Portfolio Score Four  V2.0

                               by

                   Centennial Software Systems

                        Aurora, Colorado


              (c) Centennial Software Systems 1990
                       All rights Reserved





1.   Portfolio Score Four is copyrighted (c) 1990 by Centennial 
     Software Systems, Aurora, CO.
2.   Atari and Portfolio are trademarks or registered trademarks 
     of Atari Corporation.




I - Introduction 

     Portfolio Score Four is a strategy game designed for use on 
the Atari Portfolio hand held computer.  The object is to get 
four colored markers in a row by dropping them into an upright 
board of eight columns.  You win by getting four in a row 
horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.  You can play against 
the Portfolio, in either of two skill levels, or against a second 
player.  

     Portfolio Score Four is constantly undergoing upgrades, 
enhancements, and additions.  Any and all suggestions and 
comments regarding this package should be directed to:


                   Centennial Software Systems
                    5707 South Odessa Street
                        Aurora, CO  80015
                         Attn: Carl Koop


or via Compuserve to :

                            Carl Koop 
                         UID: 73637,650


II - Freeware Information

     Portfolio Score Four is being distributed as "freeware".  
This means that you are free to distribute copies of it to 
friends and associates, upload it to BBS's, etc. providing that 
all of the files as well as this document are included in a 
completely unaltered form.   


III - Warranty

     The program comprising Portfolio Score Four is provided "as 
is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, 
including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of 
merchantability and fitness for a particular use.

     The entire risk of the quality and performance of the 
programs and utilities is with you.  Should programs prove 
defective, you assume the entire cost of all necessary 
correction, servicing, or repair.



IV - Playing Portfolio Score Four

      Once the program has been started you will see the title 
screen and menu.  The menu allows you to select one of the three 
playing modes or allows you to simply quit and return to the DIP 
OS prompt.  The first two modes (Easy and Difficult) pit you 
against the Portfolio, the third mode allows you to play against 
a second player.  This is a standard Portfolio menu, so you can 
either simply enter the first character on the line that contains 
your selection or you can use the cursor keys to position the 
cursor onto your selections and then press the return or enter 
key.

      After you have made your selection the game screen is 
displayed.  This screen is divided into three sections, the 
playing area (left half of the screen), the scoreboard (the 
upper right half of the screen), and the information area 
(bottom line on the right half of the screen).

      The scoreboard is used to display not only the current 
scores but is where the winner is declared as well.  The 
information area is where you make your play selection (you can 
think of it as a command line) and is also where messages are 
displayed.  The Playing area is the actual game board.  When you, 
the second player or the Portfolio make a column selection, the 
marker will be shown here.  Your marker is a gray square and the 
second player/Portfolio's marker is a black square.  

      The game board is made up of eight columns numbered 1 
through 8 (left to right) with each column being eight rows deep.  
To place a marker in a column you simply enter the appropriate 
column number at the prompt.  Markers will appear at the first 
open space closest to the bottom of the selected column (think of 
it as dropping the markers into a vertical column).  Once either 
of the players have managed to get four markers in a row, either 
horizontally, vertically, or diagonally he will be declared as 
the winner via a message on the scoreboard and a victory song is 
played by the Portfolio.

      After the winner has been declared a new menu will be 
displayed which allows you to either play another game, select a 
new level of play, or quit.  It is possible that the game will 
result in a tie, in which case a tie game message is displayed on 
the scoreboard along with somewhat appropriate music.


V - Portfolio Score Four Special Commands

      There are four special commands that can be entered in 
place of the column number whenever you are at the 'Enter Move' 
prompt.  These commands can be entered in upper or lower case and 
with one obvious exception do not take the place of your move.

      The four commands are:

        F - Forfeit Game
            Allows you to admit defeat to you opponent.  If this 
            option is selected a forfeit message and music 
            replaces the standard winners message on the 
            scoreboard.

        H - Help Display
            This command will cause a list of all of the 
            Portfolio Score Four commands to be displayed to the 
            screen.

        S - Skip a Turn
            This is the exception mentioned above.  You can skip 
            your turn by simply using this command, however, 
            remember that the Portfolio never skips a turn.

        M - Music On/Off
            This command will toggle that annoying music that 
            accompanies the winner/forfeit/tie messages on and 
            off.


VI - Conclusion

      I am very open to suggestions for improvements to this 
game.  For example, I think that easy mode is way too easy, and 
that difficult could be made more so, however I opted to issue 
the game in this mode so that people who use it can determine the 
actual difficulty via their comments.  Please let me know what 
you think of the game and have fun.