Harvey Smith Showjumper
horse sport game for Commodore 64, 1985
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In this game there are twelve different courses available for you to tackle,
each presenting its own problems. You might fall off, refuse a jump, knock a
fence down or even be eliminated for jumping a wrong fence. It's all up to
you.
Tell the horse to walk, canter, gallop, turn or jump when you want him to. All
the thrills (and spills) straight from Hickstead! That's not all, if you want
to try some new obstacles you can simply and easily design new courses for
yourself, without any programming knowledge needed.
You can decide where you want the walls, gates or any of the different types
of fences available. Up to six riders may compete, each representing a
different country with the scores being updated on the "Master Scoreboard" as
each round is completed.
All faults are recorded automatically, not forgetting that the clock is
ticking away all the time as well. There is also a "Hi-Score Scoreboard" for
each course. We would like to thank Team Sanyo and Harvey Smith for their
encouragement and inspiration.
INSTRUCTIONS
The options are:-
Press "R" to change number of riders competing. (Max 6)
Press "S" to select the course you wish to play. (1-12)
Press "D" to redesign the currently selected coruse
Press "P" to play the currently selected course
Press "H" to display the hi-scores for this course
Press "V" to switch music on or off
Press "N" to rename horses
When "P" has been selected, to play the current course, the display board will
be replaced in the top half ouf your scrren by the TV camera view in the
arena. The bottom part will be showing a plan of the selected course, the
name of the current rider's horse, and the country it represents. The start
of the course is desoted by an "S", the finish by an "F", and the different
types of fences, (there are five types), by letters A to E. Your position is
shown as a flashing sight.
Type 'A' is a 5 bar upright fence.
Type 'B' is a 3 bar upright fence.
Type 'C' is a wall.
Type 'D' is a cross-barried fence.
Type 'E' is a gate.
You are free to move around the course to examine it, without penalty, until
such time as you cross the start line. At that time, the round properly
begins. On the plan, the fence that you should be tackling next will be
displayed in black. Those still to come shown in red. All fences should be
tackled in the correct order. (see faults) The round is only considered to be
finished when the horse crosses the Finish line when the plan shows a
black "F". (ie all fences have been tackled), or the hotse has been
eliminated.
Controlling your horse
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You can control the movement of your horse by moving the joystick in the
required direction, but, just like a real horse, he cannot react
instantanecously, - he takes time to increase his speed, and also to slow
down again.
When moving horisontally, he is capable of three speeds, a trot, a canter, and
a gallop. If no selection is made on the joystick he will continue moving at
the same speeds as has been selected. The trick is to give him a 'kick' with
the joystick not to hold it in a steady left or right position, otherwise you
may find yourself going too fast to tackle the next fences,
(particularly double fences). To jump, press the fire button. Note that
changes in speed or direction will not be made whilst your horse is in the
air, so make sure you are going at the right speed BEFORE you jump!!!
Vertical movement is at one speed only, and is selected by the appropriate
UP/DOWN movement on the joystick. However, the horse will not continue in a
vertical direction indefinitely, but will simply move up and down one 'line'
on the plan.
Faults
------
You will be penalteed each time you touch a fence, under the following rules:
A) You are eliminated for hitting a fence other than the one you ought to be
tackling, or the one previous to it.
B) Hitting the correct fence (or the one previous to it) will result in
various penalties, depending on the circumstances. If a jump was in progress,
the penalty is 4 FAULTS, if no jump was attempted, but the fence was hit at a
slow speed, a REFUSAL is adjudged to have occurred, penalty 3 FAULTS. If hit
at a gallop without jumping, the rider will be considered to have DISMOUNTED,
penalty 8 FAULTS. (There is no penalty for hitting such a fence when it has
already been knocked down). You will be ELIMINATED for 3 refusals or falls.
The Scoreboard
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The display board will be updated of the completion of each round, showing the
current positions. Horses having thr fewest faults are placed first, with the
lowest amount of time taken, determining the position of horses having an
equal number of faults.
Pressing 'P' from the display board will allow another rider to start his
round. 'M' will return you to the main menu, and 'H' will display the highest
scores achieved on the current course. (This table will reset of a course is
redesigned).
Designing the Course
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When you wish to design a course of your own, select from the menu the number
of the course that you wish to use and then press 'D'. (Bear in mind that the
previous course of that number will be lost, and that the hi-score table for
that course will be cleared).
The plan is replaced by 4 grid of yellow squares, each one representing a
possible fence location. We must start by selecting a START location. Move
the flashing cursor to the square of your choice, by using the joystick, and
press 'S'. The 'S' will eppar in your selected square marking the start for
this new course.
You may now lay out a new track, by moving the stick in the required
direction, (delete by back-tracking), and selecting fence types A, B, C, D or
E as you go. Remember you can only select a fence when on a yellow square,
and only when moving in a horisontal direction. You may cross over a straight
piece of track, at right angles to it, but you may not use the same track
more than once. (If the editor won't let you do it, it's not allowed!!!).
Fences are not by pressing the appropriate key when the cursor is on the
yellow square. Pressing 'N' will clear a square that is set. Continue in this
fashion until you have set as money fences as you wish. (It is not necessary
to use ALL the locations!!!).
Place an 'F' in your selected finish point, (this too must be approached
horizontally, and must be in a yellow square), and , if selected that this is
the course that you want, move the joystick in the same direction. The course
will now be 'set' in memory, and may be called and played like any other. You
are advised not to put more than two fences together, (although this is
allowed), as much combinations can be very difficult to play!!!
HAVE FUN!!!!!
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Some useful keyboard shortcuts
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[PAUSE] - stop/continue game
[F9] - quick load game state
[F12] - quick save game state (still stored after leaving the site)
[F11] - toggle fullscreen mode
[ScrollLock] - quick switch control ports
[PageDown] - make a screenshot (320x200)