Ports of Call 2.0TM The Maritime Simulation Game (C) 1994, Rolf-Dieter Klein, Martin Ulrich from Rolf-Dieter Klein Martin Ulrich Graphics from R.E. LaBarre J.D. Sachs Additional Graphics from Worldview(TM) & Majestic Places(TM) MediaClips: Photos: David K. Brunn, Tom Atwood "(C) Copyright Aris Entertainment, Inc., 1992" Ports of Call (C) 1994 Rolf-Dieter Klein und Martin Ulrich =========================================================== About the Game -------------- A Background on Tramp Shipping The traffic of goods by sea is organized in accordance with international agreements and contracts between individual countries. About 80% of the goods (called "cargo volume") transported between two countries is handled by ships registered under the flags of the countries concerned. The remaining 20% are open to the free competition of ships under other flags. These ships, called "tramp" ships, are usually prepared to transport all kinds of goods. This aspect of the shipping business is the focus of Ports of Call. Whether a tramp ship owner makes a profit depends upon: on the one hand, the laws, regulations and subsidies of his country, and on the other, the rules of supply and demand. If, for example, there has been a good coffee harvest, coffee prices will drop, and since there is a lot of coffee to be shipped, the freight charges will rise. Now, if a lot of owners start to compete for the business, the freight capacity will start to increase, with a consequent drop in freight rates. If the coffee harvest was bad, the freight rates will drop even though the coffee price has risen, because the shipping capacity is now in excess. If the business is exceptionally poor, it may be necessary for the ship owner to temporarily lay his ships up. In this situation, the ships cannot be sold profitably because the ships' prices have dropped (supply and demand). Also it is not economically viable to operate the ships because the income nowhere covers the overhead_fixed costs, such as maintenance and finance, still have to be earned. This is now the time to buy good, used ships at a low price. Apart from the economic aspects, life aboard a tramp ship can be pretty exciting and that's no "old sailor's yarn"! The Object of the Game Each player founds his own shipping company, with a starting capital of $4 million to buy ships. Freight and ports of call can be chosen continuously from offers on the market. Then the captain chooses an economic travelling speed and casts off to encounter many adventures on the high seas. After unloading his cargo, the captain is credited with the agreed payment. Then he may refuel, make necessary repairs, and so on. The next job is to find a new, lucrative cargo, buy further ships, and/or repay his mortgages; in other words, he must have a more productive company than his competitors. The strategy of the game is flexible. A rogue will try to make a quick buck by using cheap ships and juggling the freight rates to force his competitors into bankruptcy. The careful player, in contrast, will build a solid financial foundation. The superior speed of his high-tech fleet will enable him to snap up the more lucrative contracts. Any strategy is deemed to fail if you don't have a good captain to bring your ship across the world's stormy seas. The formulas for ship movement have been calculated so that ships respond to changes in speed and movements of the rudder as in the real world. It is recommended that the beginner does not start with ships that are too large. These are slow to respond and, as such, require a more experienced captain. The ship's movement at sea is accelerated. The captain, however, must select the correct speed. Fuel consumption depends on the time at sea and the weather conditions. Determination of the economic travelling speed depends on fuel prices and freight rates. Hence, you can see that a captain's decisions also have an influence on the success of the company. The credit rating of an enterprise is very dependent on its social status. The more ports served by a line, the higher the status. And an owner who is operating modern, expensive ships has a naturally better standing than the owner of a rusty, floating wreck. The captain's conduct also affects a company's credit. A player's chances of success improve the more he knows about international shipping. All data for the game originated from actual developments in the maritime world: the fluctuation of freight rates, refueling costs, port charges, and ship operating costs. The ship operating costs include amounts payable for tax, management, crew expenses, safety precautions, and other costs_these vary significantly from country to country. These general costs are calculated for each individual ship and are reduced in accordance with the subsidies, tax reductions, etc., that are valid in the country of registration. The accounts are then automatically debited periodically, without on screen display to the owner. Ship prices are the same for all ship owners. However, in reality, ship building is subsidized differently in each country; therefore, a compensatory figure is included in the basic costs. In summary, Ports of Call has been developed with this motto in mind: "Software with Hard Facts." Getting Started --------------- What You Need to Run Ports of Call IBM PC-Version: Ports of Call will run on any of the IBM PC and fully compatible family of computers with grafic adapters compatible to Standard-VGA, provided you have a minimum of 640kB of RAM and run DOS 3.2 or higher. To start :Ports of Call ----------------------- Power up your system and boot with your systems disc. Mouse users will have to activate their mouse drivers (if this was not done automatically when booting. Please consult your systems manual). Insert the Ports of Call disc and enter POC (5 1/4"-users start with disc A) Answer the few and friendly questions about your sound preferences (we suggest: external sound or none). 3 1/2" users may now begin. 5 1/4" users please insert disc B. Mouse users will need the left and right mouse buttons only. The center button will not play. Keyboard fanatics, cats and everybody elso who doesn't like mice, please refer to the Appendix with a list of keyboard commands. Personalizing Your Program -------------------------- Ports of Call 2.0 gives you one hour of free demo time. In the unlikely event of dissatisfaction with the programme, please give it to somebody else. Do give away as many copies as you like or even better as you possibly can. After one hour of playing time, Ports of Call 2.0 will aks you to register. Please enter your name, city of residence and your personal serial number when prompted. The serial number is on the disc sleeve if you have bought the full version. If you have downloaded the programme from a network or have been given a disc or copied it from a friend, you will have to purchase a serial number before you are to continue enjoying the game. Please use the registration form (the file name is "Register.txt", please load it into your word processor to fill it out) and e-mail, fax or mail it to us. After receipt of payment, your serial number will be forwarded instantaneously. Playing The Game ---------------- After you start the game, a requestor will appear asking you to choose the desired time duration of play. You have options of selecting 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours or until the game is over. If you play a timed game and you reach the time limit, you are given the option of continuing play or quitting. After selecting the desired time duration, select OK. Next, a requestor will appear asking you to select the degree of playing difficulty. You will be presented with three options: Beginner, Expert and Genius. If you are new - to the game, select Beginner, then select OK. A requestor will then appear asking you to choose the number of players. You can enter up to four. After entering the number of players, select OK. The registration form requestor will appear asking you to fill out the ship Captain's name and the name of the shipping company. Click with the Selection button inside the Name drawer, type your name and press RETURN. Then type a name for your fictional company and press RETURN. Select OK. After registering, you must choose a home port. Select any of the 28 ports listed and select OK. A screen will then appear with a picture of the globe, showing you the location of your port. Select go on to continue. The entire registration and port selection process will be repeated for each player. After all players are registered, the World Simulation Display will appear. This is the main screen of the game, where all action starts and stops. The Ports of Call Menu Bar You can see the Menu Bar when you press the Menu (right) mouse button. To choose a menu item, put the cursor on the Project heading and move it down until the item you want is highlighted. Release the Menu button and that item is chosen. The Project menu includes: About..., which brings up a window containing copyright information and the version number. Free Memory measures (in bytes) how much memory is currently available. Load will bring up the storage requestor so that you may load a previously saved game to resume play. Save will save the current game you are playing, provided it has already been named; otherwise, the storage requestor will appear so that you may enter a filename and directory. Save As will bring up the storage requestor allowing you to specify any drive or directory and filename to save the game to. After selecting Save As..., type the name of the game in the filename box and the directory you want to save it to in the drawer box and then select OK. Manual You have found it all on your own, as you are reading it right now. To print it, please load the file "Manual.txt" into your word processor. If necessary, you can abandon play by choosing Quit. Then a requestor will appear asking if you really want to do this for sure. Select OK to quit, CANCEL to resume play. Upon quitting the game, you will be shown which player has been most successful. The World Simulation Display The Simulation Display shows a map of the world on which the ships of all ship owners are shown_you must buy a ship before you can see it. Individual ships are displayed in the company colors. A ship will blink several times when activity is expected. The numbers in rectangular boxes represent the wind strength (on the Beaufort scale) for weather systems calculated by the global weather simulator. The higher numbers indicate storms. The ACTION gadget in the lower left corner is labeled START. If you select it again it will change to STOP. Selecting START allows the SIMULATION ELAPSED TIME gadget to continue and the game to proceed. Selecting STOP freezes the time gadget, allowing the player to conduct business away from the ship. The SIMULATION ELAPSED TIME gadget contains a simulated 24-hour clock and boxes representing days. The passing of weeks and years are shown underneath. The window in the lower right corner continuously displays the realtive wealth of the shipping companies. The columns are kept in the shipowners colors. The numbers display the status points of the corresponding shipping company. The leader is the company with the highest status. You must select STOP before you can select any of the gadgets on the right side of the World Simulation Display: GLOBE, OFFICE and SHIP BROKER. Selecting SHIP BROKER brings up a requestor showing the current ship owners' company names with buttons next them. When you select a button, a screen will appear showing you an elevator. The elevator has five floors from which to choose, where you can buy or sell ships and get information about the ship market. Selecting OFFICE also lets you select a company name to take you into that company's office. This is where your books are kept, statistics are analyzed, mortgages and bank overdrafts are applied for and repaid, profit and loss statements are prepared and business developments are kept track of. You can also change the location of your home port from within your office if you think it is more economical to operate under a different flag. Hint: Checking your office periodically will prevent theft. Selecting GLOBE allows each player to determine the location of his ships, the ship's route and Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA). These details are recorded on the Globe, which can be rotated into any viewing position when you hold the Selection (left) mouse button down on the rotation gadget in the coordinate system and drag it to a new positions while still holding down the Selection button. After all the ship owners have bought their ships, select START. The map will blink the ships in the owners colors to signify an activity will occur. The Port Display You will now be presented with a screen showing the captain's cabin_you can see your port through the porthole. The chalkboard contains information regarding the city and country of your port. The captain's log lists the last port visited, cargo, profits, bank balance, ship condition and available fuel (in tons). The clipboard contains options which you can activate by selecting them. Repairing Your Ship If you have bought a used ship, chances are that it needs a little minor repair. After selecting REPAIR, you will be presented with a requestor showing you the damage and repair status of your ship. You can select the level of repairs you want or can afford. Refuelling Your Ship To refuel your ship, select REFUEL. This will bring up the refuelling screen, where you can select how much fuel to put in your ship. By clicking the select button on any of these buttons: 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%, the fuel will rise in the tank to that level. Chartering Your Ship Selecting CHARTER allows you to choose where you will go next and what type of cargo to carry. Every port has different types of cargo_some worth a lot more than others. To determine the best cargo, click on the various destinations and available cargoes to determine the most lucrative charter. Time freight is an option that appears to be extremely lucrative. Do start this business carefully, as the program takes into account the actual average waiting time outside the ports (as stated in the UN shipping statistics). Hint: Some dangerous cargoes do affect the ships condition. Laying Up Laying up means to anchor your ship for a short time. You may want to wait until the laws of supply and demand command a higher price for your cargo. As a ship owner, it may become necessary to temporarily "lay up" the ship for a week or so, because it is not economically viable to to operate the ship when the income doesn't cover the overhead. Loading Your Cargo When you are ready to embark, select LOAD CARGO, then select OK. The screen will turn blank indicating an action is taking place and you will return to the World Simulation Display. Your ship will appear in your company color. When it blinks on and off, you are ready to navigate through the harbor on the way to your port of call. Navigating Your Ship Navigation is the most important aspect of being a successful Captain. The ship must be maneuvered in and out of different harbors and oftentimes through difficult obstacles. The Navigation Control Panel is made up of the following components: the Power Regulator, Speed Indicator, and Rudder Regulator (see Figure 3). Each one must be mastered to successfully navigate your ship. The Power Regulator The power regulator functions similar to a gas pedal in a car. To go faster, hold the select button down and drag the speed regulator up to go forwards, and down to go backwards. Actual ship acceleration is simulated, so it takes time to gain speed. With the regulator positioned in the exact center (represented by a horizontal line) the ship's engine is at idle. The Speed Indicator The speed indicator is represented by a small horizontal line directly to the right of the power regulator. It functions similar to a speedometer by showing you how fast you are moving. If your ships speed is high, you have a lot of momentum and it will take longer to slow down or change direction. Beginning ship captains should take time and experiment with the navigation control panel until they are famlllar with maneuvering techniques. Top: Transverse Thruster (available only on more expensive ships) Below: Speed Indicator Right: Power Regulator Bottom: Rudder Regulator The Rudder Regulator The rudder regulator is identical to a steering wheel. When the ship is moving forward, dragging it to the left will turn the ship left and dragging it right will steer the ship right. When the ship is traveling backwards it functions the opposite. Entering a Harbor The goal when entering a harbor is to safely dock your ship and park it inside the blue target shaped like an arrow (called the berth). The front of the ship must be pointing in the same direction as the arrow to successfully dock the ship, and the ship must be motionless and parallel to the dock inside the blue target (this gets you a status point with every new port you master). The hourglass represents how much time you have to accomplish this. You can use tugboat assistance if you feel it is too difficult, but tugs cost you a lot of money. If you are low on funds, you will be forced to steer by hand. Leaving a Harbor You successfully leave a harbor by navigating your ship through the blue target window. You aren't penalized for exiting backwards. The goal is to safely exit without crashing or going beyond the time limit shown in the hourglass. You can use tugboat assistance if you feel it is too difficult, but tugs cost you a lot of money. If you are low on funds, you will be forced to steer by hand. On the Open Sea When you have successfully left the harbor, a screen will appear containing information on your destination, freight on board, distance to travel (in nautical miles), and the deadline for delivery (if any). Also, you may choose your traveling speed (in knots). Remember, the higher the speed, the more fuel is consumed; on the other hand, a long joumey results in a high total of fixed operating expenses. After making your choices, you must challenge the cold, cruel sea_you may STOP ACTION at any time during the voyage to catch up on office work, buy ships, and so on. Bon Voyage! And the Winner Is... When the game is over, the Ranking List will appear. The winner is determined by who has the highest status. If it's a tie score, the assets are taken into account. Appendix: --------- Keyboard-users guide to the wonderful world of Ports of Call keyboard commands. Principally you say OK, when entering CR (as in Carriage Return). For a Yes you enter Y or CR. Cancel is said by pressing C or ESC or N, as in "no". When entering Text please end with a CR. The Cursor must thus be deleted from the text column before you can say "OK" with another CR or Cancel. When you encounter a number of select buttons placed in columns, please use your cursor keys or the numeral keys to select the button of your choice. The button chosen will be highlighted. Enter CR to select. The numeral keys are assigned to the select buttons from top to bottom in a rising sequence. Usually beginning with the number 1. Example: Selection of the degree of difficulty: Beginner -1 Expert -2 Genius -3 OK -CR Use your cursor keys to select a home port for your ships. The functions: About..., Load, Save, Save As... and Quit are selected with the keys A for About... H for Help... L for Load S for Save N for Save as .. M for Manual Q for Quit. The selection of the game to load uses the function keys F1, F2. Scroll the list of games with your cursor keys and select the drawer with CR and the filename with a second CR. In the World Simulation Display, the 1 leads to the Globe. Rotate the globe with your cursor keys. 2 leads to the Office and 3 leads to the Ship Broker. Stop- and Start-Action is controlled with your space bar. In the Office you call up Info by pressing I, Action by pressing A and OK by pressing CR. For all further functions, the numeral keys are assigned to the select buttons from top to bottom in a rising sequence.: 1,2,3,....6. CR says OK. At the Ship Brokers you enter the floor numbers 1 - 5 as shown in the Lift, use the E to get to the Exit. For all further functions, the numeral keys are assigned to the select buttons from top to bottom in a rising sequence.: 2,3,4.... Or, where applicable in this order: 1 2 3 4 5 6. CR says OK. In the Port-Display use 1 to Repair, 2 to Refuel, 3 to Charter 4 to Lay Up, and CR to Load When Refuelling use 1 to fill up 100% 2 to fill up 75% 3 to fill up 50% 4 to fill up 25% When Chartering operate the right column with the cargoes from top to bottom with the letters Q,W,E,R,T,Z (Y),U,I,O,P, and the left column with ports of destination from top to bottom with the numerals 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0. Steer by hand is chosen by keying 1, the tugs help is requested by CR. The Navigation Control Panel is operated using the cursor keys. For emergency manouvers use page up for full speed ahead, and page down for full speed astern. Home puts Power- and Rudder-Regulators to Neutral. For the Transverse Thruster use CTRL and right and CRTL and left. Enjoy the game. =========================================================================