				PORTS OF CALL

			       ABOUT THE GAME

A Background on Tramp Shipping

	The traffic of goods by sea is organized in accordance with
international agreements and contracts between individual countries. About
80% of the goods (called "cargo volume") transported between two countries
is handled by ships registered under the flags of the countries concerned.
The remaining 20% is open to the free competition of ships of other flags.
These ships, called "tramp" ships, are usually prepared to transport all
kinds of goods. This aspect of the shipping business is the focus of Ports
of Call.

	Whether a tramp ship owner makes a profit depends upon: one the one
hand, the laws, regulations and subsidies of his country, and on the other,
the rules of supply and demand. If, for example, there has been a good
coffee harvest, coffee prices will drop, and since there is a lot of coffee
to be shipped, the freight charges will rise. Now, if a lot of owners start
to compete for the business, the freight capacity will start to increase,
with a consequent drop in freight rates. If the coffee harvest was bad, the
freight rates will drop even though the coffee price has risen, because the
shipping capacity is now in excess.

	If a crop is exceptionally poor, it may be necessary for the ship
owner to temporarily lay his ships up. In this situation, the ships cannot
be sold because the ships" prices have dropped (supply and demand). Also it
is not economically viable to operate the ships because the income nowhere
covers the overhead--fixed costs, such as maintenance and finance, still
have to be carried. This is now the time to buy good, used ships at a low
price. Apart from the economic aspects, life aboard a tramp ship can be
pretty exciting and that's no "old sailor's yarn"!

The Object of the Game

	Each player founds his own shipping company, with a starting
capital of $5 million to buy ships. Freight and ports can be chosen
continuously from offers on the market. Then the captain chooses an
economic travelling speed and casts off to encounter many adventures on the
high seas.

	After unloading his cargo, the captain is credited with the agreed
payment. Then he may refuel, make necessary repairs, and so on. The next
job is to find a new, lucrative cargo, buy further ships, and/or repay his
mortgages; in other words, he must have a more productive company than his
competitors.

	The strategy of the game is flexible. A rogue will try to make a
quick buck by using cheap ships and juggling the freight rates to force his
competitors into bankruptcy. The careful player, in contrast, will build a
solid financial foundation. The superior speed of his high-tech fleet will
enable him to snap up the more lucrative contracts.

	Any strategy is deemed to fail if you don't have a good captain to
bring your ship across the world's stormy seas. The formulas for ship
movement have been calculated so that ships respond to changes in speed and
movements of the rudder as in the real world. It is recommended that the
beginner does not start with ships that are too large. These are slow to
respond and, as such, require a more experienced captain.

	A ship's movement at sea runs at high speed. The captain, however,
must select the correct speed. Fuel consumption depends on the time at sea
and the weather conditions. Determination of the economic travelling speed
depends on fuel prices and freight rates. Hence, you can see that a
captain's decisions also have an influence on the success of the company.

	The credit rating of an enterprise is very dependent on its social
status. The more ports served by a line, the higher the status. And an
owner who is operating modern, expensive ships has a naturally better
standing than the owner of a rusty, floating wreck. The captain's conduct
also affects a company's credit.

	A player's chances of success improve the more he knows about
international shipping. All data for the game originated from actual
development in the maritime world: the fluctuation of freight rates,
refueling costs, port charges, and ship operating costs. The ship operating
costs include amounts payable for tax, management, crew expenses, safety
precautions, and other costs--these vary significantly from country to
country. These general costs are calculated for each individual ship and
are reduced in accordance with the subsidies, tax reductions, etc., that
are valid in the country of registration. The accounts are then
automatically debited periodically, without the knowledge of the owner.

	Ship prices are the same for all ship owners. However, in reality,
ship building is subsidized differently in each country; therefore, a
compensatory figure is included in the basic costs.

	In summary, Ports of Call has been developed with this motto in
mind: "Software with Hard Facts."

				GETTING STARTED

What You Need to Run Ports of Call

	Ports of Call will run on any of the Amiga family of computers with
512K RAM and one disk drive. Kickstart and Workbench versions 1.2 (or
grated) are required.

Loading Ports of Call

To Start Ports of Call:
	
	On the Amiga 500 and 2000:

	Insert the Ports of Call disk into the internal drive (DF0:) after
	turning the computer on.
	Place the cursor on the PoC disk icon and double click the
		Selection (left) mouse button.
	When the window opens, double click on the PortsofCall ship icon.

	On the Amiga 1000:

	Insert Kickstart after turning the computer on.
	When the Workbench hand appears, insert the Ports of Call disk into
		the internal drive (DF0:).
	Place the cursor on the PoC disk icon and double click the
		Selection (left) mouse button.
	When the window opens, double click on the PortsofCall ship icon.

Personalizing Your Program

	Before you can continue, you must enter your name and registration
number. A requester will appear with a blue cursor in the first edit field.
This is where you are to type your first name, space, then your last name.
If your name has special characters, use the English equivalent -- ae for
``a, for example. Also, enter an i in place of y. Press RETURN and type the
registration number (found on your registration card). Select OK and the
game will proceed.

				PLAYING THE GAME
	
	After you start the game, you will be presented with a series of
questions. The first asks, Load an Old Game?. Click on NO with the
Selection (left) mouse button if you've never played before. You can load a
saved game by selecting YES, in which case, a storage requester will appear
with a list of your saved games.

	A new requester will appear asking you to choose the desired time
duration of play. You have options of selecting 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours or
until the game is over. If you play a timed game and you reach the time
limit, you are given the option of continuing play or quitting. After
selecting the desired time duration, select OK.

	Next, a requestor will appear asking you to select the degree of
playing difficulty. You will be presented with three options: Beginner,
Expert and Genius. If you are new to the game, select Beginner, then select
OK.

	A requester will then appear asking you to choose the number of
players. You can enter up to four. After entering the number of players,
select OK.

	The registration form requestor will appear asking you to fill out
the ship Captain's name and the name of the shipping company. Click with
the Selection button inside the Name drawer, type your name and press
RETURN. Then type a name for your fictional company and press RETURN.
Select OK.

	After registering, you must choose a home port. Select any of the
28 ports listed and select OK. A screen will then appear with a picture of
the globe, showing you the location of your port. Select go on to continue.
The entire registration and port selection process will be repeated for
each player.

	After all players are registered, the World Simulation Display will
appear. This is the main screen of the game, where all action starts and
stops.

The Ports of Call Menu Bar

	You can see the Menu Bar when you press the Menu (right) mouse
button. To choose a menu item, put the cursor on the Project heading and
move it down until the item you want is highlighted. Release the Menu
button and that item is chosen. The Project menu includes:

ABOUT... which brings up a window containing copyright information and the
version number. Free Memory measures (in bytes) how much memory is
currently available.

NEW GAME will clear from memory the current game and start an entirely new
game.

LOAD will bring up the storage requestor so that you may load a previously
saved game to resume play.

SAVE will save the current game you are playing, provided it has already
been named; otherwise, the storage requestor will appear so that you may
enter a filename and directory.

SAVE AS will bring up the storage requestor wallowing you to specify any
drive or directory and filename to save the game to. After selecting SAVE
AS..., type the name of the game in the filename box and the directory you
want to save it to in the drawer box and then select OK.

PRINT will print the current screen. If you have a printer other than an
Epson, you must copy its driver to the ports of Call disk and install it
using the Preferences program. Consult the handbook which came with your
Amiga for more information.

If necessary, you can abandon play by choosing QUIT. Then a requestor will
appear asking if you really want to do this for sure. Select OK to quit,
CANCEL to resume play. Upon quitting the game, you will be shown which
player has been most successful.

The World Simulation Display

	The Simulation Display shows a map of the world on which the ships
of all ship owners are shown -- you must buy a ship before you can see it.
Individual ships are displayed in the company colors. A ship will blink
several times when activity is expected. The numbers in rectangular boxes
represent the wind strength (on the Beaufort scale) for weather systems
calculated by the global weather simulator. The higher numbers indicate
storms.

	The ACTION gadget in the lower left corner is labeled START. If you
select it again it will change to STOP. Selecting START allows the
SIMULATION ELAPSED TIME gadget to continue and the game to proceed.
Selecting STOP freezes the time gadget, allowing the player to conduct
business away from the ship.

	The SIMULATED ELAPSED TIME gadget contains a simulated 24-hour
clock nd boxes representing days. The passing of weeks and years are shown
underneath.
	
	You must select STOP before you can select any of the gadgets on
the right side of the World Simulation Display: GLOBE, OFFICE and SHIP
BROKER. Selecting SHIP BROKER brings up a requestor showing the current
ship owners' company names with buttons next to them. When you select a
button, a screen will appear showing you an elevator. The elevator has five
floors from which to choose, where you can buy or sell ships and get
information about the ship market.

	Selecting OFFICE also lets you select a company name to take you
into that company's office. This is where your books are kept, statistics
are analyzed, mortgages and bank overdrafts are applied for and repaid,
profit and loss statements are prepared and business developments are kept
track of. You can also change the location of your home port from within
your office if you think it is more economical to operate under a different
flag.

Hint: Checking your office periodically will prevent theft.

	Selecting GLOBE allows each player to determine the location of his
ships, the ship's route and Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA). These details
are recorded on the Globe, which can be rotated into any viewing position
when you hold the Selection (left) mouse button down on the rotation gadget
in the coordinate system and drag it to a new positions while still holding
down the Selection button.

	In the World Simulation Display, the window in the lower right
corner displays the relative status of the shipping companies.

	After all the ship owners have bought their ships, select START.
The map will blink the ships in different colors to signify an activity
will occur.

The Port Display

	You will now be presented with a screen showing the captain's cabin
-- you can see your port through the porthole. The chalkboard contains
information regarding the city and country of your port. The captain's log
lists the last port visited, cargo, profits, bank balance, ship condition
and available fuel (in tons). The clipboard contains options which you can
activate by selecting them.

Repairing Your Ship

	If you bought a used ship, chances are that it needs a little minor
repair. After selecting REPAIR, you will be presented with a requestor
showing you the damage and repair status of your ship. You can select the
level of repairs you want or can afford.

Refueling Your Ship

	To refuel your ship, select REFUEL. This will bring up the
refueling screen, where you can select how much fuel to put in your ship.
By clicking the select button of any of these buttons: 25%, 50%, 75% or
100%, the fuel will rise in the tank to that level.

Charting Your Ship

	Selecting CHARTER allows you to choose where you will go next and
what type of cargo to carry. Every port has different types of cargo --
some worth a lot more than others. To determine the best cargo, click on
the various destinations and available cargoes to determine the most
lucrative charter.

Laying Up

	Laying up means to dock your ship for a short time. You may want to
wait until the laws of supply and demand command a higher price for your
cargo. As a ship owner, it may become necessary to temporarily "lay up" the
ship for a week or so, because it is not economically viable to operate the
ship when the income doesn't cover the overhead.

Loading Your Cargo

	When you are ready to embark, select LOAD CARGO, then select OK.
The screen will turn blank indicating an action is taking place and you
will return to the World Simulation Display. Your ship will appear in your
company color. When it blinks on and off, you are ready to navigate through
the harbor on your way to the destination port.

			NAVIGATING YOUR SHIP

	Navigation is the most important aspect of being a successful
Captain. The ship must be maneuvered in and out of different harbors and
oftentimes through difficult obstacles. The Navigation Control Panel is
made up of the following components: the Power Regulator, Speed Indicator,
and Rudder Regulator (see Figure 3). Each one must be mastered to
successfully navigate your ship.

The Power Regulator

	The power regulator functions similar to a gas pedal in a car. To
go faster, h9old the select button down and drag the speed regulator up to
go forwards, and down to go backwards.

	Actual ship acceleration is simulated, so it takes time to gain
speed. With the regulator positioned in the exact center (represented by a
horizontal line) the ship's engine is at idle.

The Speed Indicator

	The speed indicator is represented by a small horizontal line
directly to the right of the power regulator. It functions similar to a
speedometer by showing you how fast you are moving. If the speed indicator
is moving fast, you have a lot of momentum and it will take longer to slow
down or change direction. Beginning ship captains should take time and
experiment with the navigation control panel until they are familiar with
maneuvering techniques.

				/\
                               /  \
                              /    \  Transverse Thruster (available only on
                            !-------!/      more expensive ships)
		            !-------!
                            !-!   ! !
                            !-!   ! !
                            !-!   ! ! Speed Indicator
            Power Regulator.!_!   !_!/
                            !\!___! !
                            ! !   1 !
                            !---|---!
                            ! ! | ! !
                            !--/|---!
      	     Rudder Regulator /

			Figure 3 The Navigation Control Panel

The Rudder Regulator

	The rudder regulator is identical to a steering wheel. When the
ship is moving forward, dragging it to the left will turn the ship left and
dragging it right will steer the ship right.  When the ship is traveling
backwards it functions the opposite.

Entering a Harbor

	The goal when entering a harbor is to safely dock your ship and
park it inside the blue target shaped like an arrow (called the berth). The
front of the ship must be pointing in the same direction as the arrow to
successfully dock the ship, and the ship must be motionless and parallel to
the dock inside the blue target. The hourglass represents how much time you
ave to accomplish this. You can use tugboat assistance if you feel it is
too difficult, but tugs cost you a lot of money. If you are low on funds,
you will be forced to steer by hand.

Leaving a Harbor

	You successfully leave a harbor by navigating your ship through the
blue target window. You aren't penalized for exiting backwards. The goal is
to safely exit without crashing or going beyond the time limit shown in the
hourglass. you can use tugboat assistance if you feel it is too difficult,
but tugs cost you a lot of money. If you are low on funds, you will be
forced to steer by hand.

On the Open Sea

	When you have successfully left the harbor, a screen will appear
containing information on your destination, freight on board, distance to
travel (in nautical miles), and the deadline for delivery (if any). Also,
you may choose your traveling speed (in knots). Remember, the higher the
speed, the more fuel is consumed; on the other hand, a long journey results
in a high total of fixed operating expenses. After making your choices, you
must challenge the cold, cruel sea--you may STOP ACTION at any time during
the voyage to catch up on office work, buy ships, and so on. Bon Voyage!

And the Winner IS.....

	When the game is over, the Ranking List will appear. The winner is
determined by who has the highest status. If it's a tie score, the assets
are taken into account.

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         DOCS PROVIDED BY  -+*+-THE SOUTHERN STAR-+*+- for M.A.A.D.                                                               
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