Help Topics
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Introduction
Hearts is a card game played by 4 players. The two teams attempt to outplay eachother.
Though the game itself may seem simple, it can prove very tricky as players try to estimate and bid how many tricks
they expect to take. Hearts requires a good memory, the ability to make strategic maneuvers, and a bit of speed.
Those who want to focus less on the concentration part and more on the FUN part, use Heart Buddy.
Heart Buddy scans the Hearts game then automatically begins playing and/or keeping track of the gameplay itself thus eliminating players need to recall (or jot down) who played what, when.
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The Interface (GUI)
Getting to know the Heart Buddy interface is easy. The display provides a visual
reference to the deck of cards, last trick, tricks each player has accumulated, who's out of which suit, and your cards.
Below the display area is the hand history which conveniently illustrates every hand/trick played, and the stats where you can see at a glance
how many games have been played, and won.
The self-descriptive interactive buttons are at the bottom of the Buddy; Show Hint and Play Hint will do exactly that and
Autoplay will play the game for you. The Collapse button is especially helpful for those trying to save space or who play manually; pressing
it once hides the hand history, twice shows only the interactive buttons.
Heart Buddy also offers an arrangement of menu options: Options, Rooms, and Help. You can learn more about these by reading below. |
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Menu Options
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The Options menu allows you to access Heart Buddy's settings and change them to suit your needs (see below). It also offers an opportunity to refer a buddy (tell a friend) about Heart Buddy and/or request a new feature. |
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The Rooms menu has one of most valuable features of Heart Buddy. It contains backdoors to each of Pogo's Heart room topics. |
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The Help menu provides instructions on how to use Heart Buddy, a link to the Play Buddy Help Center, shortcuts to buy and register your copy, and a valuable Bug Report feature to use when Heart Buddy isn't working. But perhaps the most valuable feature here is the auto check at startup which automatically checks for any updates. |
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| Settings
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| Settings |
Action |
| Always on top |
Keeps Heart Buddy on top of all windows all the time. |
| Always hint |
Overrides the Show Hint button and displays the hint automatically. |
| Minimize to tray |
Sends the Buddy to the tray (instead of the taskbar) when the minimize button is pressed. |
| Always play again |
Keeps Heart Buddy starting new games automatically when autoplay is on. |
| Play time |
Sets the autoplay game time for X number of hours to infinite. |
| Play sound on startup |
Turns the "Welcome to Play Buddy" greeting on and off. Also lets users insert their own sound file. |
| Play Speed |
Adjusts how slow or fast rounds are completed during autoplay. |
| Deck |
Select whether the cards in the 'Deck' area are replaced with a blank spot when played, or collapse so that remaining cards align together to the left. |
| Remove cards in my hand from deck |
Selecting this option ensures that your hand of cards does not appear in the 'Deck' area. |
| Multi-Player |
Specifies if you want Heart Buddy to play against robots when live players leave or are not available. |
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How To Use
- Log on to Pogo games with your username and password, or select a room topic from Heart Buddy's Rooms menu.
- If you haven't already done so, launch Heart Buddy when your game opens. It automatically recognizes it and is ready to work.
- Manual players can use the play hint and show hint options and reference the display and hand history.
- Autoplayers need only press the autoplay button to have Heart Buddy complete the games automatically.
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Optimizing Performance
- Versatility: You can play manually or have the bot autoplay for you.
- Collapse: If you don't care about watching the hand history or 'display' area, use this handy-dandy feature to save space; pressing it once hides the hand history, twice hides everything except the interactive buttons.
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HELP!
It won't recognize the game window
Double-check that you have the newest version available. Do this by using the check for update feature under the Help menu on the Buddy. Also, the "News" section at the top of this page has a link to "Updated Buddies." Here you can see if the Buddy has been recently updated and why.
Now make sure that all the system requirements for the Buddy are met. These include Windows, Internet Explorer, Sun Java, and appropriate display settings.
It won't work
Select the Bug Report feature under the HELP tab on the Buddy. Fill in the required fields, capture the screen, and then send it. Play Buddy Support will receive it and respond to you via e-mail.
Miscellaneous / Other
Don't see an answer to your question, or do you think something else needs to be added to this help file? If so, e-mail support@playbuddy.com with your suggestion. |
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Registering your software
Heart Buddy is trialware and it cannot be used once the seven day trial period has expired. To avoid losing a great buddy, buy your copy by using the Buy Now option in the HELP menu. If you have already purchased and need help registering, please click here.
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Download Heart Buddy
| Requirements |
| Windows |
| Internet Explorer |
| Found a bug? |
| Help us squash it! Report it using your buddy's HELP menu option |
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