home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
CU Amiga Super CD-ROM 4
/
CU Amiga Magazine's Super CD-ROM 04 (1996)(EMAP Images)(GB)(Track 1 of 3)[!][issue 1996-11].iso
/
magazine
/
psion
/
games
/
fair10.lzx
/
fairway.doc
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1993-10-08
|
12KB
|
235 lines
Documentation for FAIRWAY v1.0 for the Series 3
===============================================
Quick Installation
------------------
(to get you up and running, but you do *need* to read the rest of this
file as soon as possible!)
Install by putting FAIRWAY.OPA into an APP directory (any device will
do) and FAIRWAY1.OPO, FAIRWAY3.OPO, FAIRWAY6.OPO, FAIRWAY.PIC,
FAIRWAY2.PIC and FAIRWAY.FON into a \FAIRWAY subdirectory beneath the
aforementioned \APP directory.
Thus \APP\FAIRWAY.OPA (17652 bytes)
and \APP\FAIRWAY\FAIRWAY1.OPO (19131 bytes)
and \APP\FAIRWAY\FAIRWAY3.OPO (11521 bytes)
and \APP\FAIRWAY\FAIRWAY6.OPO ( 5167 bytes)
and \APP\FAIRWAY\FAIRWAY.PIC ( 7212 bytes)
and \APP\FAIRWAY\FAIRWAY2.PIC ( 2856 bytes)
and \APP\FAIRWAY\FAIRWAY.FON ( 644 bytes)
and then install the OPA in the normal time-honoured Psion 3 manner ...
================ Main documentation follows ===========================
FAIR10.ZIP
Copyright 1993, UK, Steve Litchfield,
8 Grove Farm,
Mytchett,
Surrey
GU16 6AQ
Released marketed direct, and as shareware. The shareware version is
fully functioning in every way, with the nuisance factor being the
rather frequent interruption of various nag screens, encouraging you
to play fair, play the game, and support fledgling authors like myself
by sending in some dosh (namely, 7 UK pounds). Once I receive your
cheque (or cash, I'm not fussy!), I will issue you with a personalised
key-code, which you can type into FAIRWAY from the Psion-R screen, and
which will disable all the nag-screens and display your name every
time the program is booted. This will ease your guilt factor, and
speed up the gameplay considerably!
*NOTE* I have observed with other Psion Series 3 programs, that
registration of shareware is often hampered by the need to re-install
the registered version on-top of the shareware version. On a flash
SSD, this is a *major* hassle! (Even PITCH & PUTT operated in this
way) Rest assured, FAIRWAY simply generates a small registration file
in your M:\OPD directory called FAIRWAY.REG, and everything else stays
the same. *No* re-installation is required.
Machine specifics/Speed
-----------------------
Please note that this version of FAIRWAY is designed for the original
Series 3 (what Psion now quaintly call the Series 3 'classic'), and
that the speed of play is tuned for that machine. I have attempted to
insert small delay loops into the more critical areas so that owners
of the new Series 3a can still play the game in compatibility mode
without too much penalty. FAIRWAY will detect that it is running on a
3a automatically, and switch in the delays.
I have already started work on adapting FAIRWAY for a Series 3a
specific version, with grey scale hi-res graphics, digitised sound,
better animation and much more. Look out for the file FAIR20.ZIP,
which will contain both updated Series 3 and the new 3a versions.
Should be out by late 1993, all things being equal!
All temporary files, player stats files (*.FWS), menu settings
(FAIRWAY.SET), and saved games (FAIRWAY.SAV) are stored in small files
in your M:\OPD directory. This is because I for one am fed up with
every program needing its own directory, and am quite happy to see
programs sharing a general OPD area.
Credits
-------
Written by Steve Litchfield, as a successor to PITCH & PUTT, which
appeared on the Psion games pack 1. A thankyou to somebody somewhere for
making up the small text font used in this program (there are so many
fonts freely available within PD packages, it's difficult to remember
where this particular one came from!). Also to whoever originally composed
bits of clip-art which appear in the program. Thanks also to the small
group of beta-testers.
Introduction
------------
FAIRWAY is an ambitious attempt to simulate a 'full' golf game on the tiny
screen of the Series 3. For those readers familiar with the operation of
its predecessor, the improvements over PITCH & PUTT are, in no particular
order: 18 holes, 20 computer players, 16 clubs, 5 ball lies, bouncing and
rolling of clubbed shots, player stats, save/restore facility, better 3D
effects, overswing facility etc , and a whole lot besides.
Gameplay
--------
Fairway takes you onto the professional tournament circuit, where you
can pit your skills against a variety of dubiously named computer
controlled opponents. You have 16 clubs (Driver, 3 woods, 9 irons, 2
wedges and putter) and they are selected automatically, though you can
change the automatic selection with the up/down arrow keys, or even
turn automatic selection off altogether. The current club, and its
expected hitting distance (including rolling) are shown inside the
power bar.
There are four modes of play. Demo, where the Series 3 plays a round by
itself, Practice, where you play on your own and where your performance
isn't recorded in the statistics file, 1-Player, where you play in a
tournament against the aforementioned 20 computer players, and finally
2-player, where you can play against a friend within the tournament
environment. It is possible to change mode half-way through a round, but
the results may be unpredictable, and may be construed as cheating!
Note that the playing order of the various opponents remains the same
throughout the game, with your good self taking up the rear, i.e.
playing last, so that you know exactly what you have to do! I hope this
doesn't disappoint fans of 'real' golf too much!
Each hole is randomly generated for this particular tournament, at the
time of playing, so you'll never play the same tournament course twice!
Difficulty
----------
Because you are pitted against 20 computer opponents of varying skills,
there is no need to have a changeable difficulty setting for the game,
as whatever your individual skill, you should find yourself somewhere in
the 'pack', and your challenge will be to gradually move up the
leaderboard, and eventually start winning. The game is tuned such that
you should find winning a tournament a challenge even when you've been
playing FAIRWAY for a while!
Hazards
-------
There are the usual golf hazards of trees (which can block your shot,
unless you squirt the ball out under them, or deliberately play with an
extravagant hook or slice to go round them) and light rough, rough, long
grass and bunkers (in which you'll need to hit harder than normal, to
varying degrees). Also, there is normally a wind blowing, with a special
arrow showing its speed and direction (and an extra digital readout of its
speed). If you are putting at the time, the arrow is used to show the
break on the putt, i.e. the slope of the green and its size. Note that if
the arrow is so short that you cannot distinguish its direction, then the
wind/slope is probably not sufficient for you to worry about! The edges of
the green are 'rougher' and will tend to slow your ball down, as with a
real green.
Hitting the ball
----------------
The method used to hit the ball is the same as you've probably used
before on other computer golf games (e.g. PITCH & PUTT). There are cross-hairs
to aim your shot and a 'power bar' (along the bottom of the screen when it's
your turn to play) to control how hard you hit the ball.
Using one of the FAIRWAY action keys (Tab, Delete, Space or Enter), use the
'3-click' method, whereby you tap the key once to start the 'power bar'
moving, once more to stop it rising and one last time to time your shot, by
stopping the bar as close as possible to the timing mark shown. Timing your
shot badly will result in hooking or slicing the ball, or in imparting spin if
you are putting. Note that hitting the ball too hard when putting can cause
the ball to jump over the hole, and not drop in. So you can't just blast the
putt at 50 mph straight at the hole!
Note that FAIRWAY allows for 'overswing'. Notice the thick bar a short
distance from the left edge of the power bar. This is the 100% mark, and
stopping the power bar on this mark will assure you of 100% power, to achieve
the expected hitting distance for that club. If you allow the power bar to
rise beyond the 100% mark, you will achieve more than 100% power, for extra
distance, but at the expense of magnifying any timing error in your shot. In
other words, if you hit your shot with 120% power, but manage to slice the
ball as well, the slice will turn out far more extravagant than if you had hit
with 100% power. Also, bear in mind that mistiming your shot also reduces the
hitting power available, so you can see that overswing should be used only
when absolutely necessary, and then with maximum precision on the timing line!
FAIRWAY uses the laws of physics when it calculates ball motion,
and was designed to give some of the feel of the real game. This has
several effects. For example, when putting, notice that the markings
on the power bar are not evenly spaced, and that although hitting the
ball to half the maximum putting distance still needs the power bar to
be taken up to the fifth graduation (ten graduations = full scale), this
mark is nearer 75% of the on-screen maximum. This non-linearity is
designed to represent what happens on a real putting green, with
friction, inertia and so on.
Getting help
------------
Pressing the Help key will usually bring up a help menu in the Psion style,
with each help option typically having a sub-menu of its own. Feel free to
browse around the help screens, the help information is fairly complete. Don't
worry, because the game is very simple to play, especially so if you've played
golf on a PC before.
If you are doing particularly badly, the help menu will automatically
appear, though you can get rid of it by pressing ESC, as usual.
Menu options
------------
The Menu key gives you access to the overhead and ball lie views, to the
scorecard so far, to the player statistics screen and to the setup menu. And
of course there is an Exit option, by which you can terminate your game.
You can also turn off (or on) automatic showing of the overhead view, the
ball lie, and the announcements screen, and can also ask the computer
whose shot it is and which shot they're currently playing. The
auto-showing of the leaderboard and the auto-selection of clubs can also
be customised.
The save game option will save your current game (as at the start of the hole
currently being played) to a specific file in the \OPD directory of your
internal disk. This can only be restored when FAIRWAY is launched. This is
designed to stop people cheating by a continual cycle of Save-play-restore
on a 'difficult' hole. I know, 'cos I used to do this all the time myself,
on PGA Tour Golf!!
Each menu option has its own hot key, by which you can go straight to their
function without going through the menus, e.g. Psion-X will take you straight
to the "Exit: save game? (Y/N/C)" screen.
Note that all the menu option settings will be retained from one game to
the next. FAIRWAY uses a small file called FAIRWAY.SET to do this.
Setup options
-------------
The setup menu will appear at the beginning of every game, and allows you to
control how the game should work. You can select the playing mode (Demo,
Practice, 1-player, 2-player), your name and that of your human opponent (if
any) and whether you want sound effects (On, Off). Notice that if you are
registered, your name will automatically appear in the setup box.
The setup menu will also appear if you press ESC in Demo mode, if you select
Setup from the menu, or if you press Psion-S at any time.
************************************************************************
Thankyou for playing FAIRWAY v1.0. Please play fair with shareware!
Steve Litchfield, 8 Grove Farm, Mytchett, Surrey GU16 6AQ
************************************************************************