Spider Solitaire

[Steven Vollom]

Wulfy wrote:
> Brian Norman Wootton wrote:
>   
>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> Message: 1
>>> Date: Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:51:10 +0100
>>> From: iodine at runbox.no
>>> Subject: Re: Why use a virtual machine? **RESOLVED**
>>> To: Kubuntu Help and User Discussions <kubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com>
>>> Message-ID: <4934321E.4040206 at runbox.no>
>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>>>
>>> Derek Broughton wrote:
>>>   
>>>     
>>>       
>>>> Gene Heskett wrote:
>>>>
>>>>     
>>>>       
>>>>         
>>>>>>> The only thing I miss from Windows is Spider Solitaire, it was
>>>>>>> entertaining once in a while.
>>>>>>>           
>>>>>>>             
>>>>>>>               
>>>>>> It's available in the KDE card games :) (KPath I seem to remember?)
>>>>>>         
>>>>>>           
>>>>>>             
>>>> kpat
>>>>
>>>>     
>>>>       
>>>>         
>> That's KPatience, one of the first few things I looked for, it looks 
>> like the same set Vista's got, prefer freecell myself
>> brian
>>
>>   
>>     
> There's a program called Spider:
>
> wulfy at wulfy-desktop:~$ apt-cache show
> spider
> Package:
> spider
> Priority:
> optional
> Section:
> universe/games
> Installed-Size:
> 444
> Maintainer: Ubuntu MOTU Developers
> <ubuntu-motu at lists.ubuntu.com>
> Original-Maintainer: Dale Scheetz (Dwarf #1)
> <dwarf at polaris.net>
> Architecture:
> amd64
> Version: 1.2-4ubuntu2
> Depends: libc6 (>= 2.6-1), libice6 (>= 1:1.0.0), libsm6, libx11-6,
> libxaw7, libxext6, libxmu6, libxpm4, libxt6
> Filename: pool/universe/s/spider/spider_1.2-4ubuntu2_amd64.deb
> Size: 118406
> MD5sum: 14c833e180582830fb3e072f191db02d
> SHA1: 588f5c5eb00a6ea312489a88914b239a09206cd1
> SHA256: 9fbad00f2ef682359de1184b1b356bf6ae677351f0186166efe642f38cbf4bd0
> Description: A two deck solitaire game for the X Window System
> Spider is delivered in two forms: small.spider is for systems without high
> resolution screens so the board will fit on the screen; round.spider has
> prettier card backs but takes up more room on the screen.
> .
> The default is round.spider. If you wish to use small.spider, either call
> it directly, or change the link /usr/games/spider to point to
> small.spider instead of round.spider.
> Bugs: mailto:ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
> Origin: Ubuntu
>
> It might be what you're looking for...  :@)
>
>   
Thanks Wulfmann,

I am so stupid.  I had it installed.  It was in the kpatience game.  
When I opened the 2nd level Spider Solitaire, it plays almost the same 
as the Microsoft version.  I like it.  It has been 3 years since I 
played it.  It took a dozen losses before I found out what I had done to 
get the high win results I experienced. 

I can't stand to play 9 losing games to win one, so I changed the 
rules.  It took a long time before my memory refreshed to what I had 
done.  My game is a lot better.  Everyone can win 80% of their games and 
still feel tested.  I was playing the game for different reasons than 
most people.  I was using it as an exercise to restore my memory.  I 
played very fast, requiring snap decisions and fast calculations.  I 
forced myself to play faster than I could evaluate the data to get my 
mind to work harder.  Still I have losing, so I didn't play the hands 
that I knew were futile.  I found starting hands that have about an 8 
out of 10 probability of victory, because of the head start they give 
the player.  Then I determined that you didn't win, if you didn't 
finish.  And you have to finish the game to stop playing.  Therefore, 
time became the challenging factor.  You would play until all the cards 
were retired.  There were no other rules in my game.  You could skip 100 
hands to find one you thought you had a chance of finishing, but all 
those hands you passed over took up time, so when you finally achieve 
success and retire the total board, the time it takes you determines 
your success.

I remember I completed one game in 98 moves using two suits.  It was my 
fastest even though I didn't keep a record of time then.  It may take 
150 moves to win, when there is nothing you can do to cheat.  It may 
take 500 moves.  Surely a 500 move game takes a long time, but in the 
end, you have removed all the cards from the board and felt some sort of 
victory.  A million players could compete this way and have but one 
winner in a very challenging contest.  Like I said, no rules except 
finishing to be a winner.  So if you think backing up to a move you wish 
you hadn't made is a good idea, you do it.  You just can't retrieve the 
time you lost which ultimately counts against you.  If you want, I will 
send you the rules and an explanation of play, but don't play the game 
if you don't want to get hooked.  Unlike other games it gives too much 
pleasure and the feeling of too much accomplishment, and actually 
becomes a very sophisticated game where stradegy is important.  Still as 
for me, I use it to help improve my memory.  It is not so much a game.

Cordially,
Steven