


                  Common Questions and Problems With BassTour

       The  following  represents the most common questions and problems
       encountered with BassTour. Before calling or writing  us,  please
       read  the  instruction manual thoroughly. We have found that many
       problems can be answered right there.

       [1]
       PROBLEM: "I cannot make the program scroll to another section  of
                 the lake".

       SOLUTION:  First,  make  sure  the  NUM  LOCK  is not set on your
                  keyboard. Then, be sure  you  are  using  the  NUMERIC
                  KEYPAD  ARROWS, not the separate cursor control arrows
                  on  101  key enhanced keyboards. Remember to press the
                  SHIFT key while you press the arrow keys.

                  On  many  computers,  in  particular  the  early Tandy
                  machines,  there  was  an  incompatibility  with   the
                  keyboard.  These  machines  would   not   generate   a
                  different  keycode  when the NUMERIC KEYPAD arrow keys
                  were shifted. This  problem  occurs  on  some  'clone'
                  machines  too.  This  can usually be remedied by using
                  the 2,4,6 and 8 keys in  the  top  row  of  your  MAIN
                  KEYBOARD. Do not use the SHIFT  key  when  using  this
                  method.

       [2]
       PROBLEM:  "Sometimes  'garbage'  appears when I try to scroll the
                  screen or select a rod or bait".

       SOLUTION: BassTour needs lots of FREE memory. Just  because  your
                 computer  has 640k or more of memory does not mean it's
                 all free for BassTour to use. We have found that memory
                 resident programs (TSR'S) are one of the main causes of
                 this problem. Programs like RAM DISKS, PRINTER BUFFERS,
                 KEYBOARD  ENHANCERS  and  MENU  programs  should not be
                 loaded before running BassTour. These  programs  occupy
                 memory  space  even  when  not  running, thus making it
                 unavailable to BassTour.

                 Another occasional cause of this  problem  is  lack  of
                 sufficient  memory  on  your EGA card (if you are using
                 one). Many of the older EGA cards only had 64k or  128k
                 of  video memory. They should have 256k to properly run
                 BassTour.


       [3]
       PROBLEM: "The program tries to start, but then stops."

       SOLUTION: One of the main causes of this problem is too many open
                 files. DOS only allows 15 open files per process. Check
                 your  CONFIG.SYS  file  to  be  sure  it  contains  the
                 following two lines:

                                  FILES=20
                                  BUFFERS=20

                 BassTour tries to open several files when it starts. It
                 then  assumes  they  were  open for its use. If in fact
                 they were NOT opened, the program may hang waiting  for
                 them  to  be  available.  The two lines described above
                 will help prevent this from happening.

       [4]
       PROBLEM: "I cannot save a game to the disk."

       SOLUTION: Many people try to save games (to be played  later)  on
                 the  original  distribution diskette. A saved game uses
                 about 60k of disk space, and the distribution  diskette
                 must have at least that much free if you expect to save
                 a  game.  Also,  make sure you're not in CAST MODE when
                 trying to save a game with the ALT-S key combination.

                 Sometimes, people have a clock or some other  interrupt
                 driven program running at the same time they're running
                 BassTour. Since these programs use interrupts, they can
                 'steal'  time  from BassTour. If one of these prrograms
                 decides to 'steal' its time while BassTour  is  writing
                 to the disk, the resultant file may be damaged. This is
                 because  DOS  itself  is  inherently non-reentrant, and
                 BassTour uses DOS facilities to write to the disk.  See
                 #3 above as well.

       [5]
       PROBLEM: "I cannot restore a saved game."

       SOLUTION: See #3 and #4 above. Also, make sure ALL files that are
                 supplied  on your BassTour distribution disk are in the
                 same directory as  BassTour.EXE.

       [6]
       PROBLEM:  "BassTour  does  not  always  save  my  record  catches
                  properly!"

       SOLUTION:  See  #3  above.  Also,  some  people thought they were
                  clever, and tried to edit the LAKERECS.TXT and/or the
                  STRINGER.TXT  files.   Don't  try  it!  One  misplaced
                  space or deleted/added line can mess the files up beyond
                  repair.


       [7]
       PROBLEM: "I get a RUNTIME ERROR 002 then the program stops!"

       SOLUTION: This means  that  BassTour  cannot  open  a  file  it
                 needs. This can happen if you do not have all the files
                 that are supplied on the original distribution diskette
                 in   the   same   directory   as   the   main  program,
                 BASSTOUR.EXE. It can also happen if you are  missing  a
                 file altogether. Also, refer to item 3, above.

       [8]
       PROBLEM: "I get a runtime ERROR 004 then the program stops!"

       SOLUTION: This means that access to a file needed by BassTour has
                 been denied by DOS. Make sure there is no write-protect
                 tab on your diskette, and see item 3 above.

       [9]
       PROBLEM: "I have an IBM  PS-2.  The  program  reports  that  it
                 detects a VGA card then stops, hanging up my machine".

       SOLUTION: Some models of PS-2 computers have the MCGA video mode.
                 This  mode  (320 x 200 x 256 colors) is a subset of the
                 VGA specification. These  computers  reports  VGA  when
                 queried by BassTour. BassTour then assumes that since a
                 VGA  card  was detected, that it should use the maximum
                 screen resolution it  can,  which  is  640  x  350,  16
                 colors.  You  can  force  BassTour  to  run  in  either
                 standard CGA mode (320 x 200 x 4 colors) or in the MCGA
                 mode by using one of these command lines when you start
                 the game:

                           BASSTOUR -C    (for CGA Mode)
                           BASSTOUR -M    (for MCGA mode)

       [10]
       QUESTION: "I have a VGA card in my machine, yet the program seems
                  to run in 16 color EGA mode. Why, and how do I make it
                  utilize the 256 colors of my VGA?"

       ANSWER: See item 9, above. BassTour runs in the EGA mode of  your
               VGA  card.  It  does not support true VGA (640 x 480 x 16
               colors) at this time. You can use the MCGA  mode  of  VGA
               (320 x 200 x 256 colors) as described in item 9.

       [11]
       QUESTION:  "I  have  a  Tandy  machine that supports 16 color CGA
                   mode. Is there a way I can run BassTour in this mode,
                   or am I stuck with the four color CGA mode?"

       ANSWER:  No, at least not at this time. The 16 color 'Tandy' mode
                is a non-standard video mode currently only supported by
                Tandy machines. I'm afraid you're stuck  with  good  ol'
                CGA.  Why not upgrade to VGA if you want great color and
                screen resolution in BassTour?


       [12]
       QUESTION: "Why did you choose such awful colors in CGA mode?  Why
                  not  blue  for the water, brown for land, or something
                  more realistic?"

       ANSWER: We didn't choose those colors! In CGA, we have  a  choice
               of Palettes (groups of colors), NOT the individual colors
               within those palettes. If you think these colors are bad,
               take  a  look  at  your  CGA card manual and see what the
               alternatives were!

       [13]
       QUESTION: "I have added disks LAKES #1 and LAKES #2 to  BassTour.
                  Having  20  lakes  to choose from is great, but why do
                  I set lakes records with such small fish?  I  find  it
                  annoying  to  wait for the 'Record Fish Ceremony' each
                  time!"

       ANSWER: You won't for long. As supplied, BassTour only has record
               information for the original six lakes. When you add  new
               lakes, records need to be established for those lakes. At
               first,  a  one pound fish will be a record. Gradually, as
               the sizes of the record  fish  increase,  record  setting
               will occur much less often. Why not just get it over with
               quickly and catch an 8 or 10 pound fish right away!

       [14]
       QUESTION: "On some lakes, my boat doesn't appear on the screen when
                 the game begins. How do I know where my boat is!"

       ANSWER: This occurs mostly on CGA or MCGA video displays, but may
               happen on lakes of your own creation as well. It simply
               means that the boat is in a section of the lake that is not
               currently visible. Press the M key to show the contour map.
               The blinking block you'll see is where your boat is. Scroll
               the screen and your boat will come into view.


