Support

Getting Started

All of the games have a similar format. After they are launched you are taken to an introductory screen where you can enter your name (in most of the games you can also enter the secret preferences screen by enter the name ?!? here). You can easily enter your name by clicking on the (ABC in the lower left part of your Palm, which brings up a keyboard. Type your name and hit DONE, but usually it is best to wait for everyone in the class to be ready before hitting Start. You may also exit from the game by going to the menu in the upper left corner of this screen and hitting Exit. Unlike most other PalmOS applications, you may not "suspend" the Participatory Simulations and go to another application. You must Exit. This prevents players from wandering to other applications during a game.

Interactions with Other Players

Once in the game, players may interact with the interface by making choices in some of the game (e.g. cooperate/defect, whether to change their decision, etc.). All of the games have one button that is highlighted (in the case of BFLF at the left, it is the Eat button). This button is used to interact with other people in the game. Align the IR ports of the two machines that are interacting about 4-12 inches apart, and then ONE person hits a button (they should not both hit the button - one person needs to initiate - it doesn't matter which one). You should then get feedback on the result of your interaction. Most of the games also have a data button that displays quantitative data that players can analyze.

Exiting and Restarting the Game

Exiting a game is fairly easy. Go to the menu in the upper left corner and tap it. Select new game to be taken back to the name screen with your name already entered. The only way to exit the game is to go to the Exit menu item. You cannot simply switch to another application. Note in many of the games going to a "New Game" will advance your mode. Don't start a new game until everyone else is ready (exceptions to this will be discussed in the applications). It is best to not leave the Palm in one of the games, since they tend to wear down batteries a little quickly. The menu also has a brief description of the game. Turning the machine off does not pause it. As soon as it comes back on it will catch up to where it should be.

Setting Preferences

Most of the games have a special preferences menu that can be accessed by entering the secret code ?!? where you enter your name and then hitting Start. These preferences should be hidden from players since they tend to spoil the game if you know them in advance. The game will check to make sure all of the critical parameters are the same between any two players in the game (parameters that are allowed to vary between players are in bold). From the preferences screen you can also beam preferences to other machines if you are setting up a whole group of them. To do this, set the parameters the way you'd like them on one machine. Then get another machine and line it up to receive beams and enter the game on the other machine (it can be in the name entering mode or game playing mode). Finally, hit Beam on the machine with the preferences set. Note that many of the games have a "Mode". This makes sure all of the players in the game are in the same round. If someone restarts their game, their mode will advance and they won't be able to play until the other players have also started new games. When setting up be sure to set them all to the same mode.