by Gary Scott Smith and Alex Nghiem
from Origin, 1989
Tangled Tales requires at least a 64k Apple II series computer. It comes
on four diskette sides: Boot, Adventure #1, Adventure #2, and Adventure #3. The
original diskettes are heavily copy protected and subject to failure. (Backing
up the diskettes is a very good idea!)
The game includes three pieces of documentation: a Player Reference Card,
Playbook, and Journal. What you have below is the information from these
sources. Sometimes, as in the "Journal", it has been compressed. Mostly, the
information is a near copy with a bit of elaboration and reorganization.
Rubywand, 11 Jan 2000
Journal
Your journal begins with you looking for something to practice a Heal
spell on. You are considering twisting a cat's leg when Drek (another, older,
apprentice residing in the tower) appears in a cloud of smoke. (It smells like
sweat like he does only worse-- it's from all those potions he works with.)
He accuses you of torturing cats and says he will tattle to Eldritch unless
you let it go. The _he_ chases it off with a fireball!
You decide to lure a bunch of cats with catfood in hopes of finding one
needing healing. Alas, Master Eldritch will not give you the money. "A wizard
relies on citizens' generosity," he says, "or, if all else fails, on thievery."
Probably, he was thinking of the time a farmer hired him to clear a field
of tooth-beetles. Eldritch lured the insects out with a Redolent Decoy potion
and then flamed them all. When Eldritch named 30 gold pieces as his price, the
farmer said he couldn't afford it, so Eldritch left. But later he entered the
farmer's house under a Cloak of Invisibility and rooted around until he found a
pouch of 50 gold pieces under a mattress, which he took. He claimed the extra
20 pieces were "interest".
So, you 'borrow' a vial of Adamantine Dust from Eldritch's laboratory--
very pretty and sparkly and rare-- planning to use just a pinch or two for
invisibility and to create demon images. Your plan is to go to the Crystal
Goblet tavern, become invisible, and scare everyone with demon images. Then, a
bit later you can stop by and approach Mayheco the bartender with an offer to
exorcise the demons for a juicy price.
Everything works great except that, just as the patrons are ready to flee
for their lives a tall spooky bald wizard with weird eyebrows appears and casts
a Dispel to wipe out the demon images. You later learn from Master Eldritch
(leaving out the part about the 'borrowed' Adamantine Dust in your question)
that the wizard is named "Xavier"-- evidently a very dangerous sort. "We'll
have to do something about him someday," Eldritch remarks.
Your next try is to use another pinch of Adamantine Dust for invisibility
and steal some cat food. You set it out in the woods and wait for cats. Perhaps
the idea would have worked except that Drek has followed you. He appears
floating above the food and pours out a few drops of Redolent Decoy. Soon you
are nearly buried in the stampede of forest animals. And, above it all Drek is
cackling in that chicken-cluck way he has.
As fate would have it, one of crazed animals knocks the vial of precious
Adamantine Dust from your grasp and onto a nearby squirrel! The squirrel
barrels through the other animals, knocks Drek out of the air with a swipe of
its magically charged tail, grabs Drek's flask of Redolent Decoy, and is off to
the deep woods. Drek is banged up pretty badly which, finally, gives you a
chance to cast a Heal spell!
Master Eldritch is pleased with your success ... _until_ he finds out
about the lost Adamantine Dust! He wipes your spellbook clean of spells and
tells you that tomorrow he will give you an assignment which will provide ample
opportunities for travel and acquiring new spells.
Attributes
The better your Strength and Speed, the more elaborate the weapons and
armor you can select to equip and use. Strength also affects how much damage
you can withstand. Speed also affects whether you get to act before a foe in
combat and how successfully you can run away when necessary.
Intelligence determines your starting Spell Points (the "currency" of
magic). Charisma influences the prices you are charged as well as how long
some hirelings will stay with you.
Rank
You begin as a lowly Initiate. The other ranks in ascending order are
Magician, Sorcerer, and Wizard. Your rank changes as you successfully complete
the quests Eldritch assigns you.
Moving around in the Adventure
Use the joystick to point in the direction to move or use the arrow keys.
Use A/Z for forward/backward if you do not have the up/down arrow keys:
Joystick or ...
Up arrow key or "A"
|
<-- arrow key -- -- arrow key -->
|
Down arrow key or "Z"
Press "P" to Pause game
Adventuring Commands
You can use the pointer to select icons to pick actions using the joystick
or keyboard. Or, you can use shortcut keys to directly pick an action.
Pressing joystick button 2 or SPACE activates the pointer. Move the
joystick or <-- --> arrow keys to point to the action icon you want. The icon
on the far right is for switching to another set of icons. Press joystick
button 1 or RETURN to select an icon.
When you need to select an item from a list, you can use the joystick or
arrow keys. For Up and Down use the up/down arrow keys or the A/Z keys.
Joystick button 1 or RETURN are for selecting an item.
If you get into a list, etc. and want to exit without changing anything,
press the ESCape key.
Icon Commands (and Shortcut Keys)
Eye (L)- Look shows you your surroundings, the people in your party, and what
you are carrying. Sometimes looking at something reveals more things that you
can look at. For example, you may look at a shelf and discover that a scroll
lies on the shelf. Choose Look again to examine the scroll.
____
Open book (C)- Cast Magic lets you cast a spell you have learned. To cast a
spell, use the arrow keys to highlight the desired spell and press RETURN to
select it. Repeat this for all spells you want to cast. When finished, press
SPACE to cast the spell(s). To Learn a spell, see info about the Actions
command. Eldritch can provide information about some spells.
Note: Spells are either non-continued or continued. Non-continued spells, like
Recall or Heal, cost you spell points only at the time they are cast. Continues
spells, like Light, will drain spell points as long as they are active.
____
Hand picking up (G)- Get shows a list of all the items you can pick up in your
current location. Select the item you want to pick up; or, select ALL to pick
up everything. You have room for up to 30 items in your backpack.
____
Mouth (T)- Talk lets you speak with people in your party or those standing
nearby. You can greet someone, ask questions, try to buy something, or ask a
person to leave your party.
When you encounter someone (being on the same spot on the map) his or her
picture will appear along with a name. To greet the person choose Talk and pick
the Greet option. Often a polite greeting leads to a pleasant chat, the
imparting of information, or even a request to join your party.
To Ask about something, you can select a question from a list of subjects you
currently "know about" in the game. If the person you are talking with has
brought up some weighty topic in the conversation, check the Ask option to see
if the subject has been added to you list of "known" question topics.
You may be able to Buy an item from some of those you meet.
You can Ask a person to leave your party. This lets you dismiss someone you
have hired. (Some hirelings will not leave until they want to.)
You can Ask for a Cure. Some persons, such as Fairhaven's Brother Vincent, can
magically cure people of wounds, poison, paralysis, or even death. A donation
for this service is required.
To end a conversation, it is considered polite to say Goodbye.
____
Checkmark (/)- Actions include special commands like learning spells, speaking
magic words, moving objects, drinking potions, ... . This command is often used
after a Look and sometimes provides clues about a promising approach to a
problem.
____
Hand dropping something (D)- Drop/Give lets you remove an item from your
backpack. You can give it to the person you are talking to or just drop it at
your current location. (If Giving an item, the person accepts it by picking it
up.)
____
Diskette (S)- Saves game to disk.
____
Suit of Armor (I)- Inspect/Inventory tells you how many gold pieces and spell
points you have as well as your current health. If you press RETURN, this
command shows a brief description of the members of your party. If the list
runs longer than a single screen, press any key except SPACE or RETURN to see
the next page.
Press RETURN again for a list of the items you carry.
____
Shield and sword (E)- Equip lets you choose weapons, armor, and a shield. Use
the RETURN key to select the item(s) you wish to use, then press SPACE when you
are finished. The equipment screens show all the items your current Strength
and Speed allow you to carry. Note that you cannot Drop/Give equipped items.
____
Bed (R)- Rest halts the expedition while you and your companions rest. This
restores your health and spell points. In most places, you should choose
someone to stand guard against prowling monsters and thieves. The guard does
not get to rest or heal.
Combat in Tangled Tales
As a rule, apprentices do not actively seek physical conflict. But, if
conflict has found you, new icons will appear:
Crossed swords (F)- Fight lets you attempt to inflict damage upon a foe with
your equipped weapon. To attack, move your character onto a nearby enemy and
choose this command. Your Speed attribute determines whether you or the
opponent attacks first.
____
Legs running (R)- Run away is sometimes the better part of valor, especially
against powerful foes. You can escape if your Speed attribute exceeds your
foe's.
____
The Cast Magic command (Open book- C) lets you cast any non-continual spell you
have learned. As with the Fight command, Your Speed attribute determines
whether you can cast your spell before your opponent acts.
Other members of your party decide for themselves whether or not they will
participate in combat. A message is displayed should a member of your party
kill an opponent or be be killed.
You can encounter foes in even unlikely looking places. An ordinary
basement may harbor a giant serpent or two. Sometimes wizards like to throw
these obsticles in their apprentices' paths to keep the wary. So, stay alert!
Staying Alive
Use the Inspect/Inventory (I) command to see how well you are faring. It
will tell your status-- whether you are healthy or poisoned-- and your wound
level. As described under the Rest command, a good night's rest restores your
health. If all else fails and you dies, Eldritch may try to find someone to
resurrect you. (After all, good apprentices are hard to find!)
Having a Party
As you encounter the citizens of the land you will be able to convince
some of these people to become your companions. Others that you encounter will
join in return for payment.
Having a party with you is important, for it will combine the skills and
talents of your companions with yours. Also, some of your friends will assist
you in combat.
Another benefit is that certain characters have knowledge of people and
places that you lack. Do not be too surprised if you find that one of your
party members can reveal a clue to a puzzle that you couldn't solve otherwise!
