~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EXCLUSIVE GAME/DOC RELEASE - NEVER SEEN ANYWHERE BEFORE! SOCCER DIRECTOR - SPECTRUM VERSION DOCS Docs and Snapshot by Andy Gibson (AGAS Productions) Original digi pic of cover: Steve Bye Released with the consent of Steve Bye - Author/Programmer of the game `Soccer Director'. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before I start the doc to Soccer Director proper, I would like to tell you a little bit about Steve Bye. If anyone has heard of F1 Software/Licenceware/Shareware, then chances are that you already know who Steve Bye is. Both Steve and his wife Belinda are the proprietors of F1 Software and good friends of mine and really nice and honest peeps to boot. Before Steve founded F1, he used to own his own computer shop and even before that, he was a commercial programmer for some of the classic platforms of yesteryear such as the C64, Amstrad and the dear old (and much loved) Spectrum. I have written a list of all Steve's main productions to date below for you to look over and maybe you'll even have some of the original cassettes/disks listed below. (collectors items now methinx :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Classic Trainer Commercial Spectrum/C64/Amstrad Classic Punter Commercial Spectrum/C64/Amstrad The Manager Commercial Spectrum/C64/Amstrad Cup Manager Commercial Spectrum/C64/Amstrad Classic Trainer 2 Commercial Spectrum/C64/Amstrad Soccer Director Commercial Spectrum/C64/Amstrad Super Fun Licenceware Atari ST Super Spell Licenceware Atari ST Dosh P.D. Atari ST Thunderbirds Episodes Licenceware Atari ST Thunderbirds Demo P.D. Atari ST Super Fun Licenceware Amiga Beginners Guide/Amos Licenceware Amiga Punter Licenceware Amiga Amoszine (disk mag) Licenceware Amiga Beginners Guide/WB 3.0 Licenceware Amiga Extractor (F1 CD) Amiga ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Steve kindly sent me an original cassette version of the Speccy game Soccer Director which I took a snapshot of and typed the doc up for all to share. Not only that, but I have also released a snapshot & doc of some of the other classic spectrum games by Steve Bye .... Classic Punter. Classic Trainer Cup Manager Here you have the original Spectrum cassette docs for Soccer Director which was released via the GTI Software label (1990) (the snapshot should also be supplied for you to play with ZXam V2) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- LOADING INSTRUCTIONS Type LOAD "" and press ENTER. If using 128K Spectrum, select 48K Basic. In Soccer Director you play a man with a burning ambition to own all top clubs in the country. While you realise it's against the rules to own more than one team, you have found a way to buy the shares without anyone realising it is you! Your objective in the game is to own (i.e. own at lest 501 shares in) the top ten clubs at the end of any season, but by the end of season 10 at the latest. In order to achieve your ambition, you use the First Division clubs to make your money, buying and selling shares as teams succeed and fail. Your capital will increase as share values go up and you will be paid a weekly dividend by each club you own shares in - IF they make a profit. You can attempt to influence the success of teams by calling shareholders meetings - the more shares you own, the more influence you have on the outcome of any votes. A team's results are based on 3 main characteristics; SKILL, FITNESS and MORALE, each of which can be affected by other factors in the game. It's up to you to find out what you can do to increase (or decrease) a team's chances of winning matches. For example, it is possible to `nobble' a team that is annoying you by winning too many matches, just using the features within the game. It may not be obvious to start with, but it is one of the many unusual features of Soccer Director that are there for the cunning strategist to discover. At the beginning of the game, you are presented with 5 options. If you wish to save a game at any time, make sure you have a blank tape ready! The only option that needs explaning here is `D' (weeks per season). This is effectively the difficulty level. You can choose between 10, 20, 30 & 40 weeks - the longer the season, the more money you start with, and the better the chance you have of achieving your goal. Once you have started a game, you cannot change the number of weeks per season. When you select CONTINUE, you are presented with the main menu. There are 9 options, which are explained here.... 1 PLAY SEASON - This starts the results sequence going, and should be the last decision you make each week. However, if you need to get back to the main menu, you have a limited time to return (Press M) before the results begin. In the first week of every season, you are offered the choice of AUTO or MANUAL results. Your selection lasts for the whole season and cannot be changed. AUTO lets you sit back and watch the results of the matches and your investments unfold, and will continue to cycle through the various stages until the end of the season, unless interrupted. This can be done on the screen before the results sequence, (again by pressing M) as many times during the season as you wish. You may want to check your investments, buy or sell shares, or use any of the other facilities available. MANUAL will pause on every screen, enabling you to spend as much time as you wish studying the information. Pressing the SpaceBar will move you onto the next screen. After the results, you will see how the shares are performing, and then details on the finances of each club you own shares in. 2 BUY/SELL SHARES - This is the wheeling and dealing screen! It tells you the current market value of each share, how many are available on the open market, and shows if you have a shareholding (by an asterix if you own 500 or less, or by a hash symbol if you are a majority shareholder). The minimum quantity you can buy or sell at any one time is 10 shares. If a team is successful, more people will be buying their shares, so there will be fewer shares available than for a team that loses every week. There are two things to watch out for on this screen - firstly, the market is liable to close (and not re-open until the following week) at any time, so do your dealing in order of importance! Secondly, if you sell a large number of shares in one club, (we're not telling how many!) it can cause the market to crash, possibly losing you a small fortune on your other investments! One small hint here; it's well worth keeping a calculator handy for this part of the game! Please note that you are not allowed to buy shares on this screen if you have an overdraft, or if the purchase would cause you to have one. 3 GAME OPTIONS - Takes you back to the first screen, if you want to save the game or just start again. 4 BETTING MENU - Allows you to bet (before beginning of each season only) on League and F.A. Cup winners, and one team to be relegated. This can be a very good way of making some extra cash if you get it right. 5 SEE FORM TABLE - This option enables you to see how well (or badly) the teams are doing - although it does not sort the teams into a league table, it does show how many points they have; also the ratings for SKILL, FITNESS & MORALE. It will give you an idea of which teams are likely to do well in the weeks to come, and which ones need a little encouragement. 6 SEE SHARES OWNED - Self explanatory. 7 CALL SHARE MEETING - You are only able to do this once a week, and only for a club you own shares in. You are invited to propose a motion from the options displayed - the motion is successful either if you own at least 501 shares in the club (i.e. you are a majority shareholder), or if the other shareholders vote with you. If you are unsuccessful, well - try it and see! 8 LOAN - Self explanatory. 9 MAKE SHARE OFFER - It is unlikely that you will be able to complete the game without using this option at least once. It is only available when the 9 is flashing (so keep your eyes open), but when this happens, you will be allowed to check other screens first without losing the opportunity. This option allows you to attempt to force a purchase of shares (even if none are available) in any one club by making a higher offer than the current market value. The higher you bid, the better the chance of obtaining some shares, but although this is one of the few occasions you are allowed an overdraft facility, be careful, as this could cause you problems (see later). This is an ideal way to become the majority shareholder in a successful team. One other thing to be aware of here is that if you pay too much over the odds, you may never be able to recoup your investments! OVERDRAFTS - If you are overdrawn at the end of a season, the bank will force the sale of some (or all) of your shares, at well below the market value, until the overdraft is repaid. If you don't have enough to repay the overdraft, you are bankrupt, and the game ends. This is a particularly nasty feature and the only hint we have to offer is; MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT OVERDRAWN AT THE END OF THE SEASON! You will not have a chance to sell shares after the last weeks results, so do the necessary business beforehand. You have been warned! SHARE PRICES - These are obviously affected by a number of things; you should be able to predict these when you have played the game a little. PRIZE MONEY - If you are a majority shareholder in a team that wins the league, you win £80,000. If your team wins the cup, you win £100,000. LEAGUE TABLE - This is calculated at the end of each season only. RELEGATION/PROMOTION - The two bottom teams in the league are relegated; along with them goes any money you have invested, as we are only interested in First Division teams in this game! Two new teams will be promoted into the table for the new season. HINTS - Keep you eyes open for surprise features that may pop up occasionally. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Watch out for teams that look like they will be relegated - you will lose all your investment in them. Finally, you don't get any interest on money in the bank! © GTI SOFTWARE 1990. Written by Steve Bye. Produced by Bernard Gurnard. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- If you want to contact Steve Bye to find out more about any of his titles listed above, or indeed any F1 Titles, then please contact:- Snail Mail: Steve Bye F1 Software 31 Wellington Rd Exeter Devon EX2 9DU Telephone: 01392-493580 E-Mail: steve@f1lw.demon.co.uk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanx for reading and enjoy the snapshot everyone. Many thanx to Steve Bye for giving myself permission to release the snapshot and dox. Andy Gibson (AGAS Productions) - September 1996 (As far as I'm aware, Soccer Director Snapshot has NEVER appeared on any other Speccy Compilation Disks/CD's - Also look out for the EXCLUSIVE snapshots & docs for `Classic Punter' `Classic Trainer' and `Cup Manager' Quick note: ~~~~~~~~~~~ Game sampled using: Denon DRM-700 Cassette Deck Audio Engineer +2 Sampler (Imager) Spectrum Emulator V2.0 (settings set for PROSOUND !!! Weird!) Game should run better in ZXam Emulator on A1200. (: Happy Gaming Peeps! - Andy Gibson - AGAS Productions Aug 1996 :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PS This game took me about 4 hours to make a snapshot of! Due to the cassette being chewed up (not by myself) I had to copy half of side 1 onto another cassette and then the last half of side 2 onto the cassette also! A neat bit of editing (which I used to do when mixing music, so it was easy) and then I had to adjust settings as I sampled the soundz! I hope I never have to go through that lot again! Thanx Steve! :^) Good job I have plenty of patience and spare time to mess about with things like this. Anotther weird thing was that I had to use the PROSOUND setting to sample this game. I normally used the ROMBO setting, but it didn't work this time round! Bugger me if I can work out why? If you are having any probs sampling those old speccy tapes, try all options and if your tape has been chewed, try editing it onto another tape using both sides of the dodgy cassette. It may just work for you also :) Bye...... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes from Steve Bye Soccer Director was my fourth ever complete program. I wrote Classic Trainer, Punter, Classic Trainer II and Soccer Director without a break and it darn well nearly killed me. Just after I finished SD the royalties started rolling in for my earlier games so I decided to have a few weeks off and spend some time in the pub and bookies. After emerging with a battered brain and totally skint I went straight back to my room and didn't emerge until I had written another two games, read about them in future releases. I changed from horse racing to football because I was getting bored with horses, I love football and most of all the Speccy charts were full of football games. SD charted at number 2 in the Ship-out charts and number 11 in the Speccy charts as far as I recall. Around this time I walked into W.H.Smith's and saw Punter and Trainer on the shelf, I tell you I don't think I have ever had a greater buzz, especially when a spotty faced kid came up and bought one right in front of me, I had trouble getting my head back out the door (swelling you see) There are cheats in SD, but I can't remeber what they are. All my games have a cheat where you type in a word at an input, so don't waste your time pressing all the keys. If you suss it out let me know. Anyway, I would like to say big thanx to Andy for doing the Snap and the Docs cheers m8, or these games would of just rotted away in the back of my cupboard and never come back to haunt you lot :-) Steve Bye, Sept 96