MicroProse Soccer

Note: This manual applys to the C64 version, but except a few keys most
should be the same for other versions.

GETTING STARTED

Microprose Soccer is operated using menus and a highlight bar to select
the required option. Move the bar using a joystick and make your 
selection by pressing FIRE. Both Association soccer, and American 
rules six-a-side soccer use the same basic menus as described below.

MICROPROSE INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE
WORLD CUP TOURNAMENT
SOCCER LEAGUE
TWO PLAYER FRIENDLY
DEMO GAME
CONTROL PANEL
NAME BANK
(Please select your favourite option!)

QUICK START
Solo players should select Microprose International Challenge from the 
main menu and press FIRE, then press FIRE again to bypass the challenge 
table. Select PLAY BALL and press FIRE twice to begin the match. You 
will now play under the name of PLAYER 1 against the first team in the 
challenge, Oman. If there are two players, you should select Two Player 
Friendly from the main menu, select PLAY BALL and press FIRE. Now, 
depending who presses the FIRE button to start the match, one person 
plays under the name of PLAYER 1 and the other under the name of 
PLAYER 2. This will allow you to start playing immediately, with a 
minimum of fuss. However, it is advised that you skim through the 
section on controls as soon as possible, to familiarise yourself with 
the attributes of the joystick commands.

OPEARATING INSTRUCTIONS
Control Panel: Those who wish to obtain the maximum benefit from the 
game should now continue on to control panel which lets you customise 
the many functions of Microprose Soccer at your own discretion. Upon 
pressing the FIRE button, the secondary menu appears:

SELECTION MODE - MAN/AUTO
WEATHER - ON/OFF (Outdoor game only)
BANANA POWER - HI/MED/LO
MATCH LENGTH - 2/4/6/8/10/12 MINUTES
REPLAYS - ON/OFF
SAVE - DISK
LOAD - DISK
(EXIT!)

Each option is altered by highlighting, and then pressing FIRE to cycle 
through the available choices. Most of these options are 
self-explanatory. However, here is a brief explanation of their 
individual functions: 

Selection Mode
During a game, the player under your direct control can be selected 
automatically, in which case he is always the player nearest the ball 
or manually, switching between the current player and the one nearest 
the ball by pressing FIRE button. The latter case allows you to kick 
the ball on without automatically giving possession to members of your 
team who may be nearby.

Wheather (Outdoor game only)
Just like in real life, it rains on Microprose Soccer matches - 
complete with thunder and lightning. This has serious effects upon the 
movement of the ball and players, so if you do not fance the challenge 
of playing on a wet pitch in torrential rain, set it to OFF.

Banana Power
Adjusts the strength of the banana shot (described in detail later on) 
between High, MEDium and LOw. Realistic effects are obtained by leaving 
the setting on MED.

Match Length
Matches can be either 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12 minutes in length. It is 
best to choose 2 or 4 minutes for playing in a large league, unless you 
intend saving your position.

Replay
Microprose Soccer gives a perfect slow-motion replay of every goal 
scored. Unless you turn it OFF.

TWO PLAYER FRIENDLY
Select the option and press FIRE. Another screen appears, showing the 
pending match and who the participants are, with a sub-meny beneath:

RE-SELECT TEAMS
PLAY BALL 
Should there be two names in the name bank, both players are 
automatically selected to play. However, if the name bank selects two 
players who do not wish to compete, highlight RE-SELECT TEAMS and 
press FIRE. The correct names can now be selected in the normal way. 
Once the teams have been sorted out, select PLAY BALL. The match 
summary screen is displayed, showing the players in their strip colours 
and direction of play. It also prompts one person to press FIRE in 
order to start the game. 

The game can be halted at any time by pressing RUN/STOP and then Q. 
This alloes you to RE-SELECT TEAMS if necessary or EXIT back to the 
main menu. Once the game is quit, however, it cannot be restarted: 
Selecting PLAY BALL starts a new game from scratch. At the end of the 
match, the final score is displayed: Pressing FIRE then takes you back 
to the match pending screen. 

CONTROLS
Microprose Soccer player have a wide range of movements, accessed by 
joystick commands with and without the FIRE button pressed. With the 
joystick button un-pressed, the eight joystick position direct the 
player around the field accordingly.

The control method has three different modes of operation depending 
upon wheather:

A) The ball is in free play.
B) Your player is in possession of the ball.
C) The opposition have the ball. 

A) The ball is in free play.
Guide your player around the pitch in attempt to capture the ball, 
using the normal joystick direction. The player automatically gains 
possession of the ball on contact and runs with it until possession is 
lost. If the FIRE button is depressed when the player makes contact 
with the ball, it is volleyed a short distance in the direction faced 
by the player. 

B) Your player is in possession of the ball.
There are a variety of different kicks available to the player, 
depending upon the position of the joystick and the length of time the 
FIRE button is depressed. A short kick is achieved by jabbing the FIRE 
button, while a full-strength kick is released automatically by holding 
the FIRE button down.

Whenever FIRE is pressed, the joystick no longer controls the direction 
of the player, but allows the choice of shot to be selected instead. To 
make a shot press the FIRE button and immediately move the joystick to 
the desired position:

Joystick Forward:
Volleys the ball in straight line.

Joystick Left/Right Diagonal:
Banana shot. Causes the ball to curl left or right, accordingly.

Joystick Central:
Player performs a chip shot.

Joystick Back:
Player performs a brilliant Pele-style backwards overhead kick.

Note: The direction of shot is relative to the direction in which the 
player was moving immediately before pressing the FIRE button. For 
example, with your player moving in a south-west direction, a banana 
shot curling from left to right is initiated by pressing the FIRE 
button & pulling the joystick straight down. 

C) The opposition have the ball.
If the opposition manage to get hold of the ball, you'll have to try 
and tackle the player in possession. Whenever your player is close 
enough, pressing FIRE causes him to attempt a sliding tackle. This only 
occurs when your player is moving, however.

If your player makes contact with the ball, it is kicked into a 
free-play situation and can be collected; if the challenge is 
unsuccessful, the opposing player merely retains possession. 

Note: Attempting sliding tackles in the wet can have unpredictable 
results!

Whenever an opposing player approaches your goal, a buzzer sound can 
be heard, signalling that you now have control over the goalkeeper. In 
this case, different rules apply. Pressing the FIRE button causes the 
goalie to dive for the ball as below:

Joystick Right
Goalie dives to the right.

Joystick Left
Goalie dives to the left.

Joystick Centred
Goalie jumps up in the air.

The goalie also has a higher priority in ball collection; any contact 
with the ball gives him possession over other players. 

Corners
Pressing the button releases the ball in a diagonal direction only. 

Throw-Ins
Throw-Ins may be directed in one of three direction: Diagonally left 
and right plus forward. 

Goal Kicks
Whenever the goalkeeper gains possession of the ball, play is restarted 
by a goalkick from the correct section of the goal area. The kick is 
directed forwards only. 

Kick Off
When play is first started, or restarted after half time or a goal, a 
press of the FIRE button causes one player to tap the ball to the 
other, who then has full control over the ball. 

Demo Game
In the event that you want a quick look at the game, but don't want to 
actually compete, Microprose Soccer will play through a demonstration 
game between two randomly chosen teams. Highlight the option, press 
FIRE twice and sit back and watch... When you have seen enough, 
selecting quit causes the main meny to reappear. 

Loading and Saving Games
Selecting the load or the save option, type file name and press RETURN. 

MICROPROSE INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE
The Microprose International Challenge is designed for the solo player, 
or for people who wish to compete against the computer rather than each 
other.

Initially, a high score table appears, displaying the level reached and 
the score achieved for each player entered into the name bank. This 
constantly alternates between it and the pending match screen 
containing a further sub-menu.

RE-SELECT TEAM
PLAY BALL
(EXIT!)

If the pending match is okey, select PLAY BALL and continue as usual. 
However, RE-SELECT TEAM allows challengers to be chosen at will from 
those players already in the name bank. 

The Microprose International Challenge is a structured league which 
allows competition against 16 computer-controlled teams of increasingly 
high standard, taken from the world cup line-up. Every time a team is 
defeated, your position in the high score table increases; every time 
you lose, it goes down. However, you cannot go below the bottom of the 
league, and if a draw occurs, the match is replayed until a result is 
obtained.

The ultimate aim is to progress through all 16 levels, with Brazil 
being the team to beat. Your current standings may be saved to disk, 
and the challenge re-entered at the last level played. 

NAME BANK
To make proper use of Microprose Soccer's various options, it is 
essentual that all players are first entered into the program. To do 
this, highlight name bank and press FIRE. The name bank then appears, 
with another menu below:

INSERT NAME
DELETE NAME
(EXIT!)

Player 1 and Player 2 names are used throughout the various leagues 
unless they are deleted. If you wish to do this, go to DELETE, press 
FIRE, then highlight the names you wish removed. Another tap on the 
FIRE button deletes the name.

Names may be removed in this way at any time during play. For instance, 
if a player has to finish play early just DELETE NAME, and he is 
removed from all further competitions. Now, select INSERT NAME and 
press FIRE. Type in the first player's chosen name (up to 8 characters) 
and press RETURN.

The name bank also acts as progress screen, showing at a glance how 
players are faring in the different competitions.

When all of the players names and strips have been entered, EXIT back 
at the main menu. 

SOCCER/INDOOR LEAGUE
On selecting this option, the soccer league table appears, showing all 
the players in the name bank, their win differences and current 
position in the league, alternating between it, and the pending match 
screen with the sub-menu beneath:

RE-SELECT TEAM
PLAY BALL
(EXIT!)

The soccer league allows up to 16 players included in the name bank to 
compete against one another in competition. The players taking part in 
each match are selected using the RE-SELECT TEAM option, and play is 
started in the same way as for the two player friendly mode. 

It is up to those taking part to make a note of who has played who. 
However, the computer does keep track of the win differences of each 
player. Starting with 0, a win earns 1 point; a draw results in no 
change and a loss gives you minus 1 (although the win difference can 
never fall below 0). Thus the player with the highest win difference at 
the end of the contest is deemed to be the winner. The league may be 
re-entered at any time during play and the current standings may be 
saved to disk. Thus a large leauge may be continued over several days, 
if need be. 

WORLD CUP/ALL STAR TOURNAMENT
Entering the World Cup Tournament shows you a list of names, and a 
secondary meny, this: 

START NEW TOURNAMENT
RE-SELECT TEAM
CONTINUE OLD TOURNAMENT
(EXIT!) 

The names displayed at the top of the screen are those currently 
residing in the name bank, and are all excluded from play until 
selected. Go to RE-SELECT TEAM and highlight the first participant. On 
pressing FIRE, the highlight stops glowing and allows you to choose 
that player's preferred nationality: Move the joystick up or down to 
cycle through the 29 available and press FIRE to select one. Afterwards 
select the first and the second jersey colour. Repeat this process for 
all those taking part.

Once the teams have all been selected, press the FIRE button on START 
NEW TOURNAMENT. A world cup table is drawn up by the computer, with 24 
countries represented, including those previously selected to play.

Each team is graded according to their apparent talent. This effects 
their position in the table, since there are four seed levels, and also 
alters the quality of the computer controlled opposition. For instance, 
if you're drawn in a group with Oman, Northern Irelabd and Mexico, 
you're onto a winner straight away. Accordingly, if you choose to play 
as Brazil, you stand a better chance of winning than if you represent 
Cameroon.

Note: The tournament table acts just like the real thing - no teams 
from the same ocean group are drawn against each other in the first 
round.

1st Seed
1. Brazil
2. Italy
3. Argentina
4. West Germany
5. Holland
6. USSR 

2nd Seed
7. France
8. Uruguay
9. Spain
10. England
11. Poland
12. Denmark
13. Mexico 

3rd Seed
14. Sweden
15. Hungary
16. Scotland
17. Austria
18. Ireland
19. Wales
20. Chile
21. Northern Ireland 

4th Seed
22. Algeria
23. USA
24. Australia
25. Canada
26. Cameroon
27. Japan
28. New Zealand
29. Oman

The table also acts as an itinerary for the tournament, telling you 
which matches are to be played that day, and so on.

Whenever two non-human controlled teams are drawn together, the final 
scores are simply displayed. These are carefully calculated scores, 
weighted toward the team of greater powerness. Continually pressing 
FIRE cycles through those matches that do not require a human 
participant.

Draws that do depend upon a human player (either versus the computer or 
another player) are displayed accordingly on the pending match screen. 
Play is then started in the normal way by selecting the PLAY BALL 
option and pressing the FIRE button to start the match.

If during the tournament players with to change teams for political 
reasons (i.e. they have been knocked out) or they wish to drop out of 
the tournament (before they get knocked out) or they wish to enter the 
tournament after it has started (they suddenly fancy their chances), 
then highlight RE-SELECT TEAM rather than PLAY BALL.

Players can then choose a nationality that is still in the 
championships and not already selected by another player, or be 
excluded altogether.

Note: Players can only join the championships as a late entry if their 
name is already in the name bank.

The first round of the world cup is completed when each team has played 
three games each. Progress is measured in points, each team receiving 2 
for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for lose. Goal difference is also 
calculated, enabling tied positions to be settled without replays.

The top two teams from each group then go through to the second round. 
Additionally the four best third placed teams also enter the second 
round. From now on the matches take the shape of a sudden death 
competition. Draws are made at random, and the eight winning teams 
progress to the quarter finals.

The sudden death competition continues through the semi finals and into 
the final; drawn matches at full time go into unlimited overtime, with 
the first team to score being the winner.