<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//KDE//DTD DocBook XML V4.1.2-Based Variant V1.1//EN" "dtd/kdex.dtd" [
  <!ENTITY kappname "&megami;">
  <!ENTITY package "kdegames">
  <!ENTITY % addindex "IGNORE">
  <!ENTITY % English "INCLUDE"><!-- change language only here -->
  
  
]>
<!-- The language must NOT be changed here. -->

<book lang="&language;">


<bookinfo>
<title>The &megami; Handbook</title>

<authorgroup>
  
<author>
<firstname>Philip</firstname>
<surname>Rodrigues</surname>
<affiliation>
<address><email>phil.rod@ntlworld.com</email></address>
</affiliation>
</author>

<!-- TRANS:ROLES_OF_TRANSLATORS -->

</authorgroup>


<copyright>
<year>2002</year>

<holder>Philip Rodrigues</holder>
</copyright>

<legalnotice>&FDLNotice;</legalnotice>


<date>2002-06-06</date>
<releaseinfo>1.02.00</releaseinfo>


<abstract>
<para>
&megami; is a simple Blackjack game for &kde;. It lacks fancy blackjack rules
like insurance, double down, split or surrender, but it is still fun and
addictive.
</para>
</abstract>


<keywordset>
<keyword>KDE</keyword>
<keyword>kdegames</keyword>
<keyword>Megami</keyword>
<keyword>Blackjack</keyword>
<keyword>card games</keyword>
</keywordset>

</bookinfo>


<chapter id="introduction">
<title>Introduction</title>


<para>
&megami; is a Blackjack game for &kde;. Any queries about &megami; should be
sent to the author and maintainer, Neil Stevens
<email>neil@qualityassistant.com</email>. Any queries about this documentation
should be sent to the documentation maintainer, listed at the end of this
document.
</para>
</chapter>

<chapter id="how-to-play">
<title>How to Play &megami;</title>

<sect1 id="aim-of-the-game">
<title>Aim of the Game</title>
<para>
The aim of &megami; is to win as much money as possible by getting a hand with
a higher value than the dealer's, without the value of your hand exceeding 21.
</para>
<para>
To start a game of &megami;, select <guimenuitem>New</guimenuitem> from the
<guimenu>Game</guimenu> menu. You are presented with a dialog box in which you
can select how much cash each player starts with. Enter the amount you want,
and then click <guibutton>OK</guibutton>.
</para>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="playing-a-hand">
<title>Playing a Hand</title>

<para>
To start a round of &megami;, click on <guibutton>Deal</guibutton>, select an
amount in the spin box and click <guibutton>Bet</guibutton> to bet that
amount. That amount of money will be removed from your on-screen account, and
each player will be dealt two cards. The value of the cards in each person's
hand is shown below the cards.
</para>

<para>
The value of the cards is calculated by adding the values of the cards in the
hand, with the values of cards as follows:
</para>

<variablelist>

<varlistentry>
<term>Number cards (2, 3, ... 10)</term>
<listitem>
<para>Each number card has the same value as its number. So a 5 is worth 5 and
so on.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term>Picture cards (Jack, Queen, King)</term>
<listitem>
<para>Each picture card is worth 10.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term>Ace</term>
<listitem>
<para>The Ace is a special card, which can be worth either 1 or 11. Its value
is 11 unless this causes the total to become greater than 21, in which case its
value is 1. To clarify, let's take an example:</para>

<para>Consider a hand containing an Ace and a 5. If the Ace has value 11, the
total value of the hand is 16, which is not greater than 21, so 11 is used as
the value of the Ace. If another card is added, the value of the Ace can be
changed. So, suppose a 9 is added to this hand. If the Ace were counted as 11,
the total of the hand would be 25. Since this is greater than 21, the Ace is
counted as 1 instead, and the hand has total value 15.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="actions">
<title>Actions</title>

<para>When your hand has been dealt, you have two options:
 Take another card from the pack (<guibutton>Hit</guibutton>, or
<keycombo><keycap>H</keycap></keycombo> by default) or keep the current hand
(<guibutton>Stand</guibutton> or <keycombo><keycap>S</keycap>
</keycombo> by default). You can choose to <guibutton>Hit</guibutton> as many
times as you wish, until your total is 21 or greater. If your total exceeds 21,
your hand is <quote>Bust</quote>, and you cannot draw another card. When you do
not wish to draw any more cards, click <guibutton>Stand</guibutton>.</para>

<para>If the total of the two cards you are dealt is 21 (&ie;, you have an Ace
and a picture card), you have <quote>Megami</quote>, and you automatically
<guibutton>Stand</guibutton>. With <quote>Megami</quote>, you cannot lose your
money, but will either win or push (see below).</para>

<para>Once you have chosen to <guibutton>Stand</guibutton>, the other players
take their turns, and the dealer plays.</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="dealer-play">
<title>Dealer Play</title>

<para>The behaviour of the dealer follows a simple pattern: The dealer draws
cards until his total is greater than 16, unless he has a <quote>soft
17</quote>, that is, a total of 17 in which one of the cards is an Ace counting
as 11 (&eg; an Ace and a 6). If the card drawn when the dealer has a
<quote>soft 17</quote> takes the total above 21, the value of the Ace is
changed to 1, and the total of the hand recalculated.</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="winning-losing-and-pushing">
<title>Winning, Losing and Pushing</title>

<para>Once every player and the dealer have drawn all their cards, each player
can either win, lose or push.</para>

<para>You win in the following situations:

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Your total is higher than the
dealer's and you have not busted (gone over 21).</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>You have not busted and the
dealer has.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>You have <quote>Megami</quote> and the dealer does not.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

In these cases, you receive double the amount of your bet back, unless you have
<quote>Megami</quote>, in which case you get 2.5 times your money back. So, for example, if you have $100 and you
bet $50 and win, you receive $100 and finish with a total of $150, or if you
have <quote>Megami</quote>, you receive $125 and end up with $175.</para>

<para>You lose in the following situations:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>You have busted (even if the dealer has also busted).</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Neither you nor the dealer has busted, but you have a total
lower than the dealer.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>The dealer has <quote>Megami</quote> and you do not.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

In these cases, you receive no money.</para>

<para>You push when you have an equal total to the dealer. You receive your bet
back, and so end up with the amount you started with. You also push if both you
and the dealer have <quote>Megami</quote>.</para>
</sect1>

</chapter>

<chapter id="menu-reference">
<title>Menu Reference</title>

<sect1 id="game-menu">
<title>The <guimenu>Game</guimenu> Menu</title>

<variablelist>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>Game</guimenu><guimenuitem>New</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para>Starts a new game of &megami;, showing a dialog in which you
can select the amount of money with which each player starts the game.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice> <guimenu>Game</guimenu><guimenuitem>Deal</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term> 
<listitem><para>Deals cards to the players. You do not see
the cards until you bet.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>Game</guimenu><guimenuitem>Bet</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para>Bets the amount indicated in the money spinbox at the bottom of
the &megami; window.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>Game</guimenu><guimenuitem>Hit</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para>Draw another card from the pack.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>Game</guimenu><guimenuitem>Stand</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para>Choose <guimenuitem>Stand</guimenuitem> when you do not wish to
draw any more cards.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>Game</guimenu><guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Quits</action> &megami;.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

</variablelist>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="settings-menu">
<title>The <guimenu>Settings</guimenu> Menu.</title>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Configure Shortcuts...</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para>Displays the &megami; Shortcut Configuration
Dialog. Here you can change the keyboard shortcuts for almost every action in
&megami; in the usual &kde; way.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Configure Carddecks...</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para>Displays the standard &kde; Carddecks Configuration Dialog,
where you can change the appearance of the cards.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Configure Megami...</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para>Displays the &megami; Configuration Dialog, in which you can
change the background color and the text color used in the game area, your name
and the names of the computer players.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>


</variablelist>

</sect1>

</chapter>



<chapter id="credits">
<title>Credits and License</title>

<para>
&megami;
</para>
<para>
Program copyright 2002 Neil Stevens <email>neil@qualityassistant.com</email>
</para>
<para>
Documentation copyright 2002 Philip Rodrigues <email>phil.rod@ntlworld.com</email>
</para>

<!-- TRANS:CREDIT_FOR_TRANSLATORS -->

&underFDL;            

<!-- Application license -->
&underX11License;        <!-- X11 License  -->

</chapter>

<appendix id="installation">
<title>Installation</title>

<sect1 id="getting-kapp">
<title>How to obtain &megami;</title>


&install.intro.documentation;




<para>
You can find a list of changes at <ulink
url="http://www.freekde.org/neil/megami">http://www.freekde.org/neil/megami</ulink>.
</para>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="compilation">
<title>Compilation and Installation</title>

&install.compile.documentation;

</sect1>


</appendix>

&documentation.index;
</book>

<!--
Local Variables:
mode: sgml
sgml-minimize-attributes:nil
sgml-general-insert-case:lower
sgml-indent-step:0
sgml-indent-data:nil
End:

vim:tabstop=2:shiftwidth=2:expandtab 
-->

