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Batter Up! Welcome to the most realistic baseball game ever designed. Step up to the plate and try to knock that ball out of the park. You can choose to bunt, steal a base, and control base running. When your team is in the field, you can control the type and location of pitch as well as the fielders. To Restart Game: To restart the game, press the control key in combination with the "R" key. Controls: Once the game is loaded, a prompt will appear asking what is plugged into port 1. If you wish to play with two joysticke, now is the time to plug in your other joystick. Select Game Options: Once the game is loaded and the first prompt has been answered, a "Game Options" menu will appear. This will allow you to choose which team will be the "Home" team (and of course the other team will be the "Visitors"), whether or not to play with a designated hitter (someone who bats in the place of the pitcher), and which (if any) of the two teams will be played by the computer. Use the mouse/joystick to highlight your selection. Press the button to proceed. ALL-STARS (Red) CHAMPS (Blue) Home Visitor Visitor Home Home Visitor (DH) Visitor Home (DH) If you have a mouse connected to Port 1, you will then highlight and select one of the following choices in the same manner as above: ALL-STARS CHAMPS Joystick 2 Mouse Mouse Joystick 2 Computer Joystick 2 Mouse Computer Computer Mouse Computer Computer If you have a joystick plugged into Port 1, you will have the following options: ALL-STARS CHAMPS Joystick 1 Joystick 2 Joystick 2 Computer Computer Joystick 2 Computer Computer Make your selection and press the button to proceed. How to Select the Pitch Type: When the Pitcher screen is first displayed, you will see (on the bottom left) the four pitch types this pitcher can throw. When using a joystick, simply move the stick in the direction of the arrow that is next to the desired pitch type and press the button. When using a mouse, move the mouse up or down until your desired pitch type is highlighted, then press the mouse button. Your pitch type has now been selected. How to Throw the Pitch: After you have made your pitch type selection and the batter has selected what he wants to do: If using a joystick, move it in the position you wish to throw the ball and press the fire button. For example, moving the joystick left will cause the ball to be thrown left, and so on. If using a mouse you will see a "tic-tac-toe" grid. By moving the mouse, you can move the white box around the grid. If the box is in the middle, the pitch will go to the middle, if it is on the left, the pitch will go to the left, etc. Press the mouse button when you get to the box corresponding to where you want to throw the pitch. Your pitch type has now been selected. The pitch will be thrown when you release the mouse button. Fielding the Ball: After the ball has been hit, either the left side or the right side of the field will be shown (the side with the ball in it). The fielder who is closest to the ball will be flashing, and will run in the direction selected by moving the mouse/joystick. Throwing to a Base: Once the fielder has got the ball, if using a mouse, a grid comes up in the lower left-hand corner of the screen with the numbers (and letter) " 1 2 3 H". Move the mouse in the direction of the base you want to throw to and press the button. For a joystick, move the joystick in the direction indicated by the arrow and press the fire button. MANAGER'S DECISION SCREEN The four screens displayed during HardBall are: The Manager's Decision Screen, the Pitcher/Batter Screen, Left Field View, and Right Field View. The game begins with the Manager's Decision Screen. It will also appear if a player presses the space bar on the keyboard at any time during the pitcher screen. In the Manager's Screen, pressing the space bar will "Play Ball: (starting the game action or continuing where you left off). This screen will display a selected line-up for both teams. "\/" (check mark) will indicate who is at bat and there will also be an indication of who is on which base (1b, 2b, or 3b), how they bat (Right, Left, or Switch), the position they play and their batting average. Below each team's roster will be a menu of management decision options which each player may select by highlighting the option and pressing the mouse/joystick button. In the case of "substitution" or "exchange positions", additional screen prompts will be displayed at the bottom. For the other options, highlight your selection and press the mouse/joystick button. The options are as follows: For the team in the field (defense) - 5 choices Player Substitution Exchange Positions Outfield (Normal, Shift right, or Shift left) --- Infield (Normal or Double Play) | Parameter Options (NO) Intentional Walk --- For the team at bat (offense) - 3 choices Player Substitution Exchange Positions Switch Hit (if appropriate) If either player selects "Substitution" or "Exchange Positions", the lower portion of the Manager's Decision Screen will change to the appropriate team. In these modes, press the space bar in the middle of an activity to cancel and return to the game. SUBSTITUTION: A line will be displayed to select "Substitute" (from bench) with (on roster) at which time the highlighted entry can be selected by moving the joystick up/down (selecting a player) and pressing the fire button/right mouse button. When the bench entry is specified, you can scroll the list of players on the bench up or down within a 3-line window at the bottom of the screen. Then select the desired player to come onto the field by pressing the fire button/right mouse button. When the roster entry is selected, the cursor can be moved up or down the roster list, then press the fire button/left mouse button to select the player to come off the field. Note: Once a player is substituted out (after the first pitch), he can't return to the field and doesn't go to the bench list. The new player coming onto the field will replace him at his current position. EXCHANGE POSITIONS: Choose the entry to be filled first in a manner similar to that defined above for "Substitution" on the line "exchange------------position with --------position". This will allow vertical scrolling of cursor through the roster positions and will show each corresponding player's full performance statistics at the bottom of the screen. Press the fire button/left mouse button to select position to be exchanged. If you select a player in a position for which he is not suited, the appropriate message (i.e., "player out of position") will be displayed later. There will also be the likelihood of an error in play or poor pitching. Remember, press the space bar to start (or continue) play of the game. GAME PLAY Play begins with the pitcher's screen depicting the pitcher, batter, and umpire. At the bottom of the screen there will be two sets of commands. The commands on the left are for the team pitching, (fielding team) and the commands in the middle of the screen are for the team at bat. The right side is reserved for displaying the score, strikes, balls and other information. The pitcher must select one of the four types of pitches displayed. Each pitcher has only four types of pitches he can throw. There are eight types of pitches altogether: Fastball! (straight and very fast) Fastball (straight and fast) Offspeed (straight) Change-up (straight slower pitch) Curve ball (a big sweeping curve) -for lefthanded pitchers, the ball curves to the right -for righthanded pitchers, the ball curves to the left Screwball (opposite of curve ball) -for lefthanded pitchers the ball curves to the left -for righthanded pitchers the ball curves to the right Sinker (breaks downward) Slider (fast breaking curve) The batter must also decide what he wants to do. His options are bunting and stealing bases (any base can be stolen if there is a player in the position to do so). If the batter wants to swing normally, just press fire button/mouse button. If using a joystick and you wish to select steal or bunt, hold the fire button down while moving the joystick in the direction of the arrow next to the desired option. Do not release the button until you have selected all your options. If using a mouse, highlight each option and press button. Once both players have made their selections, a new set of choices are presented at the bottom of the screen. The pitcher will be able to select the location of the pitch (i.e., high, inside, etc.) according to his mouse or joystick selection. Nine pitching zones over home plate: 2 1 2 x = always a strike 1 X 1 1 = high probability of being a strike 2 1 2 2 = low probability of being a strike When the ball is hit, the receiving fielder will be identified by blinking. The player may use the mouse/joystick to move the fielder so he can catch (or pick up) the ball. Once he has the ball, he can throw to any of the 4 bases (1st, 2nd, 3rd, or Home). The team at bat can decide which bases to run to according to the mouse positions or joystick direction in his command window. You may not run to a base if there is already someone on it. You cannot change your mind once you start running. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES