Seas of Blood A FIGHTING FANTASY Adventure Game Distributed by ADVENTURE INTERNATIONAL (U.K.) 85 New Summer Street, Birmingham B19 3TE Copyright Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone ALL RIGHTS RESERVED IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE PLAYING The city of Tak, at the northern end of the Inland sea, is the greatest den of thieves, pirates and cut-throats that the civilized world has ever seen. In this city of scum, there are many pirates infamous for their ruthless greed, their daring raids and their countless skirmishes with death. One of these villains is you. You are the captain of the pirate vessel Banshee. Together with your band of seasoned cut-throats, you must scourge the lands of the Inland Sea, searching for treasure. To complete your voyage successfully you have to locate and retrieve 20 treasures and take them to the top of the mountain on Nippur at the Southern end of the Inland Sea. MOVEMENT -------- Sailing around the Inland Sea is achieved by use of the commands SAIL NORTH, SAIL SOUTH, SAIL EAST, and SAIL WEST. LEAVING AND BOARDING THE BANSHEE -------------------------------- This can be achieved by either using the command SWIM while at sea or if the Banshee is close by to land by use of the words GO ASHORE, in some cases it may be possible to board another boat; in this case the command is GO BOAT, or BOARD THE BOAT, etc. The Banshee can be rejoined by using the command BOARD BANSHEE when in the same location as yourself. COMBAT ------ Combat is joined in most cases automatically when you come across an opponent, in those cases when it is not, then, should you wish to enter a fight, the command ATTACK _ _ _ _ _ will suffice. Combat is a series of attack rounds simulated on the screen by a series of dice throws, the winner of each round being the combatant who has the highest total of dice thrown when added to his strength value. Combat while not at sea can be curtailed by pressing the X key, this option is not available while fighting at sea. INVENTORY --------- An inventory of objects that you are currently carrying together with a status report on your various characteristic values can be obtained during the game by the commands INVENTORY or I. LOG --- This represents the number of days you have currently spent on your voyage. SKILL ----- This is your skill as a fighter and is used to determine the outcome of combat, this value is added to your dice score during combat. STAMINA ------- This represents your current strength and is being continually affected during the playing of the game, should you allow this to reach 0 then you will automatically end the game. PROVISIONS ---------- This is the amount of provisions that you have left. One unit of provisions is sufficient to maintain your ship for one day at sea, provisions are not used up while ashore. Extra provisions will be found on your voyage, but remember that they will not always be immediately apparent. CREW STRIKE ----------- This is the attacking power of your crew when aboard the Banshee and is used to determine the results of ship to ship combat in a similar manner to that of skill. CREW STRENGTH ------------- This is the crew's equivalent of stamina. HOW AN ADVENTURE WORKS ---------------------- If you've never played an Adventure before, you're in for a real treat. Adventuring permits the player to move at will from location to location within the game "environment" and to examine objects for clues that will help reach the objective of the game. For example, an Adventure might begin something like this: I'M IN A ROOM. VISIBLE OBJECTS ARE A RUBY-ENCRUSTED BOX AND A CLOSED DOOR. TELL ME WHAT TO DO. You might want to begin by entering a direction (North, South, East, West) to see if you can leave the room. Chances are, though, that you will have to find a way to get through the closed door. Let's try something basic. You type: OPEN DOOR ... but the computer tells you in no uncertain terms: SORRY, IT'S LOCKED. WHAT SHALL I DO? GET BOX ... and the computer responds with: OK By saying "OK", the computer has let you know that the command has been accepted and the box "picked up". Now that you're "holding" the box, let's see if we can peek inside. You type: OPEN BOX This time the computer understands and you are rewarded with the following response: OK. INSIDE, THERE IS A KEY AND A RARE POSTAGE STAMP. Since we still want to exit the room, trying the key to unlock the door might be a good idea. The postage stamp might come in handy later, so you type: GET KEY AND STAMP But the computer responds: SORRY, I CAN'T DO THAT... YET! Ah, yes - asking the computer to get both the key AND the stamp is most definitely a COMPOUND command, something that your computer can't understand. Try again, this time asking for the objects separately. You type: GET KEY ... and then: GET STAMP The computer will answer "OK" each time and you will have what you need. By "getting" the key and the stamp, they are stored for later use as you are, in effect, carrying them. As for your next series of moves, you might want to go to the door (GO DOOR), try the key in the lock (UNLOCK DOOR), and move down the hallway that's just outside (GO HALLWAY). You're on your way! SOME USEFUL NEW FEATURES ------------------------ There are several new features which have been introduced in Seas of Blood to help you interact more easily with your computer. 1. Stringing together of more than one command using a full stop (.) or a comma (,), e.g. GET THE BOX, OPEN THE BOX, TAKE THE KEY 2. The use of full sentences, e.g. STEP UP THE STAIRS GET THE STAR FROM THE BOX LOOK UP AT THE TREE SOME USEFUL WORDS ----------------- Although the vocabulary accepted by your computer is extensive, you may find the words listed below to be of great help as you set about your Adventure. Remember: These are just a few of the words available: Climb Take Inventory Pull Save Take Drop Examine Leave Push Say Attack Enter Go Look Quit Sail ONE LETTER COMMANDS ------------------- You may use the following single keys to perform a variety of tasks and to expedite playing time. Type the letter for the function you wish to use and press RETURN. N, S, E, W, U, D - Go North, South, east, West, Up or Down I - Display Inventory of items on your person Q - Quit SAVING YOUR ADVENTURE FOR LATER PLAY ------------------------------------ An Adventure will often last far longer than the time available in a single sitting. You may save the game you are playing and return later to take up where you left off. To save a game in progress, type SAVE GAME at any time, the WHAT SHALL I DO? message appears on your screen. To restore a saved game, type LOAD GAME before you begin a new game. The computer will ask: DO YOU WISH TO RESTORE A SAVED GAME? Type YES. The Adventure will resume at the point which you saved it. Note: Before you attempt to load or save a game, consult the loading instructions under your individual computer system as listed in this manual. To end a game in progress, type QUIT. If you intend to continue the game later, be sure to save it before using this command. Some Playing Tips ----------------- Be sure to examine the items you find during your Adventure. Also, keep in mind that most problems and solutions require no more than common sense to solve; special knowledge and information are rarely required. For example, if an area is too dark to see in, you are going to need a light to avoid disaster. Finally, if you are seriously stuck, special Hint books are available from Adventure International (U.K.). Call (021) 359 0801 for ordering information. LOADING INSTRUCTIONS B.B.C. To load Seas of Blood for the BBC computer, ensure that your cassette recorder is correctly connected, insert the cassette, ensuring it is fully rewound and switch on your computer. Ensure that your machine is in the correct loading mode by typing *TAPE then press RETURN and, if you have a filing system other than Tape installed, type PAGE=&E00 then press RETURN (if you are uncertain as to wether this applies then do it anyway). Type CHAIN "" then RETURN followed by PLAY on the cassette recorder at which point the screen will display Searching then when the program is found, Loading. Shortly after a title page will appear whilst the main program is loaded. When a load is complete a message will appear asking you if you wish to start a new game or load a saved game. To commence play simply answer the prompt for a new game and you will be at the start of one of the most fascinating computer experiences available. If you wish to continue a Saved game, respond appropriately to the prompt and insert the cassette of your saved game (fully rewound) into your cassette recorder, press PLAY and then press RETURN as instructed on the screen. If you wish to save a game to continue at a later time, simply insert a blank tape into your cassette recorder then press PLAY & RECORD. Type SAVE GAME and press RETURN and follow the instructions on the screen which will prompt you to ready your cassette and press RETURN - Do so and your current position will be saved. Please note that, as per the instructions above, it is essential to load the program first before loading a Saved game. ELECTRON As for BBC. COMMODORE 64 When loading Seas of Blood for a Commodore 64 computer, ensure that your cassette recorder is correctly connected and insert the cassette, making sure it is fully rewound and that your computer is switched on. Press SHIFT- RUN, RETURN and then PLAY on your cassette recorder as instructed on the screen which should then display SEARCHING. When the program is found the display will change to LOADING and when completed the program will run with an initial message asking if you wish to start a new game or continue a saved game. To commence play simply answer the prompt for a new game. If you wish to continue a Saved game, respond appropriately, remove the Game cassette from the recorder, replacing it with the cassette of your Saved game (fully rewound) and follow the instructions of the screen to press PLAY on the recorder and then return. If you have any problems loading, check that your recorder is correctly connected, rewind the tape completely and try again. If you wish to continue a game at a later time, insert a blank tape into your cassette recorder then press PLAY & RECORD. Type SAVE GAME and press RETURN then follow the screen prompts which tell you to ready your cassette and press RETURN - Do so and your current position will be saved. Please note that, as per the instructions above, it is essential to load the program before attempting to load a Saved game. SPECTRUM When loading Seas of Blood into your Spectrum ensure that your cassete recorder is correctly connected, put the tape in your recorder and chack that is fully rewound. Type LOAD "" then press PLAY on your cassette recorder and ENTER on your Spectrum. If you have any loading problems check that your recorder is correctly connected, that any tone control is on maximun treble, the tape is fully rewound and, if necessary, experiment with the recorder's volume. See Chapter 20 of your Spectrum manual. When the load is completed you will be asked if you wish to start a new game or reload a Saved game. To commence play simply answer the prompt for a new game and your computer will open the doors on a new world for you. If you wish to continue a Saved game, respond apropiately to the prompt and insert the cassette of your Saved game (fully rewound) into your recorder. Press PLAY and then press RETURN as instructed on the screen. If you have any problems loading a Saved game, bear in mind that your recordings are probably at a different level to commercial tapes and you may need to adjust the recorder's volume level in compensation. If you wish to save a game to continue at a later date, insert a blank tape into your cassette recorder and type SAVE GAME and RETURN on your Spectrum. Follow the instructions on the screen to ready your cassette, press PLAY & RECORD, then press RETURN. Your current position will now be saved but please note that, as per the instructions above, it is essential to load the program first before attempting to reload a Saved game. AMSTRAD When loading Seas of Blood on an Amstrad computer use the command RUN "" and follow the instructions on page F1.10 of your user manual. Save game instructions as for Commodore 64.