windows-xp/Source/XPSP1/NT/shell/osshell/ep/oldtp/tp.txt

The second version of the popular windows game Taipei has been released.  On
the surface there appear to be few changes, but a look underneath reveals many
changes from the first version.

How to play Taipei

Taipei is one of those games that is simple to learn, yet difficult to master. 
It has provided several minutes of enjoyment to at least half a dozen people.

The game is played using Mah-Jong tiles, arranged in a formation called a
"wombat." The "wombat" has a head (on the right), a tail (on the left), and
four legs (in each of the four corners).  Your job is to dismember the wombat
by removing the tiles in pairs.

Basically, tiles have to match exactly to be removed as a pair.  The exceptions
are that any two flowers and any two seasons match.

Only "free" tiles can be removed.  A tile is "free" if it does not have a tile
blocking it to the right or left, and does not have a tile on top of it. 
Taipei will give you an error message if you try to take off tiles that don't
match or that aren't free.

Strategy

You'll want to get the end tiles off as soon as you can.  Watch out for snags
such as two matching tiles adjacent to each other on the end of a row of tiles;
be careful not to remove their opposite match, or else you will have a block at
the end of the row.  If there are three matching tiles free and the fourth on
is hidden, try for another move; you may regret taking two of the three tiles
and then having the third tile block another important tile later.  Go slowly,
and eventaully Confucious will reward you with some Chinese wisdom.

New Features

One of the changes in version 2 is that you can now select a game number to
play.  This number is a random number seed which initializes Taipei's
board-building algorithm.  Note that not every board is necessarily winnable. 
This is in contrast from version 1, where Taipei tried to build a "wombat" that
was theoretically winnable; but I found that people won about the same amount
of time with the new version, and building the board is faster.  Now you can
challenge your friends to win a particularly hard game you have found.

Try clicking the right mouse button on the wombat.  You'll find that Taipei
instantly iconizes itself, a feature we call "boss mode."

The biggest change in version 2 involved Taipei's hint algorithm.  In previous
versions, Taipei would cycle through all available moves on successive hint
commands.  The new version actually evaluates each move by assigning various
weight factors for different conditions.  For example, Taipei tends to strongly
favor taking off the end and top tiles, which block more than one tile at a
time.  Also, for each pair it checks to see if its matching pair has already
been removed; if so, it will strongly recommend that move.  You can use the
"H" key to show the next hint, or use the menu.

Taipei is not yet available in computer software stores such as Egghead (which
does not as yet carry Bogus products).  Instead, you can get it from the bogus
directory in \\windex\public.