Yes, it's your favourite demonic monster, the Balg, bringing you all the things necessary to keep an adventure alive in todays world - maps, clues, letters and lots lots more!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Review
The Balg, exhausted from exploring every nook and cranny of GAC as well as writing the adventure column, has employed one of the most infamous adventurers of all times - 'The Hobbit'. Throughout the history of adventure and fantasy hobbits have been hardworking, likeable and tasty (ah! whoops! Did I say tasty?, err.. I meant tough, yep tough!... - The Balg) little individuals who always seem to escape the deadliest of encounters and traps and survive an adventure intact - hence it seemed a great idea to have 'The Hobbit' write for AA! Take it away Hobbsy baby!:-
Helvera - Mistress of the Park
Reviewed by the Hobbit
Author Bob Adams
Available from: Joan Pancott, WoW Software, 78 Radipole Lane, Weymouth, Dorset DT4 9RS.
Price: £2 tape, £4 disc.
It was a sunny summer afternoon, so you decide to spend some time in a nearby park. Ahhh, fresh air, heart-warming sounds, tranquillity, life's most precious treasures. Not a thing could possibly spoil your day... or so you thought...After a few hours you notice it's getting awfully dark, and all of the other people have already made their way home. So, urged by a cold chill and a thin mist building up, you start to leave. Time, though, seems to have got the better of you, and the darkness around you becomes more intense.While you're wandering around the park, chasing what shadows you can make out, you bump into an invisible barrier. You follow it round and round, but can't seem to find a gap to go through. Suddenly, lightning strikes, illuminating your surroundings for a split second. You thought you could see the park-keepers house to the north, but it seemed so different. It looked like an old, Gothic castle straight out of a horror film.You don't have long to think about it, though, as the mist thickens and accelerates its way across the green, forming a dense fog. The fog swirls round and round, and it feels as if it is gripping your throat, making it hard to breathe. A few seconds later you pass out...You awaken in a dank cell, and before you stands the dark, chilling figure of Helvera. She explains what happened, as in your current state you can't remember a thing. Then she lets you choose your own fate, either die, or carry out a quest for her. If you succeed in the quest, you'll be set free. Well, since you're in no mood to die right now, you go for the latter.Your task is to help Helvera free herself from the curse which sets the life she leads, and transform her into an everyday normal person. To do this you must find six magical spheres, which are scattered around Helvera's domain, and place them on the golden altar. This task can only be performed by a mere mortal such as yourself, that's why Helvera cannot do it herself.Well, this is the second text-only adventure to come from the keyboard of Bob Adams (Adventure Probes 'Most promising author' - the Balg), the previous one being the hilarious 'Grue-Knapped!' (Reviewed by me in AA68 and given an overall rating of 81% - the Balg). It also supports advanced commands like 'RAMSAVE', 'RAMLOAD' and 'Look behind/under'.As you would expect, this game loses none of the humour contained in 'Grue-Knapped!'. Witty responses and unexpected happenings make sure of that. Original puzzles are also a factor in this game - they're not too hard but they'll certainly make you think. It's quite a small adventure location-wise, but amazingly Bob has crammed some great touches into the game so that each room is a surprise.Overall, this is an excellent game considering the price asked. Great value and very entertaining indeed!
Atmosphere 79%
Interaction 78%
Challenge 80%
Overall 82%
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Contacting the Balg
To get in contact with the Balg, write to him at Amstrad Action, Future Publishing Ltd, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street,
Bath, AVON BA1 2AP or e-mail at cazsjw@uk.ac.leeds.dcs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Balrog's Postbag
Greeting oh mystical monster!
Oh no! Not another letter from Dragonfoot!:-'...Tooken strange of Littlebed has requested that I delve into thy nature more fully, so I have prepared a few questions that I would be honoured if you would answer them...' (Ahhh!... STOP! - The Balg)Ainsbrith, Sage of Dwarn FrontLook,
I'm sorry, Tooken, Ainsbrith, or whoever you are - if you want to ask me questions you'll have to come to see me in person (50th Dungeon Level, Moria) or send some payment (pref. in gold) and a return address!
Tape PD?
'...I am writing to you concerning a letter you printed in issue 71 "Good Adventure?" where you said "if you want to try some cheap adventures, send a disk and a couple of pounds to Debby Howard". Great! But I haven't got a disk drive so could you recommend some fairly cheap (and easy) adventures on tape...'Paul New, EarlstonDebby also has a selection of PD tapes in her library so don't worry if you haven't got a disc drive, just write to her at 10 Overton Road, Abbey Wood, London SE2 9SD and enclose a stamped self addressed envelope and she'll send you the details.
Solutions wanted?
'...I have solutions to Hollywood Hijinx, Sorceror and Scapeghost - would you like me to send them to you?...'Gwynn, LlandreAs a rule I don't print solutions but if you wouldn't mind send them in anyway - I can always use them for clues as well as for the 'help' section. I don't print solutions as I think they take up too much space and can spoil a game (it is very difficult to avoid 'cheating' if you have a full solution in front of you). However, the Balg listens to his readers and if enough of you want solutions printed in AA then I will oblige - we could have a 'Solution of the month section'. Write in and tell me what you think!
Where do I get the games?
'...I want to start adventuring - I love your pages in AA, they are an inspiration but there is only clue you don't ever put in your
cluepot - Where can I get hold of the games?My local computer shop has never heard of any of them. Please help! I'm
desperate!...'Mrs B GlassA good place to start is to look at the review of a game you want and their should be an address to
buy it from. I make a point of putting the address of the company who makes the game at the top of the review so all reviews
after AA50 will have an address (pre-AA50 is another matter however as the Pilgrim often didn't print the address for some
reason). Note - don't write to Recreation Re-created however as they no longer exist.However, here is a list of the major
suppliers of adventure software to the Amstrad:-Adventure PD: Cheap and often good quality PD adventures - large
selection. Debby Howard, 10 Overton Road, Abbey Wood, London SE2 9SD. Tel: (081) 310 9877.FSF Adventures: Very
good disc only PAW games. Larry Horsfield, 40 Harvey Gardens, Charlton, London SE7 8AJ. Tel: (081) 858 1532Level 9:
Excellent games and loads to choose from. PO Box 39, Weston-super-Mare, Avon BS24 9UR. Tel: (0934) 814450. Fax:
(0703) 331523Atlas: Small selection of Amstrad games of varying quality.
Mandy Rodrigues HBalg: 67 Lloyd Street, Llandudno, Gwynedd LL30 2BN. Tel: (0492) 77305
Topologika: Makers of very good text only, disc only games. PO Box 39, Stilton, Peterborough PE7 3RL. Tel: (0733)
244682Wow Software: Very large selection of amstrad adventures of varying quality. Joan Pancott HPilg, 78 Radipole Lane,
Weymouth, Dorset DT4 9RS. Tel: (0305) 784155 Any day - 1pm to 10pm.Guild New company which is now selling all of
Recreation Re-created's old games. 760 Tyburn Road, Erdigton, Birmingham B24 9NX or telephone (021) 749 2585 (9 to
9).
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Clue Cauldron
The Balg has been inundated with lots of maps, tips and solutions to the game Bloodwych so it seemed an obvious candidate
for the clue cauldron. This cauldron of tips comes to you from Frank Neatherway, David Wagstaff, Richard Mitter and James
Durrant - well done dudes for an excellent selection of clues!
{*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*
Please could you print all the maps of Bloodwych that I've sent you - it might take up a little room but the readers will
appreciate it.Try and combine information from the various maps as different mappers have highlighted different things on their
maps.There should be three separate maps in total.
*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*}
Playing guide to Bloodwych
1) Define the characters as if to play a two player game as follows: Player 1 Blodwyn Sir Edmund -! (Green fighter) (Red
fighter) ! Strong ! and all Murlock Rosanne ! colours (Yellow wizard) (Blue archer) -! (magic) Player 2 Elfric Zothen -!
(Green archer) (Red wizard) ! Good ! Equipment Sethra Baldrick ! (Green Advent.) (Blue Advent.) -!2) Get player 2 to drop
all his equipment on the ground and then get player 1 to pick it all up as follows: BLUE = Spare equipment (BEGUILE)
YELLOW = DRINK RED = FOOD GREEN = POTIONS & KEYS Giving all the keys to one player frees three extra
backpack slots. The money must remain spread out to purchase spells.3) You don't need to kill player 2 - you can use them
on level 2 (the 1st floor) at the far northern section to open the black doors.Bloodwych combat1) Before entering any combat
get all the characters to prepare spells.
2) If any characters hit points fall dangerously low then run to the nearest door and lock it behind you. Then just sleep until
you are back at full strength and return to the combat.
3) Use long range spells and bows & arrows at any monster which does not have long range fire-power (a small circle moving
towards the party). Attack these monsters in close combat only.
4) If possible try and fight in a room with plenty of space, rather than a confined corridor or passageway. Then manoeuvre
behind the monster and keep hitting, when it turns and faces you, quickly run and get behind it again - this way you will
minimise the damage you take.Traps, doors and switches
1) Doors are easily opened with the correct coloured key: Just touch the key and then the door with the cursor.
2) The regeneration chambers are the single rooms with a black door entrance (the walls have holes in them). Just move the
party into one of these to gain hit points.
3) The 'blue buttons' are switches - when touched a section of wall will disappear/appear (Possibly unleashing a monster in the
process!)
4) There is a passage on level one (see map) which turns you around half way along - to use it as a short cut, just walk
backwards along it until you see the turning effect and then move forward.Basic starter:F = Forward R = Turn Right SR =
Side step rightB = Backward L = Turn Left SL = Side step leftFrom your starting position go: F, SR, F, F, SR, unlock door,
F, F, F, L, open door (you should be able to see a monster in the room you are facing), kill the monster and collect its
chainmail, F, F, R, F, collect chromatic key, B, SR, SR, unlock door using chromatic key, F, F, SL, F, SL, SL, F, F, F, F, F,
L, unlock door and kill the monster behind it, F, F, F, L, F, F, L, F, pick up snake key, B, SL, SL, F, F, F, R, F, F, F, F, F,
SR, SR, SR, SR, F, unlock door and kill monsters inside, F, F, F, F, SL, SL, open door, F, F, SL, click on blue switch...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Clue-sniffing with the Balrog
This months selection of hints comes to you from Peter Clarke (Ipswich), Peter
Knowles (Barnsley), Robert Squires (Hackney), Dyved the Black (Sancton), Adrian
Forbes (Gourock) and Daniel Philpott (Huntingdon) - thanks to all of them for
sharing their adventure knowledge and wisdom with us all! Why not send some
clues in yourself and see your name praised in black and white in these hallowed
pages - go on! Just jot down a few clues from an adventure you've played and
send them to 'Cluepot' c/o The Balrog at the usual AA address.
Base
You need the pepper pot to get rid of the dogs in part two. This is found in the hut but you'll need a torch to find it.The
saucepan in the kitchen will provide what you need to pass the dogs in the courtyard.
Book of the Dead - Part 2
Talk to the woman and she asks where the treasure is. Tell her in the torture chamber.
Kersplat in the Antil room to avoid the maze.
The tome has six pages written on it, they are 1, 3, 4, 7, 13, 16.
Dracula
To get through the forest go west four times, north, west, south and then east.
For spiritual relief look into the old lady's eyes.
When things go cold lift your seat and use your cross.
Buy a paper to get travel information.
If you need your keys and your desk is a mess then try tidying it up.
Heavy on the Magick
To move up a grade in experience, find the door with horned guardians and say "Door, silence". When it
opens, go through and you will move up to the grade of Zelator.
To get past the fire, you must find the salamander clasp.The locked door with toll sign beside it can be
opened by dropping a bag of gold on the table.
Hollywood Hijinx
Go into the cupboard (a secret lift) and use the pegs to go up and down floors. When on the top floor, turn
the head at the top of the stairs to turn them back to normal. Hold on to the bag before opening the window.
Shoot the cannon to get at the box. Try this if you have a printer - turn on the script (output to printer) option
and put yellow over thin then turn off the script option. This will give you a printout of the maze. At the centre,
dig in the ground.
Knight Orc
To cross the hedge, put the door mat on it.
The ten bits of rope are hawser, rein, belt, noose, hair, halyard, lasso, line, tether and cord.
Lords of Time
Open the cat food tin with the tin opener, and give it to the sabre-toothed tiger.
Exchange the coat with the viking for a lur.
To be able to carry more, wear the rucksack.
Fill the drinking horn with water and drink it in the hypocaust to stop yourself from dying.
Give the sweetmeats to the dogs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Lords & Ladies of Adventure
More valiant and brave adventurers offer their services to us mere mortals. Remember to phone during sociable hours and to enclose an SSAE when writing for a reply.
Heroes of Karn, Knight Tyme, Kobyashi Naru, Souls of Darkon, Spytrek & SubsunkRobert Squires, 52 Broke Walk, Regents Estate, Hackney, London E8 4SJ.Adventureland, Apache Gold, Boggit, Classic Adventure, Colossal Cave Adventure, Dodgy Geezers, Doomdark's Revenge, Heroes of Karn, Hobbit, Island, Knight Tyme, Kobyashi Naru, Lost Phirious (pts 1 & 3), Message from Andromeda, Never Ending Story, Orb Quest, Questprobe, Scary Tales, Ship of Doom, Spytrek, Subsunk, Terrormolinos, Warlord & Wizbiz.
Paul & Timothy Stitt, 7 Beaufort Avenue, Beechill Road, Newtownbreda, Belfast BT8 4TY Northern Ireland.
Adventure Quest, Bards Tale, Dungeon Adventure, Snowball & Worm in Paradise.James Taylor, 9 Crossland Crescent, Aldersley, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV6 9LG.Adult II, Atalan, Bewbews, Boredom, Cacodemon, Can I Cheat Death?, Case of the Mixed-Up Shymer, Castle Blackstar, DAA, DAAW, Doomlords, Dungeon, Escape from the Planet of Doom, Experience, Firestone, Grue-Knapped, Hoot, Jason & the Argonauts, Key to Paradox, Labyrinth, Magician's Apprentice, Message from Andromeda, Mystery Mansion, Prison Blues, Quadx, Quest for the Golden Egg-cup, Rouge Midget, Scary Tales, Seabase Delta, Spaced-Out, Spy Trek, Stryptische I & II, Subsunk, Tizpan, TRD & Use your loaf.Dave Adams, 49 Myers Gardens, St. Helens, Merseyside WA9 3YX.Iron Lord, Seabase Delta & Spellbound.William Huddleston, 1 Millwell Park, Innerleithen, Borders, Scotland EH44 6JF.Knight Tyme & Mega Bucks.Andy Riddings, 10 Berkshire Street, Chaddesden, Derby DE2 6GQ.Forest at World's End, Hitchhiker's Guide, Jewels of Babylon, Leather Goddesses & Message from Andromeda.
Iain McCarthy, The Old School, Church Lane, Brantham, Manningtree, Essex CO11 1QA.
Guild of Thieves, Jinxter, Lurking Horror & Pawn.
Adrian Forbes, 37 Victoria Road, Gourock, Scotland PA19 1DF. Tel: (0475) 33633 Mon-Fri 5pm-10pm, Sat & Sun 1pm-10pm.
Adult II, Black Fountain, Black Knight, Boggit, Boredom, Can I Cheat Death?, Case of the Mixed-Up Shymer, Dungeon, DAA, Doomlords, Firestone, Forest at World's End, Ghost House, Hobbit, Jason and the Argonauts, Jewels of Babylon, Labarinth, Magician's Apprentice, Nite Time, Prison Blues, Quest, Roog, Scary Tales, Seabase Delta, Spacy, Tizpan & Welladay.
Simon 'Spud-Stomper' Avery, 71 Fore St, Chudleigh, Newton Abbot, South Devon TQ13 OHT.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Help!
Adrian Collins from Warley is stuck in Domark's Crypt - where are the six keys located?Thomas Crichton from Leicester is
stumped in Castle Master - he has collected nine keys so far, found the five caverns and the three potions but he is having
trouble getting past the Spirit in the Dragons Lair. He also would like to know what the hole is for in the cavern beneath the
hot baths.Daniel Hartley from Leigh is having many problems in Imagination:- 1) How do you divert the guard dogs? 2) What
do you do with the elixir of strength? 3) What do you do with the bag of chips? 4) How do you get the shell out of the barrel
of the gun in the tank?Lee Davies is stuck in Knight Tyme - he has only managed to get one part of the sundial and is unsure
of what to do next.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Just for Laughs
Thanks this month to Daniel & Simon Philport, Adrian Forbes, Thomas Christie, Katharyne Allen and Philip Hodge for this giggle box of amusing responses. If you've encountered any funny responses in an adventure then send them to 'Just for Laughs' c/o The Balrog at the usual AA address.
Big Sleaze
Swear
Kiss your secretary.Go up the stairs in the police station.
Pawn
Kick the princess while wearing the spikey boots and you can remove her dress.
Price of Magick
Swear.
Rigels Revenge
Try swearing or typing "yes", "no", "bloody hell" or "huh".
Shadows of Mordor
Eat the salt in Sam's backpack.Push Smeagol off the cliff.
Very Big Cave Adventure
Try swearing and then getting out of a room.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GAC Programming with the Balrog
Well, this month was meant to be the start of the GAC Programming Clinic in which people would write in
with their problems with GAC and I would answer them... but... I'VE HAD NO LETTERS! Now, either my
previous two GAC articles were so well written that no-one had any problems at all or no-one cares! (sob! -
The Balg) So this month I've decided to move away from our bank adventure (which I will use every now
and then for examples) and continue explaining the intricacies of GAC...This month we'll look at the graphical
capabilities of GAC.Drawing graphics in GAC is very simple and easy to master and can add greatly to your
adventure, adding graphics to an adventure is good fun too as you can see the results take shape before your
very eyes.Press 'G' from the main menu to enter the graphics section of GAC. On the screen will be a
rectangular window, a compact menu below and a question 'Which picture number?...'. Press '1' and press ENTER - the
question will disappear and cross-hairs will appear in the middle of the window.You can move the cross-hair around one pixel
at a time using the arrow (cursor) keys and for rapid movement (of 8 pixels a time) you can press the cursor keys in
conjunction with SHIFT.Graphic commands----------------arrows Cursor Move the cross-hair around the screen.SHIFT
arrow Cursor Move the cross-hair around the screen quickly.ESC Escape Change picture number or press again to return
back to main menu.D Dot Place a dot on the screen.DEL Undo Take back last command - ie, if you just pressed D for a dot
then pressing DEL with delete the dot. In the top right hand side of the screen is the word 'LAST' which tells you what your
last command was.COPY Pen Puts pen on/off paper - press COPY once to start a line and then move the cross-hair to
where you want the line to terminate and press COPY again. If you look at the pen on the right hand side of the screen you
will know when your pen is up or down on the 'paper'.I Ink Change colour of 'pen' - On the left hand side of the screen is a
set of number (0 to 3) followed by coloured squares. These are the colours of the various inks you can use. When chosen the
pen on the right of the screen will change colour to the one you have chosen.F Fill The fill command can colour-in a section of
the screen with up to two separate colours (chosen using the S command). The fill routine is very fast but not very good with
irregular shapes - these shapes may need several 'fills' to colour in completely. See the diagram below for more details on how
the fill routine works. Note that you can only fill any area of solid colour not shaded areas, as, due to their composition, you
will only fill one pixel.Only this part /* Use diagram from page 8 All filledfilled of GAC manual */ + cursor position Case A
Case BThe area filled is worked out by the fill routine checking up and down from the cursor position until it hits something,
giving a horizontal band of colour.S Shades Used to determine what colours you want to fill with - if you want a solid colour
then just press the ink number twice. 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.C colour Change your choice of colours
used in four colour 'inkpot'. First choose which colour ink you want to change and then you will be asked for two letters taken
from the table below.SPACE: black I: green R: bright greenA: blue J: cyan S: sea greenB: bright blue K: sky blue T: bright
cyanC: red/brown L: yellow/brown U: lime greenD: magenta M: white/grey V: pastel greenE: mauve N: pastel blue W: pastel
cyanF: bright red O: orange X: goldG: purple P: pink Y: pastel yellowH: bright magenta Q: pastel magenta Z: white If you
change ink 0 to BB then the background ink will turn bright blue (0 is background, 1 is text), however AI would produce a
background flashing between blue and green. Experiment with this command carefully though - make sure you don't set ink 0
and ink 1 to the same colour else you won't be able to read anything!E Eclipse Draw an eclipse (a squashed circle) on the
screen - useful for drawing clouds, suns, moons, holes in the floor etc. Of course it can also be used for drawing a circle if you
get the proportions right. Press 'E' again when you have moved the cross-hair to where you want the eclipse to finish.R
Rectangle Draw a rectangle.Editing pictures----------------The CTRL key and the cursor keys will step you backward and
forward through the picture step-by-step so that you can insert things half-way through.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.CTRL-down take you back five commands.SHIFT-> deletes
everything from this point in the picture to the end.W Draw the whole picture back again.One other very useful feature of
GAC is that of merging pictures - 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. It 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 there. (It's usually best to merge at the start of drawing a picture and then you can draw around the merged
picture).Finally, to actually allocate pictures to various locations you must move to the rooms menu and change the picture at
that location to the picture number you have drawn on the graphics menu.----Arghhh!! Seems like last months GAC
programming article got a little corrupted on it's 3" disc and the room descriptions and exits for the maze was chopped out
completely! Here is the missing section so that you can play 'Bank Adventure' properly!Now let's add a maze - lets have the
maze as a sewer complex beneath the high street...Room 5 'You are in a dank sewer. You can see daylight above.
'Connections: U 4 N 8 S 7 E 7 W 6Room 6 'You are in a smelly sewer. 'Connections: N 7 S 8 W 5 E 6Room 7 'You are in a
slimy sewer. 'Connections: N 6 W 7 E 7 S 8Room 8 'You are in a sewer. 'Connections: N 7 S 8 W 8 E 8