One player games
Select "One player" in the "Welcome..." window, and enter your name. When you're ready, the computer will randomly set the submarine's depth between 160 and 460 feet , and the game screen will appear. By default, your ashcan has been set for 300 feet, and you have ten ashcans at your disposal.
The submarine will not appear until you have positioned your destroyer, and dropped anchor. You move the destroyer by holding these keys:
| Fore: Left Arrow
| Aft: Right Arrow
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Adjust your ashcan's depth setting by holding these keys:
| Decrease: Up Arrow
| Increase: Down Arrow
|
When satisfied with your position and depth setting, press X to anchor. The sub responds to this cue, and will shortly appear. Then, on your command....
Now, the suspense builds. You will either miss, kill, or inflict some degree of damage. Ten "damage points" or better are required for a kill. A direct hit will do this immediately, a solid hit will score three points, and a glancing blow will earn one.
The submarine's depth does not change during the course of a single round, so you are able to adjust your depth setting, positioning and timing. Game scoring is "stroke play," like golf; the lower, the better. Failure is scored as 11.
When the scoreboard appears, you may quit ASHCAN, or hit "continue" to start another game, with the sub at a new depth. ASHCAN keeps track of not only your current score, but also your cumulative score, and best score of the session. Additionally, any scores that qualify for the "Hall of Fame" are so recorded.
Important note: If you accidentally press the drop key before anchoring, the ashcan will drop as soon as you anchor. I originally considered this a bug, but then decided that I'd leave it alone, since wartime commanders have to deal with stress--i.e, tough luck!. Depending on the circumstances, you may still be able to reposition your ship before anchoring, to compensate for this.
If You Want a Bit More of a Challenge
In the "Options" menu, select "Preferences." By default, ASHCAN has been running the submarine at a consistent speed, but you can now opt for random variations between each depth charge. When the sub is shallower than 250 feet, three speeds are possible; deeper, and there are two speeds.
The setting that you make here will be stored in the preferences file, and will remain in effect whenever ASHCAN is launched, unless you either change it again, or delete the preferences file from the System Folder.