HARDBALL III CONTROLS Keypad or Keyboard Controls for Batting 1 Select your type of swing. Hold down the desired key, then press Enter (Keyboard 1), Spacebar (Keyboard 2), or the Fire key. Keypad Keyboard 1 Keyboard 2 2 = Strategy , = Strategy X = Strategy 4 = Bunt J = Bunt A = Bunt 5 = Contact/Fire K = Contact/Fire S = Contact/Fire 6 = Power L = Power D = Power 2 Select the area of the strike zone to swing in. Batter's view: Pitcher vs. left-handed hitter Pitcher's view: Pitcher vs. right-handed hitter Keypad Keyboard 1 Keyboard 2 1 = Low/Outside M = Low/Outside Z = Low/Outside 2 = Low , = Low X = Low 3 = Low/Inside . = Low/Inside C = Low/nside 4 = Outside J = Outside A = Outside 5 = Middle/Fire K = Middle/Fire S = Middle/Fire 6 = Inside L = Inside D = Inside 7 = High/Outside U = High/Outside Q = High/Outside 8 = High I = High W = High 9 = High/Inside O = High/Inside E = High/Inside Batter's view: Pitcher vs. right-handed hitter Pitcher's view: Pitcher vs. left-handed hitter Keypad Keyboard 1 Keyboard 2 1 = Low/Inside M = Low/Inside Z = Low/Inside 2 = Low , = Low X = Low 3 = Low/Outside . = Low/Outside C = Low/Outside 4 = Inside J = Inside A = Inside 5 = Middle/Fire K = Middle/Fire S = Middle/Fire 6 = Outside L = Outside D = Outside 7 = High/Inside U = High/Inside E = High/Outside 8 = High I = High W = High 9 = High/Outside O = High/Outside Q = High/ Inside 3 Hold down the desired location key and select after the pitcher releases the ball. 4 Press Enter or the Fire key to swing the bat. Keypad and Keyboard Controls for Running Batter's View Keypad Keyboard 1 Keyboard 2 6 = First Base L = First Base D = First Base 8 = Second Base I = Second Base W = Second Base 4 = Third Base J = Third Base A = Third Base 2 = Home , = Home X = Home 5 = Fire K = Fire S = Fire (swing) Pitcher's View Keypad Keyboard 1 Keyboard 2 4 = First Base J = First Base A = First Base 2 = Second Base , = Second Base X = Second Base 6 = Third Base L = Third Base D = Third Base 8 = Home I = Home W = Home 5 = Fire K = Fire S = Fire (swing) Advancing: Press the Base key where you want your runner to advance. Retreating: Hold down the Base Key you want your runner to return to and press Enter or the Fire Key before the runner reaches the next base. Leading Off or Stealing: Base runners automatically lead off. You can make them lead off more by tapping the desired base key once or twice. Hold down the base key to make the runner steal. Joystick Controls for Batting 1 Use the joystick to select a swing. Move the joystick handle in the direction of the desired swing and press Button 1. Left = Bunt Right = Power Down = Strategy Centered = Contact 2 Select the area of the strike zone to swing in. Move the joystick handle in the direction you want to hit the ball and select after the pitcher releases the ball. Batter's view: Pitcher vs. left-handed hitter Pitcher's view: Pitcher vs. right-handed hitter Down = Low Down/Left = Low/Outside Down/Right = Low/Inside Centered = Middle Left = Outside Right = Inside Up = High Up/Left = High/Outside Up/Right = High/Inside Batter's view: Pitcher vs. right-handed hitter Pitcher's view: Pitcher vs. left-handed hitter Up = High Up/Right = High/Outside Up/Left = High/Inside Centered = Middle Left = Inside Right = Outside Down = Low Down/Right = Low/Outside Down/Left = Low/Inside 3 Press Button 1 to swing the bat. 4 Press ESC to call a timeout. Joystick Controls for Running Batter's View Pitcher's View Right = First Base Left = First Base Up = Second Base Down = Second Base Left = Third Base Right = Third Base Down = Home Up = Home Advancing: Move the joystick handle toward the base to which you want to advance. Retreating: Move the joystick handle toward the base you want to return to and press Button 1 before the runner reaches a base. Leading Off or Stealing: Base runners automatically lead off. You can make them lead off more by tapping the joystick once or twice in the direction of the base you want to steal. Hold the joystick in that direction to make the runner steal. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- HARDBALL III Getting Started System Requirements The Al Michaels Announcer Feature Setup Options Starting HardBall III Running HardBall III form Windows 3.0 Adding the Icon to Windows Program Manager Mouse, Keyboard, and the Joystick The Main Menu Setup screen Playing an Exhibition Game Choosing Your Own Team Edit Team Roster Viewing Player Statistics Substitute a Player Setting Your Batting Order Positioning Your Fielders Custom Setting Your Pitcher Rotation Printing a Roster Editing a Team or Individual The Options Menu Music, Sound Effects & Announcer Options Player Controls View Selection Stadium Selection Exhibition Game and League Play Options Levels of Play Manage Only Let's Play Ball! Hitting Options Window Pitching Option Window Substitutions During a Game The Bullpen On the Mound Warming up a Pitcher Substituting a Pitcher Viewing and Printing a Box Score Saving an Exhibition Game Resuming an Exhibition Game Instant Replay Exhibition Game Highlights Saving a Highlight How to View a Highlight Batting Practice Choosing a Batting Practice Team Changing Hitters Changing Pitchers Editing a Roster Batting Practice Options Menu Selecting Pitch Types Selecting Pitch Location Start Batting Practice Editing a Team and Individual Players Editing a Team Printing a Team Roster Exporting a Team File Changing the Team Name Changing the Manager's Name Changing the Team Colors Editing the Team Logo Selecting the Team's Home Field Changing the Team Summary Changing the Team's Star Player Editing a Player Changing a Player's Picture Changing a Player's Name Changing a Player's Uniform Number Changing a Player's Position Changing a Player's Attributes Changing a Player's Statistics OK and Cancel Editing a Pitcher Changing a Pitcher's Attributes Editing a Pitcher's Statistics Select Pitches Export a Player Import a Player League Play Before a League Starts Creating a New League Editing a New League Importing a Team Exporting a Team Removing a Team Swapping Teams Buying and Selling a Team Start the Season League Schedule Viewing a Schedule To View a League Schedule To View a Team Schedule Changing Leagues Resetting a Season Playing a League Game Playing a Complete Game Simulating a Game To Simulate One Game To Simulate Multiple Games Saving and Resuming a League Game How to Save a League Game How to Resume a League Game League Play Highlights How to Save a Highlight How to View a Highlight Playing "The Stars Game" Post Season Play League Championships World Championships Appendix Troubleshooting A Message from the Developers Systems that Have Extended or Expanded Memory Systems that Have 1 Megabyte of RAM Booting Clean Modem Users Getting Started System Requirements * A hard drive is REQUIRED. We also recommend an AT Class, 10 MHz machine or better. * HardBall III supports VGA/MCGA or EGA graphics only. * Make sure you have at least 2 megabytes of storage space available on your hard drive. * For play-by-play Broadcast by Al Michaels, you'll need 2 megs of RAM and either an EMS or XMS memory manager (386 MAX, QEMM, or EMM 386) or DOS HIMEM.SYS. Note: If you use 386 MAX, QEMM, or EMM 386, you must have a soundboard (such as a Soundblaster, AdLib, etc.). To hear play-by-play through the internal PC speaker, you must use DOS HIMEM.SYS driver only. See Troubleshooting section for details. The Al Michaels Announcer Feature An Announcer Feature is available for computers with extended or expanded memory. When activated, you can listen to play-by-play descriptions during a game. See your system manual for directions on how to use and setup extended and expanded memory. Note: See The Options Menu section on how to activate and deactivate this feature. Setup Options * Video Mode Press Enter to toggle between VGA/MCGA (256 color) and EGA (16 color) graphics. * Music Board The following sound boards are supported: PC Internal speaker, Adlib, Sound Blaster, Roland, and Thunder Board. You can also select None if you don't want to hear any music. Press Enter to toggle between the available music options until the one you want is displayed. * Sound Board Select a sound board the same way you selected a music board. You can also select None if you don't want to hear any special effects. If you are going to use the Al Michaels Play-by Play Announcer Feature, you'll have to choose a sound option. Note: If you do not have the required memory, you cannot activate this option (see System Requirements section). * Adjust Your Joystick If you have a joystick plugged in, you can calibrate it by doing the following: 1 Move the joystick handle to the upper left and press the fire button. 2 Move the joystick handle to the lower right and press the fire button. 3 Center the joystick handle and press the fire button. * Customize a League This option allows you to customize the league and tournament names as well as the logos for each league. See Table 1 for a list of the default names. To change a league or tournament name: 1 Highlight Customize League and press Enter. 2 Highlight the name you want to customize. 3 Press the Backspace key to delete the current name. 4 Type a new name. 5 Highlight OK to accept or Cancel to nullify any changes, and press Enter. 6 To revert back to the default settings, highlight Default and press Enter. To change a league logo, highlight the desired logo and press Enter. See the How to Edit the Team Logo section. Table 1 Default League and Tournament Names Stars Game: Scheduled at a season's half-way point, this single game pits the best players at each position (from the first half of the season) from each league against each other. Playoffs: A single playoff game in case two teams tie for first place in a division at season's end. The winner would play in the League Championship. League Championships: The divisional winners of each league play against each other for the right to advance to the World Championship round. World Championships: The two league champs battle for the World Championship. Accolade League, MindSpan League: The names of the two leagues in HardBall III. * The Memory Box The amount of free memory is displayed at the bottom left part of the screen. You'll need at least 565,000 bytes of conventional memory for HardBall III to work properly. There are also windows displaying free upper memory blocks, and expanded and extended memory if you are using any. (see A Message from the Developer in the Troubleshooting section) * OK If you're happy with your choices, highlight OK and press Enter to continue. Starting HardBall III 1 Turn on your computer. 2 At the DOS prompt, type in the letter of the drive where the game was installed followed by a colon (for example: D:) and press Enter. 3 Change to the directory that contains the game. For example, if you installed the game in the sub-directory named HardBall, type CD\hardball and press Enter. 4 Type hardball and press Enter. 5 To access the Main Menu, press Enter after viewing the title screen and credits. Running from Windowst 3.0 You can run HardBall III from Windows 3.0 as long as you have enough free RAM available (see Memory Requirements). If you need to free up some memory, you should read the chapter on Optimizing Windows in your Windows manual. Note: The Al Michaels Play-by-Play Announcer Feature is NOT available under Windows. Adding the Icon to Windows Program Manager HardBall III comes with its own icon for the Windows Program Manager. You can use this icon to run the game, but not until you install the game to your hard disk. To install the icon: 1 Go to the Windows Program Manager. 2 Open the group window for the group into which you'd like to put the game. 3 Choose New from the File Menu. The New Program Object dialog box appears. 4 Select Program Item and choose OK. The Program Item Properties dialog box appears. 5 Type HardBall III in the Description text box. 6 Type the path and name of the hardball.PIF file in the Command Line text box. For example, if you installed the game to C:\hardball, then type c:\hardball\hardball.pif into the Command Line text box. 7 Choose Change Icon. The Select Icon dialog box appears. 8 Type the path and name of the hardball.ico file in the File Name text box. For example, if you installed the game into C:\hardball, then type c:\hardball\hardball.ico into the File Name text box. 9 Choose View Next. The game's icon should appear. 10 Choose OK. The Program Item Properties dialog box appears again. 11 Choose OK. The new icon should appear in the group window. Additional information about adding icons and changing program items can be found in your Windows manual under Changing the Contents of Groups in the Program Manager chapter. Mouse, Keyboard, and Joystick One or two players can play HardBall III. You can use one or two joysticks and/or the keyboard to control the players during a game, as well as on all menus. To make things simple, we refer to the keyboard 1 (as well as the ESC key and Enter) on menus and during gameplay. You can change player controls anytime by selecting the Options Menu which appears throughout the game. Check out the enclosed Command Charts for diagrams of all the controls and how to use them. If your system supports a mouse, you can use it on all menu screens by simply moving the cursor to the desired button and clicking the left mouse button. However, you CANNOT use a mouse during gameplay. The Main Menu The Main Menu, appears after the title and credit screens and contains the following options: * Exhibition Game: A practice game which doesn't affect league play. * League Play: Play in or setup a league. * Batting Practice: Practice hitting one or more types of pitches while batting right or left-handed against a right or left-handed pitcher. * Setup: Setup the game to your specifications, and Install HardBall III onto your hard drive. * Exit to DOS: Quit HardBall III. Setup Screen If you make changes to your hardware configuration (pick up a new monitor, sound board, or joystick) or you just want to re-customize a league, select this option. For a more detailed description of Setup options and procedure, see step 9 under Hard Disk Installation & Initial Setup. Playing an Exhibition Game Just want to play a little ball, you say? None of this team editing, batting practice, or league stuff for you just yet, eh? An exhibition game is the answer. To begin, highlight Exhibition Game on the Main Menu and press Enter. The Exhibition Pre-Game screen will appear, displaying two randomly selected teams. If you want to play with these teams, highlight Start and press Enter. Choosing Your Own Team 1 Highlight the Choose New Teams button and press Enter. A screen listing the available teams is displayed along with their current record (if they have one). If the team you want is in a different league, refer to the section on Changing Leagues for directions. 2 Highlight the team you want as the Home Team and press Enter. 3 The Team Summary screen will appear, displaying information on the chosen team. If this is a team you want, highlight Select and press Enter. Note: If you wish to edit the roster of this team, then do so BEFORE choosing Select. See Edit Team Roster below. However, any changes made will not be permanent. Permanent edits can only be made in League Play. 4 Highlight Return and press Enter if you want to make a different Home Team selection. 5 Select the Visiting Team in the same manner as above. Note: Press the ESC key to return to the Main Menu from the Pre-Game screen. Edit Team Roster You can edit an exhibition game roster, although any edits made will not be permanent (see note above). To display your team's roster, highlight Roster and press Enter. You'll now be in the Roster screen for your team. The Roster screen is divided into four sections. * Lineup box: Displays the current starting lineup for your team. * Field Position box: Graphically shows the positions for the current starting lineup. * Bench box: Displays bench (reserve) players. * Bullpen box: Displays your bullpen (the remainder of your pitching staff). Viewing Player Statistics When you highlight a player on your roster, a baseball card will appear showing his picture and the following information. The left side of the baseball card displays: Note: To display a baseball card with mouse, highlight Player and press and hold left mouse button. * Player's name * Uniform number * Fielding position * How he bats and throws * Last year's batting average * Player only: Speed and arm ratings * Player only: Last year's average in home runs, runs-batted-in, stolen bases and errors * Pitcher only: Speed, accuracy, and stamina ratings * Pitcher only: Last year's average in wins, losses, earned run average, saves, and errors Note: Everything listed above (except for current season stats) can be modified. See the Editing a Player and Editing a Pitcher sections for details. The right side of the baseball card displays the player's statistics for the current season. These accumulate as the season progresses and CANNOT be modified. Substituting a Player To replace a player in the Lineup Box with one from your bench or bullpen: 1 Highlight Sub Players and press Enter. 2 Highlight the player you want to REMOVE from your starting lineup and press Enter. The player's name will turn white. 3 Now highlight the player on your bench or in the bullpen who you want to INSERT into your lineup and press Enter. 4 The players will exchange places. Setting Your Batting Order The Lineup Box also lists the batting order. To change this order: 1 Highlight Batting Order and press Enter. 2 Highlight the player in the starting lineup you want to move and press Enter. The player's name will turn white. 3 Now highlight the location in the lineup where you want the selected player to bat and press Enter. 4 Repeat this process until the batting order you want is displayed. Positioning Your Fielders You can chose from 11 different fielding alignments (six for infield, five for outfield) to position your fielders. See Table 2 for a description of each alignment. Table 2 Fielder Positions Outfield Normal: All outfielders play in normal positions. In: All outfielders play shallow. Usually used when a weak hitter is up, or the game winning run is on 3B with less than two outs. Left: All outfielders shift to the left to prevent extra-base hits to left-center field or down the left field line. Right: All outfielders shift to the right to prevent extra-base hits to right-center field or down the right-field line. Custom: Set up your own outfield positions. Infield Normal: All infielders play in normal positions. In: All infielders move several steps closer to the plate. Used when a bunt is expected Double Play: 2B and SS play closer to second base. Guard Lines: 1B and 3B play near base lines to protect against extra-base hits. Hold Runner: 1B covers base, used when runner is on 1st. Custom: Set up your own infield positions. To view the different alignments listed in Table 2: 1 Highlight Fielder Positions at the bottom of the Roster screen and press Enter. The Fielder Positions window will appear. 2 Highlight any of the alignments listed in the window and press Enter. A baseball will appear next to your selection. 3 The alignment selected will be displayed on the field map. Note: Only the custom alignment can be changed. Custom Option You can use the custom option to design your own infield and outfield alignment. The example below shows how to customize an outfield. 1 Highlight Fielder Positions and press Enter. 2 Highlight Custom under the box entitled "Outfield" and press Enter. 3 Press the right arrow key once. The dot on the field map representing the left fielder will blink. Use the left/right arrow keys to scroll between the left, center and right fielders. 4 With the left fielder dot blinking, press Enter. The dot will stop blinking. 5 Use the arrow keys to move the dot anywhere in the outfield. 6 Press Enter when you have the dot positioned where you want. 7 Repeat with the center and right fielders. 8 Press the left arrow key, then cursor down and highlight OK to save your new alignment. Follow the same steps to design a custom infield alignment. Setting Your Pitcher Rotation Each team is automatically assigned 10 pitchers: five starters and five relievers. You can switch starting and relieving assignments among pitchers, as long as there are always 10 pitchers on your staff. You can also arrange your starting pitchers in any order. Each starter will then begin every fifth game. To move your pitchers around: 1 Highlight Pitcher Rotation at the bottom of the Roster screen and press Enter. A box listing your pitching staff will appear. 2 Highlight the pitcher you want to move (either a starter or reliever) and press Enter. His name will turn white. 3 Now highlight the pitcher you want to switch (either a starter or reliever) and press Enter once more. 4 The two pitchers will change places. 5 Repeat this process until you have the five starters and five relievers you want. 6 Highlight OK and press Enter when you are done. To arrange your starting rotation: The pitcher at the top of the list under the "Starters" column is the team's number one starter. The pitcher listed second is the number two starter, etc. To change the order of the starters: 1 Under the column labeled "Starters", highlight the pitcher you want as your number one starter and press Enter. His name will turn white. 2 Now highlight the pitcher's name at the top of the Starters list and press Enter. 3 The pitcher you selected will become the number one starting pitcher. 4 Repeat this process until all five starters are in the order you want. 5 Highlight OK and press Enter when you are done. Printing a Roster You can print a roster directly from the game, or save it as a text file which can be printed from your word processing program. However, once a file is saved as a text file, you won't be able to print that file from the game. To print a roster: 1 Highlight Print from the Roster screen and press Enter. 2 You'll be prompted to print stats for Average Season (career stats) or Current Season. Highlight your choice and press Enter. 3 Type PRN in the box entitled "Filename": and press Enter to begin printing. Note: If entering PRN doesn't initialize printing, try entering LPT1, LPT2, or AUX. If none of these work, then check to make sure your printer is connected properly. To save roster as a text file to the current drive/directory: 1 Highlight Print from the Roster screen and press Enter. 2 You'll be prompted to print stats for Average Season (pre-set stats) or Current Season. Highlight your choice and press Enter. 3 Type a filename (up to eight characters) in the box entitled Filename: and press Enter. (Refer to the Saving an Exhibition Game section for directions on how to save the text file to different directory or drive). 4 The current box score has now been saved as a text file. To save a text file to a different drive: 1 Press the up arrow key to access the available drive options. 2 Highlight the drive you want and press Enter. That drive will appear in the Path: window. 3 Highlight Filename:. 4 Type in a filename (up to eight characters) and press Enter. To save a text file to a different directory: 1 Highlight ..\ and press Enter to view all directories in the current path. 2 Highlight the desired directory and press Enter. That directory will now appear in the Path: window. 3 Press the right arrow key move to the drive buttons, then press the down arrow key to highlight Filename:. 4 Type in a filename (up to eight characters) and press Enter. Editing a Team or Individual See the Editing a Team or Individual section for instructions on how to edit a team or player. Note: When you are done editing the team roster, highlight Return and press Enter to return to the Exhibition Pre-Game screen. The Options Menu The Options Menu lets you set up an Exhibition or League game (as well as batting practice) to your specifications. An Options Menu is available on the Pre-Game screen in the Exhibition Game and League Play sections (you can get there by selecting Exhibition Game or League Play from the Main Menu). It is also available on the Batting Practice screen in the Batting Practice section. The Options Menu allows you to: * Turn music, sound effects, and announcer on/off * Select player controls * Pick the perspective from which you'll view the game * Choose a stadium Use the arrow keys to scroll through the Options Menu. You may cycle through in one direction and start over, or reverse to revisit an option. Note: In addition to the above, each section (Exhibition Game, League Play, and Batting Practice) has it's own specific options. Music, Sound Effects & Announcer Options You can turn the background music, sound effects, or announcer on or off by highlighting your choice and pressing Enter. A baseball will appear next to an option when it is activated. Note: If you do not have enough memory or are running under Windows, the Announcer option and background music will be unavailable. Player Controls To select which team you are going to control and how: 1 Listed in the box entitled "Controls" are the two teams that are about to take the field. Highlight the team you want to control. 2 Press Enter until the game control icon (keyboard 1 or 2, joystick 1 or 2, or computer) you want is displayed. (For example, if you want to play using keyboard 1, press Enter until the keyboard 1 icon is displayed). 3 Highlight your opponent. 4 Press Enter until the game control icon you want for your opponent is displayed. Note: Refer to the enclosed Command Charts for information on each of the controls. Viewing Selection You can view a game or batting practice from one of the following perspectives: Pitcher/Batter You are automatically given the Pitcher view when you're on the mound, and the Batter view when you're at the plate. Ideal for one-player games. (In two-player games, the Home Team will use the Pitcher view, while the Visiting Team uses the Batter's view). Pitcher The view from behind the pitcher's mound. Highly recommended when you are pitching, so you'll get a good look at how a ball breaks. Batter The view of the infield through the catcher's eyes. This view provides the batter with the best look at an incoming pitch. To select a view, highlight the one desired and press Enter. A baseball will appear next to your selection. Closeups This feature will allow you to view close plays on the bases in a special "zoomed in" mode. When activated, a baseball will appear next to the Closeups option. To deactivate, highlight Closeups and press Enter. Stadium Selection Highlight the current stadium listed in the box entitled "Stadium" and press Enter. All the stadiums available in the current directory will be displayed. Highlight the one desired and press Enter. When you return to the Options Menu, the new stadium name will appear in the Stadium box. To select a stadium on a different drive: 1 Highlight the current stadium and press Enter as described above. 2 Press the right arrow key to access the available drive options. 3 Highlight the drive you want and press Enter. That drive will appear in the Path: window. 4 All available stadiums will appear in the File Box. 5 Highlight the name of the stadium you want to select and press Enter. To select a stadium in a different directory: 1 Highlight ..\ from the File Box. 2 Press Enter to back out of the current directory. 3 All directories in the current path (the drive listed in the Path: window) are now displayed. 4 Highlight the desired directory and press Enter (or ..\). The new directory will now appear in the Path: window. 5 Highlight the filename of the stadium you want and press Enter. Exhibition Game and League Play Options In addition to what's listed above, the Options screen in the Exhibition Game and League Play section will allow you to set the Level of Play for the current game. Levels of Play The 10 options listed in the Level of Play Box allow you to control the complexity of the game. If you are just starting out, this feature will let you handicap an experienced opponent (see Table 3 for an overview of each category). To activate any or all of the options: 1 Use the up/down arrow keys to highlight an option, and use the left/right arrow keys to move between the columns. 2 Press Enter to activate the option. A baseball will appear. 3 Press Enter to deactivate the option. The baseball will disappear. Table 3 Levels of Play Manage Only Activated You control everything except swinging the bat, fielding, throwing the ball, and running the bases. Not Activated You control every aspect of the game. Pitcher Fatigue Activated Pitcher will begin to tire after a certain number of pitches, depending upon his stamina rating. Not Activated Pitcher will never tire. Pitching Stats Activated Pitchers' performances are based on their current statistics. Not Activated All pitchers are equal. Batting Stats Activated Hitters' performances are based on their current statistics. Not Activated All hitters are equal. Running Speed Activated Players' running speed will be determined by their speed rating. Not Activated All players will run at the same speed. Designated Hitter Activated Designated Hitter will be used. Not Activated Designated Hitter will not be used. Fielding Errors Activated Fielding errors will randomly occur. Not Activated Fielding errors will not occur. Auto-Fielding Activated Computer will field ball for you, but you must throw. Not Activated You control your own fielders ball to desired base. Base Stealing Not Activated Base runners can steal bases. Not Activated Base runners cannot steal bases. Pitch to Center Activated Pitcher will throw every pitch down the middle of the plate. Not Activated Pitcher can throw a pitch to any area of the strike zone. Manage Only If leadership is your specialty rather than swinging a bat or throwing a ball, then the Manage Only mode is just for you. When activated, here are your managerial duties during a game: While on the Field You can instruct your pitcher to: * Intentionally walk a batter * Attempt a pickoff (if there is a base runner) * Throw a pitchout (if there is a base runner) In addition, you can: * Position infielders and outfielders * View an instant replay While Batting Depending on the situation in the game, you can instruct your batter or base runner to: * Take a pitch * Bunt * Hit-and-run (if there is a base runner) * Steal (if there is a base runner) * Squeeze (if there is a base runner) In addition, you can: * View an instant replay Note: Refer to the Let's Play Ball! section to learn how to select any of the options listed above. OK, the teams are selected, lineups are set, and the game is configured the way you want. It's time to take the field! To begin play, highlight Play Ball! and press Enter. After the home team takes the field, you'll see the batter standing outside of the batter's box, peering out at the pitcher. Two baseball cards will appear showing pictures of each player as well as several of their statistics. The Hitting Options and Pitching Options windows will then be displayed. Note: Please refer to the enclosed Command Charts for complete instructions on how to use the different options. Let's Play Ball! Hitting Options Window This window contains the batter's name, batting average, his hits-to-at- bats ratio for the current game. In addition, the following swing options are available: * Power: Swing for the fences. Not only increases your chances of hitting one out, but making an out, too. * Contact: A normal swing where your only objective is to make contact with the ball. * Bunt: Lay one down. A skillful bunter is a great weapon to have. * Strategy: With runners on base, you can select hit-and-run, steal, or squeeze. If you're playing against the computer, you must select Power, Contact, or Bunt before the pitcher will deliver the ball. To initiate a swing: 1 Select one of the following: Power - Hold down the right arrow key and press Enter Contact - Press Enter Bunt - Hold down the left arrow key and press Enter 2 The batter will now step into the batter's box and the pitcher will throw the ball. Note: If two people are playing, your opponent must select his pitch before the pitcher will throw the ball. 3 Press Enter to make the batter swing at the ball. Note: When the computer bats, it automatically selects a hitting option and swings the bat. 4 Repeat this process before every pitch. 5 Press the ESC key if you need to return to the Scoreboard/Lineup screen. Strategy (Hitting Options Windows) To select the Strategy Option from the Hitting Options window, press the down arrow key and hit Enter. If runners are on base, this window will automatically be displayed before swing selection. The following options are available: * Instant Replay - Hold down the up arrow key press Enter. * Hit and Run (must be at least one base runner) - Hold down the right arrow key and press Enter. * Select Swing - Press. * Steal (must be at least one base runner) - Hold down the left arrow key and press Enter. * Squeeze (must be a runner on third base) - Hold down the down arrow key and press Enter. * Double Steal (runners on 1st/2nd or (2nd/3rd). Press the ESC key to return to the Scoreboard/Lineup screen. Notes: If there are no runners on base, only the Instant Replay and Select Swing options will be available. You can also select Instant Replay by pressing the R key while the Pitcher/Batter Option windows are displayed. Pitching Options Window The pitcher's name and uniform number, current E.R.A., number of pitches thrown in the current game, and the speed of the last pitch thrown (in MPH) will be displayed. In addition, the four pitches you assigned the pitcher (see Editing a Pitcher section) will be listed, along with a Strategy option: 1 To select a pitch (computer pitcher will select its own), hold down the arrow key next to the desired pitch and press Enter. 2 After your opponent selects his swing (the computer will select its own), the batter will step into the batter's box. 3 Press and hold Enter to pitch the ball. (If the computer is pitching, it will automatically pitch the ball after a swing has been chosen). 4 Repeat this process before every pitch. 5 Press the ESC key if you need to return to the Scoreboard/Lineup screen. Strategy (Pitching Options Windows) To select the Strategy Option from the Pitching Options window, press the down arrow key and hit Enter. The following options will be displayed: * Instant Replay - Hold down the up arrow key and press Enter. Note: You can also select Instant Replay by pressing the R key while the Pitcher/Batter Option Windows are displayed. * Walk batter (intentional walk) - Hold down the right arrow key and press Enter. * Select Pitch - Press Enter to return to the Pitching Options window. * IF: Normal (position infielders) - Hold down the left arrow key and repeatedly press Enter until the infield alignment you want is displayed. * OF: Normal (position outfielders) - Hold down the down arrow key and repeatedly hit Enter until the outfield alignment you want is displayed. Note: Refer to How to Setup Your Infield and Outfield for descriptions of each alignment. Substituting During a Game Occasionally, you'll want to pinch-hit for a weak batter, or make a defensive change during a close game. To substitute a player: 1 Press the ESC key to return to the Scoreboard/Lineup screen. 2 Highlight your team's logo and press Enter. 3 Highlight Sub Players and press Enter. 4 Highlight the player you want to REMOVE from your starting lineup and press Enter. The player's name will turn white. 5 Now highlight the player on your bench or in the bullpen you want to insert into the lineup and press Enter. 6 The players will exchange places. Note: When a player is removed from a game, an 'x' will appear beside his name in the roster and he will not be allowed to return. The Bullpen Is your pitcher getting shelled? Is he showing signs of tiring? It may be time to pay a visit to your bullpen. In your bullpen, you can check the status of your current pitcher, as well as warm-up a couple of relievers. To access the bullpen: 1 Press the ESC key to return to the Scoreboard/Lineup screen. 2 Highlight your team's logo and press Enter. 3 Highlight Bullpen Status and press Enter. The Bullpen Status window will appear. On the Mound At the top the Bullpen Status window is the On the Mound Box, which lists the following statistics for the current pitcher: * Right or left-handed * Win/loss/save record and E.R.A. * Total number of balls thrown * Total number of strikes thrown * Total number of pitches thrown * Current status (OK Ä pitcher is still strong; Tiring Ä time to start warming up a reliever; Fatigued Ä time to substitute; Exhausted Ä pitcher will be getting shelled). Warming Up a Pitcher To begin warming up a pitcher: 1 Highlight Warm up and press Enter. 2 When prompted, highlight the desired pitcher and press Enter. The words "Warming Up" will appear in the column next to the pitcher's name. Note: A pitcher needs to warm up for one inning before he is ready to take the mound. If you bring him in earlier or let him warm up too long, his control may be affected. Substituting a Pitcher To bring in a new pitcher: 1 Highlight Substitute and press Enter. 2 When prompted, highlight the pitcher you want to bring in and press Enter. 3 The current pitcher will be relieved by the one you just selected. 4 Highlight Return and press Enter to exit to the Roster screen. Viewing and Printing a Box Score To view the box score of the current game: 1 Press the ESC key during a game to return to the Scoreboard/Lineup screen. 2 Highlight Highlights and press Enter. 3 Highlight Box Scores and press Enter. An up-to-the-minute box score of the current game will be displayed. 4 Highlight Return and press Enter to exit to the Scoreboard/Lineup screen. You can print a box score directly from the game, or save it as a text file which can be printed from your word processing program. However, once a file is saved as a text file, you won't be able to print that file from the game. To Print the Box Score: 1 Highlight Box Score on the Highlight screen and press Enter. 2 Highlight Print on the Box Score screen and press Enter. 3 Type PRN in the box entitled "Filename": and press Enter to begin printing. Note: If entering PRN doesn't initialize printing, try entering LPT1, LPT2, or AUX. If none of these work, check to make sure your printer is connected properly. To save as a text file: 1 Highlight Box Scores from the Highlight screen and press Enter. 2 Highlight Print from the Box Score screen and press Enter. 3 Type a filename (up to eight characters) in the box entitled "Filename": and press Enter. (Refer to the Saving an Exhibition Game section for directions on how to save the text file to different directory or drive). 4 The current box score has now been saved as a text file. Saving an Exhibition Game To Save a Game in Progress: 1 Press the ESC key to return to the Scoreboard/Lineup screen. 2 Highlight Options and press Enter. 3 Highlight Save Game and press Enter. The Save Game As: window will appear. To Save a Game to the Current Drive/Directory: Type in a filename for the game you want to save (up to eight characters) and press Enter. The exhibition game is now saved on the current directory. To save a game to a different drive: 1 Press the up arrow key to access the available drive options. 2 Highlight the drive you want and press Enter. That drive will appear in the Path: window. 3 Highlight Filename:. 4 Type in a filename (up to eight characters) and press Enter. To save a game to a different directory: 1 Highlight ..\ and press Enter to view all directories in the current path. 2 Highlight the desired directory and press Enter. That directory should now appear in the Path: window. 3 Press the right arrow key to move to the drive buttons, then press the down arrow key to highlight Filename:. 4 Type in a filename (up to eight characters) and press Enter. Resuming an Exhibition Game 1 Highlight Exhibition Game on the Main Menu and press Enter to bring up the Resume Game Option. 2 Highlight Resume Game and press Enter to display the Resume Game window which lists all games saved in the current directory. 3 Highlight the filename of the game you want to resume and press Enter. To resume a game from a different drive: 1 Follow steps 1 and 2 above. 2 Press the right arrow key to access the available drive options. 3 Highlight the drive you want and press Enter. That drive will appear in the Path: window. 4 All previously saved games will appear in the file box. 5 Press the left arrow key to highlight the filename of the game you want to resume and press Enter. To resume a game from a different directory: 1 Follow steps 1 and 2 above under Resuming an Exhibition Game. 2 Highlight ..\ and press Enter to view all directories in the current path. 3 Highlight the desired directory and press Enter. That directory will appear in the Path: window. 4 Press the left arrow key to highlight the filename of the game you want to resume and press Enter. Instant Replay To immediately review any play: 1 Select the Strategy Option listed in either the Pitching or Hitting Options window and press Enter. 2 Select Instant Replay and press Enter. 3 The first frame of the last play completed will be displayed, along with the Replay Control panel. Note: You can also activate the instant replay feature by pressing the R key during a game while the Hitting and Pitching Option windows are displayed. 4 The Replay Control panel allows you to review any play in forward (right arrow key) or reverse (left arrow key) using two different speeds (normal and fast). Here's how: * Press and release the left/right arrow key to view the play one frame at a time * Hold down the left/right arrow key to advance through the play at normal speed. * Press the left/right arrow key while holding down Enter to view the play at fast speed. * If the Replay Control Box is blocking part of the replay, you can move it up and down by pressing the up/down arrow keys; or left and right by pressing the left/right arrow keys while holding down the up/down arrow keys. 5 Press the ESC key when you are done reviewing a play. Exhibition Game Highlights The Highlights feature enables you to save an unlimited amount of plays to disk that you can replay at any time. Hit a game winning home run in league play, or make a brilliant defensive play during an exhibition game? Store it! Saving a Highlight To save a play to a highlight reel: 1 Press the ESC key to return to the Scoreboard/Lineup screen. 2 Highlight Highlights and press Enter to display the Highlights screen. 3 Highlight Store and press Enter. The Create Highlight File window will appear. 4 When prompted, enter a filename (up to eight characters) and press Enter. 5 Now type in a short description of the highlight and press Enter. The highlight will now be saved with the extension .HLR automatically added to the filename. 6 You can edit the description at any time by highlighting Edit and then typing in your changes. Saving a Highlight to a Different Drive: 1 Press the up arrow key to access the available drive options. 2 Highlight the drive you want and press Enter. That drive should now appear in the Path: window. 3 Highlight Filename:. 4 Type in a filename (up to eight characters) and press Enter. Saving a Highlight to a Different Directory: 1 Highlight ..\ and press Enter to view all directories in the current path. 2 Highlight the desired directory and press Enter. That directory should now appear in the Path: window. 3 Press the right arrow key to move to the drive buttons, then press the down arrow key to highlight Filename:. 4 Type in a filename (up to eight characters) and press Enter. How to View a Highlight To view any saved highlight reel: 1 From the Highlight screen, highlight Load and press Enter. Note: During a game, you can only view highlights from the current game. If you want to view an individual highlight during a game, highlight View and press Enter, then select desired Replay. Once a game is over, you can view any highlight which has been saved to a highlight reel. 2 A Load Highlight File window will appear listing all the highlights you have saved to the current directory. 3 Highlight the reel you want to view and press Enter. 4 The first frame of the chosen highlight will be displayed (just like in Instant Replay) along with the Replay Control Box. 5 Refer to the Instant Replay section for directions on how to use the Replay Control Box. Batting Practice We've included a batting practice feature which will allow you to sharpen your hitting skills. Practice hitting any kind of pitch, left or right- handed, and against either a left or right-handed pitcher. Highlight Batting Practice on the Main Menu and press Enter to begin. Choosing a Batting Practice Team A batting practice team will automatically be selected for you. If you want to select a different team: 1 Highlight Choose Practice Team and press Enter. Note: If the team you want is in another league, see the How to Change Leagues section. 2 Highlight the team you want and press Enter. A summary of the selected team will be displayed, if you own the team and the star player. 3 Highlight Select and press Enter if you want to use this team (or Return if you want to select a different team) and the current batting order will be displayed. Changing Hitters The leadoff hitter in the batting order will be the one taking batting practice. If you want a different batter: 1 Use the up arrow key to move onto the Roster list. A flashing yellow bar will appear. 2 Move the flashing bar over the player you want to take batting practice and press Enter. The AB symbol will appear next to that player. Changing Pitchers The pitcher listed in the team's batting order will be the one pitching batting practice. If you want to a different pitcher: 1 Highlight the team logo at the bottom of the Batting Practice screen and press Enter. You'll now be in your team's Roster screen. 2 Highlight Sub Players and press Enter. A flashing yellow bar will appear. 3 Move the flashing yellow bar over the current pitcher's name (at the bottom of the batting order), and press Enter. 4 Now move the flashing yellow bar into the Bullpen Box and highlight the pitcher you want to bring in and press Enter. The two players will now change places. 5 Highlight Return and press Enter to return to the Batting Practice screen. Editing a Roster You can edit any team or player information while in batting practice, but the changes WILL NOT be permanent. Only edits done while in League Play will remain permanent. Refer to the League Play and Editing a Team and Individual Players for instructions on how to edit a team or individual player. Batting Practice Options Menu From the Batting Practice screen, highlight Options and press Enter. The Batting Practice Option Menu is identical to the one described in The Options Menu section, except for the following two additional items: Selecting Pitch Types To select which type of pitch(es) you want thrown while you practice hitting: 1 Highlight any or all of the following pitches which appear in the Pitch Types Box and press Enter. A baseball will appear next to each pitch selected. * Off-Speed * Curveball * Fastball * Screwball * Sinker * Knuckleball * Fastball! * Slider 2 If you want to unselect a pitch you've chosen, highlight it and press Enter. The baseball will disappear. 3 Repeat for every pitch you want to practice hitting. Note: If more than one pitch is selected, they will be randomly thrown during Batting Practice. Selecting Pitch Locations To select the pitch location: Highlight one of the following locations listed in the Pitch Location Box and press Enter. When you are finished selecting, highlight OK to save changes or cancel to delete changes. A baseball will appear next to your selection. * Center of zone: Pitches will be down the middle of the plate * High/low: Pitches will be thrown across the plate, but to the high and low part of the strike zone. * Inside/outside: Pitches will only be thrown to the inside and outside part of the strike zone. * Random: Pitches will be randomly thrown to all parts of the strike zone. Only one location can be selected. Starting Batting Practice Your team is selected, and the batter and pitcher are ready to go. It's time to do some serious hitting. To begin batting practice: 1 Highlight Start and press Enter. When the playing field is displayed, a batter, pitcher, and a catcher will be waiting for batting practice to begin. 2 Select one of the following from the Hitting Options window Power - Hold down the right arrow key and press Enter. Contact - Press Enter. Bunt - Hold down the left arrow key and press Enter. 3 The batter will now step into the batter's box and the pitcher will throw the ball. 4 Press Enter to swing. 5 Continue this process for as long as you wish to take batting practice. 6 Press the ESC key to quit and return to the Batting Practice screen. 7 Press ESC to return to the Main Menu. Editing a Team and Individual Players HardBall III allows you to create your "dream team" by editing the roster of any of the 26 teams included in the game. You can also import and edit a team from three current baseball games on the market (see the How to Import a Team section). Note: For team edits to remain permanent, they must be done in the League Play section. Edits done in the Batting Practice and Exhibition Game sections WILL NOT remain permanent once you leave those sections. Editing a Team If you plan on making permanent edits, it is recommended that you create a new league, then make your edits on the new league. This will ensure that the "default.lgd" file remains untouched, so that all 26 original teams will always be available. (See the How to Create a New League section). To display the team editor: 1 Highlight League Play from the Main Menu and press Enter. 2 Highlight the team you want to edit and press Enter (if the team you want is in a league other than the one displayed, see the How to Change Leagues section). 3 Highlight Edit and press Enter to display the Team Editor screen . 4 When finished editing highlight OK and press Enter to save current changes. If you do not wish to save your changes, highlight cancel and press Enter, or press ESC. From the Team Editor screen, you can: Printing a Team Roster You can print a team roster directly from the game, or save it as a text file which can be printed from your word processing program. However, once a file is saved as a text file, you won't be able to print that file from the game. To print a team roster: 1 Highlight Print on the Team Editor screen and press Enter. You will be prompted to print stats for Average Season (career stats) or Current Season. Highlight your choice and press Enter. 2 Type PRN in the box entitled "Filename": and press Enter to begin printing. Note: If entering PRN doesn't initialize printing, try entering LPT1, LPT2, or AUX. If none of these work, then check to make sure your printer is connected properly. To save as a text file to the current drive/directory: 1 Highlight Print from the Team Editor screen and press Enter. 2 Type a filename (up to eight characters) in the box entitled "Filename": and press Enter. To save as a text file to a different drive: 1 Press the up arrow key to access the available drive options. 2 Highlight the drive you want and press Enter. That drive should now appear in the Path: window. 3 Highlight "Filename":. 4 Type in a filename (up to eight characters) and press Enter. To save as a text file to a different directory: 1 Highlight ..\ and press Enter to view all directories in the current path. 2 Highlight the desired directory and press Enter. That directory should now appear in the Path: window. 3 Press the right arrow key to move to the drive buttons, then press the down arrow key to highlight Filename:. 4 Type in a filename (up to eight characters) and press Enter. Exporting a Team File (See the Exporting a Team section later in this manual) Changing the Team Name The current team name will be listed in the Name Box. To change it: 1 Use the arrow keys to highlight the current team name, and press the Backspace key to delete it. 2 Type in a new team name (press the Backspace key if you make a mistake). 3 To select another option, press the up/down arrow keys. Change the Manager's Name If you are a team owner, the current manager's name will be listed in the Manager Box. To change it: 1 Use the arrow keys to highlight the current Manager's name, and press the Backspace key delete it. 2 Type in a new manager's name (press the Backspace key if you make a mistake). 3 To select another option, press the up/down arrow keys when you're done. Note: Manager's name is only displayed when you are a team owner. If you assigned a Manager's name while editing a team, that team will be purchased. Changing the Team Colors To select the jersey and cap colors your team will wear: 1 Highlight Cap in the box entitled "Colors". 2 Repeatedly press Enter to cycle through the available cap colors. 3 When the cap color you want is displayed, press the down arrow key to highlight Cap. 4 Repeatedly press Enter to cycle through the available jersey colors. 5 When the jersey color you want is displayed, press an arrow key to select another option. Edit the Team Logo The team logo is the icon which represents a team. Highlight the current logo displayed under "Logo", and press Enter. The Logo Editor works like many of your favorite IBM Paint programs. To edit the logo: 1 Press the Tab or arrow key until the cursor in the Palette Box blinks. 2 Use the arrow keys to move the blinking cursor to the color you want. 3 Press Enter to select the color, selected color will be displayed below Palette Box. 4 Press the Tab key (or arrow keys) until the cursor in the drawing area blinks. 5 Move the cursor to the location in the drawing area you want to edit. 6 Press Enter. 7 The change you just made is reflected in the viewer at the top of the Logo Editor. 8 Continue in this manner until you're done designing your logo. 9 When you're finished, highlight OK if you want your new logo to be saved, or Cancel to nullify all changes you've made, then press Enter. 10 Press Enter to return to the Team Editor. Selecting the Team's Home Field You can select any of the stadiums available to be your team's home stadium. Your team's home stadium is listed in the Home Field Box. To change it: 1 Highlight the current stadium. 2 Press Enter to display a list of the stadiums available on the current drive. 3 Highlight the stadium of your choice and press Enter. 4 The new stadium name will appear in the Home Field Box. Changing the Team Summary You can enter up to 6 lines of text to describe your team. To do so: 1 Highlight the Summary Box and press the Backspace key to delete the current text. 2 Type in a team summary (press the Backspace if you make a mistake). 3 To select another option, press the up/down arrow keys when you're done . Changing the Team's Star Player On the Pre-Game screen, prior to any League or Exhibition game, is a screen listing information about both teams. This screen also includes a photo of the team's star player, and his baseball card. To change which player will be your star player from the Team Editor screen: 1 Highlight the area under "Star Player" (the current star player will be displayed). 2 Press Enter, and the starting roster for the team you're editing will appear. 3 Highlight the player in the lineup you want as the star player. 4 Press Enter. 5 The player selected will be displayed in the Star Player Box. 6 Press the ESC key when you are done. Editing a Player In the Player Editor, you can alter players' skills, update their statistics, or completely recreate them by: * Changing pictures * Changing names * Changing uniform numbers * Changing positions * Changing attributes * Editing statistics To get into the Player Editor: 1 Highlight League Play from the Main Menu and press Enter. 2 Highlight the team you want to edit and press Enter again (if the team you want is in a league other than the one displayed, see the How to Change Leagues section). 3 Highlight Roster and press Enter to display the Roster screen. 4 Highlight the player you want to edit and press Enter to display the Player Editor window. Changing a Player's Picture A photo of the player you are editing is displayed in the Picture Box. To change the photo: 1 Highlight one of the arrow buttons which appear to the left of the photo. 2 Repeatedly press Enter to scroll through other pictures available until the one you want is displayed. 3 If you don't want a picture displayed, highlight None and press Enter. 4 To select another option, press the up/down arrow keys when you are done. Changing a Player's Name Directly below the player's picture is the Name Box. To change the name currently being used: 1 Highlight the Name Box (press the Backspace key to delete the current name). 2 Type in a new name for the player (press the Backspace key if you make a mistake). 3 To select another option, press the up/down arrow keys when you're done . Changing a Player's Uniform Number Beneath the Name Box is a box showing the player's uniform number. To change the number currently displayed: 1 Highlight the #: Box and press the Backspace key to delete the current number. 2 Type in a number from 0-99 (press the Backspace key if you make a mistake) 3 Press the up/down arrow keys when you're done to select another option. Changing a Player's Position To the right of the uniform number is a box showing the current player's fielding position. To change to a different position: 1 Highlight the Pos: Box. 2 Repeatedly press Enter or the left/right arrow keys to cycle through the different fielding positions until the one you want is displayed (see Table 4). 3 To select another option, press the up/down arrow keys when you're done . Note: When editing a pitcher, you cannot change his position. Table 4 Fielding Positions C - catcher 1B - first base 2B - second base SS - shortstop 3B - third base RF - right field CF - center field LF - left field DH - designated hitter UI - utility infielder UO - utility outfielder Changing a Player's Attributes There are four attributes listed in the Player Attributes window that can be defined for each player: Speed (Running) To assign a number from 1 (slowest) to 5 (fastest) to determine the base running: 1 Highlight Speed: and press the Backspace key to delete the current value. 2 Type in a number from 1 to 5. 3 Press the up/down arrow keys when you are done to select another option. Arm (Strength) To assign a number from 1 (weak) to 5 (strong), to determine whether a player has a gun for an arm or throws marshmallows: 1 Highlight Arm:, and press the Backspace key to delete the current value. 2 Type in a number from 1 to 5. 3 To select another option, press the up/down arrow keys when you are done. Bats (Left, Right, or Switch Hit) To determine if a player will bat right or left-handed, or switch hit: 1 Highlight Bats: 2 Press the left/right arrow keys or Enter to scroll through the following choices: L - left-handed R - right-handed S - switch hits (bats right-handed against a left-handed pitcher, and vice versa) 3 When the letter you want is displayed, press the up/down arrow keys to select another option. Throws (Left or Right) To specify whether a player will throw right or left-handed: 1 Highlight Throws: 2 Press the left/right arrow keys or Enter to scroll through the following choices: L - throws left-handed R - throws right-handed 3 When the letter you want is displayed, press the up/down arrow keys to select another option. Editing a Player's Statistics Five stats determine how well a player hits, fields, and runs the bases. The following information helps the computer determine player performance. Think of each stat as an average over a player's last year's performance. * Batting Average: The higher the average, the more often the player will reach base. * Home Runs: The higher the home run total, the better chance of the player hitting one out. * RBI's (runs batted in): The higher the number, the more reliable this player will be with runners in scoring position. * Stolen Bases: If a player has a high number of stolen bases, there's a good chance he'll be successful stealing a base. * Errors: If a player has a low number of errors, then his fielding will be flawless the majority of the time. Each player comes with stats listed. To change stats: 1 Highlight the desired stat. Press Backspace to delete current value. 2 Type in a number (000-999 Ä batting average; 0-99 home runs; 0-199 RBI's; 0-1,000 batting average; 0-199 stolen bases; 0-50 errors). 3 Press the up/down arrow keys when you're done. OK and Cancel When you've finished editing a player, highlight OK to save all changes, or Cancel to nullify any changes made, then press Enter. Select a pitcher just as you did a non-pitcher by entering League Play, choosing a team, then selecting Roster. Highlight the pitcher you want to edit and press Enter. The Pitcher Editor screen is slightly different than the Player Editor screen. Although you edit a player's picture, name, and uniform number the same way as in Editing a Player, a pitcher has different attributes and statistics than a non-pitcher. Editing a Pitcher Changing a Pitcher's Attributes The following attributes can be defined for each pitcher: Speed (Throwing) To assign a number from 1 (slow) to 5 (super fast) to determine how hard a pitcher can throw a ball 1 Highlight Speed:, press the Backspace key to delete the current value. 2 Type in a number from 1 to 5. 3 Press the up/down arrow keys when you are done to select another option. Accuracy (Control) Select a number from 1 to 5 to determine a pitcher's control. The higher the number, the more frequent a pitch will find the plate. 1 Highlight Accuracy:, and press the Backspace key to delete the current value. 2 Type in a number from 1 to 5. 3 Press the up/down arrow keys when you are done to select another option. Stamina (Durability) You can determine which pitchers can remain on the mound for an entire game, and which are only good for an inning or two. Rate each pitcher from 1 (poor stamina) to 5 (great stamina). 1 Highlight Stamina:, press the Backspace key to delete the current value. 2 Type in a number from 1 to 5. 3 Press the up/down arrow keys when you are done to select another option. Bats (Left, Right, or Switch Hit) To determine if a pitcher will bat right or left-handed, or switch hit: 1 Highlight Bats: 2 Press the up/down arrow keys to cycle through the following choices: L - left-handed R - right-handed S - switch hits (bats right-handed against a left-handed pitcher, and vice versa) 3 Press the up/down arrow keys when you are done to select another option. Throw (Left or Right) You must specify whether a pitcher will throw right or left-handed: 1 Highlight Throws: 2 Press the left/right arrow keys to cycle through the following choices: L - left-handed R - right-handed 3 Press the up/down arrow keys when you are done to select another option. Editing a Pitcher's Statistics The following six statistics determine how a pitcher performs both on the mound and in the field. Like a non-pitcher, all pitcher statistics are reset to zero at the beginning of a league. The following information helps the computer determine the performance of each pitcher. Think of each stat as an average over a pitcher's last year's performance. * Batting Average * Wins * Saves * Earned Run Average (E.R.A.) * Losses * Errors To change a pitcher's statistics: 1 Highlight the desired stat. 2 Type in a number from 0-99 (000-1000 for batting average; 000-5000 for E.R.A.; 0-50 for all other options). 3 Press the up/down arrow keys when you're done to select another option. Select Pitches Some pitcher's bread and butter pitch is his fastball, others a screwball or knuckler. In HardBall III, you can select each pitcher's bread and butter pitch, along with three others. The pitches available are: * Offspeed * Curveball * Fastball * Screwball * Sinker * Fastball! (super fastball) * Slider * Knuckleball To assign pitches: 1 In the Pitches window, highlight the box labeled #1:. This will be your pitcher's best pitch. 2 Press the left/right arrow keys to cycle through all eight pitches. 3 Press the down arrow key when you are satisfied with your selection. 4 Repeat with boxes #2: through #4:, the latter is your pitcher's least effective pitch. Pitches 2 and 3 are average pitches. Export a Player You may only export a player to another team in Hardball III. You can export players while in Batting Practice, an Exhibition Game or League Play. Note: You cannot export a player to a pitcher's position, nor export a pitcher to a player's position. 1 From the Main Menu, use your arrow keys to highlight either Exhibition Game, Batting Practice or League Play. Press Enter. 2 Highlight the team you wish to export a player from and press Enter. 3 Highlight Roster and press Enter. 4 Highlight the name of the Player/Pitcher you wish to export and press Enter. 5 Highlight Export and press Enter. 6 The Export Player window will now appear. Type in a filename and press Enter. Your player is now saved to your current drive. To export a player to a different drive: 1 Press the up arrow key to access the available drive options. 2 Highlight the drive you want and press Enter. That drive should now appear in the Path: window. 3 Highlight Filename:. 4 Type in a filename (up to eight characters) and press Enter. To export a player to a different directory: 1 Highlight ..\ and press Enter to view all the directories in the current path. 2 Highlight the desired directory and press Enter. That directory should now appear in the Path: window. 3 Press the down arrow key to highlight Filename:. 4 Type in a filename name (up to eight characters) and press Enter. To Import a Player You may only import a player from another team in Hardball III, and only while you are in League Play. Note: You can not import players into pitchers' positions, nor import pitchers into players' positions. 1 From the Main Menu, use your arrow keys to highlight League Play and press Enter. 2 Highlight the player's team, and press Enter. 3 Highlight Roster, and press Enter. 4 Highlight the name of the Player/Pitcher you wish to import and press Enter. 5 Highlight Import, and press Enter. 6 The Import Player window will come on. Use your arrow keys to scroll to the player you wish to import. Press Enter. 7 The imported player will replace the player you were editing. To import a player from a different drive: 1 From the Import Player window, press the right arrow key to access the available drive options. 2 Highlight the drive you want and press Enter. That drive should now appear in the Path: window. 3 All importable players will appear in the file box. 4 Press the up/down arrow keys to highlight the name of the player you want to import, and press Enter. To import a player from a different directory: 1 Highlight ...\ and press Enter to view all directories in the current path. 2 Highlight the desired directory and press Enter. That directory should now appear in the Path: window. 3 All importable players will appear in the file box. 4 Press the up/down arrow keys to highlight the filename of the player you want to import, and press Enter. League Play It's time for the real thing. No more practice games. No more batting cage. In league play, you can play from an 11 in MindSpan League (13 in Accolade League) to a regulation 162 game schedule. The Stars Game is played at the half-way point of whatever schedule you've selected, as well as League and World Championships after the season is over. Refer to Playing the Stars Game and the Post Season Play sections for more. Overview The League Play section is the heart of HardBall III. Before you take the field on opening day, you'll need to make a few decisions. First, you'll probably want to create your own league, then maybe edit some of the teams in it. Or maybe buy one. You might even want to realign the whole league. You'll then want to pick a schedule to play. Do you want to play a full 162-game schedule? Or maybe just half a season? Once a season begins, you'll need to decide which games to play yourself, and which you'll let the computer play for you. Overwhelming? Nah! Everything mentioned above is explained in the next few pages. So work in that glove, pine tar that bat, and sharpen those spikes. The season will be half over before you know it! Before a League Starts Prior to starting league play, you may want to customize a league to your specifications. Creating a New League Creating a new league on the current drive/directory: 1 Highlight League Play from the Main Menu and press Enter. 2 When the League Play screen is displayed, highlight New League and press Enter. The Name of New League? window will appear. 3 Type in a name for your league (up to eight characters) and press Enter. Note: Make sure you use a name other than one of those listed in the file window. Creating a new league on a different drive: 1 Press the up arrow key to access the available drive options. 2 Highlight the drive you want and press Enter. That drive should now appear in the Path: window. 3 Highlight Filename:. 4 Type in a name for your league (up to eight characters) and press Enter. Creating a new league on a different directory: 1 Highlight ..\ and press Enter to view all directories in the current path. 2 Highlight the desired directory and press Enter. That directory should now appear in the Path: window. 3 Press the right arrow key to move to the drive buttons, then press the down arrow key to highlight Filename:. 4 Type in a name for your league (up to eight characters) and press Enter. Note: HardBall III league names have a .lgd extension. Editing a New League The Edit League feature can only be used BEFORE a season starts. Once a season is underway, this option is replaced by the Reset Season option. To edit a new league, highlight Edit League on the League Play screen and press Enter. You can choose from the following options: Importing a Team HardBall III allows you to import teams from other HardBall III games, or it's predecessor, HardBall II. You can also bring in teams from: Tony LaRussa Ultimate Baseballr or Earl Weaver IIt Baseball II. Each baseball game has a different extension for it's team files. They are: HardBall III: .HB3 HardBall! II: .HB2 Tony LaRussa Ultimate Baseball: .TMS Earl Weaver II: .EWB To import a team: 1 Highlight Import Team and press Enter. The Import Team window will appear. 2 Highlight the File Type (HardBall III , HardBall II, EW II, or Ultimate) and press Enter. A baseball will appear next to the one you chose. 3 Highlight OK and press Enter. The Import Which Team window will appear. All teams in the current directory with the suffix of the file type selected will be listed. 4 Highlight the team you want to import and press Enter. 5 You must now select where to import this team. You will be taken to the League Play screen where you must either select an empty slot to put the team in, or replace an existing team. Note: No more than six teams can be in each division in the MindSpan League. 6 Highlight the location on the League Play screen where you want to import the team, and press Enter. The team name will appear. Warning! If you replace an existing team, it will be gone for good. To import a team from a different drive: 1 Highlight the File Type and press Enter. 2 Press the right arrow key to access the available drive options. 3 Highlight the drive you want and press Enter. That drive should now appear in the Path: window. 4 All importable teams will appear in the file box. 5 Press the left arrow key to highlight the filename of the team you want to import and press Enter. To import a team from a different directory: 1 Highlight the File Type and press Enter. 2 Highlight ..\ and press Enter to view all directories in the current path. 3 Highlight the desired directory and press Enter. That directory should now appear in the Path: window. 4 All importable teams will appear in the file box. 5 Press the left arrow key to highlight the filename of the team you want to import and press Enter. Exporting a Team Exporting a team will let you export any team from HardBall III to any other system that has HardBall III installed. This way, you can create your favorite team, export it, then challenge a friend to a winner-take-all slugfest! To export a team: 1 Highlight Export Team and press Enter. 2 The League Play screen will appear. Highlight the team you want to export and press Enter. The Export Team window will appear. Note: If the team you want to export is in a different league, see the How to Change Leagues section. 3 You'll now be prompted to assign the team a filename. Type in up to eight characters for the filename. 4 Press Enter when you're done. The team will be exported to the current drive. To export a team to a different drive: 1 Press the up arrow key to access the available drive options. 2 Highlight the drive you want and press Enter. That drive should now appear in the Path: window. 3 Highlight Filename:. 4 Type in a filename (up to eight characters) and press Enter. To export a team to a different directory: 1 Highlight ..\ and press Enter to view all directories in the current path. 2 Highlight the desired directory and press Enter. That directory should now appear in the Path: window. 3 Press the right arrow key to move to the drive buttons, then press the down arrow key to highlight Filename:. 4 Type in a filename (up to eight characters) and press Enter. Removing a Team You can remove any team from your current league, but ONLY before the season starts. 1 Highlight Remove Team and press Enter. 2 When prompted, highlight the team you want to remove and press Enter. 3 The team is now history. Warning! Do not remove a team from the original default leagues which come with HardBall III ! If you do, they will be gone forever. If you want to remove a team or teams from a league, be sure you create a new league first. Swapping Teams Wonder what it would be like to have both New York teams in the same division? Or maybe put together an all-west coast division? With the Swap Teams feature, you can do just that. 1 Highlight Swap Teams and press Enter. 2 When prompted, highlight the first team you want to swap and press Enter. 3 Next, highlight the team you want to swap places with and press Enter. 4 The two teams have now swapped places. Buying and Selling a Team Always wanted to own your own team and call all the shots? HardBall III allows you to do just that. When you become a team owner, all league games involving your team must be played out rather than simulated (see Playing a League Game later in this section). To become a team owner: 1 Highlight League Play from the Main Menu and press Enter. 2 Press the up arrow key to highlight the team you want to buy and press Enter. 3 Highlight Buy Team on the Team Summary screen and press Enter. 4 You'll be prompted to enter the name of the manager for your new team. Type in a name and press Enter. 5 Highlight Return and press Enter to return to the League Play screen. 6 A small joystick icon will appear next to the team you just purchased. If you assigned a manager's name while editing a team, that team will be purchased. To sell a team: 1 Highlight your team on the League Play screen and press Enter. 2 Highlight Sell Team and press Enter. 3 You are no longer a team owner. Start the Season Highlight Start Season and press Enter to display the Specify a Schedule File: Window which lists the different league formats available in HardBall III on your current directory. Each league format requires a set number of teams in them. Highlight one of the following formats and press Enter: 11 game schedule (short.scf; 81 game schedule (half92.scf; 162 game schedule (full92.scf; Note: If you don't have the correct number of teams in each division, you will get an error message. Loading a schedule from a different drive: 1 Press the up arrow key to access the available drive options. 2 Highlight the drive you want and press Enter. That drive should now appear in the Path: window. 3 All available schedule files will be displayed in the file box. 4 Highlight the schedule filename you want and press Enter. Note: HardBall III schedule files have a .SCF extension. League Schedule Viewing a Schedule You can view a season's schedule in two different ways: League Schedule: Weekly schedule for the entire league Team schedule: Monthly schedule for one team To View the League Schedule: 1 From the League Play screen, highlight Schedule and press Enter. 2 Highlight Prev and Next and press Enter to browse through the entire season one week at a time. The week being displayed is listed at the top of the screen. Use the up/down arrow keys to scroll through the entire week. 3 Highlight Return and press Enter to return to the League Play screen. To View a Team Schedule: 1 From the League Play screen, highlight any team and press Enter. The Team Summary screen will be displayed. 2 Highlight Schedule and press Enter. 3 The games scheduled in the month of April for the selected team will be displayed. The opponent's logo will appear on the day the game is scheduled. 4 Highlight Previous Month and Next Month buttons and press Enter to scroll through schedules for the remaining months of the season. 5 Highlight Return and press Enter twice to return to the League Play screen. Note: A red square on the monthly schedule indicates an away game; a blue square indicates a home game. You can print a team schedule directly from the game, or save it as a text file which can be printed from your word processing program. However, once a file is saved as a text file, you won't be able to print that file from the game. To print a team schedule: 1 Highlight a team from the League Play screen and press Enter. 2 Highlight Schedule and press Enter. 3 Use the Previous Month/Next Month buttons and display the month you want to print. 4 Highlight Print and press Enter. 5 Type PRN in the box entitled Filename: and press Enter to begin printing. Note: If entering PRN doesn't initialize printing, try entering LPT1, LPT2, or AUX. If none of these work, then check to make sure your printer is connected properly. To save as a text file to the current drive/directory: 1 Highlight Print from the Box Score window and press Enter. 2 Type a filename (up to eight characters) in the box entitled Filename: and press Enter. 3 The current box score has now been saved as a text file. To save as a text file to a different drive: 1 Press the up arrow key to access the available drive options. 2 Highlight the drive you want and press Enter. That drive should now appear in the Path: window. 3 Highlight Filename:. 4 Type in a filename (up to eight characters) and press Enter. To save as a text file to a different directory: 1 Highlight ..\ and press Enter to view all directories in the current path. 2 Highlight the desired directory and press Enter. That directory should now appear in the Path: window. 3 Press the right arrow to move to the drive buttons, then press the down arrow key to highlight Filename:. 4 Type in a filename (up to eight characters) and press Enter. Changing Leagues When you exit league play for any reason, the current status of that season is automatically saved until you resume play. Thus, if you want to change to a different league and play a different schedule for a change of pace: 1 Highlight Change Leagues from the League Play screen and press Enter. A window listing the available leagues on your current drive/directory will be displayed. 2 Highlight the league you want and press Enter (or highlight Cancel and press Enter if you decide not to change leagues). 3 You will be returned to the League Play screen with the new league parameters loaded and ready to go. To select a league on a different drive: 1 Press the right arrow key to access the available drive options. 2 Highlight the drive you want and press Enter. That drive should now appear in the Path: window. 3 All available leagues will appear in the file box. 4 Press the left arrow key to highlight the filename of the league you want to resume and press Enter. To select a league in a different directory: 1 Highlight ..\ and press Enter to view all directories in the current path. 2 Highlight the desired directory and press Enter. That directory should now appear in the Path: window. 3 Press the left arrow to highlight the filename of the league you want to resume and press Enter. Resetting a Season Is your team off to a dismal 2-10 start? Not to worry. You can reset the current season back to opening day and try again! To reset a season: 1 From the League Play screen, highlight Reset Season and press Enter. 2 Highlight OK to reset the season, or Cancel if you change your mind, then press Enter. Playing a League Game You can play a league game in one of two ways: * Play a complete game: You actually play a nine-inning game of baseball, just as if you were playing an exhibition game. * Simulate a game: The computer quickly calculates and displays the final box score. Playing a Complete Game To select a game to play in full: 1 Highlight Schedule from the League Play screen or a Team Summary screen and press Enter. 2 Highlight the game you want to play and press Enter. 3 Highlight Play Out in Full and press Enter. 4 The Pre-Game screen with the starting lineups for both teams will be displayed, along with the game's linescore. 5 See Playing an Exhibition Game for details on how to setup and play a game. You can play any game on the schedule in its entirety, whether you own one of the teams involved or not. If you own a team, you MUST play out all of their games in full. Note: You must select a game from the current week's schedule, which is highlighted on the monthly calendar and you must play the games in the order they appear. Simulating a Game You can have the computer quickly play out one or more games for you. If you are simulating one game, you can select the game from either the league schedule or an individual team's schedule. If you are going to simulate multiple games, you can only do so through the league schedule. In both cases, all games prior to the one(s) you plan to simulate must be completed. To Simulate One Game: 1 Highlight Schedule from the League Play screen or Team Summary screen and press Enter. 2 Highlight the game you want to play, and press Enter. 3 You are now given the option to Play Out in Full or Simulate. Highlight Simulate and press Enter. 4 In a matter of seconds, the game will be played out before your eyes. The final score and box score will be displayed, giving you the game's statistics. To Simulate Multiple Games: 1 Highlight Schedule from the League Play screen (you can't simulate multiple games from an individual team's schedule) and press Enter. 2 With the most current week's schedule displayed, highlight Simulate and press Enter. 3 The computer will continue to simulate the games for the entire week unless you press the ESC key. Note: While simulating, the computer will skip all games that are owned by a game player (a small joystick icon will appear next to a team owned by a human). These games must be played out in full. Saving and Resuming a League Game You can save and resume a league game being played out in full at anytime by following some simple directions. How to Save a League Game 1 While playing a game, press the ESC key to return to the Scoreboard/Lineup screen. 2 Highlight Options and press Enter. 3 Highlight Save Game and press Enter. The game is automatically saved to the current drive. 4 If you go back to the league schedule at this point, you'll see a small floppy disk icon next to the saved game. How to Resume a League Game 1 From the League Play screen, highlight Schedule and press Enter. Note: Make sure you have the right league displayed. If your saved game is in a different league, see the How to Change Leagues section. 2 Find the game you saved (it'll have a small floppy disk icon next to it), highlight it and press Enter. 3 You will resume the game at the point where you saved it. League Play Highlights The Highlights feature in League Play works slightly different than the one in Exhibition Game. In League Play, you don't need to create a filename for the highlight. How to Save a Highlight To save a highlight reel: 1 Press the ESC key to return to the Scoreboard/Lineup screen. 2 Highlight Highlights and press Enter to display the Highlights screen. 3 Highlight Store and press Enter. The Create Highlight File window will appear. 4 When prompted, type in a short description of the highlight and press Enter. The highlight will now be saved in the same directory where the current league is. Note: You CANNOT save a highlight to another drive/directory other than the one the current league is on. 5 You can edit the description at any time by highlighting Edit and then typing in your changes. 6 When you return to the League Schedule, an icon of a video cassette will appear in the box of the game the highlight was saved in. Note: If you abort a game, the highlights will not be saved. How to View a Highlight To view a highlight: During a League Game 1 From the Highlight screen, highlight View and press Enter. Note: During a game, you can only view highlights from the current game. Once a game is over, you can view any highlight which has been saved. 2 When prompted, highlight the reel you want to view and press Enter. 3 The first frame of the chosen highlight will be displayed (just like in Instant Replay) along with the Replay Control Box. 4 Refer to the Instant Replay section for directions on how to use the Replay Control Box. After a League Game or Before Resuming One 1 Enter the League or a Team Schedule. 2 Highlight the game containing the highlight you want to view (a small video cassette icon will appear next to the game). 3 When the game you want is highlighted, press Enter. 4 Highlight View and press Enter. 5 When prompted, highlight the reel you want to view and press Enter. 6 The first frame of the chosen highlight will be displayed (just like in Instant Replay) along with the Replay Control Box. 7 Refer to the Instant Replay section for directions on how to use the Replay Control Box. Playing "The Stars Game" The mid-season classic is held at the half-way point of any season, and features a one game match-up of the best players from both leagues during the first half of the season. HardBall III automatically selects the best players at each position from both leagues based on their statistics from the first half of the season. The Star's Game can be Simulated or Played in Full just like any regular season game. Post Season Play After a season is over, two rounds of playoff games begin. Note: If two teams are tied for a division lead after a season is over, they will play a one game playoff to determine the outright division winner. League Championships The divisional winners in each league play a best-of-seven series (first team to win four games) to determine the League Champion. The team with the best record during the regular season will host four of the seven games. The League Champion will then advance to the World Championships against the winner of the other league. World Championships Both League Champions square off in a best-of-seven series to determine the World Champion. Again, the team with the best record during the regular season will host four of the seven games. Note: Any or all League and World Championship games can be Simulated or Played in Full, just like any regular season game. Appendix Troubleshooting A Message from the Developers Many computers have more than 640K of memory in them, but unfortunately, it isn't always easy for us programmers to make use of this additional memory. To make things easier, we've developed ways to use more than 640K of memory and not conflict with other programs running on your computer. Here's a brief description of the different memory types: * Conventional: Sometimes referred to as "base memory", it is limited to 640K. It is the most convenient and fastest memory to use and most programs need as much of it as possible. * XMS (eXtended Memory Specification): This memory is managed by a memory manager such as HIMEM.SYSt, QEMMt, or 386MAXt. If a program wants to make use of XMS memory, it must ask the memory manager for a piece of the memory. If there is memory free, the memory manager will give it to the program. * EMS (Expanded Memory Specification): This memory is also managed by a memory manager, but in a very different way (we'll spare you with the complex and boring details). Some memory managers that handle EMS memory include EMM386.EXEt, QEMMt, and 386MAXt. Note that HIMEM.SYS is not an EMS manager. Programs get access to this extra memory by asking the manager for it, much like with XMS. * UMB (Upper Memory Blocks): Some memory manager programs make use of special features available on the 80386 and 80486 CPU's to fill in spaces above the regular 640K which are normally unused. This memory is almost as convenient for us programmers to use as conventional memory is, so if your memory manager supports it (QEMMt and 386MAXt both do), then it is desirable to have some available. The Al Michaels play-by-play announcer feature in HardBall III requires a lot of memory to run. So that it didn't take up too much conventional memory, we've made it use XMS or EMS memory ONLY. You will need at least 750,000 bytes of free XMS or EMS memory available. (The memory boxes in HardBall III's Setup screen will display how much you have). If you wish to play the announcer feature through your PC speaker (and not sound cards), you will need to use HIMEM.SYS instead of the other memory managers (QEMMt, 386MAXt, or EMM386t). The reason is that the other memory managers need to switch the CPU into protected mode so they can use the paging functions of the 386 and 486 CPU's. When the CPU is running in this mode, interrupts cannot occur fast enough to support digitized speech through the PC speaker. HIMEM.SYS doesn't switch the CPU into protected mode. Refer to your DOS manual for instructions on how to install HIMEM.SYS. Systems that Have Extended or Expanded Memory If your system has the required 2 Megabytes of RAM and you are having difficulty with the Al Michaels Announcer Feature, you may have to make an adjustment to your memory. To find out how much XMS or EMS memory you have, select the Setup menu (from the HardBall III Main Menu). The information in the lower-left corner of the screen will display available memory. If your system falls short of the necessary 750,000 bytes of free XMS or EMS memory, you will have to consult your memory manager manual for details on how to adjust your system's memory. Remember, if you have a memory manager loaded, the Announcer Feature MUST be played through an add-on sound board such as an AdLib, Soundblaster, or Thunderboard, etc. The Announcer Feature will play correctly through the internal PC speaker if you have the DOS HIMEM.SYS driver loaded into your CONFIG.SYS file. Refer to your system manual for details. Systems that Have 1 Megabyte (or less) of RAM If you load HardBall III and experience the following: * The game doesn't start properly * You see an "Insufficient Memory" error message * Freezes or erratic game play, see Booting Clean below. Booting Clean The easiest way to resolve loading problems, DOS conflicts, memory problems, erratic game play, etc., is to boot your computer with a "Clean" DOS system disk from drive A:. Here's how: 1 Enter the subdirectory on your hard drive where your DOS files reside (generally, the C:\DOS subdirectory). 2 At the C:\DOS> prompt, type: FORMAT A:/S (Enter). You will be prompted to insert a blank disk into Drive A:. Follow the on-screen prompts. When you're finished formatting the "Clean" DOS disk, remove the disk from your computer and label it "CLEAN" DOS. If you plan to use a MOUSE, copy the file MOUSE.COM to the "Clean" DOS disk using the DOS COPY command (refer to your DOS manual for information on the COPY command). MOUSE.COM is generally located on your original DOS disk or may reside in your C:\DOS or C:\MOUSE subdirectory. 3 Re-insert the "clean" DOS disk into Drive A: and then type A: (Enter). 4 At the A> prompt, type COPY CON AUTOEXEC.BAT (Enter). 5 Type PROMPT $P$G (Enter). 6 Press Ctrl z (Enter). 7 Press Ctrl Alt Del simultaneously to restart your computer. 8 Press (Enter) twice to skip the TIME & DATE prompts. 9 Type MOUSE (Enter) to manually load the mouse driver (if you copied the mouse driver to the "clean" DOS disk [step 2]). 10 Type C: (Enter) to log onto your hard drive. 11 Type CD\Hardball (Enter). 12 Type Hardball (Enter) to begin. Technical Support (408) 296-8400 If you still need help with this, or any other, Accolade product, please give us a call between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm (Pacific Standard Time). Be sure you are at your computer when you call. You can also write us at: Accolade Attention: Customer Support 5300 Stevens Creek Blvd. #500. San Jose CA 95129 Modem Users You can call and log-on to Accolade's Bulletin Board System free of charge (you pay for the phone call) 24 hours a day. The Accolade BBS has an open forum, hints for Accolade graphic adventures, new product information as well as a technical support forum where you can leave questions about any Accolade game. The modem number is 408-296-8800 and the settings are 1200, 2400 baud; 8 Data; No parity; 1 Stop Bit. 9600 baud users can dial 408- 296-8810. Accolade is also on CompuServe. Members of CompuServe can type GO GAMEPUB and leave a message for us at Accolade 76004, 2132. If you are not currently a member of CompuServe, call toll-free 800-848-8199 and ask for Representative 357 for your FREE introductory membership and usage credit. In addition to receiving support for Accolade games, you'll also find new demos, hints, walk throughs, and reviews of many Accolade products as well. 90-Day Warranty Accolade, Inc, warrants for a period of 90 days from the date of purchase by the original purchaser of the software that the recording medium on which it recorded will be free from defects in materials and workmanship. Defective media which has not been subject to misuse, excessive wear or damage due to carelessness may be returned during the 90-days period without charge. After the 90-day period, defective media may be replaced in the United States for $10 (U.S... dollars; plus 8.25% sales tax if the purchaser resided in California). Make checks payable to Accolade, Inc. and return to: Accolade, Inc., 5300 Stevens Creek Blvd. #500, San Jose, CA 95129. Legal Information HardBall!, HardBall II and Hardball III are trademarks of Accolade, Inc. All rights reserved. All other product and corporate names are trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The software and user manual are copyright 1992 by Accolade, Inc. Neither the software nor the user manual may be duplicated or copied for any reason. The customer may not transfer or resell the software or user manual. This computer software product and the user manual are provided to the customer under license from Accolade, Inc. and are subject to the following terms and conditions, to which the customer agrees by opening the package of the software and/or using the software. Granting of this license does not transfer any right, title or interest in the software or the user manual to the customer except as expressly set forth in this license Agreement. The Players Design and Programming: Jeff Sember & Mike Benna MindSpan Technologies Corp. Producer: Pam Levins Art: John Boechler Music: Alistair Hirst Sound: Mike Benna, Russell Shiffer Manual: Jeff Wagner, Richard Moran Creative Services: Lisa Marino, Shirley Sellers Tester: James Kucera, Robert Daly Game Announcer: Al Michaels Special Thanks: Janice, Maggie, Wilbur, Rusti