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BORROWED TIME "Living Introduction"
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Welcome to the world of Illustrated Text Adventures. This introduction will teach you the basics of how to be a first rate adventurer. The rest is up to you. The objective and the setting of this particular adventure can be found on the package and the enclosed instruction card. Please read that first. 


WHAT IS AN ILLUSTRATED TEXT ADVENTURE? 
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To play this adventure you must become the character in the story. Given the objective of the adventure, you must explore the various game locations searching for clues to help you in your quest. To progress through the adventure, however, you will be required to solve a series of logical puzzles. If you solve them all correctly, you will be successful in your mission. 

Before giving you an actual example of one of these logical puzzles, here are a few words on how to communicate with the computer. 


TALKING TO THE COMPUTER
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The computer is your eyes, ears, nose, voice, hands, and legs. You tell it what you want it to do by typing in commands. After you supply the brain power, the computer does the rest. Commands involve the use of a verb and a noun such as "TALK TO MAN" or "GET CAN". 

The part of the software program which understands commands is called the parser. In this adventure the computer understands many different commands. Not only does it recognize a large variety of verb and noun pairs, it will also understand the following: 

DIRECT OBJECTS 
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GIVE THE PEN TO THE TEACHER. 

"THEN" AND "AND" 
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TALK TO THE MAN THEN GO NORTH. GET THE VASE AND THE TABLE. 

"IT" 
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OPEN THE BOOK AND LOOK IN IT. 

The examples shown above all use complete sentences. The computer, however, will also understand abbreviated text such as the following: 

GIVE PEN TO TEACHER. 
GET VASE AND TABLE. 
OPEN BOOK AND LOOK IN IT. 


ABBREVIATIONS AND THE PERIOD 
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To move from one location to the next you must give the computer a direction to go. Since these are the commands you will use most frequently we have simplified the process. 

You can abbreviate and bunch directional commands. To go north, north, and east just type, "N.N.E." and you will be instantly placed in the last location you requested. This is very useful when backtracking through familiar sections. 


GET ALL OR DROP ALL 
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You can use these commands to pick up everything in a location or drop all that you are carrying. To check what you are carrying, type "I" for inventory. 


SAVE GAME 
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Another important feature in the adventure is the ability to save your game at any point. This feature is important because you may frequently be "killed" or caught in an impossible situation. By saving your game occassionally, you do not have to replay the entire adventure every time you get in trouble. 

To save a game type "SAVE GAME". When prompted, type the number under which you want the current game to be saved. 

To load an old game, type "LOAD GAME". When prompted, type the number of the game you want loaded. Also provided is the "QUICKSAVE" command which will instantly save the current game without assigning a number to the game. By using the "QUICKLOAD" command, the last "QUICKSAVE" game will be loaded. 


To be successful at Illustrated Text Adventures, you must take chances. Make sure you "Examine" and attempt to "Get" everything. Pay close attention to each picture to see things not described in text. Also read the text portions carefully; the descriptions of locations and items can be of critical importance. Remember, some of the most important items may seem insignificant. 

In addition, the proper use of an item may not be easily understandable. Therefore, you must be willing to experiment. But as long as you save the game before taking a chance you can reload the game and try again no matter what the result. 


COMMANDS: 
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Below is a listing of key commands. Those with a parentheses can be abbreviated by using the first letter of the command: 
(N)ORTH  (U)P      (F)ORWARD 
(S)OUTH  (D)OWN    (B)ACKWARD 
(E)AST   (R)IGHT   (I)NVENTORY 
(W)EST   (L)EFT    GO 

EXAMINE  DROP   PUSH   INSERT 
TAKE     READ   OPEN   CLOSE 
GET      TURN   TALK 

The parser will understand a variety of synonyms for these and other commands, but we don't want to give too much away. 


SAMPLE PUZZLE 
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Now that you have been introduced to the basics of Illustrated Text Adventures, here is a sample puzzle to work with. 

Say your objective is to rescue the kidnapped daughter of a wealthy steel magnate. Your only clue is to go to the bar in town. 

You are in a bar. The bartender is busy cleaning a glass. There is a long piece of rope here. 

Since the computer is your hands, legs, eyes, ears, and voice, you must type in what you want done. 

If you type "TALK TO BARTENDER" he will respond "The island will give you the information you seek." Also, since the computer is your hands, you may tell the computer to "GET THE ROPE". The computer is also your legs, so to leave the bar you must give it a direction. Type "S" to go south. In most cases, the computer will have you face north whenever you enter a location. Keep this in mind as you draw your own maps of the adventure. 

You are in the town square near the hardware store. 

As mentioned, some items you need are not obvious unless you look for them. In this case, if you "EXAMINE STORES" the reply will be "You see nothing unusual". However, if you "EXAMINE THE HARDWARE STORE" the reply is "There is a pile of wood here." Since this is a different reply from "You see nothing UNUSUAL," you should investigate further. 

If you try to "GET WOOD" the reply is "It is far too heavy to lift." However, if you "EXAMINE WOOD", the reply is "There is an axe here." When you type "GET AXE", the computer will take the axe. As you explore other directions, typing "E" or "W" you find you cannot go in those directions. North will take you back to the bar so "S" or south is the only direction available. 

You are on the outskirts of town on a deserted beach with trees and an ocean around you. 

As before, you examine your surroundings. If you type "EXAMINE TREES" the reply is "The trees are somewhat skinny, but are straight and sturdy." If you "EXAMINE OCEAN", the reply is "You see a small island in the distance." If you "EXAMINE BEACH", the reply is "You see nothing unusual." 

Since the bartender told you that information you need is on the island, you could try to "SWIM TO THE ISLAND". The response would be "As you start to swim out to the island you realize it is much farther out than you originally thought. Exhausted, you sink to the bottom of the ocean. It seems the game has ended. Would you like to try again (Y/N)." 

That is obviously the wrong response. But in adventures, failure is the path to success. As long as you save the game before venturing into deep water, you can load again and try something else. If you had said "EXAMINE ISLAND", the response might have been "Upon closer inspection you notice the island is quite far out. Much too far to swim." 

Try another solution to this puzzle. You may remember that you have an axe and the trees are not very thick. You could "CHOP TREES". The response is "You cut down several long, straight trees." You have some rope, so you may try to build a raft. When you type "TIE TREES TOGETHER", the response is "Tying the cut trees together, you fashion a respectable looking raft." If you then "SAIL" or "FLOAT TO ISLAND", the response is "You float uneventfully to the island." 

You have now completed the sample puzzle and are ready to take on a full-fledged adventure. There are, however, a few final points to keep in mind. 


When playing the game, try to keep commands as simple as possible. Try "TALK TO BARTENDER" instead of "CONVERSE WITH THE GENTLEMAN TENDING THE BAR". Also, if a command doesn't work or is not understood, try rephrasing it before moving on to something else. 

Given the difficult nature of some of the puzzles in the adventure, try a variety of approaches to each problem. If the obvious does not work, try something a little more off the wall. But remember to save your game before trying something which could cause an abrupt end to the game. If you run into too much trouble just write us at the address shown on your instruction card. We will send you a hint sheet to get you through the rough spots. 