dorado-hd/docs/apps/wordmonger.md

WordMonger

• Official package: WordMonger.exe (wordmonger)
• Corpus: Zune HD Apps (Decompiled)/wordmonger (external, untracked)
• Wave: W4 · Category: games
• Status: todo · Complexity: TBD
• Dorado-HD id: —

Synthesized from the decompiled reference. No Microsoft code, strings, or assets are copied; behavior is re-derived and all content is re-authored.

1. Device behavior (mined)

Assembly	Types	Methods	Source lines
WordMonger.exe	168	1237	30513
Microsoft.Xna.Zune.dll	111	829	15852

• Layered sprite engine on a 320×480 logical canvas scaled to the Zune's 272-wide display (cell 44); 50 Hz logic. Music/SFX run on a worker thread; the name keyboard is the system dialog.
• Settings persist to AppSettings.txt (nickname, volumes); resume state to ResumeState.bin.

2. Screens & navigation

• Boot → main menu (Play, Scores, Rules, Options), each with normal/small variants.
• High-score screen: named local leaderboard plus best-word and word-power stats; name entry/change via keyboard dialog.
• Rules: paged tutorial panels (heading, prev/next, swipe illustration).
• Options: music and SFX volume sliders plus an enable-tutorial toggle.
• In game: board with score/bonus-word/level/time labels sliding in and out, a pause button, and dialogs for level change, resume and game over.

3. Rules, scoring & progression

A timed word-building puzzle on a refilling letter board.

• Board. 7 columns × 7 visible rows of 44 px tiles (49 live tiles); tiles spawn above and fall in. A level transition clears and refills the board.
• Letter distribution. Classic 98-tile English set (E×12, A/I×9, O×8, N/R/T×6, L/S/U/D×4, G×3, B/C/M/P×2, F/H/V/W/Y×2, K/J/X/Q/Z×1) with values 1–10; each level draws 49 + level·7 tiles, shuffles three times, and the tutorial variant seeds F/U/N/O near the draw tail.
• Word building. Tap/drag along a row or column to select a contiguous run; releasing checks it against the dictionary. Valid words play a per-tile flying/refill animation; invalid words buzz and clear. Words play up to 7 letters.
• Dictionary. Packed trie (.dwg, ~40.9k 4-byte nodes) plus a per-word quality-rank table (.rnk, 213,532 entries) and a 478-line bonus-word list. Our own trie/ranks/bonus list replace all three.
• Scoring. raw = Σ letter values; multiplied = Σ value × tile multiplier (12 seeded multiplier cells, ×2/×3/×4); points = multiplied × round(wordQuality), ×4 for the current bonus word. Hattrick: three consecutive accepted words longer than 4 letters doubles the last word's points. Word power and speed power roll as moving averages; longest and best word are tracked.
• Level end (checked only after 15 s): board cleared → +1000 and next level; ≤ 20 tiles and no dictionary word possible → next level; ≤ 20 tiles with fewer than 800 possible words → Rush Mode, a 30 s ticking countdown that forces the next level. A periodic bonus-word timer assigns a word worth ×4; it clears when played or when Rush starts.
• Hazards. A random non-frozen tile can become a bomb (max 4): 30 s fuse with whistle, a WatchOut warning at 18 s, then explosion and run end. Using the bomb tile in a word defuses it. Frozen tiles show padlocks and cannot move; cracked tiles break.
• Swaps and bird. Sliding a row/column segment shifts it one cell (locks block); after 7 swaps a 20 % rocket swaps two arbitrary cells. A chicken flies across at fixed height and drops an egg 4 times in 7; hitting the bird with a moving tile cancels it.
• Persistence. Nickname, volumes and tutorial flag live in AppSettings.txt; ResumeState.bin restores a part-played game; local scores are ranked with the player name.

4. Controls

• Select: tap the first tile and drag across adjacent tiles in a straight line (taps also work); ending the selection on a dictionary word submits it.
• Swap: drag a row or column segment one cell (major axis only; wrong axis buzzes; locks block).
• Menus are touch buttons/sliders; tutorial bubbles gate specific taps until the requested tile is pressed. No accelerometer input; single touch only.

5. Content inventory (must be re-authored)

80 files: 60 .xnb, 10 .spritedef, 7 .wma music tracks, 1 .txt, 1 .dwg, 1 .rnk.

• Corpora to re-author (do not copy): Words/USOSPD4LWL.dwg (packed trie, ~164 KB) + .rnk (~214 KB ranks, 213,532 word entries) + BonusWords.txt (478 lines); we ship our own generated trie, ranks and bonus list.
• Backgrounds (4): game/menu background + frame each.
• Sprite sheets (10 with .spritedef layouts): Sprites (tiles, attachments, rocket, egg, padlock, cracked tile, bomb, archer, bird, gems, particle), CommonSprites, MainMenu/Options/HowToPlay/TutorialPanels, TableImages (score table, crowns), Grobold and Mentone fonts, WordFont letters.
• Audio: 7 music tracks (menu, in-game, timed, options, victory, defeat, high score) and ~23 samples (tile select/deselect, accepted/rejected words, bonus start/end, hattrick, level up, game over, bomb whistle/explosion, rocket, egg, bird clucks, watch-out).

Re-author: token-palette tiles/gems/bombs/bird, synthesized cues and loops, and a trie builder over our own corpus.

6. Implementation plan

• Engine: ui/apps/games/wordmonger/WordmongerEngine.kt — pure Kotlin object over immutable State (board grid, bag, selection, score/stats, level, rush/bonus timers, bombs, bird); fixed step(dt) at 50 Hz with seeded RNG for bag shuffle, bomb/bird rolls and bonus picks; dictionary behind a Lexicon interface (trie + quality) built from our own data.

  object WordmongerEngine {
      fun step(state: State, input: Input, dt: Float): State
  }
  

• Screen: WordmongerScreen.kt in DetailScaffold, portrait Canvas; tile grid, falling animations, attachments (bomb/lock/cracked/egg/gems), labels, dialogs and tutorial bubble — token-driven, zero corner radius.
• Inputs: drag-selection with straight-line locking, segment-swap drags, menu/slider targets, resume prompt.
• Persistence: settings, resume state and local score table via graph.appState, highscores via graph.games; SFX/music via SfxBank.
• Tests (app/src/test/java/com/heretek/dorado_hd/): bag counts and shuffle bounds, dictionary contains/quality, selection validity (axis + contiguity), scoring incl. multipliers/bonus/hattrick, level-end conditions and rush trigger, bomb fuse and defuse, frozen/cracked behavior, swap counting and rocket chance, resume round-trip, local score ranking.

7. Citation log

• WordMonger.exe!Foundation42.Applications.Constants.SetDevice — 320×480 logical canvas, 272 display, cell 44, rush period 30 s, 50 Hz.
• WordMonger.exe!Foundation42.Applications.LetterBag — 26-letter distribution counts/values, 49 + level·7 draw, triple shuffle, tutorial seed letters.
• WordMonger.exe!Foundation42.Applications.WordDictionaryBase.ReadFile — .dwg node dump and .rnk header + rank bytes; 7-char buffer.
• WordMonger.exe!Foundation42.Applications.ScoringSystem.Submit / UpdateScore / GetWordScore — validity, quality/speed power, hattrick, best/longest word, bonus ×4, multiplied-value math.
• WordMonger.exe!Foundation42.Applications.ScoringSystem.CheckEndOfLevel / UpdateRushMode / StartNewLevel / SwapTiles — 15 s gate, +1000 clear bonus, ≤20-tile outcomes, 800-word rush threshold, 30 s expiry, swap counter and 20 % rocket.
• WordMonger.exe!Foundation42.Applications.GameBoard.OnTouchesBegan / OnTouchesMoved / SwapTiles / SubmitWord — selection and swap gestures, submission flow.
• WordMonger.exe!Foundation42.Applications.GameTile.UpdateSprite / IGameHost.BombRandomTile — 30 s fuse, 60 % watch-out, defuse, max 4 bombs, frozen exclusion.
• WordMonger.exe!Foundation42.Applications.GameBoard.BirdFly / DropEgg / CheckBirdHit — bird path, 4/7 egg chance, hit cancel.
• WordMonger.exe!Foundation42.Applications.MultiplerCell / DoLevelChange — 12 multiplier cells, board repopulate and level info panel.
• WordMonger.exe!Foundation42.Applications.GameState / GameOverDialog — score/word-power/level counters, name entry and commit.
• WordMonger.exe!Foundation42.Applications.OptionsScreen — volumes and tutorial toggle.