SUPER QUEST Long-Play Fantasy Maze Adventure originally released by SoftSide, 1983 released as shareware ($3) in 1999 by Jeff Hurlburt 7814 Santa Elena Houston, Texas 77061 Display: Text character 'graphics' Compatibility: Apple II series Requires 48K, one 5.25" drive For eons the forces of technology threatened to obliterate even the memory of something called "magic"; yet, by the twenty-third century, an astonishing reversal is evident. Many machines function sporactically-- even 'ancient' personal computers must employ complex 'boot-up spells' and rely upon moonbeam power! In "Super Quest", your objective is to penetrate the maze of Saladin and activate the fabulous Mega Crown, the one device that might restore the balance of technology and magic. The Maze The maze has more than one-thousand chambers and corridors arranged in four large sections or "levels". Throughout the labyrinth are treasure chests containing gold, jewels, and other valuable items as well as weapons, vials of healing elixir, and a magic lamp. Some chests, however, are full of junk or even empty. Monsters guard the treasures to guarantee that only a hero of tested mettle reaches the Mega Crown. There is only one known entrance, through an underground passage to the middle of the first level. The Mega Crown is said to reside somewhere in the fourth level. Just outside the maze is a bazaar and inside it are two hospices (the latter are maintained by maze gnomes). These are places where you may rest (do a game-save), sell treasures, and bargain with greedy merchants for weapons and other supplies. Human, Hobbit, Elf, or Dwarf? Upon booting you are first given an opportunity to review an introductory narrative and game directions. Next, you may return to the quest with a previously saved character or create a new one. (There is ample space on the game diskette to maintain fifty or so active characters.) When creating a hero, you name the character, enter your initials, and select his/her race. Briefly, Humans are best in close combat; Hobbits are best in the use of magic; Elves are the best archers; and Dwarves are physically the toughest. A detailed breakdown of attributes is available in the game; so you can pick the race best-suited to your skills and style of play. Weapons, Armor, and Potions Each hero is initially furnished with light armor, a longknife (for "hand combat"), a crossbow with a supply of iron quarrels and magic quarrels, a few vials of Tana Powder, and some healing elixir. Race and "strength" determine the number of quarrels which may be carried into the maze. No such limits exist for Tana Powder or healing elixir. A weapon's accuracy and hit power depend on the weapon, distance, the attributes of the hero who wields it, and the monster against which it is directed. The longknife ("hand combat") is effective only against monsters in an adjacent space; quarrels and Tana Powder can work at long distances. Magic quarrels are inherently more accurate and inflict greater damage than iron quarrels. Tana Powder has the hit power of a magic quarrel but is effective only against demons and "undead" monsters. The light armor supplied each beginning character is better than no armor at all, but provides minimal protection against dragon fire. Dragon Fire Armor (fashioned from dragon ears) is much more effective. As soon as you acquire sixty dragon ears and enter the bazaar or a hospice, a coat of Dragon Fire Armor will be crafted for you. (This is a free service of the empire.) Healing elixir restores strength. One vial brings your strength to 100% of current potential. Strength Potion, on the other hand, increases the absolute level of your strength; though expensive, it is an excellent investment. Strength Potion is rarely, if ever, found in treasure chests. You must purchase it at the bazaar or a hospice. Experience, Strength, and Gold Denars As you obtain treasure and vanquish monsters you acquire experience. The more valuable the treasure or the tougher the monster, the greater the experience gained. Experience increases the accuracy and hit power of a character's attack. It compensates for initial deficits and accentuates positive attributes. Thus, an experienced Hobbit may be a better archer than a beginning Elf. Strength is the other major factor in accuracy and hit power; it also impacts attack resistance or "toughness". An Elf who has acquired extra strength might be able to absorb more punishment than a normal strength Dwarf. Both experience and strength are unqualified positive attributes. Stronger, more experienced heroes do not attract more numerous, more deadly monsters. Except for weapons, elixirs, and the Magic Lamp, treasure obtained from the maze is valued in Gold Denars. The only way to obtain the gold needed to buy supplies and potions is to go into the maze and take it. The Magic Lamp Normally, to get from one point to another in the maze, you must fight your way through a host of hostile monsters. The Magic Lamp provides the single alternative. One rub and you are transported elsewhere immediately. Regrettably, you don't know where "elsewhere" may be, except that it is somewhere in the labyrinth. The Magic Lamp is placed at random; and so may be discovered in almost any room in a treasure chest. Once used, it vanishes (back into another treasure chest). You cannot remove the Lamp from the maze; if you enter a hospice or the bazaar, it leaves your possession. Monsters Thirteen kinds of monster inhabit the maze. Some (imps, skeletons, vampires, zombies, mummies, and afreets) may be attacked using Tana Powder (wraiths are only slightly susceptible). Other monsters must be killed with quarrels or in close combat. Table 1 lists monsters showing relative strength and weapons effectiveness for each. Table 1: Weapons Effectiveness *Note: NV = generally "Not Very" effective Known Relative Hand Iron Magic Tana Monster Strength Combat Quarl Quarl Powder Imp 12 Yes No No Yes Skeleton 25 Yes Yes Yes Yes Goblin 38 Yes Yes Yes No Zombie 55 Yes Yes Yes Yes Vampire 77 Yes Yes Yes Yes Giant Spider 85 NV* Yes Yes No Mummy 97 Yes Yes Yes Yes Troll 106 Yes Yes Yes No Ogre 121 NV* Yes Yes No Wraith 181 No No Yes NV* Afreet 250 No No No Yes Dragon 500 NV* NV* Yes No Rogue Dragon 1000 NV* NV* Yes No While the "relative strength" numbers are a good indicator of both hit power and toughness, there are individual attributes and quirks which remain to be discovered. Spiders, for instance, move nearly twice as fast as other monsters; trolls are tougher than they seem; dragons breathe fire which can inflict great damage at a distance, etc.. Most treasures are guarded by one or more monsters. Other monsters rove ravenously in search of warm-blooded prey. Roving monsters are especially attracted by the scent of jewels and precious metal. The more treasure you carry, the greater the probability of meeting roving monsters, and the more deadly these are likely to be. Whatever the number of monsters present, you face just one at a time. Your hero appears as a flashing "H" with monsters identified by the first letter of the monster type, except for giant spiders, whose symbol is "#". The type and number of monsters is also shown towards the bottom of the screen. Bow shots and Tana Powder attacks are automatically directed at the current monster; you see the quarrel or powder zip towards the monster accompanied by sound effects. (Thus, though movement speed is moderately brisk, play emphasizes planning, strategy, and other maze adventuring skills.) In case things get desparate, you can always try running for an exit; however this allows the current monster in the room exited to regain its full strength. Maze Display and Key Functions As you move through the maze the screen shows an outline of the current chamber or corridor (walls and barriers), your hero, any treasure chests ("+") and monsters, plus vital status information. The latter includes counts for quarrels, Tana Powder, and healing elixirs, along with % strength, experience, value of treasure carried (in Gold Denars), and current room number. Special "large rooms" are an exception, since they fill most of the screen. You can still obtain the above information, along with a count of dragon ears and a summary of key functions by pressing "I" (for "Information"). The only requirement is that you not be under attack at the time. The Information display does NOT pause the game. Should monsters enter the current room while you are viewing the "I" screen, the display will revert to the room view and action continues; so, don't press "I" and go out for a cup of coffee! In-maze key functions are listed in Table 2. With a little practice, you will have no trouble remembering which key does what or which weapon to use against a particular monster. To aid beginning players, the "Information" and "Weapons Effectiveness" displays are available for relaxed perusal just after exiting the bazaar or a hospice and before actually entering the maze. Table 2: In-Maze Key Functions Move up W Move left A D Move right X Move down S or "SPACE" or other non-movement key stops movement F Fight monster in an adjacent square ("hand combat") < Fire an iron quarrel (actually "," unshifted) > Fire a magic quarrel (actually "." unshifted) P Toss a vial of Tana Powder H Drink a vial of healing elixir O Open a treasure chest (hero must be adjacent to a "+") R Rub the Magic Lamp I Information/Help display ("RETURN" exits this display) Traps and Maze Renewal Traps of various kinds proliferate throughout the maze. Most of these are simply feints of the maze itself, though a few are less subtle. In no case, however, is a trap inherently escape proof. Each time you load-in a character and start play the maze is reinitialized (treasures and monsters are restored, etc.). To assure that any maps you make will remain valid from session to session the maze configuration, with the exception of a very few "random rooms", remains unchanged. "Random rooms" may vary in appearance from one session to the next and sometimes open additional exits to provide shortcuts. Saving Your Character and Exiting the Game There are two usual ways to end a gaming session. One is to select the character Save option offered whenever you are about to enter the maze or have left the maze and are about to enter the bazaar or a hospice. Responding "N" (NO) when asked if you wish to enter ends play and Saves your character. The other way to end play is to be killed by a monster. If your character's "% Strength" ever reaches zero, he or she is dead, dispatched to heroes' heaven, and that character's file is deleted. If you are in the middle of the maze and must leave the computer, you can pull your disk and turn OFF power. Any gains since the last Save will be lost; but, your character will still be alive to return again. The Hall of Heroes Normally, ending play takes you to the "Hall of Heroes". This is a scrollable display listing up to two-hundred heroes, living and dead, ranked in order of experience points. Shown here are each heroe's name, race, 'sponsor' initials, and experience, with the names of living characters in inverse text. All of this information is maintained in a 'heroes file' created the first time you end a gaming session. A character who reaches the Mega Crown (thus winning the game) is awarded the rank of "Prince". Any princes are ranked ahead of other characters in the "Hall of Heroes", regardless of experience, in chronological order. That is, the first character to reach princehood is ranked first, etc.. Getting Started Before starting play, it's a good idea to make a backup of the game diskette. Then, from time to time, update your backup. This way your characters and the heroes file will not be lost in case of a bombed diskette. To begin, just boot the game disk. If you are playing on a IIgs, speed and display colors will automatically be set correctly and restored when play ends. If playing on some other Apple II, II clone, or emulator which offers speed acceleration, be sure to set speed to "Normal" (1MHz). Most parts of the game expect letter inputs to be capitals. If your keyboard can output lower-case letters, set Caps Lock to ON. Read through the on-disk "Introduction" at least one time. It includes a few helpful hints relating to puzzles. Once you are in the game explicit prompts get you quickly into the action. Soon you will find yourself in the sun-baked bazaar grounds facing a grinning merchant whose chief pleasure in life is fleecing greenhorn questers!