~ ~ ~
W e l c o m e t o
T H E W O R L D O F Q U E S T
Written by Alessio Sapora
(c) 1993 by InterActive Arts
~ ~ ~
I. Introduction
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away lived an utterly untalented
magician called Blorz. Utterly untalented magicians always seem to tend
towards becoming inhabitants of deep, gloomy and dangerous dungeons, to
retire from business and life in general.
Blorz was not likely to be considered as an exception. Giving himself the
name of 'Blorz, The Oh-So-Mighty One Who Fights For The Purpose Of Getting
Even Mightier', he started digging, deeper and deeper, until he finally
decided that enough was enough and proclaimed an independant underground
empire.
The king, merely taking notice, gave his royal guard the order to arrest
Blorz on a charge of tax evasion (for independant states seldom do pay
taxes). But none of the king's soldiers ever came back. To provoke the king
of the lands even further, Blorz stole His Majesty's Sceptre, defying the
king to send his best warrior to get it back.
So did the king, asking the warriors' guild to take action. Unfortunately,
despite the warriors' low IQ (or the lack of it), the guild took the wise
decision not to waste any of its members, sending a less talented novice
instead. Bad luck: This means that YOU are sent on The Quest For His
Majesty's Sceptre. So fight against Blorz and his allies and don't you
dare come back without the sceptre!
II. Getting started
'QUEST' only works in high resolution mode (monochrome). Start the game by
loading the file 'QUEST.PRG'. After a few moments you will find yourself at
the entrance of Blorz' dungeon. (If you're loading from disk, keep the
'QUEST' disk in the disk drive after loading, as some more files will be
needed during the game).
(a) Movements
Below the first-person view of the dungeon are six icons (to be selected by
pressing the left mouse button). Their function is (from top left to bottom
right): Turn left, move forward, turn right, move left, move back, move
right. You may also use, in corresponding order, the cursor key section on
your keyboard. (Be sure to draw a map of the dungeon on your way! Without
it, you can hardly avoid getting lost...)
(b) Function Keys
As it is not likely that you might play through the whole 'QUEST' game in
one go, the function key 'F1' saves the current game situation on the
'QUEST' disk (don't use any other disk, unless you've got the same 'QUEST'
files on it). You may save up to 5 positions by pressing the keys '1' to
'5' or any other to abort. To restore a saved game, press 'F3' and select
one of the saved positions by pressing the keys '1' to '5' or any other to
abort. Pressing 'F5' will allow you to restart or quit the game.
(c) Items
- To view your inventory (and your current state), move the mouse cursor on
the scroll and press the right button. To exit simply release the button.
- Items you may find on your way (indicated in the first-person view field
by an arrow titled 'ITEM') are picked up automatically, as long as you're
not overloaded (you are allowed to carry up to ten items).
- The gold is to be used for buying items (rumours say that there may be
some shops in Blorz' dungeons).
- You need water to survive, as you consume it with every step you make. To
fill up your flask, move up in front of a water basin (you will find them
on your way) and make one more move towards it.
- To select (use) an item, keep the right mouse button pressed, move the
mouse cursor on the item you want to use, and release the button.
- Dropping an item is as simple as selecting it, but pushing the left mouse
button shortly before releasing the right one.
(d) State
Your character's current state is displayed (in percent values) below the
inventory. It is composed of:
- Health: Indicates whether your character is still alive or not. A value of
0% means that you're dead (and have to restart the game),so try to avoid
any unnecessary combat if this value should get anywhere near 0%. The lost
health points (in combat or because of the lack of water) regenerate in
part by filling up your water flask, or totally when drinking a healing
potion you may find on your way.
- Armour class: The lower your AC is, the easier you are hit during a fight.
Increase this value by picking up items which protect you, such as a
shield, helmet, chain-mail etc.
- Strength: The stronger you are, the higher is the damage you may cause to
your enemies in combat. Your strength regenerates and increases the deeper
you get into the dungeons, but decreases when using magic (see below).
- Dexterity: Your skills determine how easy you may hit your adversary when
you attack. Dexterity increases with the number of fights you survived.
(e) Combat
In Blorz' dungeons you may be forced to fight. After selecting the weapon
you want to use from your inventory, click on the enemy (i.e. in the first-
person view field) to attack him, using the left mouse button (to stab or
hit whilst using a sword, dagger, etc.) or the right button (to throw any
weapon; more suitable for shuriken, etc.).
The combat is happening in real time, so the more often you attack, the
more likely is your survival! At the beginning, you may only attack every
two seconds, but this rate will be going to increase the more exercise your
character gets.
(f) Magic
On your way through the dungeons you will find some magic scrolls (whose
effects you'll have to find out by yourself). To cast a spell, select the
scroll from the inventory. Every spell costs you a certain amount of
strength, so use the scrolls with care.
III. Shareware
'QUEST' is a shareware program, which means that if you happen to like the
game, you are kindly asked to support the author (see address below) by
paying the amount of 15.- DM; cash, by crossed cheque or transfer to the
following account: Landesgirokasse Stuttgart/Germany
Bank-No. 600 501 01
Account-No. 3047644
Don't forget to mention your name and address! In return, you will get a
personal access code which allows you to enter the dungeons beyond level 3.
(If you choose to pay by transfer, do consider that, in a few years from
now, my bank account might change; I suggest that in this case you send me a
letter or postcard FIRST, asking for my present account.)
IV. Please note
- 'QUEST' was written & compiled in GFA Basic (V2.0).
- As there is more information stored on disk than displayed in the
directory, always copy THE WHOLE FOLDER instead of the single files to
avoid losing part of the program!
- This program is spread subject to the condition that it shall not be
altered by any means; especially don't erase this information file or
change any part of it.
- As there is still space left on disk, you may use it for other files. You
don't have to fear any interference or destroyed data. 'QUEST' may also
be copied on hard disk or RAM disk.
- If any problem should occur (bugs, bombs, etc.), I'd be grateful if you
told me about it to insure that every user has as much fun playing 'QUEST'
as I had programming it.
- Contact to the author: Alessio Sapora Alessio Sapora
Martin-Luther-Straže 69/1 30 A, C“te d'Eich
70771 Leinfelden-Echterdingen 1450 Luxembourg
G E R M A N Y L U X E M B O U R G