The booklet accompanying the full game is packed with background
information, hints, tips and clues and the storyline. As you have only the demo version I shall try to mention, in this file, the things you will NEED TO KNOW!
A word of warning to start with. On the options page you are asked if there is a saved game you wish to load. If you enter the name of a file
that doesn't exist, you spell it incorrectly or the file is on your hard
drive and you are running the game from your floppy etc. you will find the options page re-displayed with a WHAT NEXT? prompt. Either key in RESTORE
and do the right thing this time or type QUIT. This is only necessary right at the start. During the game the problem doesn't arise when you use
RESTORE.
One of the distinguishing features of an ALPS adventure is the menu bar which sits at the bottom of the screen throughout the game. It is there to maximise your opportunities for using the mouse to create instructions rather than key them in. Some of the more frequently used verbs are on the menu as are all of the movement options. EXITS lists any exits from the current location. If you wish to make use of a word from the menu bar position the mouse pointer over the word, click once on the left-hand (select) button and the chosen word will appear in the command line on screen. You may also pick words from the text on screen to build up an instruction. E.G. a location description mentions the presence of a BOOK. You wish to EXAMINE it. Click on the word EXAM on the menu and then click on he word BOOK on the screen. Then click the right-hand (adjust) button and the instruction EXAMINE BOOK will be followed. (The right-hand button acts as a return).
Type VERBS for a comprehensive list of the verbs available to you in the game.
SOME HINTS AND TIPS:
Examine and Search are NOT synonymous.
If more than one object with the same name appears in the same location you must refer to it by its adjective to avoid confusion.
You can only carry four objects in your hands. (An object containing other objects only counts as one).
Contents of containers are not automatically listed.
Examining a container will indicate the presence of contained objects but you will be unable to use them until you have taken them out of the container!
If you want any more - buy the full game!!
It took a very long six months to write the full game and it is rather
large. This is due to an attempt to cover all eventualities in your choice of action without resorting to default messages. Playtesting was very
thorough and also took a long time. However, no-one is perfect and
minor(hopefully) glitches may have slipped through the net. If you come
across any and you have a mind to let me know the details I would be most
grateful! (The demo version may well have bugs in it due to the indecent
haste with which it was chopped down.)
THE PARSER:
The ALPS input interpreter can handle complex instructions by breaking them down into VERB NOUN combinations. This sometimes leads to spurious
comments appearing after sensible responses. For example
EXAMINE CLOCK CALENDAR would give a description of the clock followed by
I DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT! or some such message. This is because CLOCK and
CALENDAR are both NOUNS. The parser has broken the instructions down into
EXAMINE CLOCK and CALENDAR. As you can see the second part of the
instruction doesn't have a VERB so you get the error message.
EXAMINE LASER would respond with YOU MUST SUPPLY A NOUN as LASER is
an adjective referring to RIFLE i.e. EXAMINE LASER RIFLE or EXAMINE RIFLE
would both be fine.
Don't use SEARCH ALL as it is unreliable and could be misleading.
SEARCH specific items or areas only!! (Thanks to Peter Scott for
this tip.)
In other words, if you are not familiar with ALPS and you get what
appears to be an error message then try re-phrasing your command
(simplify it).
RUNNING ON MACHINES WITH LIMITED RAM:
The game was created on an A3000 with 2Mb of RAM and all files and
sprites have been compressed and compacted. If you have limited RAM
available here is a little advice from the ALPS manual on how to maximise
the available RAM:
Use the Task Manager to put as much memory as possible into the NEXT slot. You can reduce the FONT CACHE, SYSTEMS SPRITES and RAM DISC settings
to (0) ZERO and the SYSTEM HEAP/STACK to the minimum it will allow. If you were using the computer prior to starting THE SURVIVOR some modules may
remain in the RMA. Press <F12> and type *modules to list them. You can
RMKILL modules such as Colourtrans, Shared CLibrary and FPEmulator.
I haven't tried this but I suspect that if you wish to save files
from the game to the floppy drive when you have a SCSI hard drive attached
or wish to load files from the floppy even though you are running the game
from the hard drive you might press <F12> and type *ADFS before you start!
Well that's about it. If you have any queries or comments or games
for me to evaluate etc. Drop me a line (enclosing an S.A.E., if you want a
response) to:
GEOFF LYNAS
C/O LYNSOFT
32 IRVIN AVENUE
SALTBURN-BY-THE-SEA
CLEVELAND
TS12 1QH
or phone (at a reasonable hour) 0287-624843
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IF YOU WISH TO BUY THE FULL VERSION SEND A CHEQUE FOR NINE POUNDS NINETY NINE PLUS ONE POUND (P&P IN UK) PAYABLE TO LYNSOFT AT THE ABOVE ADDRESS.
*** IF YOU WISH,YOU MAY RETURN THE VOUCHER ***
*** AND DEMO DISK FOR A REDUCTION OF £1.25 ***
*** WHEN YOU PURCHASE THE FULL VERSION ***
(N.B. P&P FOR EUROPE IS TWO POUNDS FIFTY AND FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD - FOUR POUNDS FIFTY.)
.................................................
IF YOU WOULD LIKE COPIES OF THE FOUR A5 MAPS THAT ACCOMPANY THE FULL GAME BUT CAN'T AFFORD TO BUY "THE SURVIVOR" YET THEN SEND ME A STAMPED ADDRESSED
ENVELOPE AND TWO FIRST CLASS STAMPS AND I WILL LET YOU HAVE COPIES BY RETURN (PHOTOCOPIER PERMITTING) - CAN'T SAY FAIRER THAN THAT CAN I?
.................................................
If you are interested in adventure games and wish to keep up with all of the news why not buy a copy of "ADVENTURE PROBE", a monthly fanzine dedicated to adventure games on all formats of machine. It relies on the contributions of its readers for reviews, articles, competitions, short stories, game tips, solutions, news etc. The magazine has been published for over six years now
(1993) and is still going strong. Back issues can be ordered from the editor at £2 per issue. (The December issue was a particularly good one!)
