Minesweeper (Windows, 2007)

Minesweeper
Developers: Oberon Media, Microsoft Publisher: Microsoft Platform: Windows Released internationally: January 30, 2007 This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences.

The 2007 Minesweeper, included with Windows Vista and 7, is a reworked version of the 1990 original with better graphics and some new features.

Other than that, though, it plays exactly the same.

To do: See if more of the options work in the Vista version. This was tested with the Windows 7 version. There's much more to document. A good place to start would be to use Resource Hacker on the game executable and DLLs. There's a few remaining bits of Media Center Minesweeper. Unlike other Vista games, which kept their Media Center versions intact in the game's executable but didn't use them, Media Center Minesweeper was mostly removed apart from a few small bits. Multiple prototypes exist in various Windows Longhorn/Vista beta builds. Gather them up and create a Proto page. Apparently, parts of the "smiley face" button are still present; research this further. There don't seem to be any graphics for it, however.

Debug Menu

By setting the internal g_bDebugEnabled variable to a nonzero value, various aids to debugging are enabled. This value isn't written to by the game, so it must be set manually.

To do: Does the "cheat keys" option have anything to do with the hint/cheat option (available by pressing the H key) available in the other Vista games like Solitaire or Mahjong Titans? Research this further.

The options included in this menu are:

• Toggle Cheat Keys - Doesn't seem to do anything.
• Toggle Show Mines - Shows all the mines on the field, but only after you've begun playing the game.
• Test Text - Doesn't seem to do anything.
• Win - Does exactly as it says; you automatically win the game.

In addition, the game will also allow the player to change the tile and background setting directly through the Game menu.

Regional Differences

Depending on the user's locale, the default is set to mines or flowers. However, this can be changed in the Appearance menu.

XInput Support

An interesting feature that isn't documented anywhere (Help Menu-wise) is XInput (gamepad) support - if the game detects an Xbox 360 controller plugged into a USB port, the P1 corner on the controller will light up, signifying the controller can be used. The controller even rumbles if the player uncovers a mine.

Possibly undocumented because Microsoft thought people were too used to the traditional controls, and a gamepad would seem odd to use. It's a neat little feature, nonetheless.

Controls

Button	Effect
Left Analog Stick/D-Pad/Shoulder Buttons/Triggers	Moves the cursor. Oddly, they can also be used to navigate the menu bar.
X	Puts a flag on wherever the cursor is. When pressing X on a blank space, an error sound plays and the space has a blinking X on it for a second. Oddly, a blank tile that is adjacent to a flagged tile that is a bomb will reveal a blank safe space. Neither of these can be done with a mouse.
A	Reveals the space the cursor is on. Does nothing on a blank space.
Y/Start	Opens the Game Menu.