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| Seven Cities of Gold |
| The Manual |
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| Written by |
| |
| The Camel Jockey |
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| Prelude |
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%%%
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%%% NCE, in a tavern on the waterfront, an old salt whispered to
you the tale of the Seven Bishops Christian men who had been blown far
off course into an unknown realm and who established seven Kingdoms
whose splendor ranked with the reign of Solomon. Since that time you
have dreamed of little else.
Now at long last you have been granted the resources necessary to
mount an expedition. To be sure, the Court's ministers are interested
only in surpassing Portugal's maritime strength and controlling
commerce to and from the Orient. They do not know of your real
motives. But no matter. The expedition is yours to command, and you
feel certain that adventure beyond all imagining, and riches beyond
all dreams of avarice, are in your grasp.
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| In Europe |
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The Court
Not every visit to the palace will fill your heart with the same
exultation as the first. Nevertheless, here you must return - for
recognition of your accomplishments, for the glory and power of
titles, perhaps for more gold desperately needed to continue your
search. Alas, need alone will not guarantee another audience to any
save novices.
Home
Here, in private, may contemplate your successes (or lick your wounds)
and study the maps you've created on your journeys. Here you may also
judge the progress you're making towards your goals - how much and how
many rivers you've explored, how many natives you've encountered, and
how many special landmarks (great lakes, lust jungles, etc.) you've
found. Finally, you may learn how many missions you've established
and how much more gold you've found than you've spent.
The Court considers all the categories listed, except missions and
lives, in granting titles. The highest rank, Viceroy, is reserved for
those who can achieve an overall rating of at least 50% by 1540.
(Losing an expedition completely - dying - costs you the maps and
discoveries made since the last time you stopped by the pub. It also
costs you the opportunity to get future credit for all those
discoveries save the discovery of land, and you lose a year and a half
of your valuable time.)
The Outfitters
It is here that you will spend your gold to equip and provision your
expeditions. As your experience grows, learn to choose effectively
among the ways you can invest your wealth. Do you plan to trade? How
many goods will you need? Do you aim to conquer? What size army must
you assemble? Can you find food? How much should you take? Find the
answers that fit your style of exploration. Or prepare yourself for an
unhappy relationship with the Court and for expeditions barely able to
survive - hardly the marks of explorers destined to become Viceroys.
Player Tip
Food is bought and bartered for in relation to the number of men in
your expedition. Decide on the number of men you want first, then on
how many weeks' worth of food you want for them. To get a feel for
this relationship, play around with the two quantities the first few
times you're give the opportunity.
The Pub
Wise conquistadors will stop by here after every trip to record their
maps and discoveries. Losing also all the maps and discoveries you
made on your last three trips is heartrending.
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| The Expedition |
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The Voyage
When you leave port, mark well the indications of your voyage and how
they continually change. On the screen window, north is always at the
top, west to the left. At the top of the screen you see the month and
year and the number of vessels still in your expedition. To the left
is the size of your army and the number of weeks you can feed that
many mouths with the food on hand. To the right is the ledger of your
cargo of goods and gold. At the bottom is your speed and the depth of
the water.
Your ship's cartographer can help you but little on this part of your
search. Choose the "view map" option to learn your latitude and pay
attention to the passage of time. By such dead reckoning you will
learn to cross the ocean with the least expense of food and life.
There are many perils in the uncharted waters beyond Spain. Men die of
scurvey or of storms in which no one can hear their last cries for
help. Those same storms can blow you far off course and cost you vital
time. Your supply of food dwindles as you ply your way across the vast
ocean. Wander too long in search of landfall, and you will surely
perish.
From the Historical Record
Columbus' critics were right. If there had been no American continent,
no Spanish fleet of that era could have completed the ten thousand
mile expedition across the Atlantic to Japan. They couldn't carry
enough food.
The food they could carry was no treat - a grim mixture of tough salt
mat, hardtack, and dried vegetables. Meals were cooked in a wooden
firebox embedded in a heap of sand on deck. Sour wine and
stale water completed the repast.
Discovery and Exploration
Bring your ships into safe mooring carefully and learn from your
costly mistakes. Resolve not to lose more ships by inattentively
running around or to the same shoals or shallows. Remember also that
if you leave your ships unattended while you set off on long journeys,
the sailors who man the ships (who are not included in your roster
count) just might sail away before your return.
As you move over the land think of all who will bless your name for
your discoveries. The Court and merchants want gold and trade;
sailors, other explorers and scholars will be eager to see your maps.
Others in the Universities will be anxious to hear of the surface of
the land and of the people who live in it. And the Holy Church is ever
solicitous to save unenlightened souls.
The Church has a powerful ally in your need for food and someone to
help carry it. Unless you find and learn to deal with some local
inhabitants, you're not going to get very far in your quest for the
fabulously wealthy cities you hope to find.
Playing Tips
1. Imagine a world without roads and you'll begin to grasp the
improtance of rivers to the to the explorers in the 16th Century. Your
own progress also depends on your use of rivers - a moderate pace on a
river moves you as fast as a reckless pace on land.
2. Your computer will build maps for your as you go. Consult them
frequently. (Your positions is always approximately in the center.)
You want to build pictures in your head and perhaps even keep journal
notes of what happened where. Your goal is to be able to find your way
back to useful places and avoid dangerous ones. (one screen measures
120 miles on a side on the exploration surface and 960 miles on a side
on your maps.)
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| The Natives |
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Making Contact with the Natives
In any new region, where the natives live will not be visible (save to
the novice) unless you take the time to stop and look for signs. When
you have spotted a signal and move to enter a village, think also of
what signal you mean to send as you go in. Reckless aggression?
Cautious friendliness? Open-handed generosity? The decision is yours
alone. And its implications and consequences are yours alone to bear.
There will be considerable variety in the natives you encounter. Some
will be more populous, some more credulous, some more hostile, and
some more complex combinations of those attributes. If you would
survive and prosper, learn to use your ears and eyes for clues to the
natives' moods and the patterns in their responses to your actions and
combinations of actions.
Trade or Conquest
Both approaches are available to you. Both, if successful, bring
valuable bearers as well as goods. To trade, as the natives will be
quick to tell (if your gait and perhaps your generosity seem
suitable), you must deal directly with the chief. He always stands in
the center of the village until and aggressive threat causes him to
vanish or yield in despair.
Conquest is quick, but it consumes lives and leaves bitter memories.
Trading is safer, but it is also slower and requires many goods. Take
whatever actions your heart and mind tell you to take - and attend to
what you learn about yourself in the bargain. And harken. None but
novices should always believe everything their bearers tell them -
especially bearers far from home on an expedition whose food is going
stale. And consider that the natives remember long and well what
treatment they receive at your hands. Let your future dreams temper
your present schemes.
From the Historical Record
On his final voyage, Columbus found himself stranded in Jamaca. At
first the natives supplied food; but the voracious appetites of the
explorers - they consumed 15 to 20 times as much food as the natives
did themselves - soon put them out of favor. The Spanish were slowly
starving.
Columbus devised a stratagem. His almanac predicted a total eclipse of
the moon on the last night of February 1504. Columbus summoned the
native chieftain and announced that Almighty God was displeased with
their treatment of His chosen emissary. If food was not brought to the
Spanish, the Lord would darken the moon forever.
The eclipse began at moonrise. Soon the entire village ran howling to
Columbus' ship, imploring him to halt the destruction. Columbus waited
in his cabin until the full eclipse phase had passed, then emerged and
took credit for a successful intercession on their behalf.
Columbus and his men enjoyed an ample food supply for the duration of
their journey.
Establishing Forts and Missions
Both trade and conquest can bring you the opportunity to establish
more than a thinly manned fort, and how few to avoid and over
garrisoned armory, will depend on the size of the native population at
the site. Let the pictures signifying fort and missions be your guide.
And let experience tell you how eager the conquered are to throw off
their yokes during your absence.
From the Historical Record
At times the natives were only too wiling for the Spanish to establish
armed garrisons in their own land. Gudcanagari, chieftian of a Haitan
tribe, implored Columbus to establish a colony so that Spanish guns
could help him defeat his rivals on the island. Columbus had his own
reasons for wanting to found such a colony. Thus was Villa de la
Navidad (Christmas Town) the first settlement and first armed fort in
the New World.
Playing Tips
1. Pay attention to the time of year and to your latitude. Toward the
far north and south, the effects of climate become visible in the
fall, winter and spring. And, since how much food you'll find in a
village depends on when the last harvest was, you'll find paying
attention to the seasons materially rewarding as well as aesthetically
pleasing.
2. Don't underestimate native communications. Some can spread word of
your activities to cities you haven't visited yet. And bearers can
show you the location of other settlements - and of treasures, if you
pause long enough to listen to them.
3. A mission can supply nearby ships and cause the sailors to wait
patiently for the return of the landing party, provided care has been
taken to inform the mission inhabitants of the location of the ships.
1540 and Beyond
Within 50 years of Columbus' first voyage, the Spanish had conquered
the New World's most advanced civilizations and had begun to
consolidate one half of the territory into a colonial empire. Center
stage began to pass from the Spanish Conquistadors to the traders and
settlers of many nations who followed.
You may continue your explorations after 1540 if you wish, but you
will receive no more titles from the Court or other recognition for
your efforts. If you wish to see the complete map of the territory
you've been exploring so you can begin anew with a New World, see the
reference card section of this doc file.
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| Advanced Play |
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Notes on the World Maker
Calling brand new New Worlds "random continents" conveys something of
their challenge and variability, but it doesn't do justice to the
sophistication of the program that produces them. New Worlds are not
simply drawn willy-nilly. They conform to geological and cultural
principles built into the program code.
There is, for instance, a plate tectonics model consulted for each
creation. Mountain ranges are generated where the plates bump into
each other. And secondary ranges (like the Allegheny mountains on the
historical map) may be created as well.
The program also consults a cultural dissemination model for its work.
The influences of major civilizations are presumed to spread outward.
Consequently, pueblo dwellers generally will be found between
city-states and primitive agriculturists. The model will allow for
varying levels of this influence and can thus produce occasional
continent arrangements which have no Incan level civilizations.
Alternately, it can make a very rich and powerful arrangements, ones
which, like 16th-Century Japan, are highly civilized from coast to
coast.
Competitive Play
Though only one player may use and save a position on a particular map
disk, competitive opportunities may be created by using 2 of the
program disk to make multiple copies of a map disk. Several different
players might then explore the same terrain, comparing progress
periodically or simply declaring the winner to be the player with the
highest totals and title by some agreed upon date. (Note: You can
start a new game with a map disk without disturbing a game previously
saved to that disk, but you cannot save more than one game on any
given disk.
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| Basic Joystick Control Information |
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General - Moving the joystick moves the expedition. Pressing the
button while moving changes speed. Pressing the button while at rest
produces a options menu.
The Exception - Pressing the button while moving at sea sets your
course. You may release the joystick and you will continue on course
until you move it again to change directions. Pressing the button
while sailing on course produces the options menu.
In the Options Menu - Moving the joystick up and down moves the
highlighted from option to option. Pressing the button selects the
highlighted option.
In the Transfer Menus - Moving the joystick up and down moves the
highlighted from item to item. Moving it right and left transfers
quantities of the highlighted item from column to column. The price of
items and the amount of gold or goods you have to spend appears at the
bottom of the screen. If you are simply transferring resources and not
buying or bartering, holding the button down will speed up the
process. To leave a transfer menu, push the joystick up until the work
"leave" appears, then press your button.
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| Creating a Map |
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Historical - Boot side 2 of your program disk and follow the
instructions as they appear on the screen.
Random Continents - Boot side 1 of your program disk and follow the
instructions as they appear.