The goal of AcidSolitaire is to win games! The AcidSolitaire rules are relaxed - for example, you can look through the Deck Stack as many times as you like without penalty. It's easy and fun to play. You can single-tap or double-tap a card to move it automatically, drag and drop cards, and you can enter numbers (0-9, J, Q, K) in the Graffiti area or on the keyboard to highlight cards - this can help you locate cards on the screen. Use the Jog Dial or 5-way Navigator for single-handed play. Single-handed mode can help you quickly find the next move, and will sometimes teach you a thing or two about what move to make next. There is even an unlimited Undo feature. Statistics will be kept - try to keep your Win percentage up there!

Installation [back to top]

To install AcidSolitaire, just double-click on the file "AcidSolitaire.prc". The Palm Install Tool will start, with AcidSolitaire.prc listed in the window.

Click "Done". The next time you HotSync, AcidSolitaire will be installed.

If double-clicking does not work, you can start Palm Desktop and click the "Install" icon to start the Palm Install Tool. You can then click "Add..." and select the AcidSolitaire.prc file.

If you have trouble installing AcidSolitaire, you can find help in the documentation that came with your Palm OS device. You can also send email with questions to

support@red-mercury.com .

Registration [back to top]

AcidSolitaire will remind you from time to time that it is free to try for a short time. It will tell you how many days you have left to play for free. If you would like to purchase the fully registered version, simply visit Red Mercury to find instructions on how to purchase on-line. Once you have purchased the full version, you will receive a 14-digit UnlockCode that will allow you to play unlimited AcidSolitaire on one Palm OS device.

Enter your 14-digit UnlockCode to Register.

Usually, UnlockCodes work the first time, and keep working. If yours never worked, or if it stopped working, the UnlockCode Wizard can help. The UnlockCode Wizard will try to figure out what went wrong, and it will try to help you resolve the problem.

Features [back to top]

AcidSolitaire is compatible and fully tested with color and grayscale Palm OS handhelds, and works well with all modern Palm OS versions (Palm OS 3.5 and higher).

AcidSolitaire takes full advantage of the processing power and full color, high resolution screen (portrait and landscape) on OS 5 devices. Jog dial and 5-way navigation are in full effect with the single-handed play feature. And pleasant sampled audio sound effects make playing even more relaxing.

Customize Your Game [back to top]

p Sampled Audio Sound Effects On/Off Option ^OS5+

p Translucent Cards - Set Blending Level ^OS5+

p Single-Handed Play With Jog Dial Or 5-Way Nav

p Single-Tap, Double-Tap, Or Drag-Only Mode

p 1-Card Or 3-Card Deal

p Auto-Turn And Auto-Move

p On-Screen Battery Meter

p Left-Handed View Option

p Select Game By Number

p Sequential Game Play

p End-Of-Game With On/Off Option

p One-Move-Left Detection On/Off Options

p Unlimited Undo, Or Select Your Undo Level

p Eleven Stats Including:

- Overall Win/Loss Record & Percentage

- Daily Win/Loss Record

- Win Streaks & Lose Streaks

- Time Played

Enjoy Full Color Backgrounds [back to top]

p Make Your Own Backgrounds ^OS5+

p Choose a JPEG Image From Internal RAM ^OS5+

p Choose JPEG From Any Memory Card ^OS5+

p Use Pictures Taken With Built-in Camera ^OS5+

p Set Backgrounds To Cycle When you Win ^OS5+

p JPEG Background Scales To Fit The Screen ^OS5+

p Built-In Color Backgrounds

p Additional Free Background Images Available


	^OS5+Denotes Palm OS 5 or higher is required.

acidSolitaireBirdOfParadiseLandscape50.tif

Birds of Paradise background with 'much' blending.

The Object of the Game [back to top]

The goal of AcidSolitaire is to move all 52 cards to the four home cells in the upper right of the playfield. Each home cell will hold a stack of one suit of cards. The stack must be made in order from lowest (Ace) to highest (King).

AcidSolitaire has rules similar to "plain old solitaire" (also known as Klondike), but the goal of AcidSolitaire is not to score points. The goal of AcidSolitaire is to WIN THE GAME! Your statistics will be based on how many games you win. Not all games are winnable, but in AcidSolitaire, the rules are set so that you can win many games. The rules are fairly relaxed to give you a fighting chance at winning. For example, you can browse through the Deck Stack as many times as you like without penalty. The default deal mode is "Deal 1". If you set the deal mode to "Deal 3" in the Options, AcidSolitaire will be much more difficult.

Playing [back to top]

During the game, you can tap the Menu button on screen to drop down the AcidSolitaire menu. From this menu, you can restart the current game, start a new game, change options such as sound on/off, and read the online help that explains how to play.

To move a card, just tap it. It will most likely jump to where you wanted it to go. If not, tap it again and it will go to the next available destination. Cards will move to the "best" destination first, then "safe" destinations, then finally to home cells if possible. Cards that are strategically valuable in the current game will be moved to home cells last.

If you have selected double-tap mode, cards move the same way as single-tap mode, except of course you need to double-tap a card for it to move.

In drag-only mode, you can drag and drop cards to a destination, or tap to highlight cards, then tap the destination.

You can always drag-and-drop cards, even in single-tap and double-tap modes.

To move a column of cards, tap the highest card in the group you would like to move. A group of cards can only be selected if all of the cards in the group are in proper alternating-color descending-value order (see below).

Alternating-Color Descending-Value Order [back to top]

Cards can be moved following certain rules. There are seven columns of cards in the playfield. To add a card to a column, the added cards must follow alternating-color and descending-value order. For example, you can add a black 3 to a column that ends with a red 4 (but not to a column that ends in a black 4).

In the upper-left hand corner, you will see a stack of cards that has not been dealt. By tapping on this deck, you can view the cards in this stack one at a time (or 3 at a time in deal-3 mode). When you see a card that can be moved to a column or to a home cell, tap it to move it to its destination.

Empty Columns [back to top]

If a column has no cards in it, a King (or group of cards starting with a King) may be moved into the empty column.

New Game, Stats, and Options [back to top]

The AcidSolitaire menu has everything you need to start new games, view your statistics, set up your options, or select your favorite background. To access the AcidSolitaire menu, tap the menu icon located at the top, center of the screen or tap the main Menu Icon located near the graffiti area.

Resume Current Game [back to top]

Select to resume your current game.

Restart Current Game [back to top]

Select to restart your current game.

Restarting your current game is counted as a loss in your win/loss record, unless you have already lost the game in play. You can restart a particular game as many times as you like, and it will only count as one loss.

New Game [back to top]

If you start a new game before completing a game in progress, the game in progress will be counted as a loss (unless you have already lost the game in progress once already).

Select Game [back to top]

You can select a game by number or play sequential new games. If you want to challenge a friend to the same game, you can both select the same game number from this menu item.

Show Stats [back to top]

Shows your game play statistics. See the "Statistics" section of this document for detailed information on your statistics.

Options [back to top]

See "Customizing AcidSolitaire" below for detailed information on setting your game play options.


	Select Background [back to top] See the "Background Images" section for detailed information on adding and selecting background images. Note that if your handheld does not have a color screen, this menu selection will not be present. If your handheld does not have at least Palm OS 5, this menu selection will read "Change Background." Undo Move [back to top] Undoes one move. AcidSolitaire supports unlimited undo levels, so you can undo all the way back to the beginning of a game. You can select Undo from the menu, or you can press Page Up at any time to undo a move. If you undo a move that had originally triggered five auto-moves, those five auto-moves will be undone followed by the move that you made. Moving a card from one location to another is considered a move. Dealing cards is also considered a move. Tapping the Recycle Deck button after all cards are dealt is a move as well. Customizing AcidSolitaire [back to top] AcidSolitaire has many options that let you customize the game to behave the way you like it. To set your game play options, tap the menu icon located at the top, center of the screen or tap the main Menu Icon located near the graffiti area. From the Command drop down menu, select Options... Sound [back to top] Check the box to turn on the game sound. Note: If you can't hear the sounds even with the box checked, make sure you have Game Sound turned on in your general Palm Prefs settings. Auto-Turn [back to top] Some of the cards in the columns are face down. You can't see the value of those cards. But if the lowest card in a column is face down, you can flip it over by tapping it. You can also set Auto-Turn mode on in the Options to have AcidSolitaire automatically flip cards for you. Left-handed [back to top] When the Left-handed box is checked the cards are dealt in the right-hand corner of the screen. When the box is unchecked, the cards are dealt in the left-hand corner of the screen. Don't let the name of this option fool you - many right handed people prefer the layout when the "left-handed" checkbox is checked. Lose Detection [back to top] Check this box to be notified when there are no more moves left. Lose Detection lets you know when you have lost the game. One Move Warn [back to top] Check this box to be notified when there is only one useful move left. This lets you know that the game is still playable, and might be winnable, but there is only one move in the current card configuration that will progress the game forward. Animate Card Movement [back to top] Check this box to enjoy animated card movement while you play. With animated card movement it is easy to see where your cards have gone. New Game Confirmation Dialogs [back to top] If this box is checked you will be prompted with a dialog box each time you start a new game confirming whether or not you what to quit the current game. Each game counts as either a win or a loss. If you start a new game, your current game is counted as a loss. The New Game confirmation will prevent you from accidentally starting a new game and inflicting a loss. Deal 3 [back to top] Check Deal 3 for more challenging 3 card deal and uncheck this box for one card deal. You can switch between 1 and 3 card deal anytime during the game. If you have lost a game playing 3 card deal, switching to 1 card deal may make it winnable. Automatic Auto-Move [back to top] AcidSolitaire will automatically move cards to home cells when it can. For example, if you have three Aces in their home cells and you come across the fourth Ace in the Deck Stack, that fourth Ace will automatically move to its home cell. In general, if a card isn't needed for strategic reasons, it will be automatically moved to its home cell. Show Voltage [back to top] Check this box to view your battery voltage on the screen while you play AcidSolitaire, just in case you're curious. Move Mode [back to top] The three move modes include: Single-Tap, Double-Tap and Drag Only. When you see a card you would like to move, you can quickly move it by tapping it once (single-tap mode) or twice (double-tap mode). The card will usually go where you wanted to put it. If there is more than one destination, AcidSolitaire will put it in the "best" destination. If you want to move the card again, just single-tap or double-tap it again and it will move to the next best destination. This can be done with groups of cards as well. In Drag Only mode, select the card you wish to move and drag it to where you want it to go. Undos Allowed [back to top] Use this setting to select the number of Undos allowed. You can choose unlimited Undos, a specific number of Undos, or no undos. AcidSolitaire tracks your undo information regardless of the setting of this option, so you can choose to allow yourself more undo levels during a game at any time. Card Blending ^OS5+[back to top] Blending is enabled on playing cards, so you can let your background image show through. There are four levels of blending available (mild, medium, much, none). The card blending option is only present on color handhelds running Palm OS 5 or higher. Convenience Features [back to top] Single-handed Play If you are new to AcidSolitaire, the single-handed mode will help you learn how to play. If you are a pro, single-handed mode can help you quickly find the next move, and will sometimes teach you a thing or two about what move to make next. If you get a "one useful move left" warning, single-handed mode can help you find that move. Use your jog dial or 5-way navigator (left/right) to highlight available moves, then press the jog dial or 5-way navigator "select" to make your next move. You can use the jog dial "back" or navigator "up" to undo your moves. Single-handed play will highlight only useful, legal moves. It can help give you a hint of what move to make next, or to find a move when it looks like none are available. If you don't like where a card moves, select and move it again and it will probably go where you want on the second try. Auto-Play All [back to top] There are times during a game when cards could be legally moved to the home cells, but the Auto-Play feature does not move them. You can press the Page-Down button on your Palm OS device to move one card at a time to the home cells. The lowest-valued cards that can be legally moved to the home cells will be moved first. Each press of the Page-Down button will move another card to the home cells until no more cards can be moved. Note that if the auto-play did not move a card to its home cell, it means that card may still be strategically valuable to your game. Locate Cards [back to top] You can enter numbers (0-9, J, Q, K) in the Graffiti area or on a keyboard or thumboard to highlight cards - this can help you locate cards on the screen. Advanced users can use CLIE keyboard to locate cards A,J,Q,K,0-9. No need to use Fn key to enter numbers 0-9. Undo Shortcut [back to top] You can Undo one or more moves by pressing the Page-Up button on your Palm OS device. Some Strategies [back to top] AcidSolitaire doesn't penalize you for flipping through the Deck Stack over and over, so if you see a card that can be moved from the Deck Stack, think it over... you can always move that card later (unless you're playing Deal 3 mode, in which case that card might not be moveable the next time through the deck!). Sometimes leaving lower-valued cards in the Deck Stack gives you more options in the beginning phases of the game. The column on the right has the most face-down cards. Try to work your way up the longer columns to expose the face down cards. Statistics [back to top] You are playing for stats... win/loss record is everything! If you lose a game, it will be counted as a loss, but if you re-play that same game instead of starting a new game, you can try to win it as many times as you like without racking up more losses in your stats. If you finally win, you will be credited with a win! View Stats [back to top] To view your stats, tap the menu card icon and select Show Stats... from the drop down Commands menu. Clear Stats [back to top] You have the option to clear your win/loss record and/or all your stats. Tap the menu card icon and select Options... from the drop down Commands menu. Tap the Clear Win/Loss Record button to clear your win/loss record. Tap the Clear All Stats to clear all your stats. Transfer Stats to New Handheld [back to top] Your stats file is backed on on your desktop computer along with the rest of your PDA files each time you HotSync. To locate your stats file, search for SolitaireStats.PDB on your computer. Install the SolitaireStats.PDB file on your new handheld just as you would any other software. Background Images ^OS5+[back to top] If your handheld has a color screen and Palm OS 5 or higher, you can add your own color background images, or use the free color backgrounds available from the download page at Red Mercury's web site. Add Your Own Backgrounds ^OS5+[back to top] JPEG images on your memory card or stored in RAM can be used as backgrounds in AcidSolitaire. You can install JPEGs onto your memory card using the Palm Install Tool or Quick Install. Once the JPEGs are on your memory card, AcidSolitaire will find them and make them available as a background. JPEGs will automatically be scaled to fill the screen. If a background image is very tall or very wide, some of the image will be cropped off. You can resize the image to fit the screen better using image editing software if you like. If the image is small (less than 2/3 the size of the screen), it will be tiled instead of scaled up to fit the screen. If your handheld has a built-in camera, you can take a picture of anything and use it as a background. Just save the picture from your camera, start-up AcidSolitaire and select the picture from the "Select Background..." dialog box. Note that JPEG background support is only available on handhelds with Palm OS 5 or higher and a color screen.

	Select Background Image ^OS5+[back to top] At the top of the Select Background dialog box, select the location of the images (Internal Memory (RAM), Memory Card, or All to show all available images) Select your background image. If the image you want doesn't appear automatically in the list, check "scan all directories" to locate the image. Normally, AcidSolitaire will look in a directory called "/PALM/Programs/AcidSolitaire" for JPEGs, but your JPEGs are likely stored in some other directory, so the "scan all directories" option lets you find JPEGs wherever they are. However, scanning all directories may take a bit more time when AcidSolitaire starts up. Check the cycle on win option to cycle though backgrounds whenever you win a game. This is a nice way to reward yourself for winning. The background image will change to the next JPEG when you start a new game after winning a game. If "scan all directories" is checked, all JPEGs anywhere on any memory card will be cycled through. If you want only a small set of images to cycle, put them in the "/PALM/Programs/AcidSolitaire" directory and leave "scan all directories" unchecked. Create Background Collection ^OS5+ [back to top] Advanced handheld users can create a selection of images to be used as backgrounds. Using a Memory Card Reader/Writer, save your selection of JPEG images to this directory: /PALM/Programs/AcidSolitaire Upgrades [back to top] AcidSolitaire is updated regularly. Make sure you have the latest version of AcidSolitaire installed. You can find out what version you have by going to the Application Launcher (tap the Home icon on your Clie). Then tap the Menu icon (directly below the Home icon) and select "Info...". Tap the "Version" button at the bottom of the Info screen and find AcidSolitaire in the list. The version number will be listed there. You can get the latest version here: http://www.red-mercury.com/download.html Install the latest version directly over your current version. Purchasing AcidSolitaire [back to top] AcidSolitaire is free to try. You may purchase the full version of AcidSolitaire at any time by visiting the Red Mercury website (http: //www.red-mercury.com). If you have questions about purchasing the full version, please visit the Red Mercury website or email Red Mercury support. Contacting Red Mercury [back to top] If you have questions or comments about AcidSolitaire or Red Mercury, LLC, please visit the Red Mercury website for more information. For general questions, visit the Frequently Asked Questions page. If you have technical questions, you can always email us support@red-mercury.com. Red Mercury and AcidSolitaire are trademarks of Red Mercury, LLC. Copyright © 2004 Red Mercury, LLC