Scoring variations

Inclusion and scoring of hands and patterns

Certain hands and patterns are almost universally acknowledged by all versions of Mah Jong, but they are often scored slightly differently. On the other hand, nearly all versions of Mah Jong acknowledge hands and patterns that are not accepted in other rules.

Four Winds recognizes over 250 scoring patterns and over 100 different limit and special hands. You can fully customize the scoring of all hands and patterns, separately for the winner and losers. To exclude an individual hand or pattern, simply set its scoring value to zero.

To edit the scoring, you must first quit the game in progress (if applicable) and then choose or create a customized rule preset. Then choose Sets and patterns or Limit & Special Hands under the Scoring section in the category tree of the Preferences dialog box, choose the Winner or Losers radio button at the top of the page, choose the desired category from the Category list, and double click the item in the Scoring list the value of which you want to edit.
You can use points, fu, doubles, faan, han or % of Limit as the unit for scoring (except for the Basic points category, where only the points or fu unit can be used). The available units vary according to the chosen scoring system. For the Mangan scoring system, the available units are han and % of Limit. For the Faan-Laak scoring system, the available units are faan, points (refers to auxiliary points used e.g. in IMS and MMM versions of Mah Jong) and % of Limit. For double-based systems, you can use points, doubles and % of Limit as a unit.
If you use % of Limit as the unit, or if you use the points unit and a scoring value equal or higher than the current limit (or specify an option which forces a "direct count"), the most valuable of such patterns is used and scoring for all other patterns is ignored. Also, if the scoring for a single pattern exceeds the limit, the specified scoring determines directly the final score (and is not cut down to limit points; if a settling table is used, it is bypassed when the points are specified in the % of Limit unit).
Note: Four Winds automatically selects the best possible scoring plan. E.g., should the hand include more than one patterns which are to be counted directly, the best one is selected (or both are included and added together, if multiple Limit hands are allowed – see below). A directly counted final score is also compared with the final score achieved by calculating the scoring values of components, and if the latter method produces a better final score, that is used, instead of the direct count method.
Certain patterns have additional options. To see the description of the effects of the additional options, select the item in the Scoring list and press F1.
Not all combinations and scoring assignments make sense in all rule versions. E.g., if your customized rule preset uses a Faan-Laak scoring system, you would not normally assign faan scoring for items in the Basic points category, though Four Winds does not prevent you from doing so. For more information about the logic of the scoring system, click the related link below.

Options specific to Sets and Patterns

For certain patterns based on Chows and Pungs you can specify a separate scoring for the case the pattern is concealed or when it appears in a "weakly" concealed hand (allowing the winning tile to be a discard). To select the mode, choose an option from the drop-down-list box below the Scoring list (visible, when an appropriate item is selected in the Scoring list). Notice that for items in the Patterns based on the whole hand category, "concealed" refers to the hand being "weakly" concealed (allowing the winning tile to be a discard).
When you specify scoring for losers, check For ready hands only box, if the points for the selected scoring item should be paid only if loser's hand is ready (or cleared). "Ready" in this context means that the hand needs just one tile to go out, but is otherwise in all respects a legal winning hand (note that ready declaration is not needed). E.g., if minimum point requirement is used, the hand, if it were completed, must be such that it meets this requirement. (If you wish, you can enable an exception, which ignores the minimum point requirement when the ready state of the losers' hands is examined.) If For ready hands only option is not used, the bonus for the selected scoring item is paid without considering the "shape" of the hand. E.g., a loser could be paid for One suit and Honors without having a single set completed, as long as the hand contains only Dragons, Winds and tiles from only one suit.

Options specific to Limit and Special Hands

For items specified in points, check the Count directly box to specify that the points should be calculated directly (the option is automatically checked if the specified value exceeds the value of limit points). In this case all other scoring items are excluded from the point calculation and the specified scoring determines directly the final score (if there are several such patterns, normally the most valuable is chosen and all other patterns are ignored, but it is possible to allow these scores to be cumulative – see below the option Allow multiple limit hands). If this option is not used, the points are calculated cumulatively so that scoring for the non-implied components of the hand are added to the specified points. For items that are specified in the doubles, faan or han unit the points are automatically calculated cumulatively, and for items that are specified in the % of Limit unit, the points are automatically calculated directly (if a settling table is used, it is bypassed).
For most hands (excluding the ones in the Classical, Pairs and Special ways of going out categories, and few other), you can use the Allow melded option to allow a hand to contain melded sets before the hand is completed. If not checked, only the winning tile can be claimed. Note that in regular hands, concealed Kongs (type of Kongs specified as concealed on the General option page of the Rules section), are always allowed, if applicable for the hand, and not specifically forbidden. In irregular hands, to be considered as concealed, Kongs are never allowed.
Note: Normally irregular hands are required to be concealed but e.g., French, Australian and American rules allow certain irregular hands to contain melded sets. Note that the melding rules are governed by the shape of the hand. E.g., in so called gate hands, which normally require terminal triplets, you cannot acquire any of the needed terminals by claiming Chows. Melded Chows, however, can be used to collect sequences (e.g., if a series of tiles from 2 to 8 from the same suit is needed, it is possible to have a melded Chow of the tiles 3-4-5 and have the remaining tiles (2, 6, 7 and 8) in hand.
If melded sets are allowed, you can use the Double if concealed option to double the specified scoring, if the hand goes out concealed (winning tile can be taken from a discard). These kinds of assignments are sometimes used in Western Mah Jong.
You can enable scoring for multiple limit hands by checking the Allow multiple limit hands box. E.g., if All Honors scores 1600% of the Limit and Three Great Scholars scores 1600% of the Limit, the hand would score a total of 3200% of the Limit, and scoring for any other pattern is ignored. If the option is not used, the final score of a hand containing multiple limit hand patterns is determined by the highest scoring pattern.
Note: The option has effect only on patterns, which are counted directly (i.e., those specified with % of Limit scoring unit or marked to be counted directly). For any other hand and pattern the highest possible final score is determined either by the Limit, or by the highest value of a settling table (Mangan and Faan-Laak scoring systems).

Tip: To quickly assign a winner item the scoring of 100% of the Limit, double click the item while holding down the CTRL key. To quickly assign a loser item the scoring of the equivalent winner item, double click the loser item while holding down the CTRL key.

Procedures:
Creating and managing custom rule presets
Printing scoring items
Renaming scoring items
Resetting the names of scoring items