************************************************************************** - THE LEGENDARY >> SUBSOFTWARE << IN 90 !!! =========================================== - CONTACT US - BP: 36 - - 1380 REBECK - - BELGIUM - - DON'T SEND ANY DISKS - ************************************************************************** O I L I M P E R I U M ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------ INTRODUCTION ------------ We had an idea to create a game of commerce based around the cut- throat world of international oil. We were determined that the game should not only be good fun to play, but would also have terrific graphics, interspersed with arcade scenes and lots of variety. Have no fear, this game of commerce stays a game of commerce. You don't have to shoot down space ships or break a joystick in doing so! We had one further prerequisite: in the multi player mode the game should be as true to life as possible, i.e.the winner would have to be quicker, cleverer and more ruthless then the competition. We didn't want the computer to simply and randomlychoose the winner after two hours. We wanted to make it as realistic as possible. Be honest, what would you rather do, sell wheat to Uncle Bobby or sabotage one of his pipelines. One thing should not be forgotten. This is only a game. It is possible that the sums for oil prices, production quotas, storage tank capacity and service fees, may indeed differ from their actual market values. We have, however, tried to keep them as accurate as possible. It should also be noted that the competition in real life would not be so quick to blow up your pipelines. We ask you to note that we have avoided using the word "simulation", as a real oil business simulation would be boring and unnecessarily complicated - just think of your own tax return. Please do not try to use this instruction manual to find out why your four star petrol has again risen in price. With this in mind we hope you will have endless hours of fun with this game. ------------ INSTRUCTIONS ------------ You will be asked to enter the number of players participating. When there are less than four, the computer will simulate the additional players. Every player can choose a company and an office as well as a company name. When this initial input is complete, the players' details will appear on the screen. Should any mistakes be noticed, corections can still be made at thispoint. Now it is up to you to choose one of four missions: 1.THE RICHEST PLAYER AFTER THREE YEARS TRADING - This game automatically ends after three (simulated) years have passed. The most successful player (the one with the most liquid and fixed assets) is the winner. 2.MORE THAN $60 MILLION OF LIQUID ASSETS - The players have to accumulate liquid assets of $60 Million or more. The first player to achieve this is the winner. 3.ALL OTHER PLAYERS ARE BANKRUPTED - The aim of the game is achieved when all other players cannot meet their payments and default. 4.MORE THAN 80% MARKET SHARE - Here one has to own at least 80% of the available oilfields. Now the game begins. Every player has one month for dealing. He can buy or sell oilfields and storage tanks, offer oil on the world's markets, obtain statistics and feasibility studies, use sabotage, employ detectives, drill for oil, lay pipelines and much more. Once the month has ended the next player begins his turn. When all the players have completed their deals, a graphical description in column form, showing the financial status of each company are scrolled at the botton of the screen. This only shows purchases of storage tanks and oilfields. Less important dealings are not shown. GENERAL INFORMATION The game is controlled by clicking on given symbols. If an outside window is clicked o, it will close itself again. Figures are selected by uding the UP/DOWN ARROWS. Once the correct amount has been selected the "OK" symbol should be clicked on. BANKRUPTCY The game is over for a player who does not own either money or oilfields or has more than $5 million in debts. --------- THE DESK --------- The desk screen is the main menu of the program from where all important deals are made. Some of the objects that can be found on this desk have special functions. THE CALENDAR This shows the day and month. This is important to know during complex deals so that you can allow enough time to complete your plan. When you wish to complete the month's trading, click on the calendar "END OF MONTH TRADING". The next player's turn starts when you have finished your month's trading. Once "ERROR - MONTH OVER" appears, the next player's turn begins. LIQUID ASSET DISPLAY Here you can check the status of your bank account, i.e. the amount of liquid assets you have. Not included are investments, e.g. values of oilfields or storage tanks previously purchased. The name of the player whose turn it is is shown above the liquid asset display. THE COMPAGNY NAME The name of the company belonging to the player whose turn it is is shown to the right of the liquid asset display under the desk. On the left and right hand sides of the desk are main dealing fields, which relate to certain objects of the desk screen. THE SUITCASE If one of your oilfields is on fire, you will immediately be informed by telephone. To avoid further, unecessary damage, immediate action should be taken. You have two choices: A) Call Ted Redhair (click on "CONTRACT"); the company that is experienced in dealing with such catasrophes, or... B) You can fly with your private jet to the trouble zone (click on "AIR TICKET" and manage the fire-fighting operations yourself. The costs are much lower, but expertise is required). For further information about extinguishing oilfields, see "ACTION SEQUENCES". It is not possible for you to extinguish burning oil rigs in the sea. Only Ted Redhair ca do this. THE TELEPHONE This only rings when something out-of-the-ordinary occurs. This could be offers of oil delivery contracts, the burning of an oilfield, legal proceedings or messages from detectives or saboteurs. Messages of a general nature, for example, the positive outcome of a court hearing or the effect of sabotage to your own company, will also be given here. Massages will be stored if the telephone is not answered during the first couple of rings. Stored messages are displayed in chronological order. Any message may be exited by clicking on the telephone. THE DRAWER This is the place for illegal wheelings and dealings. Important secret documents are filed here. Detectives specialising in various fields may be employed for a given period of time to protect your company against sabotage instigated by your opponents. The saboteurs, if apprehended, are taken to court. The success rate for detectives varies. Should you wish to use illegal methods to damage other companies, saboteurs may be employed (click on ACTION DOCUMENT). They are available at various prices however, the cheaper they are, the more danger there is of them being caught. The following services are available from the saboteurs: 1)Setting fire to oilfields. 2)Robbing the competitor's bank. 3)Blackmailing agents responsible for oil purchases. 4)Blowing up oil tanks. These services do not come cheaply but successful competitors can be easily damaged. For an overview of your oilfields, storage tanks, contracts, running expenses etc. click on BALANCE SHEET. The three record cards (OIL FIELDS, STORAGE TANKS, CONTRACTS) can be selected by clicking on the corresponding command. Should you wish to see details of a special region, click on ARROW. The balance sheet provides you with the following information: OILFIELDS: Number of oilfields in the selected region, output in barrels per month, oil capacity, running costs and current market value of oilfields. Separation between active and inactive oilfields is made. If a license to drill is not held in a certain area, LICENSE NOT HELD is displayed. STORAGE TANKS: Quantity in the selected area, capacity of the storage tanks, amount of oil in the tanks and running costs of the tanks. CONTRACTS: Duration of contracts with detectives, duration of contracts with saboteurs. MAP OF THE WORLD This gives an overview of individual ownership and condition of the oilfields. The 8 most important areas of the map can be enlarged in order to see which company owns which area (this company's name will be flashed). Each region consists of 24 zones which can belong to different companies. Should an oil well start to burn, the company's name is shown with a red background. If production has been stopped (further drilling is necessary), the company's name is shown in green. Should an oil field be up forsale, the name of the vendor will be shown in white. The areas which can be enlarged include: Alaska, North America, Central America, South America, Europe, USSR, Middle East and Indonesia. THE COMPUTER TERMINAL All commercial deals are controlled from the computer terminal. The buying and selling of oilfields can be done by clicking on the corresponding areas of the map. A drilling license has to be obtained before the purchase of a given oilfield can be made. Before purchasing an oilfield, it is recommended that a feasibility study of the field is obtained with the following information: running costs, projected profit per month etc. This study is extremely valuable as some oilfields are very expensive, but not always profitable. Drilling for oil can be done either when buying the oilfield or by using the DRILLING icon. Instead of supervising the drilling yourself, you can employ specialists to complete drilling for you. These specialists are, however, very expensive. Further information about drilling for oil can be found under ACTION SEQUENCES. Storage tanks have to be purchased before oil can be produced. These are available in different qualities and sizes. The market price of the tanks may vary considerably. These tanks are not transferable between regions, so sufficient storage capacity has to be provided for each region. Of course, one would only put storage tanks where the company has already purchased oilfields. A pipeline has to be laid before the extracted oil can be sold. Oil in every region can be separately sold (different market prices), therefore the correct region has to be selected before an oil sale is made (after clicking on, the regions and amount of oil available will appear below the map). By using the ARROW icons you now have to enter how much oil is to be sold. Information about the day's oil price, the amount of oil available in each region, the demand for oil and the profit will be given to the player. Clicking on the OK box executes the entered values. For further information on laying pipelines, see ACTION SEQUENCES. The option STATISTICS quickly provides you with a survey of the economical status of your own company as well as that of your competitors. Information about stockholdings and movement of capital can be called up. Detailed information about your own company is easily accessed (table below icons). THE NEWSPAPER Sometimes it can be very helpful when you are made aware of current affairs. the newspaper always provides the player with the main event of the day. The newspaper appears daily. We advise you to read the newspaper several times per month by clicking on NEWSPAPER. Less important information is also available, allowing you to act accordingly. The newspaper only provides information on varying oil prices (averaged over all regions), results of court cases and all forms of disasters. Specialised vocabulary used throughout this game can be found in the glossary. DELIVERY CONTRACTS Contracts for oil delivery will be announced by telephone. These can affect the game as they give you the possibility to sell a fixed amount of oil without having any effect on the oil price or demand. Every contract relates to a specific to a specific region. This contract obliges you to ensure that you provide the agreed amount of oil per month in this region. In return your company receives a given amount of money per month. Should none or only part of the oil be delivered, a fine is levied against you for breach of contract. The is then terminated. The contract is also terminated upo its expiry date. A contract is only valid when it is signed and sealed. Current contracts can be looked up in the BALANCE SHEET (DRAWER). For this please click on the CONTRACT icon. THE COURT When an act of abotage instigated by another player has been discovered, court proceedings are initiated and judgement is made. The guilty party will loose between one and three oilfields. One of these oilfields is awarded to the compagny who won the court action, the others are given to the state to be put up for sale again. The severity of the fine awarded by the judge is then announced. If one of your detectives discovers an act of sabotage initiated by one of your competitors, the result of any court action and the region that you are awarded an oilfield in, is given to you over the telephone. These events are, of course, reported in the newspaper. ----------------- DRILLING FOR OIL ----------------- Drilling must take place before any oil can be extracted from a newly purchased or unexploited oilfield. This can either be contracted to an experienced crew or the player himself can perform the task. Control of the drilling is by joystick. The large picture shows a cross-section of the drilling area. The drill (light grey in colour) is shown side-on. On the right hand side a zoomed clip of the drill bit is displayed. The scanner (top left) shows a schematic top view of the borehole. The aim of this action-sequence is to drill through to the oil (shown as black) as vertically as possible. Should the drill notbe inserted vertically there is danger of the drill drifting to one side and breaking. The drilling process in this case is seen to have failed. To prevent drifting, the joystick should be moved in the opposite direction as soon as any drifting of the drill is noticed. The drilling speed is determined by two factors: the drill pressure (adjustable) and the density of the strata which changes layer by layer. The drill pressure is regulated by the fire button. Press the fire button for a short period pf time for low pressure drilling, hold the button down for a longer period to increase the pressure (see the horizontal column, DRILL PRESSURE). The quicker the drilling, the lower the costs, but there is an increased danger that the drill bit could disintegrate, therefore unsuccessfully completing the task. It is particular easy to drill in the sea as the distance from the earth's crust to the oil is less than when drilling on land. -------------- FIRE-FIGHTING -------------- Any fire in an oilfield must be extinguished as possible in order to prevent a loss in production. TED REDHAIR would be pleased to assist you - for a fee of course. To save costs you can fly to the disaster area in your private jet and personally supervise the fire-fighting operation. Control is by joystick. The player controls the technician designated to plant the explosives in the oil rigs attempting to blow out the fire. The explosives must be positioned so that only the fire is blown out and the rig itself is not damaged. The higher the flames the larger the amount of explosives is needed to extinguish the fire. Every time the fire button is pressed a stick of dynamite is used. The amount of dynamite left is shown top left of the screen. The explosives can only be planted when the technician is directly in front of the oil rig. Shock waves caused by the subsequent explosion can possible injure the technician, therefore move your man away from the rig as soon as he has primed the explosives. The physical condition of the technician is shown at the top right of the screen (three hearts). Once he has been injured three times, he is taken to hospital and is no longer able to carry out his duties. The condition of thhe oilfield is displayed top right of the screen. If the indicator moves into red area, the field is in a critical condition. The more critical the condition of the oilfield the longer production is interrupted. ----------------- LAYING PIPELINES ----------------- Should the player be informed of any problems arising from the sale of oil he must go to the scene and personally take control of the situation. Control is by mouse. The pipeline must be lay between the point marked with "I" and the point marked with "i". Various obstacles, for example palmtrees and mountains have to be by-passed. For this reason straight and angled sections of piping can be found at the buttom right of the screen (click on with the mouse). The selected section will then be connected to the lastly layed section. This should be continued until the two points ("I" to "i") are connected. At the same time the computer will attempt to lay a pipeline from the point marked with "II" to the point marked with "ii". If the computer is quicker, it will sell its oil instead of you (NO OIL SOLD is displayed). If the player is quicker, a sale is made and the previously estimated profits are transferred into the player's bank account. The lastly layed section of thhe pipeline can be removed by using the right mouse button. It is especially important to survey the area, finding the most effective and direct route with the least angles (angled pipeline sections are more expensive than straight ones). The computer starts to lay its pipeline after the player has started to lay his. ----- TIPS ----- It does not matter which one of the four missions is chosen. The primary aim of the game is to build a profitable run company, keeping storage costs down, purchasing as many profitable oilfields as possible whilst remaining competitive. The correct evaluation of the feasibility study, statistics and contracts as well as the service of aboteurs is essential. Generally speaking, at the beginning of the game the player should confine his activities to one region as drilling licenses are very expensive and reduce liquid assets. A decision has to be made by the player which "single" oilfield is to be purchased. This decision is taken after receiving advice from the oil analysts. It almost always pays to act according to the feasibility study. The only drawback is that this costs time, although at the beginning of the game the player has enough. The next step is to purchase a storage tank for the region where the oilfield is situated. By this time the initial capital is generally used up. The employment of saboteurs at the beginning of the game carries a very high risk and should therefore be carefully thought through. There is a possibility of loosing your one and only oilfield should the saboteurs be caught. This would result in having to default after just a few months of trading. Should your saboteurs not be caught there is a good chance of your competitors being greatly damaged with little chance of staging a recovery. Operations like fire-fighting or drilling should be done by the player rather than contracting the work out as the later could prove rather expensive. The signing of delivery contracts for oil at the beginning of the game would almost be like committing suicide as, with only one or two oilfields, it would not be possible to fulfill your obligations. The penalty clauses inserted into the contracts are so severe that the risk of non-fulfillment should not be taken. It is important to select the contract applicable to the region your oilfields are in. It would be useless to use a contract of delivery for North America when you only have oilfields in Europe. We recommend at least one photocopy of each of the 8 maps is made to enable you to enter details obtained from the feasibility studies during the actual game. This would enable each player to have an overview on the quality of the oilfields. When three oilfields are situated next to each other they can be turned into a combination (oilfields flash during purchase). The advantage lies in a lowering of the running costs.