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The Latest and Greatest Top 201 Games (Maple Media)(1994).iso
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axoru590
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1991-09-04
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A Work of Pseudo-Medieval Fantasy
Copyright (c) 1987, 1989, 1991 Castle Technologies
All rights reserved.
------------------------------------------------------------
written by Brian Sanders
Revision 5.90, Advanced
STANDARD EVALUATION RELEASE
============================================================
In this manual:
- What this game does, in a nutshell
- How to play the game
DISTRIBUTION POLICY:
============ ======
All amateur or hobbyist computer users: please feel
free to duplicate and scatter this archive to the ends
of the earth. It makes wonderful upload credit.
Professional distributors: please refer to "Special notes
and Distribution" below for more information.
HOW TO CONTACT US:
=== == ======= ===
In the interest of developing future products, as well as
perfecting existing ones, your feedback as a software user
is VERY important. If you find a bug in the game or have
any sort of comment at all, such as whether hint lists for
the game will be available, etc., please write in. We will
reply to questions and comments if you include a self-
addressed stamped envelope with your letter. Write to:
Castle Technologies
Post Office Box 3297
Livermore, CA 94551-0897
Or, for FASTER response, call:
THE CONNECTION MACHINE BBS (A Wildcat! system)
(510) 449-4790
2400/1200 baud MNP5, No parity, 8 bits data, 1 stop bit
24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Registered version on-line, latest evaluation versions for
downloading, support forum.
------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction
and Background
============================================================
Welcome to the splendors of Xoru....
A distant land where your inventiveness and skill are
the "tools of the trade" for unravelling devious, mysterious
puzzles, guarded by ugly and ferocious beasts. Only by the
grace of Fortune and your own ingenuity, by exposing secrets
that hold the land hostage, would your life be spared; even
in a style befitting none but the greatest of kings!
Play of the game usually requires a bit of exploration
in the beginning, to gain familiarity with the new, bizarre
surroundings. On discovery of a number of items, the clever
player will understand similarities between unrelated areas,
or things which ought to be made "right." Of course, here
and there a clue may be carelessly dropped, so there is a
reward for vigilance. If you outsmart the horrible Enslaver
Titan of Xoru, the puzzle-crafter and dweamor-weaver of this
huge subterranean safe, you will be highly rewarded! You
will fight the Titan himself, to the very death, in an
ultimate puzzle of his choosing.
Advanced XORU is a role-playing adventure game which
allows the computer to "come alive" for a moment,
interacting with you in a fantastical pseudo-medieval world.
With its natural-language interface, Advanced Xoru allows
the player to communicate with the game and its environment
using common, everyday English sentences. The story unfolds
in a variety of vivid scenarios, depicting lavishly arrayed
dungeon chambers, evil drooling monsters and mysterious
treasures. All such joys are within the grasp of the
courageous, worthy adventurer.
------------------------------------------------------------
Registration and Ordering Information
============================================================
Advanced XORU comes to your doorstep via modem, courtesy of
Castle Technologies and the User-Supported Concept. The
User-Supported Concept delivers quality software to you at a
very reasonable cost, allowing you to use the software on a
free trial basis. Under this marketing concept, you can
make an unlimited number of copies of the game without
restriction; since XORU isn't at all copy protected, it is
quite easy to back up and install on other floppies, or to a
hard disk if you choose.
Note: This Evaluation copy is from the same code that
constitutes the Registered version. The capabilities
of the evaluation program are a subset, not of what you
can do in the registered version, but of how far you
can go. This copy includes the entire first level of
the dungeon for the purpose of your evaluation. This
program is not "crippled" (not going to self-destruct,
cease functioning, etc.), it is merely incomplete.
Xoru is a cleanly written, professional software
product which will provide the avid adventurer with endless
hours of challenging entertainment. Your own registration
of this product has the following benefits:
* You will receive a disk with a copy of the
game, which includes many additional
features. Some of those features are:
The second and third levels of the dungeon,
which complete the game set with many
additional rooms, characters, monsters,
tunnels, and puzzles, making the game
complete and winnable.
A text-graphics finale: one last interactive
challenge before the game concludes when you
win it.
350 moves per level of unrestricted access to
all of the game's features.
* You will receive a full copy of a typeset,
spiral-bound instruction manual that reveals
many otherwise undocumented features of the
game.
* You will be entitled to customer support,
giving you notification of future products
and high priority in any questions you might
have about using the game.
* Paying for your copy of the game also
encourages us to develop products using the
Shareware system, including other computer
fiction games.
If you would like a copy of the Registered version of
Advanced Xoru on diskette, including the manual and sample
map, send a check or money order for $19.95, also including
any applicable sales tax (CA residents 8-1/4%) and
shipping/handling costs, payable to:
Castle Technologies
Post Office Box 3297
Livermore, CA 94551-0897
A ready-made order form has been included for your
convenience. Simply type PRINTME at the DOS prompt and
follow the instructions given to obtain a printed copy of
the form. Be sure to specify which size and format diskette
you would like to receive.
Also available is a DOOR-compatible version of Advanced
Xoru, which allows the game to be played over telephone
lines using modem equipment. This product supports TBBS,
PCBoard, Auntie, QuickBBS, and many other bulletin board
systems. SYSOP license registration costs $ 44.95.
------------------------------------------------------------
Special notes and Distribution:
============================================================
This revision of Advanced Xoru and accompanying
documentation, designated by "5.90", supercedes all
previous revisions and the terms outlined in their
documentation. Additionally, only the most recent
revision is available for registration.
If you re-archive Xoru, such as into another
compression format, please be sure to preserve the
archive name. It is extremely difficult to keep track
of different versions of the game when the archive
naming convention is destroyed.
Distributors: Please send us your address so that we
can make the latest revision of Xoru available to you.
We restrict the lawful reproduction of this evaluation
software in that, if a fee is charged for such
reproduction, it may not exceed $ 5.00 per copy. This
limit applies regardless of media type or size used,
but it does not include charges which may result from
shipping expense or sales tax. Thank you for your
greatly appreciated service.
------------------------------------------------------------
Limited Warranty
============================================================
With respect to the physical diskette and documentation,
Castle Technologies warrants the same to be free of defects
in materials and workmanship for a period of sixty (60) days
from the date of purchase. In the event Castle Technologies
receives written notification from you of defects in such
materials or workmanship within such 60 day period, Castle
Technologies will replace the defective diskette or
documentation. IF YOU NEED TO RETURN A PRODUCT, PLEASE
CONTACT CASTLE TECHNOLOGIES TO OBTAIN A RETURN AUTHORIZATION
NUMBER.
The remedy for breach of this limited warranty shall be
limited solely to replacement diskettes and documentation,
AND SHALL NOT ENCOMPASS ANY OTHER DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO LOSS OF PROFIT, AND SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL,
CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER SIMILAR CLAIMS.
------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer
============================================================
Castle Technologies specifically disclaims all other
warranties, expressed or implied, including but not limited
to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a
particular purpose with respect to defects in the diskette
and documentation. In no event shall Castle Technologies be
liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial
damage, including but not limited to special, incidental,
consequential or other damages.
This statement shall be construed, interpreted, and governed
by the laws of the state of California.
------------------------------------------------------------
Game Installation
============================================================
Here is how you get the game started with your computer
hardware. You need, at the very minimum, the following
equipment:
an IBM PS/2, AT, XT, PC or 100% compatible with 192K of
RAM memory
a color or monochrome monitor with any IBM compatible
video card adaptor ( e.g. VGA, EGA, CGA, MDA,
etc.)
1 floppy disk drive of either 3-1/2" or 5- 1/4"
variety, or a hard disk
Advanced Xoru will most likely come in a packed file format
containing the following files. Make sure you have them
all:
AXORU.DOC Game Documentation (this file)
AXORU.EXE Executable
AXORUA.SCE Special internal data files
AXORUC.SCE .
AXORUE.SCE .
AXORUF.SCE .
AXORUG.SCE
AXORUH.SCE
ORDER Order form
PRINTME.BAT Batch file to print out Order form
To begin the game, simply place yourself in the same
directory as the above files, and type AXORU at the DOS
prompt, pressing <Enter> afterward. The game will load in a
minute, then instantly pop onto the display.
In the succeeding screens, fill in the query boxes until you
get to the Character Class input box, where you can use the
up and down arrow keys, or the first letter of an option, to
select your character.
Then, an introductory story will flow down the screen. When
you see the single idling word "MORE", XORU is giving you
the opportunity to read the previous text before continuing.
Pressing any key at this time instructs the computer that
you want to go ahead.
------------------------------------------------------------
Game Play
============================================================
When you are at the little square prompt (or chevron on some
remote terminals), you are ready to play the game. At this
point, you can interact with the computer, commanding it to
lead you throughout the adventure before you. Additionally,
you can influence the environment of the game by telling the
computer what you want to do.
These commands follow previous adventure games' conventions
and let you explain things in common English phrases. You
can get help from the computer by typing, simply, HELP
(pressing the <Enter> key afterward.)
Most of the game involves getting around, so typing such
sentences as "WALK NORTH", "CLIMB THE STAIRS" or whatever
lead you into new areas, describing them in a detailed
fashion for you to explore. You can do other interesting
things by typing your request, verb action-word first, nouns
and modifiers following. Some examples of valid statements:
CLIMB DOWN THE LADDER
TAKE THE RING
EAT THE BERRIES
BREAK DOWN THE DOOR
CLIMB THE WALLS
SCREAM AND RUN IN CIRCLES
KILL THE BUGBEAR
CAST GULVOYEUR
INVENTORY
WALK NORTHWEST
NW
EXITS
VERBOSE
SAVE GAME
EXAMINE THE STATUE
TAKE THE RING AND THE CLOAK
DROP ALL BUT THE KEY
INSERT THE KEY IN THE LOCK
TAKE TWO RINGS
To leave the game, type QUIT
When checking your status, type STATUS
------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright Notification and Legalities
============================================================
This game Software, manual and all other
documentation contained within this product are
copyrighted and all rights registered and reserved
by the author. Persons using the evaluation
software marked "EVALUATION" or "EVAL" are
encouraged to try the game before purchasing it,
and may distribute the evaluation versions freely.
It is, however, illegal to sell any version of
Xoru, or duplicate registered copies of the game
for purposes of distributing them. Willful
violations of the United States Copyright Law can
result in civil damages of up to $50,000 in
addition to actual damages, plus criminal
penalties of up to one year of imprisonment and/or
$10,000 fine.
------------------------------------------------------------
CHANGES MADE TO XORU, REVISION RELEASE 5.0
============================================================
Outlined below are the major additions and changes which
have been made since the previous release, 4.41.
* The fabric of the dungeon was neatly pulled open, and a
third level was dropped inside. This level is both
magic and monster-compatible with the other two levels.
* You may find some more interesting characters showing
up on the scene. Some of these are related to the fact
that the third level is providing housing.
* An interactive text-graphics segment provides a finale
to the game, which can be experienced by only those few
who reach the end of the game and face the Ebon Titan
himself. This segment is functional over the BBS DOOR
interface, using both ANSI colors and keypad input.
* Some of the puzzles and dungeon features of previous
versions of Xoru have been modified to fit the new
theme of this version. Monsters and combat have been
greatly enhanced, and there is no longer an option to
leave monsters out of the game for this reason.
* Sound has been added!
* An overwhelming number of other refinements and
additions have been included in this release, such as
an animated title screen for color ANSI players,
EGA/VGA expanded screen size support, or the addition
of another character class with its own unique
capabilities.
release date: Sept 5, 1991
(eod)