


                              Superstar Baseball
                          Written By  James P. Orazi

        This game is based on a Sports Illustrated board game issued
            in 1974. All the data used is accurate up till then. 

 

                                Requirements

                1. 640 x 480 VGA
                2. 256k  Memory
                3. 286,386,486 IBM PC or Compatible


                                Installation

     1. Copy all the files on the floppy to the same directory on your
        hard drive, or run directly off the floppy. All files must be
        in the same directory as the "bb.exe" file.


                                Instructions


         All scoring and and base runners are kept track of by you. Just
        as if you were scoring a real baseball game. So you will need a
        score sheet. I have provided an ascii file called "bb.frm" that 
        can be printed out, provided your printer supports extended
        characters,which most do. Just type "copy bb.frm prn" and see
        if it looks ok, if it doesn't, your on your own. Also, if you
        have a software program called Formtool this file is in the
        correct format it uses.


                               CHOOSING TEAMS

         To start the game just type "bb". The first thing you will see
        is the main menu. Hitting "1" will ask you if you want to use
        the designated hitter, type either a Y or N, depending on whether
        or not you want your pitchers to hit for themselves. After you
        have made your choice, the next screen is the players menu.
        I suggest you start by choosing pitchers for both teams first,
        you are allowed only 1 player at each position, per team. Next
        to each pitchers name is the arm that he throws with, R = right,
        L = left. You should note this on your score sheet, because players
        performances are different when facing a righty or a lefty.
        Remember that all the statistics used in this game are from the
        players lifetime stats up till 1974 and are very accurate.
        After choosing your pitchers, you can go through each position,
        choosing your teams, making sure you write them down. The R + L
        on the position players menus are for what side of the plate that
        they bat from, the letter B stands for both, or, he is a switch 
        hitter. If you have decided not to use the DH, item 8 on the menu
        will not work. No player can be chosen more than once, for any
        position including the DH.




                                BATTING ORDER

          After your teams are chosen, go back to the main menu. Choose
         "2", this is the batting order menu. Select either Team A or B,
         the lineup you have picked will be displayed on the screen. At
         each prompt type in the number next to the player you want to
         bat in that position. When you are done, the batting order menu
         will come back and then choose the opposite team. When you have
         put both teams in the correct order(hopefully writing this onto
         your score sheet as you go along) go back to the main menu.
         At this point you are ready to start the game.
         


                               STARTING THE GAME 
 

                                   THE DICE

          Hitting "3" at the main menu brings you to the dice screen, this
         is called a dice screen because those 3 square blocks at the top
         are supposed to represent the dice that are used in the board
         game version(this is my first attempt at this, so don't laugh!).
         These are not ordinary dice,the numbers can range from 10 - 39.
         They are read by multiplying the left die(the yellow one if you
         have color VGA) by 10 and then adding it to the other 2 die.

               Examples:    Left Die = 3  (x10)    Left Die = 1  (x10)
                          Center Die = 1         Center Die = 4
                           Right Die = 0          Right Die = 5 
                          ---------------        --------------
                               Total = 31             Total = 19


                             DEFENSIVE RATINGS

          On the left and right of the dice are boxes that have the
         defensive ratings for the teams, this is derived by a total
         of all the individual players defensive ratings on each team.
         I have not shown you the ratings for each player, mostly to
         keep this program simple, but believe me, these ratings are
         accurate. The defensive ratings are used by hitting "C" at
         the dice screen. This brings up the charts menu, hit "2" and
         the defensive chart appears, using the total defensive rating
         for your team on the left side gets you from 1 - 4 dice 
         numbers as automatic outs on the right side. Write these numbers
         down on your score sheet for each team. Then, when your pitcher
         rolls one of those numbers, the batter is automatically out
         because of a great defensive play(ground out).
         





                                 THE BATTER

         On the dice screen you will see five rows that pertain to the
        batter. The first row has the current batters name,whether his
        stats are against a lefty or righty,his speed rating from 1 - 5,
        (1 = slowest 5 = fastest) and his bunting ability(A = Good B = Bad).
        The second row has the dice numbers from 10 - 24 which reference
        to the third row which has the players actual stats. The fourth
        row has dice numbers 25 - 39 which reference the fifth row which
        has the remaining players stats. To find out what each of the
        players stats means,there is a legend, you can reference the legend
        by hitting "L" at the dice screen.


                                 THE PITCHER

          The pitcher also has five rows that pertain to him,but with
        less information. The first row has the current pitchers name
        and whether he throws righty or lefty. The next four rows are
        the same as the hitters but with pitching stats instead. To find
        out what the pitchers stats mean,use the legend, you can reference
        the legend by hitting "L" at the dice screen.


                               PLAYING THE GAME

          The normal order of play is as follows.

        1. Team A always bats first,his team will automatically come up
           first in the batters box.

        2. Team B pitcher will automatically come up in the pitchers box.

        3. Pitcher hits "R" to roll dice.

        4. Pitcher looks up the result of his dice roll(the stat directly
           below the number he rolled),if it is an out it gets marked as 
           such on the score sheet. Then the next batter is up, to go to
           the next batter hit the letter "N" at the dice screen. The next
           batter and his stats will appear on the screen, at this point 
           the pitcher rolls again,and the whole process repeats itself.
            If the result of the pitchers roll is that the batter swings,
           then the batter rolls the dice by hitting "R".Then he looks
           up the result of his roll, this gets marked on the score sheet
           and the next batter("N") is up. The pitcher always rolls before
           the hitter! This continues until there are three outs, after
           which you hit "S" at the dice screen to switch sides.This will
           automatically bring up the other teams pitcher and his stats
           and also the first batter on your team and his stats.

        5. Go back to step 3.



         
                                SPECIAL SITUATIONS

        
        
                                 INTENTIONAL WALKS

         The manager of a team in the field(pitching) can intentionally
        walk an opposing batter at any time simply by announcing this move,
        even after the manager of the team at bat decides to have his
        batter bunt.

                                   BASE STEALING
        
         The manager of the team at bat may,before the pitcher rolls the
        dice, have his runner attempt a steal. In this case, one of the
        appropriate steal charts(hit "C" at dice screen,and then choose
        the correct chart,second,third or home) is used. The manager of the 
        team at bat rolls the dice for his runner. The speed rating of the
        base stealer, found next to his name on the dice screen(use "N" to
        cycle through players till you find him) determines which column
        in the appropriate chart contains the result of the roll of the
        dice(hit "R" while looking at the screen with the chart,in the
        upper right corner is the dice total). If there is more than one
        base runner, the manager of the team at bat must announce which
        man or men are attempting to steal and which are holding their
        bases. The manager of the team in the field may choose which man
        he wants to attempt to throw out or he may elect to not make a
        play at all and concede the stolen base or bases. If this is the
        case, the base runner(s) steals the base(s) unopposed.

                                     BUNTING

         The manager of the team at bat may, before the pitcher rolls the
        dice, have his batter attempt a sacrifice or suicide squeeze bunt.
        In this case, either the sacrifice or suicide squeeze bunt charts
        should be used(hit "C" at dice screen). Refer to the appropriate
        column, determined by the batters bunting ability, which is
        indicated next to the batters name on the dice screen( A=Good
        B=Bad). The manager of the team at bat rolls the dice for his bunter 
        and follows the rusults on the appropriate chart.
         The suicide squeeze bunt chart may be used only with a runner on 
        third base. On a missed bunt, when the runner from third attempts 
        a steal of home, the same batter remains at bat after the steal 
        attempt.
         The sacrifice bunt chart cannot be used to attempt to advance a 
        runner from third base. When using the sacrifice bunt chart, the 
        manager of the team at bat can declare that any base runner who is 
        not forced is not trying to advance.
        Example:With runners on first and third,the manager of the team at 
        bat may elect to sacrifice with the runner on first trying to 
        advance on the bunt and the runner on third holding.



       
   
                             MANAGERS DECISION CHART
        
         When indicated on the batters legend, the manager of the team at 
        bat can choose to have certain base runners attempt to advance an 
        extra base. In this case, the managers decision chart is used. The 
        manager of the team at bat rolls the dice for his runner and 
        follows the result in the appropriate column on the chart.If there 
        is more than one man trying for an extra base,the manager of the 
        team in the field has the option to choose which runner he wants 
        to attempt to throw out. Accordingly, the managers decision chart 
        is used only for the runner on whom the play will be made. The 
        manager of the team in the field may also decide not to make the 
        play, in which case the runner or runners trying to advance are 
        safe. 








        Any comments concerning this program can be sent to:
                        James P. Orazi
                        1210 Ariel Dr.
                        Forked River,NJ 08731

                or e-mail to: orazi@pittpa.cray.com   (internet)
                          or: Prodigy ID# VXFW73A

                This is my first attempt at programming so 
                    please be lenient in your comments.

          This program is free of charge and may be distributed
        freely,as long as no changes are made to any files included.


