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.



 