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Text File | 1994-08-28 | 13.2 KB | 252 lines

Documentation for FAIRWAY v2.2 for the Series 3a ================================================ This game is shareware, so please share it with other Psion-owning friends! This documentation is in English only, but please note that in addition to the READ.ME files in the other four languages, that all the game text and help screens are also fully converted to the appropriate tongue! New for v2.2 (since v2.1) ------------------------- Additional language support - now fully runs in English, German, French, Italian and Danish. Various minor bugs fixed, minor improvemenents to 3D graphics, sand splash when playing out of bunkers, friendier power bar layout, more challenging and realistic gameplay (for those who thought previous versions were too easy!) Tougher for computer golfers, too, I thought all this '10 under par' stuff was getting ridiculous! Fairway edge shown in grey on main view. Playing out of bunkers/long grass more realistically difficult, with random factor. Save game renames previous saved game to backup file, for those moments when you saved by accident, e.g. on exiting the game. Graphics PIC files condensed into one. Non-European language support bug fixed. Whats new for v2.1 (since v2.0) ------------------------------- Improved game logic/rewards, improved overhead views, improved hole geometry, ball now stops in sand properly, assorted save game bugs fixed/worked around, WVE files can now be in a \WVE directory if desired, main game is now in one module with english, german and italian overlays, registration code file can be on any drive, putting scale tweaked, sound samples smaller, 2-player games now have hole-winners teeing off first on next hole, bunkers now shown in grey scale, overhead distance scale markers, flashing pin legend to improve player orientation. Quick Installation: ------------------- Install by putting FAIRWAY.OPA into an APP directory (any device will do) and FAIRWAY.PIC and one of the language modules into a \FAIRWAY subdirectory beneath the aforementioned \APP directory. The WVE files can (optionally) be in any \WVE directory, but the tidiest place is probably the \APP\FAIRWAY\ directory, with the PIC files etc. Thus \APP\FAIRWAY.OPA and \APP\FAIRWAY\ENGLISH.OVL .... (or DEUTSCH.OVL or ITALIANO.OVL and \APP\FAIRWAY\FAIRWAY.PIC or FRANCAIS.OVL or DANSK.OVL ) and \APP\FAIRWAY\CHEER3.WVE and \APP\FAIRWAY\CLAP4.WVE and \APP\FAIRWAY\SWING2.WVE and then install the OPA in the normal time-honoured Psion 3 manner ... (Please note that the PIC file contains several pictures, several people appear to be confused by this, but I assure you it's all optimised as well as possible, and that this file *needs* to be the size it is!) If you suspect that your copy of FAIRWAY 2.2 has been 'hacked' or changed in some way, then please call me to let me know where you obtained the game from and to check the files sizes etc with me. Thanks! ================ Main documentation follows =========================== FAIR22.ZIP Copyright 1993,1994, UK, Steve Litchfield, 8 Grove Farm, Mytchett, Surrey GU16 6AQ United Kingdom Registration fee: £12 (or £6 for registered FAIRWAY 1.0 users) If you live outside the UK, convert to either £Sterling (or Eurocheque in Sterling), US $, DM or french ff, and send cash. Released as shareware. The shareware version is fully functioning in every way, with the only nuisance factor being the rather frequent interruption of various nag screens, encouraging you to play fair, play the game, and support authors like myself by sending in some money. I will then 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! I can e-mail you this code if necessary. *NOTE* The registration codes for FAIRWAY 2.2 (for the 3a only) are deliberately different than those for v1.0 (i.e. the Series 3 variant), so I'm afraid you can't just ask to register v1.0 and use the code for v2.2 !! For existing registered users of v1.0, a code can be obtained for v2.2 for 6 UK pounds. Sounds fair to me!! Registered v2.x users can continue to use their registration code for v2.2. All temporary files, player stats files (*.FWS), menu settings (FAIRWAY.SET), and saved games (FAIRWAY.SAV and FAIRWAY.BAK) are stored in small files in your M:\OPD directory. 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 (SupaDrive, 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, and without 'overswing') are shown inside the power bar. There are three modes of play. 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 not possible to change mode half-way through a round/tournament, so you have to decide right at the start of each game how you want to play! 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! In 2-player game, the winner of each hole gets to shoot first on the following hole, just like in the real game. Each hole is randomly generated for this particular tournament, at the time of playing, so you'll never play the same tournament course twice! (The actual sequence of par ratings remains the same, but the hole lengths and contents will always be different.) Difficulty ---------- Because you are pitted against 20 computer opponents of varying (OK, random!) 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 real challenge even when you've been playing FAIRWAY for a while, especially as the computer players start playing better once you start edging into the lead! 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 all of which you'll need to hit harder than normal, to varying degrees). Long grass and bunker shots also suffer from a built-in random factor, as in real life! 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 usual 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 and the ball lie, 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 discourage people cheating by a continual cycle of Save-play-restore on a 'difficult' hole. I often found I saved games by accident on exiting the game, when in fact I didn't want to overwrite my previous saved game. FAIRWAY now keeps the 'old' saved game temporarily as FAIRWAY.BAK, so if an accident does happen you can always delete FAIRWAY.SAV and rename the .BAK file to FAIRWAY.SAV ! 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 (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 when you play the game. ************************************************************************ Thankyou for playing FAIRWAY v2.2. Please play fair with shareware! Steve Litchfield, 8 Grove Farm, Mytchett, Surrey GU16 6AQ United Kingdom Telephone +44 (252) 515431 Don't forget 3-Lib library services as well for all Psion PD/shareware, send me a stamped/self-addressed-envelope for more details. ************************************************************************ Note to hackers: Please don't try to hack this game. Although everything is possible, it really isn't worth it! Use your undoubted programming skills to write something of your own instead and make a positive contribution to the Psion software world!! HAVE FUN!