MERLIN #13
APRIL 1986
Look out for Orbs of Aalinor

GOOD news this month is that Potter Programs is to release a new machine code adventure called Orbs of Aalinor.

Potter is well known for the value for money its programs offer and Alan Potter tells me that this new adventure is extremely difficult. Look out for it.

I'm sure many of you have at one time or another come across an adventure that you simply can't stop playing, I certainly have.

The most recent one for me has been Woodbury End, from Shards. I have had it in for review for a few months now, and I still haven't cracked it.

I keep thinking I'll just solve the latest problem and then review it. Problem is (sorry!) that I keep coming across more problems.

Now Shards has let me know that it has been cracked - twice. Regular readers will have seen H. Bastien's name appear quite frequently in these pages and he is one of the people who've done it.

Until I can crack it personally I'll give you a brief synopsis of the game.

Aliens take over a country town and adopt human form to make themselves indistinguishable from the real inhabitants.

Twenty years pass, and the children of the town begin to act strangely. Can you identify and deal with the aliens and save the children from a ghastly fate?

The cassette cover shows a specially commissioned picture of Woodbury End and the first 50 purchasers to solve the game will receive prints of this
picture - which means there are 48 prints left to win.

So far I have found it to be extremely devious and the kind that I keep coming back to.

In my opinion it is one of the best three adventures available on the Electron at the moment and I highly recommend it.

I have been asked to explain why I refer to Scott Adams games when they are from Adventure International. The first adventures were written by Scott Adams and he set up his own company, Adventure International, to market them.

There are a whole series of games written by Scott, but also some written by programmers in his company.

Games like Gremlins and Robin Hood are company produced, so I tend to classify them separately from Scott Adams' games. I hope this clarifies things.

I have been taken to task for a couple of things this month.

Firstly, I'm sure you all spotted the mistake I made in February's column. Well for once it wasn't my mistake. One of the proof readers, on reading my little pun about the food, assumed I had misspelt stake! My apologies once again, I'll get it right soon.

David Hiddart thinks I shouldn't give answers for readers who write in with problems for adventures that are only available on the BBC Micro.

All Electron adventures, except for Rick Hanson from Robico, another brilliant game, which pokes the Electron's screen memory, will work on the BBC Micro, as we all know.

However the reverse isn't true, but BBC owners don't seem to know this. I don't want to discriminate against them for not buying the best computer on the market, so I try to answer their questions.

Anyway, there isn't a column like ours for them, so I take pity on them.

Incidentally, David also asks whether I will do a special on Wheel of Fortune. There is one in the pipeline, so watch out for it.

Nick Southgate wants to know why I haven't mentioned that he sent me the solution to the anagram in Sphinx Adventure. I get hundreds of letters each month and try to pick out things from them that I think are interesting but only when they haven't been mentioned recently.

For instance, until I did the Sphinx special I regularly got about 50 letters a month asking the way to the vampire's castle. You'd all get fed up if I put that in every month, wouldn't you?

When readers send in answers to problems, such as the anagram, I tend to give the names of the first few, otherwise I'd end up, in this case, listing about 80 names.

I tend to assume that everybody is dedicated to computing in general and adventures in particular and I try to put in things that haven't been mentioned before because I assume everyone has got all the back issues of Electron User. If you haven't, it serves you right!

However, every letter I get with an SAE is answered, and I guarantee that. SO, are you happy with the way I run this column?

It is your column after all, so write and let me know what you think.

I'd also like to know what you think about a compilation of all my columns to date with some maps and solutions added.

Right, enough trumpet blowing. Thanks are due this month to Nick Southgate, for a complete solution to Galadriel in Distress, G. Ward for a belated but welcome solution to Sphinx Adventure, Paul Taylor for his cheat-sheets for Hampstead and Crown Jewels and K. Schadewald for his solution to Greedy Dwarf.

Robert Henderson has written in to explain how Sphinx Adventure can be listed. Load in the machine code "Bad program" fixer from the December issue and then CHAIN Sphinx as usual.

When it has loaded, press CtrI+V, then 6 and then type CALL &D01. The game can then be listed, and since it is in Basic, a save-game routine can be added.

Robert also points out that you can go to any part of the game by changing the value of PROC(L) to the line number of the location you want.

This is an excellent tip, and if Robert sends me in a list of his adventures I will send him a tape. If anyone can improve on Robert's idea by incorporating a save-game routine and producing a working version with it in, I will reward them with a tape too. But don't forget that list of adventures.

PROBLEM CORNER

Russell Blake - thanks for the Gremlins tips - is having problems with Quest for the Holy Grail. He has chopped the tree down and cut it up to make the logs, but cannot make the raft. You need half the rope to tie the logs together.

He is also stuck in Fantasia Diamond and Secret Mission. In the first, to get through the trapdoor keep hitting it. In the latter, you can't get through a second window.

Christopher Lowe, Martin Haig and Patrick Ball are all having trouble with Adventure. Water the plant to reach new heights.

Bread, what bread? The diamond is up that plant. To get into the dungeon and get the last treasure, go into the desert and, providing you have the keys, drop one of your treasures and then "steal" it back.

Say OPEN SESAME to get into the caverns. The slipper is a red herring and, for John Tipper, a red herring is an object that is meant to look useful but which plays no part at all in the game.

Hampstead is popular this month. Perry Spencer wants to know if the china dogs and lathe bracket are used (not as far as I know, and yes) and how do you meet the man on the train - wear, read and carry something a bit more up-market (the bracket will help).

Jonathan Caslake wants to know how to open the filing cabinet. Use something in a desk in the department store.

Nick Southgate wants to know how to avoid having your pockets picked. Don't go there!

Derek Willoughby says that my advice to see chubby doesn't work. It does if you have done everything you should have!

Richard Jay insists that the Hampstead hintsheet says that you need the Sony Walkman. It doesn't. Try reading a magazine.

Junior Lumsden's younger brother (sic) wants to know how to get money and how to get on the train. Cash your giro and rest a while in the park. Buy a ticket.

Simon Stead and Susan Parsons have both written in about Dracula Island. To open the coffin you must use the hammer.

Use what you find to get past the native and you'll also find the answer to the door in the courtyard.

Simon Stead is also stuck in Ring of Time. You need a sword to kill the mad monk and once you have done this you will find the rope.

The combination is on the parchment, so it's not a red herring. Watch out though, the parchment is used twice.

Castle Quest, a BBC game, has Trevor Gonsalves puzzled. To finish the game, find the two patrolling guards near the troll. Get past them and throw the wand to the right.

Positioning is critical, so you will have to keep trying until you get it right.

Simon Stead, S.D. Webb and Harvey Reynolds are stuck in Pyramid of Doom. As regular readers will know, there is a bugged version of this game in circulation.

The method to use to get into the pyramid is get a key out of the pool and one from digging in the desert. Dig by the pyramid.

Use both keys to open the doors and enter the big door. Watch out for the stone failing on you.

If this doesn't work you have the bugged version.

Does anyone know yet whether this is a genuine bug or is caused by the Plus 1?

What do you want to move the altar for, Harvey? Search the fireplace and then clean what you find to reveal the ruby.

You can't get the acid. The bones and chopping block are red herrings and the rats are an obstacle. There is another route you should take. Use a dropped skull on the metal rod. Shoot the nomad.

Julie Atwill says that she has used diaxos to open the safe in Sphinx Adventure but can't get into it. Go up.

Paul Dougherty, Scott Clark and Darren Clifton all want to know where the laser is and how to use it in Stranded.

Climb one of the trees in the forest. Use what you find at the cliff overlooking the spaceship near the start location. Get the laser and use the parachute again.

Wheel of Fortune is causing trouble, too. Jonathan Stewart can't extend the ladder to get across the pit. You must be doing something wrong. How did you extend it to get the bucket?

David Ashbury wants to know how to stop the beggar from pushing the ladder away and how to befriend him. Doing the second will stop the first, so think what you usually give to beggars.

S.D. Webb needs help to get into the machinery housing door and past the troll. Use the hairpin to keep picking the lock. What do a basket, a charming Indian and a flute have in common? Use the answer to get past the troll.

This month I have had my first question about Adventure International's superb new game Robin Hood. To get out of the dungeon stand on someone's shoulders and grab the guard's ankle when he walks past.

Search him to get his sword, force the lock on the grating and undo the bolt.

Andrew Foxall and John Tipper have written in for help with The Count.

Forget the vents and the daises. From the ledge just GO WINDOW. You can't get into the oven.

If you find you suffocate in the coffin it is because you haven't used a sharp object to break the bolt. Try GO TOILET for a laugh, but that's all it is. Only the torch can be found in the dungeon.

A puzzled Nick Southgate needs some answers to his problems in Eye of Zolton. Where are the gloves? Inside the wardrobe in the wizard's bedroom.

Where is the money for the old man? In the woodcutter's hut. Where is the small key for the wardrobe (and the chest)? E-S-E of the crossroads.

Nick also wants to know what he needs to dock the rocket in Super Agent Flint. You must insert the correct disc into the rocket's disc drive and be wearing the helmet and suit.

For all those of you who haven't managed to map the witch maze in Twin Kingdom Valley, and especially for Shaun Haughton, here are the various routes.

Passage (with rod) -S-N-E-W-Witch-E-E-S-N-Passage;Bone room-S-W-S-E-Witch-W-W-W-S-Bone room.

Staying with TKV, David Ashbury wants to know what the secret of hidden doors is and Neil Johnston wants to know how to get to the armoury through the small crack and why he sometimes meets the giant and sometimes the princess when he goes into the dungeons.

Some doors are invisible until you swim in Watersmeet. Don't try and get through the crack - a silver door will give you egress.

There are two dungeons and two bronze doors - you are mixing them up.

Richard Jay can't get past the tiger in Stolen Lamp. This is one occasion when you do need a red herring.

It seems as though everyone has questions to ask about Spiderman this month. Hydroman is averse to temperatures below 32 degrees.

If you haven't found out how to get the bio gem, try using your web from outside.

Ice block? I don't remember there being one. Can anyone help?

Use your web on the fan. Mysterio's cloud is a bit of a poser. Try JUMP and UP. Electro won't be a problem if you are holding Dr Ock.

David Ashbury wants to know how to get past the rock without it falling on his head in Castle Frankenstein. I presume you mean the rocks that lgor throws at you when you are in the steep slope at the side of the castle. If so, wear something to protect your head.

Mike Herring would like some help with Pettigrew's Diary. The code for the fun house is 58. Barry's room number is 40. The old man in Hyde Park? Shout KULFATYN.

John Tipper is stuck in an adventure that I haven't seen in ages and no longer have a copy of, Wizard of Akyrz. He wants to know how to get out of the palace and what to use the spectacles for.

As I remember, you examine a chest in one of the corridors - this has a secret panel - and exit from the palace. You'll need the glasses underground.

John is also stuck in Adventureland. You'll need the firebrick to deal with the lava. The bear is a rather timid creature and prone to sudden jumps at loud, vocal noises.

You can get in and out of the bee's lair if you take a mud-bath first.

What do you want to get gas for the torch for? Use the matches. The gas can be got in an empty wine bladder though.

To get the golden fish you must use the bottle but have the golden net with you.

Finally, John also needs help with Pirate Adventure. Yes, it is OK to give rum to the pirate, and you need a fish to get past the crocodiles.

BUG HUNTERS

W.E. Trevelyan has written in with more information about the bugs in Classic Adventure:

I know of some of these bugs, having found them myself. I have managed to get the spices though, so there may be different bugged versions about.

Mr Trevelyan has contacted Melbourne House and they have sent him a working version of the game. I also have contacted them and they are sending me the same version, so I will report back about it.

If you have the bugged version, contact Melbourne House direct (the address is in the cassette insert).

SOS

Harvey Reynolds wants to know what words to use and when to use them when trying to play the mirror in Ghost Town.

He also wants to know whether you can bring the two telegraph keys together or not. Can anyone help?

S.D. Webb writes that he has Hareraiser and can't get started. I have never seen the game so can't help him, can anybody else?

Joshua Bridgens younger brother (yes, another one), wants to know if you can get on to the fourth level in Hell-Hole without going over the pit.

Unfortunately, I don't have room this month for the Hall of Fame and Feedback. These sections will be back next time with tips from Paul Southgate, Paul Edmans, Mike Herring, Jason Palmer and David Carlton. Why haven't I got your tips yet?

This article appeared in the April 1986 edition of the "Electron User", published by Database Publications.

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