Loadstar 128 24/q24.d81/t.monastery

Text File | 2022-08-28 | 7KB | 120 lines

                      K n e e s   C a l h o o n ' s

              M U R D E R   I N   T H E   M O N A S T E R Y

                        Annotated by Fender Tucker


     When my annotation of Knees Calhoon's MURDER IN THE MUSEUM was
published on LOADSTAR 128 #20 I realized that for symmetry's sake I would
soon have to annotate Calhoon's other magnum opus, MURDER IN THE
MONASTERY.  This is it.  It wasn't always a pleasant task -- apparently
Calhoon's notoriously dark nature took an even more sinister turn after
the first mys-adventure -- but for the benefit of future generations I
waded through the cesspools of his mind, attempting to explain the origins
of the confused puns and anti-social slurs that populate his second (and
to date, last) chronicle of the inept Inspector Claude la Mort of the
Surete.

     If you remember, MURDER IN THE MUSEUM's plot hinged around a
relatively minor art fraud.  In MONASTERY Calhoon tackles no less a
subject than religious faith itself.  What if, he posits, an archeological
find shatters our society's strongest traditional beliefs?  Is this a
worthwhile basis for a murder plot?  Or is it just wishful thinking on
Calhoon's part?

     There are no easy answers to Calhoon's questions, and you certainly
won't find them in this text.  Unlike my evil clone, I worry about losing
subscribers.  I realize that many computerists expect to find only
"computer-related" topics discussed on this "disk-magazine".  As I said,
much of what Knees has programmed made me shudder but let's face it; the
computer is a terrific tool for annotation.  As you roam through the
wonderfully perverse Abbey of St Isosceles, if you've toggled the
Annotator on, you will be able to read my pseudo-scholarly comments about
the room's origin or purpose, and even find out what you have to do to
solve the mys-adventure.  Conversely, if you want to solve the mys-
adventure yourself you can just turn the Annotator off.

NOTE: Both of my annotations are "hard-coded" and can't be used to
annotate anything else.  However, I plan to publish on an upcoming issue a
generic ANNOTATOR program.  You would take some text that you want to
annotate, format it properly, then enter annotations of any part of the
text you want.  Save your file and when everything is run, the reader of
the text has access to your annotation.

     There is a LOT of disk access in this program.  If you are using a
1541 without a fastload you may want to use the "brief" mode after you
have seen most of the rooms and annotations.  If you're using JiffyDOS or
a CMD device, the load time shouldn't be a problem since most of the files
are only around 6 blocks long.

     The annotation of any area will generally tell you what you have to
do in that area.  There is plenty of corruption and crime to spare in the
Abbey but there's only one murderer, chosen at random at the beginning of
a game.  You'll find out soon enough that it's either one of two suspects.
There are a couple of places in the annotation where the clues that finger
the murderer are described.  I've placed a dashed line above the critical
information so as you scroll down to it you can stop if you don't want to
know who the murderer is.  Just stop scrolling at the dashed line.

NOTE: When you toggle the Annotator on it doesn't show you the annotation
for the room you're currently in.  The annotation starts when you move to
another room or take something that has its own file.

     There's a few blocks free on this side of the LS 128 disk so you can
save several "games in progress" on it.  However, it's always recommended
that you copy a program's files over to another disk so you can save as
many games in progress as you wish.  They only take up one disk block
apiece.  To save your place enter "save" at the game prompt.  It asks you
to enter a name for the saved game.  You may want to save it under the
name of the room you're in.  To load in a saved game, enter "load" and a
directory of saved games will be displayed.  If you have more than a dozen
saved games, you'll have to tap the STOP key to stop the listing at the
top of the directory.  Then move the highlight bar and load in a saved
game.

     Entering "bri" will put you in the brief mode where only a one short
description of most rooms is shown.  There is no annotation in the "brief"
mode, even if the Annotator is toggled on.  Entering "ver" puts you back
in the default "verbose" mode.

     To see your inventory, enter "i".  To see your surroundings, enter
"l" for "look".  In this mys-adventure, you don't really need north, east,
south and west.  To go anywhere, just enter "go (place)".  You only need
to enter the first two letters of any word.  To look at the info sheet
enter "lo sh".  You start off with the info sheet and the map, so it's a
good idea to look at them to get your bearings at the start of the game.
The map shows you all of the places you can go.

     The main part of the mys-adventure takes place in the Library of St
Isosceles.  Superior sdventurers may want to try to map the interior
themselves, without help.  But most of us would require a floor plan to
ever fully explore the Library.  There is a file on this side of the LS
128 disk that will help you.  Check out LIBRARY PRINT for this.

     la Mort, often known as the "shopping cart detective" never drops
anything.  Once he takes something, he's got it for the duration.

     Calhoon didn't like adventure games that required finding the correct
verb, so he designed MONASTERY so that very few verbs are required.
Generally, what you find are clues to the murderer and the plot.  You
aren't required to come up with clever ways to get out of traps or
predicaments (well, maybe a few).  If you encounter a locked door, there
will definitely be a key for it somewhere.  If you really get stuck,
there's always the annotation.

     Finally, a disclaimer.  Calhoon, by definition a polymorphously
perverse crackpot, spouts a lot of philosophy that usually doesn't get
published in the strait-laced, tie-wearing computer press.  The opinions
expressed by Knees Calhoon therefore do not necessarily reflect those of
Softdisk, LOADSTAR or any rational person.  Please direct any hate mail or
threats to Knees Calhoon, 606 Common, Shreveport LA 71101.  I'm sure he'll
happily reply; he enjoys almost any form of verbal or literal abuse.

FT

                   \\\\\ R - Run    RETURN - Menu \\\\\