                              SeaMine
                          by Chris Allen
                        Player Instructions

Environment
     You are under the surface of the ocean, filled with mountainous peaks and
crevices, underwater mines, and competitors.  You navigate your mother sub in
the water, avoiding rocks and seeking mine stations.


Elements
     The elements of the game are:
     -  Mother subs - under the direction of each player
     -  Fighters - deployed from the mother sub
     -  Rocks - tall mountains that block your path
     -  Ores - valuable minerals retrieved from mines and sold at a port
     -  Mines - sources of valuable ore
     -  Cargo pods - attachments to mother subs that carry ore

     Mother subs carry ore in cargo pods from mines to ports, where they are
sold for credits, the game's currency.  Mother subs can also carry fighter
subs, which are used to attack opponents.  Fighters can either be
left in a sector to attack other passing players, or they can be
used to attack players you encounter.  You control the movement of the
mother sub.  However, you cannot control the movement of fighters but
deploy or retrieve them in nearly any sector waiting to attack other mother
subs.


Fighters
     Fighters may be left in almost any open sector.  The Port refuses
to allow any violent take-overs to take place near it for fear of being
attacked, so fighters may not be left within five sectors of the Central Port.
     Any player trying to enter a sector containing fighters must either
attack and destroy them all, or retreat back to his old sector.
     All combat in the game has a roughly 50-50 chance for each side,
so expect losses equal to what you're trying to destroy.
     To leave fighters in a sector, use a positive number of fighters.
To pick up your fighters, drop a negative number of them.


Mines
     Each mine has an initial production level that is the number of units of
an ore that it produces each day.
     You can load ore onto your ship by entering a positive number of units
to retrieve.  If you decide to leave units of ore in a mine, enter a negative
about to load.
     You also have the option of investing credits in a mine to increase its
daily production.  The number on the display in parentheses is the maximum
production a mine will support for a certain type of ore.
     You can also name a mine, but after a mine has been given a name once,
you have to pay to rename it.
     Mines can only be entered from above for docking purposes, so leaving
fighters in the sector directly above a mine effectively makes you the owner,
since no other player can enter the mine to remove ore or change its name or
production without eliminating your fighters.


Port
     You can sell your ore at the Central Port, and use your credits
to buy fighters, or more cargo pods to allow to you bring larger loads
of ores back to the Port.  Prices at the Port change every day, so watch for
the most valuable ore on a particular day.


Expenses
     Your expenses at the Central Port are buying fighter subs and cargo pods.
Mining expenses are developing and naming a mine.  Developing a mine increases
the rate of production.


Navigation
     There are two sets of navigation commands available: the arrow keys on
the numeric pad, and certain letter keys on the keyboard.
     Since you cannot send the "arrow" keys on the numeric pad, you must
press the "num lock" key in order to transmit the 8 numbers on the arrow
keys used for horizontal movement.
     For vertical movement use the zero ("0") to rise in the water (i.e.,
decrease your depth) and the period (".") to dive in the water (i.e.,increase
your depth).
     If you do not have a numeric pad (with numbers using "num lock"),
then for horizontal movement you will need to use the 8 keys of:
              IOP K; ,./
     For vertical movement you will use the 2 keys:
              [ and ]
     The left bracket ("[") is used to rise, while the right bracket ("]")
is used to decend.
     When you first play, you are prompted for your choice, and you
can change from the U)tilities menu.
The game remembers which key pattern to use from game session to session.
     The movement patterns for the two key patterns are in a direction
from the '5' key on the numeric pad, or from the 'L' key on the keyboard:

   NW     N     NE                                  NW     N     NE
      7   8   9         0 =  Up one level  = [         i   o   p
    W 4       6 E                                    W k       ; E
      1   2   3         . = Down one level = ]         ,   .   /
   SW     S     SE                                  SW     S     SE


Display Screen
     The Sector display screen contains a lot of important information,
such current coordinates and what is in adjacent sectors.  Here's a sample
display screen:

Above   X . . . .   Below
X X X   X . . . .   . . .
X X X   X . @ . .   . . .
X X X   X P . . .   . . .
        X X X X X
Current co-ords:   2,  2,  1

The left screen shows a 3x3 map of the sectors directly over your ship,
the right screen is for the level directly below your ship, and the
middle, 5x5 map is for the current level.
     The coordinates displayed are for your ship, which is always in the
center of the middle map, represented by the '@', but if there is something
else in the current sector, then the @ will be replaced with the symbol
for that character, as in the next example screen:

Above   . . . . .   Below
* . .   . * . . .   * . .
. . .   . . f . .   . M *
. . .   . . * . .   . * M
        S s . . .
Current co-ords:   2,  2,  1

Display Screen Key:
     @  :  Your Mother Ship
     P  :  Trading Port
     S  :  Mother Ship(s) of other player(s)
     s  :  Another player's fighter(s) - must destroy completely
           before actually entering sector
     f  :  Fighter(s) that belong to you
     M  :  Ore Mine - can only enter from above
     *  :  Rock sector
     X  :  Sector off the edge of the playing board


Commands
     Commands available from any commands prompt are:
          Q   Quit this game session
          R   Your Player Report
          ?   Brief list of commands available
          H   This instruction help file
          U   Utility commands - change movement-key pattern

     Commands available during movement, in addition to the movement
commands, are:
          W   Who else is in this sector
          D   Display sector scan again
          L   Leave or pick up your fighters in this sector
          A   Attack a player in this sector

     Commands available while at the Central Port are:
          W   Who else is in this sector, same as in movement commands
          D   Display sector scan again, same as in movement commands
          B   Buy products
          S   Sell ores
          T   List Port Trading prices for ores and products

     Commands available while at a mine are:
          L   Load or unload ore
          I   Increase production of a mine
          S   Status of mine: ore in storage, production levels
          N   Customize a mine with a Name of your choice
       0 or [ Leave mine


Goal
     Try to become the dominant player by selling ore and defeating other
players.
