0% found this document useful (0 votes)
270 views25 pagesGraphic Adventure Creator (GAC) Manual
Uploaded by
Marcos MarcosCopyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF or read online on Scribd
0% found this document useful (0 votes)
270 views25 pagesGraphic Adventure Creator (GAC) Manual
Uploaded by
Marcos MarcosCopyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF or read online on Scribd
/ 25
RVG
ADVENTURE
e 7NLO] 34
INCENTIVE THE GRAPHIC ADVENTURE CREATOR
For the AMSTRAD CPC range of personal computers
The Graphic Adventure Creator -1- loading instructions
Writing Adventures - 2 - getting started
Graphics -3- the complete guide
The Conditions - 4 - how to enter them
Our Small Adventure - 5 - final data with notes
Commanding the Adventure - 6 - a deeper look at player commands
Handy Data Sheets -
The Quickstart File -
- Appendix A
Braver une
~ Appendix 8 SECTION ONE
LOADING INSTRUCTIONS
___This program is protected by the LENSLOK (*) system. Please read these
inetructions carefully.
KEEP YOUR LENS IN A SAFE PLACE AS THIS IS YOUR KEY TO THE PROGRAM.
TAPE
1. Insert the cassette into the datacorder and rewind it.
2. If you have a CPC 664 or 6128, or you have a disc drive attached to a 464
then type
{tare CENTER]
+ Press the green [CTRL] key and, keeping it pressed, push the small
CENTER] key.
+ Anessage will appear, saying “Press PLAY then any key...". Press the
PLAY button on the datacorder, and then any key on the keyboard.
. The program will then load and start running.
: A large "H" will appear on the screen, along with the words “GRAPHIC
ADVENTURE CREATOR", and "< Contract Expand >".
« PHOTO 1 - Taking your LENSLOK, unfold it and lay it flat on the screen.
Then Use the left and right cursor keys to adjust the width of the “H"
until it is the same length as the lensholder. Then press any other key.
8. A pattern will appear on the screen. PHOTO 2 - Fold the lensholder,
taking note of the "This side out” and "top" markings on the lensholder,
and stand it on the screen.
9. PHOTO 3 - Close one eyeand, holding your head at least 12 inches away,
‘GTign-the-centre of the lons with the vertical Tine-on the screens You
will see the characters "OK" in the lens.
10.Keep the lens in the same position and press a key on the keyboard. Two
More characters will appear on the screen. Press these two characters on
the keyboard and the Graphic Adventure Creator will take over.
1l.If you are too slow,or you make a mistake, then two more characters will
appear. Three attempts are allowed before it is necessary to reload the
program.
3
4
5
6
7
1. Type
RUN"GAC" [ENTER]
2. Continue from step 5 in the tape instructions.
TAPE AND DISC CONTENTS
The tape and the disc each contain four files : the GAC itself, the
QUICKSTART file, the adventure in the manual, ADVINMAN, and a demonstration
adventure RANSOM. Ransom is a demonstration to show the quality of graphics
possible using the GAC, and uses the format of adventure similar to
ADVINMAN.
The order of the files on the tape is :
SIDE 1: "GAC", "Qs" SIDE 2: "ADVINMAN", “RANSOM”
And on the disc, the files are called:
"GAC.BAS", "QS.ADU", "ADVINMAN.ADV", "RANSOM. BIN"
The GAC and RANSOM can be run using RUN "GAC" and RUN"RANSOM" respectively
QS and ADVINMAN are data files to be loaded whilst the GAC is running.
* LENSLOK is a trademark of ASAP Developments Ltd. SECTION TWO
Getting Started
Welcome to the world of the Graphic Adventure Creator !
Hold it ! There's no need to turn the computer on yet. Starting an
adventure without a clear idea of what to do is usually about as fruitful as
starting to bake a cake, when you haven't decided if it's going to be a
Christmas cake or a Victoria sponge | ( If you really can't wait, go and
play with the graphics in section 3 and come back to this bit.)
efore you start, you should really have a clear idea of what you want
the adventurer to do. ( I do, anyway+-. if I try to sit down and just write
an adventure I don't know what's going on ! ) In most adventures there is a
well defined task to perform: get out of the cave system with the treasure,
or: rescue the beautiful monster from the ravening princess.
Here is what I would do in setting up a small adventure:
First, set the task.Let us make our hero find some gold.
Then, work out a map of the place our intrepid hero will be whilst
attempting to complete his task, including where any objects are at the
start. Here it is:
Room 3
Cave with snake
Room 2
Main cavern
Room 1
Above ground
Lamp
Room 5 Room 6
Qutside Castle Inside Castle
Dead rat Gold
Let us give some basic descriptions of the rooms:
ROOM 1: You are above the ground. There is a cave entrance to the east.
ROOM 2: You are in a large cavern. Passages lead east,west and south.
ROOM 3: You are in a cave. A snake is asleep in a corner and exits lead
east and west
ROOM 4: You are in a small cave. The only visible exit is west.
ROOM 5: You are by a small castle,with a tunnel leading to the north. A
large door can be seen to the east
(00M 6: You are in the castle strongroom. A door stands open to the west.
Note that we have not included the objects in the room descriptions,
since these can move around and may not always be there.
If you go into the snake cave,then the snake will eat you, unless you
have the dead rat, in which case they will eat that instead. The door must
be unlocked before you can go east from room 5. Note that you can't pick up
the sleeping snake Pir you’try it will wake up and kill you!) 90 me don't
need to include this as an object.
So, at first glance, there are four objects: the lamp, the rat, the key
and the gold. In fact, it is easier if there are FIVE,and we include a lit
lamp ao a separate object. Thus it is easy to see if we have a lighted lamp
with us or not, and lighting the lamp merely involves swapping the unlit
lamp for the lit one. But the lit lamp doesn't exist at the start, and where
do we put the lamp when we've finished with it ? Easy, room ZERO. This is a
sort of limbo room where dead or unborn objects go, and they cannot be found
or picked up.
0 the objects are:
083 1: a lamp Starts in room l,and weighs 10 units
0B3 2: a dead rat Starts in room 5,and weighs 20 units
OBS 3 a small key Starts in room 4,and weighs 1 unit
0B3 4 a gold bar Starts in room 6,and weighs 100 units
0B) 5: a Lit lamp Starts in room 0,and weighs 10 units
The weight is there in case you want to restrict the itemo you can carry,
as we do in this case. Let's set it to 110, so that you can't carry the
lamp,the gold, and the rat at the same time.
fhe next thing to do is work out the connections between the rooms. These
should only include unconditional moves ( ones which can always be done and
which change nothing.) The move room 1 to room 2 is not included because the light changes between light and dark, and the move room 5 to room 6 is not
allowed either because’ it can only happen when the door is open. These
entries should go in the condition table, which we will come to late:
So the connections ar
From room (none)
room EAST to 3
room WEST to 2
room aa
room (none.
room WEST to 5
The last one is included since if you are in room 6, then you must have
opened the door.
The next part is the bit that does all the decisions which make playing
the adventure possible... the conditions.
These come in three parts: local conditions which only apply in one
articular room, high priority ones which, as you may expect, occur before
the adventurer types in es his ‘command. and” the low-priority conditions,
which occur after the player input.
By way of illustration, here are the local conditions for the adventure,
expressed in informal English for the moment.
If you type "EAST", say that it's dark, and go to room 2
If you type "WEST", say that it's light, and go to room 1
If you type "SOUTH", say that it's light, and go to room 5
If you type "GET SNAKE" then tell you that it has has bitten
you,and stop the game.
If you type "EAST" then say that i
If you type "WEST" then say that it's dark,and go to room 3
If you type "UNLOCK DOOR", then open the door and print
a message to say so, then wait for a new command.
AST", and the door is open, then go to room 6
ASI", and the door is closed, then tell the
adventurer that he can't walk through doors, and wait for a
new command.
If you type "NORTH",say that it's dark,and go to room 2
In order to tell the adventurer things,the messages are used. There
should be a message for all the situations you want to inform the adventurer
of. For the moment, you shouldn't use messages numbered 240 and above,
Here are the messages we will need :
light and go to room 4
MESS 1: It is @ small,battery operated lamp
MESS 2: It is a freshly dead rat. Looks tasty!
MESS 3; It is a small silver key
MESS 4: It looke very valuable
MESS 5: It is a small lamp,shining brightly.
[ these are more detailed descriptions of objects 1..5 ]
MESS You can't walk through doors, you know!
MESS 8: The snake wakes up,comes over, and bites you. The poison takes
hold immediately.You die.
MESS Well done! You got out with the gold! You are rich!
MESS 10: The door unlocks and swings open.
MESS 13: The snake wakes up,comes over, and eats the rat. It then returns
to its position.
MESS 14: The snake, not surprisingly, takes a nasty turn and bites you.
The venom kills you.
MESS 15: It lights up brightly.
MESS 16: It goes out.
MESS 17: It tastes even better than it looks! Yum yum!
MESS 18: You find nothing much.
MESS 19: I'm afraid I don't know what that is.
MESS 20: You hear scuffling footsteps nearby...
MESS 21: A giant spider with glowing red eyes leaps from the shadows and
neatly severs your head with powerful jaws before devouring you.
Now,let's look at the low-priority conditions, which are those which are
used to interpret commands and to generally’ manipulate the adventure
"environment",and are not specific to one room. They are, again, in informal
english for the time being. If you typed "SCORE" then print out your score and the number of moves.
If you typed "GET something" then pick it up.
If you typed "DROP something" then drop it.
If you typed "EXAMINE something" then print its detailed description
If you typed "QUIT" then quit the game
If you typed "LOOK" then redescribe the current room
If you typed "EAT RAT" then drop the rat,destroy it,and print message 17.
If you typed "INVENTORY" then print message 6 and list all the objects
you are carrying.
If you typed "PICTURES" then turn the pictures on.
If you typed "TEXT" then turn the pictures off.
TE you typed “LIGHT LAMP" and you have an unlit Lam
available, then print message 15, exchange objects 1 and
your score.
If you typed "EXTINGUISH LAMP" and you have a lit lamp available, then
print message 16,exchange objects 5 and l,and subtract 20 from your score.
( object, 2.)
sand add 20 to
These are ail the low-priority conditions. It also gives us our
vocabulary we need. The vocabulary is set up as nouns ( which usually refer
to objects ), verbs ( which are "doing" words like "GET","DROP", and
"UNLOCK" ), and also adverbs, which tel us how to do things, and
( apologies to students of the English language - I know these are ‘really
Preposi ions ) where to put things.
‘or example, in the commands:
UNLOCK DOOR CAREFULLY and PUT SCREWDRIVER IN BOX
Nearefully" and "in" would be adverbs.
In our little adventure there are no adverbs, but the nouns and verbs
are:
NOUNS: 1 TORCH,LAMP
2 RAT
3 KEY
4 GOLD, BAR, TREASURE
5 SNAKE, SERPENT
6 Door
255 IT { if you want IT to be recognized, it should
always be noun number 255 ]
VERBS: All those listed in the quickstart file ( standard ones like North,
South, Inventory,etc
16 LIGHT, ON
17 EXTINGUISH, OFF
18 UNLOCK
19 SCORE
20 EAT
Note that we give all the words with the same meaning the same number.
This is so that the conditions do not have to check for "TORCH", "LAMP", or
"LIGHT" just to get the torch. They merely ask if noun number 1 was typed,
and if any of the above was typed, they are all noun number 1 so the
condition recognizes any of them.
Finally, on the conditions, here are the few high priority ones. These
are "done" before the user types anything, so there is no way he can affect
them.
If this is the first move, then set the strength to 110,set the number of
and record that this isn't the first move any
moves left in the dark to 3,
more. i
+ If you are in room 3 and the rat is not available, and the snake hasn't
already had it, then print the message to say it bit you and end the game.
If you are in room 3 and the rat is present then move it to room 0 ( ie
remove it from the game ), print the message to say the snake has eaten it,
and mark that thie hae happened. :
h object 4 ( the gold ) then print message 9 and
If you are in room 1 wi
stop the game.
te you have the torch available,
If you are in the dark without a
in the dark.
If you have one move left and it
If you have no moves left and it
game.
And that marks the end of the conditions.
them in in section four.
then set marker 2, otherwise reset it.
torch,decrease the number of moves left
is dark,print message 20
is dark,print message 21 and end the
We will see the format to enter SECTION THREE
Graphics
This is perhaps the most satisfying part of writing the adventure, since
you can see the results take shape before your very eyes. However, bear in
mind that it is better to play a good adventure with no pictures than a bad
one with paintings by Constable ! :
To try out the graphics, load up GAC (Follow the instructions on the tape)
This will give you a display of the main menu. If you look down the menu,
you will see the word "Graphics", with the "G" in a different colour. Press
G", which will allow you to then edit the graphics. The screen will clear,
showing a window, a compact menu below it, and the question "Which picture
number ?...". Press key "1" and then key "ENTER". The question will
disappear and a little cursor will appear in the centre of the window.
Try moving the cursor about, using the cursor keys. It moves by, one | dot
on the screen at a time, useful for fine detail. If you press SHIFT as well
as the cursor key, then it moves by steps of 8 dots at a time, which is
better for quick movement.
Now press the "D" key. If you look on the little menu below the window,
you will see the word "Dot". This is what you have just done - put a dot on
the screen. Move the cursor about and try putting Some more dots on the
sergen. When you have nine or ten, go on to the next paragraph .
Press the "DEL" key. The last dot will disappear. Keep pressing it. The
dots all disappear in reverse order. This is because the "DEL" key deletes
the last thing you drew.
Now for lines.
Press the "COPY" key and the pen on the right hand side of the screen will
contact the paper, indicating that you are ready to draw. Then move the
cursor about and you will see that it drags a line around with it. To fix
the other end and complete the line, press COPY again,and the pen will come
off the paper. The cursor is now free of the line. Try this out a few times
then delete the lines using "DEL".
Lines are great for drawing pictures, but I did promise colour earlier.
To change the colour of the ink you want to draw in, press I ( for "INK" ).
You are then asked “which ink (0..3)...". On the {eft hand side of the
screen is a set of numbers followed by coloured squares. These are the
colours of the various inks you can use. Choose one of these ( nat 0 for the
moment ) and press that key 1,2,or 3. The pen on the right of the screen
will change colour. Draw a few lines and experiment with changing colours.
You see all the lines you draw after a colour change are drawn in the new
colour.
If you want to keep what you have just drawn and move to a new drawing,
press ESC. This will give you the "Which picture number ?..." again. Enter &
umber other than 1 and then ENTER. This will give you a new clean’ window.
Don't worry about your grawing in picture 1. It's still there and you can
get back to it by pressing "ESC" again and replying "1" to the question
Which picture number ?...". If you are now confused at having found
yourself back in the main menu, don't worry, you must have pressed "ESC"
wige. Just press "G" again to’ get back to the graphice.
So far, we can draw line drawings. These are not terribly interesting. It
would be better if we could fill areas with solid colour. This is possible
using key "Fi, but don't use it yet - it hag limitations and we have to
explain how to change its colour using the "S" command ( for SHADES ).
Drew a box on the screen ( use lines ). Then press "S". You are faced
with the question “Which two inks to shade with (0..3)° 7..." Thie is
because the FILL command can fill areas in solid colours or shades between
two colours. If you want a solid colour, then choose an ink (0 to 3 ) and
prese that key TWICE. If you want a shade, press the key for one colour,
hen for the other. If you do not see what I mean, don't worry, all wili
become clear in a minute.
Then move the cursor into the box you have drawn and press "F". The box
will fill with colour. Try drawing a few boxes and filling ‘them with
different colours.
Now the fill routine was designed to be fast, and it can cope with all
irregular shapes, but you may need to press "F"'more than once. If an area
is left unfilled, then you can just move the cursor into that area and press "FM again, On the finished picture this will be unnoticeable. Here. ie a
gimple method which will allow you to get the best results from your filling
(‘sounds like an advert ! ). If your shape has a high point, position the
cursor directly under it. If it has a low point, position your cursor over
it. Here is an example using a triangle...
All filled
Only this part
filled + cursor position
Case A Case B
The area filled is worked out by the fill routine checking up and down
from the cursor position until it hits something, giving = horizontal band
of colour.
You only need to re - do the "S" shading command again if you change the
colour. If you have several FILLs the same colour there is no need to
re-type "S" in between them.
Please note that you can fill any area of solid colour not shaded areas,
as, due to their composition, you will only fill one pixel.
If you want to change your choice of colours, then use "C" for Choose
colours. This will ask you which ink you want to change the colour of.
Then,when you press the ink number (0 to 3), it will ask you for two
getual colours in which to display the ink. The keys for the colours can | be
found in the handy reference sheet ( App ndix A), and if you press two the
sano (eg "BB" ) then the ink will be steady ( ie just blue ), but if you
press two different, then the ink will flash between the two ‘coloure (oq
IBFY gives flashing blue/red ). Try this, but uae with care... | don't make
inks @ and 1 the same or you won't be able to see any of the writing on the
screen 1 ( If you do, you can change then back to sensible colours by
pressing the ESC key until you get back to the main menu ).
So far, everything we have drawn has been straight. Now for some light
relief, move the cursor to about the middle of the screen ( or move to a new
picture using "ESC" if you like this picture ) and press "E". Now move the
Cursor about ( use SHIFT as well ). This will give you an ellipse ( a
squashed circle ) which you can change the size and shape of. To freeze it
in position press "E" again. This useful for drawing suns,moons,clouds,
and holes in the floor,etc.
can draw rectangles, too, in the same way as ellipses, except press
key, once to start, once to finish. Try it and see.
Note thal ellipses and rectangles may not appear to be complete while
being stretched especially if they are small; This ie rectified when they
are fixed in place with @ second press of "R" or "E
By now, you've probably noticed that in the top right hand corner of the
screen there is the word "LAST" with a letter underneath it. This tells you
what the last thing you did was (the command key you preased is, displayed,
or an oblique line for a line ). This is useful if you are deleting things,
especially FILLs, since these are often preceded by an "S" command which is
not always obvious. If you delete a FILL, then the "LAST" character will
turn to if it was preceded by a SHADES command. This is very useful in
conjunction with the next feature.
EDITING PICTURES
The CTRL key and the cursor keys will step you backward and forward
through the picture step-by-step ao that you ean inoert things half-way
rough.
CTRL-left takes you back one command (similar to DELETE in that the last
thing disappears, but it is not deleted )
CTRL-right takes you forward one command
CTRL-up| takes you forward five commands
ETRL-down takes you back five commands,
SHIFT-">" deletes everything from thie point in the drawing to the end,
and W gives you the Whole picture back again. This part is fairly easy once you get used to it, but very difficult to
explain. Try playing around with it if you want.
Finally, we have another very useful feature. This is the ability to
merge pictures together. For instance, you find that, in your adventure, you
have a single basic cave shape, which you want to ‘use in many of your
pictures, but details differ. {ft is possible to include a picture already
created into the picture you're in by pressing "P", typing the number of the
picture you want to include, and pressing ENTER. This is then drawn over the
top of anything already there ( I usually do this right at the start and
then draw around the merged picture ). It is a very useful feature which
saves a lot of time and memory too.
If you should run out of memory in one particular picture, you can get
round this by moving to an unused picture and merging the full picture into
the new one before Continuing with your drawing. SECTION FOUR
The Conditions
How to enter them
The conditions decide what to do in the adventure. There are three types:
local, hi
are "done
gh
priority, and low priority, as I discussed in section two. They
in the following order :
Print start room description
Do HIGH PRIORITY conditions
Get the adventurer's command
Check for connections and if so, move
Do LOCAL conditions
Do LOW PRIORITY conditions
They are translated from English into a special form which the computer
finds eas
typed Loo
IF ( VERB 7 ) LOOK WAIT END
Let us look at this in more detail. The general form is ...
to understand. As an example, let's take the condition "If you
then describe the current room". It becomes...
IF ( some conditions ) some actions END
If the conditions are true, then the actions are performed
VERB 7 gives a TRUE answer if verb 7 ( LOOK ) was typed
LOOK describes the room you're in.
WAIT awaits a new command.
So the condition is built up.
You can use many words in the conditions. These are :
i.CONDITION PART
VERB
NouN
ADVE
HERE
CARR
AVAL
x IN
WEIG
SET?
RES?
Is verb n typed ? (_n is a number )
VERB 7 will give a TRUE answer if verb number 7 was typed
otherwise it will give a false answer.
Is noun n typed ? ( similar to VERB )
Is adverb n typed ? ( similar to VERB )
Is object n here ( ie in the same room as you ? )
If you are in room 3 and object 1 is also in room 3, then
HERE 1 will give a TRUE answer because object 1 is here.
Te object n Being carried 7
Is object n available for use ( ie here or being carried )
Is object n_in room x? If object 1 is in room 3, aa above,
then “1 IN 3 will be TRUE, but 1 IN 4 will be FALSE.
Gets the weight of object 'n. In our adventure, WEIG 2 would
give the value 20, which is the weight of the rat.
Is marker n set ?
Is marker n reset ? CTR n
x EQU? n
TURN
ROOM
AT A
( There are 256 markers, numbered 0 to 255. They are used to
store information that can be in one of two states, like
doore which are open or shut, Lights which are on or off, otc
There are three which are important for the adventure program
Mir 0, if set, means that a room has been described since it
was last reset.
Mkr 1, if set, means you are in a light room. Otherwise you
are in a dark room.
Mkr 2, if set, means you have a lamp or some other source of
light.
If markers 1 and 2 are both reset, then the program, will
refuse to describe rooms, coming up with the "It's dark"
message instead, since you are in dark room without a
amp.
ikr'3, if set, disables the scoring mechaniom when you exit
from the game.
Gives you the value of counter n.
Is x equal to the value of counter n ?
There are 128 counters, numbered from 0 to 127. They are most
frequently used to store the number of moves since a
particular event (eg in the dark ).Counter 0 holds the score
and counters 126 and 127 hold the turns count since the start
of the game.
Gives the number of turns since the start of the game
Gives you the room number of the room you're currently in.
Gives a TRUE answer if you are at room number n.
condition AND condition wili give a TRUE answer if both of the conditions
condition OR condition will g
give TRUE answers.
eq VERB 1 AND NOUN 2 will be TRUE only if verb 1 and
noun 2 are both typed.
n Ve TRUE if either condition is TRUE,or
both.
condition XOR condition will give TRUE if one of the conditions is TRUE
and the other FALSE.
NOT condition Will give a TRUE answer if the condition was FALSE, and
ii. ACTION PART
Look
DESC n
Pict
TEXT
GET n
DROP n
x SWAP y
vice versa.
So NOT VERB 1 will be TRUE if verb 1 is NOT typed.
Gives TRUE if number x is less than number y.
Gives TRUE if x is greater than y.
Gives TRUE if x is equal to y.
Gives a random number between 0 and (x-1). So RAND 10 might
give any number at random in the range 0 to 9.
Gets the number of the verb in this command.
Gets the number of the first noun in this command.
Gets the number of the second noun in this command.
These are used to check word order, and to GET and DROP
objects without having ta have a condition for each one.
Describe the room you are in at the moment
Describe room number n.
Turns the picture display on.
Turns it off,giving a text adventure.
Get object number n. If it isn't here, or you've already got
it, or'it's too heavy, then the appropriate message is
printed.
Drop object number n. If you haven't got it, then the
appropriate message is printed out.
Exchange objects x and y. In our little adventure, 1 SWAP 5 0BI_n
LIst
LIST WITH
x TO
SET n
RESE
x CSET n
INCR
DECR
GoTo
CONN
STRE
BRIN
FIND
SAVE
LoaD
WAIT
OKAY
EXIT
Quit
MESS
PRIN
LF
WITH
HOLD
xey
x-y
n
n
a
n
0
33
will exchange the lamp and the lit lamp.
Describe object number n-
List all the objects in room number n.
Lists all the objects carried with you.
Move object number x to room n. To destroy an object move it
to room 0.
Set marker n.
Reset marker n. See SET? and RES? for an explanation of
markers.
Set x to be the value of counter number n.
Increase counter n by one. The maximum is 255.
Decrease counter n by one, The minimum is 0.
Trying to increase past 255 or decrease past 0 is ignored.
Go to room n and describe the new room.
This checks through the connection table for a connection
from the current room using verb n. If one is found, this
foce® the room number of the room you would move to if you
ook the connection, If not, then it gives zero. As an
example, if you were in room’3 in our adventure, CONN 4 would
give 2 because in the connections from room 3, verb 4 ( W )
would take you to room 2.
Set _the maximum weight you can carry to n. STRE is short for
STRENGTH.
Brings object n here ( if it exists )
Find object n and move to it ( if it existe ). This does not
acknowledge any restrictions ( such as connections ), so it
could be useful in a magic spell or something.
Saves the current game position to tape or disc.
Loads the current game position from tape or disc.
These are useful for continuing a game after tea or after you
get killed !
Waits for a new command.
Prints "Okay" and awaits a new command.
Stops the game. The player is NOT asked, so thie is for use
when the player gets killed or wins.
The player is asked if he wants to continue, and if he types
'N",for "No" when asked if he is sure, the game continues,
otherwise the game is abandoned.
Qn abandoning the game, the score and the number of moves
taken is displayed, if not disabled by setting marker number
three.
Print message number n.
Print number n.
Printe a LineFeed. Everything from here is printed on a new
ine.
Is equal to the room number of where things are put when you
are carrying them.
Holds up the game for n fiftieths of a second. For example,to
freeze for ten seconds, do HOLD 500
As you may expect, this returns the value of x added to y.
And this gives the value of x - y
In all the above, n,x and y need not be simple numbers. They can be
complex expressions ( like 2+ 2 instead of 4 or other words returning
like NOl or CTR 1 ), but expressions should be
enclosed in brackets. In fact, the program will enclose everything in
brackets when you next edit the conditions. For example
IF ( VERB 3 ) GET 1 OKAY END
values, will become :
If ( VERB ( 3) ) GET ( 1 ) OKAY END
The translation is in a very similar order to the English condition as
you might write it. You can see the translations of the conditions in the
next section. Things that are TRUE are given a number value of l,and things
FALSE are given a Value of 0. This can have an effect on the ordering of the
conditions, since THEY ARE WORKED OUT FROM LEFT TO RIGHT. To work ou
2+ 2+ CIR (9)
\/
a+ ( for example) =11
But to test if counter 9 is greater than 4 + 5 needs more care .
WRONG
CIRC 9) > 4+ 5
\/
true=1l +5 =6
This six is not a true-or-false answer and may lead to confusion.
RIGHT
445 < CIR (9)
\/
9 < = TRUE (1)
This is a real true-or-false answer, In general in conditions, put all
the more complicated things which require two numbers first ( eg’ +)-,>,<)=
and so on) and there will be no bother. If you can't see a way round it, try
using counters for storing intermediate results. SECTION FIVE
Final Data with notes
This is the final data for our adventure as it stands. In this section I
will also cover how to type things in, and how to edit them if you go wrong.
The adventure can be found on the "8" side of the tape ( or elsewhere on the
disc ), saved as a GAC data file.
Firstly, the nouns and verbs, To enter these, run the program, which will
give you the main menu. Press either "N" for nouns or "V" for verbs, and the
Screen will then show a display consisting of an arrow, "EDIT NQUNS" or
NEDIT VERBS" at the top, whichever you typed, and a small menu at the
jot tom.
TO ADD A NEW WORD just type its number, a space, then the word itself.
Then press the ENTER key. This will move the entry you typed in to beside
the arrow. Note that any words after the first will be ignored,and the word
will be inserted in alphabetical order.
TO DELETE A WORD use the UP and DOWN keys to move the arrow to the word
which you want to delete, then press the DEL key. To restore the last word
deleted, press the CLR key ( next to DEL ).
TO EDIT A WORD, use the UP and DOWN keys to move the arrow to the word
ou want to edit, then press the ENTER key. The word will then be moved to
he bottom of the screen, where zee can edit it using the left and right
cursor keya,the DEL key and the CLR key ). When you are satisfied, press
ENTER to return it to the list.
TO RETURN TO THE MAIN MENU press the ESC key, as usual.
The nouns and verbs to type in ar
i. NOUNS:
NORTH
1 TORCH 5 SERPENT 9 LOOK 15 LOAD
1 LAMP 6 DOOR 2 SOUTH 10 LIST 15 RESTORE
2 RAT 295 11 3 EAST 10 INVENTORY 16 EXAMINE
3 KEY 4 WEST 11 Quit 17 LIGHT
4 GOLD 5 UP 12 TEXT 17 ON
4 BAR 6 DOWN 12 WORDS 18 EXTINGUISH
4 TREASURE 7 GET 13 PICTURES 18 OFF
5 SNAKE 7 TAKE 13 GRAPHICS 19 UNLOCK
8 DROP 14 SAVE 20 SCORE
IN 2S 36 4W 21 EAT
5U 60D
FOR EASE OF LOCATION, THE GAC WILL SORT THESE ALPHABETICALLY.
Now for the room descriptions. Get back to the main menu, and press key
"R", The screen will clear and show “Which room number 7...". You can enter
the room descriptions in any order, but for ease, let's do it in order. So
the first room is room one, so type 1 then press ENTER. The screen will
clear, showing "Room 1 is ...", and a little cursor. This cursor means that
you can type things in. Type in the room description, then press ENTER.
Bontt try not to split words over the end of a line; when you run the
adventure this will automatically be formatted for you.
NOTE- It is useful to enter the verbs before the room connections are
made.
You should now see "Connections are..." and another cursor. Type in the
connections and press ENTER. For example, " W 2 " from room 3, If you have
done something wrong, then you will get one of two messages.
The first is "Error: no such verb" which means that it didn't understand
one of the words you typed in. Have yee entered the verbs yet ? If not, it
won't understand any verbs because it doesn't know any. If so, press’ ESC
Until you get back to the main menu, then enter the verbs you’ will need.
Alternatively, you may have spelled one of the words wrongly ( or
differently to the way you spelled it in the verb table ). If so edit the
line and correct it. Then press enter. The second is "Error: can't move to room 0", which means either you've
missed out a room number, or a space perhaps, or the room number is actually
0. The solution is to correct the room number, or insert a space or a new
number.
The last part asks which picture goes with this room. If you don't want a
picture, answer 0. As with all parts of the GAC, this section is fully
editable so if you wish to include a picture here later there is no problem!
If you do, give the picture number of the one you want. Note that it must
already exist, otherwise you will get "Picture doesn't exist" and a chance
to correct it.Several rooms can use the same picture.
This brings you back to "Which room number" again. If you have finished,
ress "ESC" Eo get back to the main menu, or the next room number if you
aven't. Here are the room descriptions:
Room No. Description ( as it would appear ) Connections
iat You are above the ground.There is a cave ( press ENTER )
entrance to the east.
2 You are in a large cavern.Passages lead ES
east,west and south.
3 You are in a cave.A snake is asleep in a w2
corner and exits lead east and west.
4 You are by a small lake. The only exit is ( press ENTER )
west.
5 You are outside a castle. A tunnel leads ( press ENTER )
to the north and a large door can be see
n to the east.
6 You are in the castle strongroom.A door ws
stands open to the west.
I will leave pictures up to you !
The objects are accessed by pressing key "0" from the main menu. The
entry procedure is very similar to that for the room descriptions, in that
you give the object ‘number, then the object description, then extra
information ( the weight of the object and where it starts ). dine additional
feature is that, if you are asked "Which object number 7?...", then just
Pressing ENTER will take you on to the next object. Try it and see.
Here is the data for the objects:
No. Description Starts in room Weight
1 a lamp 1 10
2 a dead rat 5 20
3 a ke 4 1
4 a gold bar 6 100
5 a Lit lamp o 10
Note that the descriptions should always start so that things like +
You haven't got a lamp
You are carrying a lamp, a dead rat, a gold bar
make sense. The easiest way to do this is to start tham with "a","an", or
"some", in small letters. It mars an adventure slightly to see:
You haven't got A lamp
or — You haven't got Lamp
which don't read well.
The messages are entered by pressing key nM" whilst in the main menu. You
are asked which message number, then what the message is. Our messages are
to be found in section two, where we introduced them, so I will not” repeat
myself here.
As well as these, there are some messages the system uses, and you should enter these,too. They are put in as messages so that you can change them if
you wish. They are:
240 What now?...
241 You can't.
242 Pardon?
243 Prese a key for another game...
244 Are you sure ( Y or N ) ?
245 You've already got that.
246 You haven't got that.
247 You can't see that.
248 You're carrying too much to pick that up.
249 Your score was
250 and you took
251 It's dark.You can't see a thing.
252 I can't find that anywhere.
253 You can also see
254 Okay
255 turns.
The use of these will become clear ( I hope ! ) whilst playing the game.
The above ee eee ra are included with mony, useful standard verbs,nouns,and
low priority conditions in another file on the "B" side of the tape ( or
elsewhere on the disc ). Tt will save you having to type in these standard
messages every time you reset the GAC, by just loading them in. Details of
what is included in this package are given in appendix B.
Last, but certainly not least, are the conditions. These are accegsed b:
“L" for’ low priority, “H" for high priority, and "C" for conditions ( local
from the main menu. they are all dealt with in much the same way, except
that with the local conditions you must give their room number first, and
when you press ESC, you get back to the "Which room number" rather than the
main menu. To get back to there, press ESC again.
The first thing that happens'is you get a prompt saying “Which line
number". Enter 1 to start with, since we want to start on the first line.
Press the ENTER key and “Line 1 is..." and a cursor will appear. Type in the
conditions and press ENTER. If all is well, you should get back to the
‘Which line number ?..." prompt again. To go on to the next line just press
ENTER at this point.
If all is not weil, then you will get "I don't understand" and the line
will be redisplayed for editing. There are several reasons why this can
occur.
The first is that it doesn't understand a word you have typed. Eg
IF ( VREB 1 ) GOTO 3 END
will fai use it doesn't understand the word "VREB". It should, of
course, be "
The second is that the brackets don't match. Neither of
IF ( VERB ( 1 ) GOTO 3 END
or IF VERB (1 ) ) GOTO 3 END
will work ; the first has one "(" too many, the second has one ")" too
many
The third is that you have a result not going anywhere. For example
ToC WeRB ( 1°5 $°2°4"2" END
the result of 2 +2 ( ie 4) is not being used by anything. This will
lead to an error.
The other common thing done is not to leave enough spaces in the line.
The words are detected by the spaces between them. This example
IFVERB 1 GOTO 3 END
will fail because the GAC does not understand the word "IFVERB" The conditions we need are:
isLocal Don't type in the comments !
1
IF ( VERB 3 ) RESE_1 GOTO 2 WAIT END
If you typed "EAST", reset the dark/light marker, goto room 2 and wait
for a new command.
Room 2
IF _( VERB 4 ) SET 1 GOTO 1 WAIT END
If you typed "WEST", set the dark/light marker, goto room 1 and wait
for a new command.
IF ( VERB 2) SET 1 GOTO 5S WAIT END
And a similar condition for going south, too
Room 3
IF ( VERB 7 AND NOUN 5 ) MESS 14 HOLD 200 EXIT END
If you typed "GET SNAKE" then print message fourteen to say how it
reacts, freeze for 4 seconds and end the game
IF ( VERB 3) SET 1 GOTO 4 WAIT END
Again another move-from-dark-room-to-light-room condition, this time
east.
Room 4
IF ( VERB 4 ) RESE 1 GOTO 3 WAIT END
I'll let you work this one out ( hint- look at rooms 1,2,3 )
IF (VERB 7 AND NOUN 3°) CTR O + 20 CSET 0 END
f you typed "GET KEY: then add twenty to counter 0 ( the score )
( VERB 8 AND NOUN 3) CTR O - 20 CSET 0 END
f you typed "DROP KEY" then subtract 20 from ctr 0 ( the score )
¢
VERB 3 AND SET? 3) GOTO 6 WAIT END
If you typed "EAST" and marker 3 is set ( ie if the door has been
opened ), goto room 6 and wait for a new command.
If ( VERB 3 ) MESS 7 WAIT END
If you typed "EAST", then print message 7 and wait for a new command.
Note that the door cannot be open since if ie waa, Ene last ling "would
have worked and we would be waiting for_a new comand by now.
IF ( VERB 19 AND NOUN 6 AND CARR 3) SET 3 MESS 10 WALT EN
If you typed "UNLOCK DOOR" then set marker 3 ( mark the door as open ),
print message 10, and wait for a new command.
IF ( VERB 1 ) RESE 1 GOTO 2 WAIT END
It is another light-to-dark movement, this time north to room 2
ii.Low Priority Those marked "*" are included in the Quickstart file
IF ( VERB 20 ) MESS 249 PRIN CTR O MESS 250 PRIN TURN MESS 255 WAIT END
If you typed "SCORE" print message. 249, your score,message 250, the
number of turns you had,and message 255.Then wait for a new command.
IF (NOl = 0 AND VERB 7 )’MESS 19 WAIT END
If you typed "GET" by itself or with an unrecognized word,print message
Nineteen "I'm sorry,but I don't know what one of those is..."
IF ( NOL = 0 AND VERB’S ) MESS 19 WAIT END
And similarly for "DROP"
IF ( NOl = 0 AND VERB 16 ) MESS 18 WAIT END
And again for “EXAMINE »
IF (VERB 7 AND NOUN 1 AND HERE 5) GET 5 OKAY END
If you typed "GET LAMP" and there is a lit lamp here, then get it,
print "OKAY" and wait for_a new command.
IF (NO1 <5 AND VERB 7 ) GET NO1 OKAY END
If you typed "GET" and a noun with a number less than 5, then get the
object with that noun's number. This only works because the objects and
the nouns which refer to them have the same number ( a very useful
tick
IF (VERB 8 AND NOUN 1 AND CARR 5 ) DROP 5 OKAY END
If you typed "DROP LAMP" and you've got a lit lamp, then drop it, print
"Okay" and wait for a new command.
If (NOL < 5 AND VERB 8 ) DROP NOI OKAY END If you typed "DROP" and a noun whose number is less than 5, then drop
the object with that noun number.
IF (VERB 16 AND NOUN 1 AND AVAI 5) MESS 5 WAIT END
If you typed "EXAMINE LAMP” and you have @ lit lamp available then
print out its more detailed description and wait for a new command.
IF (NOL <5 AND VERB 16 AND AVAI NO1 ) MESS NO1 WAIT END
If you typed “EXAMINE” and a noun whose number is less than five, then
print out the message with thet noun number, it being the more detailed
description of that object, then wait for a'new command.
(VERB 11 ) QUIT END
If you typed "QUIT" then quit.
( VERB 9 ) LOOK WAIT END
If you typed "LOOK" then describe this room and wait for a now command.
( VERB 21 AND NOUN 2 AND CARR 2 ) DROP 2 2 TO O MESS 17 WAIT END
If you typed “EAT RAT® and you are carrying it) drop it,move it to room
0, thus destroying it, print message 17 ("Yum Yum") and wait for a new
command.
* IF ( VERB 10 ) MESS 239 LIST WITH END
If you typed "INVENTORY® then list the objects with you and wait for a
new command.
* IF (VERB 13 ) PICT OKAY END
If you typed "PICTURES" then turn them on, print "Okay" and wait for a
new command.
* IF (VERB 12 ) TEXT OKAY END
And similarly for "TEXT™
IF ( VERB 17 AND NOUN 1 AND AVAI 1 ) 1 SWAP 5 CTR O + 20 CSET O MESS 15
SET 2 WAIT END
Type this all on one line. If you typed "LIGHT LAMPY and you have an
unlit lamp, then exchange the lit lamp for the unlit one, tell the user
that he hag 1it the lamp, increase the score by 20 and’ await @ new
command.
Ef (VERB '18 AND NOUN 1 AND AVAI 5 ) 1 SWAP 5 CTR O - 20 CSET 0 MESS 16
And similarly for "LAMP OFF" ( "EXTINGUISH LAMP" ).
* IF (VERB 14 ) SAVE OKAY END
If you typed "SAVE" then save the game position on disc or tape
* IF ( VERB 15 ) LOAD LOOK WAIT END
If you typed "LOAD" then load in a previously saved game position.
IF
* IF
IF
iii.High Priority
If ( RES? 6 ) SET 6 STRE 111 3 CSET 1 END
If marker 6 is reset ( if this is the first move ) then set marker 6 to
ay that it ien't the firet move any more, set the strength and counter
to hold value three.
IF (RES? 1 AND RES? 2 ) DECR 1 END
If you are in total darkness, then decrease counter number one.
if ( {°GqU7°1 AND RES? 1 AND RES? 1") MESS 20 END
If counter one has reached value 1 then print that you can hear
Footsteps.
IF (0 EQU? 2 ) MESS 21 EXIT END
If counter 1 has reached zero then tell the player he has been "got" by
the spider, and end the game
IF (CAT 3 AND RES? 4 AND CARR 2 ) SET 4 MESS 13 DROP 2 2 TO O WAIT END
If you are in room three with the rat and the snake hasn't been fed
yet, mark the snake as fed, print the message to say so, and move the
to room 0, destroying it.
IF CAT 3 AND RES? 4 ) MESS @ EXIT END
If you are in room three without the rat and the snake hasn't been fed
yet, then say that it kills you and exit from the game.
IF (AT 1 AND CARR 4 ) MESS 9 EXIT END
If you are back at the start carrying the gold then you win!
The final thing is to tell the program which room to start in.From the
main menu, option "B", begin where, will show you where you start at the
To change this, delete the number present ( press the CLR key several times ) and type the new room number, then return. Our adventurer
starts in room 1.
Now, you can save the adventure on to tape or disc by pressing "S" in the
main menu. If you have a disc drive you will be asked "Disc or ape ?...".
If you want to save to disc, press "D", to tape press "T". Then you will be
asked whether you want to save a Data file or a Runnable adventure. A data
file can be loaded in to the GAC program again using the "T" command from
the main menu. The runnable adventure option saves an. adventure. which you
can play without having to load the GAC first. For example, let's say you
saved the adventure under the name "TESTADV". After saving to tape or disc,
and resetting the machine, typing RUN *TESTADV" then ENTER will load thé
adventure in and start it. Note hat you cannot edit the adventure this way.
This is useful for writing adventures that you want to give to friends so
that they cannot look at how you wrote the conditions and solve the
adventure that way,or if you wish to sell the adventure. If you do wish to
sell your adventure, you will NOT be asked to hand over any payment
whatsoever to us. You have created the adventure, so the credit is deserved
by you! But, that said, you should include with the adventure something
statin that it was written using the Graphic Adventure Creator,(c) 1985 by
Sean Ellis/Incentive Software.
In the GAC, anywhere where you are asked for a name for saving something
on tape, be it a game position, data file,or runnable adventure, precedini
the name with a star "*" will Select the fast ( 2000 baud ) tape” speed. 1
it is omitted, the "supersafe" slow speed is selected. If you are saving to
disc this mode of operation is entirely ignored. For example, calling your
data file "MYDATA" will save at the slow speed, calling it "*MYDATA" will
save at the fast speed. This does not ¢all the file on the tape
"*MYDATA" however: the leading "*" is ignored.
To test your adventure, get back to the main menu and press "ENTER" to
enter the adventure. If all goes well, you should be able to play it. There
are several errors that can occur, though.
The error routine prints out a’ message indicating the nature of the
error, pius a line of conditions if the error occurred in one of the
condition tables. This is most probably where the error occurred. However
they can occur when scanning the connections or trying to print out messages
in situations like "You don't have a gold bar", in which case they are not
printed.
Message not found means you have referred to a message that does not
exist. If you get this immediately, check that you have entered the system's
special messages at numbers 240 and above.
Room not found means you have tried to describe, or move to, a
room that doesn't exist.
Object not found means you have tried to pick up, drop, or describe
an object which does not exist.
Marker not found means you have tried to access a marker which does
not exist.
Counter not found means you have tried to access a counter which does
not exist.
Illegal value means you have tried to look for a verb,noun or
adverb with a number greater than 255, or you have tried to load a’ counter
with a number greater than 255.
The situations are so varied that I cannot hope to explain what to do in
any situation, but here are a few hints for solving errors:
_i, Suspect typing error. Check that you really mean what you have said,
ii, Have you Forgotten to enter the roon/object/message being referred to?
so, enter it.
iii. Have you forgatten to delete this condition which you didn't need,
having deleted the objects/messages used by it ? EDITING AND DELETING THINGS
To edit something, follow the procedure to enter it, and instead of empty
lines to enter things on, you will get what was there before. To skip to the
next part just press ENTER. You are free to edit things as you go along
but don't press ESC before you get to "Which room/object/line number 2...
because if you do, the new information will not be loaded back into memory.
To delete Psareltltar F follow the procedure to enter it, but edit the first
bit of data to be a blank line ( no spaces, nothing ! ).
For example, to edit object one to read'"a torch" rather than "a lamp",
press "0" fromthe main menu, then enter 1 for the object number, edit the
object description from "a lanp" to "a torch", then press ENTER, ‘then press
ENTER until you get back to "Which object number ?..," at the bottom, then
press ESC to get back to the main menu. It sounds difficult to explain, but
it is rather easier to do!
When you are testing an adventure, the way to return to the main menu is
to press the ESC key, as usual. This gives you the message "Press D for
diagnostics or ESC to escapo...". If you press the key, then all the
markers and counters will be displayed on the screen. For ‘the markers, a
filled circle indicates "SET" and an unfilled one indicates "RESET". ‘The
values of the counters are given as you would expect. To get back to the
game press any key.
If you press "ESC" again, then you will get back to the main menu.
There is one very useful feature on the main menu which I have not yet
mentioned. This is the printer menu, which allows you to print out any of
the sections of data in the adventure to an Amstrad printer ( or a
compatible one ). To access it,press "P" from the main menu, upon which the
printer menu will appear on the screen. You may now press the appropriate
key for the section you want to print out ; L for low priority conditions, R
for room descriptions, etc.
If you want to stop printing, or you have attempted this without a
inter attached, hold the ESC key down until the cursor reappears by the
elect one of the above please..." message.
This feature is especially useful for listing out vocabulary, messages,
room descriptions, and objects, so that they can be referred to when writing
the conditions. SECTION SIX
Commanding the Adventure
A deeper look at
layer commands
This section looks at the commands a player gives when he plays the
adventure. It is intended to give an idea of the complexity of the commands
the adventure will understand.
Each command line consists of one or more simple commands, which in turn
consist of a verb, and maybe an adverb and one or two nouns. Any word which
the command interpreter does not understand as being a noun,verb or adverb
is ignored.
ie °Ue take a typical command line and see how the program looks at it.
Get the gold, examine it, put it in the box then go north
Let us assume that the vocabulary includes:
NOUNS: 3 GOLD VERBS: 1 NORTH ADVERBS: 1 IN
7 BOX 7 GET
8 PUT 16 EXAMINE
The command line
s split into si
nn mame ms
"and" and "
arate commands by the following :
hen", so it becomes:
Get the gold
Examine it
Put it in the box "then"
Go north
Each of these is then scanned for verbs, adverbs, and nouns in that
order, and any found have their numbers stored.
VERB ADVE NOUNL NOUN2
Get the gold 7 0 3 Oo
Examine it 16 0 255 0
Put it in the box 8 1 255 7
Go north 1 0 a 0
Then all occurrences of noun 255 ( "It" ) are replaced by the last noun
typed before that, giving
VERB ADVE NOUNL NOUN2
Get the gold T 0 3 0
Examine it 16 o 3 0
Put it in the box 8 1 3 7
Go north 1 0 o 0
These values are then passed to the connection table, and then to the
conditions.
Note that all the letters in the vocabulary entries are significant -
there is no truncation to only four or five letters. Thus RIVER and RIVET,
TROUT and TROUSERS, and others like these are disinguished between.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Graphic Adventure Creator is the result of over a year of intensive
programming and development by Sean Ellis, a nineteen year old undergraduate
in Cybernetics and Computer Science at ’Reading University. The Graphic
Adventure Creator has been designed and developed specifically for the
Amctrad range of CPC computers, with the aid of lots of coffee and a
battered copy of "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy". APPENDIX
APPENDIX A
SPACE: black green R: bright green
At blue cyan S: sea green
B: bright blue sky blue T: bright cyan
C: red/brown ? yellow/brown Ur lime green
D: magenta white/grey Vi pastel green
E: mauve pastel blue W: pastel cyan
Fs bright red orange X: gold
G: ene : pink Y: pastel yellow
H: bright magenta : pastel magenta Z: white
Words used in conditions
Words: VERB n NOUN nh ADVE n NOL NOZ VBNO
Objects: GET n DROP n= x SWAP y HERE n CARR n AVAL nx IN
OBJ n List n WEIG n STRE n x TOn BRIN n FIND n
Markers: SET n RESE n SET? n RES? nh
Counters:x CSET n INCRn DECRn CTRA x EQU? n TURN
Rooms: GOTO n CONN n — ROOM AT DESC n LOOK
Command: OKAY WAIT EXIT quit
Decision: IF END
Tape: SAVE Load
Other: MESS n x+y ec AND c' c OR ct c XOR ct NOT c
x>y x