Index
Main Index

How to Play

Deployment

           	Manual

           	Automatic

           	Repeat

           Playing Level

           	Random Easy

           	Random Hard

           	Random Expert

           	Pattern Easy

           	Pattern Hard

           	Grab-Bag

Menu Items

           	New

            	Reveal Ships


How to Play

Playing Search & Destroy is simple. When the game is first loaded, the screen will consist of two empty grids, some status text under the left grid and bitmaps of each of the ships under the right grid. You deploy your ships in the right grid and shoot with the mouse into the left grid. The first player to sink all five of his opponent's ships wins the game. If the computer wins, it reveals the placement of the ships that you missed.

To deploy a ship, click on it with the left mouse button and drag it to the position you want. If you want to change the direction of the ship from vertical to horizontal (or vice versa), click the right mouse button WHILE STILL HOLDING DOWN THE LEFT BUTTON. When you release the left button, the ship will snap to the grid.

If you have overlapped ships or if your ship was not deployed entirely in the grid, a messagebox will pop up asking you to correct the problem. You cannot begin to fire into the left grid until all your ships are placed in the right grid and none of the ships are overlapping. The computer randomly picks the positions of its ships, which are hidden in the left grid.

The game begins in Random Hard Level. The playing level can be changed via the Level menu. Other menu items include Deployment, Game and Help.

The Game menu includes New, which resets the games won/lost to 0 and deployment to Manual and Reveal Ships, which reveals the location of the computer's ships at the cost of forfeiting the current game.

The Deployment menu lets you set the deployment level. Possible choices include Manual, Automatic and Repeat.

The Help menu contains various topics which you can click on to get more information about how the game works. Clicking About pops up a box containing the version number of the game.


Deployment

There are three levels of deployment in the game: Manual, Automatic and Repeat. The game begins in Manual deployment in order for you to initially deploy your ships. During any game you may change your deployment level by clicking on the Deployment menu and choosing the desired level. Further, after every game in which the deployment level is NOT Repeat, you are asked if you want to keep your present ship positions. Choosing YES changes the deployment level to Repeat. Choosing NO defaults to the previously selected deployment.

Manual - This level allows you to start from scratch in deploying your ships. Each ship is initially placed below the right grid.

Automatic - This level randomly places your ships on the grid.

Repeat - This level lets you repeat the same ship positions from the previous game.

After your ships have been deployed, whether by Manual, Automatic or Repeat deployment, a messagebox pops up asking whether the positions are satisfactory. Clicking NO gives you a last chance to adjust your deployment before the game begins.


Playing Level

There are six levels of play in the game: Random Easy, Random Hard, Random Expert, Pattern Easy, Pattern Hard and Grab-Bag.

Random Easy - In this level the computer fires randomly into the right grid. The shot can land in any square.

Random Hard - In this level the computer fires randomly into every other square, resulting in a checkerboard. In this level, the computer can sink all your ships in a maximum of 178 shots.

Random Expert -  In this level the computer will not fire into areas where the smallest remaining ship will not fit. For example, if the only ship remaining is the carrier, a square must be part of at least 5 continuous open squares in either the vertical or horizontal direction or the computer will not fire into it.

Pattern Easy - In this level the computer randomly chooses one of three patterns: Horizontal, Vertical or Diagonal. Each pattern will start on a randomly selected square and move either to the right or to the left (vertical and diagonal levels), or upwards or downwards (horizontal level), skipping every other square.

Pattern Hard - In this level the computer randomly chooses one of three patterns: Horizontal, Vertical or Diagonal. The vertical and horizontal patterns vary the space between the columns or rows attacked. For example, the computer might fire into every third row or column, making passes over the board until all the rows or columns are attacked. The diagonal pattern takes into account the size of the smallest remaining ship when calculating the pattern. Pattern Hard - Diagonal is the hardest level in the game.

Grab-Bag - This level randomly picks one of the above levels and changes after every game.

The default level when the game begins is Random Hard. The level can be changed by clicking on the Level menu and choosing the desired level. Levels can be changed in mid-game.