Escaping from the Castle of Mystery

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Date of File = 27th of February 1996
CBS Software Proudly Presents

CASTLE OF MYSTERY Version 2.1b - ESCAPING FROM CASTLE OF MYSTERY

*** THIS GAME IS SHAREWARE ***

Demo Version - On a single disk for 1Mb Floppy systems (STE).

DISCALIMER - Unfortunately I'm not responsible for any damage that 
may happen while using EFCOM, to you, & your hardware/software, 
even though it's probably impossible.

LEGAL STUFF - Escaping From Castle of Mystery is COPYRIGHT 
1994,1995,1996 Colin James Ballantyne. This demo version may be 
freely distributed, provided all the original files are kept with 
the program, and have not been altered in any way whatsoever. This 
copyright includes all code, graphics & samples which should not 
be used for any other purpose without my written consent. EFCOM 
has been coded in STOS Basic, which is copyright by Mandarin 
Software.

THANKS - To everyone who helped in the project - Particlularly the 
playtesters - Alan Busby, Andi Cullum, David Shields, Iain Arendt, 
Craig McComish, David Antonelli, David Warren. Thanks also to Vale 
of Leven Academy Music department for letting me use their MIDI 
setup.

LOADING EFCOM - Simply Insert the disk into drive A, & switch on 
your Atari, EFCOM will load automatically. Hard Drive users should 
boot from drive A. The demo can only be run from the desktop by 
copying it out of the Auto Folder. TOS 2.06/Falcon users will need 
to use STOSFix by Robert Quezada to fix the program to run on 
their machine. Because this game uses STE sound hardware, STFM 
owners will not hear any sound on their machine although the rest 
of the demo should be playable. If you want to be able to run the 
program from a Hard Drive - upgrade to the full version, because 
to save space HD code has been omitted and the game will ONLY run 
from floppy drive A.

HOW TO PLAY ESCAPING FROM CASTLE OF MYSTERY

STORY - In Castle of Mystery, you & your friends went to scary 
Castle Mackay in a bid to steal its treasure, you found the 
treasure, but a mighty (& scary) portcullis traps from getting 
out. So in the sequel you've got to escape by collecting sticks of 
dynamite over four zones (3 in this demo) to then hide in the 
cellar, & blow up the Castle & escape! (Not much time spent on the 
plot, but it's the gameplay that's important!)

Before you get to actually play the demo, you will given the 
chance to print an upgrade form (or display one on screen), ex- 
planation of Upgrade Levels are given at the end of this file. 
Press >Space< to start the demo then >3< to run the program. At 
the title screen press a key to see the Zone select screen.

ZONE SELECT - Here you select which zone you want to collect 
dynamite sticks in - Musical, Plumbing, & Runaround - the Gamble 
Zone is permanently completed in this demo. There are also two 
other icons - Bribe & Cellar, Select Bribe to type in an access 
code which you're given when you complete a zone. Type in the code 
EXACTLY, spaces, full stops, everything. If the computer accepts 
it, it will stamp completed on that zone. You can only select the 
Cellar once you've completed all the zones, and that's you 
completed the game! You complete a zone when you've managed to 
complete all the individual levels in it. There are 4 (Generally 
Easy) levels per zone in this demo, but there are fifteen to each 
zone in the full version.

MUSICAL ZONE - In this zone, you collect sticks of Dynamite by 
helping Dynamite Dan (& his one man band) play tunes to the 
public. Everytime he plays a 'D' note, he gets a stick.
Press a key to start the level, the stage will appear - above it 
you're told the input device (Main keyboard on the first level), 
the next note to play as a letter, then in musical notation. Below 
it is your Codebox WHICH IS DIFFERENT FOR EACH INPUT DEVICE. You 
are given 3 seconds before the notes start to look at it - Not 
enough, so you may need a few attempts at each level. In the first 
level the code is that Note C corresponds to letter 'C' on the 
Main keyboard, Note 'D' to letter 'D' & so on.
So when you see 'C', press 'C', however on level 2, the code is 
different - when you see 'C' press 'F1'. You complete the level by 
successfully playing the song. You are given 2 seconds for a 
1-Beat note on level 1 , but only 1 second on level 4. The tunes 
that you play are traditional, & you may recognise them. If so, 
you can show off to your friends by putting in rests, as they are 
encoded as well. You lose a life if you take too long between 
notes.
There are only 3 input devices for this demo (Main K'board, F 
Keys, Numeric K'board) but the full version also has Joystick, 
Mouse (2 types), & cursor keyboard, in addition, Dan changes his 
instrument between, Keyboard, Guitar, & Trumpet, however you only 
have a trumpet in the demo.

PLUMBING ZONE - Here you collect sticks by connecting all the red 
squares (at the edge of the grid) to the green squares. Down the 
side of the screen is your toolbox. To select a pipe simply click 
on it in the toolbox - your pointer will change to that pipe, you 
can then click at points on the grid - & a copy of your pipe will 
snap into place, if you run out of pipes your pointer will change 
back to an arrow. If you want to change to a different type of 
pipe simply right-click, then re-select from the toolbox. if you 
make a mistake, press >undo< to remove your last pipe, this can 
only be used on the last pipe you laid, you cannot remove ones 
laid before this.
Once you're happy with your design, or wish to start again, double 
click the 'GO' button, and if your structure generates the correct 
detection number, you will pass to the next level. If not, you 
lose a life & start the level again. The detection system is 
slightly flawed, so don't be surprised if your apparently correct 
design is rejected, or your incomplete one is.

RUNAROUND ZONE - Here you collect sticks by guiding the man (With 
the joystick) through the undiscovered maze to them. At the start 
of each level all you see is your man, the dynamite, & any doors & 
keys. The timer (in the corner of the grid) then starts & you have 
to find your way to the dynamite, collecting keys to open doors if 
required withtin the time limit. As you move the man, the maze 
will be uncovered, the level is completed by getting to the 
dynamite withtin the limit, while you lose a life if you run out 
of time. All bonuses & gimmicks have been eliminated from the demo 
version (again to save space) but the full version has them all 
(such as timer increase, etc. . .)
That's how to play the demo version. However, beacuse the full 
version comes on four disks, compressing it all onto one has meant 
a lot of things have had to go, like the intro & End game 
animations, 50% of the samples, & so on, the demo version doesn't 
really do the full version justice.
The full version runs comfortably on a 1Mb setup, however the 
program automatically detects when there's more than this & loads 
in more samples for the gamble zone & all three instruments for 
the Musical Zone.

*** THIS GAME IS SHAREWARE ***

UPGRADE INFORMATION
There are 10 Upgrade Levels costing from œ6 - œ22
A2 - Full Version Compressed onto two disks + Printed Manual - œ6
A - Full Version + Printed manual. - œ7
B - Full Version + Printed Manual + Solutions. - œ9
C - Full Version in *.BAS format, with decoded Filenames + Printed 
Manual + Printed Listing + Sprites in *.PC1 picture files. - œ15
D - Full Version + Full Version in *.BAS format with decoded fi- 
lenames + Printed Listing + Printed Manual + Sprites & pictures in 
*.PC1 format + GFA Raytrace data files + Solutions. - œ21

A2*,A*, B*, C*, D* are the same as the above upgrade type, but 
come with Glossy Colour disk labels (Actual game, not data files) 
& glossy colour manual cover. All for just œ1 extra.
Note for A2, you will have to uncompress the files yourself onto 
three disks, so if you're hopeless at uncompressing things best 
order A.
If you desperately want to see a bad game, also enclose a disk (or 
50p extra) and I'll send you a copy of Castle of Mystery v1.0, 
something you're bound to laugh at!

Make Cheques payable to Colin Ballantyne. Thankyou.

I welcome any comments you have on the demo version of EFCOM, and 
if you discover an error, you can help everyone by reporting it to 
me ASAP, if I feel it would have disrupted playing pleasure, and I 
fix the error, I'll give you a FREE copy of National Lottery 
Simulator - rated 85% in issue 78 of ST Format. So send your 
comments, complaints, donations, & your upgrade forms to :

Colin Ballantyne
41 Craiglomond Gardens
Balloch
Dunbartonshire
SCOTLAND
G83 8RP

Thanks for taking a look at EFCOM, and you won't regret upgrading! 
Anyway, have happy, fun hours playing the (easy) demo version of 
EFCOM.

Colin J Ballantyne (Age 17)

TRIVIA (1)

BOOK / MAGAZINE REVIEWS (1)

ST Format · May, 1996Rating: 20%