  There has been a request for Answers to some common questions regarding
  UltraSoft's Top Rank Boxing. This file is an effort to accumulate and 
  answer some of the more common inquiries.
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<Q> Hey UltraSoft! What effect does Advising my fighter between rounds have?

<A> The effect of this is subtle, and influential only. Do not expect to 
    see a total behavioral change due to this. Few pro boxers listen to 
    their trainers all that well, but some influence is likely to occur
    assuming the rapport you maintain with your fighter is good. <g>

<Q> Why is it that sometimes my guy hits the other one more, and still 
    loses a round?

<A> Well that would have been a very simple way to score, but actually the
    game is quite a bit more complex than that. We have used several 
    additional factors to improve realism and hopefully emulate real
    professional boxing and round scoring quite closely. Round scoring is
    a somewhat subjective process on the part of 3 judges. Taken into 
    account are such things as 'quality of punches', the power behind them,
    were they body shots or head shots, how much real effect did they have 
    on the opponent, were they delivered well and in combinations, did the 
    boxer display a high level of aggressiveness, or was he passive and 
    primarily defensive, etc. Of course knockdowns are a major factor too.
    
    So it is quite possible to deliver more punches, but still lose a 
    round depending on a wide variety of factors.

<Q> Why is it that when I win and my record is adjusted, I don't always
    move up in rank? Isn't the Game scored by number of wins?

<A> No, actually there is much more to this than that also. First, ranking 
    starts with number of wins/losses/draws and total fights (experience).
    If your Boxer has fewer wins than another, it is still possible to be
    ranked above that fighter in some cases, depending on several factors. 
    This is much like the round scoring discussed above. Who are the fighters 
    you have been taking on? Are they ranked higher than yours or below? Even
    if you may have lost some fights, how was your showing?

    If Fighter A has a perfect record, but all he has fought are bums, then
    he may not be ranked as high as Fighter B who lost a match or two, since
    in this example, Fighter B has been fighting at a much higher level and
    overall has done quite well, considering. Also a fighter may have more 
    experience than another, yet his record is not as good. In many cases he
    will outrank the one with a perfect record, yet with less experience.

<Q> What actually happens when I buy Fighter Enhancements and equipment?

<A> Here again, while staying well trained and bolstering your fighter's
    talents whenever possible, is good to do, and actually quite necessary,
    adjustments are somewhat subtle. You will not go from a 'loser' straight
    to a title quality fighter by simply buying enhancements for additional 
    handspeed, for example. Over a period of time, you mold your boxer the 
    way you'd like him to be with enhancements and experience, but it does 
    not provide major changes that you are likely to notice immediately.

<Q> Why can't I edit all my fighter's attributes and qualities directly?

<A> If you could do that and always win every fight, it wouldn't be a 
    Game, and wouldn't really be fair. Then what fun would that be?

<Q> How can I know exactly how my statistics compare to the other Boxers?

<A> Actually that would be a lot like playing poker with mirrors. If you
    know exactly what the other guy has, you can surely beat him/her. We
    also believe that it would take a lot of the mystery out of the game.
    If you know exactly what is required to win, you will get it and win.
    As the author, I know exactly how the game works, but I often wish I 
    didn't. When playing, it would be more fun for me not to know every 
    detail about how it works.

<Q> How about more round statistics like a comparison of punches, misses, 
    knockdowns and the like? 
    
<A> Good suggestions that we have heard before. You'll find quite a lot 
    more of that in 2.1 +, than at earlier release levels. For example:
    Round Punch stats appear after every round.

<Q> Why can't I directly control my Boxer's punching online, in TRB?

<A> At first, that was our objective and we created it that way. However, 
    the limitations of online (1 bit at a time), data transfer via modem, 
    just don't allow high speed interactivity to work well, as in a game 
    parlor setting. User responses are just not processed that fast, even
    at 28,800 bps. So we got as close to that as we could with high speed 
    graphics animation and sound.

    We haven't given up though. We are researching more possibilities with
    high speed online interactivity in several new development projects.
    If we develop more efficient interactivity, TRB should see it in the 
    future too.

<Q> What is the "DF" Number on my Sysop Panel? It seems to change a lot.

<A> That is the Equalization Factor we introduce for the specific Baud Rate 
    of each caller. It makes the Game's Animation run approximately the same 
    speed no matter who is calling or at what Connecting Baud Rate.

<Q> Should I use a Fossil Driver with the Ultrasoft Doors, and which one?

<A> Usually a game that requires a Fossil does not have its own internal
    communications routines and the fossil provides that for those games. 
    The UltraSoft games have all their own internal routines and in no way 
    require a Fossil. In fact we prefer 'not' using one. But there are many 
    cases where a fossil is in use anyway, and there reportedly is no 
    complication with running them that way. Since there are more than one
    type of Fossil drivers around, we can't really predict what each might 
    do or how. This is why we recommend not using any, if at all possible. 

<Q> There was an awful lot added to TRB Version 2.0 and 2.1, but my users 
    liked it at the previous level. How come all the changes?

<A> At UltraSoft, we have many Sysops from all over the world that call us
    quite regularly. They play games online (even non-released games), and
    offer quite a few suggestions. We love that and encourage it, since we
    feel that provides a much wider scope in our development than we would
    have purely on our own. We also believe this provides us a chance to 
    program for all Sysops and all BBS Software, rather than only a few.

<Q> Why is the game quite large in size for a door, when it seems 
    pretty simple overall, to install and run. 

<A> From the above, perhaps you see that though simple to run and install, 
    (two of our primary objectives), Top Rank Boxing is much more complex 
    internally than it may seem at first glance. We make every effort to 
    keep all our products as small in size and as efficient as possible, 
    but there is an enormous amount of programming code in there now and 
    it shows in filesize.

<Q> If a caller drops carrier, this game doesn't seem to cycle back to the
    BBS right away, it seems to get stuck for a while but then goes back to
    the BBS. What's up there?

<A> TRB, like all the UltraSoft Doors, certainly recognizes carrier loss.
    But unlike what you may be used to, when they detect degraded line 
    quality, they make several attempts to renegotiate the connection and
    keep the marginal user online, if at all possible. It often works quite
    well and a user is restored. But this is the delay that you'll notice 
    before simply cycling back to the BBS.

<Q> Thanks for some of the explanations. You should include these things in 
    the distribution archives, so people are more clear on several of these
    items.

<A> Thanks for the idea. Look for a TRBOXING.FAQ File in the next release. 
    And Here T'is! <g>

