In the beginning, the world was dark and without purpose, John Doe was not even a figment of a nonexistent mind. Then John came to being, and I looked upon John and saw that he was good. But soon his life was to be turmoiled, and he would find himself lost and without direction. And that is where you come in, to give him a direction in life. That’s for part two, now you’ve just got to help him get out of the caves he seems to be trapped in.
The Theoretical S ide
In some martial arts, everything in the universe is made of five basic elements, fire (ka), water (sui), earth (chi), wind (fu) and void (ura). Each in very different. They are in essence, states of mind and can be seen in a persons personality. Firstly fire is knowing exactly what to do in any given situation and doing it, knowing that it’s right. Water is the ability to analyze a situation and work around it until the right time and then enter it and do your bit. Earth is stable, standing your groun d and giving in to no one or nothing. Wind is avoiding a head on confrontation and instead fighting from the side lines. Void is a difficult one to explain, the best comparison I’ve ever heard was about jazz musicians. The music they’re playing isn’t premeditated, it’s being able to do the right thing but not knowing why or how. It’s close to instinct in a way.
These states can manifest themselves in more than just personality, if the fighting skills are learnt, they come through very strongly in them. It’s very difficult to explain it in words and I’m not even going to attempt it with this limited space.
The Technical Side
Okay, you’re looking at the main screen and you find yourself wondering what to do, well this could hold the answer. First, let me explain the controls. The five gray buttons in the lower right hand corner are the things you can use to move around the game. They’re pretty much self explanatory, N = north, S = south and so on. The one in the middle with an eye brings up a description of ’ the room you’re in. It’s useful if after you examine something or what ever and then can’t remember where the exits were. Next to that, on the left is your inventory list. You start the game with a travel guide, and a flashlight. The travel guide can be useful in figuring out what the magic you find means. Directly above that is the box where you type things in that you want to do. Some common things are “examine door”, “go north”, “take paper”, and so on. One small hint though, try to keep them short and to the point, this is because the longer the text gets, the longer it’ll take the computer to figure out what to do with it. So instead of typing in “please go north so that I can see what’s in the next room since there’s nothing in here”, keep in down to “go north”. Also, if you type in “hints” you’ll get a small hint of what to do in that room. The big box at the top of the window is where all the room descriptions and messages come up.
Now the menus. The File and Edit menus are more or less what you expect in any application. The Special menu though has something interesting in it. The Tips item builds a small window that has a list of things you can type in. If you click on one of them, it’ll bring up a description of how and when to use it.
Oh yeah, you can also move around by using the arrow keys on the lower right hand side of the keyboard.
The Game Play
You move around the caves by either using the buttons or typing in the commands. In some of the rooms, th òere will be things to examine and take. If you see something in the description that makes you say to yourself “Hmmmm, I wonder what that has to do with anything?”, chances are it has some for of significance to the game and it might be a good idea to examine or take it.
Also there will be obstacles to overcome (that’s why it’s called a game!). Almost all of these will have to be overcome with magic. To use the magic, just say “use X” or “say X”. You have to use the magic word and not it’s English translation!!! When you finish the game and you’re looking at the Winner screen, if you want to replay the game, type “r”, if you just want to quit, type “q”.
