Avalon

AVALON

for the ZX Spectrum 48K





Congratulations!



You are now the proud owner of Avalon, the first in a new world of computer

games, the Adventure Movie.





INTRODUCTION



About these Instructions



Avalon introduces a number of features you will not have previously

encountered and though you will quickly become accustomed to them, these

instructions are necessarily lengthy. To obtain maximum enjoyment you are

advised to read all the instructions carefully.



The controls for Avalon are very straightforward - 'UP', 'DOWN', 'LEFT',

'RIGHT' and 'FIRE'. You are asked to select you keyboard/joystick preference

before the game begins.



No other commands are necessary during play although the 'P' and 'O' keys

freeze and unfreeze the game respectively and 'SAVE' and 'LOAD' keys ('S'

and 'J') can be used to SAVE the current game and LOAD it at a later date.



Loading a New Game



If you have a joystick then plug it into the edge connecter at the rear of

your Spectrum. Connect your cassette player to the Spectrum in the usual

way. Place the cassette in the player, rewind if necessary and press the

'PLAY' button. Type LOAD "" on the Spectrum keyboard and press the 'ENTER'

key. Wait a few minutes and choose the joystick or keyboard option followed

by 'ENTER'.





GETTING STARTED



The First Room



When Avalon has loaded and the initial screens are completed you will be

presented with a three dimensional room with one door on the right hand

side, a wizard sitting crossed legged, a large scroll at the bottom of the

screen on which "MOVE" is written five time (this is a spell) and a large

arrow pointing to "MOVE".



Press the 'FIRE' button once and the scroll changes to display "MOVE" in

the top left of the scroll - this is the spell you have selected. Three M's

to the right of "MOVE" tell you you have three or more uses of the spell

xxxxxxxxxx the far right is a sxaff - this is the carrier of the "MOVE"

spell and you will notice that your wizard is carrying a staff in his right

hand. Underneath is the phrase 'project thy soul' which is a clue to the

effect of the "MOVE" spell.



Across the bottom of the scroll is a flame. This is a display of the energy

you have left. The longer the flame the more your energy.



Press the 'FIRE' button again and the staff on the scroll will flash. This

tells you that the "MOVE" spell is now activated. Pressing the 'FIRE' again

deactivates the spell and the scroll returns. try pressing the 'FIRE'

button two or three times to see the different effects. When you have

finished make sure the staff on the scroll is flashing.



You can now use the keyboard or joystick (depending on which was originally

selected) to move the wizard round the room. Notice the wizard cannot pass

through the walls.



To open the door take Maroc (the wizard) up to the door knob and the door

will open. Now take Maroc through the door. This operation will take a

little practice but you will soon get the hang of it.



Continuing Play



Explore the Gatehouse Level. There are many magic items for you to collect

by moving Maroc so that he passes over them. you will not be able to open

all doors, chests, etc until you have collected the necessary spells, keys

or others objects.



If Maroc collects a magic item the word below the red dragon flashes. When

this occurs, turn off the "MOVE" spell by pressing the 'FIRE' button. You

will usually see that a new spell has been added to your Spell List.

Sometimes you will collect a duplicate of a spell which you already have in

which case your Spell List will be unchanged. However you will now be able

to use the spell more times. For example if you collect more than one copy

of the "ENERGISE" spell you will be able to fire it more times before it

becomes exhausted.



Some useful Spells which you may collect early on are "SERVANT",

"ENERGISE", "FREEZE", "UNSEEN".



The "SERVANT" Spell



The "SERVANT" spell gives you control of a sprite who can open some doors,

pick objects up, give them to you or to other wizards, take things from

your sack, throw objects, hit things with objects, etc. He is moved with

the control keys or joystick. He cannot release an object unless he is

switched off by moving him off the bottom of the screen, or unless Maroc or

another wizard takes the object.



The sack on Maroc's back can hold a small number of objects. When you have

collected a few objects using the "SERVANT" and placed them in the sack,

find a quiet place and experiment taking things from the sack and replacing

them. When taking an object from the sack steer it away from Maroc or he

will take it back again. You will be able to use the "SERVANT" to look

through the objects in the sack by moving the sprite to and from the sack.



Exploring Avalon



As you move Maroc from room to room you will encounter a number of

creatures who will often attack you and drain your energy. You must learn

how to deal with these creatures either by leaving the room and the next

room as quickly as you can or by travelling down tunnels. You will also

find that some of the spells that you collect can be used against your

foes.



Avalon is very complex. There are over 200 rooms, tunnels and caves on

eight levels for you to explore in your quest to banish the Lord of Chaos.

Here are some important clues to help you:



* Almost all significant objects are coloured differently from the room in

which they are found.



* Some doors are locked and you must find the key.



* Some doors are invisible until you solve a problem.



* There are some spell and objects to help you maintain your energy as you

penetrate deeper, and also to return you close to your previous position

if you are destroyed.



Making a Map



If you wish to pause to make a map or for any other reason press the 'P'

key to freeze the game and the 'O' key to unfreeze it.





LEVELS



Gate House Level: First line of defence (now largely xxxxed which xxxxxxx

barracks and guard rooms.



2nd Level: Caverns of Doom. Natural Limestone formations carved into

rooms.



3rd Level: Mines of Despair. Caves cut into an iron lode which once fed

the forges of the Lord of Chaos.



4th Level: Great Halls of the Deep. Once the living quarters of the

armies.



5th Level: Goblin Warren. The breeding grounds of the goblins.



6th Level: Labyrinth. Only the wraiths occupy the lower levels.



7th Level: Catacombs of the Undead where they unlive.



8th Level: The place where the Lord of Chaos hides himself.





THE SPELL SCROLL



The Spell List



Maroc collects spells as he explores the underground complex. These are

added to his Spell List and displayed on the Spell Scroll when no spells

are active. The Spell Scroll is scrolled using up and down. When the

desired spell is indicated, activate it by pressing 'FIRE'. The scroll

then shows information about the activated spell. To use the spell press

'FIRE' again. A picture usually flashes whilst the spell is running. To

return to the Spell List, press 'UP' or 'DOWN'.



Spell Display



At the top of the spell display is the spell name which is a clue to the

spell's use, and a number of magic tokens. This part of the scroll is

replaced by the name of the part of the underground citadel you have

reached whenever you pass into a new room.



Magic Tokens



The number of tokens indicates how many more times the spell may be used.

When there are three tokens, the spell may be used three or more times

more. When only two tokens appear it warns that you can only use the spell

twice more. On the spell's last use, only one token is displayed.



Energy Display



On the lower half of the spell display is a dragon's tongue of flame. This

is a visual display of your remaining energy. when the flame grows short

and disappears you will be returned to the start room. An audible beep can

be heard every time you lose or gain energy. The higher the beep, the more

energy you have.





ACTIVE SPELLS



There are several types of spell and you must experiment to find out how

each spell works. A general list of spell types follows:



Background Spells e.g. "UNSEEN"



Background spells when activated last until you switch them off. you are

allowed to select another spell while these are running, for instance, you

can "MOVE" whilst "UNSEEN". When activated, the spell list is displayed.

The background spell name, shown on the small scroll on the bottom right of

the screen, reminds you that you have a background spell running. energy

used up by the spell will be deducted every few seconds. To turn background

spells off, reselect the spell and press 'FIRE'.



Foreground Spells e.g. "ENERGISE"



These have an instant effect when activated after which the spell scroll is

redisplayed.



Cursor Spells e.g. "SERVANT"



These display some form of object whilst active and the object can be

directed with the keyboard controls or joystick. To switch the spell off,

press 'FIRE' or move the object off the bottom of the screen.



Missile Spells e.g. "MISSILE"



These are rather like cursor spells. The spell energy is fired from Maroc

to the cursor by pressing 'FIRE' and switches off automatically after

firing. The spell may also be switched off without firing by moving the

cursor off the bottom of the screen.



Repeat Missile Spells e.g. "FLAME"



These are like Missile Spells, except that they are not switched off after

firing until the cursor is moved off the bottom of the screen.





SCORING



Every time you are returned to the first room, your current rank is

displayed on the scroll. There are 16 main ranks which are subdivided into

eight stages as follows:



STAGES RANKS



Apprentice Lore Seeker

Minor Wise One

Lesser Lore Keeper

Learned Mystic

Master Alchemist

Chief Mage

High Magic User

Supreme Conjuror

Magician

Sage

Lore Master

Warlock

Wizard

Sorceror

Guardian of Lore

Lore Lord



You start the game as an Apprentice Lore Seeker and advance by penetrating

the dungeon, acquiring spells and defeating your enemies. If your energy

runs out this counts against you so that it is possible to lose rank as

well as gain it.





SAVING AND LOADING AN OLD GAME



The game may be saved in its current state at any time by pressing 'P' to

freeze the game, placing a blank cassette in your recorder and pressing

the 'SAVE' key. On completion, or if an error is detected or 'BREAK' is

pressed, press 'O' to restart the game.



An old game can be reloaded by first LOADing the original "Avalon"

cassette and then pressing the 'LOAD' key and LOADing the cassette on

which you saved your previous game. If an error is detected or 'BREAK' is

pressed then the game resets for you to try to LOAD your saved game again.