A.C.E. 2/ACE CD 2.iso/FILES/DOCS/BFTASHES.LHA/BattleForTheAshes.doc

Text File | 1995-02-28 | 16.3 KB | 384 lines

                            FULL DOCUMENTATION TO:

                          ** BATTLE FOR THE ASHES **


 TYPED UP BY IGGY/HELLFIRE

 LOADING AND INSTALLATION

IBM PC - Battle For the Ashes can  be played from either hard drive or
from floppy disk provided. To  play  from  the  floppy disk insert the
disk, select the correct floppy disk drive and type CRICKET.

To install the program to the hard drive, insert the disk type INSTALL
and follow the on-screen instructions.  Once  the game is installed on
hard drive then you will be given further options:

Configure your soundcard: Follow the  on-screen instructions to select
sound type  and  soundcard  settings.  [There  is  further information
concerning soundcard settings if  you  select  F10 on the installation
screen]

Format a system disk: If you experience memory problems when trying to
run the game then use  this  option.  Insert  the system disk when you
reboot your machine.

Each time you play the game you  must insert the game disk, which acts
as security  protection,  before  typing  CRICKET  from  your  cricket
directory on your hard drive.

AMIGA - Insert the  disk  and  reset  your  computer (much easier than
crappy PC~S)

THE MAIN MENU

To select a menu option, move the hand  which acts as a pointer to the
required option and click. Pressing ESC exits to DOS (IBM PC ONLY). To
play a match  choose  one  player  England  vs  Australia,  one player
Australia vs  England  or  two  player  game;  to  watch  two computer
controlled teams, click on  computer  vs  computer.  All the games are
test matches played over five days.

RESTORE SAVED GAME: If you  have  previously  saved an incomplete game
you can continue it by selecting Restore Saved Game. Games can only be
saved to a floppy disk when  you  are  playing from floppy and to hard
drive when playing from hard drive  (IBM  PC  ONLY). Enter the name of
the saved game when requested.

(IBM PC ONLY) When playing from hard drive, to restore a game saved to
floppy you must copy  the  relevant  saved  game  to hard drive before
starting the game. Saved games have the suffix. SAV and must be copied
to the CRICKET directory.

SKILL LEVEL: There are three  skill  settings - Amateur, Professional,
and World Class - You should choose Amateur for your first game.

Amateur: Batting is a breeze at this level. The timing of the shots is
very easy and the compuetr  bowling,  batting  and  fielding is of the
village green standard. This level is strictly for beginners.

Professional: The correct timing  of  your  shots when batting becomes
more and more important although there is still some margin for error.
The computer bowling and fielding is  improved and runs will be harder
to come by. It will also be hard  to get the computer batsmen out. The
game becomes a challege at this level.

World Class: This is the  real  thing.  Batting is very difficult with
the timing of your  shots  being  absolutely  crucial  (as soon as you
press the button the shot  will  be  played). The computer bowling and
fielding is top notch and  total  concentation  is required to build a
decent total The computer batsmen  are  very  difficult to dismiss and
will punish any wayward bowling. This level will take some beating.

SOUND: This option enables you to turn  on  or off the music and sound
effects.

CONTROL DEVICES - THIS PART REFERS TO PCS AND SO IS LAME

HOW TO PLAY

Each match is played between  Australia  and  England Lets assume that
inyour first match you decide to  play as England against an Australia
side controlled by the computer. The Englan squad will be displayed so
that you can select the eleven players you would like in your team.

Note: there are up to 20 players in each squad, more than can be shown
on the screen at a time; to see  the others click on the arrows at the
right hand side.

Pick your team by clicking on each  of  the eleven players in turn (if
you change your mind about a player  just click again to drop him from
the team). The order that you you click on the names will be the order
that they will line up to bat.  To  save time you can get the computer
to pick the team for you - just click on best 11.

The statistics  provided  with  each  player  are  important  to their
performance - better batsmen (with a  higher average) will be superior
in shot execution; better bowlers (with  a lower average) will be able
to bowl quicker or spin or swing the ball more.

It is important to select a  balanced  side as having a poor selection
of bowlers or batsmen can leave your team in a weak position. Remember
to include a recognised wicket keeper (marked with a dagger symbol) as
playing without one will  result  in  choas  behind  the stumps! After
choosing your team click on OK.

Note: if you  select  for  your  team  more  than  one  player  who is
designated as a wicket keeper, the  player who was selected last keeps
wicket.

If you wish the computer  will  automatically  choose its best team to
play against you - but you  can  also  pick the team yourself (this is
useful if you want to recreate a particular match).

Now for the coin toss. If you  win  the toss you can decide whether to
bat or field first. Lets suppose that your team is batting first.

if you clicked on best 11,  the  batting order is automatically chosen
by the computer, based  upon  the  players batting averages; otherwise
players bat in the order  they  were  selected. The batting line-up is
displayed before the innings begins  if  you  are batting. This allows
you to revise the entire batting order  if  you wish - just select the
player you want to  move  up  or  down  the  order,  then indicate the
position you would  like  him  to  bat.  Click  on  OK  when  you have
finished, or else CANCEL if you want to go back to the original order.

If you are bowling then the team  is  displayed and you can now change
the opening bowler if necessary.

CONTROLLING THE BATSMEN

In a real game of cricket the  ball  is  bowled so fast (up to 90 mph)
that the batsmen must react  instinctively, moving his feet, adjusting
his posture, and swinging his bat  to  play the stroke. To emulate all
that in real time using  a  joystick  would  be impossible, so instead
Battle For The Ashes breaks down the batsmens movements into two.

First, move left or right  to  position  the  batsmen. Watch the small
white square - this shows where the bowler intends to pitch the ball -
when it turns grey it will  stop  moving, and the bowler will commence
his run-up. Start thinking about which stroke you intent to play.

When the ball leaves the bowlers hand  you have a fraction of a second
to select one of  the  eight  possible  directions  to determine which
stroke is played -  and  when  it  is  played  (timing is particularly
crucial at Professional and  World  Class  level). The strokes roughly
correspond to the joystick  movement,  for  example,  if  you move the
joystick to the left the batsmen  (if he is right-handed) will attempt
a cover drive; if you move  it  to  the  right  he will try to hook or
sweep the ball.

The full repertoire of strokes is as follows:

UP - FORWARD/BACK DEFENSIVE
RIGHT UP - SWEEP/HOOK
RIGHT - LEG GLANCE
RIGHT DOWN - ON-DRIVE
DOWN - STRAIGHT DRIVE
LEFT DOWN - COVER DRIVE
LEFT - SQUARE DRIVE
LEFT UP - SQUARE CUT

These joystick directions are for  a  right-handed batsmen; for a left
hander the controls are mirrored

The batsmen will play the best stroke he can in the circumstances - if
you choose  a  difficult  or  innappropriate  (or  if  your  timing is
incorrect) he might mishit the ball, or miss it altogether. The margin
of error depends on  the  skill  setting  you  have  chosen, and onthe
batsmens average.

If you succeed in hitting the  ball  and  want  to run, press the fire
button. The batsmen will start running  at  a leisurely pace - to make
them run faster waggle the joystick from side to side (in fact you can
start the batsmen running merely  by  waggling  -  there is no need to
press the fire button if you intend to waggle).

To take a second (or third) run  press  the fire button again, or just
keep waggling. If you change your  mind  about taking a run, press the
fire button to turn around and  go  back  to  the crease you have just
left. Of course if the batsmen have  already crossed there is no point
in turning back, so in this  case  when  you  press the fire button it
acts as a signal to go for another run after the current one.

If the ball crosses the boundary the  umpire  will signal a four, or a
six, and the  batsmen  will  automatically  return  to  their original
positions.

Overthrows: in the event that  the  fielding  side throw the ball past
the bowler or wicket keeper the batsmen can continue running.

When the batting side are all out (ie 10 wickets have fallen), or when
the alloted number of overs has  been  bowled,  it  is the turn of the
fielding side to bat.


CONTROLLING THE BOWLER

There are three types of bowler:  fast,  swing, and spin Swing bowlers
and spin bowlers can move the ball in either direction - although spin
bowlers will find  it  easier  to  spin  the  ball  in  one particular
direction depending on whether they are leg or off spinners.

Before you can start your  run-up  you  must  decide where you want to
pitch the ball. Move the small  white square which indicates where the
ball will bounce, and press fire  to  fix it into position (the square
will turn grey).

This is only an approximation and  the ball will not necessarily pitch
in the centre of the square.

If a fast bowler is  bowling  he  will automatically start his run-up;
waggle the jotstick  from  side  to  side  or  the  equivalent  on the
keyboard to increase the speed of the ball.

If the bowler is a swing or spin bowler, choose the direction you want
the ball to move, and press fire. Now the bowler will start his run-up
- waggle the joystick or  the  equivalent  on the keyboard to increase
the amount of swing or spin.

You can change the bowler due  to  bowl  the  next over by clicking on
Change Bowler on the menu displayed  between  overs. Any played can be
chosen to bowl, with the exeption of the wicket keeper, but it will be
harder to bowl with a player who  has a poor average. Remember that in
a limited overs game a bowler  cannot  bowl more than one-fifth of the
overs allowed for each innings.


SETTING THE FIELD

You can change the predefined  fields  during  a  match, and even save
them for use in  future  games.  Each  player  has  a predefined field
setting of his own - but you can  copy a field setting from one bowler
to another, so that if (say) you  want  to  use the same field for all
youe fast bowlers you need not enter it more than once.

To access the screen which  allows  you  to  alter the field settings,
press the space bar while  the  bowler  is  waiting to bowl. This will
display a menu of options:

POSITION FIELDERS*               SCORECARD
KEEPER-SLIP*                     SOUND & MUSIC
BOWL OTHER SIDE*                 ABANDON MATCH

* ONLY AVAILABLE IF THE FIELDING SIDE IS USER-CONTROLLED

Select Position Fielders - a diagram is displayed showing the existing
field setting (for the current bowler).  To  adjust the position of an
individual fielder just move the  pointer  to  his name tag, press the
left mouse button (or fire button), and drag the tag to a new position
- then press the button again to drop the tag.

Around the wicket at the strikers  end  is  a darkened area. To add an
extra slip drag the players  tag  into  this area. Fine positioning of
players in this area is carried  out using the Keeper-Slip option (see
below). Only two fielders, plus the wicket keeper can be in this area.

If you want to exchange the  positions  of two fielders click first on
the swap icon, then on the tags of the two players.

To copy to the field setting  from  another bowler click on Copy until
the correct field setting is displayed,  eg  to copy the field setting
for Malcolm to Gough (the  current  bowler), keep clicking until Setup
for D Gough copied from  D  Malcolm  appears.  If you keep clicking on
copy, eventually you will be back where you started.

If you make an error  select  Cancel  which exits leaving the original
field placing intact (changes which have  been saved to disk cannot be
cancelled). To save your changes to  disk  or  hard drive click on the
DISK icon - howeber you can use  the new field settings in the current
match without saving them to disk, though they will be lost at the end
of a match. Click on OK to return to the game.

The Keeper-Slip screen can be  selected  either  from  the menu, or by
clicking on the icon at the top  left-hand corner of the field setting
screen (beware - this also confirms your changes to the field, even if
you subsequently select the Cancel icon on the Keeper-Slip screen).



To move the keeper or a slip just  click  on him, and move him to your
preferred  position.  Be  careful  -  the  wicket  keeper  obeys  your
instructions to the letter, so you will  concede  a lot of byes if you
put him in a silly position! When you have the keeper and slips in the
correct positions click on OK to save them to disk.

OTHER OPTIONS AVAILABLE DURING A MATCH

Bowl Other Side
Normally a right handed bowler will bowl over the wicket. Howevee, you
can make the bowler bowl on  the  other  side by selecting this option
from the menu.

Score card

This displays the scorecard for  the  current  innings. By clicking on
the tabs at the  botton  of  the  scorecard  you  can also display the
batting and the bowling statistics for the innings, the carrer batting
statistics of the batting team,  and  the career bowling statistics of
the fielding side.

Abandon Match
Allows you to abandon a match, in which case the game goes back to the
main menu.

SAVING A GAME

Although the games are  played  faster  than  real amtches, some games
will last for hours, or even days!  At  the  end of each over you have
the option to save the game - this will save all the information about
the match, including the teams and field settings.

IBM PC - You can save to  hard  drive  if playing from hard drive to a
pre-formatted floppy disk if playing  from  floppy disk. Follow the on
screen instructions once you have selected this option.

AMIGA - You will need a  pre-formatted  floppy disk. Click on the SAVE
GAME icon and follow the on-screen instructions.

HINTS AND TIPS

.  Occasionally you will  find  that  a  fielder "gets stuck", perhaps
running on the spot! Do not  worry  -  press  the ESC key and the game
will continue normally.

.  When you select Best 11  the  batting order is chosen automatically
by the computer - the  players  with  the  highest averages bat first.
However if you make any changes  to  the team the compuetr has picked,
the batsmen are not sorted into order. If you choose your own team the
players bat in the order of selection.

.  Rain: It can rain at any time and  for any length of time and if it
has already rained during a match then it is likely to rain again.

.  During a "computer vs  computer"  match  you can press SPACE (while
the bowler is waiting to bowl) to display the scorecard. At the end of
an over you can also save  the  game.  When you restore the saved game
you will be able to restart the match as a 1 or 2 player game - so you
can take full control.


Programmed on the Amiga and Atari ST by Gary James Gray.

IBM-compatible PC conversion for Audiogenic  Software Limited by Simon
Prytherch.


Game and Manual (c) Audiogenic Software Limited 1994
All Rights Reserved

UPGRADE OFFER

If you have enjoyed playing Battle  For  The Ashes then you will enjoy
World Class Cricket which is  available  to  owners  of Battle For The
Ashes at A VERY SPECIAL PRICE and  comes  complete with a free copy of
our 94/95 data disk.

World Class Cricket contains all the  features of Battle For The Ashes
plus:
* All forms of cricket from limited overs matches to full Tests
* All the Test playing nations and an XI
* A full team editor
The 94/95 data disk has the very latest squads and averages for:
* The 18 English County sides
* The 9 Test sides

For details of this  offer  call  our  Customer Services Department on
081-424 2244 or write to:

CUSTOMER SERVICES (REF:ASH/95
AUDIOGENIC SOFTWARE LIMITED
UNIT 27, CHRISTCHURCH INDUSTRIAL CENTRE
WEALDSTONE
HARROW HA3 8NT

Further cricket games will be available in 1995 and 1996. Write now to
ensure that you are on our mailing list.



end.
IGGY/HELLFIRE 30/1/95