Many, many years ago in a land for away, you were born (in a previous life) as the only child of King Gabrial beloved ruler of Fortonnia. Your birth was viewed as a great threat to the forces of evil which lurked in the land. The nasty wizard Fondu personified these forces of evil, and he battled to undo the good works of King Gabrial, your father. During your childhood, you were watched by Fondu and his henchmen, who waited for their opportunity.
As you approached your thirteenth birthday, plans were laid by the evil ones to prevent you from ever assuming the throne. They could not kill you - - your life force had already grown too strong . . . but they had at their disposal something far worse than death! The infamous and legendary mountain city of Labyrinthia; was their domain. Hidden deep in the wormwood mountains of Fortonnia, no mortal had ever escaped its veil.
Labyrinthia, it has been said, is composed of seemingly endless mazes, level upon level, going ever deeper into the mountain of evil. All but the first level of the city was inhabited by fearsome creatures who attacked mortals with no provocation. The evil ones, with their warped sense of humor, found it amusing to give imprisoned mortals the impression there was some chance of escape. They provided their victims with sources of food, water, and weapons -- all the time laughing.
It was this unspeakable fate which Fondu had in mind for you as he watched all of those years, and on your 13th birthday it happened.
As you walked through the lush forest which surrounds Fortonnia that fateful day, Fondu laid in wait. One moment all was good and light when suddenly, something struck you and there was only darkness.
You awoke hours later lying, unknowingly, on the floor of Level 0 of Labyrinthia. You could still hear the echo of Fondu's laughter and the sound of receding footsteps. Yet, even here in the darkest of darkness, some element of the force of goodness seemed mysteriously present. In this your hour of greatest need, as if In a dream, this force of goodness and light came to you.
Like nothing you have ever experienced before, you were surrounded by a fantastic warmth and brilliance. Covering your eyes you plunged to one knee calling out "Who is it that engages me?" "Do not be afraid my son, for I am with you" said a soft, comforting voice which seemed so very familiar. "Who is that who speaks as my father speaks, who is it that deceives me?" "I am the father of all fathers and the light of all light, through me all good things come." The voice continued "it was I who brought you here to prove yourself worthy of the Kingdom to which you were born. Be not afraid my son, but rather seek ye the Portal Of Light, for It Is there where you will find a perpetual peace and wisdom. if you prevail over the forces which lie waiting, you will never have cause to fear the evil Fondu again. This I will promise you . . . the powers you receive in the Portal will be so great, the enemies of your Kingdom will tremble In your presence."
The light began to fade, "Your Kingdom awaits you, its fate rests in your hands. I will try to be with you when you need me most, but you alone must find me." And all that was light and warmth was gone. It is here that your journey begins. Your quest of the "Portal Of Light."
LIVING THE LEGEND
When the program starts, you will be asked for your name. Use the same name each time. If you have a game in progress, the computer will restart you from where you exited the game last. If you are starting a new game, the computer will ask you to select a difficulty Level. You indicate the difficulty Level desired by pressing a number from 0-9. One is the easiest Level and nine is the most difficult. The time required to complete a game increases with the difficulty Level. You should be able to finish a difficulty Level 0 game In about an hour, whereas a difficulty Level 9 game will take much, much longer (days).
It will take the computer several seconds to generate a unique game for you. There are over 63 million possible games, so it Is unlikely you will ever play the same game twice. After the game-generation process is complete, a data file will appear in RAM which contains the various parameters of your game. You should NEVER attempt to edit this file, as there are hidden characters, which if edited, will cause your game to crash. Data files for the Portal Of Light will appear on the menu as the player's name preceded by the figure of a man.
You will begin your quest on Level 0 in the city of Labyrinthia. The deeper you go the more powerful and more plentiful will be the creatures. You'll need more powerful weapons to survive at deeper Levels, so be sure to trade up as you can afford it.
You may find some weapons in the maze. There are some special Items which are not really weapons, but which give you special powers. If you find any of these, you'll soon figure out what they do. Keep in mind that all of these special items are subject to breakage or may simple wear out as they are used.
Creatures often carry gold pieces. If you kill a creature, you'll get any gold it had. Unfortunately, only about one creature in five has any. (things are kind of tight in Labyrinthia these days).
You may find treasure just laying on the floor from time to time. That's good news. The bad news is that creatures sometimes creep up to you and steal some of your gold or, worse, a weapon, and then run off. There's really not much you can do to protect yourself against this. Maybe praying will help.
You may find a room along the perimeter of a Level that is unidentified (marked with a "?"). This means you have found a cave of unknown contents. You may enter at your own risk. Sometimes there are great things in these caves -- other times . . . well, you'll see.
SCREEN LAYOUT
The screen contains a map on the left, a "view port" in the center, important game variables at the right, and a message area directly below the view port.
THE MAP
When a you first arrive on a Level, there will be only a very small portion of the map displayed. Your current position and the direction you are facing is marked on this map with a little "T" symbol. The leg of the "T" points in the direction you are facing. Moving about, or even changing direction you are facing, will add (draw) more information about the Level to the map.
Every time you move to a new Level the computer must regenerate the maze for that Level. This takes a few seconds, depending on the complexity of the Level. Each Level varies anywhere from a 6x6 maze with 36 rooms to a 15x15 maze with 225 rooms. Levels are not necessarily square: they may be rectangular. In general, the deeper you go, the more complex the Level is likely to be.
Level 0, in every game, is always a 10x10 square. You can think of this as the ground Level, with each successive Level going deeper beneath the surface. There are no Creatures found on Level 0 - - it's perfectly safe here, but of course you cannot escape to the outside world from this Level.
THE VIEW PORT
The VIEW PORT shows you what you see looking straight ahead in the direction you are currently facing. Before playing a game in earnest, you should practice just moving about on Level 0 until you fully understand the VlEW PORT and how it relates to the "T" symbol on the map. This could only take five minutes or so.
THE GAME VARIABLES
The GAME VARIABLES provide you with the information you need to make the right decisions during your journey. Each is described in detail below:
Life - - This shows your life force on a scale of 100. 100 is perfectly healthy and 0 means you are dead. LIFE will decline as creatures attack. It will normally rise as you heal between encounters, provided you have food and water.
AGE - - You start at 13 and get older as times goes by. You might die of old age before you find the Portal Of Light so don't drag your feet!
POWER - - A measure of your physical strength. This increases your ability to defend yourself against creatures while you are fighting, casting spells, praying, or attempting to escape.
FORCE - - A measure, on a scale of 100, of how pious you are, increases the probability of devine intervention in times of crisis. The more you pray, the higher will be your FORCE factor.
MAGIC - - A measure of your magical powers and wizardry increases as you practice casting spells. You may eventually be able to do other magical things if your MAGIC gets strong enough.
SPEED - - A measure of your ability to evade creatures by running. This is a very useful ability if you encounter creatures too strong to defeat.
WATER - - Amount of WATER you have in terms of months. You begin to die when your supply is exhausted.
FOOD - - Amount of FOOD you have i n terms of months. You also start to die if your supply of food is exhausted.
THE MESSAGE AREA
The message area Is located just below the VIEW PORT on the LCD. This is used informative game messages. i.e. RUBBER BAND ATTACHED, found treasure, etc.
EXPLORING LABYRINTHIA
You move about Labyrinthia by pressing the arrow keys (at the very top right corner of the Model 100 keyboard). If you press the arrow key you will turn in place without moving. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ARROW KEYS WORK IN REFERENCE TO THE DIRECTION YOU ARE CURRENTLY FACING AS SHOWN ON THE VIEW SCREEN, not in relation to the maze map at the left. The up-arrow key moves you straight ahead and the down-arrow key turns you around and moves you one step forward. The right-arrow key turns you 90 degrees to the right and takes you one step in that direction; the left-arrow key turns you 90 degrees to the left and takes you one step in that direction.
Avoid bumping and especially running into walls - -it can hurt or injury you (look at your LIFE force on the right side of the screen for the results of your activity). You can't pass through walls initially although you may be able to later as you build magical powers.
You will note as you begin your journey you have only a 5-month supply of food and water.
You will notice that your supplies continuously diminish as you use them. If you run out of food or water, your health will begin to decline. How long it will take you to die depends on the state of health when you run out. Also, If you don't have food or water, any wounds you receive from battles will not heal. All of this is unsatisfactory, so it's best not to run out. The first thing you should do is find the food and water stores and buy some. By the way, you can only carry a 30-month supply of both, so don't waste your money by buying more than that -- any extra you buy simply spills on the ground and is wasted.
STORES
Level 0 has three different stores: FOOD, WATER and ARMS. All stores and other special rooms will always be found around the perimeter of the level in question. The doors to these special places can be "seen" on the "View Screen" from some distance away, but you can't tell what the doors lead to until you are within one step of the door.
While you are looking for food, water and supplies, you may find the stairs down to Level 1, but you should not leave Level 0 until you have at least one weapon. To venture into inhabited territory without at least one weapon is suicide and seldom will you survive more than a couple of minutes without weapons, regardless of the strength of your various powers. You can use up to 6 weapons simultaneously - - that's all you can carry.
Every 20th Level will have one of each kind of store somewhere, but you may also find stores at other Levels. Plan ahead, though. It's unwise to gamble that you'll be able to find supplies between Levels evenly divisible by 20. Every store has a different owner, and the prices will vary. Generally, everything costs more the deeper you go.
THE FOOD STORE
Upon entering the FOOD store you will see what you currently have for pocket money, how many months worth of food you have with you, and the going price for one months worth of food. You will also be asked "How much do you want?" The proprietors of these stores are very cut and dry when it comes to conversation. But then, so is the food. If for some reason you entered by mistake or simply change your mind, type L to leave the store. Food like any commodity varies in price, but attempting to shop around could prove to be fatal. So buy only what you think you need or can afford.
THE WATER STORE
Upon entering the WATER store you will see what you currently have for pocket money, how many months worth of WATER you have with you, the going price for one months worth of WATER. You will also be asked "How much do you want?" The proprietors of these stores are strangely similar to those of the FOOD stores in disposition and enthusiasm. If for some reason you entered by mistake or simply change your mind, type L to leave the store. There Is nothing special about the water in any of these stores. Like food, it is essential toward maintaining your health and stamina for the long journey ahead. Again, buy only what you think you need or can afford.
THE ARMS STORE
The prices of the various weapons available will vary according to the power of the weapon. When you enter the arms store, the proprietor will tell you what he has for sale today. He will list four weapons available for sale along with a number which represents the relative strength (both defensive and offensive) of the weapon. Weapons with a strength rating over 100 points are exceptionally strong, but are very, very expensive to buy. You'll normally have to settle for a much less effective weapon at the start of the game. A nitwit's dagger, for example, is usually affordable.
In the ARMS store you will have to Indicate to the proprietor what you want to do: press "B" to buy a weapon, press "S" to sell a weapon you have, or press "L" to leave the store. If you decide to buy or sell you will be asked to indicate which is the weapon of choice. The same store may quote you different prices for the same weapon at different times (the laws of supply and demand apply here as they would anywhere else), so shop wisely and don't always pay the first price asked. Maybe you can get a better deal if you look around.
THE MAGIC RUBBER BAND
You are equipped with a special magic rubber band to help you get around more quickly on a Level. When automatically be attached to the door of the stairs you arrive on a Level, your rubber band will up. As you walk around the maze, your rubber band will stretch easily. At any time you can zip back to the place where the rubber band is attached by pressing the "Z" key. When you do this, the other end is attached to the place where you zipped from. By pressing the "Z" key repeatedly, you will zip back and forth between the two points on a Level.
There are times when you may wish to detach the end of your rubber band and attach it to the place where you currently are standing. To do this, press the "A" key. The message "RUBBER BAND ATTACHED" will appear in the message area below the view port.
Now you can return to that spot any time later (rubber bands do not work between Levels) by pressing the "Z" key. You only have one rubber band, and only one end can be attached at any given moment. If this is confusing to you. try It a few times and you'll see how the rubber band works.
FIGHTING CREATURES
When you encounter a creature a symbol will appear in the view port along with the number of creatures in the group. The name of the creature that is currently attacking you and the relative power of that creature will appear on the view port. The power of a creature is represented by a number from 1 to 10. You should be aware that this is a log scale, so a creature with a rating of 3 is twice as powerful as a creature with a rating of 2. While creatures often travel In groups, they only fight one at a time. You have four choices when under a creatures attack - - press and HOLD DOWN one of the following keys:
"P" to pray (increases FORCE)
"F" to fight (Increases POWER)
"C" to cast a spell (increases Magic)
"R" to attempt to run away (increases SPEED)
Remember that the keyboard has a buffer which will store a dozen or so key presses. If you press several different keys in rapid succession, it is likely that the computer will lag behind a bit in processing the barrage of choices. This Is perfectly normal and should not be a cause for alarm. As a matter of fact, experienced players will find clever ways of using the keyboard buffer in the game.
As you battle with a creature its strength will decrease until it dies. You'll also notice a beep each time it attacks. The higher the pitch of this tone, the more powerful the creature. By the way, if you fail to press a key, the creature will continue to attack you until It kills you - very unpleasant.
There's more you'll discover, but time's wasting -your Kingdom awaits your return. GOOD LUCK TO YOU!
HELPFUL Hints AND STRATEGY
There is no right or wrong way to play the game, you'll soon develop your own unique favorite strategies. However, here are some hints which may help you in the beginning.
When fighting creatures, try not to let your life force (LIFE) get much below 50. If it gets down in the teens or lower, not only are you In danger of being killed, but you will heal much more; slowly. It takes much longer to heal from 20 to 40 life force than it does from, say, 70 to 90. If your life force is low, it's best to Just let some time pass for healing before you move on.
Remember that it is more difficult to survive at deeper levels. You want to continue to move deeper and deeper Into Labyrinthia, but don t go too fast, or you may not be able to handle the creatures.
The Portal Of Light will be found higher in Labyrinthia if you choose a lower difficulty factor when beginning the game. For the most difficult games, the Portal which you seek will be beyond the 200th Level.
Don't rush into rooms without first looking where you are going, or you may end up somewhere you didn't want to be; perhaps dead. Use the shift and directional keys to look around.
If you run away from a group of creatures, the creatures remain In that room. if you re-enter that room later In the journey, there will be a reception party waiting for you.
Creatures do not move between levels. If you kill all of the creatures on a given level, that level will remain void of creatures for the duration of your journey (even If you save the game and resume at another time).
The layout of each level and the location of special rooms and stores remains fixed for the duration of the game. In other words If you return to a level you previously visited, you'll find everything exactly the way it was before. For that reason, it's a good idea to note the location of food and water stores so that if you become desperate later, you'll know where to go.
You cannot initially walk through walls, but If some of your powers get high enough, who knows?
Use your rubber band to avoid tedious retracing of steps in unfamiliar cities. Attach the rubber band whenever you reach a fork in the city. Then If you end up in a blind alley, press the "Z" key to z-z-z-z-zip back to the fork - - then try the other path.
NOTES
Back in 1985 Bill Templeton wrote these notes about running Portal Of Light:
1) If you substitute POKE 64173,0 for SCREEN0,0 in line 10, you will dissable the label line and the game will play better!
2) If you eliminate line 0 you will be able to save the program to resume at a later time by pressing F1.
