# Tali Manual

Tali is like Yahtzee for GNOME, or like poker with dice. The player rolls dice to try to make the best possible combinations, like four of a kind, small straight, and full house. The player is allowed 3 rolls per turn and can hold certain dice with each roll.

2001
Scott D. Heavner
2009
Philip Withnall (philip@tecnocode.co.uk)
GNOME Documentation Project

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Scott D
Heavner

     sdh@po.cwru.edu

Tali Manual V2.8
September 2004

Scott D Heavner sdh@po.cwru.edu

GNOME Documentation Project

This manual describes version 2.12 of Tali.

## Feedback

To report a bug or make a suggestion regarding the Tali application or this manual, follow the directions in the GNOME Feedback Page.

## Introduction

GNOME Tali is a sort of poker with dice and less money. You roll five dice three times and try to create the best hand. Your two rerolls may include any or all of your dice.

GNOME Tali is very similar to the dice game Yahtzee which is a trademark of Hasbro, Inc.

To run GNOME Tali, select Games GNOME Tali from the Main Menu, or type `gtali` on the command line.

GNOME Tali is included in the `gnome-games` package, which is part of the GNOME desktop environment. This document describes version 2.8 of GNOME Tali.

## Playing GNOME Tali

### GNOME Tali in action

GNOME Tali main window screenshot.

When play starts, you see the results of your first throw of the dice.

1. Click on the dice you wish to roll again.

2. When you have selected all the dice you wish to reroll, press the Roll! button.

3. When you have a hand you like, or have run out of chances to throw the dice, click on a row corresponding to what you think is your best scoring combination. It is very possible to have a score of zero and if you click on the wrong row, you will be scored accordingly. (Say for example, you get yahtzee – 5 of a kind – and click on the large straight row, you will receive a zero in your large straight score).

You can only use each combination once, i.e. once you've entered something in a slot, you can't change the score later if you roll a better hand.

There is one exception to this rule: if you roll a yahtzee a second time you can put it in the yahtzee row again for an extra fifty points. You can keep doing this each time you get another yahtzee. At the end of the game you will be given extra rolls to fill in the other rows. Be warned that if you score zero in your yahtzee row (i.e. you filled that row with something that wasn't a yahtzee) then you can't put a yahtzee in afterward, zero is all you will score.

There is also a bonus of 35 points if you score a total of 63 points or more in the top six rows.

### Using the keyboard

As an alternative to using the mouse, the keys 1 through 5 toggle the dice just as if you had clicked them. The key 1 corresponds to the first die and so on. Use the usual controls to roll the dice and select a row. i.e. use Tab to switch between the roll button and the score area, use the arrow keys to navigate up and down the rows and use space to select.

## Game Options

### GNOME Tali preferences

GNOME Tali preferences dialogue box.

### Human Players

Number of players

  Selects the number of human players. As described above you are only allowed six players in total.

### Computer Opponents

Delay between rolls

  Make the computer opponents pause between rolls of the dice so you can see what they are doing. Slows down game play a little.

Number of opponents

  Select the number of computer opponents. You are allowed a total of six human and computer players. If you attempt to increase this number near the limit, the number of human players will be decreased to maintain only six total players.

### Game Type

Version of the game to play

  Play either the regular version (similar to Yahtzee) or the version with colours (similar to Kismet). When you change the game type, you must restart the game.

Player Names

  To change the names of the players just enter new names in the boxes.

## Game Strategy

The 63 points needed for the bonus in the upper half corresponds to getting three of each die type in each row. If you score more than three dice in the fives and sixes rows then you can afford to place a bad roll in either the ones row or the twos row and still get the bonus. In the Colours version, you get a bonus of 55 if your upper half total is between 71 and 77, and a bonus of 75 if your upper half total is greater than 77.

Don't forget about multiple yahtzees: if you roll a second yahtzee you can also put it in the yahtzee row for even more points. This only applies to the regular game.

## Known Bugs and Limitations

When you switch game type, the game does not use the new dice images until you restart GNOME Tali. It should play correctly with the "wrong" dice.

## Glossary

Remember that the order of the dice is not important.

3 of a Kind

  Three of the dice have the same number. The score is the total of all the dice. e.g. 1, 2, 2, 2, 5.

4 of a Kind

  Four of the dice have the same number. The score is the total of all the dice. e.g. 2, 5, 5, 5, 5. In the Colours game, the score is 25 plus the total of all the dice.

5 of a Kind

  Five identical dice. e.g. 3, 3, 3, 3, 3. In the Colours game, the score is 50 plus the total of all the dice.

Full House

  Five dice consisting of two groups: One group of three with the same numbers and another group of two with the same numbers. e.g. 1, 1, 1, 4, 4. In the Colours game, the score is 15 plus the total of all the dice.

Full House Same Colour

  This category is only used in the Colours game. Five dice consisting of two groups: One group of three with the same numbers and another group of two with the same numbers. The numbers must be all the same colour. e.g. 3, 3, 3, 4, 4. Two dice are the same colour if their numbers total 7: 1 and 6 are black, 2 and 5 are red, and 3 and 4 are green. The score is 20 plus the total of all the dice.

Two Pair Same Colour

  This category is only used in the Colours game. Five dice consisting of two groups: One group of two with the same numbers and another group of two with the same numbers. The pairs must be all the same colour. e.g. 3, 3, 4, 4. Two dice are the same colour if their numbers total 7: 1 and 6 are black, 2 and 5 are red, and 3 and 4 are green. The fifth die can be any value. The score is the total of all the dice.

Flush

  This category is only used in the Colours game. Five dice that are all the same "colour": Two dice are the same colour if their numbers total 7: 1 and 6 are black, 2 and 5 are red, and 3 and 4 are green. The fifth die can be any value. The score is 35 points.

Large Straight

  Five dice with consecutive numbers. e.g. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The score is 40 points.

Small Straight

  Four dice with consecutive numbers. The fifth die can be any number. e.g. 2, 3, 4, 5, 5. This category is only used in the regular game. The score is 30 points.

## Authors

GNOME Tali was written by Scott Heavner (sdh@po.cwru.edu) and Orest Zborowski. This manual was written by Scott D Heavner (sdh@po.cwru.edu) with extra material added by Callum McKenzie (callum@physics.otago.ac.nz). To report a bug or make a suggestion regarding this application or this manual, follow the directions in this document.

## Licence

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public Licence as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the Licence, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public Licence for more details.

A copy of the GNU General Public Licence is included as an appendix to the GNOME Users Guide. You may also obtain a copy of the GNU General Public Licence from the Free Software Foundation by visiting their Web site or by writing to

     Free Software Foundation, Inc. 59 Temple Place - Suite 330 Boston, MA02111-1307USA