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History of Solitaire Plus! for PCs
Message from Michael McCulloch, the owner of GamesForOne.com:

I previously had assisted Blake Stone and Gary Ritchie (around 1994) in the development of a NEXTSTEP-based Solitaire game at which time I produced most of the card artwork used in the game. The NEXTSTEP version proved popular among users, and it provided for a very flexible object-oriented approach that made development of new games quite easy and fast. With the arrival of C++Builder from Borland Corporation, I finally found a product for Windows development that could duplicate the class hierarchy and interactive design features of the NEXTSTEP version as well as reuse some portion of my code.

Using C++Builder, a PC version of the game was first released to the public for Windows 95 in May 1997. It quickly grew in popularity, exceeding even my highest expectations. Many features have been added since 1997 as detailed below.
 
Detailed Revision History
Version 2.4.3 - Released April 8, 2008
  • Bug Fix: Fixed error in statistics recording for Canfield when "Skip All Confirms" is checked.

Version 2.4.2 - Released February 22, 2008

  • New "Skip All Confirms" option to bypass all confirmation dialogs in the game.
  • Improved statistics charts display (anti-aliased and shaded graphics).
  • Bug Fix: "EAccessViolation" error dialog no longer appears on game restart after selecting a card size too large for the current screen.

Version 2.4.1 - Released April 4, 2007

Version 2.4 - Released February 19, 2007

  • Support for Windows Vista™. Installer still requires Administrator privileges, but the game works correctly for Standard user accounts without security warnings.
  • Support for Limited User Accounts in XP.
  • Statistics now tracked separately for each user login for Windows 2000/XP/Vista.
  • New grace in Queen of Italy whereby the reserve cards are freed for use in the tableau when the stock and wastepile are exhausted.
  • The registration dialog has been updated to correctly handle extended characters in the registration name (if you are an existing customer and experience a problem with your existing registration info, please contact us).
  • Card borders have been softened for a more realistic look in high-color cards.
  • Queen of Italy help file correction for the winnable game number reference.
  • Self-check code to discourage 3rd party tampering with executable for enhanced security.
  • Smart-dragging now always moves foundation base cards to a foundation as the first choice.
  • Bug fix: Smart-dragging issue with tableau cards fixed in Giza.
  • Bug fix: Redo speedbar button now functions in Double Klondike.
  • Bug fix: "Use Image Lists" option now functions without crashing the game (only recommended on older Win9x systems for troubleshooting slow drawing).

Version 2.3 - Released January 19, 2005

  • Improved shuffle algorithm to better randomize the deal of the cards.
    [NOTE: Deals in version 2.3 no longer match previous versions for the same deal number, with the exception of the first 32,000 deals in FreeCell which are unchanged.]
  • Autoplay option added to Spider by popular request.
  • Autoplay speed control added to Options dialog.
  • Overall Average Score of all played games added to Statistics dialog.
  • New Baker's Dozen tableau layout to fit smaller displays.
  • Various artwork changes including an updated program icon for XP.
  • The first one million deals in FreeCell now match the Microsoft FreeCell game provided with Windows XP.
  • Bug fix: Fixed more duplicate card problems in FlowerGarden when double-clicking in the Bouquet.
  • Bug fix: Fixed false match problem when Pyramid is empty.

Version 2.2 - Released June 20, 2003

  • Fix of memory leak problems with many video cards when using Windows XP. This release is recommended for all XP users.
  • Dragged cards are now opaque and include a drop shadow.
  • Fix of rare hang-up when dealing in Nestor.
  • Fix of problems when startup sound with [ ]'s in the filename is selected.

Version 2.13 - Released February 11, 2003

  • Bug fix: Fixed problem with duplicate cards sometimes being moved to foundation from Flower Garden's bouquet.
  • Can now pull cards from the foundations in Double Klondike (due to customer requests).
  • Card highlighting in Montana can now be enabled/disabled (via F6 key or Show Match menu item).
  • Enhanced compatibility with latest ATI and nVidia video card drivers.
  • Clarified the registration process in the help files and application interface.
Version 2.12 - Released June 2, 2002
  • Bug fix: Fixed issue with Select Game... dialog counting wins twice.
  • Bug fix: Baker's Game now properly records statistics for the small card size.
  • Bug fix: Pyramid Golf now correctly displays non-animated deals.
  • Minor layout issues corrected for Golf and Scorpion II with the small card size.
Version 2.11 - Released March 12, 2002
  • Fixed a problem with Montana scoring that was introduced in version 2.1 (many apologies to our customers). No CDs were shipped with version 2.1.
Version 2.1 - Released March 10, 2002
  • Four new games: Baker's Dozen, Flower Garden, Giza, and Simple Simon (for 30 total games in 2.1).
  • Bouncing card animation no longer blocks "Congratulations" dialog on win.
  • Fixed problems with double-clicking Kings in Pyramid.
Version 2.0 - Released February 20, 2002
  • Six new games: Aces Up, Baker's Game, Eight Off, Nestor, Pyramid Golf, and Scorpion II (for 26 total games in 2.0).
  • Redo function in all games.
  • Control of the tableau card spacing.
  • New 3D pips option for the large card size.
  • "Bouncing card" animation on wins with optional "springy" sounds.
  • Support for a custom startup sound as specified by the user.
  • Last game type in play is optionally restored when the application is started.
  • Complete rewrite of and improvements in Pyramid.
  • New card highlighting feature in Montana to encourage more thoughtful game play.
  • Drawing speed improvements for Windows 2000/XP with complete support of XP themes.
Version 1.41 - Released November 7, 2001
  • Bug fix: A rare bug where incorrect cards were played to the foundation by the "smart dragging" or autoplay features is now corrected.
  • Bug fix: Inactive "New Game", "Restart", and "Autoplay" items in the Indian Patience toolbar are now active.
  • Minor help file edits.
  • New runtime compression tool selected for better compatibility with XP and to reduce size of distribution.
Version 1.4 - Released March 4, 2001
  • Four new games: Australian Patience, Double Scorpion, Double Yukon, and La Belle Lucie.
  • Easy/Medium/Challenging play options for Spider (similar to the Windows ME™ game).
  • Improved scoring rules for Spider and Scorpion (Aces no longer considered a standalone sequence and the bottom card of an in-suit build is not scored unless it is a King).
  • Optional speed/status bar at the bottom of each game window.
  • Shift key plus left mouse click to show any face-up, covered card.
  • Automatic compression of layout to keep all cards visible.
  • Tracking of highest non-winning score for all games.
  • Separate tracking of statistics for some variations of a game (such as one or three card draw in Klondike).
  • Optional HTML help in addition to the standard WinHelp.
  • Fix of a resource leak that caused crashes and "parameter incorrect" or "canvas does not allow drawing" errors on some computers.
Version 1.3 - Released January 21, 2001
  • Four new games: Canfield, Russian Solitaire, Scorpion, and Yukon.
  • Added value labels for foundation piles.
  • Improved discard pile action in Klondike games.
  • Fixed stalled autoplay bug with discard pile in Klondike games.
  • Fixed bug allowing match of rightmost wastepile with itself in Pyramid.
Version 1.2 - Released October 9, 2000
  • New card artwork options, including high-color small cards and aged appearance.
  • New game selection by number from 2 billion possible deals.
  • Individual control of sounds.
  • New optional sounds for "card up" and "card down" actions.
  • Can optionally enter keyboard shortcuts without the Ctrl key.
  • Image preview now available in card back and game background selection dialogs.
  • 100 new game backgrounds included courtesy of Helen Triantafillou.
  • New scoring rules in Spider (counts ordered cards in tableau).
  • Fixed bug in Spider where face down cards could be dragged.
  • PCX image support for card backs and game backgrounds has been removed.
  • Fixed problem with help file display when using "high-contrast" appearance preferences.
Version 1.1 - Released February 14, 2000
  • Improved card artwork using custom generated font for card pips.
  • Drawing speed improvements, especially for stock piles.
  • Support for 16 and 256 color displays.
  • Vegas scoring option for Klondike.
  • "Tips" panel on game start.
Version 1.03 - Released February 22, 1999
  • Two more games for a total of 12.
  • Smart-dragging feature that requires that cards only be nudged to move to a target pile.
  • Arbitrary two-color gradients and tiled bitmap background support.
  • Built-in sounds.
  • Much improved on-line help.
  • Scoring and single-user statistics.

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