This guide shows how to use the components of Dicemania, as well as discussing such topics as user statistics.
Once Dicemania is started the Login Window appears. This is where you can log into a Dicemania server. Most of the text fields are set to log into the main server. All that needs to be done is to enter your name and PIN. To connect simply click the connect button or press enter on the keyboard. If sucessful you will be logged into the server, if not, an error message will show on the connect status as follows:
When you are successfully logged in the User Window appears. This is the central point of Dicemania. It is here where you can see who is logged in, start a game, and quit the program.
The user list shows each user logged in and the Internet address they are logged in from. The status letter indictes what that user is currently doing. An 'R' means that the user is involved in the current request. A 'G' means that the user is curr ently playing a game. An 'N' means that the user is doing nothing.
A request is how a game is initiated. A user starts a game request then other users can join it. Once the user is ready, they can start the game. There can be a maximum of 6 users in the request.
The Dicemania menu allows you to perform general program operations. These are as follows:
The Request menu allows you to perform request operations as follows:
The Automatic menu allows you to add automatc players to the current request only if you started the request.
The Game menu is used to start a new game
The request status shows if a request is currently active and if so who started it.
This is where you can communicate with other users on the system. The window appears automatically whenever Dicemania is started. A message can be entered in the message box and sent to all other users by pressing enter on your keyboard. All messages received are displayed in the talk box. These include system messages such as people connecting, or the results of a game. If you do not want the talker window then you can close it in the standard way for your operating system.
When a game begins this window appears. It is split into various compenents. The score board shows the current scores for all players, it also allows you to select categories by clicking on the appropriate name. When the mouse is moved over a categ ory it shows a red preview of the score to be attained for that category. The last score entered for each player is shown in purple.
The dice set show the values of the dice. They also to serve to allow you to select which dice to re-roll and which to keep when it is your turn. If a die shows 'roll' then it will be re-rolled on the next throw. Clicking on the die toggles this st ate.
When it is your turn you can roll the dice by clicking on the roll button. It will disable itself when you are not able to roll the dice. Once a game is finished the roll button will turn into a quit button. Clicking on this closes the game window and allow you to participate in another game.
The current player and the number of rolls left are shown by the status display. The current player is also highlighted on the score board.
We display the best of the scores on the high score tables. But you need to have played a certain number of games to appear on the average high score table.
Dicemania points are an indication as to how good you are at Dicemania. After each game you are awarded (or deducted) points based on your performance. The points allocated depend on how many people you beat and also your score.