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<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.1.2//EN" "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.1.2/docbookx.dtd" [
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<!ENTITY legal SYSTEM "legal.xml">
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<!ENTITY appversion "2.14">
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<!ENTITY manrevision "2.9">
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<!ENTITY date "January 2006">
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<!ENTITY app "<application>Mines</application>">
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<!ENTITY appname "Mines">
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<!ENTITY version "2.14">
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(Do not remove this comment block.)
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Maintained by the GNOME Documentation Project
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http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gdp
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Template version: 2.0 beta
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Template last modified Feb 12, 2002
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<!-- =============Document Header ============================= -->
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<article id="index" lang="sl">
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<!-- please do not change the id; for translations, change lang to -->
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<!-- appropriate code -->
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<title><application>Mines</application> Manual</title>
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<abstract role="description">
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Mines is GNOME's take on the popular logic puzzle minesweeper,
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which includes avoiding mines while receiving clues for
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the location of the mines.
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<holder>Callum McKenzie</holder>
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<!-- Based on an earlier manual by <holder>Tim Riehle</holder> -->
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<!-- translators: uncomment this:
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<holder>ME-THE-TRANSLATOR (Latin translation)</holder>
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<!-- An address can be added to the publisher information. If a role is
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not specified, the publisher/author is the same for all versions of the
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<publishername> GNOME Documentation Project </publishername>
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<legalnotice id="legalnotice">
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This document is dual-licensed. You may either distribute
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and/or modify it under the terms of the <ulink type="help" url="gnome-help:gpl">GNU General Public License</ulink>,
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which the <link linkend="license">program is licensed</link>
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under, or you can distribute it under the terms of the GNU
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Free Documentation License. A copy of this follows.
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Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
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document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation
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License (GFDL), Version 1.1 or any later version published
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by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant Sections,
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no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. You can find
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a copy of the GFDL at this <ulink type="help" url="ghelp:fdl">link</ulink> or in the file COPYING-DOCS
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distributed with this manual.
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<para> This manual is part of a collection of GNOME manuals
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distributed under the GFDL. If you want to distribute this
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manual separately from the collection, you can do so by
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adding a copy of the license to the manual, as described in
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section 6 of the license.
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Many of the names used by companies to distinguish their
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products and services are claimed as trademarks. Where those
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names appear in any GNOME documentation, and the members of
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the GNOME Documentation Project are made aware of those
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trademarks, then the names are in capital letters or initial
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DOCUMENT AND MODIFIED VERSIONS OF THE DOCUMENT ARE PROVIDED
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UNDER THE TERMS OF THE GNU FREE DOCUMENTATION LICENSE
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WITH THE FURTHER UNDERSTANDING THAT:
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<para>DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS,
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WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR
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IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES
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THAT THE DOCUMENT OR MODIFIED VERSION OF THE
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DOCUMENT IS FREE OF DEFECTS MERCHANTABLE, FIT FOR
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A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGING. THE ENTIRE
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RISK AS TO THE QUALITY, ACCURACY, AND PERFORMANCE
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OF THE DOCUMENT OR MODIFIED VERSION OF THE
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DOCUMENT IS WITH YOU. SHOULD ANY DOCUMENT OR
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MODIFIED VERSION PROVE DEFECTIVE IN ANY RESPECT,
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YOU (NOT THE INITIAL WRITER, AUTHOR OR ANY
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CONTRIBUTOR) ASSUME THE COST OF ANY NECESSARY
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SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. THIS DISCLAIMER
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OF WARRANTY CONSTITUTES AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THIS
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LICENSE. NO USE OF ANY DOCUMENT OR MODIFIED
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VERSION OF THE DOCUMENT IS AUTHORIZED HEREUNDER
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EXCEPT UNDER THIS DISCLAIMER; AND
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<para>UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES AND UNDER NO LEGAL
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THEORY, WHETHER IN TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE),
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CONTRACT, OR OTHERWISE, SHALL THE AUTHOR,
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INITIAL WRITER, ANY CONTRIBUTOR, OR ANY
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DISTRIBUTOR OF THE DOCUMENT OR MODIFIED VERSION
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OF THE DOCUMENT, OR ANY SUPPLIER OF ANY OF SUCH
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PARTIES, BE LIABLE TO ANY PERSON FOR ANY
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DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR
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CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY CHARACTER
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INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS
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OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR
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MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER DAMAGES OR
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LOSSES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO USE OF THE
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DOCUMENT AND MODIFIED VERSIONS OF THE DOCUMENT,
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EVEN IF SUCH PARTY SHALL HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF
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THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
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<!-- This file contains link to license for the documentation (GNU FDL), and
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other legal stuff such as "NO WARRANTY" statement. Please do not change
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<author role="maintainer">
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<firstname>Callum</firstname>
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<surname>McKenzie</surname>
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<address> <email>callum@spooky-possum.org</email> </address>
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<!-- This is appropriate place for other contributors: translators,
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maintainers, etc. Commented out by default.
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<othercredit role="translator">
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<firstname>Latin</firstname>
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<surname>Translator 1</surname>
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<orgname>Latin Translation Team</orgname>
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<address> <email>translator@gnome.org</email> </address>
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<contrib>Latin translation</contrib>
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<releaseinfo revision="2.26" role="review"/>
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<revnumber>Mines Manual V2.9</revnumber>
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<date>January 2006</date>
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<para role="author">Callum McKenzie
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<email>callum@spooky-possum.org</email>
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<para role="publisher">GNOME Documentation Project</para>
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<releaseinfo>This manual describes version 2.14 of Mines.
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<!-- The following feedback information only applies to applications
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listed in bugzilla.gnome.org and bugzilla.ximian.com. For other
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applications, please provide your own feedback info or remove thsi
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section altogether -->
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<title>Feedback</title>
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<para>To report a bug or make a suggestion regarding the <application>Mines</application> application or
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this manual, follow the directions in the
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<ulink url="http://bugzilla.gnome.org">GNOME bug reporting database.</ulink>.
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<!-- Translators may also add here feedback address for translations -->
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<indexterm zone="index">
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<primary>GNOME Mines</primary>
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<!-- ============= Document Body ============================= -->
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<!-- ============= Introduction ============================== -->
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<title>Introduction</title>
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<application><application>Mines</application></application> is a puzzle game where you
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locate mines floating in an ocean using only your brain and a
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You start the game with a grid of covered squares and no idea what is in them. Clicking on a square reveals
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what is in it: either empty ocean or a mine. If you
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find a mine bad things happen and the game is over. If you
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uncover an empty square, you survive and get to try again. We do
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give you a bit of help; if you find an empty piece of ocean
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a number is printed there telling you how many mines are in the
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adjacent squares (or no number if there are no nearby
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mines). Once you find a few clear squares you can start to
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deduce which squares have mines in them and which don't. You win
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the game once you have revealed all the un-mined squares and
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marked all the mined squares.
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<figure id="main-window">
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<title>The stages of the game: the start, playing, losing,
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<mediaobject><imageobject>
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<imagedata fileref="figures/main-window.png" format="PNG"/>
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</imageobject></mediaobject>
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To mark a square as having a mine you right-click on it and a
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flag is placed there. If you click on a square with a number and
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you have placed precisely that number of flags on adjacent
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squares then the remaining squares are revealed. If you didn't
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mark the mines correctly then an explosion will occur and the game
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is over. Squares with no adjacent mines (i.e. blank squares)
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have their adjacent squares automatically cleared.
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<figure id="status-bar">
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<title>Important information.</title>
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<mediaobject><imageobject>
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<imagedata fileref="figures/statusbar.png" format="PNG"/>
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</imageobject></mediaobject>
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You are being timed. To be good at this game you have to work
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both quickly and correctly. Once you have found all the mines
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and revealed all the un-mined squares the clock is stopped. Your
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score is the time you took; the shorter the better.
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The time you have taken is displayed on the bottom right of the
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window. Beside it, on the left, is a count of the number of mines
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you have cleared and the total number hidden on the board.
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<title>The yellow face shows you how well you are going.</title>
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<mediaobject><imageobject>
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<imagedata fileref="figures/faces.png" format="PNG"/>
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</imageobject></mediaobject>
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<!-- Face graphics image. -->
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<title>The Details</title>
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This section provides information on the controls and the
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important menu items. If you need help figuring where the
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mines are, see the <link linkend="strategy">strategy section</link>.
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<title>The Goal</title>
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Starting from an ocean of squares with unknown contents
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you must mark all the squares with mines and reveal all the
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clear squares. You don't actually have to mark the squares with mines,
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but it is a lot easier if you do. Once you have cleared all
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the un-mined squares, any remaining mined squares will be
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If you left click on a mine, or auto-clear a square with a mine
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in it you lose. To help prevent accidents, you aren't allowed
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to auto-clear around a square unless the number of marked
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mines equals the number given in the square.
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<title>Using the Mouse</title>
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<!-- FIXME: proper headers. -->
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<entry>Action</entry><entry>Result</entry>
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<entry>Left click on an un-revealed square.</entry>
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<entry>Reveals the contents of that square. For better or for
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<entry>Left click in a revealed square.</entry>
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<entry>Auto-clear. Reveals the unmarked squares around
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but only if enough squares have been marked to match the
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number in the square.</entry>
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<entry>Right click on an un-revealed square.</entry>
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<entry>Marks the square as a mine. If it is already
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marked, the mark will be removed.</entry>
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<tip><para>If you are used to the more traditional mouse controls,
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don't worry, they still work.</para></tip>
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<title>Game Size and Difficulty</title>
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By choosing <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Preferences</guimenuitem></menuchoice> from the
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change the size of the games. Larger sizes obviously take longer
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and require more concentration. Smaller games are more
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frantic. We provide Small, Medium, Large and Custom
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<figure id="preferences-img">
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<title>The preferences dialog.</title>
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<mediaobject><imageobject>
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<imagedata fileref="figures/preferences.png" format="PNG"/>
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</imageobject></mediaobject>
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On the right hand side of the dialog there are three
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parameters for controlling the custom size. Horizontal and
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Vertical are the width and height of the desired grid in
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squares. The number of mines is - obviously - the number of
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mines you need to find. If this number is set too high or too
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low then the game becomes very easy. The number of mines is
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limited to slightly less than the total number of squares.
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<title>"I'm not sure" Flags</title>
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<informalfigure id="imnotsureflagsimg">
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<mediaobject><imageobject>
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<imagedata fileref="figures/imnotsureflagscheckbox.png" format="PNG"/>
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</imageobject></mediaobject>
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There is a check-box in the properties dialog entitled
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Use "I'm not sure" flags. If you enable this then, when
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right-clicking on a square, it cycles between the normal flags
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used to mark the square as mined, a flag with a question mark
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on it and no flag. This new flag is to help you with your
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reasoning, to mark mines you think might be a mine but aren't
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flags have no effect on the game; you still have to use the
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appropriate number of red marker flags to be able to clear
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around a numbered square.
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<figure id="flags-img">
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<title>The sequence of flags when "I'm not sure" flags are enabled.</title>
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<mediaobject><imageobject>
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<imagedata fileref="figures/flags.png" format="PNG"/>
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</imageobject></mediaobject>
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<title>Use "Too many flags" warning</title>
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The other check-box in the properties dialog is entitled
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Use "Too many flags" warning. This feature will show you a
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warning when you have placed too many flags. This is disabled
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by default, as it provides so much hint that it could be
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considered "cheating".
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If you get stuck - it is reasonably common to end up with two
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options that you can't logically resolve - then you can either
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guess, or ask for a hint. When you choose
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<guimenuitem>Hint</guimenuitem> from the <guimenu>Game</guimenu>
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menu a single square is revealed (plus surrounding
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squares if it is blank). The choice of square is random, but
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should be helpful. There is 10 second penalty added to your
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time whenever you use a hint.
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<title>High Scores</title>
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If your score is in the top ten you will be shown the list of top scores and have an
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opportunity to change the name recorded in the high score table. You can
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also review the scores later by choosing
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<guimenuitem>Scores</guimenuitem> from the <guimenu>Game</guimenu>
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menu. The drop-down menu at the top of the dialog lets you
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look at the scores for other board sizes.
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<figure id="high-score-img">
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<title>The high scores dialog.</title>
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<mediaobject><imageobject>
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<imagedata fileref="figures/highscores.png" format="PNG"/>
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</imageobject></mediaobject>
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<para>The high score for the custom size is usually meaningless. Any
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other player can make the game size smaller and get a better time. If
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you only ever play one custom size then it will tell you how
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well you are doing. This is the only reason it is still recorded.</para>
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<title>Window Size</title>
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<para>Resizing the window makes the squares bigger or smaller to
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suit. If you want to make maximum use of the screen then there is a
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<guimenuitem>Fullscreen</guimenuitem> option under the
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<guimenu>Settings</guimenu> menu. You can
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also use the <keycap>F11</keycap> key to toggle full-screen mode.
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<title>Pausing the Game</title>
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The game can be paused automatically when you start using another
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window, or paused by choosing <guimenuitem>Pause</guimenuitem>
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from the <guimenu>Game</guimenu> menu. The playing area is
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blanked so you can't think ahead while the clock is stopped. To
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start playing again press the button labelled "Press to Resume".
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<!-- ================ Usage ================================ -->
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<sect1 id="strategy">
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<title>Strategy</title>
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The first half of this section explains the very basics of
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deducing where mines are. If you are familiar with how to play the
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game skip down to the <link linkend="advanced">Advanced Situations</link> subsection.
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<title>The Basics</title>
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These are a few basic situations which should be incredibly
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obvious, but if you're struggling with how to play the game,
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they should be useful. The first case is where you have an
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isolated covered square and most of the squares around it read
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1. That covered square is a mine.
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<title>The simplest case.</title>
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<mediaobject><imageobject>
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<imagedata format="PNG" fileref="figures/easy-hints-1.png"/>
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</imageobject></mediaobject>
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The next simplest case is where you have two covered squares
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adjacent to each other and both squares on one side are marked
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with a 2. If they have no other uncleared neighbors, then
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both squares are mines.
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<title>The two mine case.</title>
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<mediaobject><imageobject>
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<imagedata format="PNG" fileref="figures/easy-hints-2.png"/>
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</imageobject></mediaobject>
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Finally, when there are three uncovered squares in a row and
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the clear square beside the middle one is a 3 (once again this
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square should have no other neighbors) then all three are mines.
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<title>The three mine case.</title>
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<mediaobject><imageobject>
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<imagedata format="PNG" fileref="figures/easy-hints-3.png"/>
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</imageobject></mediaobject>
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These are the simplest cases. Other permutations on these
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simple situations are possible, for example the three squares
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in the previous example could be in an L shape.
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Simple analysis will solve most of the
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puzzle, but not all. Before going on to the next sections,
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where we give you more advanced hints, you should play
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for a bit and see what you can work out for yourself.
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<sect2 id="advanced">
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<title>Advanced Situations</title>
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These are some more complicated situations. They are a bit of
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a step up from the last section, so we hope you took our
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advice and played for a bit first.
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In the example below the mines are to the left of
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the ones. We figure this out by a process of elimination. If the
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square to the left of the 2 was a mine then the 1s
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would both have their maximum number of mines leaving no free square for
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the second mine adjacent to the 2 (since they would also be
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adjacent to the 1s). Having eliminated the middle square we are
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left with two squares we require for the 2 so they are both mined.
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<title>A not-so-obvious pattern.</title>
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<mediaobject><imageobject>
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<imagedata format="PNG" fileref="figures/hard-hints-1.png"/>
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</imageobject></mediaobject>
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This situation can be disguised, for example consider the figure
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below. It is the same situation, but the extra mined square on
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the right has increased all the numbers by 1.
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<title>The extra mine disguises a copy of the previous example.</title>
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<mediaobject><imageobject>
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<imagedata format="PNG" fileref="figures/hard-hints-2.png"/>
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</imageobject></mediaobject>
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Now we're going to try a complicated example. It illustrates two
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points. The first is that even if you aren't sure which squares are
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mined, restricting the possibilities is helpful. The second is that
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knowing which squares aren't mined is nearly as good as knowing which
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Assume that, in the figure below, we start off knowing that the top
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left square is mined and so the two squares marked 2 on the left only
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require one more mine. Next observe that the left-most 2 implies that
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one of the covered squares beneath it is mined, but we don't yet know
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which one. Since at least one of these squares is mined and they are
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both neighbors of the second 2 then we know that that 2 is also
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satisfied by one of these two squares (we still don't know which
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one). This means that the square beneath the 4 is clear because it is
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also a neighbor of the second 2 and not one of the two squares we
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identified previously.
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This one blank square now leaves the 4 with only four neighbors - all
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of which must be mines. Not only does it tell us which mines surround
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the 4, it now tells us which of the squares beside the 2 is mined!
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<title>As tricky as it gets.</title>
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<mediaobject><imageobject>
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<imagedata format="PNG" fileref="figures/hard-hints-3.png"/>
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</imageobject></mediaobject>
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This sort of situation is tricky. In all the other examples you can
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learn to look for patterns and avoid thinking hard. Situations like
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the one in the figure don't crop up easily or in easily recognisable
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places. Often it is easier to just ignore them and keep playing
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elsewhere in the hope that you can start clearing the squares from the
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Remember, the edge of the board is just the same as a large
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cleared area (but without the numbers). Often working
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at the edge of the board is the easiest way forward.
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Sometimes you end up in a situation where there is no way to
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deduce what the configuration is. In these cases you either have
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to guess or use the hint function
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(<menuchoice><guimenu>Game</guimenu><guimenuitem>Hint</guimenuitem></menuchoice>).
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Sometimes it isn't a 50/50 situation and instead of taking a hint
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you might like to gamble on the most likely outcome.
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One final hint: remember the counter on the bottom left of the window
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that tells you how many mines you have left? Often, near the end
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of the game, this number can help you figure out what possible
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places mines can be. How to do this is up
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to you to figure out.
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<title>Authors</title>
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<application>GNOME Mines</application> was written by Pista
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(<email>szekeres@cyberspace.mht.bme.hu</email>). This manual was written by Callum McKenzie
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(<email>callum@spooky-possum.org</email>) with help from Vincent
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Povirk and based on an earlier manual by Tim Riehle
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(<email>tkriehle@citilink.com</email>).
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To report a bug or make a suggestion regarding this application or
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this manual, follow the directions in this
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<ulink url="ghelp:user-guide?feedback-bugs" type="help">document</ulink>.
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<!-- ============= Application License ============================= -->
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<title>License</title>
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This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
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modify it under the terms of the <citetitle><ulink type="help" url="gnome-help:gpl">GNU General Public License</ulink></citetitle> as
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published by the <ulink type="http" url="http://www.fsf.org">Free Software Foundation</ulink>;
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either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later
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This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
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WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
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MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
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<citetitle><ulink type="help" url="gnome-help:gpl">GNU General Public License</ulink></citetitle> for more details.
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A copy of the <citetitle><ulink type="help" url="gnome-help:gpl">GNU General Public License</ulink></citetitle> is
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included as an appendix to the <citetitle>GNOME Users
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Guide</citetitle>. You may also obtain a copy of the
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<citetitle><ulink type="help" url="gnome-help:gpl">GNU General Public License</ulink></citetitle> from the Free
698
Software Foundation by visiting <ulink type="http" url="http://www.fsf.org">their Web site</ulink> or by writing to
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Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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<street>59 Temple Place</street> - Suite 330
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<city>Boston</city>, <state>MA</state> <postcode>02111-1307</postcode>
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<country>USA</country>
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gnomine/help/sl/gnomine.xml
