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.

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. Create sub-page for the 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 of this game exist in various Windows Longhorn/Vista Beta builds, collect all of them and create a Prototypes sub-page. Apparently parts of the "smiley face" button are still included in this game, research this further. There does not seem to be any graphics for it, however.

The 2007 version of Minesweeper included with Windows Vista and 7 is a reworked version of the original with better graphics and some new features. Other than that, though, it plays exactly the same.

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 have 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. 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. Something of interest to note, the controller rumbles if the player uncovers a mine.

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.