Readme.txt
Copyright 1998 (c) Sunstorm Interactive, Inc.

Welcome to Pro Bass Fishing, the most fun and immersive
fishing simulation for your PC!  

Contained in this document is some important last-minute
information which did not make it into the Pro Bass help
screens.  We suggest you read through this document, as
some important gameplay and program documentation is 
contained in this file.


1)  Modifying your display

If you are running in a high-color or true-color mode,
Pro Bass will ask you if you would like to have it
modify your system to run in 8-bit mode.  Another name
for this mode is 256-color mode, since that's the
maximum number of colors that can be displayed at one
time when using this mode.  If you have a nice true
color bitmap in your background or are using a high-color
Windows theme, you probably will not want Pro Bass to
change your settings.  If you have a fast system (Pentium
166 or above) and a newer video card, you will probably
never notice the slight loss of performance.  If you
notice the game is running slowly, you might want to
consider switching to a 256-color mode.  Since Pro
Bass will only ask you this the first time you run the
game, you can delete the file "Display Settings.cfg" and
it will ask you again when you run the game.  You will
be required to reboot your system, and after that, you
may run the game without incident.  Or, you can simply
switch video modes yourself by right-clicking anywhere
on the desktop, selecting properties.  Click on the
settings tab.  From this dialog you should be able
to select a 256-color (8-bit) mode.  You may be required
to restart Windows before the changes take effect.


2)  Force-feedback and joystick support

For users with either a joystick or a force-feedback
joystick, we've added DirectInput support.  If you have
the proper DirectInput version 5 drivers for your input
device installed properly, you should be able to both
cast, reel, and fight fish with your joystick.  For
those with force-feedback devices, you'll actually
be able to feel the fish fighting you, which make for
and incredible fishing experience.  Joystick casting
works with either button much like casting with the 
mouse.


3)  Setting the hook

An important gameplay feature is the "setting the hook"
after the fish has initially taken the bait.  To set
the hook, from the forward reeling position, pull back
sharply within approximately two seconds of the fish
bite or you may lose the fish.  When reeling in the
fish, make sure your mouse cursor is above the 
fisherman's head so he's in the forwardmost position.
Otherwise, you won't have any leverage with which to
hook the fish.


4)  Additional Control

There's a few last minute controls which we've added
to the game.  You can rotate your boat around the center
of the screen by 90 degrees left or right by hitting
the 'L' or 'R' keys.  Care should be taken when doing
so as you may end up in a position in which you can't
move your boat out.  In addition, the ESCAPE key lets
you abort your current cast or fish fight.


5)  Fish Finder information

The Sunfish 2000 is an area scanning sonar which can
detect fish in multiple bands.  The fish positions
are represented on a scrolling viewfinder which
shows the fish positional information.  Fish that
are "greyed" out are on the outer edges of the
fish finder's range.  Those colored solidly are
under or almost directly under the boat.  If you
wish to catch these fish, you might be wise to
move a couple of tiles south.  That way, you'll
be able to cast and have a good chance at snagging
the fish you spotted.


6)  NT support

Pro Bass Fishing officially is a Windows 95 only game.
However, for NT 4.0 users we've included an NT 
executable "Pro Bass NT.exe" which does not make use 
of DirectInput, since DirectX 5 is not yet available 
for Window NT 4.0.  You can point the shortcuts
that the installation program generated to point to
this executable instead of the Windows 95 executable.