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Belgian Amiga Club - ADF Collection
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Science Docs 13.adf
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ConanTheCimmerianDOCS
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ConanTheCimmerianDOCS
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FIXED BY RYGAR ! ! !
CONAN THE CIMMERIAN DOCS
TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE
I. CREDITS 1
II. INTRODUCTION 2
III. GETTING STARTED 4
IV. THE CONTROL SYSTEM 4
V. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 6
VI. GAME LEVELS 11
VII. INTERACTION 12
VIII. SCREEN ICONS 14
IX. STATUS SCREEN 15
X. THE WORLD OF HYBOREA 16
XI. HINTS FOR HYBOREANS 18
XII. THE WORLD OF RON E. HOWARD 21
CREDITS AND INTRODUCTION
UH HUH. IF YOU REALLY CARE, BUY THE GAME. AND WHY NOT, THIS
IS THE KIND OF GAME WORTH SUPPORTING. NOT WING COMMANDER II,
BUT BY COMPARISON WITH THE REST OF THE VIRGIN GAMES, A
SUPERIOR EFFORT.
Game supplied by Zodact, Docs produced by Brumus Bear.
If you have problems with your copy of Conan, quit using the
THG version (we believe it to be either a beta or a version
supplied to magazine reviewers - Fab Furlough says its the
real thing, but hey, we'll let you all figure it out and we'll
give you smart people a head start clue - do you play the
Razor 1911 version, full crack of the release version and
first rate docs to go with it or play the questionable thg
version? The choice is yours).
I (Brumus Bear) also have the docs to The Perfect General and
the Lost Admiral, two other Razor 1911 Releases. I will try
to scan these as soon as possible.
In addition, Brumus is getting the hint books for Corporation,
Vengeance of Excalibur and Conan and may pass them along when
he receives them.
As our adventure begins, Akado the Wizard is seated by a
campfire, relating the story of Conan the Barbarian. Bear in
mind that the Wizard is very old and he may occasionally gets
events confused. But don't worry, he'll eventually back up
and retell any part of the story he gets wrong.
Go, then, and take Conan on his quest for vengeance. A bit of
advice: talk to anyone you can in Shadizar! You can never
tell who might aid you in your quest. The fortune tellers and
wise sages of the city are particularly helpful in their words
of advice.
III. Getting Started: All Systems - use pkunzip -d and
runme.com.
IV. The Control System
Once you have loaded the game, three options will be offered:
NEW GAME Allows players to begin a new adventure
RESTORE GAME Allows players to reload a previously saved game
QUIT Ends game and returns user to DOS
Once a new game has been selected or a previous scenario
restored, a series of introductory text windows will establish
the game's storyline and characters. To read the entire
introduction, continue to select the MORE command. To end the
introduction, select the CONTINUE command. Next, use the
ACTION icon (the clenched first) to give Conan a movement
command. After clicking on the ACTION icon, click on the city
of Shadizar (just south of Conan's current position) and Conan
will travel to that city.
CONAN THE CIMMERIAN begins in the streets of Shadizar. The
game has two visual perspectives:
TOPDOWN When outside a building or structure, Conan is seen
from an angled topdown perspective.
SIDE VIEW When inside a building or engaged in combat, Conan
is seen from side perspective. (see "Game Levels")
4
At any time during the game, the player can access the Control
Panel by moving the cursor to either the Blue jewel at the top
to the screen or by pressing the F1 key. Invoking the Control
Panel presents the following options:
NEW GAME - Allows the player to begin a new adventure
RESTORE GAME - Allows player to reload a previously-saved
adventure.
5
SAVE GAME - Conan uses an auto-save feature that allows a game
to be saved and restored at any time.
TOGGLE SOUND - Turns music on/off
QUIT - Returns user to DOS
PAUSE - move the cursor to the Red jewel at the top of the
screen and click.
V. General Instructions
The instructions in this section deal with overall game play.
CURSOR MOVEMENT
The on-screen sword cursor can be manipulated by the user via
mouse, joystick or keyboard. To move the cursor through the
keyboard, press and hold down the control key while
simultaneously pressing the appropriate direction key.
To click on an icon, command menu or option box the user
can:
Press the left mouse button;
Press the primary joystick button, or;
Hit the ENTER/RETURN/INS key.
Selections can be made from option menus by hitting the key
representing the first character of any word in that menu. If
there is only one option that starts with that letter, it will
be selected.
If more than one available option begins with the same letter,
the cursor will cycle through each possible command as long as
the user continues to hit the same key. When the cursor
reaches the desired option, press ENTER/RETURN/INS.
This technique may take a little getting used to, but it is an
invaluable help once mastered.
6
PICTURE ON PAGE 7 DID NOT SCAN WORTH BEANS
7
CHARACTER MOVEMENT
Conan can be moved in three ways:
MOUSE - Move the cursor to the location you want Conan to walk
to, then press and hold the right mouse button and Conan will
walk to the new position. If you want to enter a building,
move as close to the door as possible using the right mouse
button and then click on the door with the left mouse button
(This move is not as simple as they say, some doors were very
picky and required several attempts from different positions -
BB).
JOYSTICK - Move the joystick in the direction you want Conan
to travel to. If you want to enter a building, move as close
to the door as possible and then click on the door with the
FIRE button.
KEYBOARD - Press the arrow key that corresponds to the
direction you want Conan to walk in.
7- Up left 8- Up 9- Up Right
4- Left 6- Right
1- Down left 2- Down 3- Down Right
COMBAT
There are three styles of combat which Conan must master:
1) Overhand A chopping downward swing
2) Side Swipe A swinging, across the body blow
3) Thrust A forward lunge
Before each combat, the player must choose Conan to fight in
one of
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these three styles. To do this, select the "Swing" option,
which will bring up the Select Attack menu. Life meters
appear at the bottom of the screen representing the vitality
of each combatant. When a life meter drains down to zero,
that character dies. The player may change fighting styles
anytime during combat.
Each of the three fighting techniques can be improved by
having Conan visit Master Quan Yo in the Thieves' Quarter (see
"Hints for Hyboreans"). Different styles of fighting are
required to vanquish a wide range of enemies, but it remains
for the player to learn which moves work best against various
opponents.
FIGHTING
Fighting can be conducted via keyboard, joystick or
mouse:
Keyboard
Down Arrow Unsheaths and sheaths Conan's sword,
signalling the beginning or end of combat
Up Arrow Swing sword in manner determined by the player
Left Arrow Moves Conan left
Right Arrow Moves Conan right
Keyboard users can press 1(overhand), 2(swing) or 3
(thrust) for quick changes of fighting style.
Joystick
Down Unsheaths and sheaths Conan's sword, signalling the
beginning or end of combat
Up Swings sword in manner determined by the player
Left Moves Conan left
Right Moves Conan right
9
Hmmm...more trash.....nice picture, like out of the comic
books
10
Mouse
Left Hold down the right mouse button while moving the
mouse left
Right Hold down the right mouse button while moving the
mouse right
Strike To strike an opponent, position the cursor on the
opponent and press the left mouse button
Sheath/Unsheath Sword Press down arrow key.
Exit Click on a door or the edge of a scene (only in the
direction Conan came from if the fight is going on).
Conan cannot exit when fighting, so be sure to sheath his
sword first.
Use the menus (click on Conan or the command icons) to
change swords, use a potion, or alter Conan's fighting
style.
Objects cannot be clicked on while a fight is in
progress; the opponent must be defeated before the room
can be searched.
ABORTING COMMANDS
Any command sequence can be aborted by pressing the ESC
key. This key is also used to eliminate information or
dialog windows once they have been read.
VI. Game Levels
There are three types of screen displays;
a)World Level
The World Level allows movement among the various cities
of Hyborea. It is a detailed, topdown display of the
cities and areas of special interest known to Conan.
Conan can only travel to locations shown on the World
Level screen. As Conan learns of new locations, they
will appear on the Hyborean Map.
11
Leaving one of the game area (Shadizar, Larsha, etc.)
automatically takes Conan to this screen.
b) City Level
The City Level offers an angled topdown display of a city
or other location (such as an underground tunnel system
or jungle). Conan explores these locations by walking
the streets or paths. He can enter doors (if they are
unlocked) by simply walking into them. Conan can also
interact with other characters by walking up to them.
(See "Interaction")
c) Scene Level
The Scene Level is the action-animation screen, with all
combat, trading and information-gathering occurring here.
The Scene Level offers a detailed side view of a single
location -- store, building, home, etc.
VII. Interaction
Conan interacts with characters and objects differently
depending on whether the game is in the topdown or side
view.
CITY LEVEL
In the topdown sequences, Conan can simply walk up to a
character and automatically invoke an appropriate menu.
Conan cannot drop objects in this mode, though he can
"Examine" objects such as maps or "Use" his sword. Here
are his options when engaging another character:
*Converse Allows Conan to speak to the character
through a series of menu-driven interactions. Invoking
this command brings up a menu of possible topics for
discussion as well as the Done command to terminate the
interaction.
*Attack Initiates Combat (see "Combat")
Done Ends interaction
SCENE LEVEL
In scene view sequences, the player can have Conan
interact with people or objects by simply placing the
sword cursor on that person or object and clicking on
them or it. This will invoke the appropriate menus.
CONAN THE CIMMERIAN uses a "smart menu" system in which
the parameters of each
12
Nice picture of Conan making it with three babes while a
lion and two tigers keep watch. The heck with those
beer ads, this is what it doesn't get better than.
Unfortunately, it scans like garbage with this software.
I'll be acquiring a new scanning system that might
improve on this but for now I just delete all these
graphics. Brumus Bear
13
menu are determined by the person or object it is
relating to. If Conan is in a building with a merchant,
for example, his options are defined by what Conan can do
with a merchant: Buy (purchase an object), Sell (sell an
object) or Done (end interaction). If Conan meets a
fortune teller, she may offer to read his future, in
which case his only options are to accept or leave.
Not all objects are significant, and Conan will simply
not be able to interact with these. Sometimes, objects
are hidden inside other objects. To search any object in
a scene, simply select it with a cursor. Conan will walk
to it and search it. Whatever he finds will be revealed.
He may then click on that previously hidden object and
interact with it. To interact with an object, simply
click on it and a dialog box will appear with choices to
TAKE the object, take ALL objects that are visible in the
room, or DONE.
BRIBERY
It is occasionally possible to bribe a character, usually
an armed guard. The opportunity is signalled by the
appearance of Bribery as a command option. Invoking this
command brings up a special menu consisting of:
* The amount of the bribe Conan is offering
* A pair of arrows which increase or decrease the amount
of the bribe. In mouse and joystick versions, players
can click on the appropriate icon. To raise the ante via
keyboard, hit the "+" key; to lower it, hit the "-" key.
* A Cancel command
* An "OK" command which initiates the bribe
VII. Screen Icons
On the right side of the game screen, etched into the
stone border, are the Command icons, representing the
actions available to Conan at that time.
The Clenched Fist
The top icon shows a clenched fist. This first icon
serves different purposes on different levels. Clicking
on this icon while on the WORLD LEVEL creates a "TRAVEL
TO" cursor which can be moved to any available location
on the map. Clicking on that area commands Conan to
travel to that location.
14
When playing at the CITY LEVEL or SCENE LEVEL, however,
the Clenched fist invokes a menu of possible actions
(Use, Examine, Drop, etc.) which are available to Conan.
As with TAKE an object, when dropping, you will have the
option to drop all objects that Conan is carrying.
Status Screen
The next icon shows Conan's snarling countenance and
invokes the Status Screen, which reflect Conan's current
status. (See "Status Screen")
Inventory
The final icon displays Conan's pouch and gives the
player access to Conan's inventory. A window appears
containing a list of the objects Conan is carrying plus
his wealth in Bezants (Hyborean currency).
Listed below are the KEYBOARD EQUIVALENTS to the icons
mentioned above:
A - Action (see Clenched Fist above)
I - Inventory (see Inventory above)
S - Status (see Status above)
P - Pause
F1 - Control Panel
IX. Status Screen
The Status Screen displays ratings in the following
areas:
* Stamina This represents Conan's number of Hit Points,
or points of damage he can sustain before succumbing.
The game begins with Conan at 30 out of 30. The first
value represents Conan's current status while the second
represents the maximum amount of damage he can withstand
at that point. The current value goes down each time
Conan takes damage and it goes up (to the maximum
possible) so long as he travels without fighting or if he
is revived with a drink of White Lotus. With the
completion of each episode, Conan's maximum Stamina
increases until it ultimately reaches 100.
* Swing Conan starts the game with a 50 rating in Swing
and in all combat before he has learned alternate styles,
this is the default selection.
15
* Thrust Conan starts the game with 0 Thrust points. He
must pay Master Quan to learn it.
* Chop Conan starts the game with 0 points in the Chop
style of fighting. He must pay Master Quan to learn it.
* Defense The higher Conan's Defense rating, the smaller
the chances of his being hit. This rating rises with
each episode.
* Stealth This rating affects the probability of Conan
being caught while attempting to steal. This rating
increases with the successful completion of each theft.
Conan starts off with a 60% Stealth rating, which means
he will successfully pull off a theft 60% of the time.
Eventually his successes will establish him as a
sufficiently skilled thief that he will almost never be
caught.
If Conan is unsuccessful at attempting a theft, he is
carted off to jail where all his money is confiscated.
* Damage This deals with the additional damage of +(0-
100%) that will be done by the specific sword Conan is
carrying at the time. The initial sword does zero extra
damage while an Enchanted Sword does the maximum amount
of extra damage. More powerful swords are the Steel
Sword, King's Sword and the Enchanted Sword.
X. The World of Hyborea
Locations available to Conan in this game are:
Shadizar
A large metropolis in central Zamora, it is a haven
for all manner of thieves, mercenaries, pickpockets and
cut-throats. Conan must solicit help and gain
information from these ruffians in order to fulfill his
ultimate quest of destroying Thoth Amon.
Shadizar Underground
There are numerous underground tunnels connecting
various districts with the walled city. These catacombs
are feared and avoided by local citizens, and with good
reason, but Conan must nonetheless scour these tunnels
for valuable artifacts which he will need to vanquish
future adversaries.
16
Another nice picture, black and white comic book
stuff.
17
The Jungle Ruins
On the River Styx, in the kingdom of Shem, sit the
ruins of a once-glorious and now long-forgotten city.
The jungle has long since folded over and reclaimed it,
and the local population shun it because of rumors of the
atrocities performed there by its last occupants.
Somewhere within this ruined city squats a huge monolith,
which contains the final secret of this lost metropolis.
Zamboula
Zamboula probably doesn't boast about it in its
tourist brochures, but it is generally known as the "City
of Skulls". An ancient ghetto in the kingdom of Shem, it
is ruled by powerful sorcerers partial to human
sacrifice. The city is redolent with evil legends, many
of them at odds, but all outsiders agree on one thing:
Zamboula is evil; always has been and probably always
will be. It is also part of Thoth Amon's dominion, as he
controls the city through the priests of the Temple of
Set, whose worship thrives in this urban hellhole.
Larsha
Larsha is said to be populated by demons and other
non-human creatures since its defeat at the hands of
Thoth Amon more than a century earlier. Located in the
kingdom of Koth, it is said that Larsha was given by
Thoth Amon to his minions, the Lizard People.
Nonetheless, it is full of valuable relics and treasures
--especially a magical scroll -- which Conan will need to
advance to the Palace of Thoth Amon.
Tarantia
The capital of Aquilonia, greatest of Hyborean
kingdoms. Alas, the once-proud city has fallen before
the dark might of Thoth Amon and now serves as his
headquarters. It is here Conan will finally encounter
the monster who destroyed his life, in Amon's own palace,
surrounded by evil armies and protected by black magic.
XI. Hints for Hyboreans
* Conan automatically receives information as he enters
each game area. Read these messages carefully!
* Visit Master Quen, the Fighting Instructor, as soon as
possible. Paying the wizened martial arts instructor can
elevate Conan's skill in any of the three fighting
styles. When starting out with no ability in a
particular style,
18
paying Quan improves that rating by 50 points. On each
following visit, however, fewer and fewer points are
awarded at an ever-increasing cost. (In the THG version,
where money was no problem because you could sell an item
indefinitely and still retain it, Master Quan was not
cheap, about 1400 bezants for the first three lessons so
don't visit him if you ain't loaded with dough - Brumus
Bear).
* In order to find Master Quan, talk to the people of the
city. Eventually, you will find someone who can direct
you to him.
* Read the messages from Akado after Conan dies; they
always contain a hint as to what the player did wrong
(ex.; "Conan would have known better that to attack a
thief with other than a swing fighting style.").
* Some enemies can only be defeated by a specific type of
weapon. If traditional weapons yield no results against
a specific type of opponent, seek out an appropriate
weapon.
* In Shadizar, comparison shop. See which merchants pay
the best prices and patronize them.
* Taverns are great places to gather information.
* Between his backpack and that skimpy loincloth, Conan
can hold up to 20 items plus his gold. There are many
more than 20 useful items in the game, so you must choose
carefully what you wish to keep. Anything you dump may
well disappear unless it is dropped in a remote, deserted
location or in a city temple. Goods left there will
remain untouched and unmolested by others. Elsewhere in
Shadizar, the thieves have no compunction about
"borrowing" unattended possessions.
* Conan can rebuild his health by a brief rest at the
nearest inn. It cost a bit, but may save time in
recovering from damage.
* Conan will periodically receive maps. Maps should be
examined only when you are in the area which they refer
to. For instance, a map of Larsha should only be
examined in Larsha itself. They cannot be used in other
locations. The location that Conan is interested in will
always be centered on the map and marked with a white
square. Conan's location is marked by a yellow square.
Small arrows in the upper left corner of the map indicate
which direction to travel to reach the destination.
19
Another pic...looks like Conan under attack by
either monkeys or programmers.
20
XII. The World of Robert E. Howard
Robert E. Howard is one of those authors whose famous
creations have almost completely obscured any public
perception of the man himself. The prime mover in the
birth of a literary genre known as "Sword and Sorcery,"
Howard's life story is so nondescript, with the exception
of it's final chapter, that most people fasten, instead,
o n the world of brawny barbarians and sinister wizards
he brought to sweating, lusty life.
The Hyborean age is a literary gumbo comprising medieval
romanticism, Norse mythology, Edgar Rice Burroughs jungle
lore and en endless army of sorcerous bad guys, who
practice of magic seems irrevocably tied to the forces of
evil. Howard covered all the bases by creating a series
of varied lands for his Cimmerian protagonist to have
adventures in. The jungles of Bamula provided Conan with
native tribes to battle, the Brarachan Isles were the
location of the Cimmerian's sea-going exploits, sailing
on the pirate ships of the Red Brotherhood; the border
Kingdom harbored strange monsters and sinister swamps;
Corinthia was a deep, thick forest while Aquilonia was
the land where Conan became King and married Zenobia near
the end of his recorded life. Howard never killed Conan
off; instead, after the death of his Queen Zenobia he
eventually abdicated the throne of Aquilonia and headed
to the Western Ocean on some ultimate, unknown adventure.
Conan is far from Howard's only creation, though he is
easily his most fullbodied. Kull, who ultimately became
King Kull, was a more idealistic and somewhat less rough-
hewn version of Conan. Kull walked the Earth in the Pre-
Hyborean days before Atlantis down. Another of Howard's
heroes was the Solomon Kane, an early American vampire
hunter.
But Conan is the character we remember, thanks largely to
the paperback boom of the 50s, and, later, the successful
Marvel Comics translations and several exciting films
starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. In fact, the next best
known of Howard's creations is probably Red Sonja, a
minor figure who appears in but a single Conan short
story, but whose role was expanded by comics writer Roy
Thomas and whose visual presentation was cemented by
Artist Franke Thorne.
Conan has now outlived his creator by more than half a
century, and he's still thieving, reaving and slaying
like a youngster. Robert E. Howard, the shy and awkward
doctor's son from rural Cross Plains, Texas, was much
more fragile.
21
Born in Peaster, Texas, in 1906, he was dead by 1936,
barely thirty years old. His first published story,
"Spear and Fang", appeared in Weird Tales magazine in
1925, the same publication where the first Conan the
Barbarian tale was published seven years later. His
eleven year output included twenty-one Conan stories,
several of which were completed, after Howard's death, by
authors L. Sprague de Camp, and Lin Carter. Devoted to
his mother, Howard was devastated by her death in 1936
and, unable to face the prospect of a future without her,
he committed suicide. The Conan stories were first
collected in book form in the fifties, which led to a
rediscovery of Howard by the general public. What would
Robert E. Howard think if he returned today and saw comic
books movies and even a computer game based on the
adventures of his Cimmerian rowdy? He might think it was
sorcery, but, Conan to the contrary, we think he'd
approve.
22
The End. There is also a map of Shadizar in the actual
game but it only shows about a dozen locations. To get
you started, the Red Dog Inn is in the Northwestern part
of town, just in front of the long wall and has a green
curtain in one window. Other than that you might as well
map it yourself. Brumus Bear 9/9/91.
FIXED BY RYGAR
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
