ARLENE - THE GUILD Introduction It's the 41st century and life as we know it in 1991 is fairly alien to the new sophisticates of the galaxy. Arlene, the game, however, is couched in terms of familiar to dwellers of Earth, 20th century; this is for convenience only. Makes things easier to understand for us. So when you come across "carpets" and "tables" and even "though transmission", advanced to be incomprehensible. You get the idea. What do we know of Arlene? Not much, "she" is a spacecraft, moored at some unknown galactic co-ordinates, in contact with human life only by matter-transports and the ubiquitous network of terminals found on every civilised planet. She's a holiday ship: you apply to go on location there (for a week) and she chooses five or six lucky applicants and then ... well, they go. That's about it. Pure pleasure, nothing more. She was the brainchild of the brilliant 23rd century physicist Joseph Ecstein - she appeared just after his mysterious disappearance back in 2272 - and was said to become his confidant in his later years. It's a known fact that Ecstein put the reasons for his vanishing onto a hologram which is somewhere aboard Arlene; this hologram, presumably, will tell the story of his life. You, as Steve Wilkinson, must find the hologram, with whatever secrets it holds. Why? For you are Universal's top news-searcher, and this is a scoop to set you up for life. The entire galaxy's after it, on and off, for centuries. It's a great unsolved mystery, just rolled and rolled and snowballed and snowballed into the biggest potential news hit ever. It could be yours. Characters (briefly) Endora Rhinehart: A linguist, from Earth, expert on ancient languages since the galaxy's switchover to Panoramic Galactic. Linah: A young research chemist from the planet Vesppa, she has no surname as it's considered a social offence on her world! Mr Severinn Alz: The 'famous' sociologist, a little difficult to get on with. Oni & Thu Borr-D'm: You'll love this pair. He's a right-wing city councillor, she's a mere extension of his limited personality. Deserve each other. Of the large-framed but small-minded Potemial race. Extra Commands All the usual adventure commands are present but the following have been added especially for 'Arlene': TIME - asks Arlene to tell you the time. SLEEP - you need it as in real life. The tireder you are, the longer it'll take you to complete certain actions. FIND (object or character) - asks Arlene to transport you to the location of the object / character. FOLLOW (character) - similar to 'FIND'. AGAIN - repeats the last command. Use it after FOLLOW to implement a 'follow' action similar to that in other games. RAMSAVE / RAMLOAD - save / load a position to memory. Speech You can tell characters to STAY HERE of to FOLLOW ME, but only if you're in favour with them! Try suggesting other things too. Don't forget you can talk to Arlene herself. Indeed, for food, you'll have to try SAY TO ARLENE "FOOD PLEASE" or "DRINK" to get what you want. Going hungry will, as with sleep, impair your performance. All speech is in the form SAY TO **** " ". An Anthony Collins Production for The Guild All rights reserved 1991 James Bently / The Guild