Loadstar 128 38/q38.d81/t.knight's quest

Text File | 2022-08-28 | 23KB | 418 lines

                         K N I G H T ' S  Q U E S T

                      Program and Text by Jon Mattson

    Welcome to Camelot!

    KNIGHT'S QUEST is a one- or two-player split-screen game which makes
full use of the 128's 80-column screen, musical capabilities, extra memory
and increased speed. Beyond that, defining KQ is difficult. It is a role-
playing game (RPG), in so much as each player creates a knight character
and uses this persona to explore a brave new world, but it is geared
towards a shorter playing time than your average fantasy epic (3 to 5 hours
or thereabouts). On the other hand, especially with two players, it is a
sort of 'computer boardgame', with a loose competition arising to see who
can complete his final Quest first and most bravely -- a sort of Arthurian
Monopoly, with the stakes being honour and valour instead of money. KQ
rises over either type of game, however, in that it uses artificial
intelligence to build an infinite number of worlds to use for your 'game
boards'.

    The rest of this article will concentrate on the game-oriented points
of KQ -- how to interact with the system. Although you will find many hints
and tips, you will not see any hard, fast information concerning the world
itself. I might have trouble with that, even if I tried: some aspects of
world building are in the 'hands' of YOUR computer. If you are a fan of
Arthurian legend, you will recognize many familiar themes, although you
will never meet Arthur or Lancelot herein (this is your unique world, after
all).

    If not, don't worry about it. This is a game of exploration -- so start
exploring!


THE GOAL
--------

    You can have many entertaining sessions of KQ just exploring the worlds
your computer builds. Ultimately, however, you may want to pursue the 'end
game' Quest. In the capital city (which you will have to find yourself)
resides the High King of the continent, who oversees the four lesser Kings.
He is growing old and seeks a champion -- the epitome of knightly conduct
and valour. He who proves himself worthy of this honour will also claim the
throne when the High King dies, for he has left no heir. To this end, the
wizard, Morgan, has begun searching for likely candidates, and it is up to
you to prove that YOU are the one he is looking for by gaining fame and
prowess during your adventuring career.


SETTING UP
----------

    When you first run the program, the title screen will give you three
options (other than quitting): world building, game setup and game play.
For your first session, this is also the logical order for you to make your
choices: you cannot play the game until you have created at least one world
and designed your character(s). So, your first session should go something
like this:

    1) Build a world: All you have to do here is pick the option and name
the resulting world -- the computer does everything else. This procedure
takes a few minutes, but the computer will keep you appraised of its
progress. It will also allow you to take a quick tour to familiarize
yourself with the land. Make sure that you have a disk with some empty
space on it to save the creation.

    2) Game Setup: This allows you to pick which world to explore, decide
whether 1 or 2 people will be involved and make your character(s), using
the procedure explained in the program. The computer also generates all
non-player characters at this point and does a few other game-related
tasks. Make sure that you have a disk with some empty space to save the
results -- preferably the same disk which contains the world in question.
You will have to give the saved game a name for reference purposes.

    3) Game Play: Now that you have a world and one or more saved
characters, you can actually play the game. In the future, when you want to
continue a saved game, just pick this option.

Some things to keep in mind during setup:

    1) More than one saved game can use the same world, even
simultaneously: data subject to change is retained with the 'saved game'
file, not the 'world' files. Thus, if you get particularly fond of one
world, you can keep using it indefinitely.

    2) Three files will be created using the above procedure, two world
files and the saved game: KQM.'world', KQC.'world' and KQS.'saved game'.
When referring to each file, only use the actual 'world' or 'saved game'
name, not the prefix. The computer will add the prefix as required.

    3) It is a good idea to keep all three related files on the same disk.
 They will use up no more than 30 blocks, total, so many games can be saved
on one disk, perhaps even with a copy of the program itself. Do NOT use
your LS128 disk for this purposea

   4) For simplicity's sake, I usually use the same name for the 'world'
and the 'saved game' files, as long as the world isn't being used for more
than one game. In any event, you will have to remember the 'save name' to
re-access the game, but you will not have to remember the 'world' name,
since it is retained in the 'saved game' file.


PLAYING THE GAME
----------------

    KQ is played using the joysticks. Keyboard access is limited to only
two generic commands (see below), since keyboard control does not allow
simultaneous two-player action. The Port 1 joystick tends to scramble
keyboard input, in any event. Player 1 uses the Port 2 joystick, since this
is the easiest (= fastest) one for the program to access in the single
player game. In the two player game, player 2 uses the Port 1 joystick.

    Virtually all game functions use a pop-up menu system: just move the
joystick up or down to move the highlight bar and make your choice. Yes or
No questions use a different system: tap the joystick in any direction to
toggle between Yes and No. When numbers are requested, simply pull down to
increase the number or push up to decrease it. In all cases, pressing the
fire button makes your final choice. Similarly, virtually all text pauses
can be shortened simply by tapping the button. This process very soon
becomes second nature.

    During non-combat portions of the game, pressing the INST/DEL key will
toggle the music on and off. Pressing RETURN will call up a simplified map
of the continent, showing only the villages, castles and player locations,
so that you can figure out where you are and where you are going. The map
can be shown entirely west-east but only in quarters north-south, so the
number keys let you view each section (1 is the very top, 4 is the very
bottom). If you want a more exact, topographical map, just press the Up-
Arrow key and the terrain will be displayed (this takes a few moments).
This is mentioned on the map screen, so don't worry about remembering it
for now.

    When the game begins, the main screen will appear. It is split into two
areas, one for each player, with a central message box that applies to both
players near the top. This latter box keeps you appraised of the time
(hour, date and year), the location of any upcoming tournaments/festivals,
and current events which apply to the world at large.

    Each player's screen section contains a map, showing his current
location, and numerous other pieces of information:

Terrain: A small picture and a verbal cue describe the terrain around you.
If you are in a village or castle, its name will be noted. Some types of
terrain are harder to traverse, requiring more than one 'joystick push': if
you are exploring such an area, a 'Slow Travel' message will also appear.

Injury & Fatigue: Adventuring is hard work. As you travel (especially in
heavy armour) and perform other physically tiring tasks, you will grow
fatigued, and your small heart-shaped 'endurance' symbol will gradually
shift from green to yellow to red. At a state of virtual collapse it
flashes dark cyan (a suitably deathly color). Combat and other dangerous
events can have a similarly disturbing effect on your 'body' symbol, in the
form of injuries. Running out of 'endurance' is a dangerous nuisance and
can prevent further movement until you have rested; running out of 'body'
is usually lethal...

Steed: Assuming that you have a faithful destrier (you start with one),
this heart-shaped symbol kee