-[ BOARD MASTER v1.4 PLAYER INSTRUCTIONS ]-

  SCENARIO: You are the Sysop of your own Bulletin Board System.
  
  OBJECTIVE: To be the first to earn 100,000 points.
  
  This is accomplished by having the best of everything and attracting
  the largest number of users.

  The rise to the top will be slow at first. But be patient and shop 
  smart. Only the strong will survive!
 
  Try to save for the items you really want rather than settling for
  second best. This approach will seem to slow your progress a little,
  but overall it is the best strategy to becoming the biggest BBS around.

  BOARD MASTER is a little different than most door games in that most of 
  the actual game updates are done at night on your real sysop's board. 
  Almost everything you do when you play will be taken into consideration 
  at night.
  
  The maintenance program that your sysop will run calculates all of the
  available information and decides how many points and users, if any, are
  to be credited to your board.

  This doesn't mean that you can sit on your laurels and expect to earn
  mega points or draw the biggest number of users. Quite the contrary.
  
  BOARD MASTER uses real world scenarios (just like if you had a real bbs) 
  in calculating what happens to your board.

  Have fun with the game, and don't get too frustrated if it seems a little
  tough at first. It gets easier as you go along.


                                 - MENU'S -  
  
  MAIN MENU- This is the primary menu from which other vital menu's can be
             accessed. Like 'Work on board','Read mail','Computer store", 
             etc...

  STATS- This screen will show you how your bbs is made up. What components
         you have, how many users, etc...
  
  LIST -  This will allow you to list all the other sysops that are
          competing against you and that are in the current game.

  WORK -  Allows you to perform several different maintenance tasks
          on your board, from making new menu's to verifying new users.
          *Each of these items can only be accomplished once per day.
          
  STORE-  The computer store has a big list of items that are regulary used
          on BBS systems and sold to BBS operators like yourself.
          Anything from CPU upgrades to modems to doors can be bought here.

          Your BBS has certain limitations depending on many various          
          aspects. For this reason you will not beable to buy anything
          you want at anytime.
          
          One unique thing about this computer store is that trade ins
          for certain items are automatic. ie. Some items have a trade in
          value, for those items, you will recieve 1/2 the original cost
          of purchase when you buy something new, automatically.

  READ - Reading and replying to your mail is among the many things any
         good sysop does on a regular basis. It lets the users know that
         there's someone on the other end that actually cares.

         Reading your mail is good, but replying to your mail is even
         better.

  NEWS - Allows you to view the news file which contains the activities
         of all players during the course of the day.

MAILBOX- Allows you to write messages to other players in the game.
         When entering the mailbox, it will scan for new private mail,
         and any public mail that hasn't been purged.
         
         Any private mail addressed to you will automatically be deleted
         after you read it, public mail will be purged nightly.

         If you wish to send private mail, you must know the player # of
         the person you are sending it to. This is easily found by doing
         a LIST from the stats menu.
         
         The mailbox supports up to 3 lines. Press ENTER after each line.

  ALLEY- The back alley is where you have the option of buying used
         equipment at a substantial lower price... But beware, the guy
         you'll be buying from is notorious for stealing, and there is
         a chance you will get caught when doing business with him.

         If you get caught buying from this guy, substantial losses
         will occur. You could end loosing everything you have, so
         take caution.
         
         Because of how this guy gets his equipment, he will not have
         every item normally found in the computer store.

   HACK- This is a new option to this version. It allows you to seemingly
         log into another sysop's board and crash their system. The amount
         of points that can be made from this are astounding. But the
         penalty for getting caught is even bigger.

                                 - NOTES -
    
  Message net, SLIP, 56k, or T1 fees will be deducted from your account each 
  night, but the amount deducted is equal to 1/30th of the monthly cost.
  If you run out of money, BOARD MASTER will automatically deactivate the 
  appropiate net(s) and/or connections.

  When buying modems, you will be asked how many. This refers to the number
  of nodes you want to add. The price of the modem includes the cost of
  setting up an additional phone line.
                     
  When buying a CPU, if you have a LAN based system you will be asked if
  this machine is for LAN use. If you are buying it to replace your main
  CPU (Server) then answer no. If you are buying it for an extra node,
  then answer yes.
  
  New users and Users are viewed differently in BOARD MASTER.                   
  New Users are users that have joined your board but still require
  verification. You will only gain a small percentage of points for new 
  users.

  Once you verify the new users, they will be added to your user database,
  and more points are given for each of them.
 
 
                     Goodluck on your journey to the top!