Merciful 3/Merciful_Release_3.bin/software/i/international_golf/internationalgolf1.dms/internationalgolf1.adf/Manual.DOC

Text File | 1995-11-11 | 17KB | 521 lines

INTERNATIONAL GOLF

Copyright (c)1996 Apex Systems



IMPORTANT NOTES FOR HARD DRIVE USERS!

The HD_Install utility writes a preset buffer to the file S:User-startup.
 This buffer contains a command to activate RTDD.

If you are running the RTDD data decruncher (patch for CrM files) already
from elsewhere in your startup sequence or user startup, you should edit
the user-startup file and remove the following line from the list of
assigns for International Golf:-

RTDD >NIL:

If you don't do this, RTDD will be deactivated the second time you run it,
and International Golf won't work properly (if at all).

On the other hand, if you don't know what I'm talking about, chances are
that you aren't using RTDD.  If that's the case, then ignore this section
completely.



LOADING THE GAME (FLOPPY VERSION)

1. Switch off your computer.
2. Ensure that a mouse is connected to controller port 1.
3. Insert your International Golf disk 1 into any bootable
   drive unit.
4. Switch on your computer.


LOADING THE GAME (HD VERSION)

1. Switch off your computer.
2. Ensure that a mouse is connected to controller port 1.
3. Switch on your computer and load workbench.
4. Locate and double-click on the "Golf" icon.



THE MAIN MENU

When the menu screen appears, there are four options to choose from.

Difficulty level - Decides how good the computer players will be.
Quit             - Exit back to DOS
Options          - Game options.
Start game       - Begin a new round of golf.

See below for a more detailed examination of each option.


1. Difficulty Level

This determines how well the computer controlled golfers will play.
A setting of 1 should be used by beginners, while a setting of 4 or
5 should be used by the top professionals!  Note that the current
setting is also displayed here, and the default setting is 3.


2. Quit

Exit to DOS.

3. Options

This brings up three further options:-

TV/Monitor,
Load Game,
Exit.

TV/Monitor

This allows you to change between TV and monitor resolution.  Click
on TV or MONITOR as relevant.  The default setting is TV.

To change the default setting:-

a. Reset your computer and load your Workbench disk.

b. Open a CLI or Shell window.

c. Type `Ed "International Golf:S/Startup-Sequence", and press RETURN.

d. After a few moments of disk access, a new window will appear
   containing the words "GOLF TV".

e. Delete this, and type:-

   GOLF TV      - If you are using a television
   GOLF MONITOR - If you are using a monitor

f. Press ESCAPE, then x, followed by RETURN.  This will save the
   change back to the disk.  When the disk drive light goes out, reset
   your computer and refer to the section on LOADING THE GAME.


Load Game

If you have saved a game previously, this is where you can reload it!

a. Click on LOAD GAME.

b. Insert the disk containing your saved game into drive Df0:

c. Click on OK to continue, or EXIT to cancel.


Exit

Click on this button to return to the main menu.


3. Start Game

When you elect to start a new game, you will first have to decide which
type of game you want to play.  Initially, there are three different game
types available:-

Practice

When you select practice, you may choose one of the following:-

18 Holes      - A practice game consisting of 1-4 human players only.

Driving range - Use this to improve your accuracy on the fairway.
                This works exactly as if you were playing a
                Tournament, Head to Head or 18 Holes Practice game,
                but the ball is returned to the tee each time it
                is hit.

Putting       - Practice your putting skills here.  Works exactly the
                same as if you were putting in a tournament etc.  You
                are allowed one attempt to putt the ball before both
                the ball and hole change positions.
                NOTE: PRESS ESCAPE TO EXIT FROM PUTTING PRACTICE.

Tournament

This type of game can be played over 1, 2, 3 or 4 rounds, and consists of a
total of 65 players - 1 to 4 human players, the rest are computer
controlled.

Head to Head

This consists of one human player vs one computer player.


Setting up your game

whilst you are setting up your game, refer to the following table, showing
what information is required for each type of game.

                 18 Holes  Tournament  Hd to Hd  Drvg Range  Putting
Number of rounds     N         Y          N           N         N
Number of players    Y         Y          N           N         N
Player names         Y         Y          Y           Y         Y
Course selection     Y         Y          Y           N         N


Number of rounds

Tournament game only.  This determines how many times a 18 hole course will
be played during the tournament.  Click on 1, 2, 3 or 4 as required.

Number of players

How many human players are going to take part in the current game.  This
option is only available in 18 Hole Practice and Tournament games.  In all
other game types, this setting defaults to 1.

Player names

Whatever type of game you have chosen to play, the names of all
participating human players will be required.  Each name is allowed a
maximum of seven characters.  Type each players name as it is asked for,
pressing RETURN, or clicking on OK after each.  You may also click on CLR
to clear the current name, or EXIT to return to the main menu and start
again.

Course selection

This is where you choose which course you are going to play on.  Use
the PREV and NEXT buttons to search through the available courses.
Click on OK to confirm your selection.

The green speed is now displayed.  This is dependent on the weather
conditions.  If the greens are dry, then the greens will be very fast.
If it has been raining and the greens are wet, the greens will be slower.

With the game set-up complete, the main section of the game will load, and
you can begin playing.


The Main Game Screen

After a few moments of disk access, the main game screen will appear.
This shows the following:-

Menu gadgets       - The bar across the top of the screen.
The playing area   - The largest section of the screen.
Golfer view        - Lower-left of the display.
Hole plan view     - Lower-centre.  Displays a map of the entire hole.
Information box    - Shows: Player, hole number, distance to hole.
Selected club      - Shown on the golfer view as 1W, PW, PT etc.
Power setting      - Shown on golfer view as 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% etc.
Round/Total rounds - Shown on the hole map as 1/4 (Round 1 of 4).

If you move the mouse pointer down to the bottom of the screen, the lie of
the ball will be displayed.  Note that this can only be performed when the
menu gadgets are visible and unshadowed.


The menu gadgets

There are nine gadgets in total.  When you move the mouse pointer over one
of these gadgets, its function is displayed in the blue box at the top
right-hand corner of the screen.  The functions of these gadgets are as
follows (From left to right):-

1. Select club

This gadget opens a window displaying the available clubs.  There are
fourteen in total - 1, 3 and 5 Woods, 2 to 9 Irons, Pitching wedge, Sand
Wedge and Putter.  The current choice of club is displayed in the grey box
at the top of this window.  This can be changed by clicking on any of the
other boxes.

Approximate club distances

1 Wood (1W) - 287 yards                    6 Iron (6I) - 180 yards
3 Wood (3W) - 249 yards                    7 Iron (7I) - 158 yards
5 Wood (5W) - 223 yards                    8 Iron (8I) - 147 yards
2 Iron (2I) - 218 yards                    9 Iron (9I) - 126 yards
3 Iron (3I) - 208 yards            Pitching Wedge (PW) - 111 yards
4 Iron (4I) - 200 yards                Sand Wedge (SW) -  84 yards
5 Iron (5I) - 191 yards                    Putter (PT) -  85 feet

Click OK to exit.


2. Set direction

This allows the player to change the direction the ball will travel in when
it is hit.

To change the direction, click on the SET DIRECTION gadget.  The menu
gadgets will be removed from the display.

First you should move the mouse pointer to the extreme left or right of the
screen.  This will cause the display to move left/right, allowing you to
establish where the green is and plan how you play your shot.  You may now
click the left button to centre the ball on the screen and deposit an angle
requestor at the current mouse pointer position.  Now, click on the left
and right arrows with the left mouse button to change the direction.
 Notice that a small crosshair moves in a circular pattern around the ball,
indicating the direction the ball will travel in.  Click the right mouse
button to remove the requestor from the display.  You can now, as before,
move the screen left/right again, drop the angle requestor in a different
position on the screen with the left mouse button, or return to the menu
gadgets by a further press of the right mouse button.


3. Set power

This opens a window containing a curved power meter marked at 0%, 25%, 50%,
75% and 100%, and two buttons which are used to increase and decrease the
power setting.  Clicking on either of these buttons with the left mouse
button will cause an increase/decrease of 1%, while pressing the right
mouse button will result in a more rapid power change.

Click OK to exit.


4. Shot type

This option displays three boxes which have the following functions (from
top to bottom):-

Chip   - Maximum height, but overall distance is reduced.
Normal - Moderate height, maximum distance.
Punch  - Minimum height, but overall distance is reduced.

The indented box indicates which setting is currently selected.  This
setting defaults to "Normal" at the start of every hole.

Click OK to exit.


5. Green view

This shows a close-up view of the green.  Also shown is the position of the
hole, and the gradient markers (to indicate which way the green is
sloping).  Press the left mouse button to exit this screen.


6. Information

This opens a window which displays the following information.:-

Name of the current player,
Number of the stroke about to be taken,
Current player's score,
Hole number,
Hole par,
Number of yards to the hole,
Game type (practice, tournament, head to head or driving range),
Number of human players in the game,
Difficulty level.

Click OK to exit.


7. Hit ball

Before selection this function, you should ask yourself:-

Have I selected the correct club ?
Have I set the power correctly ?
Have I selected the correct shot type ?
Do I know which direction the ball will travel in ?

If the answers to the above are yes, yes, yes and yes, then click on the
Hit Ball gadget.

All attention, for the moment, moves to the golfer view at the lower-left
corner of the screen, where the Swing-o-Meter appears.  This is a white
bar, containing a black marker which moves steadily back and forth from
left to right.  You must try to stop the marker in the centre of the
Swing-o-Meter by pressing the left mouse button.  If the marker is stopped
in the left half or the bar, the ball will "Hook" (curve to the left) in
flight.  If the marker is stopped in the right half of the bar, the ball
will "Slice" (curve to the right) in flight.  The severity of hooking or
slicing depends on how far away the marker is from the centre of the
Swing-o-Meter.

The golfer will then take a swing at the ball, and you will see the ball's
flight path on the main playing area.  When the ball has come to a halt,
its final resting position is displayed in the lower left corner of the
screen.  Press the mouse button to return to the menu gadgets.

It is worth noting that if the ball lands on water or goes "Out of bounds"
- which is beyond the white marker posts, a one stroke penalty will be
incurred, and the ball will have to be rehit from its previous position.


8. Game preferences

This option allows you to change the following:-

Bird effects (toggle on/off),
Crowd effects (toggle on/off),
Other effects (toggle on/off),
Game speed (1-slow to 6-fast).

The first three options simply decide whether the sound effects are active
or inactive. (*)

The game speed function is used to speed up or slow down the game depending
on personal preference, and which type of computer you are using.  For
example, if you are using an Amiga 500+ or 600, you should use a setting of
4, 5 or 6, while Amiga 1200 users should use a setting of 1 or 2.

(*) Bird and crowd sound effects are only active on machines with 1.5Mb of
    memory and over.


9. Quit round

If you decide that you do not wish to continue the current game, click on
this gadget.  You will be asked "Are you sure?".  Click on YES or NO as
relevant.


On the Green

When all human players have reached the green, the menu gadgets will vanish
completely and you will be shown a zoomed in view of the green.

Three different gadgets are now available (From left to right):-

1. Display/hide gradient markers

This function displays/hides the gradient markers on the green.  These are
used to determine which way the green is sloping, and allows you to set the
direction accordingly.  If there is an area where there are no gradient
markers, this would indicate that the area of green is flat.


2. Set direction

Works in exactly the same way as before, except that the screen cannot be
scrolled left/right.


3. Hit ball

When you click on this gadget, you will see the power meter (to the right
of the three gadgets) start to increase.  You must press the left mouse
button when you think that there is sufficient power to get the ball to the
hole.  Remember that you will need to use more power if you are playing the
ball up a hill, and less power if you are playing the ball down a hill.  Be
very careful when playing the ball downhill on fast greens!

When the power meter reaches 100%, it will start to decrease until it
reaches 0%.  This procedure is repeated until the left mouse button is
pressed.


The scorecard

This shows the following information:-

Individual scores for each hole on the current round,
Players' total scores,
Number of birdies, eagles scored on the current round.

If a player scores an albatross, eagle or birdie on a particular hole, the
individual score for that hole would be printed in black.

If a player scores a par, the score would be printed in white.

If a player scores a bogey, double bogey, triple bogey or worse, the score
would be printed in blue.

The abbreviations on this screen have the following meanings:-

H1 - A hole in one
AL - Albatross (3 strokes below par)
EA - Eagle (2 strokes below par)
BI - Birdie (1 stroke below par)
PA - Par
BO - Bogey (1 stroke over par)
DB - Double Bogey (2 strokes over par)
TB - Triple bogey (3 strokes over par)
OT - Others (Anything worse than a triple bogey)

Click on VIEW LEADERBOARD to look at the leaderboard positions.

Click on CONTINUE GAME to proceed to the next hole.

Saving the game

Click on the save game icon at the bottom-right corner of the screen.

You will be prompted to insert your save disk into drive Df0:.  Your save
disk can be any disk which has already been formatted.  It is perfectly
alright to use a disk that has something already saved on it, such as IFF
picture files, text files etc.  The saved game takes up less than 1k of
disk space, but make sure that there us sufficient space free before
loading International Golf.

Press any key when you are ready to continue.

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR SAVE GAME DISK MUST BE WRITE ENABLED, AND YOU MUST
NEVER SAVE YOUR GAME ONTO THE PROGRAM DISK OR COURSE DISKS.


The Leaderboard

The leaderboard shows to positions and names of all players - both human
and computer, along with their current score.  Also displayed at the top of
the leaderboard is the number of the last hole played.

The players are sorted in order of their score (lowest to highest).
For example:-

A four player practice game.  The players' scores are as follows.

Player number    Name       Score
      1          DAVE        L
      2          SHAUN       +1
      3          PAUL        -1
      4          SCOTT       -2

The leaderboard would display something like:-

      1    SCOTT               -2
      2    PAUL                -1
      3    DAVE                L
      4    SHAUN               +1


There are three buttons on the leaderboard.

OK

Continue to the next hole (if any are remaining).

Up and down arrows

These are used for scrolling through the list of players, displaying 13 at
a time.  Note that these buttons are only active during a tournament game.


The Winner's Screen

If any human players are in first place on the leaderboard at the end of
the game, the winner's screen will be displayed.  There are three different
screens - one for levels 1, 2 and 3, one for level 4, and one for level 5.

Click the left mouse button to return to the menu screen after enjoying
your moment of glory!


CREDITS

Design and Programming - Dave Kirk
Graphics               - Shaun Jackson
Sound Effects          - Dave Kirk
Testing                - Scott Butterfield
                         Paul Nichols
                         Lee Marsh
                         Dave Higginbottom