Wheel Of Nudity!


Starting Wheel of Nudity!...
Just double click on the Wheel.exe.
You can create a shortcut to Wheel.exe and put it in your Start Menu if you don't care who might run it.
The first screen to come up will be the Venom Productions title screen. Click on the screen to move on, or it
will disappear after a few seconds. 
The next screen is the credits screen with a big plug for me. This screen will also disappear after a few
seconds, or when you click on it.
The next screen is the Wheel of Nudity! desktop screen. The screen contains three buttons, Start Game,
Join Game, and Resume Game. 
To start a new game, click on Start Game. To join a game as a remote player, click on Join Game. To resume
a saved game, click on Resume Game. 

Start Game...
When you  click on Start Game, you will see a dialog box with three columns representing the three Wheel of
Nudity! contestant podiums: red on the left, yellow in the middle, and blue on the right. A dark dot in a circle
indicates the type of player at each podium: local, remote, computer or none. You can choose the podium
where you will stand, and whether you will play against local human, remote human, or computer opponents.
You can also choose to play alone.
To change the status of a player, simply click on the circle where you would like the dark dot to appear.
In this manner you can select the number and type of players for your Wheel of  Nudity! game.
A game may have 0-3 human players.
You must have a separate serial port or modem for each remote player.
A human contestant is a contestant playing on the host computer. A remote contestant is one at a second
computer connected to the host machine either by modem or null serial cable. A remote player plays the
game at his or her own machine. (Each remote player must have his or her own copy of Wheel of Nudity!).
A computer contestant is controlled by the computer.
When you are satisfied with the contestant selection dialog box, click on OK.
Starting with local players, each human player will be asked to enter his or her contestant information.
Use the mouse or the tab key to switch between fields.
If you would like to use a contestant returning from a previous game, click on the "Returning Contestant"
button. Then select your returning contestant with the arrow keys.
For new contestants, enter your name, hometown, and occupation using the tab key to move between fields.
If you dont wish to enter this information, it is not required to play the game.
Next click on the arrows under the player portrait to your right to select a player portrait to represent you in
the game.
Press Enter to lock in your choices.
After all local players have entered their information, you may select the difficulty level for any computer
players.
The choices are novice, intermediate, or expert. A novice computer player is less skilled at the game, while
an expert player will be a formidable opponent.
If there are multiple computer players in a game, they can have different skill levels.
To change the level of your computer opponent, simply click on the level you prefer.
After local and computer players have been set up, remote players will be connected.
A remote player can be connected by direct serial port connection, (a null cable run directly from one
computer to the other) or by modem. A box will present this choice. If a direct connection is chosen, you
must enter the baud rate and com port desired. If it is a modem connection, the phone number must also be
entered. The "Advanced Options" button lets you change the modem initialization, hang-up and dial strings.
To change these settings for your modem, click on the Advanced button and refer to your modem manual for
assistance.
Connecting two or more computers takes time. The connection box will indicate when the connection is
complete.
Once all of the players are connected, they are introduced, from left to right.
A dialog box gives the name, hometown, occupation, and contestant portrait of each of the three players.

Join Game...
Join Game allows a remote player to sign on in a game of Wheel of Nudity!.
First, the remote player must click on Join Game, and wait for the host computer to call. The host computer
must indicate the presence of a remote player when setting up the game. Once the connection is established,
the Connecting dialog box will be displayed. Then the remote player will be allowed to enter his or her
contestant information, then play the game.
At the conclusion of a remote game you will be retuned to the Windows desktop where you can start Wheel
of Nudity! again. 

Resume Game...
Resumes a saved game of Wheel of Nudity!.
See the Save Game section for more details.
A standard Windows File Open dialog box will give you the chance to browse your hard drive for saved games.
If Resume Game is selected a game must have been saved previously.
The default is to open a game in the WHEELDLX directory with the .WOF extension.
To open a saved game, double click on the file name, or select it with the mouse, then click OK.
The game will resume from the point where it was saved.
Previous remote connections must be reestablished.

How To Play...
The object of the game is to solve the puzzle on the gameboard by filling in the hidden letters.
Player 1, at the red podium, starts round 1.
You can choose to spin the Wheel, buy a vowel, or solve the puzzle by pointing the mouse arrow at the
appropriate box and clicking.
Players usually begin by spinning the Wheel, to accumulate money before buying vowels or attempting to
solve the puzzle.
If the Wheel lands on a dollar amount, you have the chance to guess a letter in the puzzle.
If that letter is in the puzzle, your account is credited with the amount multiplied by the number of times the
letter appears.
If you land on Bankrupt, all your accumulated winnings for that round are lost, including any special prizes
you may be holding, and play progresses to the next player.
If you land on Lose A Turn, you lose your turn, but keep any accumulated earnings and prizes.
If you land on Free Spin, and correctly identify a letter in the puzzle, you get a Free Spin token which you
can use in case of Bankrupt, Lose A Turn, or failing to correctly identify a letter in the puzzle.
There is only one Free Spin per game, and it cannot be used in the Speed-Up Round or the Final Round.
The Free Spin is represented by a green dot on the players podium.
If a player has a Free Spin, any time the players turn ends, whether it ends due to an incorrect guess,
Bankrupt, or Lose a Turn, the player will be asked if he or she wants to use the Free Spin.
The Free Spin token can only be used once.
If a player uses the Free Spin token, the green dot disappears from his or her podium, and his or her turn
begins again.
The price of a vowel is $250.
You will not be offered the option of buying a vowel until you have at least $250 in your account for the
current round.
No matter how many occurrences of the vowel there are in the puzzle, only $250 is deducted for each vowel
selection.
There are also special prizes on the Wheel.
In the first round, a Surprise is placed on the Wheel, and if a player lands on this space and correctly
identifies a letter in the puzzle, the Surprise goes into his or her bank.
If that player wins the round, the Surprise is revealed.
In addition, in later rounds, prizes are placed on the Wheel.
When a player lands on a space containing a prize, he or she must correctly identify a letter in the puzzle,
and the prize goes into his or her account.
To win the prize, the player must be the one who correctly solves the puzzle.
Your turn continues until you land on Bankrupt or Lose A Turn, or fail to correctly identify a letter in the
puzzle.
When you click on Solve the Puzzle, a box will come up with a miniature version of the puzzle board.
You should type in the letters in the blanks to complete the puzzle.
When done, click OK, or click on Give Up to give up.
If, in filling in the blanks, you discover an error and want to move backward or forward in the puzzle, you can
do so with the arrow keys.
If a player correctly solves the puzzle, then his or her winnings from that round are added to his or her
cumulative total.
Players who do not win the round do not get any of the money or prizes earned that round.

Spin the Wheel...
Spinning the Wheel can have several different results.
The most common result is a dollar value.
Dollar amounts on the wheel vary from round to round.
If the wheel stops on a dollar value, the player must pick a consonant.
If that consonant appears in the puzzle, all instances of it are turned around on the puzzle board, and the
player receives the dollar value on the wheel multiplied times the number of occurrences of the consonant in
the puzzle, and the player can play again.
If the wheel stops on a prize, then the player gets a chance to win a special prize.
If the wheel stops on Bankrupt, then the player loses all of his or her money and prizes, and play proceeds to
the next player.
If the wheel stops on  Lose a Turn, after correctly selecting a consonant, play proceeds to the next player.
If the wheel stops on Free Spin, the player receives a Free Spin token that can be used to save his or her
turn later.

Buy a Vowel...
If a player has at least $250, he or she can buy a vowel.
$250 is deducted from his or her score whether the vowel appears in the puzzle once, multiple times, or not
at all.
If the vowel is in the puzzle, all instances of the vowel in the puzzle are turned around and the player can
play again.

Solve the Puzzle...
If a player thinks that he knows the answer to the puzzle, then he can choose to Solve the Puzzle.
When this item is chosen, a dialog comes up with a miniature version of the puzzle board.
The player can type in the letters in the blanks to complete the puzzle.
When done, click OK, or Give Up to give up.
If a player correctly solves the puzzle, then his or her winnings that round are added to his or her cumulative
total.
Players who do not win the round do not get any of the money or prizes that they earned that round.

Surprise...
In the first round of the game a Surprise is added to the wheel.
If the wheel stops on this space, then the player must pick a consonant, just as if a dollar amount was spun.
If the consonant he or she selects is in the puzzle, then the surprise is removed from the wheel and placed in
the players bank.
If that player correctly solves the puzzle without landing on Bankrupt, then the surprise is revealed.
The value of the surprise is added to the players overall total.

Prizes...
In Rounds 2, 3 and 4 special prizes are added to the Wheel.
Prizes typically range in value from $2,000 to $15,000.
If you land on a prize and correctly guess a consonant in the puzzle, that prize goes into your bank.
If you solve the puzzle before landing on Bankrupt, you win the prize.
But if you land on Bankrupt, the prize is taken away, and you do not win any prizes or money in your bank
if you do not win the round.

Free Spins...
A Free Spin is similar to a prize.
If the wheel stops on Free Spin, the player must guess a consonant.
If the consonant is in the puzzle, the player receives a Free Spin token.
The Free Spin is represented by a green dot on the players podium.
Any time the players turn ends, whether it ends due to an incorrect guess, bankrupt, or lose a turn, the
player will be asked if he or she wants to use the Free Spin.
The Free Spin token can only be used once.
If a player uses his or her Free Spin token, the green dot disappears from their podium, and his or her turn
begins again.
There is only one Free Spin in each game.

Rounds 2,3,4...
Rounds 2, 3 and 4 play in the same manner as Round 1, except that player 2 begins round 2, player 3 begins
round 3, and player 1 begins Round 4.
If there are 2 players, then player 2 begins round 2, player 1 begins Round 3 and Player 2 begins Round 4.
A $2,500 space is added to the wheel in Round 2, a $3,500 space is added in Round 3, and a $5,000 space
is added in Round 4. 
Prizes are added to the wheel in rounds 2 and 4. 
Any prizes not won are left on the wheel until the Speed-Up Round.

Speed-Up Round...
The fifth round is a speed-up round, where the Wheel is only spun once, and then every consonant in the
puzzle is worth the value of the place where the indicator lands.
Vowels are worth nothing, but choosing a vowel may be a strategic move.
If you select a letter that is in the puzzle, you have a chance to solve.
If you choose not to solve, click on Give Up.
If you fail to solve the puzzle at this time, play passes to the next player.
As in other rounds, only the player who solves the  puzzle wins the accumulated money in his or her bank.
Free Spins are not valid in the Speed-Up round.

Bonus Round...
The player with the highest cumulative total through the five rounds gets to play for a big prize in the
Bonus Round.
The player has a choice of five envelopes labeled W, H, E, E, and L.
Each envelope contains a prize worth $14,000 to $30,000.
The prize is not revealed until after the player has completed the bonus round.
The bonus round is a single puzzle.
The consonants  R, S, T, L, and N are all turned, as is the vowel E.
Then the player selects three more consonants and one more vowel.
After these letters are turned, the player has a chance to solve the puzzle and win the prize in the envelope.
Whether the player solves the puzzle or not, the prize is revealed.

Returning Players...
At the end of a game, all human player profiles are saved to disk and can be used again.
To view the returning players, click on Returning when setting up a contestant profile.

Special Puzzles...
There are also three special puzzle categories.
When you solve these puzzles, you will have a chance to win an extra $500 by answering a question related
to the puzzle.
These categories are: Clue - Where Are We -  Fill in the Blank

Menu Items...
You can adjust the difficulty of the game by changing the amount of time you have to choose letters.
The initial setting is 30 seconds (slow), but it can be changed to 15 seconds (fast) as you  improve and want
a greater challenge.
Click on Difficulty on the Options menu, and you will see a box containing the words Fast and Slow.
You can change the setting by clicking on the appropriate box.
Then click on OK.

Tips...
Look for common small words like AND, THE, OF, AS, etc.
Selecting letters in these words may fill in letters in other words as well.
Pick common letters like E, R, S, T, L, N, and A first.
Buy vowels liberally, because they can help you solve the puzzle.
Keep track of your opponents scores.
You may need to keep spinning after you know the puzzle in order to ensure being the overall winner.
If the puzzle is in the category PERSON, it will not be a proper name.
All proper name puzzles are in the category PERSON - PROPER NAME.
PLACE and PLACES may or may not be proper names.
Words with one letter after an apostrophe are probably common contractions like CANT or WONT.
Words with two letters after an apostrophe are probably common contractions such as YOULL, ILL, or IVE.