GIFT FROM THE GODS
"The Power of Destiny"

THE PLACE

The Palace of Mycenea in Ancient Greece.

THE PLAYERS

ORESTES

Our Hero aided by the Gods returns to Mycenea, to
regain his Kingdom from the clutches of his trecherous
stepfather and evil mother.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

The traitorous queen who disposes of her husband and
rules over the land with her conspirator Aegisthus, after
banishing her children Orestes and Eiectra.

AGAMEMNON

The real ruler, whose death Orestes must avenge to restore
prosperity to the people of Mycenae and power to the house
of ATREUS.

ELECTRA

Sister of Orestes, imprisoned by her mother in the catacombs
below the palace, where Orestes must venture to find the
solution to Agamemnon's Puzzle.

THE GODS

Zeus and Apollo - take Orestes to the summit of Mount
Panassus and bestow upon him the gifts he will need to
succeed in the Labyrinth and assume his rightful place on the
throne.

THR GIFTS
From Zeus:- he receives the silver studded sword given to
Ajaxby Hector after the Trojan Warsalone this weapon has
the power to defeat the iIlusionary creatures Orestes will face.
From Apollo:- Orestes is given the seven tears shed by Icarus
as he flew towards the sun, these can be left as markers in the
catacombs.

THE PLOT

Orestes must fulfil I his destiny by trial in the Labyrinth beneath
the palace and find the solution to the puzzle, or perish in the
attempt.

The inter-connecting chambers were created by the gods to
punish errant mortals and hidden in 16 special rooms are
objects known as Euclidian shapes, geometric designs based
on triangles, circles and squares; six of which, when
positioned correctly in the Guardian's chamber reveal the exit
and success. This chamber however is home of the
Demi-Gods who use their power of illusion to prevent
discovery of the shapes-Orestes must be wary of this deceit!
To assist our Hero in his search the Gods have revealed the
solution to Electra imprisoned beneath the palace, "Find
Electra", Orestes is told, "She will lead you to the shapes you
need", but without the help of Electra, Orestes must determine
which shapes from which rooms must be taken to the
Guardian's chamber.

Terrifying illusionary creatures by the Demi-Gods will try to
sap Orestes'strength.. .he is advised by Zeus "Whenever you
feel weak go at once to the Guardian's chamber where your
strength wiil be restored"  If the creatures can be killed their
power will temporarily be lost. "Use this fact to your
advantage" advises Apollo.

Finally Orestes is warned that Clytaemnestra has learned of
his task from a soothsayer. She has entered the catacombs to
kill Electra, making Orestes task all the more difficult since he
must protect his sister-without her he may never solve the
puzzle!

Orestes enters the darkness from where no human has ever
returned. . .

GIFT FROM THE GODS

Its program code, graphic representation and artwork are the
copyright of Ocean Software Limited and may not be
reproduced, stored/ hired or broadcast in any form
whatsoever without the written permission of O.S.L All rights
reserved worldwide.
The program runs on the 48K Spectrum and ZX Spectrum +

LOADING

Position the cassette in your tape recorder with the printed
side upwards and make sure that it is rewound to the
beginning. Ensure that the connection lead goes from the EAR
socket on the recorder to the EAR socket on the Spectrum and
that the MIC socket is disconnected.
Type LOAD ""<ENTER>. (Note there is no space between
the two quotes). The" is obtained by pressing the SYMBOL
SHIFT and P KEY simultaneously. For further instructions
consult your manual. PRESS PLAY on the recorder. The
screen message should appear and the game will load
automatically. If this does not happen adjust the volume and
tone controls until loading takes place. When loaded follow
screen instructions.

CONTROLLING THE HERO

The game has been designed to be played with a joystick but
a keyboard option is available, joysticks supported are:

KEMPSTON
PROTEK
FULLER    AGF
SINCLAIR INTERFACE 2

Any joystick compatible with one listed above will also work.
When the game has loaded you will be asked to make your
selection of Joystick/keyboard. Once chosen, your selection
can only be changed by reloading the program.
The hero has a large repertoire of movements available to
him. F-le can run, turn round, step back (through a door), fly
(in 8 different directions), take-off and land. Additionally he
can fight by stabbing or scything with his sword. He can also
pick up and drop objects.

"INTELLIGENT" JOYSTICK FEATURE

All these movements are available from a single joystick (or
the keyboard) without the need for complex combinations of
stick and FIRE button or a plethora of keys. This is achieved by
making the Joystick 'INTELLIGENT', it knows what the Hero
is doing and by implication what you want him to do next
when you operate the controls.

It would be confusing to present a list of joystick/keyboard
functions; it's better for you to discover the rules by
experiment. Load the game and when it is running, play with
the joystick and see what the Hero does. You'll soon get the
'feel' of it; just remember that the direction you move the stick
in will also be the direction in which the hero will move.

STRATEGY TIPS

i When the Hero's running, you can make him stop
immediately by releasing the stick and pressing the FIRE
button.

ii To make the Hero turn and face backwards, stab the stick in
the opposite direction to which he's facing. If this leaves him
facing a door/ simply push the stick up and he'll step back into
the connected room.

iii The Hero can only use his sword when he's on his feet.
To make him stab: press the FIRE button and move the stick
left or right (depending on which way he's facing).
To make him scythe: press the FIRE button and pull the
joystick down (regardless of which way he's facing).
iv To make the Hero pick something up: press the FIRE button
and push the stick up.
To make him drop something he's carrying: simply pull the
stick down. If you want him to drop something when he's
flying/ press the FIRE button as well.
v There are two things that the Hero is able to pick up, carry
and drop: EUCLIDIAN SHAPES and ICARUS'S TEARS. The
Hero may carry as many or as few of the 7 tears as you wish.
He can only carry one EUCLIDIAN SHAPE at a time.
vi EUCLIDIAN shapes can only be dropped in the
GUARDIAN'S CHAMBER and in the special rooms in which
they're kept. Conversely, the Hero can only drop an
ICARUS'S TEAR in the catacombs proper.
vii To be sure the Hero knows what he's supposed to be
picking up, position him above, below or over it before you
operate the joystick.

PLAYING HINTS

Try to think of the Hero as a real person; don't ask too much
of him. Every action he performs will reduce his stamina,
some more than others, as his stamina gets lower so he'll
move more slowly, making it more difficult for him to get
about and defend himself. Be sure to seek out the
GUARDIAN'S CHAMBER or some other means of
rejuvenation whenever he shows signs of flagging.
Don't expect him to be able to kill theJarger demons with just
a quick flourish of his trusty SWORD. They can be 'stunned'
quite easily, but to 'kill' a blow to its vunerable part is
necessary, which part that is you will have to discover for
yourself. Don't underestimate the value of killing these
illusionary creatures. Remember that the Guardians' power of
illusion is lost to them for a short time when an illusionary
creature is killed. That means the illusion of EUCLIDIAN
SHAPES will disappear temporarily from their restir'g places
within the catacombs.

There are 64 shapes dispersed around the catacombs, your
task is to discover the 6 "REAL" ones.
If you come across the Hero's sister ELECTRA, follow her
closely, she'll take you straight to one of the EUCLIDIAN
SHAPES you're looking for. The NYMPHS/ may not help you
Finally, keep in mind that the Hero's mother,
CLYTAEMNESTRA, who is also in the catacombs doing her
best to sabotage her son's efforts. She'll pick up and move
EUCLIDIAN SHAPES and ICARUS'S TEARS in an endeavour
to confuse our Hero ORESTES, and worst of all, she'll kill
ELECTRA if she finds her!

CLYTAEMNESTRA will do her best to avoid meeting
ORESTES as, needless to say, she's afraid of his hatred for her.
The best way to thwart her is to keep her on the move. You'll
know when she's in the vicinity because she always leaves
behind her a small cloud of sparkling dust.

"Gift from the Gods", created and written for the Spectrum
by Denton Designs, is one of many exciting games from
Ocean Software. Please ask your local dealer for other titles in
our range.

If you've written a good program why not contact us, without
obligation, to discuss marketing it for you. Write to:
Ocean Software Limited,

Ocean House, 6 Central Street, Manchester M2.
PRODUCED BY D.C. WARD
 1984 Ocean Software Limited.
