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Bass Class Version 1.5 A Bass Fishing Tutorial & Game By Dick Olsen A Few Words About ShareWare.... Bass Class is made available to the general public under the concept of ShareWare. As such, you are free to copy it and distribute it to others provided that all accompanying files are distributed intact and unmodified, and that no fee is charged. The author retains ALL rights to the program. You are encouraged to try the program for a reasonable period of time to see if you like it. If it proves to be enjoyable, please consider supporting the efforts of the author by registering your copy of the program. In any correspondence regarding Bass Class, please be SURE to specify the following information: * What version of Bass Class you have * What brand and model computer you have * How much memory your machine has * The disks your machine has (hard, 2 floppies etc.) * What kind of video card your machine has * Any other type of cards your machine has REGISTRATION BENEFITS: Registering Bass Class has lots of benefits, some tangible, some not. Registered users will receive the newest version of the game. The registered version comes with an ADDITIONAL 8 lakes to fish! Additionally, registered users can obtain an updated version at any time for only $5.00 ($7.00 outside North America). As a registered Bass Class user, you will also be eligible to receive a FREE CompuServe IntroPak. The Intropak includes a $15.00 usage credit for new CompuServe members. What a deal! To register your copy of Bass Class, send $15.00 along with the registration form at the end of this document to the author: Richard Olsen 68 Hartwell Ave. Littleton, MA. 01460 Thank you for supporting my efforts! Bass Class Support: Bass Class, like all of my other programs, is well supported. This support is available whether or not you are a registered user. If you have a problem or a question regarding Bass Class, you can obtain assistance in one of the four ways listed below. Many of the most common questions and problems are addressed in the file called Q&A.TXT on your disk. Be sure to read that file before seeking help since your question may be answered there, saving additional time and expense. 1. TELEPHONE. I do not publish my telephone number for lots of reasons. It is listed, and you can obtain it by calling the telephone company information service. If you must call, please be considerate by not calling after 10:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. If available, I answer all calls personally. If I am not there, please leave a message stating (clearly please) what your name is and the phone number where you can be reached. it is also helpful if you specify the best time for me to call. Since the registration fees for my programs are low, expect any return calls to be COLLECT. 2. MAIL. This is the slowest but most reliable way to obtain support. In any correspondence, please specify what program you have a question about, and include the information about your machine configuration as requested on the previous page. I answer all mail personally, but tend to reply to registered users first since I feel they deserve preferential treatment. I suggest using the Problem Report Form near the end of this document. 3. COMPUSERVE. Leave messages on CompuServe via CMAIL to my PPN, 70031,534. I check in there almost daily and answer messages as soon as I get them. 4. XEVIOUS BBS. My "home BBS" is Xevious in Framingham, MA. The phone number is (508) 875-3618. Leave messages to DICK OLSEN. I check into Xevious several times a week, so allow a day or two for a reply to appear. Introduction Bass Class is a fishing game, but it is actually a tutorial as well. Even if you have never been fishing in your life, you will find Bass Class both educational and fun to play. The game has three skill levels from which to choose. In NOVICE mode, helpful suggestions will guide you, and a full range of help on many fishing topics is only a mouse click (or keystroke) away. There is even a glossary of fishing terms built in. If you choose the INTERMEDIATE skill level, the fish will be harder to find and catch, but help is still available. If you think you are good, give PRO level a try! If you are a PRO, you are on your own, and the fish can be very finicky. You have a modern, fully rigged bass boat at your command. Aboard the boat you will find six different fishing rods at your disposal, over 2300 lure/color combinations, a nifty LCD depth finder, a trolling motor, and lots of other accessories. With the powerful outboard motor, you can zip to the far end of the lake, or scoot back to the weigh in area before the six hour time limit expires. Better wear your life jacket though! If you are good enough (or lucky) you might even catch a fish big enough to be engraved upon the BASS CLASS HONOR ROLL PLAQUE where the top ten fish are listed. The REGISTERED version of Bass Class comes complete with fourteen different fishing areas from which to choose (the shareware evaluation version has six). Other lakes are available that can expand your choice of lakes (see the file ORDERFRM.TXT on your disk). If you already own BASSTOUR, its lakes will also work with Bass Class and visa versa. What You Need To Run Bass Class Bass Class requires an IBM PC or compatible computer with at least 512k of memory and an EGA video system. Because of the complexity of the game, there are no plans to create a CGA version. If all you have is a CGA system, then you can still enjoy simulated fishing on your computer. Another program, BASSTOUR, is available for CGA users. See the order form at the end of this document or print out the file called ORDERFRM.TXT on the Bass Class distribution diskette for information on how to obtain BASSTOUR. You can run Bass Class from a floppy disk or from a hard disk. If you are lucky enough to have a VGA card and monitor, Bass Class will run fine on it also. Bass Class will NOT run on machines equipped with MCGA (i.e. PS-2 model 25) which is actually a subset of VGA. BASSTOUR, mentioned above, will run on MCGA equipped machines. If you have a mouse on your computer, you can use it to play Bass Class, although it is not necessary. It is highly recommended that you make a backup copy of your Bass Class diskette. Use the backup copy, and store the original diskette in a safe place. Since Bass Class requires a large amount of FREE memory, be sure that you do not have memory resident programs loaded before running Bass Class. Ramdisks, printer buffers, menu programs and other TSRs occupy large amounts of memory in your system, making it unusable by Bass Class. Bass Class may appear to run normally, but if there is not enough available memory, the program will halt. If this happens, a message will inform you of the fact that there is insufficient memory available for Bass Class. In this situation, Bass Class will not run properly on your system until you remove the offending software from memory. It is suggested that this file, BCLASS.DOC, (which is on the Bass Class distribution disk), be printed and read completely before playing the game. Doing so will give you better understanding of what is happening on the screen as well as become more familiar with the equipment at your disposal. To print this file, insert the Bass Class diskette into A: drive of your computer and type: COPY A:BCLASS.DOC PRN <then press the ENTER key> How To Run Bass Class From A Floppy Disk If your computer does not have a hard disk, at the DOS prompt,insert the your COPY of the distribution diskette into drive A: and simply type BassClas <enter>. After a few seconds, the title screen will appear. You will be asked to answer a few questions before the game starts. If your computer does have a hard disk, but you still want to run Bass Class from your floppy disk, insert the distribution diskette into drive A: and type A:<enter> at the DOS prompt, then type BassClas <enter>. Be sure that you leave the diskette in the drive while you are playing, and that it is NOT write protected. If you get real lucky, and catch a record sized fish, Bass Class will try to save your record catch on the disk. If the disk is not there, or if it is write protected, Bass Class may halt, waiting for the disk to be available. Bass Class will allow you to save a game so that you can finish playing it at a later time. If you are running Bass Class from your floppy disk, there may not be enough disk space to save a game. To avoid "insufficient disk space" errors, it is suggested that you delete this file (BCDOC.EXE) from the disk you are using. BE SURE THAT YOU HAVE MADE A COPY FIRST!!! If you attempt to save a game on a disk with insufficient space, a message will appear to notify you that the game was not saved due to lack of disk space. How To Run Bass Class From A Hard Disk To run Bass Class from your hard disk, first it must be installed. The distribution diskette has a batch file on it called "BCINSTAL.BAT" that will do this for you. To run this installation file, first insert the distribution diskette into drive A:. Then type A:BCINSTAL C:. The installation file will create a directory on your hard disk called BCLASS. Then it will copy all of the files from the floppy disk to the hard disk. After all of the files have been copied, the message "installation completed..." will appear on your screen. To install Bass Class on a drive other than C:, substitute that drive letter for the C: in the above example. The Files on Your Disk The following files should be on your Bass Class distribution diskette. If you have downloaded Bass Class from a BBS system, they will probably appear within a single large, compressed file. If you obtained Bass Class from a ShareWare distributor, there may be more files than are listed here. These are the files REQUIRED to run Bass Class properly: BASSCLAS.EXE The executable Bass Class main program. MAP.TRN A translate file used to create the lakes. PROF.PIC The picture of "Professor Bass" from title screen. BCMAP.PIC The image file. BBOARD.PIC The blackboard picture from title screen. LCD.PIC The Bass Class LCD graph. BIGFISH.TXT The file of the 10 biggest fish caught. BIGSTR.TXT The file of the 10 heaviest stringers. JOLLY.MAP The map of Jolly Creek FIVEFING.MAP The map of Five Fingers Lake NINE.MAP The map of Lake Nine Killer SPECTAC.MAP The map of Spectacle Pond SABLE.MAP The map of Sable River ROCKY.MAP The map of Rocky Pond TIPS.RAN The file containing Dicks Hot Tips The following are the HELP files: BOATDOCK.RAN BRUSH.RAN GRASAREA.RAN LCD.RAN LILYPADS.RAN LIVEWELL.RAN LUREHELP.RAN OPENWAT.RAN OUTBOARD.RAN ROCKAREA.RAN RODHELP.RAN STUMPS.RAN TMOTOR.RAN TULES.RAN WATER.RAN WEATHER.RAN GLOSS.RAN The Glossary of fishing terms used in HELP Batch files for installation & running: BCINSTAL.BAT Batch file to help install Bass Class BC.BAT Batch file to start running Bass Class These files are not required to run Bass Class, but they should be on your distribution diskette, and you should read them: README.DOC A text file containing last minute stuff BCLASS.DOC This file (manual) you are reading now Q&A.TXT Questions and answers to common problems ORDERFRM.TXT An order form listing other software available from the author. These additional lake maps ONLY appear on REGISTERED copies of Bass Class: BISON.MAP WYLIE.MAP RAMBO.MAP BIGGS.MAP THISTLE.MAP HOBO.MAP CRAFTY.MAP POSSUM.MAP These files ONLY appear on shareware (evaluation) versions: FILE_ID.DIZ A text file describing Bass Class. For BBS systems. VENDOR.DOC A text file with information for distributors. The Program There are three levels of play: Novice, Intermediate, and Pro. In each of the skill levels, you must weigh in your fish at the designated weigh in area before the end of the fishing day. If you fail to weigh in before the six hours have elapsed, all of the fish in your live well are released, and you receive no credit for them. The total weight of your fish is accumulated at the end of the day. In Novice level, the fish are very easy to catch, and it is easy to catch a sizeable stringer and to set new records. Intermediate level requires a bit more searching and lure experimenting to fill your live well with decent sized fish. Pro level is just plain tough! The fish are more selective and harder to locate. In Pro mode, just as in reality, it can be pretty hard to catch your limit. In fact, it is not unusual to fish an entire day without catching a legal fish. you will need to be more alert to your current situation. The weather is important. Your boat may drift if it is windy, and you may end up stuck somewhere preventing you from making the weigh in time. In all skill levels, if you catch a fish larger than one of the top ten fish, a short ceremony will ensue and you will be established as a record holder. The records are kept in a file called BIGFISH.TXT on your disk, and the 10 largest fish can be viewed at any time. Another file on your distribution diskette, BIGSTR.TXT, Bass Class keeps records of the 10 heaviest stringers caught while fishing at the INTERMEDIATE or PRO skill levels. NOVICE fishermen are not permitted to set heavy stringer records since the fish are very easy to catch at the NOVICE level. A stringer is considered to be the accumulated weight of the fish in your livewell. After the title screen has cleared, a command window will appear at the left side of your screen. This window lists most of the commonly used commands and functions. For many of them, one of the characters in the command will be highlighted in red. The red character represents the single character keystroke required to activate the command. Some of the commands require a function key, or a key press while holding down the ALT key. If you are fishing at either the NOVICE or INTERMEDIATE skill levels, help is available at any time by pressing the H key or the ? key. At the PRO level, most of the help topics are not available. One of the HELP selections is COMMAND REFERENCE. Selecting this help item will list all of the available commands on your screen. This help topic is available at all skill levels. If you are using a mouse, you can simply click on the command to invoke it. Some of the items in the command window will be highlighted in yellow to signify that they are active. Across the top of your screen are four groups of digits. These represent the time remaining, the gasoline remaining, the state of your battery charge, and your accumulation of points. Points are added when you do something right, and subtracted when you flub up. The points are just a way to judge your actions. The REAL measure of your skill (or is it luck?) is in the total weight of the fish you weigh in. The Boat Your boat is equipped with a trolling motor, an LCD chart recorder, 20 gallons of gasoline, batteries, a rod box, a tackle box, various emergency and safety devices, a live well, an anchor and of course a powerful outboard motor. As with a real bass boat, you need to exercise care and good judgment in the use of this equipment. Time is your biggest enemy, with the constant threat of obstacles such as stumps and rocks, running out of gasoline or killing your batteries contributing to your problems. The Fishing Areas Included on your Bass Class disk are six different bodies of water that you can fish. When the title screen appears, the names of the six fishing areas will be listed. To pick an area, just enter the corresponding area number. Each fishing area is unique in itself. Every time you start a new day of fishing, the location of the fish will be different, and their sizes will vary greatly. Additionally, every time the game is started, the depths on a particular lake will vary slightly. When fishing, it is wise to keep a check on the time remaining, the charge level of your batteries, and how much gasoline you have left. You must weigh in your fish before the time has expired. To weigh in your fish, you must be close to the weigh in area. The weigh in area on each lake or river is signified by a yellow flag, usually near where your boat is placed when the day begins. Your boat is the light blue (cyan) colored boat and starts each fishing day adjacent to the weigh in flag. The Fish After the lake has been drawn on the screen, the program decides where fish should be placed. As in real fishing, bass seem to like to be in or near some sort of cover. Stumps, rocks, lily pads etc. will usually hold the most fish. Fish also seem to congregate along humps or drop offs elsewhere on the lake. Boat docks, moored boats and weeds are also good places to look. Fish can also be caught in the middle of the lake. Each fish has its own unique personality, which determines how easy the fish is to catch. Some fish are more aggressive than others. They also have lure type and color preferences. If a fish is very aggressive, it will usually strike almost any type or color of bait. Mildly aggressive fish are more selective. Sometimes fish will cluster in an area, so it is a good idea to cover an area of the lake thoroughly because several fish can be caught in the same place at times. If you catch a decent fish in an area, it is wise to make several casts to the same general area since fish of similar size often stick together. In Intermediate and especially Pro modes, lure choice and color are important. You can cover an area completely without catching any fish, then change bait types or colors and catch fish after fish in the area you just covered. The program typically places about 2000 in a lake. If your computer is an XT type, it may take several seconds for the fish to be placed. The potential exists to catch an 18 lb. plus fish on each lake. The Equipment * Trolling Motor (F2 or T) The trolling motor is raised or lowered by pressing the F2 key or by pressing "T". If the trolling motor is down, pressing F2 (or T) will raise it. If the trolling motor is up, pressing F2 (or T) will lower it. Starting the outboard motor will automatically raise the trolling motor if it is down. Likewise, lowering the trolling motor automatically stops the outboard motor. If you are using a mouse, just point at the words TROLL MOTOR in the command window and click on it. The trolling motor uses more time than the outboard motor to move your boat, and it also consumes battery power. Once you have fished a few times with Bass Class, you will begin to remember what "short cut" keys to press. Mouse users can always use the keys if they wish. If you are using the trolling motor, the command is highlighted in the command window. * The Outboard Motor (alt-F9 or O) Pressing ALT-F9 (hold down the ALT key while you press F9) will start the outboard motor. Pressing "O" will do the same thing. The outboard will NOT run if you are out of gas. If you have the sound enabled, you will hear a buzz that indicates that the motor is running. Remember that any time the outboard is running, you are consuming gasoline. The outboard motor can also be started by clicking on the OUTBOARD command with your mouse. The outboard motor has five speeds. When it is running, you can increase the speed by pressing the INS key or decrease the speed with the DEL key. You can also click on the speed you want with the mouse. There are two other things to be aware of when using the outboard motor. First, tournament rules state that when moving your boat under power of the outboard motor, you must wear a life jacket. Failure to wear your life jacket may cost you a fine and a citation. The life jacket usage is discussed later in this document. The second thing to be aware of when using your outboard motor are zones designated "NO WAKE". These areas are found on most lakes, and are indicated by the presence of a floating sign. Sometimes, you will be given a citation if you pass through these areas with your outboard motor running at a faster than allowed speed. If you pass through a NO WAKE ZONE at idle speed, you will not get a citation, nor will you if you are using the trolling motor. Receiving a citation not only costs you money, it costs time as well. The faster you run the outboard, the more gas you consume. On the other hand, moving the boat at a fast speed uses less time to travel long distances. As you increase or decrease the speed of the outboard motor, the sound will vary in pitch. If you run your outboard motor at the highest speed, be careful. If you hit an obstacle, your outboard may be damaged and out of service. * LCD Chart Recorder (alt-F1 or G) Pressing ALT-F1 (hold down the ALT key while you press F1) will turn on the LCD recorder if it is off, or turn it off if it is on. Pressing "G" will do the same thing. The LCD works almost like a real one. Its screen will show fish directly under the boat in the center of its screen, fish to the port side of the boat are on the left of its screen, and fish to the starboard side of the boat appear on the right side of its screen. To select the LCD when using a mouse, just point at the LCD ON button and click. Clicking on the OFF button will turn off then LCD. You can also point the mouse cursor at the LCD command then click the left mouse button to turn on or off. The LCD recorder is continuously updated as you move the boat around the screen. It uses battery power, so use it sparingly. As with other commands, mouse users can also use the keyboard to control the LCD. * Rod Box (F9 or R) Your bass boat has a rod box containing six different types of rods. Each of these rods has certain advantages or disadvantages. For example, a spinning rod with 6 pound test line will allow you to cast your lure farther than a flippin rod (saving excessive boat moving) but the light line may cause you to lose a few fish. Some of the differences are obvious, others are not. You start each day of fishing with no rod selected. Before you can begin casting, you must select a rod. You can change rod types at any time. The F9 (or "R") key allows you to select a rod. Once you have the rod box window on the screen, the up and down arrow keys will cause the hilite bar to move up or down highlighting the rod selection. After you have the hilite bar positioned over the rod you want to use, press the ENTER key to reselect the highlighted rod. If you have a mouse, point at the SELECT ROD command and click. When the ROD BOX WINDOW appears, click on the rod you want to use. If you are satisfied with your selection, press the right mouse button to resume the game. If you change your mind after clicking on a rod type, just point to the rod you want and click again. You can "load up" all six rods with different baits, then change rods thus changing baits quickly, just like in real fishing. * Tackle Box (F10 or B) At your disposal is a six drawer tackle box containing a selection of lures we all wish we had. Many lure types and colors are there for your use. Pressing F10 (or "B") will give you access to the tackle box. If you are using a mouse, select the tackle box from the command list by pointing to the TACKLE BOX command and pressing the left button on the mouse. The Tackle Box consists of three windows. The first window allows you to choose which drawer to look in. Each drawer is neatly organized (I wish MY tackle box was this neat) into bait types. For example, crankbaits are in one drawer, spinnerbaits in another, plastic worms in another etc. Use the mouse to point at and click on which drawer you want, or use the UP or DOWN arrow keys to move the highlight bar to where you want it. After that, the drawer contents will appear in another window. In this window, you select the specific bait you want to use. Once you choose your bait, a third window will appear that lists the available colors for that particular lure. After you select the color, the tackle box windows will disappear. If you forget what bait you are fishing with, the STATUS command will tell you. Use of the LIST STATUS command is discussed later. Over 2300 lure type and color combinations are possible with Bass Class. * CHK LIVEWELL (F3 or L) Your boat contains an aerated live well that holds the five largest legal sized (12 inches or better) fish you have caught. You can examine the contents of your live well at any time by pressing F3 or L. If you have a mouse, just click on the CHK LIVEWELL command in the command window. The aerator will save your fish if you run it enough, but it does use battery power. Failure to use your aerator enough may cause some of your fish to die, costing you a one pound penalty for each dead fish weighed in. The live well will hold a maximum of five fish. Every legal fish you catch will be added to the live well until it contains five fish. After that, if you catch a fish larger than the smallest fish currently in the live well, the smallest fish will be released, and the fish you just caught will replace it in the live well. This way, the live well always contains the five largest fish you have caught. When you activate the CHK LIVEWELL command, a window will appear on your screen that shows how many fish are in the live well, what the total weight of those fish is, and reports the status of the aerator. To resume fishing, press the ESC key or the right mouse button. Examining the contents of your live well uses time, but no energy is consumed. * Life Jacket (alt-F2 or J) You must wear a life jacket any time you are moving the boat with the outboard motor. Failure to do so may cost you time and a citation with an associated fine. Wearing your life jacket is a bit of a nuisance since it restricts your casting distance a little. The life jacket is selected by pressing ALT-F2 or by selecting the appropriate item with the mouse. Taking off your life jacket uses a little time, as does putting it on. If you are wearing your life jacket when you make this selection, it will be removed. If you are not wearing it, it will be put on. Pressing "J" will also execute this command. The status of your life jacket is indicated by a highlighted yellow block in the command window. If on, the yellow highlight will appear, if the words LIFE VEST are not highlighted, it is not being worn. * Anchor (F8 or N) The anchor is of no use unless you are fishing in Pro mode. In Pro mode, the anchor will prevent your boat from drifting. Do not forget to raise the anchor before trying to move the boat. Pressing F8 (or N) lowers the anchor if it is up or raises it if it is down. If you are using a mouse, just click on the ANCHOR command. If the anchor is down, the command will be highlighted in yellow. As with most things in fishing, raising or lowering the anchor takes time. * Paddle (alt-F3 or P) Although the paddle can be used to move the boat at any time, most of us think of it as a last resort. The paddle uses quite a bit of time, but could be used to get you to the weigh in area before the allotted time has elapsed if both your battery was dead and you were out of gas. ALT-F3 or "P" selects the paddle from the keyboard, and you can select it with the mouse also. As with the trolling motor or the outboard motor, selecting the paddle turns off any other form of propulsion that may be active. If you are using the paddle, the PADDLE command will be highlighted. The next section explains how to move the boat, scroll the screen and make casts: * Moving the boat Boat positioning is crucial to fishing success both in reality and while playing Bass Class. The Q, W, E, A, D, Z, X, and C keys will move the boat. The Q key will move the boat to the upper left, the W key moves the boat straight up, the E key moves toward the upper right, the A key moves to the left, the D key moves to the right, the Z key moves to the lower left, the X key moves straight down, and the C key moves the boat toward the lower right. Each time you move the boat, time is consumed. The chart below should help you to understand boat movement: ^ \ | / Q W E <--A D--> Z X C / | \ There is are two other keys you should know about when it comes to moving the boat. The "-" key will cause the boat to back up and the "+" key will cause it to move forward. If you are using the trolling motor, battery power is also used. The outboard motor uses less time to move your boat, but also consumes gasoline. The paddle uses the most time of all, but obviously uses neither battery power or gasoline. The boat cannot be moved off the screen. * Rotating the boat The left and right arrow keys, if pressed while holding down the CTRL key will cause your boat to rotate either clockwise or counter- clockwise while maintaining its current location on the screen. Rotating the boat allows for the best cast positioning and also uses less battery power, gas and time. Obviously, to rotate your boat you must have the outboard motor running, the trolling motor running, or be using the paddle. * Scrolling the screen When Bass Class first draws the lake on your screen, what you see is really only about one fourth of the lake. The initial screen represents the upper left corner of the lake. Scrolling will AUTOMATICALLY occur as you approach the edge of the screen, but you can scroll it MANUALLY at any time. To scroll manually, press SHIFT-LEFT ARROW to move the screen to the left, SHIFT-RIGHT ARROW to move the screen to the right, SHIFT-UP ARROW to move the screen up, and SHIFT-DOWN ARROW to move the screen down. Scrolling the screen does not uses any battery power, gas or time. The arrow keys on the NUMERIC KEYPAD are the ones you should use to scroll. Make sure too, that your NUM LOCK is not on. The boat cannot be scrolled off the screen. NOTE: Some computers may exhibit keyboard differences which prevent scrolling the screen using the method described above. To scroll the screen on one of these computers, try using the 2, 4, 6, and 8 keys at the top of your MAIN keyboard, but do not press SHFT with them. Pressing 2 will scroll the screen down, 4 will scroll it left, 6 will scroll it right, and 8 will scroll it up. * Casting (F5 or C) Casting consists of two parts. The cast itself, and the retrieve. To make a cast, first you need to have a rod selected. Once a rod has been selected, each cast you make will assume the same rod is being used. Cast mode is entered by pressing ALT-C (F5 will also work), or by selecting the "START CASTING" command with the mouse. You can easily determine if you are in cast mode because the bottom line of screen will contain some brief casting instructions, which will disappear when you exit cast mode. If you are using a mouse, move the mouse cursor (the white arrow on the screen) to the place you want the cast to go. Then, press the left button on the mouse. A line will appear on your screen between the boat and where the arrow is pointing. If the sound is turned on, a squirt noise will accompany the line on the screen. The distance that you can cast will vary depending on the type of rod you have selected, and whether or not you are wearing a life jacket. The skill level you are playing at also helps to determine the maximum cast distance. A novice cannot cast as far as a pro. You cannot cast toward the rear of the boat. If you are not using a mouse, a small + symbol will appear somewhere near your boat when you enter cast mode. Use the up, down left and right arrow keys to then position your cast. You can also move the cast marker diagonally by using the HOME, PgUp, END, and PgDn keys. Once you have positioned the cast marker (the + symbol) where you want it, press the space bar to make the cast. If a fish strikes, the message FISH ON! will pop onto your screen, followed by other information windows about the fish. These messages will stay on the screen for short time, then disappear. They will disappear immediately if you move the mouse or press a key while they are displayed. This is to speed up the game if you desire. Casting too close to land will sometimes cause your bait to snag. Casting at stumps, docks, other boats, lily pads, rocks, etc. will normally not cause you to snag if you are using an appropriate bait for the type of cover you are fishing. * Retrieving your bait If a fish does not strike immediately after your cast hits the water, you must RETRIEVE the bait. RETRIEVING is accomplished by holding the space bar down, or by repeatedly pressing the left mouse button. Fish may strike at any time during the retrieve. Stop RETRIEVING when the bait reaches the boat unless you want another cast to go to the same place. This takes a bit of practice, but then so does real casting and retrieving! * Weighing In Your Fish (ALT-W) Weighing in your fish is almost as important as catching them in the first place. Each lake has a weigh in area signified by a bright yellow flag. To weigh in, you must proceed to the weigh in area and dock your boat as close to the flag as possible before the six hour time limit has expired. When you think your boat is close enough to the flag, press ALT- F8 (or ALT-W) to begin the weigh in procedure. If you are not close enough to the weigh in area, a message will appear to let you know. If you are within the weigh in area, the message "Are you sure you want to weigh in now?" will appear. A "Yes" reply will start the weigh in procedure, any other reply will abort the weigh in process. Fish can be weighed in at any time, but once you do, you are done fishing for that day. A message will appear on your screen that will say "Beginning weigh in...". After a few seconds, your statistics for the day will pop onto the screen. It is a good idea to allow yourself plenty of time to get to the weigh in area. You never know what might happen on your way back! If you have a printer connected, you can make a listing of the daily fishing results. Just press P when so instructed to get your print out. Miscellaneous Commands * HELP ME! (H or ?) Pressing H, the ? key or clicking on the HELP ME! command will display a list of topics for which help is available. Help on subjects such as fishing around boat docks, in rock piles, or bait selection (to name just a few) is available. The inexperienced angler will find the GLOSSARY of FISHING TERMS a great help. Additionally, there is a COMMAND REFERENCE to remind you of the keys to press for various things. As a bonus, there is an entry titled "Dicks HOT Tips" which will display a randomly selected fishing or boating tip. Selecting the COMMAND REFERENCE, the GLOSSARY, or the HOT Tips will not cost you anything, but help on other topics will cost you a few points. You can click on the help topic with your mouse, or use the Up/Down arrow keys to move the highlight bar if you are not using a mouse. If you are fishing in the PRO skill level, only the COMMAND REFERENCE, the GLOSSARY of FISHING TERMS, and the HOT TIPS are available since as as a PRO, you should not need much assistance. NOVICE skill level also has suggestions that will appear if Bass Class decides you need some guidance. * Contour Map (M) Pressing "M" will display a small contour map of the lake you are fishing. You can also click on the command with your mouse. The map consists of shaded areas that represent the various depths in the lake. Shallow areas are indicated by the lighter colors while deeper areas are indicated by the darker colors. The weigh in area is shown as a bright yellow square and the current location of your boat is represented by a blinking black/green square. Consulting the contour map uses 15 seconds of your time each time you use it. * Sound ON/OFF (F4) This command is executed by pressing F4, or by clicking on it with your mouse. The status of the sound is indicated by a yellow highlighted box in the command window. If the sound is ON (the default), selecting this command will turn it off. If the sound has been turned off, this command will turn it back on. It can be changed at any time. When the sound is on, a "squirt" noise will be heard as you make each cast, and a buzzing sound will be heard when the outboard motor is running. When you hook a fish, another distinct sound will be heard. * List Status (alt-F10 or S) This command is executed by pressing ALT-F10 (hold down the ALT key while you press F10), by pressing "S", or by clicking on it with the mouse. A window will pop up on your screen with lots of information about the rod you have selected, the lure type and color, time remaining etc. It costs you no time, battery power or gasoline to execute this command. * Add Fish Formula to Bait (F) You can add Fish Formula to your bait by pressing the F key. A short message will appear on the screen to notify you that Fish Formula was used. Each time you add a shot of Fish Formula, it costs you ten seconds in time. Sometimes, adding Fish Formula seems to have a great deal to do with your success. You have to be the judge! Each shot of Fish Formula lasts for about 6 or 7 casts. You must have a rod selected, and that rod must have a bait attached to benefit from this command. * Weather Report (ALT-F4) This command will display a weather report on your screen. It is executed by pressing ALT-F4 or by clicking on it with the mouse. The weather is of little interest unless you are fishing at the Pro level. Wind speed and direction are important in that your boat may drift if the wind is strong enough. The boat will drift in the direction that the wind is blowing. Be aware that it is possible to drift into rocks or other obstacles that can cost you some kind of penalty. It is also possible that your boat can become stuck as a result of drifting. If you get stuck, it is sometimes (but not always) possible to run your boat in the opposite direction from that which it was moving when it became stuck. If you become stuck, and cannot get out, keep trying. You can never tell when someone might come along to help! There is no alternate key to access this command. * Quitting the Game (ALT-Q) Pressing ALT-Q will cause the message "Are you sure you want to QUIT?" to appear. Answering "Y" will terminate the game, any other key will allow you to continue playing. Any record sized fish that you have caught will be recorded if you quit without weighing in, but you must weigh in to be credited with a heavy stringer record. * View BASS CLASS Honor Roll (V) Pressing the V key will display the weights of the 10 largest fish caught, who caught them, where and when they were caught. After you have looked at the "BIG FISH HONOR ROLL", press any key to see the "HEAVY STRINGER HONOR ROLL". This represents the ten heaviest stringers on record. If you are fishing at the NOVICE level, you can still set BIG FISH records, but you are not permitted to set HEAVY STRINGER records. When you have finished viewing the heaviest stringers, press any key to continue what you were doing. In PRO or INTERMEDIATE skill levels your total weight may qualify you for a record stringer. If so, your name, total weight, date, and the name of the lake or river will be saved, and your record will become one of those to beat! The big fish records and the heavy stringer records can be printed when you see them displayed on the screen. To do this, first make sure your printer is ready, then press P when you see the honor roll plaque that you want to print. * The - (minus) Key Pressing the "-" key will cause the boat to go backwards. * The + (plus) Key Pressing the "+" key will cause the boat to go forward. * Saving a Game (ALT-S) You can save a game and continue playing it at a later time. This can be done at any time by holding down the ALT key while you press the "S" key. The status of the game will be saved on your disk in a file called BCLASS.SAV. This file occupies about 60k of disk space so be sure that your disk has enough room for the file. If you have saved a game, it can be restored by selecting "R" when you are asked what area you would like to fish on the title screen at the start of a game. Clicking on the SAVE GAME command in the command window will also save the game for you. Only one game may be saved. * BOSS Mode (ALT-Z) This was not my idea! Many people requested it so here it is. You know what to use it for. When you press ALT-Z, the lake map disappears and is replaced with a dummy disk directory listing. The lake map will reappear and the game will continue when you press any key. * Changing Lakes (ALT-L) You can change what lake you want to fish on by pressing ALT-L. If you are in the CAST MODE, this command will not function, and a message will pop onto your screen asking you to exit cast mode first. Assuming you are not in cast mode, a list of available fishing areas will appear on your screen. Type the number corresponding to the new area you want, then press ENTER. If you change your mind and do not want to change lakes, just press ENTER without having typed in a number. When the new lake is drawn on the screen, all of your fish are released, and all equipment is set to its default state, just as if you had just started the game. SUPPORT CATCH AND RELEASE! A Few Choice Words.... * Wear your life jacket at all times. Put it on at the start of each day of fishing. (Good advice in real fishing too!) * Start the live well aerator as soon as the first fish is added to it. This will usually save you a penalty at weigh in time. * Work a likely spot thoroughly. Make several casts to the same area. Applying Fish Formula sometimes helps. * If you are not catching fish, try another bait or change colors. Often, a totally different type of bait will produce results. * Allow plenty of time to return to the weigh in area. * Use the ROTATE keys. They use less time and energy than moving the boat. * If you run into rocks, stumps etc. back your boat out in the opposite direction, or use the "-" key. * Learn to recognize areas that might cause you to snag. Lost lures cost you time and money, so choose baits that are appropriate for the structure you are fishing. * Use the contour map. It will help you find the deep holes, and make it easier to find your way back to the weigh in area. Credits: * Nels Anderson for allowing me to use some of his marvelous programming tools. Without him, Bass Class could not have been written. Nels is the wizard that brought us MAHJONGG, EGATREK, SHOOTING GALLERY and SUPER FLY (among others). You have not seen an EGA, VGA or MCGA program until you have seen one of his! Nels also has a program available called BassMap, which allows you to create your own lakes for use with Bass Class. These lakes can also be used if you have BassTour. His address is: Nels Anderson 92 Bishop Drive Framingham, MA 01701 BassMap costs $10 plus $2 for postage. It can also be downloaded from the Xevious BBS mentioned below. Good Fishing! Dick Olsen Be sure to try the Xevious BBS system in Framingham, MA. The newest version of Bass Class is always available there first! You can also leave me messages there. Leave notes to Dick Olsen, then check again in a few days for a reply. The number for Xevious is (508)-875-3618. Xevious has 1 gigabyte of disk space (and growing), with HST modems on most of the lines. ********************************************************************* * DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY * ********************************************************************* This software is sold "as is", without any warranty as to performance or any other warranties whether expressed or implied. Because of the many hardware and software environments into which this program may be used, no warranty of fitness for a particular purpose is offered. The user must assume the entire risk of using the program. Any liability of the seller will be limited exclusively to product replacement or the refund of the registration fee. ********************************************************************* * ASSOCIATION OF SHAREWARE PROFESSIONALS * ********************************************************************* This software is produced by Richard Olsen who is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006, USA or send a CompuServe message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. _______ ____|__ | (R) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER BASS CLASS PROBLEM REPORT FORM If you encounter a problem with Bass Class, I would like to know about it. Please take a few minutes to fill out the following form, then mail it to me. I will do my best to correct the problem. If a new version of Bass Class is created as a result of the problem you have reported, I will send you the new version with the problem corrected. Your Name_______________________________________________________ Street Address__________________________________________________ City, State, ZIP________________________________________________ Day time Phone #________________________________________________ Evening Phone #_________________________________________________ Best time to call_______________________________________________ What version of Bass Class do you have?_________________________ Where did you get it?___________________________________________ What brand of computer are you using?___________________________ What Model of computer__________________________________________ How much memory does your computer have?________________________ What brand of video card does your computer have?_______________ How much memory is on the EGA card?_____________________ What other cards are in your computer? ___________________________________________________________________ Are you using a mouse?___________________ Does your computer have a hard disk?__________More than one?_______ Describe the problem. What were you doing when it happened? What mode were you operating in? Were you out of gas or was the battery dead? Was the LCD recorder on? Was the sound on? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ Bass Class Registration Form v1.5 Dear Dick, Enclosed find my check or money order for $15.00 (U.S. funds). Please register me as a Bass Class user and send me the latest version of the game that contains the 8 additional lakes. Send me any other goodies I'm entitled to as well! Thanks! YOUR NAME________________________________________________ STREET ADDRESS___________________________________________ CITY, STATE, ZIP_________________________________________ COUNTRY__________________________________________________ DISK SIZE REQUIRED: ______5.25" ______3.5" COMMENTS_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Mail To: Richard Olsen Olsen Outdoors 68 Hartwell Avenue Littleton, MA 01460