ
^C s a n d 
^CĴ
^C         
^CĴ
^C         
^CĴ
^C         
^CĴ
^C t i m e 
^CĴ

    Begin by changing one letter of the first word so that a new word is
 created.  This new word will appear on the second rung of the ladder.
 The word "sand" was changed to "sane" in the ladder below.

^CĴ
^C s a n d 
^CĴ
^C s a n ^1e^0 
^CĴ
^C         
^CĴ
^C         
^CĴ
^C t i m e 
^CĴ

    Continue playing in this manner until the last empty rung on the ladder is
 filled with a word that differs from both the word above and the word below
 by only one letter.  In the ladder below, the words "same" then "tame"
 complete the puzzle.

^CĴ
^C s a n d 
^CĴ
^C s a n ^1e^0 
^CĴ
^C s a ^1m^0 e 
^CĴ
^C ^1t^0 a m e 
^CĴ
^C t ^1i^0 m e 
^CĴ

^C^1PAR
    Word ladders may range from four to nine rungs in length.  The length of a
 ladder is the PAR for the ladder.  For example, a par 6 ladder contains six
 rungs, four of which you must fill in.  The word ladders shown above are all
 par 5.

    Some puzzles with par 6 or more may be solved before all empty rungs are
 filled.  If you can do this, bonus points will be awarded for solving the
 ladder "under par.

    If you require more empty rungs to solve a puzzle than are supplied, then
 the bottom word will move downward, opening up additional empty rungs.  You
 will be penalized, however, for each additional rung, but only if the puzzle
 is solved.

^C^1VALID WORDS
    Word Ladders will only allow you to fill empty rungs of a ladder with VALID
 four-letter words.  These include most common words, as well as some slang,
 archaic, or obsolete words.  However, plurals ending in "s" or "es" are not
 valid words.  Also, abbreviations, vulgar words, and proper nouns are invalid.
 Note that there is a very large number of four-letter words in the English
 language.  The dictionary for Word Ladders may not contain every one of them.

^C^1GAME PLAY
    The object of Word Ladders is to solve as many puzzles as possible before
 you lose the three lives you are given at the beginning of the game.

    Game play is divided into rounds of five puzzles.  If you answer all five
 correctly, you are given a "bonus" puzzle to complete before advancing to the
 next round.  You will be awarded an extra life each time a bonus puzzle is
 solved.  The game ends when you lose all of your lives.

    Round 1 word ladders are par 4, and par is increased by 1 in each new
 round.  You receive 100 points per par for each completed puzzle.  Thus, in
 Round 1 word ladders are worth 400 points; in Round 2 word ladders are worth
 500 points; etc.  Par does not advance beyond 9.

    You have only a certain amount of time in which to solve each puzzle.
 If time runs out, you will lose a life.  However, after a puzzle is solved,
 bonus points are awarded for any time remaining, one point for each second.

    The current word in the ladder is shown in a box at the right.  Change
 one letter in the current word and press Enter.  If it is a valid word, it
 will be added to the ladder.

                                   Ĵ
                                    s a n d 
                                   Ĵ
                                    s a n e 
                                   Ĵ    Ŀ
                                            <Ĵ s a n ^1e^0 
                                   Ĵ    
                                            
                                   Ĵ
                                    t i m e 
                                   Ĵ

    Select the letter to change by pressing the right and left arrow keys.
 Type the new letter and press ENTER.  Only valid words are accepted.
 ^1WARNING:^0 In advanced play, attempts to enter invalid words results in
          loss of a life!

^C^1ADVANCED PLAY
    In the advanced play mode, word ladders are more challenging, and may
 require relatively unknown or obscure words for completion.  As stated above,
 entering an invalid word during advanced play results in loss of a life.

    You may select the advanced play mode (along with other options) from
 the pre-game option menu.


 ^1SCORING
    Solving a puzzle ............ 100 points per par
    Each word under par ......... 250 points
    Each second of time left ....   1 point
    Each word over par .......... -50 points

 ^1MAIN MENU
    Start Game   - The Options Menu will appear before game begins.
    Instructions - The Help information will be displayed.
    Exit         - Return to Big Blue Disk or to DOS.

 ^1OPTIONS MENU
    Expert Mode      - Play with more challenging word ladders.
    No Sounds        - Turn the scoring sounds off.
    Other Colors     - If the chosen colors look bad, try new ones.
    Upper Case Words - You may turn UPPER CASE mode ON or OFF.
    Start Game       - Let the Word Ladder fun begin.
    Main Menu        - Return to Main Menu

 ^1ACTIVE KEYS
    Left Arrow       - Select letter
    Right Arrow      - Select letter
    Space Bar        - Select letter
    INS (Insert Key) - Restore current word
    Enter Key        - Accept new word
    ?                - Give up
    F1               - Display Help
    F2               - Display Statistics
    ESC Key          - End game
    CTRL-S           - Turn scoring sound ON or OFF
    CTRL-T           - Turn clock ticking sound ON or OFF

    ^1NOTE:^0  The timer keeps ticking even if you are displaying HELP.
           You can always read the HELP information before you play the game
           by selecting INSTRUCTIONS from the Main Menu.

           Good luck and have fun!

 ^1OUTSIDE OF BBD
    To run this program outside the ^1Big Blue Disk^0 menu, type: ^1LADDER^0.

 ^1DISK FILES THIS PROGRAM USES:
^FLADDER.EXE
^FLADDER.HLP
^FDICT1.DAT
^FDICT2.DAT
^FBONUS.DAT
