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FISHING SHAREWARE RELEASE 1.14a - 12th April 2000
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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.


INSTALLING
==========

Fishing simulator is packaged in a self extracting zip file, to install, run the
fishsim.exe file and follow the on-screen instructions.


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.

RUNNING THE GAME
================

Run the fishing.exe file to start the game. If you encounter problems with this, 
for example, screen turning black, or sound effects not playing. Execute the 
winbeta.exe, which is a 90% working beta test version of the game which requires
DirectX version 6 or higher.

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The basic instructions during the fishing session are :
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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. 


 
REELING IN
----------
 Reeling in can be achieved by pressing the left mouse button.


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 )
	3) Press the space bar


REEL DRAG
---------

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 up 
'arrow key' on the keyboard. To decrease the drag tension press the 'down 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. 


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
-------

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 '+' and '-' 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. 



FINISH EARLY
------------

To finish a match early or finish a practice session press the ESCAPE key.



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) When reeling in a large fish, the rod may display snapped occasionally


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 )

If you want to play against other players in the full version you will also need a
NETWORK LAN with IPX drivers loaded


Additional info
===============

There are a lot of other features to this game which I am sure you will
find out. There is a full 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.

Feel free to modify and look at the data files, most of them are ASCII and 
can be edited to fine tune the simulation.


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




-------------------
DEVELOPMENT HISTORY
-------------------

Added for version 1.03 ( 12th December 1999 )
=============================================

- Fixed line overwrite bug in version 1.02
- Fly fishing 95% implemented (press space to recast) - not fully tested
- Snow on ground effect (not sure if this will stay though, need feedback)
- Some visual interface improvements
- Better fish model for Dace and GSN help file
- Sound routines re-written, better quality, sound levels and effects
- Improved the fishing model so more fish are caught.
- Rules for tournament matches are shown on go fishing screen
- IPX network game can now be played - no results yet - not tested.
- Rod can now change colour (look in fishing.ini file in inf dir)
- Jukebox no longer works - do not turn this on !
- No fishing.bat file or digauto. DIGPAK has gone.
- Added the ability to change light, weather, and rod effects.


Added for version 1.04 ( 26th December 1999 )
=============================================

- Improved fish size calculation - at all levels
- Priority given to fish factors in calculations
- Help system implements on main menu
- All shareware fish help files done
- Fly fishing model working better - still not quite complete though
- Lots of help files now done.
- Shareware fish models accurately mapped and completed
- User can now change fish species in speciman match
- Tournement rules displayed on match settings screen
- Float disappears when fish hooks itself
- Implemented better calculation of hooking a fish
- Better wind effect on casting of tackle - especially light tackle
- Implemented fish shoal factor, which affects how much fish shoals
- Implemented spinner & lure fishing with bites
- Implemented auto-reel for spinning & lure fishing
- Finished and tested fly fishing
- Light effects change as time and weather conditions changed - a slight delay though
- Less ripples on hot sunny days


Added for version 1.05 ( 11th January 2000 )
=============================================

- Weather changes as game progresses ( cloud, rain, sun, temp, wind and conditions )
- Spinning fishing style GSN help file completed
- Angling association members ranking table implemented.
- Peg depth button implemented.
- Replaced venue history button with match rules and implemented.
- Fixed drive scroll bug on import options screen
- Execute button implemented in advanced options ( EXE files only ) no status return yet
- Pike, roach, silver bream and tench models improved.
- New tournament matches added to packmoor waterways
- Fish catch levels increased for harder levels, decreased for easier levels
- Updated all GAF files for packmoor waterways pegs
- Minsize entry added for each bait in baits.ini, now can't catch small fish on large baits
- Packmoor waterways, peg, venue and tournament gsn files complete.
- Removed jukebox button and background music feature
- Fixed bug - background now does not appear when menu picture is turned off on credits screen
- New member and delete member help files complete
- Import, export, and execute help files complete
- Added sound coming from reel on casting
- Added groundbait effects
- Added caution effects
- Fixed VBE1.2 warning bug, it now works 
- Added VBEINF.EXE checking program to distribution
- Some fish help files complete - Bleak, Bullhead, Brown trout, Brook trout, Char, Catfish, Crucian carp
- Bullhead, Brook trout, Char models completed
- Gudgeon model and help file complete
- Minnow help file complete
- Rainbow trout and rudd help file complete


Added for version 1.06 ( 21st January 2000 )
=============================================
- IPX Network game 99.9% finished, 1 bug with client records still to fix
- Manual 80% complete
- Full version fish help files and models (70% complete)
- CD Installation and windows boot complete
- All fish help files complete
- All tackle and bait help files complete


Added for version 1.07 ( 25th January 2000 )
============================================
- Line now snaps if too much pressure and fish too big for line strength
- Harder to get bites from small fish with big hooks on
- Fish can now come off hook, if hooksize is not correct, especially too small
- Floats, ledgers, baits restricted in shareware version.
- Time stopping bug fixed when get a bite
- Small fish on less sensitive floats do not pull it under, wiggle instead
- Better model for float bites implemented.


Added for version 1.10 (29th January 2000)
==========================================
- Light ledgers and freeline now move in strong current
- Small 'v' included on end of line to show where line enters water
- 'Linequal' added to fishing ini to specify quality of line
- Fixed crash bug at the end of the game
- Added registration screen at the end of the game
- Gametimer been added to fishing.ini file (replaced soundtimer)
- Soundtimer changed in fishing.ini file, now can be adjusted if there are sound problems
- Reeling fish in over land, does not now result in float or fly re-appearing
- Fixed bug in record catch sheet when temp was below freezing (ie 254 now is -1).
- Improved fish fighting characteristics
- Few float fishing bugs fixed.
- Implemented ending screen, for registration info.
- Changed dialog for beta version the the start.


Added for version 1.10 (15th February 2000) - final release
===========================================================

- Better video card detection for TNT2 NVIDIA cards ( Diamond Viper 770 ) for example
- Mouse cursor clears correctly on MATROX cards and weather effects work.
- Rod casting slowed down slightly, a bit more controllable.
- Shareware message inserted instead of beta version.
- Computer anglers now has better AI.
- Tournament matches now work correctly

Added for version 1.11 (20th February 2000) - final release
===========================================================

- Groundbait does not now land after fish is reeled in (thanks to Clive).
- Network warning message implemented
- Import and export options now accomodate importing baits correctly
- Spelling mistakes corrected (thanks to Elton)
- Order.txt file now included !!!!
- Better deadbait, dry fly and wet fly graphics

Added for version 1.12 (27th February 2000) - final release
===========================================================

- Added the ability to upgrade fish database files
- Added the ability to export fish database files
- More spelling mistakes corrected.

Added for version 1.13 (1st March 2000) - final release
=======================================================

- Reel drag factor added when reeling in a fish
- Reel speed adjustable on autoreel when spinning
- Improved chances of catching when fly fishing
- Large fish now don't pull rod down to the water when trying to reel in
- Water flow slowed down slightly on river pegs
- General fish size increase
- When missed bite spinning, double rod does now not occur
- Ledger weight depth adjustment on the tackle screen added.


Added for version 1.14 (12th April 2000) - final release
========================================================

- Manual river flow speed and direction control setting for each peg
- Sound files changed : drag.wav, drag1.wav, gbait.wav, reel.wav, bitewarn.wav
- Added functionality for improved spinner and jerkbaits
- New bait factors for spinning : sinkspd, reelf, reels, drop, still
- Add-on baits created with earlier versions still can be imported
- Add-on baits created in 1.14 will NOT work in 1.13 or earlier
- Fish feed off the bottom less frequently
- Baits rise in water better when tension applied to line
- Reel drag is set to 1/2 line strength on hooking a fish
- Landing net hotspot area increased 
- Bug fixed, that may have resulted in intermitent crashes - maybe ?
- ZIP file now distributed as self-extracting EXE file
- Internet address changed at end to WWW.FISHSIM.CO.UK
- Included windows DX BETA test version