Computer Life 1995 June

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BASSTOUR Version 2.5 A fishing tournament game By Dick Olsen A Few Words About ShareWare.... BASSTOUR is made available to the general public under the concept of ShareWare. As such, you are free to copy it and distribute it to others provided that all accompanying files are distributed intact and unmodified, and that no fee is charged. The author retains ALL rights to the program. You are encouraged try the program for a reasonable period of time to see if you like it. If it proves to be enjoyable, please consider supporting the efforts of the author by sending a small contribution to the address shown below. Once you have done so, you are considered "registered", and can expect a prompt reply to correspondence. Once registered, you will also receive the latest version of BASSTOUR if the version you have is not the newest. In any correspondence regarding BASSTOUR, please be SURE to specify the following information: * What version of BASSTOUR you have * What brand and model computer you have * How much memory your machine has * The disks your machine has (hard, 2 floppies etc.) * What kind of video card your machine has * Any other type of cards your machine has To register your copy of BASSTOUR, send a $10.00 donation along with the registration form at the end of this document to the author: Richard Olsen 68 Hartwell Ave. Littleton, MA. 01460 Introduction BASSTOUR is a fishing tournament game in which you have complete control of a fully rigged bass boat. You control where it goes, and how it gets there. Your bass boat has all of the latest accessories, including a trolling motor, LCD chart recorder, a rod box containing six different fishing rods, and a fully stocked tackle box we would all be proud to own. The object of the game is to catch the heaviest five fish limit on each of three days of the tournament. The fisherman with the highest total weight wins the tournament. As in real fishing, it's not always easy! Each day of the tournament allows you to fish for six hours. Just about everything you do takes time. Changing lures consumes time. So does turning on your LCD recorder. Moving your boat takes longer if you use the trolling motor than if you use the outboard motor. On the other hand, the outboard motor consumes gasoline while the trolling motor uses battery power. You make the trade offs. You must bring your boat back to the weigh in area before the six hour fishing day has elapsed and have your fish weighed in. Here is a brief explanation of the situation: You are a professional bass tournament fisherman. You have complete control of a fully rigged bass boat. You control every aspect of the boat, just as if it were real. You face the same problems a real fisherman encounters during a bass tournament. If you're not careful, accidents can occur that cost you time, possibly some cash, and if severe enough, the tournament. You decide where you will fish, what type rod you'll use and what kind of bait. Fish the open water with a crankbait or work the stumps with a plastic worm. Locate a drop off with your LCD graph and rip a Rat-L-Trap if you want. Maybe you'll win the daily lunker award or set a new record for the lake! What You Need To Run BASSTOUR BASSTOUR requires an IBM PC or compatible computer with at least 512k of memory. BASSTOUR will run with either an EGA, CGA or Hercules compatible video system. You can run BASSTOUR from a floppy disk or from a hard disk. If you are lucky enough to have a VGA card and monitor, BASSTOUR will run fine on it also. If you have a mouse on your computer, you can use it to play BASSTOUR, although it is not necessary. It is highly recommended that you make a backup copy of your BASSTOUR diskette. Use the backup copy, and store the original diskette in a safe place. Beginning with version 2.0 of BASSTOUR, one command line option is supported. This command line option allows you to force BASSTOUR to run in one of the three video modes, EGA, CGA, or Hercules. In most instances, you will not need to specify which video mode since BASSTOUR can detect what kind of video system your computer has. There are a few types of EGA cards that BASSTOUR cannot detect however. If your computer has an EGA card, but BASSTOUR will not detect it, you can force it to run in EGA mode anyway. To do this, use the command line shown below when you want to run BASSTOUR: BASSTOUR -e You can also use a -h for Hercules or a -c for CGA. If you simply type BASSTOUR, the program will choose the best mode it can. How To Run BASSTOUR From A Floppy Disk If your computer does not have a hard disk, at the DOS prompt, insert the distribution diskette into drive A: and simply type BASSTOUR <enter>. After a few seconds, the title screen will appear. You will be asked to answer a few questions before the game starts. If your computer does have a hard disk, but you still want to run BASSTOUR from your floppy disk, insert the distribution diskette into drive A: and type A:<enter> at the DOS prompt, then type BASSTOUR <enter>. Be sure that you leave the diskette in the drive while you are playing, and that it is NOT write protected. If you get real lucky, and catch a record sized fish, BASSTOUR will try to save your record catch on the disk. If the disk isn't there, or if it's write protected, BASSTOUR may halt, waiting for the disk to be available. How To Run BASSTOUR From A Hard Disk To run BASSTOUR from your hard disk, first it must be installed. The distribution diskette has a batch file on it called "BTINSTAL.BAT" that will do this for you. To run this installation file, first insert the distribution diskette into drive A:. Then type A:BTINSTAL. The installation file will create a directory on your hard disk called BTOUR. Then it will copy all of the files from the floppy disk to the hard disk. After all of the files have been copied, the message "installation completed..." will appear on your screen. Once this message has appeared, BASSTOUR can be run at any time by just typing BT<enter>. The Program BASSTOUR has three levels of play; Novice, Intermediate and Pro. In each of these levels, you are a professional bass fisherman participating in a three day tournament. Each of the days represents six hours of fishing, and you must weigh in your fish at the designated weigh in area before the end of the day's fishing. If you fail to weigh in before the six hours have elapsed, all of the fish in your live well are released, and you receive no credit for them. The total weight of your fish is accumulated at the end of each day of the tournament, and the current standings are posted. At the end of the third day, the final standings and the winnings are posted. In Novice level, the fish are very easy to catch, and it's easy to finish in the money. Intermediate level requires a bit more searching and lure experimenting to fill your live well with decent sized fish. Pro level is just plain tough! The fish are more selective and harder to locate. In Pro mode, just as in reality, it can be pretty hard to catch your limit. In fact, it's not unusual to fish an entire day of the tournament without catching a legal fish. You'll need to be more alert to your current situation. The weather is important. Your boat may drift if it's windy, and you may end up stuck somewhere preventing you from making the weigh in time. Each fishing area has a record for the largest fish caught at that area. If, during the course of the tournament, you catch a fish that is larger than the current record, a small ceremony will ensue and you will be established as the new record holder for that particular lake or river. The records are kept in a file called LAKERECS.TXT on your disk, and the current record fish for each of the fishing areas can be viewed at any time. Included on the BASSTOUR disk is a backup file of the LAKERECS.TXT file. This file is called LAKERECS.BAK. It is a duplicate of the LAKERECS.TXT file as originally supplied with BASSTOUR. It is not kept up to date with the LAKERECS.TXT file. Its only purpose is to provide a means of resetting all records to their original values. If for some reason you want to reset your records, use the DOS Copy command to copy the .BAK file. The Boat Your boat is equipped with a trolling motor, an LCD chart recorder, 20 gallons of gasoline, batteries, a rod box, a tackle box, various emergency and safety devices, a live well, an anchor and of course a powerful outboard motor. As with a real bass boat, you need to exercise care and good judgment in the use of this equipment. Time is your biggest enemy, with the constant threat of obstacles such as stumps and rocks, running out of gasoline or killing your batteries contributing to your problems. As if all of these things weren't enough, there are other boats in the area to contend with. As in a real fishing situation, these other boats sometimes seem to be piloted by inconsiderate people; they hog fishing areas or crowd you. Sometimes they spook fish or even cause accidents! The Fishing Areas Included on your BASSTOUR disk are six different bodies of water that you can fish. When the title screen appears, the names of the six fishing areas will be listed. To pick an area, just enter the corresponding area number. Once you have selected the area, it remains selected throughout the three day tournament. Each fishing area is unique in itself. Every time you start a new day of fishing, the location of the fish will be different, and their sizes will vary greatly. Additionally, every time the game is started, the depths on a particular lake will vary. When fishing, it is wise to keep a check on the time remaining, the charge level of your batteries, and how much gasoline you have left. You must weigh in your fish before the time has expired. In order to weigh in your fish, you must be close to the weigh in area. The weigh in area on each lake is signified by a yellow flag, usually near where your boat is placed when the tournament begins. If your computer has a CGA or Hercules video system, the weigh in area will be signified by a flag with a black X in it. On EGA systems, your boat is the light blue (cyan) colored boat, while in Hercules or CGA systems, your boat is the solid colored one. In all cases, your boat starts each day of the tournament adjacent to the weigh in flag. The Fish After the lake has been drawn on the screen, the program decides where fish should be placed. As in real fishing, bass seem to like to be in or near some sort of cover. Stumps, rocks, lily pads etc. will usually hold the most fish. Fish also seem to congregate along humps or drop offs elsewhere on the lake. Boat docks, moored boats and weeds are also good places to look. Fish can also be caught in the middle of the lake. Each fish has its own unique personality, which determines how easy the fish is to catch. Fish have an aggression factor assigned to them, as well as lure type and color preferences. If a fish is very aggressive, it will usually strike almost any type or color of bait. Mildly aggressive fish are more selective. Sometimes fish will cluster in an area, so it's a good idea to cover an area of the lake thoroughly because several fish can be caught in the same place at times. If you catch a decent fish in an area, it's wise to make several casts to the same general area since fish of similar size often stick together. In Intermediate and especially Pro modes, lure choice and color are important. You can cover an area completely without catching any fish, then change bait types or colors and catch fish after fish in the area you just covered. The program typically places about 2000 in a lake. If your computer is an XT type, it may take several seconds for the fish to be placed. When the small timer window appears, you're ready to start. The potential exists to catch an 18 lb. plus fish on each lake. The Opponents In any of the skill levels, you are fishing against 30 of the top names in bass tournament fishing. Although it's quite easy to win the tournament if you are fishing in Novice or even Intermediate mode, Pro mode is quite another story. These guys you're fishing against are the best. They got to be the best by being consistent. In Pro mode, it's not unusual to weigh in 18 or 20 pounds of fish, and not make the top ten! The Equipment * Trolling Motor ( F2 or T ) The trolling motor is raised or lowered by pressing the F2 key or by pressing 'T'. If the trolling motor is down, pressing F2 (or T) will raise it. If the trolling motor is up, pressing F2 (or T) will lower it. Starting the outboard motor will automatically raise the trolling motor if it is down. Likewise, lowering the trolling motor automatically stops the outboard motor. If you are using a mouse, first bring up the command list by pressing the left mouse button. Then point to the trolling motor command in the list and press the left button again. The command list can only be displayed if you are not in the cast mode. The trolling motor uses more time than the outboard motor to move your boat, and it also consumes battery power. Once you have fished a few tournaments with BASSTOUR, you will begin to remember what keys to press and find that you rely on the command list much less. Mouse users can always use the keys if they wish. The trolling motor can be raised or lowered while in the cast mode. * The Outboard Motor (alt-F9 or O) Pressing ALT-F9 (hold down the ALT key while you press F9) will start the outboard motor. Pressing 'O' will do the same thing. The outboard will NOT run if you are out of gas. If you have the sound enabled, you will hear a buzz that indicates that the motor is running. Remember that any time the outboard is running, you are consuming gasoline. The outboard motor can also be started by first bringing up the command window (by pressing the LEFT mouse button or by pressing F1) then pointing at the RUN/STOP OUTBOARD command with your mouse. Remember that you cannot bring up the command window if you are in cast mode. There are two other things to be aware of when using the outboard motor. First, tournament rules state that when moving your boat under power of the outboard motor, you must wear a life jacket. Failure to wear your life jacket may cost you a fine or even cause you to be disqualified. The life jacket usage is discussed later in this document. The second thing to be aware of when using your outboard motor are zones designated "NO WAKE". These areas are found on most lakes, and are indicated by the presence of a floating sign. Sometimes, you will be given a citation if you pass through these areas with your outboard motor running at a faster than allowed speed. If you pass through a NO WAKE ZONE at idle speed, you will not get a citation, nor will you if you are using the trolling motor. Receiving a citation not only costs you money, it costs time as well. You cannot start the outboard if you are in cast mode. The outboard motor has five speeds. To increase the speed, press the INS key. To slow down, press the DEL key. The faster you run the outboard, the more gas you consume. On the other hand, moving the boat at a fast speed uses less time to travel long distances. As you increase or decrease the speed of the outboard motor, the sound will vary in pitch and a short note will appear to verify the change in speed. Each time you press the INS key, your outboard speed is increased until you are at maximum RPM's. Likewise, each press of the DEL key slows down your motor until it is at idle speed. If you run your outboard motor at the highest speed, be careful. If you hit an obstacle, your outboard may be damaged and out of service for that day of the tournament. * LCD Chart Recorder (alt-F1 or G) Pressing ALT-F1 (hold down the ALT key while you press F1) will turn on the LCD recorder if it is off, or turn it off if it is on. Pressing 'G' will do the same thing. If your boat is in the left half of the screen, the LCD recorder will appear in the upper right corner of the screen. If your boat is in the right half of the screen, it will appear in the upper left corner. If you have the LCD recorder on, it will move to the opposite side of the screen from where your boat is. The LCD works almost like a real one. It's screen will show fish directly under the boat in the center of it's screen, fish to the port side of the boat are on the left of it's screen, and fish to the starboard side of the boat appear on the right side of it's screen. To select the LCD when using a mouse, first bring up the command window by pressing the left mouse button. The command window will only be displayed while you are not in the cast mode. Point the mouse cursor at the LCD command then click the left mouse button to turn on or off the LCD recorder. The LCD recorder is continuously updated as you move the boat around the screen. It uses battery power, so use it sparingly. As with other commands, mouse users can also use the keyboard to control the LCD. * Rod Box (F9 or R) Your bass boat has a rod box containing six different types of rods. Each of these rods has certain advantages or disadvantages. For example, a spinning rod with 6 pound test line will allow you to cast your lure farther than a flippin rod (saving excessive boat moving) but the light line may cause you to lose a few fish. Some of the differences are obvious, others are not. You start each day of fishing with no rod selected. Before you can begin casting, you must select a rod. You can change rod types at any time. The F9 (or 'R') key allows you to select a rod. You cannot select a rod while in cast mode. Once you have the rod box window on the screen, the up and down arrow keys will cause the hilite bar to move up or down highlighting the rod selection. After you have the hilite bar positioned over the rod you'd like to use, press the ESC key to return to the move mode. If you have a mouse, first bring up the command window, then point at the SELECT ROD command. Point the mouse cursor at the rod you would like to use, then press the left mouse button which will cause the hilite bar to move to the rod you have selected. If you are satisfied with your selection, press the right mouse button to resume the game. If you change your mind after clicking on a rod type, just point to the rod you want and click again. * Tackle Box (F10 or B) At your disposal is a six drawer tackle box containing a selection of lures we all wish we had. Many lure types and colors are there for your use. You can select lures from the tackle box at any time except when you are in cast mode. Pressing F10 (or 'B') will give you access to the tackle box. If you are using a mouse, select the tackle box from the command list by pointing to the tackle box command and pressing the left button on the mouse. If you are in cast mode (you'll see the cast instruction line at the bottom of your screen), you will have to exit cast mode before you can access the tackle box. The Tackle Box consists of three windows. The first window allows you to choose which drawer to look in. Each drawer is neatly organized (I wish MY tackle box was this neat) into bait types. For example, crankbaits are in one drawer, spinnerbaits in another, plastic worms in another etc. Use the mouse to point at and click on which drawer you want, or use the UP or DOWN arrow keys to move the highlight bar to where you want it. After that, the drawer contents will appear in another window next to the first. In this window, you select the specific bait you want to use. Once you choose your bait, a third window will appear that lists the available colors for that particular lure. After you select the color, the tackle box windows will disappear. If you forget what bait you are fishing with, the STATUS command will tell you. Use of the LIST STATUS command is discussed later. Over 2300 lure type and color combinations are possible with BASSTOUR. * Live Well (F3 or L) Your boat contains an aerated live well that holds all of your legal (12 inches or better) fish. You can examine the contents of your live well at any time, including while in cast mode. While examining the live well contents, you also have the option of turning on or off the aeration system. The aerator will save your fish if you run it enough, but it does use battery power. Failure to use your aerator enough may cause some of your fish to die, costing you a one pound penalty for each dead fish weighed in. On the other hand, the live well aerator consumes battery power. The live well will hold a maximum of five fish. Every legal fish you catch will be added to the live well until it contains five fish. After that, if you catch a fish that is larger than the smallest fish currently in the live well, the smallest fish will be released, and the fish you just caught will replace it in the live well. This way, the live well always contains the five largest fish you have caught. To examine the live well or to turn on or off the aerator, just press F3 (or 'L')on the keyboard. If you are using a mouse, first bring up the command window by pressing F1, then point the mouse cursor at and click on the LIVE WELL command. Then press the left button on the mouse. A window will appear on your screen that shows how many fish are currently in the live well, what the total weight of those fish is, and gives you the option of turning the aerator on or off. If you are using a mouse, simply click on the ON or OFF command in the live well window. If you are using the keyboard, press the F7 or F8 key to control the aerator. To resume fishing, press the ESC key or the right mouse button. Examining the contents of your live well uses time, but no energy is consumed. * Life Jacket (alt-F2 or J) You must wear a life jacket any time you are moving the boat with the outboard motor. Failure to do so may cost you time and a citation with an associated fine. It may also cause you to be disqualified from the tournament on that day. Wearing your life jacket is a bit of a nuisance since it restricts your casting distance a little. The life jacket is selected by pressing ALT-F2 or by selecting the appropriate item with the mouse. Taking off your life jacket uses a little time, as does putting it on. If you are wearing your life jacket when you make this selection, it will be removed. If you are not wearing it, it will be put on. Pressing 'J' will also execute this command. * Anchor The anchor is of no use unless you are fishing in Pro mode. In Pro mode, the anchor will prevent your boat from drifting. Don't forget to raise the anchor before trying to move the boat. Pressing F7 lowers the anchor, pressing F8 raises it. If you are using a mouse, just select the item from the command list by pointing the mouse cursor at the command you want to execute and then click the left button of the mouse. As with most things in fishing, raising or lowering the anchor takes time. There are no alternate keys assigned to this command. * Paddle (alt-F3 or P) Although the paddle can be used to move the boat at any time, most of us think of it as a last resort. The paddle uses quite a bit of time, but could be used to get you to the weigh in area before the allotted time has elapsed if both your battery was dead and you were out of gas. ALT-F3 selects the paddle from the keyboard, and you can select it with the mouse also. As with the trolling motor or the outboard motor, selecting the paddle turns off any other form of propulsion that may be active. Pressing 'P' will also cause you to start paddling. The next section explains how to move the boat, scroll the screen and make casts: * Moving the boat Boat positioning is crucial to fishing success both in reality and while playing BASSTOUR. Beginning with version 2.1, you can move your boat at any time. Previous versions only allowed the boat to be moved if you were not in cast mode. If you are in cast mode, the Q, W, E, A, D, Z, X, and C keys will move the boat. The Q key will move the boat to the upper left, the W key moves the boat straight up, the E key moves toward the upper right, the A key moves to the left, the D key moves to the right, the Z key moves to the lower left, the X key moves straight down, and the C key moves the boat toward the lower right. This change allows to move the boat along a shore line and cast at the same time. If you are NOT in cast mode, eight keys on the numeric keypad control boat movement. The left, right, up, and down arrow keys cause the boat to move in the direction indicated by the arrow on the key. Additionally, you can move diagonally by pressing the HOME key to move the boat toward the upper left, the PG UP key to move the boat to the upper right, the END key to move diagonally toward the lower left, and the PG DN key to move toward the lower right. The arrow keys will not move the boat while you are in cast mode. Instead, they are used to position the cast if you are not using a mouse. Conversely, the Q, W, E, A, D, Z, X, and C keys will not move the boat if you are not in cast mode. Instead, they are used to execute various commands. Each time you move the boat, time is consumed. There is one other key you should know about when it comes to moving the boat. The '-' key will cause the boat to back up. If you are using the trolling motor, battery power is also used. The outboard motor uses less time to move your boat, but also consumes gasoline. The paddle uses the most time of all, but obviously uses neither battery power or gasoline. The boat cannot be moved off the screen. It should be noted here that the arrow keys will not work if the NUM LOCK light on your keyboard is ON. * Rotating the boat The left and right arrow keys, if pressed while holding down the CTRL key will cause your boat to rotate either clockwise or counter-clockwise while maintaining it's current location on the screen. Rotating the boat allows for optimum cast positioning and also uses less battery power, gas and time. The boat may be rotated whether you are in cast mode or not. * Scrolling the screen When BASSTOUR first draws the lake on your screen, what you see is really only about one fourth of the lake. The initial screen represents the upper left corner of the lake. You can scroll the screen (the 'lake') to the right, left up or down to give you access to the whole lake. Press SHIFT-LEFT ARROW to move the screen to the left, SHIFT-RIGHT ARROW to move the screen to the right, SHIFT-UP ARROW to move the screen up, and SHIFT-DOWN ARROW to move the screen down. Scrolling the screen does not uses any battery power, gas or time. * Casting (F5 or C) To make a cast, first you need to have a rod selected. Once a rod has been selected, each cast you make will assume the same rod is being used. Once you have selected a rod to use, you will not need to select another unless you want to. Cast mode is entered by pressing F5 ('C' will also work) or by selecting the 'start casting' command with the mouse. You can easily determine if you are in cast mode because the bottom line of screen will contain some brief casting instructions, and will disappear when you exit cast mode. If you are using the mouse, move the mouse cursor (the white arrow on the screen) to the place you want the cast to go. Then, press the left button on the mouse. A line will appear on your screen between the boat and where the arrow is pointing. If the sound is turned on, a squirt noise will accompany the line on the screen. The distance that you can cast will vary depending on the type of rod you have selected, and whether or not you are wearing a life jacket. The skill level you are playing at also helps to determine the maximum cast distance. A novice cannot cast as far as a pro. You cannot cast toward the rear of the boat. If you are not using a mouse, a small, + symbol will appear somewhere near your boat when you enter cast mode. Use the up, down left and right arrow keys to then position your cast. You can also move the cast marker diagonally by using the HOME, PgUp, END, and PgDn keys. Once you have positioned the cast marker (the + symbol) where you want it, press either the space bar or the F10 key. If a fish strikes, the message FISH ON! will pop onto your screen, followed by other information windows about the fish. These messages will stay on the screen for short time, then disappear. They will disappear immediately if you move the mouse or press a key while they are displayed. This is to speed up the game if you desire. Casting too close to land will sometimes cause your bait to snag. Casting at stumps, docks, other boats, lily pads, rocks, etc. will normally not cause you to snag. While you are in cast mode, you can move the boat using the Q, W, E, A, D, Z, X, or C keys as described under the MOVE BOAT instructions. * Weighing In Your Fish (alt-F8 or W) Weighing in your fish is almost as important as catching them in the first place. If you don't weigh in some fish, you can't win the tournament. Each lake has a weigh in area signified by a bright yellow flag (or a flag with an X on monochrome systems). In order to weigh in, you must proceed to the weigh in area and dock your boat as close to the flag as possible before for the six hour time limit has expired. When you think your boat is close enough to the flag, press ALT- F8 (or 'W') to begin the weigh in procedure. If you are not close enough to the weigh in area, a message will appear to let you know. If you are within the weigh in area, the message "Are you sure you want to weigh in now?" will appear. A "Yes" reply will start the weigh in procedure, any other reply will abort the weigh in process. You cannot weigh in if you are in the cast mode. Fish can be weighed in at any time, but once you do, you are done fishing for that day of the tournament. A message will appear on your screen that say's "Beginning weigh in...". After a few seconds, your statistics for the day will pop onto the screen. Once you have looked at your statistics for the day, press any key to view the current tournament standings. If you are one of the top ten fisherman, your name will appear in red. After you have examined the tournament standings, press any key to start the next day of the tournament. The tournament is over after you weigh in for the third day. It is a good idea to allow yourself plenty of time to get to the weigh in area. You never know what might happen on your way back! If you are weighing in on the last day of the tournament, before the game ends, you will have the option of listing the standings for the entire field of competition. Miscellaneous Commands * Contour Map (M or m) Pressing 'm' will display a small contour map of the lake you are fishing. The contour map can only be displayed if you are not in the cast mode. The map consists of shaded areas that represent the various depths in the lake. Shallow areas are indicated by the lighter colors while deeper areas are indicated by the darker colors. The weigh in area is shown as a bright yellow square and the current location of your boat is represented by a blinking black/blue square. On monochrome displays, both the block indicating the weigh in area and the block indicating your boat position will blink. Consulting the contour map does not use any time or energy. The contour map can also be displayed by making the proper selection with the mouse when the command list is displayed. * Sound ON/OFF ( F4 ) This command is executed by pressing F4 while the command list is displayed, or by clicking on it with your mouse. There are no messages announcing whether or not the sound is on or off. If the sound is on (the default at the start of the tournament), selecting this command will turn it off. If the sound has been turned off, this command will turn it back on. It can be changed any time during the tournament, and will remain in effect throughout the three days of the tournament unless you change it. When the sound is on, a 'squirt' noise will be heard as you make each cast, and a buzzing sound will be heard when the outboard motor is running. When you hook a fish, another distinct sound will be heard. * List Status (alt-F10 or S) This command is executed by pressing ALT-F10 (hold down the ALT key while you press F10), or by clicking on it with the mouse while the command list is displayed. A window will pop up on your screen with lots of information pertaining to the rod you have selected, the lure type and color, time remaining etc.. It costs you no time, battery power or gasoline to execute this command. Pressing 'S' will also cause the status to be displayed. * Add Fish Formula to bait ( F ) When you are in cast mode, you can add Fish Formula to your bait by pressing the F key. A short message will appear on the screen to notify you that Fish Formula was used. Each time you add a shot of Fish Formula, it costs you ten seconds in time. Sometimes, adding Fish Formula seems to have a great deal to do with your success. You'll have to be the judge! Each shot of Fish Formula lasts for about 6 or 7 casts. * Weather Report This command causes a weather report to appear on your screen. It is executed by pressing ALT-F4 while the command list is displayed or by clicking on it with the mouse. The weather is of little interest unless you are fishing at the Pro level. Wind speed and direction are important in that your boat may drift if the wind is strong enough. The boat will drift in the direction that the wind is blowing. Be aware that it is possible to drift into rocks or other obstacles that can cost you some kind of penalty. It is also possible that your boat can become stuck as a result of drifting. If you get stuck, it is sometimes (but not always) possible to run your boat in the opposite direction from that which is was moving when it became stuck. If you become stuck, and cannot get out, keep trying. There is no alternate key to access this command. * Quitting the Game Pressing "Q" will give you the option of ending the game, continuing the game, or starting the tournament over from the beginning. You cannot quit the game while in cast mode. If you start the tournament over from the beginning, the same lake will be used. In order to change lakes, you must exit from the game, and then run it again. * View Record Catches ( V ) Pressing the V key will display the current record sized fish for each of the fishing areas. A total of 20 fishing areas exist for BASSTOUR, and the biggest fish caught at each of these areas will be listed along with who the angler was, and the date the fish was caught. The standard BASSTOUR distribution disk is supplied with six different areas to fish, although an additional 14 areas are available (see order form at the end of this document). The listing of the record fish will remain on your screen until you press the V key again, which will display the 10 heaviest stringers (the most weight weighed in) on record. When you have finished viewing the heaviest stringers, press any key to continue what you were doing. If, during the weigh in, it is determined that your total weight qualifies you for one of the 10 heaviest stringers, your name, total weight, date, and the name of the lake or river will be saved, and your record will become one of those to beat! * The - (minus) Key Pressing the '-' key will cause the boat to go backwards. A Few Choice Words.... BASSTOUR was designed to accommodate lakes of almost unlimited size. I am working on new lakes (maybe some well known) all the time. Experimentation has shown that the optimum size of the lakes is about what I have provided on the distribution diskette. Although larger lakes can be accommodated, it may not be practical since travelling great distances will consume a lot of time and gasoline. Maybe providing a small section of one of the well known lakes is the answer. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions you may have about the game. Several nifty enhancements are in the works, so get your registration in so you'll get the newest version! I have listed a few hints below, that might improve your catch. All the fun might be taken away if I said too much here, although even though I wrote the game, I still have to work hard to win a tournament. Just like real fish, the fish in these lakes can be really finicky! * Wear your life jacket at all times. Put it on at the start of each day of fishing. (good advice in real fishing too!) * Start the live well aerator as soon as the first fish is added to it. This will usually save you a penalty at weigh in time. * Work a likely spot thoroughly. Make several casts to the same area. Applying Fish Formula sometimes helps. * If you're not catching fish, try another bait or change colors. Often, a totally different type of bait will produce results. * Allow plenty of time to return to the weigh in area. * Use the ROTATE keys. They use less time and energy than moving the boat. * If you run into rocks, stumps etc. back your boat out in the opposite direction. * Learn to recognize areas that might cause you to snag. Lost lures cost you time and money. * Use the contour map. It will help you find the deep holes, and make it easier to get back to the weigh in area. Credits: * Nels Anderson for allowing me to use some of his marvelous programming tools. Without him, BASSTOUR could not have been written. Nels is the wizard that brought us MAHJONGG and EGA TREK. You haven't seen an EGA program until you've seen one of his! * J.R. Mead, my 8 year old nephew for his tireless play testing of BASSTOUR. At the age of eight, J.R. has caught more and bigger real bass the most fisherman ever will. * Jodi Mead, my 11 year old niece for her play testing of BASSTOUR. She holds the big fish record in BASSTOUR with a 10.4 pound lunker. * John Mead, my brother-in-law and dedicated fishing partner. They don't come much better! * Bob Lovelace, my tournament partner and valued friend. He has been a play tester for the whole six months of development. * My brother, Pete Olsen. He created 'Pete's Pond', one of the lakes on the distribution disk. He also did plenty of play testing and had lots of suggestions. * My sister, Pinki (Mrs John Mead) for putting up with all of us throughout the test period and during the fishing season. Good Fishing! Dick Olsen PROBLEM REPORT FORM If you encounter a problem with BASSTOUR, I'd like to know about it. Please take a few minutes to fill out the following form, then mail it to me. I will do my best to correct the problem. If a new version of BASSTOUR is created as a result of the problem you have reported, I will send you the new version with the problem corrected. Your Name_______________________________________________________ Street Address__________________________________________________ City, State, ZIP________________________________________________ Day time Phone #________________________________________________ Evening Phone #_________________________________________________ Best time to call_______________________________________________ What version of BASSTOUR do you have?___________________________ Where did you get it?___________________________________________ What brand of computer are you using?___________________________ What Model of computer__________________________________________ How much memory does your computer have?________________________ What brand of video card does your computer have?_______________ If EGA, how much memory is on the EGA card?_____________________ What other cards are in your computer? ___________________________________________________________________ Are you using a mouse?___________________ Does your computer have a hard disk?__________More than one?_______ Describe the problem. What were you doing when it happened? What mode were you operating in? Were you out of gas or was the battery dead? Was the LCD recorder on? Was the sound on? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ REGISTRATION FORM Dear Dick, Enclosed please find my check or money order for $10.00. Please register me as a BASSTOUR user and send me the latest version if the version I currently have is not the latest. Thanks! YOUR NAME________________________________________________ STREET ADDRESS___________________________________________ CITY, STATE, ZIP_________________________________________ COUNTRY__________________________________________________ BASSTOUR Version you have________________________________ COMMENTS_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Other programs available from the author: LAKES #1......A collection of 7 new fishing areas you can add to BASSTOUR. Installation instructions are included. LAKES #2......Another seven fishing areas to use with BASSTOUR. Use of both LAKES #1 and LAKES #2 will bring the total number of fishing areas to 20. Includes installation instructions. FISHBASE ][...A fisherman's data base/statistics program for color or monochrome systems TIKLER........A simple, quick reminder program for color or monochrome systems Available for $10 each. Plus $2.00 to cover postage and materials. Please specify what you want. Mail TO: Richard Olsen 68 Hartwell Ave. Littleton, MA. 01460