Krypton Instructions
INTRODUCTION
Krypton is based on the "Mastermind" pegboard game. The aim is to discover the hidden code which consists of a sequence of coloured shapes. There are ten levels from the very easy (16 possible codes) to the extremely difficult (96 trillion codes). There is also a "No Repeats" option which makes the game slightly easier and a "Demo" mode where the computer tries to deduce the code.
INSTALLING KRYPTON
Krypton requires the KRYPTON.TTF font and the VBRUN300.DLL dynamic link library. Install the font using the Control Panel and copy the DLL to your WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder.
THE KRYPTON PLAYING AREA
The playing area has five parts. At the top left is the palette of coloured shapes. Right of centre is the board with numbered rows. To the right of the board is the scoring area and above the board is the hidden code. Below the palette is the information area.
CHANGING PLAYING LEVEL
By default, Krypton 1.6 starts up at playing level 6. Use the Level menu to change level. Changing the level begins a new game with a new code. The No Repeats option generates a code in which only one copy of each colour-shape combination can occur. The level and two numbers are shown in the information area below the palette. The first number is the number of possible code combinations. The second number is a measure of the difficulty of the level - an approximation of the expected number of guesses necessary to discover a code.
HOW TO PLAY
Drag and drop the shapes from the palette onto the board. You can also drag the shapes around the board or off the board to remove them. To duplicate a shape on the board, hold the Ctrl key down when you start dragging. When you have entered a guess onto the board, double-click on the scoring area and the guess will be scored. If you guess the code correctly, the code will be uncovered. To start a new game, either double-click on the uncovered code or choose New from the Game menu. If you want to see the code before you've guessed it correctly, double-click on the hidden code area.
SCORING
The score for a guess consists of three numbers:
|
BLACK |
the number of objects that are in the right place |
|
WHITE |
the number of objects that are in the wrong place |
|
GREY |
the number of objects that are either the right shape or the right colour (but not both) in the right place |
Here's a code and a guess:
The score for the guess is as follows:
|
1 BLACK |
for the Black Square in the right place |
|
1 WHITE |
for the Green Circle in the wrong place |
|
2 GREYS |
1 for the Green Circle being the same shape as the White Circle |
Note the following about the scoring:
HINTS
If a guess scores a Black zero and a White zero, the shapes used are covered up in the palette because they can't be in the code. You can cover up and uncover shapes in the palette yourself by clicking with the right mouse button on the shape - you might want to do this if you've deduced that a certain object can't occur in the code. You can cover up all the shapes that occur in a guess by double-clicking on the guess number.
If you click in one of the squares on the board for the current guess, that square will be highlighted and the background behind any shapes in the palette that can't occur in that square will be darkened. Double-click on the playing area background to un-highlight all the squares for the current guess.
DEMO MODE
Choose Demo from the Game menu to see your computer struggling to deduce the code. If the computer can't solve the code, it leaves the last row on the board empty for you to fill using your superior logic! The computer only makes use of the simplest logic so Demo mode is only really effective on the lowest levels.
