Hong Kong(FDS) FAQ/Walkthrough
version 1.0.0 by [email protected]

Please do not reproduce for profit without my consent. You won't be getting
much profit anyway, but that's not the point. This took time and effort, and
I just wanted to save a memory of an old game and the odd solutions any way I
could. Please send me an email referring to me and this guide by name if
you'd like to post it on your site.

================================

           OUTLINE

 1. INTRODUCTION

 2. CONTROLS AND POINTS

 3. VERSIONS AND STRATEGIES

 4. CHEATS

 5. VERSIONS

 6. CREDITS

================================

 1. INTRODUCTION

Hong Kong is a solitaire game consisting of 7 different tiles on a variety of
different boards. You have 26*26*26 possibilities and can pick the seed
number for the board you wish to play. You can even construct your own
boards. The tiles are placed like bricks, each one potentially half touching
two tiles below. If both bottom tiles/squares are removed before the top one,
a piece falls and you lose the game. You get points based on how many pieces
surround any piece you pull, and you must pull tile types in a certain
cyclical order. So there is a touch of strategy about the game and enough
randomness to make it interesting.

I don't know how the game creates levels, and whether it works from the
bottom up to ensure there is a solution. I suspect that every level has a
solution because of the way the save states get populated as I start a game--
the map area of memory fills up from bottom to top, and the squares filled
branch off.

You, however, can write programs to solve the various games, or if you know
disassembly to figure the algorithms, I'd be interested. You could even write
a program, based on the cheats below. But the game's point scheme often
allows for someone to calculate whether it would be better to grab the points
now or later.

I would like to thank the site
http://www.delphiforfun.org/programs/knights_tour.htm for informing me about
the Warnsdorf's Heuristic(play the most restrictive move and see what
happens) and how it can be effective in looking practically into situations
such as what we have here. I didn't write a program to see how to do this,
but I planned it out, and it added a level of interest to the game.

 2. CONTROLS AND POINTS

CONTROLS:

A sends you through the menus and B backs you up. You have options such as
time(no limit, 10/5/3 minutes) and board style.

Select kills the game.

Move the hand around until it is over a piece. Then hit A. If the move is
invalid, the game will buzz, and if you push A again, the structure will
collapse, and it is game over.

Move the hand to "back" to take back a move. You have 10 of them at first.

Move the hand to "hint" and push A to see all moves. This is a handy way to
check if, indeed, you have any moves left.

POINTS:

Let x=the number of tiles around a piece. Add 2 if the piece is in the bottom
row. Then

points = 5 * (2^x) unless x=1, then points = 20.

You get a picture of a dragon bird if you win, but no bonus, so you can just
play for points.

Construction is not too difficult. You can get a variety of starting
formations, and you cannot place or remove any tiles such that you would have
an illegal structure. Button A toggles if a piece is there, and the game
tracks the total number of tiles.

     x x x x x x x
    x x x x x x x x
     x x x x x x x
    x x x x x x x x
   x x x x x x x x x
  x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Maximum tiles = 137

 3. VERSIONS AND STRATEGIES

In general, you want to play directly for points instead of trying to
complete the board. In fact, even if you are about to complete the board, it
is worthwhile to pick off tiles on the bottom when you can, for the extra
points they give you.

It helps to write down/remember the order of the pieces. And it helps to
look, after each round of 6, to see which pieces are endangered or only have
one solution. You can use the hint feature to see how many moves you have
left. Then figure a way to get to another piece that is in trouble, because
if you put too many pieces of one type under unstable towers, that is your
roadblock.

Retrograde analysis(ie building something up) works well too. You can tell
this by the first seven moves. However, you will also need to take into
account how many tiles there are to know what the final tile--the one that
starts the retrograde analysis--is.

One sample game might have the tiles

1)

--+--
 |
--+--
 |
 +
/ \
/   \

2)

----+----
   |
+---+---+
|   |   |
|   +-+ |

3)

 -----
  | |
-------
|     |
|     |
-------

4)

\ || /
\||/
 ||
/  \
/    \

5) blank

6) shock headed thing

7) red box and line

There may be a different starting piece, but this is the order.

Game 1:

           x
          x x
         x y x
        x x x x
       x y x y x
      x x x x x x
     x y x y x y x
    x x x x x x x x
   x y x y x y x y x
  x x x x x x x x x x
 x y x y x y x y x y x
x x x x x x x x x x x x
x y x y x y x y x y x y x

Total tiles = 91

You can get 21 at most of the 320-point tiles if you start at the bottom row,
identify what you can pick off, and move up. This probably won't be the case,
but you can tackle a lot along the way. In fact, the best strategy is
probably to start as high up as you can and work your way down. Hit the y's
when you can, but move to the left or right when necessary. Once you've
picked off the top y, start working your way down. From then on you have a
lot of 160's you can pick off. Do so.

I get about 7000 with picking stuff off top to bottom and up to 8000 trying
for a balanced approach of solving the game and getting a few 320's. But the
best-square approach nets ~9000. You may wind up with a lot of the board
left, but you got a lot of points per piece.

If you wish to extend the game, try to leave tall towers when you can and
just concentrate on the small bundles. you will never hack through the tall
towers, and it won't get many points anyway, but if you manage to pick off
stuff on the sides, you're doing okay. When you get these long tendrils, try
to keep different pieces on top of them.

Game 2:

x y x y x y x
x x x x x x
 x y x y x
  x x x x
   x y x
    x x
     x
    x x
   x y x
  x x x x
 x y x y x
x x x x x x
x y x y x y x

Total tiles = 55

This is a hard one with the hourglass in the center, and as I see it you have
very little chance of making it all the way down. So again, capture the 320's
and do what you can.

Game 3:

       x x x x x
      x x x x x x
     x y x y x y x
    x x x x x x x x
   x y x y x y x y x
  x x x x x x x x x x
x x y x y x y x y x y x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x
x y x y x y x y x y x y x
x x x x x x x x x x x x
x y x y x y x y x y x y x
x x x x x x x x x x x x
x y x y x y x y x y x y x

Total tiles = 133

The pieces sticking out on the edges will help you survive for a while, but
until then you have a great opportunity to keep picking off y's. You can also
pick stuff off the top waiting for the right square to appear in a y.

Game 4:

    x x x x x x x
     x x x x x x
      x y x y x
   x   x x x x   x
  x x   x y x   x x
 x y x   x x   x y x
x x x x   x   x x x x
x y x y x x x x y x y x
x x x x   x   x x x x
 x y x   x x   x y x
  x x   x y x   x x
   x   x x x x   x
  x x x y x y x x x

Total tiles = 99

Lots of side areas to work at here and obviously there are some tiles you can
save for emergencies. You probably can't take out the top funnel, and again,
you aren't trying for completion here. Note that although you have an extra
row for getting 320s, there is no real advantage to clearing out the lower as
opposed to the upper.

Game 5:

     x
    x x
   x y x
  x x x x
 x y x y x
x x x x x x
x y x y x y x
x x x x x x
 x y x y x
  x x x x
   x y x
    x x
     x

Total tiles = 49

Nothing too fancy here. Again, you will probably wind up with a bottleneck at
the bottom, and things will get impossible in the end, but until then you can
pick off 320s and create long winding towers.

Game 6:

     x x x x x
    x x x x x x
   x   x   x   x
  x x x x x x x x
 x x   x   x   x x
x x x x x x x x x x
x   x   x   x   x   x
x x x x x x x x x x
 x x   x   x   x x
  x x x x x x x x
   x   x   x   x
    x x x x x x
     x y x y x

Total tiles = 84

You have a bunch of linchpins every other row, so it is probably best to play
as before, taking out the 320's when you can and then picking off tiles to
make narrow tendrils upwards.


Game 7:

       x x y x x
      x   x x   x
     x     x     x
    x y   x x   y x
   x x x x   x x x x
  x   x y x x y x   x
 x     x x   x x     x
  x   x y x x y x   x
 x y x   x y x   x y x
  x x     x x     x x
 x   x   x   x   x   x
x     x x     x x     x
x       x       x       x

Total tiles = 79

Not many nexuses here for 320 so you have to settle for the 160's.
Unfortunately you also have to recognize that, even though you can get a
bunch of long towers that you can pick from, you will probably eventually get
trapped where you can't move out of them, so you might as well grab what
points you can early on, since you won't get many picking off towers.

Game 8:

     x     x     x
      x   x x   x
       x x   x x
        x     x
   x   x x   x x   x
    x x   x x   x x
x     x     x     x     x
x   x x   x x   x x   x
 x x   x x   x x   x x
  x     x     x     x
 x x   x x   x x   x x
x   x x   x x   x x   x
x     x     x     x     x

Total tiles = 71

The best strategy here is probably to try and solve the thing. You don't have
chances for big points with any one tile. You also need to be careful about
what is left at the tops of the towers, and you also need to use the
crisscross bits(the 2 tiles together linking long UL or UR diagonals that you
can pull and not collapse what's above) carefully. A good way to work through
this is to picture how you would rebuild this structure with the moves given
to you and go backwards from there. Always keep a good variety of tiles at
the top of the towers and it is possible to win.

Game 9:

     x x x x x x x
    x   x x x x   x
     x   x x x   x
    x   x x x x   x
   x   x   x   x   x
  x   x   x x   x   x
 x   x     x     x   x
x   x x   x x   x x   x
x   x x     x     x x   x
x   x x   x x   x x   x
x     x x   x   x x     x
x   x x   x x   x x   x
x   x x     x     x x   x

Total tiles = 85

More of the same. You have a few mulligans with the pairs of tiles down the
center and to the near side, but it is best to work on the top as soon as
possible. You have 13 squares for when the center/side bits are unavailable,
and that should be good enough. However, you may not even be able to afford
the luxury of a 320 at the start. You want to keep the sides as balanced as
possible so that you have one more square to choose from as you work your way
down.

Game 10:

x   x x   x x
x x   x x   x
x   x x   x x
x x   x x   x
x   x x   x x
x x   x x   x
x   x x   x x
x x   x x   x
x   x x   x x
x x   x x   x
x   x x   x x
x x   x x   x
x   x x   x x

Total tiles = 65

The only way to work down is to make sure that you do not have 2 of the same
type of tile visible at the same time, or if you do, you can work around it
quickly. You may need to work from the bottom up to get through this level,
and then there may be no solution.

If you use save games, use them where you have a choice between 2 tiles to
choose. Most of the time you will probably only have one. Some planning ahead
may work here, but you can also work back from the bottom and maybe meet your
plans in the middle.

 4. CHEATS

The board in Hong Kong is set up as follows:

00 = used space that had tile
01-07 = pieces
ff = unused tile

1st row (13 wide) starts at 0x423
2nd row (12 wide) starts at 0x432
..
13th row 0x441
13th row 0x450
13th row 0x45f
13th row 0x46e
13th row 0x47d
13th row 0x48c
13th row 0x49b
13th row 0x4aa
13th row 0x4b9
13th row 0x4c8
13th row 0x4d7
0xf spacing all the way down to the 13th row.

0x40a/0x40b = low/high bytes of your score
0x7e4 = minutes used
0x7e5 = seconds used
0x7b2 = takebacks

End of FAQ Proper

================================

 5. VERSIONS

1.0.0: sent to GameFAQs 12/24/2007, complete

 6. CREDITS

Thanks to the usual GameFAQs gang, current and emeritus. They know who they
are, and you should, too, because they get/got some SERIOUS writing done.
Good people too--bloomer, falsehead, Sashanan, Masters, Retro, Snow
Dragon/Brui5ed Ego, ZoopSoul, War Doc, Brian Sulpher, AdamL, odino, JDog and
others I forgot. OK, even Hydrophant in his current not-yet-banned message
board incarnation. I am not part of his gang, but I want him to be part of
mine.
Thanks to odino for suggesting this game to me. It was fun to play and
analyze.
Thanks to the NES completion project people for keeping it going strong
enough that I could explore these side passages like the FDS and still know
there was a project to go back to.

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