The World of Computer Software/The World of Computer Software.iso/pcove501.zip/PCOVE.HLP

Text File | 1992-12-17 | 17KB | 301 lines

                         ------- Inputs -------

All inputs have a maximum number of characters. Words are normally input
as (-----) representing the length of the input. Numbers are one or two
characters. MOST INPUTS REQUIRE THE PRESSING OF THE (ENTER) or (RETURN)
KEY TO CONFIRM CHOICE OF DATA. On all Menus the first letter of each
choice also works. Where the prompt says to Press a key, this is a single
key entry that does not require the pressing of the (ENTER) key. An
example might be 'Press Any Key To Continue', you can press any normal
key (produces a result) and you continue on. On all other inputs you must
type in a response and then press (ENTER) to make the program respond.

               ------- Pirate's Cove Main Prompt -------

'Type in (N,E,W,S,T,J,A,I,H,?,Q,C,P) and press (ENTER)' Directions are
(N)orth (or (U)p), (E)ast (or (R)ight), (W)est (or (L)eft), and (S)outh
(or (D)own). Other options are; (T)eam Menu, (J)ettison treasure,
(A)ttack Menu, (I)nformation on yourself, (H)elp or (?) for help, (Q)uit
Pirates Cove, (C)olor On/Off, and (P)irate's Cove Player Standings. Enter
your one character input and press (ENTER).

                       ------- The Grids -------

The game grid is a 16x16 matrix with 01,01 being the upper left-hand
corner (Northwest) and 16,16 the lower right-hand corner (Southeast).
When moving West to East or East to West (left or right movement) you
wrap around from 1 to 16 or 16 to 1. So for example; it would be faster
to move from 1401 to 0201 by moving East (right 4 moves) than to go West
(left 12 moves). You do not wrap from North to South or South to North
(up or down movement). The island of Pirate's Cove is a 12x12 matrix with
01,01 upper left corner and 12,12 is the lower right corner.

                        ------- The Game -------

The object of Pirate's Cove is to accumulate as many points as possible.
You get treasure by sinking Galleons, other pirates, or by digging up
treasure belonging to other pirates. You must bury any treasure on the
island, and it must remain buried for three days before it matures. You
must transport the mature treasure to any position on grid row 1
(Northern most position) where it is instantly converted to points and
added to your score. You get a 500 point instant bonus for sinking other
pirates (which might include team mates).

Your maximum moves per day is 18 if you are not carrying treasure. If you
have treasure onboard you get a maximum of 5 moves as long as you are
carrying that treasure. If you have 10 moves when you sink a ship with
treasure your moves change to 5. If you have 3 moves when you sink a ship
with treasure your moves remain at 3. Likewise if you have 2 moves when
you convert treasure, having used 2 on the current day to get to grid row
1, you moves are increased to 16 at conversion (18-2=16). Your moves are
also reinstated to the maximum moves remaining when you bury treasure. If
you exit the door while you have treasure onboard your moves are set to
whatever you current status is. So if you have 3 moves when you exit the
program, and return the same day, you still have only 3 moves. If you
then bury or convert treasure your moves remain at 3.

                  ------- Jettisoning Treasure -------

You can jettison up to $9000 per day in treasure. The exchange rate is
$3000 in treasure for each extra move or each 10 percent increase in your
ship. The treasure is anything you are carrying mature or immature. If
you convert treasure for moves and you sink a ship with treasure your
moves are handled just like any other time. If your moves are greater
than 5 your moves become 5. The extra moves are to help you get to the
island and safety or to row 1 so mature treasure can be converted to
points. The increase in your ship is meant to help your ship survive
until the next day if moves cannot get you to safety.

If you have increased moves or percentage and exit the program and
return, the same day or later, your moves and percentage are handled as
follows; If your moves are greater than 18 they become 18; If you have
treasure and your moves are greater than 5 they become 5; If your ship is
greater than 100 percent it becomes 100 percent.

You have to make the decision on whether to convert to moves or increase
your ship's percentage. You should use the extra increase in moves during
the current turn. Also since you cannot increase your ship's percentage
after you are sunk you also cannot increase moves once your moves have
reached zero.

If you use up all your treasure your moves are returned to non-treasure
status just as if you had buried or converted it to points.

                      ------- The Galleons -------

There are 14 Galleons randomly placed in grid rows 13 through 16 and only
one to a position. Each new day, or when the last one is sunk, the
Galleons are replaced. The Galleons vary in value from 1000 to 25000 in
treasure.

When a Galleon is sighted it is in the same sector where you are. To
attack a Galleon you type in A and press enter. Then at the Attack Menu
you type in G and press enter. If you have damaged a Galleon and retreat,
the Galleon is restored to 100 percent (repaired instantly).

Depending when you play there may be more or less Galleons in play. It is
possible to sink the last Galleon and have a new one appear in the same
position that you are in. This would make it appear like you had not sunk
the last Galleon. Galleons are not scanned for until you reach grid row
13, the start of the shipping lanes.

                     ------- Other Pirates -------

Other pirates can be in any position on the main grid. The only safe
haven for pirates is on the island of Pirate's Cove. Pirates on the
island cannot be located unless they are on a team and a fellow team
member does a search. If you are new to Pirate's Cove or you have been
sunk you are randomly placed on grid row 1 (Northern most position).

When you come across another pirate, and not a fellow team member, they
might attack you without warning. There is a 50x50 chance on any one of
the following, nothing happens, they fire and miss you, they fire and hit
you. There is no sense in you always being the only one to initiate the
attack. It can be the other pirate who initiates an attack. If there are
two or more pirates in one sector EACH ONE, in turn, can attack you.
Galleons do not attack pirate ships. Their cannons are for defence only.

If you are at the Northern or Southern most positions and try to move
further north or south you can be attacked each time the program cycles
telling you that you are at the limit of travel. So be prepared.

When another pirate is sighted it is in the same sector where you are.
There may be one or more pirates and may include a Galleon. To attack
another pirate you type in A and press enter. Then at the Attack Menu you
type in the number of the pirate you want to attack and press enter. If
you retreat the pirate is NOT restored to 100 percent as is the case with
the Galleons.

           ------- Sinking Galleons and Other Pirates -------

You have about a 50x50 chance on all ships; you hitting them, being hit
by return cannon fire, both getting hit or no serious damage to either.
Each damaging volley of hits is a deduction of 10 percent on each pirate
ship and 20 percent on Galleons. You can restore your ship to 100 percent
by converting treasure to points or going to the island (09,10).

See Other Pirates and The Galleons for details on attacking.

If you or your opponent reach zero percent that means you, they, or both
are sunk. If you are sunk you are set adrift in a lifeboat: your turn
ends, and you exit the program. If you are not playing Pirate's Cove when
you are sunk you are notified during your next turn who sank you and
when. After being sunk you must wait one day while you are being rescued
and outfit a new ship. When you are sunk you lose any treasure you are
carrying but not your points. When your waiting period is up you have a
new ship at 100 percent and you are placed somewhere on grid row 1.

If you are attacking another pirate and your ship's percentage reaches
zero your opponent receives 500 points for sinking you just as if that
person was actually there and firing at you. This is the same 500 points
you get if you sink your opponent. If you are both sunk you both get 500
points. This instant 500 bonus is added to your score points regardless
if your opponent has treasure on board or not.

If you sink a ship that contains treasure while you are transporting
mature treasure, the treasure you are carrying, along with the new, must
be reburied again for another three days.

               ------- Pirate's Cove, The Island -------

The island is located at 09,10 and is 12x12 matrix. Treasure can be
located in any one location. Entries can not be less that 01 or greater
than 12. You can only bury treasure in one location at a time. If you try
to bury treasure at a new location while you have treasure buried, the
new treasure is buried on top of your current treasure at the current
location. Each time you go to bury treasure you are asked where you want
to bury it. You can press (ENTER) for current location or chose a new one
if you have no treasure buried at that time.

While burying treasure at a new site if you get a message saying that
there are signs of digging this means that this is another pirate's
burial location but that the location is currently empty. This message
DOES NOT MEAN another pirate has SEARCHED for treasure at this location.
The program suggests that you dig back up the treasure and bury it
tomorrow at a new location. No matter what you do this still counts as
your ONE daily burial option. After all, you actually did bury treasure.
A word of caution here, please read the island visitation limit below.

If you bury treasure it must remain in the ground for three days to
mature. If you dig it up too soon it must be buried again for another
three days. If you bury new treasure on top of old treasure you must wait
for three days for it ALL TO MATURE. You can only bury treasure once per
day, but if you go out and sink another ship or search and dig up
treasure you can still bury that treasure.

While you are on the island you can also search once each day for other
pirate's buried treasure. When you leave the island of Pirate's Cove you
return to your last off-island position. In other words, if you were
traveling South (Down) when you landed at the island you exit going North
(Up).

You may only remain on the island for a maximum of two days at any one
time. Each day you leave the program while on the island it counts as one
day. It you use the program more than once per day it does not effect the
time limit on staying on the island. On the third day the Governor of the
island tows you to some random position on row 14 or 15. This is the
center of the shipping lanes and makes you fair game for other pirates as
well as the British Fleet.

               ------- Gambling at Rosa's Cantina -------

When you are on the island you can visit Rosa's Cantina where the place
is always crowded. Betting is $1000 in treasure. Your odds of winning are
55x45 and the amount you win is $2000 in treasure ( 1000+1000=$2000 ).

You can bet mature or immature treasure. If you win anything at all, no
matter how much you may later lose, it changes mature treasure into
immature treasure. Immature treasure must then be handled like any other
immature treasure.

There are some warnings that should be heeded. If the other players at
the table catch you cheating you might get robbed leaving the place.
Robberies always take half of your treasure, which is quite nice of them
when you think of it. Robberies can only happen if the cheating message
comes up. The odds of being robbed are the same as the odds of your being
caught cheating. The number of times you are caught cheating has no
bearing on odds of you being robbed.

You can also be robbed while you sit at the table if you are distracted
by other goings on. You also have to watch your back (grin)! You can get
killed, but you are miraculously resurrected the next day with a new ship
and crew just like you do when you are sunk.

If you go broke your moves are returned to non-treasure status just as if
you had buried or converted it to points.

                      ------- Team Playing -------

You may join an existing team or create one of your own. If you join an
existing team you must know the team name and password. If this is a new
team you enter the name and then a password. The passwords are not case
sensitive so team members must know every digit. On the Team Menu you
have a search option that lets you locate other team members giving you
their current location and status of their ship (percentage).

Team Players can also leave messages for one another. This option is
accessed from the Team Menu. You can leave messages for individuals or
the whole team. The program displays team members along with their record
numbers. For an individual message you enter the team members record
number and press ENTER. If you enter a message for ALL team members ONLY
YOU can delete that message. The message should be erased by the intended
reader or if it is a team message then the author should erase it.
Messages are deleted after 14 days during the daily maintenance activity.
There is a prompt during the entrance into Pirate's Cove if there are
messages for you. It is the responsibility of the individual team members
to check for new or old messages each time they use Pirate's Cove.

The Team Scores are an accumulation of the scores of the individual
players with each team member retaining their own individual scores.

                     ------- Random Events -------

There are random events that happen as you sail around, some add or take
away your ship's percentage, others add or take away turns. The British
fleet is among these.

                   ------- The British Fleet -------

The British Fleet is randomly placed on the play grid each time you use
the program. They are not placed on the island. When you enter a sector
where they are located they fire at you causing 20 percent damage. Each
time you do anything but move to another sector the British Fleet attacks
you. They are out to sink you and are merciless. If other pirate's or a
Galleon are in the sector where the British Fleet is located they are
ignored by the program and you are unable to attack them or they you.
Other penalties are still in effect (lost in the fog, etc.).

                      ------- Low Activity -------

A player who does not play for more than 7 days is penalized 10 percent
of their score the next time they use Pirate's Cove. A Player who does
not play for more than thirty days is deleted. These two actions are to
try and encourage continued activity by all players. The deletion routine
also makes room for new players if the program is at its maximum of 48
players (should it ever reach this point).

                  ------- Colors & Bell (Beep) -------

The program uses ANSI colors and no special graphics characters when in
the color ON mode. The color can be turned on and off from both the main
prompt and the Island Menu. The program is somewhat slower in color but
it is designed to run in color. Various prompts and displays are in
different colors to bring them to your attention. Please give the color a
try. If you cannot use color press whatever key you chose to change to
color and it is restored to gray.

The bell sounds at various warnings and invalid inputs. Most, if not all,
warnings are in red. Names and Galleons appear in white to separate them
from other text.

           ------- Messages From Your System Operator -------

Your Sysop is able to leave you messages as you enter the door and before
the regular play begins. These are normally one line messages but may be
more than one line and more than one message. Please make note of any
that might appear. It is the Sysop's way of giving you greetings,
pointing out holidays, contests or other events, game rollover dates may
also be displayed.

Enjoy!