Talk:Microsoft Mahjong

message: Well, I did a bit of work on this page, and I think it can claim a rating something above a stub. Agreements? Comments?
Pcboy 15:51, 11 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Clean-up... 

message: I was unable to find an explanation of the scoring system in this game anywhere.. and so the following is probably original research, and shouldn't be included in the article; i fixed the statement in the article which said that a good score was determined by a fast time, but in fact score and time are not related at all. Hopefully the following paints a complete picture.
When clearing two tiles, each tile has a value assigned to it (1, 2, 3..), and you get the sum of those two values added to your score. The value of each tile is a measure of how many tiles were cleared to get to it. An exact description will be given below. A way to get extra points is when you clear two sets of identical tiles consecutively (e.g. two red dragons followed by two red dragons) then the second set is worth double what it would normally be (this is mentioned in the article as well). 
===Multipliers===
But the way to get really high scores (i.e. 1000+) is to use the bigger multipliers given by the N,E,S,W tiles and the season and flower tiles. For scoring purposes, all the N,E,S,W tiles are equivalent to each other, and all of the season and flower tiles are equivalent. So if you clear multiple pairs of N,E,S,W tiles, the multipliers go 1,4,8,16,16,16,16,16 (there are eight pairs of these tiles, and it is possible to clear them all consecutively). For example, say you clear two North tiles, then they are worth their normal value mentioned above and described below. If this is followed by two South tiles, say, then the South tiles will be worth 4 times what they would normally be worth.. followed by, say, two W tiles, they would be worth 8 times, etc. Similarly for seasons and flowers.. two flowers followed by two season tiles would give you 4 times the points of the season tiles. 
===Tile values===
Any tile that can be cleared at the beginning of the game is worth 1 point. For every tile cleared horizontally to get to a tile, 1 is added to its value, and for every tile cleared on top of it, 1 is added to its value. For example, consider the 5 tiles at the beginning of a game:
   
 A B C D E 
    
A and E are always worth 1 point. If A is cleared, then B cleared, then B is worth 2. If C is then cleared it is worth 3, and if D is then cleared it is worth 4. But if E was initially cleared instead of A, then D would be worth 2 (=1+1) instead of 4 (=1+3). In fact, if all tiles other than D were cleared, then D would be worth 5 (=1+3+1). Similarly, if all but C were cleared, it would be worth 5 (=1+2+2). An interesting twist is that if A, B and E were cleared, and then C and D were cleared simultaneously, then they would each be worth 5. So the maximum score for this arrangement of tiles would be 14, while the minimum would be 11. If, for example, these 5 tiles had been buried by one layer of tiles above, then 1 would be added to all their scores. This description comes with the following exception: any tile whose left or right edge is exposed at the top at the beginning of the game, (even if it is buried under other tiles) is always worth 1 point. 
For example, in the Turtle puzzle, on the right side in the middle we have:
 ... A
 
 ... B E
         G H   
 ... C F
 
 ... D
Where E and F are blocked by G and H. Here A,D and H are worth 1 (because they can be cleared at the start), G will be worth 2 (since one tile is needed to be cleared on its right), E will be worth 1 (because its upper right corner is exposed) and F will be worth 3 (because it is blocked by two tiles, and the exception doesn't apply since both upper corners were covered at the beginning of the game), B and C are both worth 4 (since 3 tiles need to be cleared to get to each of them). Strictly speaking, if one were to clear the tiles on B and C's left instead of right, then they would be worth 12 (since there are 11 tiles blocking them on the left). Of course one would need to clear more than 11 tiles, because many of those 11 are buried under stacks.. but this extra effort doesn't affect the value of the tiles.
I hope this clears up any questions. I can't help but think that this strange exception, regarding whether the upper left or right side of a tile is exposed at the beginning, is in some way not what was intended by the programmers.. 82.6.96.74 (talk) 14:59, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  scoring explained 

message: Any tile that can be cleared at the beginning of the game is worth 1 point. For every tile cleared horizontally to get to a tile, 1 is added to its value, and for every tile cleared on top of it, 1 is added to its value. For example, consider the 5 tiles at the beginning of a game:
   
 A B C D E 
    
A and E are always worth 1 point. If A is cleared, then B cleared, then B is worth 2. If C is then cleared it is worth 3, and if D is then cleared it is worth 4. But if E was initially cleared instead of A, then D would be worth 2 (=1+1) instead of 4 (=1+3). In fact, if all tiles other than D were cleared, then D would be worth 5 (=1+3+1). Similarly, if all but C were cleared, it would be worth 5 (=1+2+2). An interesting twist is that if A, B and E were cleared, and then C and D were cleared simultaneously, then they would each be worth 5. So the maximum score for this arrangement of tiles would be 14, while the minimum would be 11. If, for example, these 5 tiles had been buried by one layer of tiles above, then 1 would be added to all their scores. This description comes with the following exception: any tile whose left or right edge is exposed at the top at the beginning of the game, (even if it is buried under other tiles) is always worth 1 point. 
For example, in the Turtle puzzle, on the right side in the middle we have:
 ... A
 
 ... B E
         G H   
 ... C F
 
 ... D
Where E and F are blocked by G and H. Here A,D and H are worth 1 (because they can be cleared at the start), G will be worth 2 (since one tile is needed to be cleared on its right), E will be worth 1 (because its upper right corner is exposed) and F will be worth 3 (because it is blocked by two tiles, and the exception doesn't apply since both upper corners were covered at the beginning of the game), B and C are both worth 4 (since 3 tiles need to be cleared to get to each of them). Strictly speaking, if one were to clear the tiles on B and C's left instead of right, then they would be worth 12 (since there are 11 tiles blocking them on the left). Of course one would need to clear more than 11 tiles, because many of those 11 are buried under stacks.. but this extra effort doesn't affect the value of the tiles.
I hope this clears up any questions. I can't help but think that this strange exception, regarding whether the upper left or right side of a tile is exposed at the beginning, is in some way not what was intended by the programmers.. 82.6.96.74 (talk) 14:59, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Tile values

message: Question: Anyone know whether this game is included in Win7RC1, or whether it will still be installed after I upgrade from Vista? 207.67.51.182 (talk) 22:37, 28 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Windows 7 RC1 

message: What is the name of the Mahjong Titans program? example: blank.exe GoPeter452 (talk) 14:16, 9 January 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  name