Mad TV Manual ============= Translated from German by Todd Hawks. Edited by Underdogs Home of the Underdogs, http://www.the-underdogs.org/ Index ----- Welcome to Mad TV The Beginning The First Day Your Own Office The Broadcasting Schedule The Control Center Ratings Graph The Image Ratings The Account Balance The Map The Painting - Save Games The Boss Betty Botterblom The Porter The News Studio The Movie Agency The Screenplay Agency The Advertisement Agency The Supermarket The Studios The Archive The Real Estate Agency The Info Board Categories Show Production The Sammy End Of Game Controls Credits ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to MadTV First the good news: You have been appointed program director of a leading TV channel. Your boss is nice and you work in the same building as Betty Botterblom - the most beautiful woman in the city. Now the bad news: Your channel is only leading in the category "most often switched off channel in the US," and your boss actually was polite the last time when he canceled your predecessor's holiday one day before his flight to Hawaii. And in order to be taken seriously by Betty, you evidently at least have to be awarded a culture prize.... The Beginning Before you enter the MadTV skyscraper, you'll go to the startup menu. If you have saved a game in an earlier game and you want to continue it, click on LOAD GAME. If you play for the first time or want to start a completely new game, chose the TV station you want to manage: MadTV, FunTV or SunTV. All stations are completely on an equal footing and the ones you don't choose will be managed by the computer. Every station has it's own color for better perceptibility. Red=MadTV, green=FunTV and blue= SunTV. In the line beneath the names of the stations, you can name yourself and the computer- controlled opponent. We suggest to give your opponents the names of your old math teachers or your new boss! In the line below, you can select the difficulty level of the game. The default is "normal". The difficulty level changes the behavior of the computer opponents. To start a new game, click on "New Game." The First Day Every morning you first go to Mr. Raffers office. Mr. Raffer actually is a nice man, but he knows how to hide that like no one else does. After the boss gave you his orders for the new day, you'll be shoved out of his office and find yourself in front of it. Now we can start. As new program director the big, wide world is open to you. But you don't have much money. The first thing you will most likely ask is: "What are those displays at the bottom of the screen for?". Well, first of all there is the TV screen on the left side. Here you are able to receive the three stations by clicking on the corresponding colored button. By moving the mouse over the screen, you'll get information on current television ratings. The display on the right side is an "inverted" TV: You can watch into a normal living room, the one of the Gardener family to be precise. Depending on your program and how good it is, more and more members of the family will sit in front of the TV. The display in the middle of the screen is explained easily as well: At the top you can see you account balance. The last three digits aren't displayed so you have to add a "-thousand" to the number. By moving your mouse over it, you will get additional info on your budget. The second panel shows your current number of viewers in millions, i.e. a 0.9 means 900,000 viewers, a 4.3 means 4,300,000 viewers and so on. You can get additional information by moving your mouse over it. The bar with the heart on its right side represents Betty's affection towards you. The longer the red bar is, the more Betty likes you. At the bottom, the current time is shown. Every day starts at 17:00 and ends at 01:00. In the control center you can change how fast the time passes. Your Own Office The most important room (except Betty's of course) is your office. It is from here that you lead your station to success. The Broadcasting Schedule When you click on the computer, you will be taken to the broadcasting schedule screen. It is divided into hours and goes from 18:00 to 00:59 hours. Here you insert your daily TV programs and commercials that are to be broadcasted. The broadcasting schedule looks like this: 18.00 News 18.05 Program block 18.55 Advertisement 19.00 News 19.05 Program block 19.55 Advertisement 20.00 News 20.05 Program block 20.55 Advertisement 21.00 News 21.05 Program block 21.55 Advertisement 22.00 News 22.05 Program block 22.55 Advertisement 23.00 News 23.05 Program block 23.55 Advertisement 00.00 News 00.05 Program block 00.55 Advertisement 00.59 End of day. The news are broadcasted hourly - they cannot be taken out of the broadcasting schedule. To choose programs to broadcast during any program block, click on the third icon from above on the right side of the screen. You'll see different categories. The squares in front of them show you how many transmissions in the corresponding category you own. The blacker it is, the more programs you own. Click on a category to view the programs and click on one to select it. You can own a maximum of four (4) programs per category. After you select a program, place it in the broadcasting schedule by clicking again on the time slot you want it to be shown. You can move the program to a different time slot by clicking on it again and putting it down elsewhere. Right click to cancel the selection. Programs that have already been broadcasted, or are broadcasted at the moment, are rendered red in the broadcasting schedule and can't be changed anymore. You must carefully consider the fact that viewers demand different kinds of programs depending on the time of day. For example, series are great for the early evening. Later on you should try to compete with your opponents by broadcasting a better program than they do. After filling in the transmissions you can add the hourly advertisements. Click on the second icon to see all advertising contracts you have signed. Choose one and place it in the broadcasting schedule. You don't have any contract at the beginning of the game. See "Advertising Service" section to learn how to get one. When there are no empty fields left, you've completed your program for today. With the arrows on the left you can switch to the next day and edit the program for tomorrow. The Control Center Click on the first icon in the broadcasting schedule to open the control center. Here you can turn on or off the TV screens at the bottom of the screen and the sound. The car at the bottom represents the speed of the game. The slowest setting is on the left, the fastest on the right. The Ratings Graph By clicking on the fourth icon in the broadcasting schedule you open a graph that shows your ratings. You can view the ratings for the day or for the week. Click on the different colors to view ratings of the other stations, i.e. your competitors. The light bars show the ratings for the news, the dark ones for the programs. For every hour of the game, the station with the highest ratings is calculated and shown with an arrow pointing up. The station with lowest ratings gets an arrow pointing down and the station in the middle gets nothing. The Image Click on the icon 'Image' to see the image values of the three stations. The image, i.e. the audience's opinion, is the most important aspect of MadTV. Your goal is it to get a higher image while reducing the image of your opponents. The sum of three image values always equals 100. If the image of a station drops below 20, it will be in serious trouble. If that happens, actors or advertising companies may no longer want to work with that station. Redistribution of image points takes place after each broadcasted program block. The station with the highest rating in that block gets one image point from the station with the lowest rating. Another possibility to get image points is the 'Sammy'. The Sammy awarded for the best news is worth eight image points, the Sammy for culture is worth four points and the other ones will give you six points each. The points will be subtracted from the other players equally. You don't have to fear any competition as soon as you reach 100 image points. Betty also only wants the BEST: Betty's sympathy for you never can be higher than the image of your station. Therefore, you have to reach a station image of 100 in order to be able to marry Betty and win the game. Ratings Two important terms will keep coming back at you while playing MadTV: number of viewers and ratings. To be successful, you should know what they mean exactly: The number of viewers is measured in millions and shows how many viewers have watched a program. The rating takes into account the maximum number of viewers you can reach which depends on viewer demographics and the number of broadcasting towers you own. The rating shows, in percentage, the proportion of viewers who have actually seen the program out of the total audience reach. So if you can reach 2 million viewers and 200,000 watch your show, your rating is 10%. The more important factor of the two is often the number of viewers, since that is how you really can compare the stations. A small station could get much higher ratings than a big station but have a much lower number of viewers. As for advertising contracts, only the number of people actually viewing the commercials count. So it is much more important to have a higher number of viewers than high ratings. On the other hand, the ratings are the decisive factor for the image of your station and that's what will win or lose you the game. The Account Balance By clicking on the fifth icon in the broadcasting schedule, you'll get a daily balance as well as an overview of your finances. You can also view the balance from the previous day. The Map Click on the map on the right in your office to buy and sell broadcasting towers and satellites. The different colors on the map represent different population densities. Grey=low, red=high. You can place broadcasting towers anywhere you want to on the map. You should, however, consider the cost and the population reach. If you have a lot of money, you can also buy a satellite for the east and for the west of the USA. You will have to pay 20% of the initial cost for maintenance each day, though, so be cautious when buying. The Painting - Saving And Loading Of Games. If you want to save or load a game, click on the painting in your office. You can save up to 10 games. The Boss You may have noticed that Mr. Raffer is no nice guy. He decides about whether you stay in your job as well as whether you can get loans. Since you depend on him, you should take his moods and feelings seriously. If you just won a Sammy, it will be easier to convince him to give you a new loan. The interest rates are very high, though, so only take out a loan if you really need it! As Mr. Raffer's only interest is money, he will leave you alone as long as you do your job and don't lose his money. Betty Botterblom You may think whatever you want about Betty, but she is the central character for this game. You only win the game if you manage to marry her. And that isn't easy to achieve. You'll only be able to marry her when you got all 100 Betty-sympathy-points, i.e. when the bar with the heart next to it is completely red. You can get those points by buying presents for her in the supermarket and giving them to her. Betty's sympathy can never be higher than the image of your station, so it is useless to buy her tons of presents if you don't heighten the image of your station as well. Another way to increase her sympathy is to broadcast her culture program. You shouldn't broadcast it at prime time though, as it will probably kill your ratings. If Betty likes you enough, she may give you a key for all the rooms in the building (including your opponents'). Of course your opponents are equally interested in Betty. You can see whom she likes best by looking at the pictures in her office. The more she likes someone, the higher she hangs his picture. In Betty's office you can see the standings for the Sammy as well. Just check the board behind her. The Porter It's a good idea to visit the porter from time to time. He knows best about who is going to visit the building and what they want. The News Studio Here the hourly news are selected. You can subscribe to three news agencies: Political News, Show Business and Sundry. At the beginning of the game, you've subscribed only to the Political News. You can subscribe and unsubscribe to the agencies by clicking on the three symbols to the left. You have to pay a daily fee! To select the news to be broadcasted, click on the black board. You can now choose the news on the left and put them on the right (up to three at a time). Price and time of the news are shown on the icons. As soon as you leave the studio, the new news will be produced. Try to always use the latest and most important (=expensive) news, as the ratings of the news affect the ratings for the program that is broadcasted after it. The Movie Agency Here you get the 'software' for your station. There are two ways to get movies (series, live shows and the like will all be called 'movies' here). The easier one is to buy movies directly: just select one of the cassettes on the desk. Click on it and click again in your green bag. The movies will be brought to your archive and can be broadcasted. The second possibility is the auction. To see the offers, click on Mr. Jabble sitting at his desk. The prices you see are the minimum offers. If you click on a movie, your name will be placed, the minimum offer will be raised, and your bid subtracted from your account. Now your opponents may do the same, and the station bidding highest at the end of the day will get the movie. Of course you will get your money back if you didn't win the auction. If you want to sell movies, go to your archive and put the movies in your bag first. Then got to the movie agency and give the movies to Mr. Jabble. You'll receive the current value of the movie immediately. To help you decide which movie to buy, there's info when you hover your mouse over a movie. Here you can see the name of the movie and a little description as well as the price. To help you estimate the success of a movie you can also see information like critics' opinion and box office gross. An important bar is the 'current' bat at the bottom. It shows whether the movie has been broadcasted recently. Of course viewers don't want to see the same stuff over and over again.. Watch out for X-rated movies. If you broadcast them before 21:00, you may get into trouble with the 'Committee for a clean America'. The Screenplay Agency Here you can purchase ideas for shows or series that you want to produce. Producing your own programs has several advantages: They often are cheaper than the ones you may buy and they will achieve high ratings if they are of a high quality. Of course you may sell them after broadcasting them. Choose a folder on the shelf and put it into your bag to buy it. You can find more information on this topic in the 'Show production' section of this manual. The Advertising Agency Without this office, you'll soon be bankrupt. Here you can sign the contracts for the commercials you broadcast every hour. You can view all contracts on the desk. Hover your mouse over them to view their terms and conditions. The following information is available: - The name of the advertising company. - The slogan it will use. - The money that will be paid as soon as the contract is fulfilled ('bonus'). - The penalty you have to pay if you don't fulfill the contract. - How often the commercial has to be broadcasted. - The number of viewers watching the commercial needed to fulfill the contract. The number in brackets is the current rating you'd have to get in order to reach that many viewers and is, of course, dependant on the total number of viewers you can reach. - Often there are other conditions concerning the kind of programs you have to or cannot broadcast, e.g. 'no action movie' or 'love stories only.' To sign a contract, click on the folder on the desk and put it into your green bag. As soon as you leave the office the contracts become effective and you can't cancel them. The Supermarket A very important room for you! Here you buy presents for Betty. Click on the guy at the left. Now you may buy a present or stuff needed for the production of your shows. A Present For Betty You can chose between ten presents. Hover the mouse over the icons to view the price and how often someone already bought it for Betty. Of course the effect will be lower if you already bought it several times, so try to buy her presents that she never got before. Purchase For Your Production Click on the guy to the left and tell him you want to purchase stuff for your production. If you have multiple shopping lists, choose one. Now you see a part of your shopping list which you can scroll by clicking on the arrows. All the parts you need for your show are displayed as black and white icons. Click on them and make your selection for that part. Actors, show masters, guest stars and singer have different attributes and different prices. The quality of your show depends on the quality of the parts you buy. An expensive actor isn't necessarily suited for the kind of show you are producing so choose wisely. Also heed the advice you get from the accountant. As soon as you've completed the shopping list, you may go to your studio and start the production. Hopefully, your choices are sound! Read how to get a shopping list in 'Show Production' section below. The Studios There are three sizes of studios: Small (size 1), middle (size 2) and large (size 3). At the beginning you own only a small studio. You may rent additional studios at the real estate agency. Generally a studio is larger the farther to the right it is located in the building. Once you bought a screenplay at the screenplay agency, go into a studio of the right size and put the screenplay on the table (to the left of your bag). Now click on the director. He will give you hints for the production and a shopping list with which you can buy the needed parts at the supermarket. After buying them, go back to the studio to start the production. You may ask the director what he thinks about the potential success of the production. Then you only have to wait until you get a notice that the production is finished and the cassette is placed in your archive. The Archive All movies, shows and series you own are stored here. If you want to sell some of them, go to your archive and click on the guy to the right. Choose a category and put the movie you want so sell into your bag. Go to the movie agency and sell them there. You can't take movies that are currently placed in your broadcasting schedule. The Real Estate Agency Click on the board to get information about available rooms. Click on one to rent it. You'll be told whether the room can be rented and how much it will cost. You can only rent free rooms. To 'free' a room, you have to think about something yourself. If you can't come up with an idea on your own, read 'The Info Board'. Every time a room is rented, the real estate manager will raise the rent and asks for a heavy provision. The Info Board All visitors to the skyscraper will look at the info board near the entrance. If someone messes with the signs, that might cause some serious confusion. The computer opponents will use every opportunity to send Arab terrorists or other unwelcome guests to your rooms. Of course you may do the same to them. A Tip: You can use these visitors to free rooms for your studios. Categories All programs are divided into several categories: Love stories classics and new movies loved by nearly everyone. Action movies viewed by everyone but watch out for X-rated movies. Epic movies "Ben Hur" or "Gone With The Winds", the viewers want to see those classics from time to time. Comedies viewed by every age. Whodunits every good program has to have some. Watch out for X-rated material. Cultural program nearly no one wants to see it. But it may award you a Sammy and therefore image points. Live events will give you dream ratings (especially sports events), but they are expensive and of course have to be broadcasted at the time they happen. Shows an essential part of every program. Can be either bought or produced. Science Fiction entertainment for everybody. Sundry all the stuff that can't be put into any other category. Series series can be everything from SF to comedies. You may buy them or produce them yourself. Best broadcasted in the early evening (18:00). Show Production The advantage of producing shows and series is that you often have higher ratings and you can sell them later. (Although shows can only be broadcasted once, and cannot be sold). To start a production, you buy a screenplay at the screenplay agency. Go to a studio of appropriate size and put the screenplay on the table. Click on the director and ask for a shopping list. Buy the needed parts at the supermarket. Go back to the studio and start the production (click on the director and tell him to start). 'Trends' is a special kind of show. When you broadcast it, you get information on what your viewer want to see today and in the next days. This is basically a way for you to take a survey of your audience. You can check the results of the show in your computer. The 'Sammy' The Sammy will be awarded from time to time to the station with the best news or cultural program. A Sammy gives you a boost of popularity and raises your image up to eight points (see 'The Image' for more information). Additionally the Sammy award is one of the few things that make Mr. Raffer slightly happier for a day… so go and ask for that loan. Mr. Raffer will notify you as soon as a new Sammy competition begins. You can see the current standings in Betty's Office. End Of Game You will win as soon as you marry Betty Botterblom, the beauty on floor 13. That sounds easier than it is. She is very picky regarding her presents and then the others want to marry her to. Don't forget to buy her a dream voyage as a wedding present. Controls The controls in MadTV are simple: In the building, click where you want to go or click at the elevator and select the room on the info board that opens as soon as you enter it. To leave a menu or room, click the right mouse button. Just remember this simple rule: In=left button, out=right button. You can also move the cursor with the arrow keys or the numpad. Enter replaces the left mouse button and Esc replaces the right mouse button. Credits Project Manager / Idea Ralph Stock Graphics Thomas Andrae Programming / Original PC Version Stefan Hoffmann Additional Programming Christian Kramer Programming Amiga Version /ST Version Heiko Schroder Sound Amiga Version / ST Version Rudolf Stember Sound PC Version Jochen Hess Additional Graphics Michael Hoffmann Testing Bastian Bongertz Andreas Konigsdorff ** END OF FILE **