				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 deop, 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 capicity will start to increase, with a
consequent drop in freight rates. If the coffee harvest was bad, the freight
rates will deop 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 mortages;
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

	Befor 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 othen 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, mortages 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
recorede 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 porthold. 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, draggin 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 following are all (hopefully) of the codes needed for Ports of Call

1. How many staples are used in the manual? [2]
2. What is the last name of the first graphic artist on the title page of
    the manual? [LaBarre]
3. What is the name of the city on the back of the manual (2 words)? [Los
    Angeles]
4. On the cover of the manual, what is the color of the word "world"?
    [white]
5. On the cover of the manual how many pilings are located in the
    foreground? [4]
6. On the cover of the manual, what is the color of the programmer's names?
    [black]
7. On the cover of the manual, what is the name of the shipping company?
    [world]
8. What is the last word in the manual? [account]
9. On the cover of the manual, what is the color of the ship's mast? [white]
10. What is the name of the publishing company on the back of the manual
     (one word)? [PaperDisk]
11. What year is located on the title page of the manual? [1987]
12. On the cover of the manual, what is the word directly under Aegis?
     [interactive]
13. What is the name of the state on the back of the manual? [CA]
14. What is the first word of the last sentence of the manual? [if]
15. What color was George Washington's white horse? [You figure it out...]
16. How do you spell Martin's last name? [Ulrich]
17. What is the first word on the last page of the manual? [when]
18. What is the last word on the cover of the manual? [entertainment]
19. On the cover of the manual, what is the color of the chain in the
     foreground? [black]
20. What is the first word of the first paragraph in the manual? [The]
21. What is the last digit of the ISBN number on the title page of the
     manual? [5]
22. What is the first underlined word on the last page of the manual?
     [entering]
23. On the last page of the manual, what is the last word in the first
     sentence? [opposite]
24. What city is shown in figure 2 of the manual (2 words)? [Hong Kong]
25. What is the first digit of the ISBN number on the title page? [0]
26. On the cover of the manual, what color is the bottom of the ship? [red]

That's all, folks...