DOCSLIB.ORG

Adventures on the Spectrum

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Adventures on the Spectrum ADVENTURES ON THE SPECTRUM by Mike Gerrard ADVENTURES ON THE SPECTRUM ADVENTURES ON THE SPECTRUM Mike Gerrard First published in 1989 by Mike Gerrard PO Box 7 Ramsey Huntingdon Cambs PE17 2UZ © 1989 by Mike Gerrard All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher ISBN 0 9515193 0 1 Printed by: Antony Rowe Ltd Bumper's Farm Chippenham Wiltshire SN14 6LH Contents Acknowledgements Chapter One – Newcomers 8 Chapter Two - The History of Adventure Games 13 Chapter Three - Buying Adventures 25 Chapter Four - Clubs and Magazines 29 Chapter Five - How to Do-it-Yourself 34 Chapter Six - The Solutions 45 Appendix - Useful Names and Addresses 169 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Sandra Sharkey very much indeed for the use of her photocopier and for her time. Also, the various editors of Your Sinclair over the past few years (Kevin, Teresa and Matt) for giving me a totally free hand with their adventure pages. And finally all the readers of the magazine who have sent me solutions, asked me questions, given me compliments and criticisms, and generally made writing the adventure section as much fun as it's been hard work. To John and Esther Ryan Good friends are hard to find (that's why I've had to settle for you) CHAPTER ONE NEW PLAYERS START HERE Tips for beginners... and others! The more you play adventure games, and the more you get used to them and their little quirks, the harder it is to remember that there are still lots of people who haven't a clue as to what they're about, or are just embarking on their first adventure ever. I'm always getting letters saying 'What games do you recommend for a beginner?' or from people saying they're finding their first adventure rather difficult - then you discover they've chosen a game that you yourself found not merely difficult but virtually impossible, and that's after several years experience of playing adventures! So for all those people who constantly ask me for more help for beginners in my adventure columns, here it is. One thing you have to remember is that some games are more difficult than others, so if you're finding your first adventure rather hard going it may well be that you've chosen a particularly tough game. Of course adventures aren't meant to be easy, but some are better for beginners than others. I wouldn't recommend The Pawn, for example, because that was written by people who'd already played a lot of adventures themselves, and they wrote the game as a reaction to those adventures. In some aspects it's a send-up of typical adventure conventions, so it helps if you know what those conventions are in the first place. No, I'd save The Pawn till you've managed to solve a handful of other games first. There is one game that is far from easy, but which I do often recommend for beginners, and that's the original Colossal Cave Adventure, available as Colossal Adventure from Level 9 in their Jewels of Darkness trilogy published by Rainbird. You could also try the budget title, The Serf's Tale, from Players - if you can get hold of it. This is a slightly different version of the game that was written by Smart Egg Software as a way of developing and testing their own adventure-writing system. When they'd finished the experiment they thought the game might even be good enough to release - and Players agreed. So did I, because although when it came out I'd seen umpteen versions of Colossal Cave, Smart Egg managed to introduce a few changes that made the game seem fresh and new. The game takes even an experienced player a long time to complete, but one reason it is worth trying as a beginner is that it was, after all, the first proper computer adventure game ever written. Almost everyone who played it originally was therefore, in a sense, a beginner to adventures - and they managed to cope with the game! It does introduce you slowly to what were later to become conventional aspects of many adventures. It begins with some straightforward exploring, encouraging you to enter a building and have a look around, encouraging you to make notes and make a map of your surroundings, and discouraging you from wandering into dangerous locations where you might die. There are a few objects lying around, which you can pick up and examine and have a think about whether they might be useful or not. One of them proves useful fairly quickly, as one of the first 'problems' you should encounter will be a locked grate. No prizes for realising that the bunch of keys might be used to UNLOCK THE GRATE and allow you to get into whatever lies behind it. In The Serf's Tale, incidentally, the keys are a little harder to find than in other versions. Once beyond the grate you'll find many more locations to map and explore, more objects to find, and a tricky problem in a snake that won't let you past. This is a good one for beginners, because the solution isn't immediately obvious, yet you know it has to be something to do with one of the several objects you should have picked up by the time you encounter the snake. Or perhaps there was an object that you couldn't get hold of - maybe the answer to the problem of the snake has something to do with that? By the time you reach the snake you should have a few things like a black rod, a sandwich or other food, a bottle, a bunch of keys, a lamp or torch, a bird and a gilded cage. These enable you to try various approaches to see what will deal with the snake: feed it the food, hit it with the bottle, attack it with the black rod? The beginner may well try all of these and hopefully will hit on the right answer after a little bit of thought. By this time, too, a few treasures might have been found - always a satisfying part of any adventure! (See also page 16 for a little more beginners help using this adventure as an example). The beginner should also have learned a very important part of successful adventure playing, which doesn't require very much brainpower, and that is that you must save your game regularly. Players of the original version of this adventure, playing on huge mainframe computers in the 1970s, didn't have the chance to save their game and had to begin again at the start every time they played. Yet the game was so good they were happy to do this. Micro versions of the adventure do thankfully include a SAVE feature so make use of it. Some do penalise you by taking one point from your score if you make use of the SAVE facility, the idea being that when you know the solutions to all the problems, and have worked out the best route to get through the game, you should try to play through it completely at one session, just like in the mainframe days. To save your game requires only a little bit of effort, and you should do this constantly. I usually make a note on my map of exactly where I've saved the game, so that if I need to go back I can see which saved position takes me back to the required place. It frequently happens that a later problem could be solved if only you still had with you that object you dropped a long time back. Take the original adventure again by way of example. The bunch of keys can be used to unlock the grate, and because you can only carry a certain number of objects many players would now automatically drop the keys assuming that they had served their purpose. But suppose that the keys are needed again later on in the game - and by this time you are unable to get back to reach them? Anything might happen. The caves might explode, someone might steal the keys: anything. To avoid having to go back all the way to the start, do have a series of well-labelled saved games at different stages of the game. I know this can be a real pain if you're saving to and reloading from tape, but try to make the effort: it'll be worth it. Many people neglect this due to the fact that most games nowadays enable you to save your position instantaneously to memory. If you come across a tricky situation then it's obviously wise to use this RAM SAVE in case you get killed, but this won't help you if you discover that the way to stop yourself getting killed is to go back and get a particular object - which you now can't get at because something in the game has changed to prevent you. So save to tape or disc regularly as well: save quickly, save often, that's the motto. It goes without saying (so I'll say it) that you should make a good map of the game as you go. Try and make it reasonably legible and logical, and don't stint on paper as it doesn't really cost that much.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • III. Here Be Dragons: the (Pre)History of the Adventure Game
    III. Here Be Dragons: the (pre)history of the adventure game The past is like a broken mirror, as you piece it together you cut yourself. Your image keeps shifting and you change with it. MAX PAYNE 2: THE FALL OF MAX PAYNE At the end of the Middle Ages, Europe’s thousand year sleep – or perhaps thousand year germination – between antiquity and the Renaissance, wondrous things were happening. High culture, long dormant, began to stir again. The spirit of adventure grew once more in the human breast. Great cathedrals rose, the spirit captured in stone, embodiments of the human quest for understanding. But there were other cathedrals, cathedrals of the mind, that also embodied that quest for the unknown. They were maps, like the fantastic, and often fanciful, Mappa Mundi – the map of everything, of the known world, whose edges both beckoned us towards the unknown, and cautioned us with their marginalia – “Here be dragons.” (Bradbury & Seymour, 1997, p. 1357)1 At the start of the twenty-first century, the exploration of our own planet has been more or less completed2. When we want to experience the thrill, enchantment and dangers of past voyages of discovery we now have to rely on books, films and theme parks. Or we play a game on our computer, preferably an adventure game, as the experience these games create is very close to what the original adventurers must have felt. In games of this genre, especially the older type adventure games, the gamer also enters an unknown labyrinthine space which she has to map step by step, unaware of the dragons that might be lurking in its dark recesses.
    [Show full text]
  • Alan Adventure System V3.0
    The ALAN Adventure Language Reference Manual Version 3.0beta2 Alan Adventure System - Reference Manual This version of the manual was printed on September 26, 2011 - ii - Alan Adventure System - Reference Manual Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION.........................................................................11 1.1 Programmer’s Pitch........................................................................................................12 1.2 To the Reader.................................................................................................................12 2 CONCEPTS......................................................................................13 2.1 What Is An Adventure?................................................................................................13 2.2 Elements Of Adventures.................................................................................................15 2.3 Alan Fundamentals.......................................................................................................16 What Is A Language?....................................................................................................................................16 The Alan Idea..................................................................................................................................................18 What’s Happening?........................................................................................................................................18 The Map..........................................................................................................................................................19
    [Show full text]
  • 14. Riddle Machines: the History and Nature of Interactive Fiction
    Nick Montfort Riddle Machines: The History and Nature of Interactive Fiction 14. Riddle Machines: The History and Nature of Interactive Fiction Nick Montfort Introduction The genre that has also been labeled "text adventure" and "text game" is stereotypically thought to offer dungeons, dragons, and the ability for readers to choose their own adventure. While there may be dragons here, interactive fiction (abbreviated "IF") also offers utopias, revenge plays, horrors, parables, intrigues, and codework, and pieces in this form resound with and rework Gilgamesh, Shakespeare, and Eliot as well as Tolkien. The reader types in phrases to participate in a dialogue with the system, commanding a character with writing. Beneath this surface conversation, and determining what the computer narrates, there is the machinery of a simulated world, capable of drawing the reader into imagining new perspectives and understanding strange systems. Interactive fiction works can be challenging for literary readers, even those interested in other sorts of electronic literature, because of the text-based interface and because of the way in which these works require detailed exploration, mapping, and solution. Works in this form are often less visually rewarding, and the rewards they do offer are only attained with time and effort. But text-based interactive fiction has provided some of the most the intricate and compelling literary simulations yet developed. Understanding how interactive fiction works, and how it has developed over the past three decades, is an essential part of the puzzle of literary computing. Characteristics of interactive fiction Formally, a work of interactive fiction (often called a "game," even if it does not exhibit the typical qualities of a game) is an interactive computer program.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Twisty Little Passages: an Approach to Interactive Fiction
    TWISTY LITTLE PASSAGES: AN APPROACH TO INTERACTIVE FICTION DOWNLOAD FREE BOOK Nick Montfort | 302 pages | 01 Apr 2005 | MIT Press Ltd | 9780262633185 | English | Cambridge, Mass., United States Slashdot Top Deals I got about a quarter of the way into this and had to stop. In Montfort's words, Infocomwhich was founded June 22, by Lebling, Blank, Anderson, and seven other MIT alumni, "began work on the foundation of IF while the plot of ground that it was to be built upon had not been completely surveyed. Slashdot Apparel is back! Genre fiction is a type of literature, and trying to actually seperate one from the other is a fool's errand. I think what you may be getting at is the fact that writing a compelling IF world is literally NP hard. Hitchhiker's Guide project, which began in February and was slated ambitiously to be completed by the following Christmas. Friend Reviews. Instead, what this book really is is a very comprehensive history of the form. There's really not that much meat there; Montfort goes into a detailed history and categorization of riddles that isn't all that relevant to IF. Played them, loved them, but goddam that transparent crystal 3D mze was a killer. Nick Montfort. Montfort then discusses Adventure Twisty Little Passages: An Approach to Interactive Fiction its precursors including the I Ching and Dungeons and Dragonsand follows this with an examination of mainframe text games developed in response, focusing on the most influential work of that era, Zork. The reviewer's memory of Monty Python's a little weak.
    [Show full text]
  • New Adventures Introduced At
    March, 1988 Vol. V, #3 $2.00 New Adventures Introduced at CES By Shay Addams Flu-stricken Tom Snyder and not-yet­ Blubbermen (Steve Meretzky), Gamma ctivision kicked off the first day of flu-stricken Peter Reynolds presented an Force in Pit of a Thousand Screams (Amy the Winter Consumer Electronics overview and example of lnfoComics. Briggs) and ZorkQuest: Assault on Egreth AShow in Las Vegas with a press ''We wanted to do something that Castle (Elizabeth Langosey)-feature conference where President Bruce Davis wouldn't be just for 14-year-old boys and comic book themes and will even be sold announced a deal with Telecomsoft to 35-year-old men," Snyder sneezed, "to in comic book and toy stores. Snyder's distribute all the Firebird and Rainbird create a kind of computer game that even company developed the concept and titles formerly handled by Firebird my mother would play." InfoComics will creates the graphics, and Infocom is Licensees. Davis also said Activision just have no puzzles or goals-by assuming a producing the programs, which are bought Triton, a direct-marketing firm, to different character's persona at key supposed to last four to five hours and sell launch direct mail sales (so start watching intersections of the plot, you change your for $12 suggested retail. InfoComics will that mail box). perspective rather than the story itself. be released for Apple, IBM/100% com­ Next, Infocom President Joel Berez patibles andC 64/128 in March. announced Infocom's "three-part strat­ "A French Film Director's Dream" . After the press conference, Sandy Ward egy," which is already in progress: Panning, zooming and other cinematic showed off Micro Illusions' Land of supporting existing adventure fans, with techniques are combined with "minimalist Legends on the Amiga.
    [Show full text]
  • Shaping Stories and Building Worlds on Interactive Fiction Platforms
    Shaping Stories and Building Worlds on Interactive Fiction Platforms The MIT Faculty has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters. Citation Mitchell, Alex, and Nick Monfort. "Shaping Stories and Building Worlds on Interactive Fiction Platforms." 2009 Digital Arts and Culture Conference (December 2009). As Published http://simonpenny.net/dac/day2.html Publisher Digital Arts and Culture Version Author's final manuscript Citable link http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/100288 Terms of Use Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. Shaping Stories and Building Worlds on Interactive Fiction Platforms Alex Mitchell Nick Montfort Communications and New Media Programme Program in Writing & Humanistic Studies National University of Singapore Massachusetts Institute of Technology [email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT simulates an intricate, systematic world full of robots, made of Adventure game development systems are platforms from the components and functioning together in curious ways. The world developer’s perspective. This paper investigates several subtle model acts in ways that are mechanical and nested, making the differences between these platforms, focusing on two systems for code’s class structure seemingly evident as one plays the game. In interactive fiction development. We consider how these platform contrast, Emily Short’s Savoir-Faire (2002), written in Inform 6 differences may have influenced authors as they developed and of similar complexity, exhibits less obvious inheritance and systems for simulation and storytelling. Through close readings of compartmentalization.
    [Show full text]
  • Die Erben Mittelerdes
    wissenschaftliche Hausarbeit zur Ersten Staatsprüfung Uwe R. Hoeppe W Die Erben Mittelerdes Zum Einfluss von J.R.R. Tolkiens "Lord of the Rings" auf die fantastische Literatur sowie die Comic- und Spielekultur issenschaftliche Hausarbeit zur Ersten Staatspruefung fuer das Lehramt wissenschaftliche Hausarbeit zur Ersten Staatsprüfung Gewidmet meinen Eltern, die mir das Studium der Anglistik ermöglicht haben. Kassel, Sommer 1999 issenschaftliche Hausarbeit zur Ersten Staatspruefung fuer das Lehramt Uwe R. Hoeppe Die Erben Mittelerdes Inhalt Inhaltsverzeichnis Einleitung.........................................3 Genres.............................................4 Fantasy.................................................4 Comic.................................................11 Spiele.................................................14 Rollenspiele...........................................................15 Trading Card Games...............................................18 Computerspiele......................................................20 Film...................................................22 Analyse..........................................26 Geografie.............................................27 Magie & Macht.......................................33 Gut & Böse...........................................37 Rassen.................................................45 Ainur.....................................................................48 Elves.....................................................................50 Dwarves................................................................57
    [Show full text]
  • Mordor-Manual
    Book IV of The Two Towers Guide to Middle-earth Software Licensing & Marketing Ltd. A ~~ Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc. Reading, Massachusetts New York Menlo Park, California Don Mills, Ontario Wokingham, England Amsterdam Bonn Sydney Singapore Tokyo Madrid San Juan The plot of The Shadows of Mordor, Book IV of The Illustrations by J. R. R. Tolkien: Two Towers, the character of the Hobbit, and other The Mountain-path © George Allen &. Unwin (Pub­ characters from J. R. R. Tolkien's novel are copyright lishers) Ltd., 1937, 1975, 1977, 1979. The Misty Moun­ © George Allen &. Unwin Ltd., 1954, 1966. tains looking We st from the Eyrie towards Goblin Gate © George Allen &. Unwin (Publishers) Ltd., The Shadows of Mordor software program is copyright 1937, 1975, 1977, 1979· Orthanc © George Allen &. © 1988 by Beam Software. Unwin (Publishers) Ltd., 1976, 1977, 1979. Patterns (II) © George Allen &. Unwin (Publishers) Ltd., 1978, The Shadows of Mordor Software Adventure and 1979 . Floral DeSigns © George Allen &. Unwin (Pub­ User's Guide are copyright © 1988 by Addison-Wesley lishers) Ltd., 1978, 1979. Numen6rean Tile and Tex­ Publishing Company, Inc. tiles © George Allen &. Unwin (Publishers) Ltd., 1973, 1977, 1979· All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmit­ The Shadows of Mordor software program was a ma­ ted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechan­ jor effort by the programming team at Beam Software. ical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without The project took over twelve months to complete. the prior written permission of the Publisher. Project Coordination John Haward Inglish@ is a trademark of Software Licensing &.
    [Show full text]
  • Creating Video Games for the Visually Impaired Anthony Russo, Neal
    Creating Video Games for the Visually Impaired Anthony Russo, Neal Sacks, & Steven Vandal WPI IQP MBJ 0007 Professor Brian Moriarty April 12, 2012 Introduction The video game industry has expanded rapidly in recent years, growing from a 9.5 billion dollar industry in 2007 to a 25.1 billion dollar industry in 2010. This growth is due to the common interest that almost all Americans now hold in games, as a seventy-two percent of all americans play video games on a regular basis (ESA). However, because games rely heavily on impressive graphics and are primarily an immersive visual experience, very few games are made with the blind or the visually impaired in mind. In the 1970s when video games first emerged, it was virtually impossible to create a game that did not involve some sort of visuals. This is mainly due to a lack of technology, as almost all computers, games, and electronic speakers and displays could only output crude, pixilated visuals and rough, synthesized sound. However, technology has steadily improved to the point where games that do not need visuals are a possibility. Games for the visually impaired are an untapped industry, especially with the technology that exists today. By conducting interviews with the visually impaired we discovered what types of games the visual impaired prefer, what they would enjoy to play, and what ideas they have for developing these games. The History of Video Games for the Visually Impaired There are many games that can be played by the visually impaired. Interactive fiction and other text-based games have been popular for a long time, though to a lesser extent in recent years.
    [Show full text]
  • What Burglar? I 3 Thrushwhacker's
    INSIDE THIS ISSUE • Exclusive! Interview with Guild Librarian Si- gismund Thing ................ 2 • Guild of Thieves ap­ prentice exam - how to take the test, and how to WIN! .................................. 11 • Top Secret Coded "Cheat Sheet" stolen Top Crook Slags from Guild of Thieves - we reveal all ..................24 ANDMUCH MUCH Rookies Shock! MORE! Top crook Silas "We just can't get the ceptional material, and fac­ type of young person es a bright future in the Beaker says the pro­ we want these days. Guild. fession will face dis­ Frankly, they seem Beaker said that he was aster if young new­ more keen on accoun­ "sick as a macaw" with tancy and merchant young apprentices training comers continue with banking." at the Guild's expense and their boycott. Beaker was speaking on then "going offthe straight Beaker, speaking from his the eve of new, stringent and narrow - becoming Dombrook hideaway, add­ entry standards to the doctors and shopkeepers ed: "Frankly, the newcom­ Guild of Thieves. and such." ers are rubbish. Green­ "These new tests aren't He added: "We have to face horns. Tenderfeet. Wet be­ easy", he said. "Anyone it. This a divided society. hind the ears. who can pass them is ex- It's us and them." TIME FOR ACTION BURGLARY by Our Special Correspondent A.Nonymous Commuters on the Dombrook line are facinganother ex­ SUPPLIES pense today - theprice of a wristwatch. For the best in Modern Burglary For burglars described as equipment, call "audacious and cunning" have noticed the clock had gone, it stolen the Victoria Station clock. was toolate to check what time it Festeron 1183 The famousclock, which has was, because it had gone, if you Jemmies &.
    [Show full text]
  • The Adventurers Club Ltd. 64C Menelik Road, London NW2 3RH
    The Adventurers Club Ltd. 64c Menelik Road, London NW2 3RH. Telephone: 01-794 1261 MEMBER'S DOSSIERS Nos 35 & 36 - NOVEMBER 1988/DECEMBER 1988 *********************************************************** REVIEWS: INGRID'S BACK! SHADOWGATE SCOTT ADAM'S SCOOPS THE INHERITANCE POLICE QUEST BARD' S TALE II CLOUD 99 BUGSY HAUNTED HOUSE THE ALIEN FROM OUTER SPACE DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE ARTICLES BY: RICHARD BARTLE TONY BRIDGE KEITH CAMPBELL MIKE GERRARD HUGH WALKER LATEST NEWS ON THE ADVENTURING SCENE BASIC ADVENTURING DISCOUNTED SOFTWARE AND MUCH MORE!!! 12 Help-Line Details #3 ***************** EDITORIAL ********* Members have access to our extensive databank of hints and solutions Dear Fellow Adventurer, for most of the popular adventure games. Help can be obtained as follows: Welcome to MDs Nos 35-36, our Christmas issue! * By Mail: We have been very active during the past few weeks, and the most Please enclose a Stamped Addressed Envelope. Give us the title and important item of news this month is the announcement of the version of the game(s), and detail the query(ies) which you have. We "Golden Chalice Awards Presentation Ceremony". Please refer to the shall usually reply to you on the day of receipt of your letter. enclosed leaflet for full details about this important occasion, and Overseas Members using the Mail Help-Line should enclose an I.R.C. for do make sure you that you pencil 25.02.89 in your diary! a speedy reply, otherwise the answers to their queries will be sent Owing to popular demand, we have now produced specially-designed together with their next Member's Dossier.
    [Show full text]
  • The Shadows of Mordor
    The Shadows of Mordor INTRODUCTION Welcome to The Shadows of Mordor, in which Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee continue their quest to destroy the power of the evil Dark Lord, Sauron. In playing this adventure game, you will be assuming the role of characters in JRR. Tolkien’s fantasy world. You must detail out the actions which your characters are to perform, and the computer will moderate the results accordingly. It should be noted that there are few if any problems in this game which have a single solution. The game has been designed to allow a variety of responses to the adventure problems, some of which are more efficient than others. The Shadows of Mordor is a brilliant piece of fantasy software thanks to the re- working of many of the games systems by a highly trained team of idiots. The game system will be familiar to players of Lord of the Rings Game One, with the exception of the improvements in the flexibility of play. For instance, it is now possible to talk to characters and give them a string of instructions which they will follow in sequence, rather than painstakingly telling them what to do at each and every turn. In order to provide players with the host of problems expected from a high quality computer adventure, it has been necessary to take minor liberties with Lord of the Rings storyline (it wouldn’t be much of a game if there was no challenge to interrupt the storyline of Tolkien’s master work), and thus we hope that you will see them in the light in which they were intended, and not as blasphemous attempts to butcher one of the great works of fantasy literature.
    [Show full text]