- The basics
- The details
- Title screen and settings
- Keyboard interface controls
Let's begin with the settings. There are four tabs in the settings dialog: Gameplay, Controls, Presentation and Registration.
Many of these options are locked as you first begin to play. A locked option requires the completion of a particular task to become available. Reveal the task in question by moving the mouse pointer over the option you are interested in unlocking.
When you first start the game, five difficulties are there to choose from. As you prove your skill, a sixth difficulty level appears, and this one is definitely not for the meek.
helpful: With this mode set, Loopy, the computer player, will suggest a placement for each piece as it appears in the sky. If you can't quite get the hang of how to play, then this option is for you. However, if your aim is to enter the top scores list, you should be aware that if you let Loopy make most of your decisions she might very well want the credit too.timeless: If you don't like to play under pressure, use this mode to turn off the timer. The price you pay is that you get one lemon only and no way of getting more.During a game with "helpful" active, press F1 to toggle "demo mode" in which Loopy will gladly play along by herself with no need for human interaction.
online: With online mode enabled, you submit your score to the global top scores list after a game is over. For this to work you must have an Internet connection established when you complete the game.
During a game with the online option enabled, an indicator in the upper right corner of the screen shows the status of the game. If a network problem is detected or machine performance drops the speed below what can be considered fair, this indicator turns red and no score will be posted.
As with the local top scores, there is one global list for each difficulty level. Each registration key can have up to five scores on each of these lists at any one time. If you have five scores already and post a new one that is better, the lowest of your current entries disappears to make room for the new.
There are also two settings for speed control: movement speed and rotation speed. If you find the controls respond too slowly or are too sensitive, use these to increase or decrease the speeds as needed.
mouse control: with this box checked, keyboard control is disabled for the game and mouse control activates instead.
Note that this is for gameplay only, where small differences in play makes it impossible to have both methods in use at the same time. The user interface can always be controlled using either keyboard or mouse, whether this option is checked or not.swap buttons: the default setting lets you place a segment using the left mouse button and rotate it using the right. If this box is checked, the left button instead rotates the segment and the right button places it.
accelerate: if this box is checked, the segment moves towards its shadow at a higher speed than usual. Otherwise it is locked to the same speed as that offered by keyboard movement.
middle click for next piece: with this box checked, you can use the middle mouse button to abandon the current segment and continue directly to the next. This will cost you a lemon.
wheel rotate: check this box if you want to rotate the segment using the mouse wheel. If checked, wheel up rotates the segment to the right, and wheel down rotates the segment to the left.
full screen: check this box if you want the game to run in full screen mode. A change here won't take effect until after you close the Settings dialog. You can also toggle between full screen and windowed mode at any time by pressing alt/option - enter .If you have more than one screen and wish to play in full screen mode on another display than your main, press F12 while on the title screen to go through the available displays. Windows version only.
hide cursor when playing: with this box checked, the mouse pointer is automatically hidden during a game when the mouse is not in use.
accelerate score: check this box if you want the scrolling score- and combo displays to move out of the way faster.
hide tutorial: once you know how to play the game and feel that the tutorial is no longer necessary, you may remove it from the title screen menu with this option.
hide minigame rules: while each set of minigame rules may be disabled individually when once displayed, check this box to not see any rules at all, perhaps if you prefer to learn by experimentation.
stop music during pause: check this box if you want the music silenced when you pause the game or temporarily change to another window.flip speakers: a contender for the most-obscure-feature-ever award, check this box if you want the game to swap the right- and left sound channels when mixing the sound effects.
update scores automatically: check this box if you want the game to automatically update network status and global top scores on launch and when the scores cache gets old. If you leave this box unchecked, no network connection is made unless specifically requested by a click on the global scores tab or by playing an online game.
The fastest and easiest way to get full access to the game is to use the built-in registration wizard which handles the whole key bit automatically. Just click the buy online now button and follow the instructions and you will have the game unlocked in minutes. You will need a credit card, but the process is completely safe thanks to our payment service provider eSellerate.
Equally secure and almost as easy to use is our web store. Click the visit michi.nu button or open your favorite browser to http://www.michi.nu/ and then select Buy in the navigation bar. This will take you to our store from where you can buy the game using either a credit card or PayPal. You will receive an e-mail with your registration details.
If you bought the game in our web store or have a registration key from somewhere else, click the unlock the game button and enter your registration name and the key that goes with it. If this information is valid, the register button lights up. Click this button to unlock the game.
Note that the registration tab disappears completely once the game is registered.
local: the local top scores list, unique to your installation of the game.global: the global top scores list, shared by And Round Again players from all over the world. Only games played in the online mode are eligible for entry here.
minis: the top three scores for each game type except regular are kept hereVisit http://www.michi.nu/games/round/ to see the full global scores list with more entries and detail than will fit inside the top scores window.
stats: a small selection of statistics for if you like to see your games in numbers