DICTATOR - DK'TRONICS LTD

"DICTATOR" for 48k Spectrum

You have just become President of Ritimba, a small 'banana republic'
somewhere vaguely equatorial. Like all previous presidents, of which
there have been very very many, your position is unenviable. The
instability of the country guarantees that your rule will be brief and
you will end up either very dead or in exile.

Your main purpose, therefore, is to rule for as long as possible,
during which time you need to siphon off into a Swiss bank account as
much of your country's meagre treasury balance as possible, ready for
your inevitable early retirement. You must, of course, manage to flee
Ritimba at the appropriate time in order to enjoy your ill-gotten
gains.

These notes will take you into your first attempt at being 'Dictator'.
If at any time you press the wrong key or get 'lost' in the program,
keying "STOP", (Symbol Shift 'A') will jump you back to the start.
NEVER use the BREAK routine.

LOAD "" CODE

When LOADed please STAND for the Ritimban National Anthem! (do you
recognise it?).

Press any key when you can't stand it any longer.

The flashing 'KEY' at the bottom of the screen features throughout and
means

* Press 'Y' if a YES answer is required
* Press a NUMBER for a required selection
* Press 'N' for NO or NO SELECTION WANTED (if this is allowed) or Move
to the NEXT Section. In fact, you can use practically any key for
this command.

Press 'N' (or any key) for a Treasury Report in Ritimban dollars.

Press 'N' (or any key) for a Secret Police Report.

Within Ritimba there are three main populations. The Army, the
Peasants and the Landowners. As their interests often conflict and
each is jealous of the others' relative strengths they are known as
FACTIONS.

The Army is small, housed in one barracks, and is poorly equipped.
They have nobody to fight but bands of Guerillas, and are not noted
for their loyalty to the President.

The Peasants work and live at serf level on the banana plantations.
(Bananas are the only export through a rundown port on the short
Ritimban coastline.) Both the Army and the Guerillas recruit from
their numbers, which are considerable.

The Landowners, though few in number, have the financial clout to buy
trouble for you if they so wish.

Also listed on the Police Report are various other GROUPS who can have
a strong influence on Ritimba's turbulent history.

The Guerillas inhabit the mountainous border regions and are solely
dedicated to overthrowing any President/Despot/Dictator (That's you!)
and substituting their own brand of socialism. They will readily join
any disgruntled Faction.

The Secret Police, your eyes and ears, who prepared this Report, are
formidable allies or enemies. Without their co-operation you will have
little idea of what's going on, and as they can either protect you
from assassination or join a revolution they need to be treated with
due respect.

Leftoto is your neighbour sharing all your land border. The Leftotans
also grow and export bananas. They will not make war but can give
support to either side in a revolution. Rather left-wing - more
sympathy with Russian or Peasant interests. Should you be ousted and
flee to Leftoto you will be received sympathetically, even if the
Leftotans helped in your downfall.

The Superpowers are no direct threat, but the amount of 'foreign aid'
they dish out to prop up the shaky Ritimban economy is directly
related to their opinion of your rule.

The (green) numbered bars on the left, indicating your Popularity with
Factions or Groups will vary in length. At present, you are equally
popular will all expect the Guerillas. You will never gain their
support.

The (red) numbered bars indicate the relative strengths of Groups or
Factions. Superpower superstrength is a foregone conclusion.

Your strength is 4. It represents the strength of the only loyal
support you have, a small private army of thugs, your bodyguard.
Although not bright enough to protect you from assassination they will
fight for you in any revolution but such is there devotion they will
gun you down should you attempt to leave them, i.e. flee the country.
The only time you will be able to do this is when they are fully
occupied fighting for you.

Press 'N' Notice that your rule is measured in months!

Every month you are obliged to take part in an old but tiresome
Ritimban tradition. A member of one of the factions will, at this
Presidential Audience, make a request which you may grant or refuse.
Such a request is now on your screen.

Press 'N' for ADVICE. Press 'Y'

This tells you the consequences of granting the request, how it
affects your popularity with and the strengths of the Factions and
Groups. Sometimes there is little effect. At other times, the
consequences, depending on your position at the time, may be
disastrous. You will never be able to please all of the people all of
the time.

If you decide to refuse the request the status of each will not be
affected except that your popularity with the Faction concerned will
go down (minus) by the amount indicated by the arrow.

Press 'N' to show the financial consequences of granting the
request. Now you have to decide.

Press 'Y' (whatever the request is) to get an updated Treasury
Report. The first monthly reduction will have been made as will any
adjustments caused by granting the request.

Press 'N' Police Reports cost 1,000 dollars. It's always worth it.

Press 'Y' for the Police Report. The strength and popularity
indicators will have altered. They can never exceed 9 or drop below 0,
so if your rating with a Faction or Group is 0 you can't make things
worse.

If your popularity with a Faction drops to 4 or less then it may plot
against you. No Faction is ever strong enough or confident enough to
start a Revolution alone and needs an ally; another Faction or Group
with whom you are unpopular. Also, such an alliance can only be made
if the combined strengths of the two parties equals or exceeds
Strength for Revolution (which itself will vary!). If an alliance is
made, the Faction name will flash and the number of its ally will be
displayed in the blank column to its right. Thus forewarned of a plot
you will have time to take appropriate action.

If a Faction cannot find a suitable ally then it will plot your
Assassination. This will show as a flashing 'A' next to its name. No
strength is needed and only the Secret Police can protect you.

Press 'N' for Presidential Decisions.

These are a selection of decisions you can choose from to alter the
course of events. They can be examined and advice sought concerning
the consequences.

On screen at the moment are Decision Headings. (Menu)

Press "1" (Please a Group)

Press "5" (Sell Arms)

Press "Y" for Advice. Note that in this case Strengths are unaltered.

Press "N" for Financial consequences. This is the time to press 'Y' to
make the decision but instead:

Press "N" to take you back to Decision Headings.

Press "3" (Improve Chances)

Once taken, a decision is irrevocable. Neither can it be repeated. It
won't even be listed. There are two exceptions to this and they are
marked with an asterisk.

'Increasing your Bodyguard' will increase your strength by 2.

'See to your Swiss Bank account' will immediately dump half the
Treasury into it.

The move is 'secret' so there are no changes to Strength or
Popularity.

Press 'N' for Decision Headings. If you press 'N' again, you will skip
the Presidential Decisions altogether, but

Press "4" (Raise some Cash)

The Russians and the Americans do not interfere in any way with your
rule, but they will each give you a lump sum once only. The amount
given will depend on how popular you are with them at the time of
asking. If you are very unpopular they will refuse (but you can ask
again). They will also need time to assess your rule, perhaps as long
as 5 months, but you can try earlier. Cultivate support - then ask!

You can now look through other Presidential Decisions. After making
one, you will get another Treasury Report, another Police Report, and
then move on to the next month's Audience.

However, during your rule various other events may occur.

Newsflash is a random event having minor or disastrous
consequences. The advice given following a Newsflash is to let you
know what's happened in consequence.

Bankruptcy: if the Treasury goes broke you will steadily lose any
support from your unpaid Army, your unpaid Bodyguard and you will get
no Police Reports. You will be unable to grant requests or make
decisions which need funding.

Assassination Attempt: the strength of the Secret Police and your
popularity with them will reflect your chances of surviving an attack,
which can come at any time. If you are getting regular Police Reports
you will probably survive. BUT, if all three Factions plot
assassinations simultaneously, the attack will succeed.

Revolution occurs only after a Presidential Decision, so if a Police
Report gives you warning, you will have the opportunity to de-fuse the
situation if you wish. When a Revolution starts you are given the
opportunity to flee the country. If you have bought a helicopter then
you will be safe (assuming that it starts. Ritimban helicopter
maintenance is mainly spit and polish!) Otherwise you will attempt to
escape through the mountains to Leftoto. The strength of the Guerillas
will determine your likelihood of survival. Part of your rule should
be devoted to making escape possible. Or you can stay and fight. The
Revolutionary strength is given and you have the chance to pick a
suitable ally. If the strengths are matched, you will win. If the
Revolutionaries are a little stronger you may still win. (God is on
your side!) After winning, your ally goes to strength 9 and you are
given a chance to 'punish' both revolutionary parties by reducing
their strengths to zero. (Not always a good idea).

Score: Your rule is ended when you have escaped or you're dead. You
are given a Presidential Rating based on

1) Your current overall Popularity
2) Your length of rule
3) Being alive - a small score but it allows a score for...
4) The amount in the Swiss Bank Account.

The score is saved for comparison with any subsequent attempts.

Other points: No Revolutions or Assassination Attempts are made in the
first two months of rule or for two months following a Revolution.

You can't take money from your Swiss Bank Account during a rule.

The level of popularity at which plots can be hatched can be as low as
2 or as high as 4. This level varies from month to month.

Apart from a very few hints, you have been given no clear guidelines
as to the best way to success. Neither have you been given all the
information.

How many requests are there? Do Factions take it in turns to make
them? What's the best way to rule? Subjugate the population? Placate
them? A mixture of the two? How to stop a Revolution? How to start
one? Can I manage without the Secret Police?

Don't expect success at your first attempt. Later you will gain enough
knowledge to manipulate events so that you can rule longer, get richer
and escape. You can have both good and bad luck. How much luck plays a
part is a matter of judgement!

Reminder - "STOP" will stop the program and restart at the
beginning. Never use the "BREAK" routine.