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<!ENTITY legal SYSTEM "legal.xml">
<!ENTITY appversion "2.14">
<!ENTITY manrevision "2.9">
<!ENTITY date "January 2006">
<!ENTITY app "<application>Mines</application>">
<!ENTITY appname "Mines">
<!ENTITY version "2.14">
]>
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    <title><application>Mines</application> Manual</title>
    <abstract role="description">
      <para><application>Mines</application> is GNOME's take on the popular logic puzzle minesweeper, which includes avoiding mines while receiving clues for the location of the mines.</para>
    </abstract>
    <copyright lang="en">
      <year>2006</year>
      <holder>Callum McKenzie</holder>
<!--   Based on an earlier manual by   <holder>Tim Riehle</holder> -->
    </copyright>
<!-- translators: uncomment this:

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   <year>2002</year>
   <holder>ME-THE-TRANSLATOR (Latin translation)</holder>
  </copyright>

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      <publishername>GNOME Documentation Project</publishername> 
    </publisher> 

     <legalnotice id="legalnotice">
        <para>This document is dual-licenced. You may either distribute and/or modify it under the terms of the <ulink type="help" url="gnome-help:gpl">GNU General Public Licence</ulink>, under which the <link linkend="license">program is licenced</link>, or you can distribute it under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation Licence. A copy of this follows.</para>

	<para>Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation Licence (GFDL), Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. You can find a copy of the GFDL at this <ulink type="help" url="ghelp:fdl">link</ulink> or in the file COPYING-DOCS distributed with this manual.</para>
         <para>This manual is part of a collection of GNOME manuals distributed under the GFDL. If you want to distribute this manual separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the licence to the manual, as described in section 6 of the licence.</para>

	<para>Many of the names used by companies to distinguish their products and services are claimed as trademarks. Where those names appear in any GNOME documentation, and the members of the GNOME Documentation Project are made aware of those trademarks, then the names are in capital letters or initial capital letters.</para>

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    <authorgroup> 
      <author role="maintainer" lang="en"> 
	<firstname>Callum</firstname> 
	<surname>McKenzie</surname> 
	<affiliation> 
	  <address> <email>callum@spooky-possum.org</email> </address> 
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	<releaseinfo revision="2.26" role="review"/>
	
    <revhistory>
      <revision lang="en"> 
	<revnumber>Mines Manual V2.9</revnumber> 
	<date>January 2006</date> 
	<revdescription> 
	  <para role="author" lang="en">Callum McKenzie
	    <email>callum@spooky-possum.org</email>
	  </para>
	  <para role="publisher" lang="en">GNOME Documentation Project</para>
	</revdescription> 
      </revision> 
    </revhistory> 

    <releaseinfo>This manual describes version 2.14 of Mines.</releaseinfo>
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    <legalnotice> 
      <title>Feedback</title> 
      <para>To report a bug or make a suggestion regarding the <application>Mines</application> application or this manual, follow the directions in the <ulink url="http://bugzilla.gnome.org">GNOME bug reporting database</ulink>.</para>
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  </articleinfo>

  <indexterm zone="index" lang="en"> 
    <primary>GNOME Mines</primary> 
  </indexterm>
  
 <!-- ============= Document Body ============================= -->

 <!-- ============= Introduction ============================== -->
  <sect1 id="intro">
    <title>Introduction</title>

    <para><application>Mines</application> is a puzzle game where you locate mines floating in an ocean using only your brain and a little bit of luck.</para>

    <para>You start the game with a grid of covered squares and no idea what is in them. Clicking on a square reveals what is in it: either empty ocean or a mine. If you find a mine bad things happen and the game is over. If you uncover an empty square, you survive and get to try again. We do give you a bit of help; if you find an empty piece of ocean a number is printed there telling you how many mines are in the adjacent squares (or no number if there are no nearby mines). Once you find a few clear squares you can start to deduce which squares have mines in them and which don't. You win the game once you have revealed all the un-mined squares and marked all the mined squares.</para>

    <figure id="main-window">
      <title>The stages of the game: the start, playing, losing, and winning.</title>
    	    <mediaobject><imageobject>
    	      <imagedata fileref="figures/main-window.png" format="PNG"/>
	    </imageobject></mediaobject>
    </figure>

    <para>To mark a square as having a mine you right-click on it and a flag is placed there. If you click on a square with a number and you have placed precisely that number of flags on adjacent squares then the remaining squares are revealed. If you didn't mark the mines correctly then an explosion will occur and the game is over. Squares with no adjacent mines (i.e. blank squares) have their adjacent squares automatically cleared.</para>

    <figure id="status-bar">
      <title>Important information.</title>
    	    <mediaobject><imageobject>
	    <imagedata fileref="figures/statusbar.png" format="PNG"/>
	    </imageobject></mediaobject>
    </figure>

    <para>You are being timed. To be good at this game you have to work both quickly and correctly. Once you have found all the mines and revealed all the un-mined squares the clock is stopped. Your score is the time you took; the shorter the better.</para>

    <para>The time you have taken is displayed on the bottom-right of the window. Beside it, on the left, is a count of the number of mines you have cleared and the total number hidden on the board.</para>

    <figure id="faces">
      <title>The yellow face shows you how well you are going.</title>
    	    <mediaobject><imageobject>
	    <imagedata fileref="figures/faces.png" format="PNG"/>
	    </imageobject></mediaobject>
    </figure>

    <!-- Face graphics image. -->

  </sect1>


  <sect1 id="details">
    <title>The Details</title>

    <para>This section provides information on the controls and the important menu items. If you need help figuring where the mines are, see the <link linkend="strategy">strategy section</link>.</para>

    <sect2>
      <title>The Goal</title>

      <para>Starting from an ocean of squares with unknown contents you must mark all the squares with mines and reveal all the clear squares. You don't actually have to mark the squares with mines, but it is a lot easier if you do. Once you have cleared all the un-mined squares, any remaining mined squares will be marked for you.</para>

      <para>If you left-click on a mine, or auto-clear a square with a mine in it you lose. To help prevent accidents, you aren't allowed to auto-clear around a square unless the number of marked mines equals the number given in the square.</para>

    </sect2>

    <sect2>
      <title>Using the Mouse</title>
      
      <informaltable>
        <tgroup cols="2">
	<!-- FIXME: proper headers. -->
	  <thead>
	    <row>
	      <entry>Action</entry><entry>Result</entry>
	    </row>
	  </thead>
	  <tbody>
	    <row>
	      <entry>Left-click on an un-revealed square.</entry>
	      <entry>Reveals the contents of that square. For better or for worse.</entry>
	    </row>
	    <row>
	      <entry>Left-click in a revealed square.</entry>
	      <entry>Auto-clear. Reveals the unmarked squares around the clicked square, but only if enough squares have been marked to match the number in the square.</entry>
	    </row>
	    <row>
	      <entry>Right-click on an un-revealed square.</entry>
	      <entry>Marks the square as a mine. If it is already marked, the mark will be removed.</entry>
	    </row>
	  </tbody>
	</tgroup>
      </informaltable>

      <tip><para>If you are used to the more traditional mouse controls, don't worry, they still work.</para></tip>
    </sect2>

    <sect2>
      <title>Game Size and Difficulty</title>

      <para>By choosing <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Preferences</guimenuitem></menuchoice> from the menu you can change the size of the games. Larger sizes obviously take longer and require more concentration. Smaller games are more frantic. We provide <guilabel>Small</guilabel>, <guilabel>Medium</guilabel>, <guilabel>Large</guilabel> and <guilabel>Custom</guilabel> sizes.</para> 

    <figure id="preferences-img">
      <title>The preferences dialogue.</title>
    	    <mediaobject><imageobject>
	      <imagedata fileref="figures/preferences.png" format="PNG"/>
	    </imageobject></mediaobject>
    </figure>

      <para>On the right-hand side of the dialogue there are three parameters for controlling the custom size. Horizontal and Vertical are the width and height of the desired grid in squares. The number of mines is – obviously – the number of mines you need to find. If this number is set too high or too low then the game becomes very easy. The number of mines is limited to slightly less than the total number of squares.</para>

    </sect2>
    
    <sect2>
      <title>"I'm not sure" Flags</title>

      <informalfigure id="imnotsureflagsimg">
    	    <mediaobject><imageobject>
  	      <imagedata fileref="figures/imnotsureflagscheckbox.png" format="PNG"/>
	    </imageobject></mediaobject>
      </informalfigure>

      <para>There is a checkbox in the properties dialogue entitled <guilabel>Use "I'm not sure" flags</guilabel>. If you enable this then, when right-clicking on a square, it cycles between the normal flags used to mark the square as mined, a flag with a question mark on it and no flag. This new flag is to help you with your reasoning, to mark mines you think might be a mine but aren't sure about. These flags have no effect on the game; you still have to use the appropriate number of red marker flags to be able to clear around a numbered square.</para>

      <figure id="flags-img">
	<title>The sequence of flags when "I'm not sure" flags are enabled.</title>
    	    <mediaobject><imageobject>
  	      <imagedata fileref="figures/flags.png" format="PNG"/>
	    </imageobject></mediaobject>
      </figure>

    </sect2>

    <sect2>
      <title>Use "Too many flags" warning</title>

      <para>The other checkbox in the properties dialogue is entitled <guilabel>Use "Too many flags" warning</guilabel>. This feature will show you a warning when you have placed too many flags. This is disabled by default, as it provides so much of a hint that it could be considered "cheating".</para>

    </sect2>

    <sect2>
      <title>Hints</title>
    
      <para>If you get stuck – it is reasonably common to end up with two options that you can't logically resolve – then you can either guess, or ask for a hint. When you choose <guimenuitem>Hint</guimenuitem> from the <guimenu>Game</guimenu> menu a single square is revealed (plus surrounding squares if it is blank). The choice of square is random, but should be helpful. There is 10 second penalty added to your time whenever you use a hint.</para>

    </sect2>

    <sect2>
      <title>High Scores</title>

      <para>If your score is in the top ten you will be shown the list of top scores and have an opportunity to change the name recorded in the high score table. You can also review the scores later by choosing <guimenuitem>Scores</guimenuitem> from the <guimenu>Game</guimenu> menu. The drop-down menu at the top of the dialogue lets you look at the scores for other board sizes.</para>

    <figure id="high-score-img">
      <title>The high scores dialogue.</title>
    	    <mediaobject><imageobject>
	    <imagedata fileref="figures/highscores.png" format="PNG"/>
	    </imageobject></mediaobject>
    </figure>

      <tip>
        <para>The high score for the custom size is usually meaningless. Any other player can make the game size smaller and get a better time. If you only ever play one custom size then it will tell you how well you are doing. This is the only reason it is still recorded.</para>
      </tip>
    </sect2>

    <sect2>
      <title>Window Size</title>
      
      <para>Resizing the window makes the squares bigger or smaller to suit. If you want to make maximum use of the screen then there is a <guimenuitem>Fullscreen</guimenuitem> option under the <guimenu>Settings</guimenu> menu. You can also use the <keycap>F11</keycap> key to toggle full-screen mode.</para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2>
      <title>Pausing the Game</title>

      <para>The game can be paused automatically when you start using another window, or paused by choosing <guimenuitem>Pause</guimenuitem> from the <guimenu>Game</guimenu> menu. The playing area is blanked so you can't think ahead while the clock is stopped. To start playing again click on the <guibutton>Press to Resume</guibutton> button.</para>
    </sect2>

  </sect1>

 <!-- ================ Usage ================================ -->

  <sect1 id="strategy">
    <title>Strategy</title>

    <para>The first half of this section explains the very basics of deducing where mines are. If you are familiar with how to play the game skip down to the <link linkend="advanced">Advanced Situations</link> subsection.</para>

    <sect2>
      <title>The Basics</title>
      <para>These are a few basic situations which should be incredibly obvious, but if you're struggling with how to play the game, they should be useful. The first case is where you have an isolated covered square and most of the squares around it read 1. That covered square is a mine.</para>

      <figure>
        <title>The simplest case.</title>
    	    <mediaobject><imageobject>
            <imagedata format="PNG" fileref="figures/easy-hints-1.png"/>
	    </imageobject></mediaobject>
      </figure>

      <para>The next simplest case is where you have two covered squares adjacent to each other and both squares on one side are marked with a 2. If they have no other uncleared neighbours, then both squares are mines.</para>

      <figure>
        <title>The two mine case.</title>
    	    <mediaobject><imageobject>
            <imagedata format="PNG" fileref="figures/easy-hints-2.png"/>
	    </imageobject></mediaobject>
      </figure>

      <para>Finally, when there are three uncovered squares in a row and the clear square beside the middle one is a 3 (once again this square should have no other neighbours) then all three are mines.</para>

      <figure>
        <title>The three mine case.</title>
    	    <mediaobject><imageobject>
            <imagedata format="PNG" fileref="figures/easy-hints-3.png"/>
	    </imageobject></mediaobject>
      </figure>

      <para>These are the simplest cases. Other permutations on these simple situations are possible, for example the three squares in the previous example could be in an L shape.</para>
      <para>Simple analysis will solve most of the puzzle, but not all. Before going on to the next sections, where we give you more advanced hints, you should play for a bit and see what you can work out for yourself.</para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="advanced">
      <title>Advanced Situations</title>
      
      <para>These are some more complicated situations. They are a bit of a step up from the last section, so we hope you took our advice and played for a bit first.</para>

      <para>In the example below the mines are to the left of the ones. We figure this out by a process of elimination. If the square to the left of the 2 was a mine then the 1s would both have their maximum number of mines leaving no free square for the second mine adjacent to the 2 (since they would also be adjacent to the 1s). Having eliminated the middle square we are left with two squares we require for the 2 so they are both mined.</para>

      <figure>
        <title>A not-so-obvious pattern.</title>
    	    <mediaobject><imageobject>
            <imagedata format="PNG" fileref="figures/hard-hints-1.png"/>
	    </imageobject></mediaobject>
      </figure>

      <para>This situation can be disguised, for example consider the figure below. It is the same situation, but the extra mined square on the right has increased all the numbers by 1.</para>

      <figure>
        <title>The extra mine disguises a copy of the previous example.</title>
    	    <mediaobject><imageobject>
            <imagedata format="PNG" fileref="figures/hard-hints-2.png"/>
	    </imageobject></mediaobject>
      </figure>

<para>Now we're going to try a complicated example. It illustrates two points. The first is that even if you aren't sure which squares are mined, restricting the possibilities is helpful. The second is that knowing which squares aren't mined is nearly as good as knowing which are mined.</para>

<para>Assume that, in the figure below, we start off knowing that the top left square is mined and so the two squares marked 2 on the left only require one more mine. Next observe that the left-most 2 implies that one of the covered squares beneath it is mined, but we don't yet know which one. Since at least one of these squares is mined and they are both neighbours of the second 2 then we know that that 2 is also satisfied by one of these two squares (we still don't know which one). This means that the square beneath the 4 is clear because it is also a neighbour of the second 2 and not one of the two squares we identified previously. This one blank square now leaves the 4 with only four neighbours — all of which must be mines. Not only does it tell us which mines surround the 4, it now tells us which of the squares beside the 2 is mined!</para>

      <figure>
        <title>As tricky as it gets.</title>
    	    <mediaobject><imageobject>
            <imagedata format="PNG" fileref="figures/hard-hints-3.png"/>
	    </imageobject></mediaobject>
      </figure>


<para>This sort of situation is tricky. In all the other examples you can learn to look for patterns and avoid thinking hard. Situations like the one in the figure don't crop up easily or in easily recognisable places. Often it is easier to just ignore them and keep playing elsewhere in the hope that you can start clearing the squares from the other side.</para>

</sect2>
<sect2>

    <title>Tips</title>

    <para>Remember, the edge of the board is just the same as a large cleared area (but without the numbers). Often working at the edge of the board is the easiest way forward.</para>

    <para>Sometimes you end up in a situation where there is no way to deduce what the configuration is. In these cases you either have to guess or use the hint function (<menuchoice><guimenu>Game</guimenu><guimenuitem>Hint</guimenuitem></menuchoice>). Sometimes it isn't a 50/50 situation and instead of taking a hint you might like to gamble on the most likely outcome.</para>

    <para>One final hint: remember the counter on the bottom left of the window that tells you how many mines you have left? Often, near the end of the game, this number can help you figure out what possible places mines can be. How to do this is up to you to figure out.</para>

    </sect2>
 </sect1>

 <sect1 id="authors">
  <title>Authors</title>
  <para><application>GNOME Mines</application> was written by Pista (<email>szekeres@cyberspace.mht.bme.hu</email>). This manual was written by Callum McKenzie (<email>callum@spooky-possum.org</email>) with help from Vincent Povirk and based on an earlier manual by Tim Riehle (<email>tkriehle@citilink.com</email>). To report a bug or make a suggestion regarding this application or this manual, follow the directions in this <ulink url="ghelp:user-guide?feedback-bugs" type="help">document</ulink>.</para>
 </sect1>


 <!-- ============= Application License ============================= -->

 <sect1 id="license">
  <title>Licence</title>
  <para>This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the <citetitle><ulink type="help" url="gnome-help:gpl">GNU General Public Licence</ulink></citetitle> as published by the <ulink type="http" url="http://www.fsf.org">Free Software Foundation</ulink>; either version 2 of the Licence, or (at your option) any later version.</para>
  <para>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 <citetitle><ulink type="help" url="gnome-help:gpl">GNU General Public Licence</ulink></citetitle> for more details.</para>
  <para lang="en">
   A copy of the <citetitle><ulink type="help" url="gnome-help:gpl">GNU General Public License</ulink></citetitle> is
   included as an appendix to the <citetitle>GNOME Users
   Guide</citetitle>.  You may also obtain a copy of the
   <citetitle><ulink type="help" url="gnome-help:gpl">GNU General Public License</ulink></citetitle> from the Free
   Software Foundation by visiting <ulink type="http" url="http://www.fsf.org">their Web site</ulink> or by writing to
   <address lang="en">
    Free Software Foundation, Inc.
    <street>59 Temple Place</street> - Suite 330
    <city>Boston</city>, <state>MA</state> <postcode>02111-1307</postcode>
    <country>USA</country>
   </address>
  </para>
 </sect1>
</article>
