This is Castle by Kevin Bales, as presented in chapter 2 of the
Fatal Distractions CD.The book claims this was the first attempt to do a graphical adventure on the PC.
The manual is pasted below:
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C A S T L E A D V E N T U R E 3 . 0
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The following is a brief set of instructions covering many topics which may be confusing in the game. The game is formatted after the standard text adventure game (with some added character graphics) and should follow
rules of common sense, nonetheless it is still a little ambiguous to the unexperienced adventure player. I hope these comments will help.
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GAME DESCRIPTION:
You are trapped in a deserted castle. Your goal is to escape and collect as many treasures as possible. Inside the castle are many monsters and traps which you must kill or avoid. Also, many treasures are hidden or protected, and you must figure out how to get them.
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ROOM MOVEMENT:
An above view of each room is displayed on the screen. You may move your man with the four cursor keys. In addition the home, end, pgup, and pgdn keys will move the man in the corresponding diagonal directions. In several rooms are staircases. These are represented by the letters "U" for up and "D" for down. Simply run into the letter for the direction you want.
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ITEMS:
Throughout the castle you will encounter various items. There are two main types: Visible and Hidden. Visible items are displayed in the room and their symbols are explained in the upper hand corner of the screen. Only
the first ten items in each room are explained, but there will only be more than ten on rare ocassions. these items may be picked up simply by running into them. Hidden items are items which cannot be immediatly displayed
on the screen, such as a key on a desk. The desk will be displayed but not the key. When you look at the desk (LOOK command), the game will tell you
"there is a key on the desk". Then you must use the GET command to get the key. You can only carry six items, so you may have to drop (DROP command) some from time to time.
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MONSTERS:
Throughout the castle you will encounter various monsters. Monsters are displayed in the room, and their symbols are explained in the upper hand corner of the screen just like items. Some of the monsters are aggressive and may be killed when you have the sword. To attack the monster, simply run into him (the best method is to hold down the cursor key until it
starts repeating). Unfortunatly, monsters also fight back. The meaner and bigger monsters will be more dangerous, and tough to kill. Some monsters are merely obstacles, and need not be killed at all, only moved.
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COMMANDS:
In the lower right hand corner of the screen is a question mark (?).
Here you may enter commands. With a few exceptions, all commands must be two words: one verb followed by one noun. You should leave out all
adjectives and other un-needed words (at,the,ect...). Here are some examples:
LOOK WALL = Look,examine,search the wall
GET KEY = Pick up the key
DROP SWORD = Drop the sword
LIGHT LAMP = Light the lamp
RUB LAMP = Maybe there's a geni in it?
WAVE WAND = Wave the magic wand
There are lots of possible combinations, and most are obvious. The most important one is LOOK. Whenever you pick up and item you should look at it, and whenever you enter a room whit outstanding features (desks,beds,
shelves,ect...) you should look at them also. Many clues may be discovered this way.
There are two commands which are single words. INV is an abreviation for inventory. This command gives you a list of whatever you are carrying.
QUIT ends the game wherever you are.
Since the game may take a while to solve, I have included two extra commands: SAVE, and LOAD games. To save a game, simple enter SAVE followed
by a filename to save it under, such as: SAVE GAME1. Then next time you play castle, you need only type LOAD GAME1, and it will pick up where you left off.
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SCORING:
You are given points for collecting treasures, killing monsters, and for escaping the castle. There are 13 treasures which may be found, and 8 monsters which may be killed. Since you may only carry 6 items at once,
treasures should be stored in the courtyard (the first room). When the game ends, you will get credit for those too.
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C A S T L E A D V E N T U R E 3 . 0
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You are encouraged to share this program with other users on the conditions that the program is distributed in modified form, that no fee or consideration is charged without the authors permission, and that this notice is not bypassed or removed. If you are using this program and finding it enjoyable, or of value then your contribution ( $10 suggested ) will be greatly appreciated. In
addition to encouraging the author to write more games, contributers are added to a mailing list for future games.
Programmed by: Kevin Bales
1250 Lindenwood Lane
Atlanta, Georgia 30319
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Enjoy!!