How to get started with Puzzle Maker Pro - Wordoku
Puzzle Maker Pro - Wordoku is a puzzle maker that creates word puzzles based on the sudoku puzzle rules.
Wordoku Products
This tutorial applies to Puzzle Maker Pro - Wordoku and Puzzle Maker - Pro Variations
Overview
The screenshot shows the starting view when you switch to Wordoku in Puzzle Maker Pro:
- The Puzzle Type shows whether or not you have a license for Wordoku. You can find details on the Info tab (4)
- Wordoku comes in several sizes. The default size is 9x9, based on the regular 9x9 Sudoku grid. If you have the Wordoku Variations module, you can also choose 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8 grids, for 4, 6 and 8 letter words.
- Difficulty Levels: these depend on the grid size, and have been derived from the regular sudoku difficulty levels that are used in our Sudoku modules. Please note that wordoku puzzles are actually a bit easier, because you can also guess the word itself. (For example, if you have N . . D, and the remaining letters are E and R, you can 'guess' the word NERD. This is not possible in regular sudoku puzzles.
- Wordoku tabs: Word List, Word Styling, Grid Styling and Info. The Info tab displays the licenses and options you have available.
- The word list / word list file selection (see below)
- Buttons to Create puzzles or create a Next Preview. "Create" will create and save puzzles for each word in the word list. "Next Preview" creates one single puzzle and displays it in the Preview panel (7). This enables you to test styling and other settings before actually creating puzzles. To switch between puzzle and solution preview, check/uncheck the "Preview Solution" box at the bottom right.
Word List Options
You can either type a list of words, or select "Word List File" and select a file that has a list of words. The latter makes it easier to reuse word lists.
- The word list should be created as a plain text file with extension .txt (for example with notepad). Copying a list of words from MS Excel or MS Word may work, but it's best to verify that no additional characters (tabs etc) are included
- Each word should only have different letters, otherwise it will be skipped when puzzles are generated
- Each word should be on a separate line, and have the right number of letters (4, 6, 8 or 9, depending on the Wordoku size)
- Optionally you can add a puzzle title, which should be separated from the word by a colon ":". For example "publisher:occupation". The word "publisher" will be used for the puzzle. "occupation" will be added to the title if you create an Instant Puzzle Book. (If you don't create Instant Puzzle Books, the additional word will not be used)
- There will be a file "Skipped Words [date-time].txt in the Puzzles folder that has a list of words that could not be used for a puzzle.
Word Styling Options
The Word Styling tab allows you to determine the position of the word in the puzzle, and to set up font and color of the word.
Word Location
You can choose whether the word should be placed Horizontally, Vertically or Randomly. You can also specify the exact position - which row or column to use. For "Random", there's a 50/50 chance of the word being placed horizontally or vertically, and the position (row/column) is also determined randomly.
Font and Color
You can change the font for the letters in the puzzle by clicking the white panel that shows the font preview (in the screenshot that's the Loveday font. You can change the font, the font color, and also change the positioning (vertically and horizontally). Changing the position may be needed because not all fonts are centered on the baseline properly. Additionally, the position may appear off when you use uppercase instead of lowercase.
Grid Styling Options
The Grid Styling tab allows you to set the canvas color (cell background), and the width (weight) and color for the different lines:
- Cell Border: the line around each single cell / square / letter
- Region Border: the line around the 3x3 box / region (or 2x2, 2x3 or 2x4 box)
- Outer Border: the thicker lines around the entire puzzle
Further Reading
If this is your first Puzzle Maker Pro module, there's a set of tutorials that cover the generic features of Puzzle Maker Pro: Puzzle Maker Pro Tutorial Overview