GREYFELL ======== From the authors of SORDERON'S SHADOW SPECIAL FEATURES ♦ Fast Moving Arcade Adventure ♦ Brilliant 3-D views ♦ Fully animated characters ♦ Save Came option in memory ♦ Poison Darts, Spikes, Pits and Fireballs This is the epic tale of Norman the Wise - a humble cat with more than a passing interest in spirits (liquid that is!). His friend, the great Wizard Hitormis, has told him of the quest of the Orb of Life which would release the land of Greyfell from the dark and vile grip of the Evil Mauron. Norman decides, without paws (ugh! - ed) to take on the mighty quest for the Orb, originally stolen by Mauron. Only if he is successful can Grey fell return to light and laughter. Now begins ... the Quest. Can't handle it? 'Throw in the Towel' offer inside. In the land of Greyfell a shroud of gloom hangs suspended like the gossamer threads of a finely woven web. The evil sorceror "Mauron" has stolen the Orb of Life and has hidden it deep within his stronghold. The location of Mauron's stronghold is known, but the exact location of the Orb is known only to Mauron. As long as the Orb is his the land will never again know the sound of laughter or the joyful cries of children at play. Yet this dark night as one lone cat sits drinking in the tavern the stories of old are retold by the taverns other customers. The sounds of sombre reminiscence reach his ears. Of how things used to be, before the dark times. He bears of the legends that tell of bow one day there will come a saviour to Grey fell... of how there will be one who will brave the dark forests of Mauron's domain to do battle with the hordes of rats and other fell creatures under Mauron's sway to win back the Orb of Life... and return freedom to the land. He hears of stalwart beings in the forest who have stayed true and answer to none but themselves... beings such as Blotto the Rabbit... Offlorien the Spy... Nitormis the Wizard Owl... Willy the Policeman Pig... Potbelius the Landlord Bear ... beings who have no love for Mauron and who if approached by one true of heart will aid them in the quest to overthrow the dark lord. All this the cat hears as he drinks. His thoughts turn to his childhood when as a kitten he had always wanted to be a hero and how one day he dreamed of rescuing the Land of Greyfell from Mauron's evil clutches. Now having drunk his fifth tankard of ale he found that he had unlocked within himself courage he never dreamed he had. He rose to his fee and called out "Noble friends, too long have we laboured under the dark lords vile rule ... tonight I Norman will set forth to seek the Orb of Life to free our people". There was a hushed silence as the creatures in the tavern surveyed this unlikely hero ... a cat was hardly their idea of a saviour. They had always believed that the saviour the legends had spoken of would take the form of a majestic creature such as a Lion or an Eagle or at least some creature who was renowned for skill at fighting. Yet there was something about this cat... something they couldn't quite put their finger on, that said perhaps this cat was the one... perhaps Norman would indeed be the one to bring light back to the darkness smothering the land. As one they rose to their feet and raised their tankards. "To Norman... may your heart be true and may love of the land guide and protect you Norman picked up his rucksack containing his few worldly-possessions and walked to the door pausing only briefly to turn and take what might very well be his last look at friendly faces. He set off into the night with only the ale in his belly and the thought of freedom for Greyfell to warm him... Here begins the Legend of Norman ... the Quest for the Orb. THE CAST ALLIES TO WATCH OUT FOR: POTBELLIUS - the bar landlord OFFALORIEN - the shifty spy WILLY - the pig policeman BLOTTO - the drunk rabbit HITORMIS - the wise owl wizard ENEMIES TO AVOID: RATS - servants of the Evil Mauron, who must he killed WOLVES - keep guard in the forest KILLER TOMA TOES - guard the skull cave MINOTAUR - a deadly beast, guards the maze LORD OF MIRRORS - will confuse and disorien ta te you SLEEPING DRAGON - eat you alive in one gulp CAT EATING PLANTS - will get you when you least expect it CROCODILES - guard the cave s moat MORON - skeleton overlord ALSO BEWARE OF POISON DARTS, PITS. SPIKES & FIREBALLS PLAYING THE GAME Controls: Your character can perform the following actions: Walk north Push left Walk east Push up Walk south Push right Walk west Push down If you push against an object for a certain length of time then you will perform a jump and so long as the object is low enough you will land on top of it. Pressing fire while next to an enemy allows you to punch in the direction you are facing. Pressing fire while stationary activates icon mode, so long as you are NOT right next to an enemy. You enter icon mode with the cursor over the 'FIRE' icon. Therefore two presses of the fire button will fire your selected spell (freeze, cloud or bubble). TO START THE QUEST SPECTRUM: Type LOAD "". Press ENTER. Press PLAY. ARMSTRAD cass: Hold down CTRL, Press small ENTER key. AMSTRAD disk: Type RUN "AS". C64/128 cass: Press SHIFT + RUN/STOP. Press PLAY. C64/128 disk: Type LOAD "AS",8.1. Press RETURN. MENU SCREEN Select the option you require (if you do not wish to use keys, press RETURN through the functions). If nothing is selected for a time, a demo will start - press any key to exit. ICONS Select icon This will colour in the object of your choice in the inventory window. You can go through objects by use of left and right and fire to selected object. 1 Choose spell Next to the icon is a window with graphical representation of the three types of spells. Next to each of these is a bar showing quantity left. The presently selected spell is highlighted. 2 Fire spell This will fire the selected spell unless its supplies have run dry. 3 Select object The white highlighted object is the selected one, the icon flips between the objects you are carrying. 4 Use object This will use the previously selected object as a spell or a key to unlock doors. 5 Pick up object This will make you pick up the object in front of you, so that it appears in the inventory window, unless you are already carrying too much. 6 Drop object This will make you drop the selected object. To give somebody an object drop it near to them. 7 Sound on/off This will switch all sound on or off. 8 Pause game This will pause the game. You will be told to press 'Q' to quit the game, or any other key to continue. A tune will be played during pause, and you will be told of your present status. 9 Save game This will allow you to save your present position in memory removing all the problems associated with tape storage. When you lose all your lives you will start at the last saved position. At no time may you save your position on tape. STATUS INDICATORS 10 Stamina meter If your stamina reaches too low a level, then you would slow down, and if it reaches zero, then you will die. In the landscape you will come across flowers which, if you walk into them, will disappear and increase your stamina. 11 Life meter This will indicate how many lives you have left, you will start with nine lives. 12 Spell selected Bubble, Cloud, Freeze. 13 Spell supply Score meter This will consist of a percentage indicator, showing how much of the adventure you have completed, and a number score, showing your arcade achievement. ARCADE ELEMENTS The game has a very definite arcade bias. All areas ot the land which hide an important object necessary for the completion of the quest will be heavily guarded by rats and the other evil creatures in the land. The rats are very stupid but rely on high numbers to defeat their opponents. They will often hide in trees and jump on you from above, or hide behind huts and attack you from behind. Similarly, you may hide behind the landscapes of the land and remain safe - making a run for it when they are facing in the opposite direction. The land is also full of surprise traps. Meteorites and poison arrows will continuously fly across the screen. However, you may be able to use these to your advantage. Rats, the slower ones in particular, can be destroyed by both arrows and the meteorites, as well as all spells you may possess. The other evil creatures of the land are generally only vulnerable to particular spells. You can also make mush of them with your punching ability. FINAL STATUS This takes into account your arcade and adventure ability. The adjective describes your arcade ability, and the noun describes your adventuring skills. These descriptions will be: Percentage Score 1) Cabbage Pathetic 2) Mauron Wimpy 3) Granny Weak 4) Serf Average 5) Apprentice Strong 6) Magician Macho 7) Soothsayer Bionic 8) Wizard Invincible 9) Warlock Omnipotent 10) Cheat Impotent SPEECH Characters will speak to you in order to give you clues, or just for general conversation. When character speaks, its graphic will appear on a platform just below the playing area, and a speech bubble will appear with the speech. GENERAL MOVEMENT When you move, your character will move across the playing area until it reaches the edge. The next area will then be drawn, and your character will start at the other side of the playing area. If you walk into an unlocked door, then your character will appear inside or outside of the house etc. THROW-IN-THE-TOWEL Fill in the form enclosed and sent it to us and we will have a snigger at your expense. But send you "The Solution". Starlight Software would like to offer special thanks to the following without whose help and understanding the dream would not have been horn. Karen Worrall, the Taglione family, the Lee family. Cornucopia Software, all at Ariolasoft UK Ltd, Pete James and last hut not least David and Susan Rowe. GAME BY NICK EATOCK AND SIMON WELLAND COMMODORE CONVERSION BY CORNUCOPIA SOFTWARE AMSTRAD VERSION BY PHILIP TACLIONE ©1987 Starlight Software All rights reserved © 1987 Ariolasoft UK Ltd. Spectrum is a registered trade mark of Sinclair Research Ltd.