KNIGHT ORC by Level 9 Computing Loading Instructions and Gameplay Guide Introduction In a hole in a mound there lived an orc. Not a clear, dry sandy hole with only spiders to catch and eat, nor yet a comfortable hobbit-hole. It was an orc-hole, and that means a dirty, clammy, wet hole filled with bits of worms and a putrid smell. It had a perfectly round garbage heap, blocking the doorway, with a slimy yellow blob in the exact middle for spitting practice. The doorway opened onto a sewer-shaped hall - a deeply unpleasant tunnel filled with smoke, with secret panels, and floors snared and pitted, provided with treacherous chairs and lots and lots of booby traps - the orc was fond of visitors. But what is an orc? Orcs are not seen much nowadays, since they are shy of human beings. They are a pungent people, little bigger than overweight elves, with the charisma of blow flies and the appetite of gannets. Orcs have little or no magic, except a rudimentary skill with knives and strangling cords and, in short, they are evil little pits. This ore was unusually ugly, even for an orc. His name was Gringleguts. Grindleguts had lived in the neighbourhood of The Mountain for about a year and most people considered him two steps lower than a tapeworm, not only because of the smell and the plague, but because he kept eating their household pets. Knight Orc follows on from the events described in "The Sign of The Orc". Grindleguts has been volunteered as their champion by the other orcs, while in a drunken stupor, and tied to a horse so that he won't escape, or fall off, before the joust. Your first task, as the orc in question, is to live long enough to escape over the viaduct to Orc Mountain. Good luck, Grindleguts. You're going to need it ...! Loading Instructions Cassette users: To remove a cassette from the box, firmly press the top of the cassette label inwards, and the cassette will pop out. Remember to always have a blank cassette or a formatted disc at hand to save your game position on. See section 6 of Game Instructions for more information about saving and restoring your game position. Each version of Knight Orc has a Menu program, which will instruct you in the further loading of the game (if necessary). Simply refer to the table below, and select the appropriate loading instructions: MACHINE DISC CASSETTE TAPE Amiga Insert game disc at the Workbench prompt Amstrad CPC 464/664/6128 RUN"MENU" Disc users type |TAPE To load game type RUN"" Amstrad PCW Load CP/M and type MENU Apple II/IIe/IIc/IIGS Insert disc in drive and turn computer on Atari ST Insert disc in drive and turn computer on Atari 130XE/800XL* Hold START & OPTION Hold START & OPTION while while turning computer while turning computer on. on. Start tape and press RETURN. Commodore 64 LOAD"MENU",8,1 Press SHIFT and RUN/STOP and start tape. IBM PC and compatibles Load MS-DOS and type MENU Macintosh/Macintosh Plus Double-click the menu icon. MSX 64k RUN "CAS:" Spectrum 48k LOAD "" and start tape Spectrum 128/Plus2/Plus3 Enter BASIC and type Switch computer on, and LOAD "MENU" press ENTER * 8-bit Atari users should turn off the machine and remove all cartridges before loading. Loading Advice If you're having any problems loading Knight Orc into your computer, then try the following... Cassette 1. Try the other side of the cassette. 2. Load another game from cassette that you know works correctly, to check that everything is connected correctly. 3. Vary the volume and tone settings on the recorder if you are able to. 4. Clean and demagnetise the recorder (following the maker's instructions). 5. Try another cassette recorder if possible. Disc 1. Try again from the very beginning. Remove all discs and turn the computer off completely and back on again. 2. Is the disc the right way up? (This applies especially to Amstrads). 3. Load another game from disc to check that everything is connected correctly. 4. Have you added any non-standard or peculiar hardware to the computer? 5. Clean the drive (following the manufacturer's instructions). Guarantee (What to do if the program doesn't work!) If you have no success in getting the program to run correctly, return it to Rainbird (or Firebird in the United States) without our packaging, and we'll replace it (if you're returning a disc, make sure it's safely packed!). Please include a short letter telling us exactly what the problem is, and what equipment your computer system comprises of. Game Instructions - Commands Knight Orc understands a wide range of commands in plain English, from simple one or two word instructions up to complex multiple sentences. This chapter is split into sections describing ways in which to communicate with the program. 1. Movement To move around The Land, use the following commands: Word Abbrv. Word Abbrv. NORTH N NORTHEAST NE EAST E NORTHWEST NW SOUTH S SOUTHEAST SE WEST W SOUTHWEST SW UP U DOWN D INSIDE IN OUTSIDE OUT CLIMB - JUMP - CROSS - These commands take you to an adjacent location. Use the EXITS command if you want to know which directions are allowed (when EXITS lead in "all directions" this means the eight main compass directions: N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W and NW). To save time, and so you don't need to draw a map, Knight Orc provides the commands below: FOLLOW (e.g. FOLLOW INNKEEPER). Try to stay close to someone, moving when they do. Other people can be ordered to follow you as well, see section iii. However, they can sometimes get left a little way behind, because even the most loyal follower will not obey you 100% of the time. Either wait for them, or command them to move to the destination with you following them. GO TO (e.g. GO TO CASTLE or GO TO WELL). The program works out the sequence of short moves needed to reach your destination (e.g. OUT, NE, N, NE, IN) and carries them out. RUN TO (e.g. RUN TO INN). This is like GO TO, but does not print the descriptions of the places you run through. FIND (e.g. FIND GOAT). Again, this works like GO TO and takes you to the place where the object is. Note that you can FIND just about anything, including people, moving objects and things inside containers. Of course, there is not much that the program can do if you try to FIND something that does not currently exist. Or if the way to your destination is blocked (for example, there is a Thorn Hedge around the tower). In such cases, the program does the best it can. 2. Actions The majority of commands that you will use are actions, such as opening doors, stealing treasure and hitting dumb animals. Here are some examples: Command Comment GET THE KNIFE Take a stabbing weapon for later use EXAMINE KNIFE Stare closely at a tin-plated object TIE THE CORD TO THE ROPE Fasten one thing to another PUT MOUSE IN THE SACK Best place for it, if you ask me EAT THE RAT PIE Delicious REMOVE THE TETHER Untie something or take it from a container PUT KEY UNDER THE MAT I bet you've always wanted to do this WEAR THE HELMET Avoid headaches later on OPEN THE CHEST There may be treasure inside it KICK THE FROG It's smaller than you To save typing, commands can refer to more than one object, e.g: EXAMINE THE HORSE, KNIGHT AND LANCE TAKE THE CLOAK AND THE KNIFE Knight Orc understands the following collective nouns: ALL, EVERYTHING, EVERYBODY, TREASURE, WEAPONS and CLOTHES Thus, you can enter things like: GIVE THE TREASURE TO THE INNKEEPER TAKE ALL THE CLOTHES EXAMINE EVERYBODY Exceptions are also understood, for example: TAKE EVERYTHING EXCEPT THE MAT DROP ALL THE TREASURE BUT THE GOLD BRICK AND THE GOLD FISH And you can refer to the last mentioned thing as HIM, HER or IT, e.g: TAKE THE AXE EXAMINE IT THROW IT AT THE GREEN KNIGHT STEAL THE COIN AND PUT IT IN THE BUCKET You can type several commands on one line, using punctuation or AND to separate them if you like, though this is not usually needed, e.g: N NE NE CROSS (Though RUN TO PLACE is better) OPEN DOOR. GO IN AND TAKE EVERYTHING Using the fun range of command features allows you to enter near-English sentences of considerable complexity. More important, it means the game is more likely to understand what you mean. 3. Talking to Other Characters Orcs are not known for their small-talk and much prefer action to words, especially when that action is mindless, violent and aimed at someone smaller than them. So conversation is limited in this game. People can be asked about things, and a few of them may even answer you. One in particular is a mine of information. For example: HERMIT, TELL ME ABOUT THE KNIFE TROLL, TELL ME ABOUT THE RING People can be commanded to do the same sort of thing that you can do yourself, using the full range of commands. Denzyl is the only person who will obey without being recruited and I leave it to you to work out how to make other people and creatures follow your commands. Remember that you can't finish the game without help. Example commands are: DENZYL, FOLLOW ME DENZYL, FIND THE WELL, TAKE EVERYTHING, FIND ME, GIVE EVERYTHING TO ME DRAGON, FLY SOUTH AND KILL GROK THEN FOLLOW ME In some other adventure games, when you give someone a command, they go off and do whatever it was while you have to stand there and wait. Knight Orc is somewhat more realistic. If you tell Denzyl, "DENZYL, GET THE FISH, FIND ME AND GIVE THE FISH TO ME, he will head off to find it - moving roughly once for every move you make. Then you can get on with solving other puzzles, doing whatever you like, while Denzyl carries out his task. Eventually he will wander back and hand over the fish. By the end of the game, you may well have acquired a lot of followers, and they can all be given orders to carry out at the same time. For example, if you want a simultaneous attack on the vampire, you might enter commands as follows: TROLL, WAIT 2, IN, KILL VAMPIRE MOUSE, WAIT 1, IN, KILL VAMPIRE IN, KILL VAMPIRE Needless to say, a lot of puzzles in the later stages of Knight Orc require co-operation between creatures. 4. High Level Commands Knight Orc provides a number of powerful multi-stage commands, where you enter a single command such as 'RUN TO THE TOWER' and the program carries it out in stages. (The idea is that it is easier to enter one command than a lot of little ones.) Most of these have already been described above, and the full list is: FOLLOW Try to stay with someone. STOP FOLLOWING later. GO TO Go to the place (the program works out the route). RUN TO As "GO TO", without printing location descriptions. FIND GO TO where an object is. KILL Hit and/or pursue creature in a fight-to-the-death. WAIT FOR Wait until the creature arrives. WAIT FOR Wait for the specified number of 'turns'. WAIT UNTIL