# The &kmessedwords; Handbook

Primoz
Anzur

    zerokode@gmx.net

2001
KDE Edutainment team
&FDLNotice;
2004-12-15
2.3

&kmessedwords; is the simple mind-training word game

KDE
kdeedu
KMessedWords
mess
words

## Introduction

&kmessedwords; is a game based on the word/letter puzzles that I have played as a child. It is a very simple constructed game, with 3 difficulty levels of play, and each level deserves its value. It is fully customizable and allows you to write your own words and set your own look and feel of the game. It is aimed for children aged 10+, because of the difficulty, but everyone is welcome to try. A word is picked in random, and displayed out in the messed order, with difficulty dependant on the chosen level. You have an unlimited number of attempts, and the scores are kept.

## Using &kmessedwords;

Here's a screenshot of &kmessedwords;
&kmessedwords; screenshot

### General usage

A word is displayed with the letters in random order... You guess the entire word at once. If you missed or gwon, the game will tell you.

Words are case sensitive, so, that michelle is not Michelle

Each time you start the game, the default level is easy.

There are 3 levels: easy, medium and hard.

All levels are completely customizable, you can set the level of difficulty by yourself. As the difficulty level of the game is dependant on the length of the word, the defaults are:

Easy

  4 letters, everyday words

Medium

  Special 4 letters words, and longer everyday words, up to 7 letters.

Hard

  Words at least 6 letters long, both everyday words and special words.

After a word is guessed, you are prompted for another word and you can either use the Yes or No.

## Game Reference

Here's a screenshot of &kmessedwords;
&kmessedwords; screenshot

### Quick Start to &kmessedwords;

The button Bye!, or the key combination &Alt;F4, can exit the game at any time.

The Help button will show you this window, containing all of the available help.

Configure button hides 2 options inside: Configuration will popup the main configuration screen to setup &kmessedwords;, and the Dictionary, where you will be able to write / erase the words.

Scores will show you the 10 top scores.

On pushing the button Messup, you will start the game.

The menu labelled Level will set the level that you are playing.

## Configuring &kmessedwords;

Configuration window of &kmessedwords;
&kmessedwords; configuration window

### Changing themes

&kmessedwords; allows you to easily customize how it looks. You can select a theme by chosing Settings Configure KmessedWords... and then Interface.

Here you can choose a theme from the list, and also choose if it will be applied to the Button images, just the Background image or both.

By default thereare two themes named default and bubbly. We hope there will eventually be many more themes available for download.

### Changing player name

In the configuration window you just select the tab named User, change your name and press OK.

## Setting the words dictionary

Wordlist editor of &kmessedwords;
&kmessedwords; dictionary window

### Changing words in &kmessedwords;

To get to the word-editor, you need to choose Configure Dictionary. For each level there is one list of words, that means there is one for easy, one for medium and one for hard. The word editor is just a plain text editor and you can type new words in one of the list. The separator is a line divider, or press Enter.

The editor will refuse to read blank lines or lines with equal letters and characters. To save the words, just press OK or Save words. You do not need to be a superuser for the program to change the words, because the dictionary files are saved into the user's home.

## Previewing scores

&kmessedwords; scores window &kmessedwords; scores window

### Checking scores in &kmessedwords;

To check scores, all you have to do is to choose in File Show Highscores and the above dialog will be displayed.

## Command Reference

### The main &kmessedwords; window

#### The File Menu

&Ctrl;N File Play

  Get a new messed word

&Ctrl;H File Show Highscores...

  Display the scores window

&Ctrl;Q File Quit

  Quits &kmessedwords;

#### The Level Menu

Level Easy

  Choose the list of easy words to guess

Level Medium

  Choose the list of medium words to guess

Level Hard

  Choose the list of difficult words to guess

#### The Settings Menu

Settings Dictionary

  Open the words editor

Settings Show Statusbar

  Toggle the statusbar

Settings Configure Shortcuts...

  Configure the keyboard keys you use to access the different actions.

Settings Configure Toolbars...

  Configure the items you want to put in the toolbar

Settings Configure &kmessedwords;...

  Display the &kmessedwords; settings dialog

#### The Help Menu

&help.menu.documentation;

## Developer's Guide to &kmessedwords;

### &kmessedwords; &GUI; - The Graphical User Interface

The &kmessedwords;' core is already built in full, for the reading/storing and messing up the words. Now my goal is to make the most easy to use, good looking graphical front-end for that. I am working on that as much as I can, but everything changes in non-stop action with my spare time. I still have some ideas, but I would really like any other opinions, too.

## Questions and Answers

&reporting.bugs; &updating.documentation;

I have an error message telling me the pictures cannot be found.

If you installed the program from the RPM, then I should be the one, that is supposed to fix that rpm file. But if you compiled the application on your own, note, that there is still something with the default prefix. The default prefix will install the app into the `/usr/local/`, so all you have to do is to change the prefix with ``--prefix=path_to_your_kde_dir``

## Credits and License

&kmessedwords;:

Creator and designer:

- Primoz Anzur zerokode@gmx.net

Current maintainer: Reuben Sutton reuben@microsucks.co.uk

Contributors:

- Coding help (engine creation): Waldo Bastian bastian@kde.org

- Coding help (includemoc and all that stuff...): Daniel Molkentin molkentin@kde.org

- Coding help (helped making the &kmessedwords; working properly under KDE2 and KDE3): Haavard Froeiland haavardf@operamail.com

- Port to KConfig XT, coding help: Anne-Marie Mahfouf annma@kde.org

Documentation copyright 2001 Primoz Anzur and &kde; Edutainment team zerokode@gmx.net

2004 Anne-Marie Mahfouf annma@kde.org

&underFDL; &underGPL;

## Installation

### How to obtain &kmessedwords;

&install.intro.documentation;

### Requirements

In order to successfully use &kmessedwords;, you need &kde; 3 and &Qt; 3 on your system.

&kmessedwords; can be found on The &kmessedwords; home page.

### Compilation and installation

&install.compile.documentation;

&documentation.index;