PIRACY oN the HiGH SEas Docs
----------------------------

Piracy requires a Commodore Amiga with kickstart version 1.2 or above with
at least 1 megabyte of memory.  To load turn on your Amiga and insert disk
1 into the internal disk drive.  Additional Disk drives can be used.

The game of Piracy deals with a period in the planets history when Evil
Forces have permeated the structure of their civilisation and threaten its
future stability.  The people are beset by Pirates and evil monsters bent
upon the destruction of all that is good.  Still alive in the peoples deep
subconscious, however, and handed down from generation to generation in
myths and legends, is the memory of a time of peace, prosperity and justice
for all.  In those halcyon days, almost beyond memory, a benign government
ruled the land from the Halls of Balance.  The power of this authority was
derived from their possession of the Golden Chalice of Balance given to the
people at the beginning of time and housed in the Halls of Balance.  The
disappearance of the Chalice from the Halls of Balance marked the return of
the Powers of Evil into the land.  Through this game you are about to enter
this terrifying world where your main objective is to find the Golden
Chalice and return it to its rightful place in the Halls of Balance,
thereby restoring peace to the land.  Your quest for the Golden Chalice
will take you into the atmosphere of the old 'Spanish Main', where many of
the Islands in the West Indies harbored the lairs of ruthless and bloody
pirates.  These men recognise no law but the slash of a cutlass and the
threat of their pistols.  These Pirates included in their ranks such
infamous names as Blackbeard, Captain Kidd and many other lessor, but
equally bloodthirsty villains, who showed no mercy to their victims and
expected none in return.  In the course of this quest you have to
accumulate wealth and power by trading between the many islands in this
land which are beset by Pirates and Monsters that seek only your
destruction.  The prowess that you display in these encounters will gain
for you the confidence of the people from whom you may obtain clues as to
the whereabouts of the Golden Chalice that you are seeking.  Piracy Playing
Instructions The overall aim to the game is to find the missing chalice.
To achieve this you must trade to acquire wealth and power over the Force
of Evil giving the people confidence to talk about the lost secrets of the
land and your quest for the Chalice begins.  This story can be seen in the
intro which can be selected via the main menu.  Controls The game uses a
combination of both Mouse and Joystick.  Throughout the game you have the
option to click on many different icons which is the main control method.
The mouse is used to select these icons.  The joystick is used in the
fighting screens and can also be used to guide your ships to their
destinations.

Main Menu You will be faced with four options.  Start a new game Continue
old game Format save disk See intro Use the mouse to click on the required
option and then click on the select icon in the bottom right of the box.
As Piracy can take a while to play it is advisable to create at least one
save game disk at this point as they cannot be formatted while the game is
being played.  Select the 'Format save disk' option and follow the on
screen prompts.  All the information on the save disk will be erased.
Piracy will use one disk for each save game.  To continue an old saved game
select 'Continue old game' and you will be asked to insert a previously
used save game disk.  The game will be continued from where it was saved.
If this is your first game then select 'Start new game'.  After you have
selected an option you may be asked to change disks.  This is shown with a
picture of a disk with a number on.  Place the required game disk in any
drive to continue.  If the disk has a letter 'S' then place a save game
disk in the drive.  Main Screen.  When you first start a game you will be
presented with the main screen.  This is split into two parts.  The display
area which shows your ship and the islands around your ship and the icon
panel.  The icons are as follows 1.  Select additional ships 2.  Display
Map 3.  Start/Stop ship 4.  Computer options (Save game, music on/off) 5.
Status 6.  Enter icon (Shows Sea if no selection can be made) used to enter
city/dungeon 7.  Scrap ships Both the mouse and joystick can be used to
sail the ship.  If the mouse is used click on the wheel to the right of the
screen.  If the joystick is used then the ship will sail in the direction
pointed by the joystick.  The mouse is also used to select the icons.
Before the ship can sail you must pull up the anchor and put up the sails.
This is done by selecting the Start/Stop icon.  When the 'Display Map' icon
is selected the display area will be changed to show the whole world.  Your
ship can be seen as a flashing dot.  If you buy more ships they will also
be shown on this map.  To return to the original display click on the map
icon again.  The 'Status' icon will show your current wealth, the current
cargo in the ship and an icon for each member of the crew.  This includes
your three main characters and any additional mariners you have hired.
Click anywhere on the icon panel to return.  The 'Enter' icon is used to
enter ports, dungeons and other features on the landscape.  The icon will
be different depending on the features around the ship.  If the icon shows
a picture of the sea then it cannot be selected as there is not a feature
near enough to the ship.  The icon will only show a feature if your ship
has its anchor down.  To enter the feature click on the 'Enter' icon and
you will be taken to the appropriate screen.  When the 'Computer Options'
icon is selected a new set of icons will be displayed.  These can be used
to return to the game, save the current game, turn on or off the music or
quit the game.  If the save game icon is selected then the computer will
ask for a save game disk to be inserted into the drive.  When finished the
computer will return you to the main screen.  If you have bought some
additional ships you can access them by selecting the 'Select additional
ships' icon.  This will display some additional icons which allow you to
control the additional ships.  Each ship has a number, clicking on the
number will select the ship.  You can now select the 'Enter' icon to enter
a port.  This will take you into the town to allow you to buy or sell
goods.  When you have bought some goods you can tell the ship to sail to
another town, this is done with the 'destination' icon (shown as an arrow).
You will now have a selection of towns the ship can sail to.  Click on the
name of a town and the ship will automatically set sail.  When the ship
reaches the town its icon will flash.  The remaining icon is used if you
wish to scrap the ship.  You will receive some wealth from the scrapping of
the ship but not its full value.  Town Screen If you arrive at a town and
use the 'Enter' icon you will go into the town.  The town screen is again
split into sections.  On the left is the information screen which also
displays pictures, an information strip at the bottom and on the right the
icon selection panel.  The name of the town will appear at the bottom of
the screen in the information strip.  It is helpful to make a map on paper
(or remember the positions) of the towns as the missions later on will
refer to the towns as places to go.

1. Enter Shop
2. Heal party member
3. Enter tavern
4. Talk to Town folk
5. Status
6. Exit town.


When the 'Enter Shop' icon is selected you will go into the local merchant
traders shop.  This is described later on.  The 'Status' icon will display
your current wealth and the health of your party members.  The health can
be between 1 and 30.  If a character is dead then they will not be shown on
the screen.  If one or more of your characters are not at full health then
select the 'Heal party member' icon.  This will take you to the local
healer who can sell you different strength healing potions.  These are
represented by three icons with increasing number of potions.  The potions
will heal all the party members at once.  When you have gained enough
wealth the town people will begin to talk.  Select the 'Talk' icon and they
may give you some information which will lead you closer to finding the
missing chalice.  You must gain more and more wealth for them to give you
all the clues to where the missing chalice can be found.  The 'Enter
tavern' icon will take you into the local tavern.


Shop screen

When you go into the shop you will be allowed to buy goods or sell goods
you have already bought; buy a new ship or buy a cannon and cannon balls.

1. Buy goods
2. Sell goods
3. Buy ship
4. Buy cannon balls
5. Buy cannon

The 'Buy goods' icon will take you to another screen.  The prices of the
goods the merchant has in stock will be shown on the left of the screen.
To buy some goods click on the corresponding icon on the right of the
screen.  You will always buy enough goods to fill your ship.  On the main
ship this is 5 tonnes of goods.  So if you were to buy some corn at a price
of 10, you would buy 5 tonnes of corn for 50 units of wealth.  The idea is
then to take this corn to another town where the price of the goods you
bought is higher, thus being able to sell it for more and make money.

When the 'Sell goods' icon is selected you will sell the goods currently
stored on your ship.

The 'Buy ship' icon will take you to another screen which shows a picture
of a new ship.  The price of the ship is shown at the bottom of the screen.
To buy the ship select the 'YES' icon.  If the 'NO' icon is selected a
different ship is shown.  To exit the screen select the 'OK' icon.  If you
are going to buy a new ship remember that you also need money to buy goods.
If you just have enough wealth to buy a ship you may not have enough to buy
goods as well.  You can buy a cannon for your main ship.  This is done by
selecting the 'Buy Cannon' icon.  You must also buy cannon balls to use in
the cannon.  This is done by selecting the 'Buy cannon balls' icon.  When
you have enough cannon balls you will be told with a message.  1.  Gamble
money 2.  Hire Mariner

When you enter the tavern you will be able to hire Mariners who will
accompany you in your quest.  You can hire up to a maximum of five
mariners.  Also you can try to gain more wealth by using the gambling
machine.  Gambling Table.

The gambling table allows you to try and gain wealth through chance.  To
put money into the table click on the icon with the up arrow.  This will
place a unit of money at a time into the table.  Each time you click on the
start icon the table will randomly select a new set of symbols and decrease
your money by one unit.  If you manage to get three or four of the same
symbol in a row (from the top) then you will win.  If the 'Take' icon is
show then you can click on the 'HOLD' icon at the end of each row.  This
will hold the symbols for the next go.  To exit and collect your winnings
click on the icon with a down arrow.  To speed up the exit process click
the right mouse button.  Dungeons

Later in the game the town folk will point you in the direction of dungeons
where there are certain tasks which need to be completed to continue the
game.  You must avoid creatures and find chests which contain gold.  As
Morden is the only character who can go into the dungeons it is a good idea
to keep him alive in the fighting scenes.  If Morden is killed then it is
impossible to complete the game.  Use the joystick to move Morden around
the dungeons.  The fire button together with a direction will allow Morden
to use his magic against the creatures.  To open a chest stand near it and
press the fire button.  When all the treasure has been found the exit will
open and you can leave the dungeon.

Pirates

While traveling the seas of the world you can get attacked by pirates.
When they do attack they demand money.  At this stage you have three
options.  You can pay the money they require, have a cannon fight or go
into combat.  If you wish to go into a cannon fight you must have already
bought a cannon and cannon balls from a shop.  If you select to pay them
money and you do not have enough to cover their demands they will slay you
and the game will be over.  Cannon Fight

When you select to fight the pirates with a cannon you will see the pirate
ship moving about on the sea.  You must use up and down on the joystick to
change the angle of the cannon to allow the cannon balls to hit the pirate
ship.  On the left of the screen is a bar showing you the damage to your
ship and on the right a bar showing the damage to the enemy's ship.  If
your bar reaches the bottom then your game will be over.  Fighting

There are 3 different fighting screens.  The pirates, the bandits and the
octopus.  You will be presented with a screen showing your three characters
and their health and strength.  Select one with the joystick and prepare to
go to battle.  Your character can be moved with the joystick and has a
number of different moves to attack and defend.  These are selected by
pressing fire and a direction on the joystick.  When the pirates/bandits
are killed return to the place you arrived at to exit.  You can also exit
if you wish to change character (due to their health being low).  On the
octopus screen use fire and left and right on the joystick to hit the parts
of the octopus.  Pulling back will exit the screen.  Once a battle has
started it will continue until one of the sides are all dead.

Quick Start

Wait for the game to reach the main menu.  At this point you can either
Start a new game or see the intro.  Also at this point it is advisable to
format a save game disk.  To start the game click on 'Start New Game' and
then the select icon in the bottom right of the menu.  If a picture of a
disk appears then insert the disk which conforms to the number on the
screen.  The initial aims of the game is to gain wealth and gain confidence
of the people who will give advice.  This can be done in many ways, the
easiest is to trade goods between ports.  This is explained below.  When
the game starts you will find yourself anchored off the island of
'Artegam'.  By clicking on the map icon you can see your ship as a flashing
dot towards the top left of the screen.  To return to the main screen click
on the map icon again.  To buy goods we must first go into the town.  The
'Enter' icon is showing a picture of some town doors.  This indicates that
you are in the right position to enter the town.  Click on the icon and the
screen will change to the town screen.

When you first enter the town a message is shown at the bottom of the
screen which tells you the towns name.  It is a good idea to write these
names down and mark their positions on a map.  This will be helpful later
as when the town folk talk they will use the town names as reference
points.  To enter the shop click on the icon in the top left of the icon
panel.  The message at the bottom of the screen tells you the goods you
already have on the ship.  At this point it will be empty.  Click on the
icon in the top left of the icon panel and you will be shown the prices of
the stock the trader has.  As you get further into the game you will get to
know if the prices are cheap in comparison to other towns.  The aim is to
buy the goods for a low price and take them to another town where you can
sell them for a higher price.  To get you started buy some Beef by clicking
on the icon which looks like a leg of beef.  The price shown is for a tonne
of goods.  Each time you buy some goods you will buy a full ship load.  As
the if you buy the beef at 40 units per tonne.

We must now take the goods to another town who will pay more than we bought
them for.  Click on the 'ok' icon to exit the buying screen and then on the
exit icon to exit the shop.  Each time you enter a town click on the 'talk'
icon to see if the people have anything to say.

Exit the town by clicking the door icon in the bottom right of the screen
which will take you back to the main playing screen.

Click on the 'Start/Stop' icon to raise the anchor and you can now move the
ship to another port.  Use either the joystick or the mouse on the wheel.
Take the ship down and right to the nearest island called 'Endorin'.  Place
the ship near the docking strip and lower the anchor.  If the 'Enter' icon
is not showing a picture of a town door as before then you have not put the
ship in the correct place.  Enter the town as before and go into the shop.
The message at the bottom of the screen now says that your cargo is beef.
Go to the buy option to see the prices of the goods at this town and you
will see that the beef is priced at 46 units.  Exit this screen and go to
the sell icon.  Your money will be displayed at the bottom of the screen
and you will see that you have made a profit of 30 units.  This process of
buying and selling can be repeated to gain wealth.  When you have gained
enough wealth the people will talk and you can follow their instructions to
get further into the game.  There are also other ways to gain wealth, these
include gambling and fighting pirates.

End.............
