Sodoku
Thank you for visiting my website and playing my games.
Sodoku is not an original game, although I was prompted
to write my own version because I was not happy with
the comercial versions. They generally require a large
amount of disk space and a lot of desktop space. They
also would take a long time to load and the features seemed
to be not helpful in solving.
Sure, if the computer solved
it for you, that's not solving it yourself, but there are
things that could be done. So, I permit color selection
at will (one click) and highlighting of numbers and empty
spaces. These help with routine solutions. If you need to
"guess" you can change colors easily to identify which
group of guesses your trying. These colors can be customized
by using the Color Menu
Another feature I added was the option of adding puzzles from
the daily paper. You can then save these as masters. This
feature is a must if you get frustrated with the diabolical
puzzles, and all your scribbles.
Contents
Rules of Sodoku You should know this before play
Game Menu
Undo Menu
Sound Menu
Color Menu
Help Menu
Text Colors
Number Selection
Highlighting
Contact Information
And, for basics to get you going quickly:
These parts you must read, if you read nothing else!
Creating a new game to play
Playing a game from the paper
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Rules of Sodoku
The rules are very basic and are based on the layout.
As you look at the layout above, notice that the grid is
9 wide by 9 high. Also notice the grid is also divided into
smaller groups 3x3 composing another 9 squares. The object
of the game is to place a number (1-9) into each square.
Each 3x3 group must have all numbers (1-9) and so must
each column of 9 and each row of 9. No row, column, or group
can have a duplicate number.
To place a number you select a number from the number bar
and then click where you want to place it. As long as the placement
does not violate the rules, the program will permit the
placement. You can use the "X" button to clear a location.
If all numbers (number 1 as example) are present, the number
will be marked with as (*1*) for example.
To help you in finding an available location for your number,
you can choose to "Mark" all numbers of the same number.
The "M" button, on the top-left, will make all number squares matching your
number turn red. Sometimes, when this happens, you can't see
the numbers, but you can see the red. If this is too anoying,
click the "M" button again to turn it off. This helps in
locating all numbers that are the same.
Another tool to help solve Sodoku is highlighting. Clicking
a button above, or to the side of the grid will highlight
all empty spaces along that row or column. A good way to use
this is to Highlight all rows and columns that have your
matching number. The remaining, un-highlighted squares, are
your available moves.
Sometimes, you will need to guess on a numbers. To help
you keep track of your guesses, you can make each guess a
different color. The default color is red. Clicking on the color
bar will change the color of the number you place to match.
The color of the word "color" will change to show the currently
selected color for your numbers. This color scheme can be changed
by using the
Color Menu
Playing a game from the paper
Contents
Top Of Page
Creating a new game to play
Really, this is very simple. Unfortunately, waffle (that's me),
thinks a little differently. First, the "simple" explaination:
Just click "Create" from the
Game Menu
and your all done. Pretty simple eh?.
OK, so why did I call this
"Create" instead of "New"? Well, the issue is one of lazyness.
I did not want to create a bunch of masters (games to be solved)
and then distribute those with the game. Other Sodoku games do
that, and that makes thier installs bigger. So, here is what
is really happening when you "Create". You actually create a
new "MASTER" template, or a solved game of Sodoku. This
game is then saved as a sequencial number 001 - 999 with
the file extension *.sms for Sodoku Master Save. When you
create a game, you are asked if you wish to play, if you do,
random parts from the solution are deleted and then the game
is ready to play as a "New" game.
Selecting "New" from the "Game" menu will let you start a
new game based on an existing "MASTER" and that is why
you are asked to select a *.SMS game from a list. If playing
this game for the first time, the list will be blank until
you first "Create" some "MASTER"s.
Contents
Game Menu
Top Of Page
Playing a game from the paper
This requires creating a custom "MASTER". A "MASTER"
is a *.SMS "Sodoku Master Save" file. You can create
a custom one by selecting the "Enter" option
from the "Game" menu. This will clear the game grid
and let you place numbers.
Use the number bar to select
the numbers you want and place them in the same location
as in the paper. When you are satisfied that your numbers
match the paper's numbers, select the "Save" option from
the "Game" menu. This will prompt you to enter a filename
for your custom master with an *.SMS extension. Whenever
you wish to play this game, you select "New" from the
"Game" menu and this game will be on the list with the numbers
colored in BLACK to identify they cannot be erased.
Contents
Number Selection
Creating a new game to play
Top Of Page
Game Menu
Sodoku uses 2 file types. They are *.SMS for
"Sodoku Master Save" and *.SSV for "Sodoku SaVe".
A *.SMS file is a game that can be played from the
"New" menu and is created from either the "Enter"
or "Create" menu. A *.SSV file is a game in progress
file that can be continued by "Load" and is created
by "Save" a game you are playing.
- New - Starts a new game from an existing (*.SMS) file
- Load - Resumes a previously saved game (*.SSV) file.
If the game was previously completed (all squares are full)
the saved game will be treated as a *.SMS master file and
random locations will be deleted to permit the game to be
replayed.
- Save - If the game is in progress, the game will be saved
as *.SSV to permit the game to be resumed later. If you were
"Enter" ing a game, the game will be saved as a *.SMS
master file to permit playing as a "New" game later.
- Skill - Select a skill level from the default to super easy.
All this does is determine how many blank spots to leave on your game.
- Create - Create and save a new *.SMS master file
- Enter - Enter a custom *.SMS master file
- Solve - Attempt to solve the game with the current numbers.
If solved, you can save it as either a *.SMS or *.SSV
to be played later. You will be asked if you wish to
view the solution.
- Exit - Terminates the game. You will be asked
if you wish to save your current game.
Contents
Rules of Sodoku You should know this before play
Creating a new game to play
Playing a game from the paper
Sound Menu
Help Menu
Top Of Page
Undo Menu
- Undo - will undo previous moves. multiple undos are permitted
Ctrl + Z will also Undo.
- Delete Number - will remove all selected numbers
- Delete Color - will remove entries of same color
- Reset Game - will reset game to original starting point
As of version 1.5, all: Delete Numbers, Delete Colors, and Reset Game
support the Undo option. And they will preserve the previous color.
By careful selecting a number and color combination, when you decide to
change a guess. The Delete Number/Color option provides a quick way
to undo a guess. I like using the default RED color for numbers I am
sure of. And then when I need to guess, GREEN is my first guess, followed
by BLUE and so on. Sometimes a bad guess will not show up until after
a few other numbers are added. Delete all of a color quickly UNDO's
all my numbers back to my previous guess. Just an idea to help solve
Sodoku.
Contents
Rules of Sodoku You should know this before play
Game Menu
Help Menu
Top Of Page
Sound Menu
Use this menu to fine tune the error sound. This sound is played
whenever an invalid move is detected.
- On - Enable Error Sounds
- Off - Turn off all sounds
- Load - Load a custom sound file to play during errors
- Default - Use windows default error sound
- Win Sound Off - Turn off Game Win Sound effect
- Default Win Sound - Use windows default information sound
- Custom Win Sound - Load a custom file to play during game win
Contents
Rules of Sodoku You should know this before play
Game Menu
Top Of Page
Color Menu
From here you can customize all highlighting options.
- Empty Back Color - Select a custom background to use for
locations that are empty
- Master Back Color - Select a custom background to use for
the master numbers
- Number Back Color - Background for entering numbers
- Highlight Back Color - Select a custom highlighting color
- Marking Back Color - Select a custom color for marking numbers
Contents
Rules of Sodoku You should know this before play
Game Menu
Top Of Page
Help Menu
- Rules - Show the rules of Sodoku
- Help - Show this helpful file
- Menu - Show the Game Menu help
- About - Will say I (waffle) wrote this
Contents
Rules of Sodoku You should know this before play
Game Menu
Sound Menu
Top Of Page
Contact Information
email waffle
Visit www.archonrpg.com online for more cool stuff
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