Output of file : SPHELP.CS0 contained in archive :
SPEC10A.ZIP Introduction SPECULATOR is a game about local land markets. Players acquire property and control land holding companies. The object of SPECULATOR is to have the most assets when the game ends. SPECULATOR has 4 players. You, the human player, compete against 3 computer players for limited investment opportunities. SPECULATOR is Freeware. Please feel free to give copies of this program and its files to your friends. However, Capstone Solutions reserves all commercial rights to this program and its files. Help is always available by pressing the
or keys. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ SPECULATOR is played on a 24X14 map of proper- ties. Each property has its own value. The type of symbol displayed on the map shows the value of the property or who owns the property. Unowned properties include: PROPER- BUILDINGS: WATER: TIES : Owned properties include: BUILD SITE: COMPANIES: BLOCKER: R T R Ü > R X1 P Ø X: Properties Properties are units of land that may be bought and joined. They look like: You can buy properties through your Real Estate Agent. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Properties Each property has two basic effects in Spec- ulator, value and output. The value of a property represents how many dollars the property is worth when sold in the open market. Usually properties are valued between $1 and $30. Properties that are adjacent to water and shore cost twice their normal value because of market demand. The output of a property represents the monthly income or loss of the property. There are 5 levels of property output, ranging from red to black. (See page 21 for more infor- mation on how to view a property's output.) When a property is bought by a player, its symbol is changed to a Build Site. When a property is owned by a Land Holding Company its symbol is changed to the company's. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Buildings Buildings are public and private property that can never be bought or joined. The Buildings in this game look like: ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Buildings Each building type has a unique affect on the properties directly adjacent to it. Some building types have an affect on the output of adjacent properties, while others affect the value of adjacent properties as time passes. The affects of a building on adjacent prop- erties are applied at the end of each month. The building's affect on adjacent property varies with the month of the year. For example golf course buildings only have an affect on adjacent properties during the warm months of a year, while malls have the greatest impact during the Christmas shop- ping season. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Build Site Build Sites appear on the map whenever a property is owned by a player. You can find out which properties you own using the 'Terrain Map' menu action. If two Build Sites have adjacent edges (i.e. up, down, left, or right) they will form a Land Holding Company. When the Build Sites you own become a part of a Land Holding Company, your ownership of the property is automatically traded for shares in that company. Once you have purchased a Build Site through the Real Estate Agent, it remains yours until it is joined with a Land Hold- ing Company. Build Sites cannot be sold. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Water and Shore Water property and the adjacent shore lines are never for sale. The properties are usually closely held by residents and government in Speculator. Water and shore lines in Speculator look like: On some map sets water and shore tiles may appear as other, non-water terrain types. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Land Holding Companies Whenever there are at least 2 adjacent player owned build sites, a new land holding company is formed. The company trades stock to the owners for their building sites. The company remains on the map and in the stock market until it merges with another company, the game ends, or the company folds. Whenever players purchase build sites adjacent to an existing company, the build site becomes a part of the company. If a player places a build site next to more than one company, the two companies merge. Players can purchase and sell stock of the land holding companies. Whoever owns the high- est percentage of a land holding company's stock controls the company. Only the con- trolling player of a company can order a company to expand its holdings. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ More on Land Holding Companies There are 8 land holding companies: ----- --- Mercury ----- --- Saturn ----- --- Venus ----- --- Uranus ----- --- Mars ----- --- Neptune ----- --- Jupiter ----- --- Pluto ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ COMPUTER OPPONENTS In the freeware version of SPECULATOR there are just a few computer opponents. Each opponent has its own unique personality. Only 3 computer players will be in any game. The computer players you compete against are determined by the game map you choose. Computer players usually take their turns at fixed times. However, after each purchase action you take, the next computer player immediately takes its turn. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Current Computer Opponents On this map you are competing against: Q ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Menu Actions There are 12 items in the main menu. You can see these as selectable buttons at the bottom of the screen. You can take any action in one of two ways: 1. Use the left and right arrow keys to position the highlight marker around the action you want to take, then press the key. 2. Press the corresponding shortcut key for the action you wish to take. Each of the menu action items has its own help screen. Press the when a menu action is highlighted, and you will get context sensitive help. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ More on Menu Actions There are 4 kinds of player actions. The actions are color coded by type: Red - give you information Yellow - buy and sell stock Blue - control properties Orange - game actions ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Menu Action Short Cut Keys P Player Information Find out how you and the computer players are doing. N Newspaper Read about what is going on in the game. C Company Accounting Public information on land holding companies. T Terrain Map Look at the map in three different ways. ? l ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Menu Action Short Cut Keys B Buy Stock Purchase available shares of land holding company stock S Sell Stock Unload stock for cash. R Realtor Look at and purchase currently available properties. E Expand Company Controlled companies increase their property value. ? l ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Menu Action Short Cut Keys L Buy Blocker Purchase a property and remove it from play. F1 Help A About SPECULATOR Q Quit SPECULATOR NO FUN!!! ? l ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Player Information The player information action presents you with a sub-menu of actions. The first four sub-menu actions allow you to examine the players' detailed information. The information about the human player is accurate, while the information about the computer players contain only estimates. The right-most sub-menu action allows you to get a proportional view of how each player is doing. The players' total asset values are shown against each other in relative values. P ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Newspaper The newspaper shows the important recent events happening in the marketplace. Only the eight most recent newsworthy events are displayed. The newspaper gives you a way of seeing what the computer players are up to. News items tell you who is starting companies, which companies are growing, when company stocks are being sold and bought, who merged with whom, and a host of other events. Since only the last 8 newsworthy events that oc- curred are displayed in the newspaper, it can really pay off to read the news about once a month. P ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Company Accounting The company accounting window gives you infor- mation about existing land holding companies. You will only be allowed to view companies that are currently on the map. If only one company is currently on the map, you will go directly to that company's accounting information. If there are several companies on the map, you can choose which company to view with the company selector menu. The game manual explains in more detail about the information on the company accounting window. P ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Terrain Map The terrain map menu action presents you with a sub-menu of 3 actions. Each of these actions allows you to view the map in differ- ent ways. The first shows the underlying property on the map. Each symbol represents the property's value. The numbered ones are owned by you. The second shows which player owns which build site on the map. The build sites are color coded for each player. The third shows all the properties' monthly cash output base. Red properties lose cash, white properties have no affect, and grey to black properties generate income for the owning land holding company. P ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Buy Stock The buy stock action displays the basic infor- mation you need in order to purchase shares of a land holding company's stock. Buying stock uses your cash to acquire shares of the selected company. Use the keys to change the amount. Use the key to purchase the shares. Use the key to cancel the purchase. Be careful to watch your cash level when you are buying stock. Stock is often much more expensive during a struggle for the control of a company. Watch out for the Federal Trade Commission. They don't like it when you manipulate the price of a stock too much... P ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Sell Stock The sell stock action displays the basic infor- mation you need in order to sell off shares of a land holding company's stock. Selling stock uses the company stock you own to raise cash. Use the keys to change the amount. Use the key to purchase the shares. Use the key to cancel the purchase. Selling stock will drive the price of the firm's shares down after you have sold them. Some computer players will try to drive your share values down this way. Other computer players can buy each stock you sell just as fast as you can sell it! P ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Realtor The Realtor action allows you to purchase properties on the map. After selecting this action, you can use the arrow keys to move from property to property. The key will cause the real estate agent to purchase the property for you . You can press the key while cycling through the properties to see the terrain map sub-menu. Each month new property listings come out. On some maps there are few properties avail- able while on the other maps there are many properties for sale. Most computer players are careful about which properties they buy. Some prefer to start new hotels, while others like to acquire shares by adding properties. P ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ More About Realtors When you buy a property, the lot is leveled and becomes a bare dirt building site. When two or more bare dirt building sites are side by side a new company is formed. New build sites adjacent to an existing company property automatically become part of the company's property. Speculator will transfer new company shares to your portfolio propor- tional to the value of the build site. When a build site is adjacent to a company it is automatically absorbed by the company. The buyer of the build site is awarded shares in the company according to the value of the property being added. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Expand Property In order for a land holding company to grow without adding new property tiles, a player can choose to have the company invest in its current properties. This action uses the company's cash and a new stock offering to finance the investment. Only the largest stockholder of a company can cause it to expand. Companies can only expand once in each size class. A company's current size class can be determined by examining the building pictured in the Company Accounting action. Expanded properties will generally have their cash output values increased. P ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Company size classes: small medium large jumbo X X @ X h X ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Buy Blocker This action allows you to purchase a property and to permanently reserve it from improvement by building public facilities on it. It costs over 3 times the property value to purchase the property and build the public fixtures. Once placed, blocker properties are unowned. These properties are essentially removed from game play. Some computer players try to be sadistic in their placement of blocking tiles, while others buy these tiles quite defensively. P ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Monthly Events Each month, SPECULATOR checks for several events and happenings. In addition, company performance is updated with resulting cash dividends. At the end of every month, the land holding companies' books are done. Most companies will earn some rents and incomes from the properties they currently own on the map. When a land company's stock costs too much per share, there is an increasing chance that it will split. Stock splits double the number of shares for all holders and decrease the value of shares by half. Every month a new real estate listing is issued. The number of properties listed varies from map to map. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Quarterly Events At the end of each Quarter, SPECULATOR does a financial audit of all existing land holding companies. At the completion of this audit, each company's quarterly dividend is distributed to its shareholders in proportion to the number of shares of each. The single largest factor controlling the amount of dividend a firm will issue is its current cash position. Be careful to watch the calendar as you spend your cash. If you use it all in January, you might miss out on the wonderful property that is only available during February! ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ More Maps As you can tell after just a couple of games, each map is a unique scenario of calculation and action. With each map different problems in logic and luck make a unique experience. There are MANY MORE MAPS to explore! Each SPECULATOR map has its own unique com- puter opponents designed to decrease your bot- tom line. We have created a new group of graphics for each map set of SPECULATOR. This powerful feature allows you to experience the effects of castles, railroads, lava pits and more! PRESS FOR MORE INFO ABOUT MAPS! ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Maps Sets Available As of January, 1993: 'Slick Cities' So you want to be a developer in Daytona? O.K., how about South Central L.A.? We have selected a cross section of United States cities and designed devious modern computer opponents for you to compete against in your play. 'Ancient Tymes' From Roman border towns to feudal castles, this map set lets you see slices of property acquisition from humanity's history. With Caesars' wits and King Arthur's virtue, these computer opponents are not for the faint hearted! PRESS FOR MORE INFO ABOUT MAPS! ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Maps Sets Available As of January, 1993: 'County Side' Famous American rural areas become your battle ground with the family farm hanging in the balance. These graphics get dirt in your teeth! But beware the evil land barons we have included in this set... Can you preserve the American way of life? 'Mooned Puzzles' The moon's surface provides a great back- drop while trying to solve these puzzlers. Green cheese is in hot demand here! Can you be more clever than John Luke? Or more aggressive than Ripply? Find out with Mooned Puzzles! PRESS FOR MORE INFO ABOUT MAPS! ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ How Do You Get Map Sets? Each SPECULATOR Map Set comes with: * a printed SPECULATOR rule book * a SPECULATOR strategy guide * the cheet sheet of SPECULATOR formulae * the latest version of SPECULATOR * more than 20 new SPECULATOR maps * lots of new computer opponents Individual Map Sets cost $19.95 each. Save by getting three Map Sets for only $39.95 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Ordering Map Sets Order from WestWorld Computer Services by mail, phone, fax or E-mail. MAIL: 3755 Avocado Blvd. Suite 304 La Mesa, CA 91941-7301 PHONE: 800-995-1605 (24 hour voice mail) FORIEGN: 619-685-7291 (24 hour voice mail) FAX: 619-558-7850 EMAIL: GEnie : WESTWORLD Compuserve : 70574,450 America On-line : WESTWORLD Prodigy : JSPB88A See the main menu for more information. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Keystroke Shortcuts Key Action --- --------------------------------- + slower turns (more time per turn) - faster turns (less time per turn) A see information About SPECULATOR B Buy land holding company stock C display land holding Company info E Expand a land holding company H display the Help screens L buy a bLocking property N read the current Newspaper P see Player information Q Quit the game R call up the Real estate agent S Sell your stock T show underlying Terrain F1 display the help screens ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ 2 2 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ
Very nice! Thank you for this wonderful archive. I wonder why I found it only now. Long live the BBS file archives!
This is so awesome! 😀 I’d be cool if you could download an entire archive of this at once, though.
But one thing that puzzles me is the “mtswslnkmcjklsdlsbdmMICROSOFT” string. There is an article about it here. It is definitely worth a read: http://www.os2museum.com/wp/mtswslnk/