BLACK MAGIC (TM) THE STORY For a hundred years, the once-beautiful kingdom of MariGold has been suffering the rulership of the Red Warlock, Zahgrim. The royal ballrooms, where good King Tauraus often threw celebrations for his entire realm are now the gloomy abode of Zahgrim's prisoners. The little towns and villages are deserted and foul demons roam the countryside. Where there was once lush farmland, there are now only cemetries. You were an apprentice to the only remaining good Wizard in MariGold... until he was killed by demons. Goff, your master, taught you all the Magic he knew; but that was only a meagre amount, because Zahgrim destroyed all the Magic books in the land. After Goff's death, you discover a Parchment and an old, dusty book. In the book is the story of how Zahgrim took over the kingdom of MariGold by defeating Anakar the Wise. Zahgrim turned Anakar to stone and scattered the good Wizard's six Magical eyes around the land, forcing him to helplessly watch Zahgrim's evil. The Parchment is Anakar's Map of MariGold and you know it's valuable. Find all six of Anakar's lost eyes, replace them in the stone statue, and you'll learn the secret to Zahgrim's destruction. You, as the last holdout against Zahgrim's dark Magic, must travel through the land of MariGold (the Map is your most important aid), collect Anakar's eyes, and place them in the statue. As you find the eyes (and mark their location on the Map), you also collect life-sustaining food, weapons and Magic spells to use against the fearful Warlock and his minions. Everywhere you travel there are prisoners who languish without hope in Magical cells. You must rescue these poor souls as you battle the hideous demons and poisonous plants Zahgrim sends to destroy you. When you finally reach the statue and learn the secret of Zahgrim's vulnerability, you must travel to the Red One's dark castle for the final trial! JOYSTICK CONTROL OR KEYBOARD CONTROL Q = Up O = left A = Down P = Right Space + H = Fire LOADING INSTRUCTIONS SPECTRUM Type LOAD "". Press ENTER. Pause game by pressing the 6 Key Press any key to resume play. Reset game to the title screen by pressing T Spectrum Game Controls ---------------------- To move: Push Left on joystick to run left; Right to run right; Forward to jump or climb up; Pull Back to duck or climb down. To shoot arrows: Press joystick button to shoot left or right. To shoot diagonally upward, hold joystick on the diagonal while pressing button. You must always be running in order to shoot arrows. To cast a spell: While standing still, press the joystick button. When you see the prompt, SELECT SPELL TO CAST, rotate the joystick until the spell you want appears in the "Spell Selection" window (to the right of the SPELLS window). Press joystick button to select spell. To continue play after receiving a prompt: When prompts appear, they pause the game. Press the SPACE BAR to continue (the prompts automatically disappear after a few seconds). Types of Spells --------------- Note: Most spells are time-limited. BLINK lets you "transport" to another spot. You have no control over where the spell takes you (although it most often moves you to the left of the point where you cast the spell). This spell is especially useful if you fall into water or a lava pit. CHILL freezes water and all the demons that are chasing you (it doesn't stop the death-spitting plants). BOLT lets you shoot through walls (and at the demons). VANISH lets you disappear; only your shadow remains. The demons, birds and plants can't see or harm you. When you're invisible, you can't pick up objects, shoot arrows, or cast spells. FIRE brings up flames all around and helps clear the area of demons. It also thaws out a Chill spell. GAMEPLAY FOR ALL COMPUTERS -------------------------- Upon entering the game, you see a panel at the bottom of the screen: --------------------------------------- |EXP: | CLASS: |-> |SPELLS:02|-----| |8260 |APPRENTICE |13 |HEALTH >>>>> | --------------------------------------- | EYES: ------ |- =|FOOD >>>>>>> | | | =| | --------------------------------------- EXP refers to experience points earned when you complete tasks. CLASS shows which magician level you've attained (you begin as an Apprentice). THE ARROW shows how many arrows you're carrying. SPELLS shows how many spells you have available. Five spells doesn't mean you know five different spells. For example, if you're an Apprentice, possessing five spells only means that you have five chances to cast Blink or Vanish spells. ----- to the right of the SPELLS box shows which spells can be chosen. EYES lets you see how many Eyes you've collected. After you place all the Eyes in the Blind Statue, this box becomes blank. THE SYMBOL between EYES and FOOD shows whether you're on MariGold's surface or on one of the three underground levels. HEALTH shows how much health you have left! When the Health points are used up, you get the message HEALTH CRITICAL in flashing letters. If you don't find food or a Conjure spell (see MAGIC), the next demon you meet could be your last. FOOD shows how many edibles you have in reserve. Try to keep this cache as full as possible, as Food (or the lack of it) affects your Health. Objects ------- To collect objects, just walk over them. Each time you play Black Magic, the objects you need show up in new places (except the eyes - their locations are fixed). EYES OF ANAKAR are scattered in various places around the land of MariGold. You must collect all six Eyes before travelling to the Blind Statue. SPELLS are indicated by little scrolls. Collect as many as you can; you'll need them! FOOD is in the form of tasty little turkeys, fruits, etc. Good nutrition is imperative. ARROWS are in ammunition boxes (each box has a different quantity). Once you collect arrows, the lid stays open to show that the box is now empty. If you're carrying the maximum load of arrows, you receive a prompt that you can't carry any more. The box won't open. Creatures --------- Most of the creatures you meet are Zahgrim's servants. Get to know your enemies and destroy them. DEATH-SPITTING PLANTS crop up all over the land. Duck to avoid their deadly missiles. Kill a plant by firing an arrow into its chomping mouth (not an easy task!). DEMONS, BATS & GHOSTS appear as soon as you've collected the first Eye. When any of these creatures touches you, you lose Health points. Some are relatively easy to kill, but others require more than one direct hit. WATER MONSTERS abound (your arrows don't affect them). When you cross a pool by a hand-over-hand rail or bridge, these denizens may rise up from the depths and drag you in! PRISONERS are poor unfortunates who have been captured by Zahgrim and left in magical prisons throughout the land. You have the power to release prisoners by walking through their prisons. TROLLS are round orange beings that hop around on two long, spidery legs. These happy, magical beasts offer favours in exchange for food. ROCS are huge birds that occasionally swoop down and carry you off. These well-intentioned creatures can be very helpful, but can also cause you to retrace a lot of your steps. Arrows won't harm them, but will drive them away when you don't want their services. FEAR causes the demons to be afraid of you; they'll keep their distance. TRAP causes a trap to form between you and the demons. CONJURE gives you three options: Heal, Food or Arrows. If you select Heal, one point is added to your Health. Select Food and a food item appears next to you. Select Arrows and an ammunition box materialises. ABORT lets you cancel the spell-casting without using up a spell. Class ----- As you build experience points, you're given promotions to higher classes of magic. Points are acquired by accomplishing key tasks in your quest, releasing prisoners, and killing demons and other unsavory types. APPRENTICE is your class when you begin the game. This gives you access to only the Vanish and Blink spells. WIZARD is the second class and adds the Chill and Trap spells. SORCERER is where things get interesting! Conjure and Fire spells are now available and your chances of finally conquering Zahgrim are getting better. NECROMANCER is the highest class attainable. The Fear and Bolt spells are added to your repertoire and you have all the resources you need to find Zahgrim's weak spot and crush him. Environment ----------- MariGold is a land full of obstacles and pitfalls. LAVA PITS are deadly. Crossing them is not easy. On the rocky ceiling above most lava pits, you will find rows of stalactites. If your aim is true, you can build a bridge across the lava by shooting the stalactites down. STALAGMITES sometimes block your path. Use Arrows to shoot them away. WATER POOLS are everywhere. If you fall in, you can drown; use a Blink spell to get out. Cross the pools by hand-over-hand rail (if available) or cast a Chill spell to freeze the water and just walk across! OTHER OBSTACLES include guillotines, crushers and spiked beds. Be extremely cautious! Game created and designed by Peter Ward. Documentation written and designed by Kathi B. Tremblay. Black Magic (C) 1987 Action Software. Black Magic is a trademark of Action Software. Datasoft is a registered trademark of IntelliCreations Inc. (C) 1987 IntelliCreations Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright subsists on this program, unauthorised broadcasting, diffusion, public performance, copying or re-recording, hiring, leasing, renting and selling under any exchange or re-purchase scheme strictly prohibited. Translation by Paragon.