path: root/GAMEPLAY.txt

Note: This manual is nowhere near complete!

User's Manual for Atari 8-bit Taipan
------------------------------------

To play Taipan, first load the game from disk or insert the
cartridge. See RUNNING.txt for details on how to load the game.


Gameplay Summary
----------------

Taipan is turn-based. Each turn consists of a trading phase (when your
ship is in port) and a transport phase (when your ship is sailing to
another port). If you're attacked by pirates during transport, there
is also a combat phase.

During trading, you can buy and sell cargo at any port. Hong Kong is
your home port: that's where your bank and warehouse are located,
so when you're in Hong Kong you have the option to Visit Bank and
Transfer Cargo.

Hong Kong is also where the shipyard is located. If your ship is
damanged, repairs are available (for a price) when you arrive in
Hong Kong.

There's also a gentleman known as Elder Brother Wu in Hong Kong. He
loans money and collects donations for the local church, and is
rumored to have connections with Li Yuen's pirate gang.

When you're ready to leave port, choose Quit Trading from the menu.
You'll be asked for a destination, and then your ship will set sail.
This is the transport phase of the turn.

During transport, you might encounter a storm at sea. If this
happens when your ship is heavily damaged, there's a chance your
ship will sink, so make sure to keep your ship in good repair. Even
a well-maintained ship can be blown off course (to some other port
besides your chosen destination).

You also might get attacked by pirates. If this happens, you enter the
combat phase of the turn. Otherwise, you'll arrive in port and begin
your next turn.

Details
-------

Once the game is loaded, you'll see the title screen, with a picture
of a sailing ship (a lorcha, to be exact). At the title screen, you
can customize gameplay before starting the game, using these keystrokes:

B - Change background color. This cycles through all 16 hues available
    on the Atari.
T - Change text brightness. Cycles through 4 levels, from bright to dark.
S - Enable/disable sound. This controls the "whistle" alert sounds in the
    game, but not the key click sound. On XL/XE machines, the keyclick
    will be disabled; on 400/800 it will be enabled.
Space or Return - Start the game. For the disk version, the rest of the
    game will load from disk (once it's loaded, you can turn off the drive;
    Taipan doesn't use it). For the cartridge version, the game starts
    immediately.
Escape - Shows help, listing the above keystrokes on the bottom line of the
    screen. Each press of Escape cycles to the next keystroke.

When the game starts, the first thing you'll do is "name your firm". This
is the name of your trading company, and can be anything you like, up to
22 characters. The name doesn't affect gameplay; it's just for fun.

The next screen offers you the choice of starting with either:

1 - Cash, and a debt (but no guns)
2 - 5 guns, no cash, and no debt.

Your ship has a cargo capacity of 60 units either way, but each gun
takes up 10 units, so option 2 gives you only 10 units for carrying
cargo. Later in the game, you'll get the options to buy guns and
upgrade your ship to higher capacity.

If you choose option 1, you can start trading immediately, but
remember to pay back your debt to Elder Brother Wu (he lives in Hong
Kong; go there to make payments). Very Bad Things can happen to those
who ignore this advice. The debt has interest that accrues every turn,
so don't wait too long. You'll also have to run if you get attacked
(or throw cargo, once you've bought some): You won't have guns to
fight back with, at first.

With option 2, it takes longer to start trading. You'll have to sail
around to different ports, waiting to be attacked by pirates. If you
defeat them in battle, you'll collect plunder from them in the form
of cash, which you can use to start trading. However, you won't get
very rich with only 10 cargo units on your ship, so upgrade as soon
as you get the offer!

Once you've made the choice, the game proper begins. You'll start out in
Hong Kong. Whenever you're in a port, the Status screen is displayed. This
shows lots of information [todo, fill in]

Trading in the world of Taipan works just like real life: buy low and sell high.
There are 4 cargo types, in order from least expensive to most:

General Cargo - this is the miscellaneous stuff that cargo ships
carry. It might be raw materials (sugar, tar, coffee, pig iron), or
finished goods (casks of wine, clothing, jewelry). To simplify gameplay,
these are lumped together as one category.

Arms - Weaponry. Muskets (flintlock and otherwise), swords, etc. You
can't use these to fight other ships; they're just cargo, but
commanding a better price than General Cargo.

Silk - Bolts of raw silk cloth. Pretty expensive stuff.

Opium - A highly addictive drug, but not without medical uses. It's
risky to trade in opium becase it's illegal in most ports. However,
the potential gains may be worth the risk.

Combat
------

During combat, you have three choices: Fight, Run, or Throw Cargo. If
your ship doesn't have any guns, don't bother trying to fight. Running
away is always an option, but the enemy will chase you, so you can't
always escape right away. Throw Cargo means you have your crew throw
some of your cargo into the water, in hopes that it will distract the
pirates or satisfy their greed, allowing you to get away safely.

When the battle first starts, you choose between Fight, Run, or Throw
Cargo. During the fight, you can change your orders at any time by
pressing the key for the new order (f, r, or t).

If you get impatient during combat, you can use "Turbo" mode:
hold Shift when you press F or R (Fight or Run). This disables the
animations and delays, so each combat round happens very quickly. If
the fight starts going badly, you can press any key to exit Turbo mode
and return to normal speed.