GETTING STARTED Microprose Soccer is operated using menus and a highlight bar to select the required option. Move the bar using a joystick and make your selection by pressing FIRE. Both Association soccer, and American rules six-a-side soccer use the same basic menus as described below. MICROPROSE INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE WORLD CUP TOURNAMENT SOCCER LEAGUE TWO PLAYER FRIENDLY DEMO GAME CONTROL PANEL NAME BANK (Please select your favourite option!) QUICK START Solo players should select Microprose International Challenge from the main menu and press FIRE, then press FIRE again to bypass the challenge table. Select PLAY BALL and press FIRE twice to begin the match. You will now play under the name of PLAYER 1 against the first team in the challenge, Oman. If there are two players, you should select Two Player Friendly from the main menu, select PLAY BALL and press FIRE. Now, depending who presses the FIRE button to start the match, one person plays under the name of PLAYER 1 and the other under the name of PLAYER 2. This will allow you to start playing immediately, with a minimum of fuss. However, it is advised that you skim through the section on controls as soon as possible, to familiarise yourself with the attributes of the joystick commands. OPEARATING INSTRUCTIONS Control Panel: Those who wish to obtain the maximum benefit from the game should now continue on to control panel which lets you customise the many functions of Microprose Soccer at your own discretion. Upon pressing the FIRE button, the secondary menu appears: SELECTION MODE - MAN/AUTO WEATHER - ON/OFF (Outdoor game only) BANANA POWER - HI/MED/LO MATCH LENGTH - 2/4/6/8/10/12 MINUTES REPLAYS - ON/OFF SAVE - DISK LOAD - DISK (EXIT!) Each option is altered by highlighting, and then pressing FIRE to cycle through the available choices. Most of these options are self-explanatory. However, here is a brief explanatino of their individual functions: Selection Mode During a game, the player under your direct control can be selected automatically, in which case he is always the player nearest the ball or manually, switching between the current player and the one nearest the ball by pressing FIRE button. The latter case allows you to kick the ball on without automatically giving possession to members of your team who may be nearby. Wheather (Outdoor game only) Just like in real life, it rains on Microprose Soccer matches - complete with thunder and lightning. This has serious effects upon the movement of the ball and players, so if you do not fance the challenge of playing on a wet pitch in torrential rain, set it to OFF. Banana Power Adjusts the strength of the banana shot (described in detail later on) between High, MEDium and LOw. Realistic effects are obtained by leaving the setting on MED. Match Length Matches can be either 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12 minutes in length. It is best to choose 2 or 4 minutes for playing in a large league, unless you intend saving your position. Replay Microprose Soccer gives a perfect slow-motion replay of every goal scored. Unless you turn it OFF. TWO PLAYER FRIENDLY Select the option and press FIRE. Another screen appears, showing the pending match and who the participants are, with a sub-meny beneath: RE-SELECT TEAMS PLAY BALL Should there be two names in the name bank, both players are automatically selected to play. However, if the name bank selects two players who do not wish to compete, highlight RE-SELECT TEAMS and press FIRE. The correct names can now be selected in the normal way. Once the teams have been sorted out, select PLAY BALL. The match summary screen is displayed, showing the players in their strip colours and direction of play. It also prompts one person to press FIRE in order to start the game. The game can be halted at any time by pressing RUN/STOP and then Q. This alloes you to RE-SELECT TEAMS if necessary or EXIT back to the main menu. Once the game is quit, however, it cannot be restarted: Selecting PLAY BALL starts a new game from scratch. At the end of the match, the final score is displayed: Prsssing FIRE then takes you back to the match pending screen. CONTROLS Microprose Soccer player have a wide range of movements, accessed by joystick commands with and without the FIRE button pressed. With the joystick button un-pressed, the eight joystick position direct the player around the field accordingly. The control method has three different modes of operation depending upon wheather: A) The ball is in free play. B) Your player is in possession of the ball. C) The opposition have the ball. A) The ball is in free play. Guide your player around the pitch in attempt to capture the ball, using the normal joystick direction. The player automatically gains possession of the ball on contact and runs with it until possession is lost. If the FIRE button is depressed when the player makes contact with the ball, it is volleyed a short distance in the direction faced by the player. B) Your player is in possession of the ball. There are a variety of different kicks available to the player, depending upon the position of the joystick and the length of time the FIRE button is depressed. A short kick is achieved by jabbing the FIRE button, while a full-strength kick is released automatically by holding the FIRE button down. Whenever FIRE is pressed, the joystick no longer controls the direction of the player, but allows the choice of shot to be selected instead. To make a shot press the FIRE button and immediately move the joystick to the desired position: Joystick Forward: Volleys the ball in straight line. Joystick Left/Right Diagonal: Banana shot. Causes the ball to curl left or right, accordingly. Joystick Central: Player performs a chip shot. Joystick Back: Player performs a brilliant Pele-style backwards overhead kick. Note: The direction of shot is relative to the direction in which the player was moving immediately before pressing the FIRE button. For example, with your player moving in a south-west direction, a banana shot curling from left to right is initiated by pressing the FIRE button & pulling the joystick straight down. C) The opposition have the ball. If the opposition manage to get hold of the ball, you'll have to try and tackle the player in possession. Whenever your player is close enough, pressing FIRE causes him to attempt a sliding tackle. This only occurs when your player is moving, however. If your player makes contact with the ball, it is kicked into a free-play situation and can be collected; if the challenge is unsuccessful, the opposing player merely retains possession. Note: Attempting sliding tackles in the wet can have unpredictable results! Whenever an opposing player approaches your goal, a buzzer sound can be heard, signalling that you now have control over the goalkeeper. In this case, different rules apply. Pressing the FIRE button causes the goalie to dive for the ball as below: Joystick Right Goalie dives to the right. Joystick Leftt Goalie dives to the left. Joystick Centred Goalie jumps up in the air. The goalie also has a higher priority in ball collection; any contact with the ball gives him possession over other players. Corners Pressing the button releases the ball in a diagonal direction only. Throw-Ins Throw-Ins may be directed in one of three direction: Diagonally left and right plus forward. Goal Kicks Whenever the goalkeeper gains possession of the ball, play is restarted by a goalkick from the correct section of the goal area. The kick is directed forwards only. Kick Off When play is first started, or restarted after half time or a goal, a press of the FIRE button causes one player to tap the ball to the other, who then has full control over the ball. Demo Game In the event that you want a quick look at the game, but don't want to actually compete, Microprose Soccer will play through a demonstration game between two randomly chosen teams. Highlight the option, press FIRE twice and sit back and watch... When you have seen enough, selecting quit causes the main meny to reappear. Loading and Saving Games Selecting the load or the save option, type file name and press RETURN. MICROPROSE INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE The Microprose International Challenge is designed for the solo player, or for people who wish to compete against the computer rather than each other. Initially, a high score table appears, displaying the level reached and the score achieved for each player entered into the name bank. This constantly alternates between it and the pending match screen containing a further sub-menu. RE-SELECT TEAM PLAY BALL (EXIT!) If the pending match is okey, select PLAY BALL and continue as usual. However, RE-SELECT TEAM allows challengers to be chosen at will from those players already in the name bank. The Microprose International Challenge is a structured league which allows competition against 16 computer-controlled teams of increasingly high standard, taken from the world cup line-up. Every time a team is defeated, your position in the high score table increases; every time you lose, it goes down. However, you cannot go below the bottom of the league, and if a draw occurs, the match is replayed until a result is obtained. The ultimate aim is to progress through all 16 levels, with Brazil being the team to beat. Your current standings may be saved to disk, and the challenge re-entered at the last level played. NAME BANK To make proper use of Microprose Soccer's various options, it is essentual that all players are first entered into the program. To do this, highlight name bank and press FIRE. The name bank then appears, with another menu below: INSERT NAME DELETE NAME (EXIT!) Player 1 and Player 2 names are used throughout the various leagues unless they are deleted. If you wish to do this, go to DELETE, press FIRE, then highlight the names you wish removed. Another tap on the FIRE button deletes the name. Names may be removed in this way at any time during play. For instance, if a player has to finish play early just DELETE NAME, and he is removed from all further competitions. Now, select INSERT NAME and press FIRE. Type in the first player's chosen name (up to 8 characters) and press RETURN. The name bank also acts as progress screen, showing at a glance how players are faring in the different competitions. When all of the players names and strips have been entered, EXIT back at the main menu. SOCCER/INDOOR LEAGUE On selecting this option, the soccer league table appears, showing all the players in the name bank, their win differences and current position in the league, alternating between it, and the pending match screen with the sub-menu beneath: RE-SELECT TEAM PLAY BALL (EXIT!) The soccer league allows up to 16 players included in the name bank to compete against one another in competition. The players taking part in each match are selected using the RE-SELECT TEAM option, and play is started in the same way as for the two player friendly mode. It is up to those taking part to make a note of who has played who. However, the computer does keep track of the win differences of each player. Starting with 0, a win earns 1 point; a draw results in no change and a loss gives you minus 1 (although the win difference can never fall below 0). Thus the player with the highest win difference at the end of the contest is deemed to be the winner. The league may be re-entered at any time during play and the current standings may be saved to disk. Thus a large leauge may be continued over several days, if need be. WORLD CUP/ALL STAR TOURNAMENT Entering the World Cup Tournament shows you a list of names, and a secondary meny, this: START NEW TOURNAMENT RE-SELECT TEAM CONTINUE OLD TOURNAMENT (EXIT!) The names displayed at the top of the screen are those currently residing in the name bank, and are all excluded from play until selected. Go to RE-SELECT TEAM and highlight the first participant. On pressing FIRE, the highlight stops glowing and allows you to choose that player's preferred nationality: Move the joystick up or down to cycle through the 29 available and press FIRE to select one. Afterwards select the first and the second jersey colour. Repeat this process for all those taking part. Once the teams have all been selected, press the FIRE button on START NEW TOURNAMENT. A wolrd cup table is drawn up by the computer, with 24 countries represented, including those previously selected to play. Each team is graded according to their apparent talent. This effects their position in the table, since there are four seed levels, and also alters the quality of the computer controlled opposition. For instance, if you're drawn in a group with Oman, Northern Irelabd and Mexico, you're onto a winner straight away. Accordingly, if you choose to play as Brazil, you stand a better chance of winning than if you represent Cameroon. Note: The tournament table acts just like the real thing - no teams from the same ocean group are drawn against each other in the first round. 1st Seed 1. Brazil 2. Italy 3. Argentina 4. West Germany 5. Holland 6. USSR 2nd Seed 7. France 8. Uruguay 9. Spain 10. England 11. Poland 12. Denmark 13. Mexico 3rd Seed 14. Sweden 15. Hungary 16. Scotland 17. Austria 18. Ireland 19. Wales 20. Chile 21. Northern Ireland 4th Seed 22. Algeria 23. USA 24. Australia 25. Canada 26. Cameroon 27. Japan 28. New Zealand 29. Oman The table also acts as an itinerary for the tournament, telling you which matches are to be played that day, and so on. Whenever two non-human controlled teams are drawn together, the final scores are simply displayed. These are carefully calculated scores, weighted toward the team of greater powerness. Continually pressing FIRE cycles through those matches that do not require a human participant. Draws that do depend upon a human player (either versus the computer or another player) are displayed accordingly on the pending match screen. Play is then started in the normal way by selecting the PLAY BALL option and pressing the FIRE button to start the match. If during the tournament players with to change teams for political reasons (i.e. they have been knocked out) or they wish to drop out of the tournament (before they get knocked out) or they wish to enter the tournament after it has started (they suddenly fancy their chances), then highlight RE-SELECT TEAM rather than PLAY BALL. Players can then choose a nationality that is still in the championships and not already selected by another player, or be excluded altogether. Note: Players can only join the championships as a late entry if their name is already in the name bank. The first round of the world cup is completed when each team has played three games each. Progrss is measured in points, each team receiving 2 for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for lose. Goal difference is also calculated, enabling tied positions to be settled without replays. The top two teams from each group then go through to the second round. Additionally the four best third placed teams also enter the second round. From now on the matches take the shape of a sudden death competition. Draws are made at random, and the eight winning teams progress to the quarter finals. The sudden death competition continues through the semi finals and into the final; drawn matches at full time go into unlimited overimte, with the first team to score being the winner. ADDITIONAL KEY COMMANDS [F1] - Swap joystick key. This will enable you to exchange teams if one player accidentally controls the wrong team at the beginning or after half time of the match. [RUN/STOP] - Toggle pause mode on/off. [Q] - Quit current game (only if paused).