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Spar Docs Installation Guide

The program is written Java 5 and thus should run on any platform that has javainstalled excluding mobile devices. This comes pre installed with most OperatingSystems such as Mac OSX. Windows, Linux and Solaris users who do not have javainstalled can get the latest run time environment from the sun web site. As atthe time of writing the latest version is 6.03. Which is more than adequate forall the versions of spar applications. http://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

Mac users should check the apple update web site if the version of Java is pre 5.

System Requirements

Category Minimum Recommended

Memory: 256MB 1.5GB +

PPC: 800MHz 1.5GHz +

Intel: 2.0GHz 3.0GHz +

Amd: 1.5GHz Athlon (2.1GHz) +

Space: 10MB 100MB +

InternetConnection

1MB/s 3MB/S+

set Up

1. Download the program from the web site. For Mac osx users, mount thespar.dmg file and drag the spar app into your Applications folder. You must belogged in as an administrator or have ones password.

2. For windows users, download the game and put it anywhere on the C drive.Run the installer to install the application. Vista and Windows 7 users mightrequire an administrator's permission to complete this.

3. Double click the game icon to start.

4. Remember to set your firewall to allow connection to the intranet.

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Spar Docs User Interface

When you first get into the game you should see an interface like the one below.Actual cards may vary. This is the main user interface for the game and has beendivided into sections below.

Figure 1.0 Main UserInterface

Info Panel

The left side of the screen is known as the info panel and has been expandedbelow. It displays information about the current game. All the Labels have tool

tips.

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Displays The current amount in the pot.

Displays The amount your opponent hasin the pot.

This includes their username and theflag of their location as well.

Display the current Round Leader'suserName

Display the next player to make amove's userName

Display the amount you have in the pot.This includes your username and theflag of your location.

Displays your Bank Balance.

Figure 2.0 Info Panel

Opponent's Panel

The top half of the screen is known as the opponents panel. this has theopponents cards displayed face down and each time he plays a card it is movedto the far right of the screen. Above this is the system clock which returns thecurrent time of your system.

Figure 3.0 OpponentsPanel

User Panel

The bottom part of the screen is called the user panel. This is where you willmainly interact with the game. The cards faced up are yours and when you movethe mouse over them should have the background highlighted to yellow, anddisplay the number of the card. A card is moved to the far right of the screenonce its played.


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Figure 4.0 Users Hand

The buttons underneath your cards from right to left indicate the actions youcan take.

Place a BetHintUnder TenUnder Card

These are shortcuts to going through the main menu. These are explored later onin the File Menu . You can get more information by moving the cursor over thembut they should be self-explanatory.

Figure 5.0 Users Buttons Panel

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Spar Docs Quick Start Guide

This section describes how to quickly start the game. once you run theapplication you will be prompted to log in to the game server. You will beprompted to register if required.

Figure 1.0 Log In Box

Waiting Room

Once you are successfully logged into the server you will be welcomed to thewaiting room where you can have a public conversation with every one. Alsominimal information about you will be displayed such as your bank amount andthe current number of players logged in.

Figure 2.0 WelcomeRoom

Game

Once an opponent is found a new game will be started as displayed below. Thebottom part is your area and the top part that of the opponents. The left sidedisplays information about the current game.

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Figure 3.0 Started Game

continue to play Game

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Spar Docs Play Game

This section describes how to play the game. By default your cards will bedisplayed as described in About . Moving the mouse over the cards should havetheir backgrounds highlighted to yellow, and the cards numbered from 1 to 5.

Figure 1.0 Highlighted card

Playing A Card

To play a card just double click it and it will move to the lower right corner of the display and the hands are updated to reflect this.

Figure 1.1 Played card

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Spar Docs Rules

1. A suit must be followed if requested by the round leader. Thiscould be ranked higher or lower at the player's discretion.

2.

During the course of the game, if a player is found to have a suit,which was requested by the round leader and was not played, theplayer looses the round and the round ends. This is known as theoffside rule.

3. A player can play any card if they do not have the requested suit.

4. To beat a card, it has to be the same suit and have a higher rankthan the played card.

5.

A player can trade all five cards for another set, if the highest-ranking card of all his or her cards is nine provided there are morecards in the deck. This is known as the under ten rule and mustoccur before the first round o f play.

6.

A player can request to see the last card in the deck in thepenultimate round, provided there are more cards in the deck.This can only occur once in a game by one player only. This isknown as the under card rule. It is based on the assumption thatsimilar cards stick together when shuffled.

7.The looser of the game or the coin toss has the option to cut thedeck before it's dealt out after it has been shuffled. This is knownas the cut rule.

8. A player cannot have more than five cards at any given time in thegame.

9.During the game if a dealer or the round leader's card is notmatched they proceed to start the next round.

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Spar Docs User Interface Menu Spar

Menu Bar

Spar Menu

The Spar menu has the following sub menu items the about, which displays aboutthis game. The preference sub menu that displays the preference window andthe quit menu item which quits the game.

About

Displays an about of the game. click on ok to close the window. It shows thecurrent version of java your system is running.

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Spar Docs User Interface Menu File

Menu Bar

File Menu

The file menu item has the following sub menu items, the new game which startsa new game. the under Ten item, used to swap a hand. Under card used todisplay the last card in the deck.

New Game

The new game will discard the current ongoing game and start a new one basedon the default settings. If the round counter is greater than one that is you andyour opponent have played a card, you will be prompted if you want to leave,confirm to return to the waiting room. decline to continue playing the currentgame.

Under Ten

This allows you the user to trade in your cards for another set if it compiles with

the under ten rule. It can only be used once per hand and it has to be usedbefore the first round of play. If there are more cards in the deck then yourhands will be replaced by another set. Otherwise a message box will inform you

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if there are no more cards in the deck or if you cannot use the feature becauseits not the first round of play or it has already been used.

Under Card

The under card is used to displays the last card in the deck. The idea being thatwhen cards are shuffled similar suits stick together, thus the opponents last cardis of the same suit. This can only be used once in the game and only in thepenultimate round of play. If its clicked at any other time besides this, an errormessage is displayed to the user to inform him that its not the pen ultimateround. Also for situations where there are no more cards in the deck the errormessage displays the appropriate message. The card is then displayed betweenthe opponents played card and the users played cards.

Place a Bet

To place a bet, click on the place a bet button. This brings up a pop up box toinput an amount. The amount must be greater than the minimum bet set for thegame. Which at default is 50. It must also be within your budget and mustmatch your opponents bet. Else it will be rejected. Also you cannot put inanything besides the amount, for example the pound sign, else it will berejected. Once a bet is placed it cannot be taken back and thus if you are unsureyou can just cancel it. Once the bet is accepted your bet and bank labels will beupdated to reflect the changes and the button on the user display will be grayedout until the next hand. In situations where the auto match bet is checked in thegame preference, the button will be grayed out for the whole time this featureis on, and enabled when the inverse occurs.

Hint

The hint suggests a card to play based on the current situation. For example itwill cycle through your hand and if you are not the round leader suggest the firstcard you have which is of the same suit as the opponent, to play. In a situationwhere you are the round leader, or you do not have a suit to match that of theopponent you are given the hint of playing any card you want.

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Spar Docs User Interface Menu View

Menu Bar

View Menu

The View menu has the Waiting room, Chat room and the game log whichdisplays how u have been playing the game so far. These are further elaboratedbelow.

Waiting Room

This is where you are brought once you log into the game or in between games.it displays your bank amount and the currently logged in players as well. Theblack bottom half is a public chat room where everyone can send messages to .once you join a game. this window will be pushed to the background to displaythe main game. This also happens when you or an opponent quits a game.

Game Log

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The game log opens a new display box, which displays information about thecurrent game, for the hands played at each turn and who the round leader is. Italso shows who won the particular game if the game is over. This is updated foreach hand that is played. Click ok when you have finished to close the displaybox.

Chat Window

This windows allows you and your opponent to send message to each other.messages exchanged in this medium are not secure and please be courteoustowards your opponent.

Minimize & Full Screen

The view menu item contains the following items maximize and minimize, bydefault the game is in minimum mode, this is the actual size of the game andpurposely chosen to allow for displays on smaller screens such as 600 * 800 sizes.When the maximum button is click the game fills up the whole screen. That is itruns in full screen mode and the maximum item grayed out. Once you click theminimize button it is them resized back to the original size and the maximumsize item enabled again. This can also be used when the game is resized in anyway to bring it back to its normal size. For Mac osx users you can still use apple +H to hide the game and bring it back to front.


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Spar Docs User Interface Menu Help

Help Menu

The help menu has the following items, display help which displays help in usingthe game, check for updates which connects to the internet and checks forupdates of the game and online help which takes you to the online help website.

Spar Help

This opens up a mini browser with two panels. The left side pane contains thelinks of the topics to seek help on and the right pane displays the helpinformation to the user. To exit the help display, click on the quit button or closethe window.

Check For Updates

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That will check the server for an updated version of the spar client that you areusing. if you have the latest version then the message box above will bedisplayed .As at the time of writing the latest version was 1.3.

Visit Web site

This opens up your default browser and tries to connect to the online help website. On a successful connection the page will be opened in your browser. Incases where you do not have an Internet connection or its down including theserver being down as well, an appropriate error message will be displayed to the

user.

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Spar Docs Trouble Shooting

Quick links

Logged OutAccount LockedAlready Logged InNeeds ActivationNeed To RegisterLogin Box FreezesLost Internet ConnectionOut Of FundsAll Else Fails

Logged Out

You may have reached the maximum log in attempts . close the application andtry again after 20 minutes. if problem still persists drop as an email.

Account Locked

you have entered the wrong password too many times. You might also be out of funds or have had a complaint against your user name. either way contact us .

Already Logged In

You must still be logged in from another location such as via the website. if youare sure you are not, send as an email urgently if you think your account has

been compromised.

Needs Activation

You need to activate your account. check you emails and use the link in theemail to activate the account.

Need To Register

You need to register to use version 1.3

LogIN Box Freezes

There was a problem connecting to the server. Close the application and startagain. If problem persists for more than three times without an error messagecontact us.

Lost Internet Connection

If you are in the middle of the game, the state will be saved giving you thirtyseconds to try and reconnect . if not the game will just end and you will berequired to log in again.

Out Of Funds

Send an email to [email protected] with the subject set as "out of funds" for an account reset ..

If All Else Fails

If your problem is still not solved please send as an email detailing what you

were doing before it happened and how it happened. [email protected]

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Spar Docs Keyboard Shortcuts

Number Function Mac Osx Other

1 New Game + N Ctrl + N

2 Quit Game + Q Ctrl + Q

3 Chat + R Ctrl + R

4 Under Ten + J Ctrl + J

5 Under Card+ U

Ctrl + U

6 Game Log + L Ctrl + L

7 Maximize + F Ctrl + F

8 Minimnize + M Ctrl + M

9 View Hint + Y Ctrl + Y

10 Waiting Room + W Ctrl + W

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