================================================ FISHING SHAREWARE RELEASE 1.25 - May 2000 ================================================ Welcome to the most realistic course fishing simulation ever produced on the PC (or so I believe). You are about to witness a fishing simualtion with the ultimate in reality gaming, both in features, graphics, sounds, and gameplay. The list of features is endless, so judge for yourself. Currently (at time of writing) there are 70 pegs to fish from in the registered version and 31 species of fish, as well as loads of extra tackle and baits. The game is designed so that extra venues, fish species, tackle and baits can be imported into the game easily when they are produced. Currently there is one add-on a week being produced for the game and these can be downloaded from www.fishsim.co.uk. The game is and will continue to grow and develop for a long time to come, happy "virtual" fishing. DISCLAIMER ========== The author of this software accepts no liability for any errorneous behave which results in damage to hardware, software, marriage or any other reaction. INSTALLING FROM CD ROM ====================== Simply install this CD ROM into the drive in windows or run the setup.exe file on the CD. This CD contains both the DOS and Windows version of the game. For the Windows version, you will require DirectX version 6 or higher. INSTALLING FROM DOWNLOADED ZIP FILE =================================== The fishing simulator zip file may come in two forms (fishsim.zip or fishsim.exe) Fishsim.zip needs to be unzipped using WINZIP. PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT THE "USE FOLDER NAMES" CHECK BOX IS CHECKED. The fishsim.exe is a self-extracting exe file, run the fishsim.exe file and select the directory to install the game to. UN-INSTALLING THE GAME ====================== If fishing simulator was installed from the CD-ROM, choose the add/remove programs in windows control panel, then choose "fishing simulator" from the list. If fishsim was installed from a zip file, simply delete the fishing simulator folder where the game was extracted to. PLAYING THE GAME ================ To run fishing simulator, double click on the FISHWIN.EXE (windows version), or FISHDOS.EXE (dos version), in windows explorer. If you have installed the game from a CD ROM, select fishing simulator (DOS or Windows version) from the start menu. REGISTERING THE GAME ==================== BY CHEQUE and MAIL ------------------ A file ORDER.TXT is included in the fishing simulator directory, you can use this file to fill in your details. Once the cheque has arrived a CD ROM will be posted out to you within two days. Arrival time is dependent on the postal system and country. BY CREDIT CARD -------------- You will need to visit the fishing simulator web page (www.fishsim.co.uk), full instructions on how to instantly register fishing simulator are contained on the page. You will be sent information on how to register the game on the same day. INSTRUCTIONS ============ A manual is not included (to reduce internet download time), below is a very basic list of instructions to playing the game, while you are fishing. There is on-line help within the game itself, and a lot of other features and controls can be found within. In the menu systems and other screens, try clicking on different things with you left and right mouse buttons, they often do things. If you have a fishing simulator CD ROM you will find a full 50 page manual in the MANUAL directory on the CD ROM. A manual is also available from www.fishsim.co.uk -------------------------------------------------------- The basic instructions during the fishing session are : -------------------------------------------------------- ROD CONTROL ----------- The mouse and the keyboard form the two interfaces with the game. Mouse movements affect the rod movement, practice a little and it will become familiar. Basically though, pulling the mouse towards you raises the rod, pushing it away from you has the opposite effect. Left and right movements move the rod left and right accordingly. CASTING ------- Press 'C' to cast out, Your rod will start to rotate, when you are happy with the direction the rod is facing press the left mouse button and keep your finger down. At the top of the screen a red bar will start to increase indicating the power of your cast, the raising of the rod itself also gives you an impression of how far you will cast. When you are happy with the power release you finger from the pressed left mouse button and watch your tackle go. Practice makes perfect, especially in windy conditions. To cast with the pole, position the pole tip to the place you want to cast and press the left mouse button. The float will now be dropped into the water REELING IN ---------- Reeling in can be achieved by pressing the left mouse button. No reeling is available when pole fishing, to get the fish or bait back in lift the pole and/or reduce the number of pole sections. With certain reels, the reel speed can be adjusted using the UP and DOWN arrow keys on the keyboard. Some specialist reels contain a "back reel" setting, where the lowest setting normally back reels. STRIKING -------- To catch a fish you must first have a bite, when you have a bite you will know by watching whatever bite detector you are fishing with. With float fishing it is important to wait until the float is totally submerged before striking. Ledgering depends on the detector in use : Swingtip : Strike when it reaches the horizontal position Quivertip : Strike when it wriggles sharply Bobbin : When the bobbin rises to the top vertically Electric : Strike when the lights shine brightly and the tone changes There are three ways of striking : 1) Press the right mouse button 2) Lift the rod sharply with the mouse ( unless the line is too slack ) Striking with the right mouse button is not available when pole fishing, you will need to use option (2) above to strike. REEL DRAG ( not when pole fishing ) ----------------------------------- The drag on the reel can be adjusted when reeling in a fish, to avoid your line snapping when a big fish is hooked. Initially, when a fish is hooked the drag on the reel is set to 1 pound and a reasonable sized fighting fish will take line off the reel comfortably. The lower bar on the fish icon in the top left hand corner indicates your current drag setting. To increase the drag tension, press the right 'arrow key' on the keyboard. To decrease the drag tension press the 'left arrow' key. Decreasing the drag enables line to be pulled from the reel by the fish easier, increasing the drag to the maximum amount will stop any line being released from the reel when a fish pulls. When the drag is in the rightmost position for it will "lock" the line, so none is released. Different reels have different drag settings, some may not have a drag option. GROUNDBAITING ------------- Before you can catapult groundbait you must mix some in the tackle selection screen before the match ( groundbait can't be mixed during a fishing session ). Press 'G' and you will see a green expanding and contracting ellipse, position this ellipse with your mouse and press the left mouse button to catapult the groundbait to that position. If the ellipse turns red then you are aiming at a piece of land. BALEARM ( not when pole fishing) -------------------------------- The balearm is a device on the reel that allows or stops line running from the reel. If the balearm is on the line will not run from the reel, when it is off the line will run freely from the reel, this is especially useful when fishing on flowing rivers. The balearm can be toggled on and off with the 'B' key AUTO-REEL ( spinning only ) --------------------------- When spinning the 'A' key can be pressed to start and stop the automatic reel action. This saves pressing the left mouse button constantly to reel the spinner in. You can use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to increase or decrease the reel in speed. FLY RE-CAST ( fly fishing only ) -------------------------------- When dry fly fishing the SPACE bar can be used to re-cast the fly to roughly the same position as the previous cast. By repeatedly pressing the space bar the fly will keep touching the surface, attracting the attention of the fish below. As will as this the fly will be casted progressively further with each recast. CHANGING TACTICS ---------------- It is possible to change most of your tackle during a fishing session, to do this press the 'T' key on the keyboard. In match fishing you will not be allowed to change your rod and reel or mix groundbait during the match. These must be selected and mixed prior to the commencement of the match. When in a practice session, the rod and reel can be changed, however groundbait must still be mixed prior to the session. FINISH EARLY ------------ To finish a match early or finish a practice session press the ESCAPE key. PAUSING THE GAME ---------------- The game can be paused during a match or practice session by pressing the 'P' key on the keyboard. A dialog will be displayed telling you the game has been paused, and there will be a button available to resume fishing. FISHING TIPS ------------ During a practice session only you can see how the fish are reacting to your tackle selection and surroundings. Press the 'H' key for this. It does need more explaining but that'll do for now. HIDING THE MESSAGE BAR ---------------------- Press the 'M' key to hide the message bar during a fishing session. To get it back, press the 'M' key again. KNOWN PROBLEMS ============== There are a few bugs which are currently being worked on. 1) Timer too quick when run in DOS 2) IPX network game, client computers may occasionally lose records - rare but has happened once in testing 3) Not all the features are available in both versions (POLE windows only). REQUIREMENTS ============ PENTIUM P133 minimum (P200 or higher recommended) 7 MB hard disk space 12 MB RAM 1 MB VIDEO CARD ( VESA 2.0 compliant recommended or VBE 1.2 with UNIVBE ) MOUSE ( If running under MS DOS a driver will also be required ) SOUNDCARD ( Not essential but recommended ) KEYBOARD WINDOWS 95 ( or MS DOS but performance better in WIN95 ) DIRECT X 6 or above for the windows version If you want to play against other players in the full version you will also need a NETWORK LAN with IPX drivers loaded. IPX game is only available in the DOS version. Additional info =============== There are a lot of other features to this game which I am sure you will find out. There is a full colour manual to the game (50 pages) available with the registered version or it can be downloaded from the Internet site listed below. If you enjoy it let me know : JSPOO1SC@HOTMAIL.COM or, if there are any improvements that could be made, also let me know. Please e-mail me with any bugs or incompatabilities, stating a brief explanation and the hardware you have. Thank you J.C.Spooner 2000 DON'T FORGET TO VISIT THE FISHING SIMULATOR WEB SITE FOR MORE FISH, TACKLE, VENUES, and BAIT (registered users only). YOU CAN FIND THE WEB SITE ON THE INTERNET AT www.fishsim.co.uk