INTRODUCTION: Finally, after months and months of hard work in the busy metropolis you have decided to allow yourself a vacation on the limpid waters of the south seas where you will be able to engage your favorite sport : BIG GAME FISHING! Only one problem, you are virtually broke and the natives, being used to toerists, wont lose to make a chance to make some money of you. So, if you dont want your vacation to end in 1 day, you will have to catch not only a considerable amount of fish, but also the kind and the quantity of fish requested at the beginning of each day. If you should fail, you wont be able to pay the cost of your boat and buying gas, bait , etc... Weather conditions are variable, so you will get some good fishing days, some mediocre fishing days and days on which the fish arent biting at all. THE HARBOR: You have 3 options: GOING FISHING (move joystick left + push joystick button) and you gain access first to the MAP and then to FISHING. TROPHY in order to get a recap of how things stand (inventory, and weight of the largest fish caught) ; you may now save a game onto a disk or return to main options. PURCHASING TACKLE (joystick right + button) to enter the STORE where you will buy your gas and gear. Prices vary according to store location MAP Use the map to pick your navigation route (by moving the joystick and pressing the button when you have positioned on the piont you want) Press the spacebar in order to redo the selection if you want to change the route chosen. Once you have decided upon and chosen the route, the following information will appear: how far to destination in miles and what the expected fuel consumption will be. If the route chosen should collide with the coast, you wont be able to reach the point you picked. If, however you choose a harbor for your destination ( little red house ) you will automatically return to the preceding options. This option is particularly useful if you need to refuel and restock supplies on long trips. If you get into trouble, you have at least one battery or some emergency flares. The price of being rescued depends on how far away from the coast you are and on whether or not the rescuers meet with any trouble. FISHING This is where your expertise as a Big Game Fisherman will get a chance to shine. The following items will be visualized on the screen: A SONAR SCAN (to sound the ocean dephts, operational only with the motor running) : the ocean depth, following the bathymetric lines drawn on the map, will be shown on a graph. The deeper the water, the better chance of catching big prey. A RADIO which will be usefull to call for help in case you run out of gas. Carefull: in order for the radio to work, you need to have at least one battery. A DRAG bar: to be able to keep a check on the strain the tackle (line and rod) is under while you draw the long sougt after prey out of the water . A CLUTCH bar: will tell you how to control the tension on the reel (by moving the joystick to the right or to the left you can increase the hold to relase it). Type of BAIT: the kind of bait you put on the hook (numerical keys 1 - 5 , and only when the line is mounted and completly wound - on 0) will decide which fish you can catch. Number of LINES available: will tell you how many lines you have with you (lines may break when the drag bar is at his max. and the fish jumps out of the water; futhermore, you will lose at least one line a day to wear and tear) ; use the F key to mount a new line. A METER COUNTER: will tell how many meters of line are reeled out. SARDINE box: these little fish are great chum and will call the fish you want to catch: push the SPACEBAR when you want some chum. A SPEEDOMETER: will show you the speed you are going in knots. Press the " + " and " - " keys to speed up or slow down If you put live bait on the hook, you will have to go rather slowly (1 to 4 knots). If you use artificial bait you can go faster (up to 8 or 9 knots). EXAMPLE Here is an example of how to catch a fish. After having chosen your route on the map, you will automatically move on to the fishing sequence. If you havent already done so , you must now mount a new line (F key) and bait (numerical keys 1 - 5); then you must lower the line into the water (joystick forward + button) to a depth of at least 25 meters at the beginning of the day and bring up the boat to the desired speed (+ and - keys) which will depend on which type of bait you have on the hook, live or artificial. As soon as you see sea gulls circling in the sky you know your close to your prey . Its now time to let out the chum (spacebar) in order to attract the predator fish to the boat: the number on the chum box tells you, you have some chum left when it turns green it means your all out. If the prey should be interested in the bait, you will see the fishing rod bend under the numerous attacks of the fis : its now time to hook him (joystick back + button). The fish will now try to escape for a good number of meters depending on its size; when the drag bar starts showing the resistance, its time to start drawing in the fish. This is the most delicate phase of action. You will have to be really careful now not to snap the line and lose your catch. The rod must return under tension eventhough you have to slow down the fish by putting just the right amount of hold on the line (joystick to the right and to the left). At first you must leave the clutch loose and allow the fish to gain precious meters of line. Then, when the fish is tired out, you can slowly tighten the clutch in order to start drawing in the fish (from number 2 on) By pressing the button on the joystick, you can start to reel in the fish ; how fast depends on how tight the clutch is. This will, of course, put a strain on the line which may cause you to lose the fish. Trawl fishers usually draw in the fish by raising the rod up as high as it goes (joystick back) and then, when it can go no higher (the rod will start vibrating), while letting it go back down (joystick forward) ,reel in the line (joystick button). You have to try and draw in the fish without letting it jump because each time the fish cleares the water, the line could snap. Dont worry if the day is already over and you have hooked a fish: you will be allowed the time it takes you to get into the boat. The big ones may weight up to 360 kg. but you will find fish this size only in the deeper waters (70 meters) found to the north. So, if you want to attempt to make a record catch, you will have to make a little money in the coastal areas, where tackle and gas cost less and your quarry is paid more, before venturing to the northern waters where the big ones are waiting for you.