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-
-
- GETTING STARTED
- ===============
-
- GAME CONTROLS
-
- If you have a mouse, most input can be done by pointing to your selection
- and pressing the mouse button. With or without a mouse, the keyboard can be
- used to select an option by pressing the letter or number appearing to the
- left of the option.
-
- THE MAIN MENU
-
- There are ten options to choose from on the main menu (Figure 1). For more
- detailed information about each of these options, please refer to
- corresponding sections in this manual.
-
- A - Exhibition Play
-
- This option allow you to play non-league games. Non-league does not mean
- that you cannot use your league teams to play an exhibition game. It means
- only that you will not be given the option to compile stats at the end of
- the game. This is the best way to become familiar with Epic Baseball.
- Regardless of the outcome, you won't affect complied stats of your league
- standings.
-
- After hitting the Exhibition Play A key, a screen reveals a simulated
- scoreboard showing the stadium in which you are playing, the two teams
- that are currently selected, the starting pitchers, and two coaches
- selected (computer or player). There is a series of options on the bottom
- half of this screen. These options can be changed to suit the way you want
- to play your game and will be fully explained later in the manual starting
- on page 4.
-
- PLAYING A NON-LEAGUE GAME
-
- Once you press A Exhibition Play, the Game Options screen appears.
- The program automatically loads two teams and a stadium. The top half of
- the screen looks like a scoreboard and displays the options currently
- selected. You may play the default game selected or modify the selections
- as noted below. General game options are listed in the center gray box.
- Additional Visitor/Home options are listed on the left/right respectively.
- Below is a table of your general selections.
-
- GENERAL GAME OPTIONS KEYS
-
- 1 - New Stadium: selects stadium of play.
- 2 - Set DH Rule: specifies designated hitter function.
- 3 - Game Type: played as either series, quick, or normal.
- 4 - Graphics: can be toggles on/off.
- 5 - Load Game: loads a previously saved game.
- 6 - Start Game.
-
- Set Designated Hitter Rule
-
- Press 2 to select or de-select the DH option. Your selection will appear on
- the scoreboard, which will display "DH" above the "General Game Options" box
- if DH has been selected. If it has not been selected nothing will appear in
- this area.
-
- Game Type
-
- If you want to play Quick Game or use the Series Play option you can toggle
- them by pressing 3. A Quick Game will allow you to play and entire game in
- less than minute. The drawback is that you have no managerial control over
- the game. The Computer Manager takes over Computer Manager use the Manager
- Profile Option where you can "program" the computer coach to your liking.
-
- Series Play allows you to play series of games and save the box scores
- without watching the games. The computer will play from two to 18 games
- unattended. (This feature will also allow you to play just one game, but
- we suggest playing more than one to maximize the advantage of this option.)
-
- After each Quick or Series Play game you will be able to look at the box
- score and game summary, print or save (as a text file) it. Press F1 to view
- the box score and F2 to view the game summary. Once you see the view screen
- you will see two icons at the upper right of the screen. One is a printer
- labeled F1, the other is a disk labeled F2. To print the information press
- F1, to save it as a text file press F2. If you are saving it as a text file
- you will be prompted to give it a file name. Use any name, provided it is
- eight letters or fewer. The program automatically assigns the extension
- of "ASC" to your file name.
-
- To compile a box score select F3. You will be asked to input a file name.
- If you are saving to an existing file name the program will ask if you want
- to overwrite or add to the file. Overwriting the file will erase all of the
- previous data saved in it. Adding to the file will compile the saved data
- with the new data for a combined total. Since you do not have the option of
- compiling stats in the Exhibition mode of play, compiling box scores is a
- good way of tracking player performance.
-
- 4 - Graphics
-
- Press 4 to toggle the graphics on or off. With the graphics off you will
- see only the results of each play during the game. You will not see any
- players run after or catch the ball, or run around the bases. With the
- graphics off you will be able to play an entire game quite a bit faster than
- if you leave the graphics on. To see which mode is selected look at the
- lower left corner of the scoreboard.
-
- 5 - Load Game
-
- If you have previously saved a game you can restart it by selecting 5. A
- pop-up window will display the available saved games. Use the arrow keys to
- highlight your choice and hit ENTER to select it. Note: the saved options
- will be in effect, not the ones that are displayed on the screen. When you
- load a saved game everything will be loaded as last appeared. Be sure to
- select the same; otherwise the results of the game will be affected.
-
- 6 - Start Game
-
- Before you press 6 to start the game, you should read the next section, Game
- time Options.
-
- ADDITIONAL OPTIONS
-
- The other options listed on the screen are in the blue and red blocks and
- correspond to Home and Visitor options. Options A-F pertain to the Visitors
- and G-L pertain to the Home team.
-
- AG - Select New Teams: shows league teams.
- BH - Select New Coaches: toggles between player and computer manager.
- CI - Select New Pitchers: shows available starting and backup pitchers.
- DJ - Set Lineup: shows batting order and field setup.
- EK - Load Playbook: shows available playbooks.
- FL - Load Profile: shows available profiles.
-
- AG - Select New Teams
-
- The program automatically loads two teams when you select Exhibition Play.
- To play other teams select A or G, depending on which team you want to
- change. When the appropriate letter is pressed a Select [Visiting/Home]
- Team screen appears. It lists all the available teams in that league or
- season file. If you do not want to play with teams from this league and
- would like select another league press F1. A pop-up window appears
- requesting you to pick a league file. Use arrows and ENTER keys to make a
- selection, and that league will appear on the Select [Visitor/Home] Team
- screen. To select a new team press the letter/number that appears to the
- left of the team name.
-
- BH - Select New Coaches
-
- To choose between one of two coaching possibilities press B for the Visitors
- or H for the Home Team. These are toggle keys which enable you to switch
- between Player Coach and Computer Coach. Player Coach lets you make the
- managerial decisions during the game. Computer Coach means that the
- computer will make all strategic decisions. You can assign a Manager's
- Profile only to the Computer Coach.
-
- CI - Select Pitcher
-
- To change your starting pitcher press C or I. A screen will appear titled
- "Select Home/Visiting Team Pitchers." This screen is divided into three
- sections. The top section contains the current pitcher, the middle section
- shows who is currently in the bullpen, and the bottom section shows all
- available pitchers on the bench. Use the TAB key to move between the
- sections.
-
- The program has much information available for each player that it can't be
- displayed all at once. You should use the left and right arrow keys to see
- all of the player's stats and ratings and the up and down arrow keys to
- scroll the highlight bar through the available players. The stats and
- ratings in order of appearance are: Status, Throwing Arm, Wins, Losses,
- Earned Run Average, Games Started, Completed Games, Saves, Innings Pitched,
- Opposing at Bats, Hits allowed, Doubles allowed, Triples allowed, Home Runs
- allowed, Walks allowed, Strikeouts, Groundball to Fly Ball Percentage, and
- Batting Ability. Press V to toggles between Combined, vs. Right stats.
- All pre-1982 teams have combined stats only. Press B to go directly to the
- batting lineup. (See Set Lineup on page 9.) Press S to save the current
- lineup for later. It is not necessary to press S to save these changes for
- the current game, simply hit ESC.
-
- The status for the current pitcher will be O.K., Tired or Wild. The status
- for a bullpen pitcher will be Warm, Cold, or Tired. The status for a bench
- pitcher will either be O.K. or Tired.
-
- To remove a pitcher from the Pitching Box, highlight him and press ENTER.
- Before a game, this will put him on the bench. During a game, it will send
- him to the showers. To put a pitcher in the game, first empty the Pitching
- Box, then highlight the new pitcher (in the bullpen) and press ENTER. To
- put a pitcher in the bullpen, leave a pitcher in the pitching box, highlight
- the benched pitcher and press ENTER. To sit a bullpen pitcher, highlight
- him in the bullpen while there is a pitcher in the pitching Box and press
- ENTER.
-
- OJ - Set Lineup
-
- To change your starting Lineup Press O or J. A new screen will appear
- titled "Set Home/Visitors Lineup." The screen is divided into two parts.
- The top shows who is currently in the lineup and the position they are
- playing. The bottom shows who is one the bench. As with the pitchers, use
- TAB to change from one part to the other, and the arrow keys to move around
- within the sections. To change a player's position, press ENTER, and then
- the letter corresponding to the position you want him to play. To switch
- two player's positions in the lineup highlight one player and then press the
- number of the other player's spot in the order. To move a player from the
- bench to the lineup, highlight him and press the number of the spot where
- you want to place him. The player in that spot will be replaced by the
- highlighted player. Hitting V toggles between combined stats and those for
- left-and right-handed pitchers. Press S to save the lineup. You can save
- as either your lineup vs. RHP's or LHP's or as one of the platoon lineups.
- This tells the computer manager what changes to make when the starter is
- replaced by an opposite-handed pitcher. Press P to go to the pitcher's
- screen.
-
- PLAY BALL
-
- Input a play from your playbook card (for the both the home team and
- visiting team if necessary, depending on the options you have set). To
- select a play from the standard playbook, input the one-digit code on the
- play card. See Playbook Editor (see page 29) for a description of the play
- options. To select a play from a custom playbook, input O followed by the
- two-digit code from your playbook. It's that easy and that fast. Once the
- plays are input the animations begin. A digitized video window that contains
- actual baseball footage will appear if enabled. Press V to turn video off
- and one. Once the play begins, a box appears that contains the play-by-play
- explanation of the action.
-
-
- GAME FINAL SCREEN
-
- When the game is finished, the "Game Final" screen will appear. You have
- the following options:
-
- F1 - View or Print Box Score
- F2 - View or Print Summary
- F3 - Compile Box Score
-
- F1 View Or Print Box Score
-
- Lets you view and/or print detailed box score for the game.
-
- F2 View Or Print Summary
-
- GAME-TIME OPTIONS
-
- During the course of a game (exhibition or league), there are several
- information sources you can access.
-
- VIEWING/CHANGING LINEUPS
-
- ZX - Visiting Team Lineup
-
- IF you are batting Z changes your current batter and X changes your on-deck
- batter. If you are int the field Z visits the mound (to make starting
- pitcher changes) and X calls the bullpen to start warming someone up or put
- him directly into the game.
-
- NM - Home Team Lineup
-
- On the home side of the field select N to change the current batter and M to
- change the on deck batter. When fielding select n to visit the mound and M
- to call the bullpen.
-
- NOTE: You can point and click with your mouse to access these functions,
- (e.g., If you want to check on your starting pitcher click the starting
- pitcher box with your mouse. If you want to change your on-deck batter
- click the on-deck batter's box). Changes are made as described in the
- Exhibition Game Options (pages 7-9) except that removed players will "hit
- the showers" instead of being benched.
-
- BOX SCORE
-
- Pressing B (or clicking on the scoreboard) displays the box score. A pop-up
- menu appears and displays options available. Press F1 to view and access
- the printing functions of the detailed box score. Press F2 to view and
- access the detailed game summary. Press F3 to save the game exactly where
- you are and quit. when you press F3 you are asked to enter a file name for
- your saved game. enter any name that is eight characters or less. The
- program automatically gives the file name an extension of ."sav." When you
- load it from the Game Options screen (see page 11 "Load Game") the program
- only displays ."sav" files. When you finish the game the ."sav" file
- remains on your hard disk. To delete the saved the game exit from the
- program and use standard DOS commands. To quit the game you were playing
- without saving press F4. This immediately exits the game and takes you back
- to the main menu screen (or league schedule screen if you are playing in a
- league). Press F5 to finish a game quickly. This finished the game in
- Quick Play mode. NOTE: By finishing the game in Quick Play mode you forgo
- and managerial control of the rest of the game. Press F6 to quickly finish
- the current inning only. Press F7 to use Quick Play mode through to a
- certain inning. When you press F7 you are asked to enter an inning number.
-
- STAT NOTEBOOK
-
- If you are the visiting team TAB lets you access the Stat Notebook feature.
- The home team uses the / key to do the same. You cannot access this feature
- by using a mouse; you must use the keyboard. The Stat Notebook is a quick
- reference to everything you need to know to make the best decisions. When
- selected, a notebook appears above your selection boxes. The options in the
- Stat Notebook are number 0-9. To access them you use the mouse to point and
- click or select the numbers from the keyboard. The visiting team used the
- number keys that appear above the alpha-keypad. NOTE: If the number 5 does
- not work for the home team make sure your "num lock" is activated. The
- options are as follows:
-
- 0 - Index 7 - V. Lineup
- 1 - Batter 8 - H. Lineup
- 2 - On Deck 9 - Close Book
- 3 - Runners
- 4 - Pitcher
- 5 - C-LF-CF-RF
- 6 - 1B-2B-3B-SS
-
- O - Index
-
- The Index displays exactly what you are seeing when you open the Stat
- Notebook. It lets you know the function of each number. To the right of
- the stat notebook are tabs with numbers to let you know exactly where you
- are. The option you have chosen is fully displayed on the tab. The rest
- of the options are partially covered by the selected options "page."
-
- 1- Batter
-
- If you select the number 1, you see the current batter's name at the top of
- the page followed by his stats. These are his historical stats (even if you
- are playing a league game, these would not be his complied stats). The stats
- are listed in two column contains stats versus "lefties" and the right
- column stats versus "righties".
-
- There are three rating at the bottom of the page. SA is the player's
- sacrifice ability. PULL tells you whether the batter is a pull hitter, a
- spray hitter or an opposite-field hitter. If a right-handed batter is a
- spray hitter, he hits it equally to any field. If a right-handed batter is
- an opposite-field hitter, he tends to hit the ball to right field. POW is
- the player's batting power, and will be listed as none, some, good, or
- awesome.
-
- 2 - On Deck
-
- Select 2 to get the same information for the on-deck batter
-
- 3- Runners
-
- Select 3 to determine who is on base with their speed and base stealing
- ratings. Base stealing (SB) is broken into two categories: successful
- steals and caught stealing (i,e., 15/2 would mean the player had 15
- successful steals and was caught stealing twice). The player's speed
- (SPD) will be listed as leadfoot, slow, average, good, fast, or speedster.
-
- 4 - Pitchers
-
- Select 4 to view the current pitcher stats. The pitcher who is currently
- pitching is displayed at the top of the page. Below the pitcher's name is
- the number of innings pitched and his pitching arm. ERA (Earned Run
- Average) follows. His stats against lefties appear on the left side of the
- "Page" The stats against righties appear on the right.
-
- 5 - C-LF-CF-RF
-
- Press 5 to view rating of players at specified positions (C-LF-CF-RF). The
- ratings for the players of those positions include: Fielding Range
- Rating (R), Throw Rating (T), and Fielding Percentage (%).
-
- 6 - 1B-2B-3B-SS
-
- Press 6 to display the same ratings as above for the remaining positions.
- The remaining positions are 1B, 2B, 3B, and SS. Refer to the glossary for
- an explanation of the ratings.
-
- 7 - Visiting Lineup
-
- This option let you view the entire lineup for the visiting team. The
- team's abbreviation is listed above the current lineup. The players are
- listed in the order of appearance in the batting order. The player at bat
- will have an asterisk by his name. IF your team is in the field, the
- asterisk appears next to the name of the player scheduled to lead off the
- next half-inning.
-
- 8 - Home Lineup
-
- Press 8 to view the same information for the home team lineup.
-
- 9 - Close Book
-
- To close the Stat Notebook press 9. The notebook displays disappears, and
- you may input your play to continue the game.
-
- -end-
-