Dragontorc

The Dragontorc of Avalon

for the ZX Spectrum 48K

INTRODUCTION



Welcome to the World of Adventure Movies. If you are familiar

with the Spectrum then load the game, pass the security system

and start playing. You will probably soon master the keyboard/

joystick controls but if you have difficulty please refer to the

relevant section of the Detailed Instructions.



DRAGONTORC is inhabited by a cascade of people and creatures

for you to meet and match - Werewolves in Wolfwood, Wraiths

in the Cursed Crypt, Dwarfs on Dreamdown and Bats in

Hellsmouth Caverns. It will probably take you several hours of

play before you meet them all. Good luck!



Hints to Get You Started



You start off in Wispwood with the spells MOVE, SERVANT and

BANE at your command. To select a spell use Up or Down to wind

the scroll. When the arrow indicates the spell you need, press Fire

once to select it and a second time to activate it.



Notice that it is Maroc's astral projection which moves away - his

body is left behind. We suggest that you take the Seal of Merlyn

because you'll need it later on. The Wispwood is inhabited by

Wisps and Elves. You can sample the arcade style features of

Dragontorc by selecting BANE and attacking the Wisps but be

careful of your energy level.



Explore the wood to collect the MISSILE spell. Find the stone and

use the Seal to get under it and into the Lost Vaults of Locris.

Attack the Skeletons in the vaults with MISSILE - collecting

further spells as you go. When you have completed Wispwood

and the Vaults you'll get a message from Merlyn telling you

where to go next.



Hints for Experienced Users



1) Dragontorc is not just a sequel to Avalon - it's a whole new

world of experience. There are peoples and creatures who

have lives of their own. How to deal with them is crucial to

your progress.

2) You can now select the MOVE spell very quickly by hitting

Left or Right whilst in the "scroll" mode.

3) Other creatures are often unfriendly and may try to kill you.

You will have to overpower them. Some, like the Elves, are

fairly harmless. If you trade with them you will win their con-

fidence and they will become more useful to you.

4) The characters of the other creatures will change as you

progress depending on how you treat them: You may be able

to win over the most dastardly enemies if you try hard

enough - but you may get killed off several times in the pro-

cess!

5) Each stone circle is a separate explorable area. Some circles

have underground levels which are accessible through trap-

doors etc.

6) If you are killed you return to the beginning of your current

area. The objects that you were carrying remain at the place

where you were killed although they may be picked up by

one of the creatures in the game.

7) Leylines connect each area - mark them on the map as you

discover them.

8) Make a note of Merlyn's messages as they appear because

they usually only appear once.

9) Your score increases as you discover objects or spells, when

you defeat enemies or unlock doors etc.

10) Your current rank is displayed posthumously when you are

killed.



DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS



This game has a number of features you will not have

previously encountered and though you will quickly

become accustomed to them, these detailed instructions

are necessarily lengthy. If you get stuck you are advised

to read the relevant instructions carefully.



Basic Control



The controls for Dragontorc are very straightforward -

Up, Down, Left, Right and Fire. You are asked to select

your 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 respec-

tively and the 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 connector

at the read of you Spectrum. Connect your cassette

player to the Spectrum in the usual way. Place the cas-

sette 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.



Winding the Scroll



When Dragontorc has loaded and the initial screens are

completed you will be presented with a view of a forest

clearing with a pathway on the right hand side. Maroc

sits cross-legged in the centre and a large scroll is dis-

played at the bottom of the screen on which the words

MOVE, SERVANT and BANE are written (these are

spells). A large arrow points to the spell which will be

selected when the 'fire' button is pressed. Moving the

joystick up or down scrolls the lists of spells slowly at first,

then quickly. To scroll very slowly, just repeatedly touch

the joystick up and down and the scroll will move one pos-

ition at a time. When you have many spells it is best to

fast scroll until you see the spell you need and then stop.

Adjust up or down by the one touch method until the

arrow points to the right place.



Selecting the MOVE spell



To move, first align the MOVE spell with the arrow. 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 left. On the far

right is a staff - this is the carrier of the MOVE spell and

you will notice that Maroc 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.



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 button again de-activates the spell and

the scroll returns.



There is a second, emergency method for selecting

MOVE. Deselect your current spell by pressing Fire and

hit Left or Right. Move is selected immediately.



Try selecting and deselecting MOVE by either method a

few times. When you have finished make sure the staff

on the scroll is flashing.



Energy Level



Across the bottom of the scroll is a flame. This is a dis-

play of the energy you have left. The longer the flame the

more your energy.



Moving around



You can now use the keyboard or joystick (depending on

which was originally selected) to move the wizard

around. Notice the wizard cannot pass through the trees

but he can move down the gravel paths (represented by

dots on the "ground") to an adjacent location.



Explore the Wispwood Forest. There are magic items for

you to collect by moving Maroc so that he passes over

them. You will encounter Wisps and Elves as you move

around.



Below the Forest are the Lost Vaults of Locris. Each loca-

tion in the Lost Vaults is separated by a door. 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 mas-

ter it.



Collecting Spells



If Maroc collects a magic item the demon at the top of the

screen 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 MISSILE spell you will be able to fire it more times

before it becomes exhausted.



The SERVANT Spell



The SERVANT spell gives you control of a sprite who can

pick objects up, give them to you or to other characters

by way of trade, 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 someone else takes the

object. The name of the object appears on the scroll.



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 replac-

ing 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 Dragontorc



As you move about you will encounter various people

and creatures, some friendly who may help you, some

unfriendly and dangerous. If they attack you they will

drain your energy. You can deal with them by attacking

with a spell or object, running away and escaping

through a leyline, frightening them, or making friends

with them. They may have objects to give you or they

may steal objects from the place you are in. You may be

able to trade with them.



Dragontorc is very complex. There are over 250 rooms,

forest clearings, caves, crypts and stone circles to

explore, connected by magical leylines. Just like an ordi-

nary adventure you must do the correct sequence of

things to progress in the game. Here are some clues to

help you:



* Almost all significant objects are coloured differently

from the location in which they are found.



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



* Some exits are invisible until you solve a problem.



* There are some spells and objects to help you main-

tain your energy as you penetrate further.



* Merlyn will give you instructions whenever he can.

This will usually be when you find an artifact with

energy - enabling him to transmit his thoughts to you.

His instructions will appear on the scroll and you will

need to write them down as they may only appear

once.



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.



Each stone circle on the map is the location of a separate

explorable area. A separate map can be made for each

area. Some areas have underground levels that overlap

the ground level requiring two maps.



Leylines



As you discover leylines mark them in on the map of

Britain.



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 appears 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 die and be returned to the beginning of your current

area. An audible bleep can be heard every time you lose

or gain energy. The higher the beep, the more energy

you have.



Background Spells e.g. BANE



Background spells when activated last until you switch

them off. You are allowed to select another spell while

these spells are running, for instance, you can MOVE

whilst UNSEEN. When activated, the spell list is dis-

played. 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 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.



Scoring



A digital score is updated every time you acquire spells,

useful objects, defeat enemies, unlock doors, etc. Each

time your energy is depleted and you return to the first

location your current rank is displayed. In this game

Maroc starts as a Magician. There are eight ranks he can

master, each divided into eight stages:



STAGES RANKS



Apprentice Magician

Minor Sage

Lesser Lore Master

Learned Warlock

Master Wizard

Chief Sorceror

High Guardian of Lore

Supreme Lore Lord



You start the game as an Apprentice Magician. It is not

possible to go down in rank in this game.



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 comple-

tion, 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 origi-

nal "Dragontorc" 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.



© Copyright. Hewson Consultants Ltd. 1985

The program and data on this cassette are copyright

and many not be reproduced in part or in whole by any

means without the written permission of Hewson Con-

sultants Ltd. All right reserved. No responsibility is

accepted for any errors.



Our policy is one of constant improvement. Therefore

we reserve the right to modify any product without

notice.



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20 Best Programs for the ZX Spectrum

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40 Best Machine Code Routines

for the ZX Spectrum

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Machine Code Extensions

for Spectrum Basic

by Rob Banks £5.95



Hewson Consultants Ltd.

Hewson House

56B Milton Trading Estate

Milton

ABINGDON

Oxon, OX14 4RX

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[Original inlay card re-typed in 2004 AD

by Alessandro Grussu - http://www.ag-online.da.ru

Please note: Typographical errors are the same as

in the original!]

Re-edited (Hewson version) with correct Spectrum instructions by Frode Tennebø, 20070408.