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PORTFOUR.TXT
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1998-03-14
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Portfolio Score Four V2.0
by
Centennial Software Systems
Aurora, Colorado
(c) Centennial Software Systems 1990
All rights Reserved
1. Portfolio Score Four is copyrighted (c) 1990 by Centennial
Software Systems, Aurora, CO.
2. Atari and Portfolio are trademarks or registered trademarks
of Atari Corporation.
I - Introduction
Portfolio Score Four is a strategy game designed for use on
the Atari Portfolio hand held computer. The object is to get
four colored markers in a row by dropping them into an upright
board of eight columns. You win by getting four in a row
horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. You can play against
the Portfolio, in either of two skill levels, or against a second
player.
Portfolio Score Four is constantly undergoing upgrades,
enhancements, and additions. Any and all suggestions and
comments regarding this package should be directed to:
Centennial Software Systems
5707 South Odessa Street
Aurora, CO 80015
Attn: Carl Koop
or via Compuserve to :
Carl Koop
UID: 73637,650
II - Freeware Information
Portfolio Score Four is being distributed as "freeware".
This means that you are free to distribute copies of it to
friends and associates, upload it to BBS's, etc. providing that
all of the files as well as this document are included in a
completely unaltered form.
III - Warranty
The program comprising Portfolio Score Four is provided "as
is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied,
including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular use.
The entire risk of the quality and performance of the
programs and utilities is with you. Should programs prove
defective, you assume the entire cost of all necessary
correction, servicing, or repair.
IV - Playing Portfolio Score Four
Once the program has been started you will see the title
screen and menu. The menu allows you to select one of the three
playing modes or allows you to simply quit and return to the DIP
OS prompt. The first two modes (Easy and Difficult) pit you
against the Portfolio, the third mode allows you to play against
a second player. This is a standard Portfolio menu, so you can
either simply enter the first character on the line that contains
your selection or you can use the cursor keys to position the
cursor onto your selections and then press the return or enter
key.
After you have made your selection the game screen is
displayed. This screen is divided into three sections, the
playing area (left half of the screen), the scoreboard (the
upper right half of the screen), and the information area
(bottom line on the right half of the screen).
The scoreboard is used to display not only the current
scores but is where the winner is declared as well. The
information area is where you make your play selection (you can
think of it as a command line) and is also where messages are
displayed. The Playing area is the actual game board. When you,
the second player or the Portfolio make a column selection, the
marker will be shown here. Your marker is a gray square and the
second player/Portfolio's marker is a black square.
The game board is made up of eight columns numbered 1
through 8 (left to right) with each column being eight rows deep.
To place a marker in a column you simply enter the appropriate
column number at the prompt. Markers will appear at the first
open space closest to the bottom of the selected column (think of
it as dropping the markers into a vertical column). Once either
of the players have managed to get four markers in a row, either
horizontally, vertically, or diagonally he will be declared as
the winner via a message on the scoreboard and a victory song is
played by the Portfolio.
After the winner has been declared a new menu will be
displayed which allows you to either play another game, select a
new level of play, or quit. It is possible that the game will
result in a tie, in which case a tie game message is displayed on
the scoreboard along with somewhat appropriate music.
V - Portfolio Score Four Special Commands
There are four special commands that can be entered in
place of the column number whenever you are at the 'Enter Move'
prompt. These commands can be entered in upper or lower case and
with one obvious exception do not take the place of your move.
The four commands are:
F - Forfeit Game
Allows you to admit defeat to you opponent. If this
option is selected a forfeit message and music
replaces the standard winners message on the
scoreboard.
H - Help Display
This command will cause a list of all of the
Portfolio Score Four commands to be displayed to the
screen.
S - Skip a Turn
This is the exception mentioned above. You can skip
your turn by simply using this command, however,
remember that the Portfolio never skips a turn.
M - Music On/Off
This command will toggle that annoying music that
accompanies the winner/forfeit/tie messages on and
off.
VI - Conclusion
I am very open to suggestions for improvements to this
game. For example, I think that easy mode is way too easy, and
that difficult could be made more so, however I opted to issue
the game in this mode so that people who use it can determine the
actual difficulty via their comments. Please let me know what
you think of the game and have fun.