Help for Solitaire Plus! for MacOS X

Question 1: Why do the same game numbers repeat?	If you are running the DEMO version of the game, then you are limited to the first 10 deals for each solitaire variation. Purchasing the game entitles you to download a "registered" version of the game without the limitation.

Question 2: How do I find a hint for the next available move(s)?	GamesForOne has received various requests from customers for such a feature. However, we strongly believe that providing a hints function in solitaire games can too easily ruin the fun and challenge of playing. Inevitably, one falls back on the feature and allows the computer to play the game. We have played other games (of all types) that have such a feature and generally become bored very quickly with the game because it is too easy to allow the computer to do the thinking. That said, we have considered implementing a "no moves remaining indicator" rather than pointing out specific moves. However, even doing that is rather tricky in a game like Forty Thieves, for example, where it may be possible to bounce a card between two or three empty tableau piles indefinitely. Those are valid moves but don't result in any progress toward solving the game. We are not sure trying to make such a feature intelligent to all such situations is a good use of our resources and currently have other features that are a higher priority.

Question 3: The cards are frozen and won't move. What do I do?	Try restarting your Mac. The condition should clear. We are not aware of any programming bugs in our game that should trigger this behavior, but we have observed it here on rare occasions most often associated with running the demo and registered versions at the same time. That is why we recommend quitting and deleting the demo version before installing and playing the registered copy of our game.

Question 4: How do I delete the demo? OS X won't let me do so.	If you receive a warning that the demo cannot be deleted or is "in use", it is because it is currently running in the background on your Mac. Closing the game windows does not exit our game. We purposely designed it this way so that you can switch solitaire variations without having to restart the entire application. To quit the Solitaire Plus Demo, use one of three methods: Use the Quit Solitaire Plus! Demo menu item when the Solitaire Plus! Demo menu strip is active at the top of the screen. Depress and hold the Ctrl key and then click on the Solitaire Plus! Demo icon in your Dock. Select the Quit menu item from the list in the popup menu. Use the Force Quit feature of the Finder. Once the demo is exited, then you should be able to drag it to the Trash and empty the Trash to permanently delete it. You may also need to delete the icon from your Dock. Then proceed to downloading the registered version if you have made a purchase. Also, note that the Dock gives you a visual cue of what applications are presently running by the little caret that appears below the icon as shown at right. If you see the Solitaire Plus! Demo icon in your Dock (clearly marked with the word DEMO) with the caret, then OS X will not allow you to delete it until you exit the game using one of the methods described above.

Question 5: Why do the game piles drift to the edge of the game window when resizing?	Versions of MacOS X prior to Jaguar (10.2) have a resizing bug in the system libraries. A workaround is to size the game window before beginning play, then close and reopen the game window to properly draw the card piles. Upgrading to OS X 10.2 or later will fix this issue.

Question 6: Why does clicking on the stock to deal the next card seem slow?	This is a result of your System Preference for the double-click speed for your mouse. If you do not wish OS X to wait so long to determine if you double-click, then set the double-click speed in System Preferences under the Mouse settings to the fastest setting. Solitaire Plus also allows you to press the space bar as a deal from stock shortcut, and the shortcut is not subject to any delays.

Question 7: Why does pressing the space bar always deal a New Game?	This is a result of your System Preference for keyboard shortcuts. In the System Preferences panel for your Mac, under the Keyboard & Mouse settings and the Keyboard Shortcuts tab, ensure that "All Controls" is not selected for full keyboard access. As indicated in the dialog you can also toggle this setting outside of the System Preferences with Ctrl+F7 at any time. However, you may be required to close and reopen a Solitaire Plus game window in order the pick up the preference change. The correct preference setting to allow the space bar shortcut to work for the stock is indicated by the red circle in the above graphic.

Question 8: Can I run Solitaire Plus on pre-OS X versions of MacOS?	No. Solitaire Plus is a Cocoa app and will not run on pre-OS X Macs. It will not run on Carbon-enabled MacOS 9.

Question 9: Why won't the downloaded game run on my system? I double-click it and nothing happens.	This is usually the fault of StuffIt version 8.0. There is a known bug with unpacking applications that is fixed in 8.0.1 or later. See the following page for a free upgrade for Deluxe version owners: http://www.stuffit.com/mac/deluxe/updates.html Upgrade StuffIt and try unpacking again with the .sit file you've already downloaded. It should be present on your Desktop -- simply double-click it to unpack again after the upgrade. If you have the Standard version 8.0, upgrade for free from this link instead: http://www.stuffit.com/mac/standard/updates.html NOTE: We no longer distribute our game in StuffIt format unless specifically requested by a customer. Our current preference is Internet-enabled disk images which have the .dmg file extension. If you have downloaded a .dmg file and have a problem, the above information does not apply. Please contact us regarding your problem.