Changes

{| align="centerright" valign="top"

An early graphic text adventure (with graphics on top) on the Amstrad. == Instructions ==(taken from the Amiga version) Mindshadow© 1985 Activision Manual MINDSHADOW  An Illustrated Text Adventure  Instructions  Your great Mindshadow adventure starts when you find yourself - all alone - on a mysterious tropical island. You have no idea how you got there or where you came from. You don't even know who you are! And now, armed only with your reasoning power and imagination, you must escape from this place and get to the root of this puzzle.  So...courage! And remember, your mind is the master of this mystery!  LOADING INSTRUCTIONS Apple Macintosh  * Insert disk, label side up, slot in first.  * Turn computer on. Amiga * Turn computer on * Insert Kickstart disk * When instructed to insert the Workbench disk, simply insert theMindshadow disk. THE TASK AT HAND As you wake up, you find yourself lying on the shore of a tropical island. Your main problem is that you seem to have lost your memory. As youexplore your world, you must search for the clues that will give youanswers to the questions: "Who are you?", "Where did you come from?", and"Who left you on the island?" THE ILLUSTRATED TEXT ADVENTURE EXPLAINED OVERVIEW As the 'lost soul' you are the central character in a complex adventurethat begins in the tropics. The computer shows you the world from thecharacter's point. In order to execute the above-stated tasks, you must explore your world andits many characters. Search for clues, examine everything, questioneveryone and be on guard for danger. Then, put it all together and figureout what's what and who's who. This will take a lot of thinking, someclever approaches, a good memory and a penchant for risk taking. INTERACTING WITH THE COMPUTER Let the computer be your eyes, ears, voice, hands and legs. Tell it whatyou want to do by using the keyboard or mouse to give it commands. Commands include verbs and nouns; for instance, TALK TO MAN or TAKE SHELL. The computer also understands more complex commands, like GIVE THE BOTTLETO THE CAPTAIN You can string commands together, too: TALK TO CLERK AND GO UP STAIRS.However, the computer will perform the commands separately, rather thansimultaneously. So in this case, if talking to the clerk gets you"killed", you'll never get the chance to go up stairs. Of course, the computer isn't as smart as you are. It might not understandall of your commands. Since your vocabulary is bigger, experiment withdifferent words and ways of expressing what you want to do. If animportant command is rejected, make several attempts to reword it. The screen displays a list of verbs and nouns. These aren't all the wordsthe computer can understand, but they suggest the sorts of words that youcan use. They can be used in commands by pointing with the mouse. MOVING FROM PLACE TO PLACE To move from one location to another, tell the computer the direction youwant to go - North, East, South or West. You can use the keyboard bysimply typing N, E, S, or W, or you can point with the mouse to the desireddirection on the screen "compass". Precise directions for moving aredescribed later in "Using the Computer". After you've memorized (or written down) the layout of the area, you maywant to make several moves at once. In that case, type or point to aseries of directions (ex: N.N.E.), when typing, be sure to put periodsbetween letters. USEFUL OBJECTS As you move around, watch for objects that might eventually be useful.These could be mentioned in the text or may only appear on the screen inthe visual. So be observant. We will describe how to TAKE or DROP anobject later in "Using the Computer". MAKING DANGEROUS MOVES Although you have to do all the thinking in Mindshadow, the computer'smemory can be very useful. Right before a risky move, give the QUICKSAVEcommand. Should you meet with your demise and, thus, end the game, simplygive the QUICKLOAD command. The game will return to the screen thatappeared just before your unfortunate move. Hence, you can pick up whereyou left off without having to replay the entire adventure. Details forthis procedure are described later in "Command Shortcuts". A NOTE: ...about your mouse. With the multitude of mouse designs presentlyavailable,it is difficult, if not impossible, to consider each design inthis manual. Our references are based on the peripherals most commonlyused. If your differs, you can make the "button correlation" with a quicktest run of your mouse. VITAL HINTS TO GET YOU STARTED Here are some hints what will greatly increase your chances of success:  * Be curious! Be sure to EXAMINE or LOOK AT everything and everyone you see.  * GET and TAKE as many objects as you can carry. There's no telling what you might need later on.  * Read the text carefully and study every detail in the visuals. Seemingly unimportant facts or objects may later enlighten your understanding in a crucial situation or analysis.  * Don't forget to look inside things like drawers, file cabinets, chests, pockets - even trash cans.  * Good text adventurers write everything down. Descriptions, people, places, objects...for easy reference and ultimate solutions.  * A map is crucial. Construct one as you go along - noting cliffs, buildings, quicksand and other landmarks in each screen. This makes it easier to backtrack or to make multi-directional moves (i.e. N.N.E.).  * One of your best sources is the Condor. He's a bird that's full of advice. Type HELP CONDOR, and you may get the clue you need. However, only three clues are give per game.  * Conversation is sometimes possible. For instance, if you want some information approach a character and type TALK MAN or TALK WOMAN.  * To get clues about your identity, type THINK (with words that tell the computer what you want to think about). As you stop and THINK from time to time, you may begin to regain your identity - with some help from the test.  * Take chances! Use your imagination, and try everything. Enter a myriad of different commands to pull as much information as you can get out of the computer. Dare to be clever! If you frequently save (or QUICKSAVE) the game, you'll never have much to lose.  * Select the TUTORIAL display from the Main Menu before your first attempt at Mindshadow. It contains many more examples of commands you can use. Good Luck! USING THE COMPUTER The computer shows you where you are at every stage of your adventure. Itwill do your bidding so you can move and explore. You can use the keyboardexclusively throughout the game, or you can opt to use it in combinationwith a mouse in the following ways: TO MOVE You can move in any of the four primary directions using the on screencompass. Use the mouse to point to (N) to go north/forward, (E) to goeast/right, (S) to go south/backward and (W) to go west/left. If you prefer, you can simply type the direction with the keyboard (W) westand press RETURN. If you want to make one long move over several directions, use the keyboardto type the abbreviations (i.e. N.N.E.S.E.). Remember to put a periodafter each letter. Then press RETURN. NOTE: Arrow keys can also be used for directional moves (Amiga only). TO GET (TAKE) OBJECTS Any object that you have in you possession is displayed on screen in your"Inventory". As you progress, you will often encounter objects that you'llwant to add to this inventory.  * If a desired object is visible on the screen, point to it using themouse and press the left button. If the object is available to be taken,it will appear in your inventory.  * If the object is not visible, or if you prefer in either case to use thekeyboard, simply type GET THE (fill in) and press RETURN.  * To get every eligible object in sight, type GET ALL and press RETURN.  * Objects successfully taken will appear on screen in your inventory. Foran on screen list of your current inventory, type I and press RETURN. TO DROP OBJECTS When your inventory space is full, you won't be able to take any moreobjects unless you DROP at least one of them.  * Use the mouse to point to the unwanted object in your inventory andpress the left button.  * If you prefer to use the keyboard, type DROP THE (fill in) and pressRETURN. * To drop all the objects in your inventory, type DROP ALL and pressRETURN. TO EXAMINE OBJECTS By examining every person, place and thing, you will often observe valuableclues in the text responses.  * Use commands like LOOK AT or EXAMINE when referring to the object ofyour curiosity.  * Again, you can type the commands entirely with the keyboard or use themouse to point to the objects, nouns and verbs on the screen display. TO SAVE A GAME If you wish to stop playing in the middle of a game, you can assign thatgame to a number and save it onto the disk. Then, at a later time, you canpick up right where you left off. On the keyboard:  * Type SAVE GAME and press RETURN.  * Follow the on screen request for number assignment. Using a mouse:  * Bring the arrow to the top left half of the screen.  * Press and hold the right mouse button to view the "pull down" menu.  * The marker to the left of the numbers indicates the last game saved.  * Point to the number you wish to assign to the new game.  * Release the button. TO LOAD A GAME Any game that is saved can be loaded back into the computer and onto thescreen. The procedures for loading a game are the same as for saving a game,described above. Just type LOAD GAME (instead of SAVE GAME) or, if you'reusing a mouse, point to the pull-down LOAD menu (instead of SAVE menu) asdescribed above. You can save a maximum of 10 games. COMMAND SHORTCUTS QUICKSAVE/QUICKLOAD: Type QUICKSAVE before each risky move! It will enactan Informal saving of your current game, with no number assignment give. It is automatically erased when another game is Quicksaved. Should youmeet with your demise and, thus, end the game, type Y to begin the gameagain; then type QUICKLOAD. This will load the game from Quicksave, andyou can pick up right where you left off. PRE-SET COMMANDS: Two columns of words appear on the right side of thescreen. The first column contains verbs, the second contains nouns. Tocut down your typing time, point to the desired word with a mouse and pressthe left button. The word will appear on the command line. TO ERASE: Part of all of the command line, use the Backspace key. FUNCTION KEYS: The Amiga has ten function keys which are additionalshortcuts to typing in commands. Whenever a function key is pressed, thefollowing words will appear on the command line: KEY FUNCTION1 SAVE GAME2 LOAD GAME3 REPEAT LAST COMMAND4 HELP ME CONDOR5 DROP (fill in)6 GET ALL7 QUICKSAVE8 QUICKLOAD9 TALK TO THE (fill in)10 LOOK AT THE (fill in) IF YOU REALLY GET STUMPED... Don't be embarrassed about asking us for help. Would we ever leave youstranded? We've prepared a handbook of hints, things even the Condorwouldn't tell you. To get yours, send your name, address and $1.00 forshipping to the address below. Be sure to tell us which computer systemyou are using.  Consumer Relations Activision, Inc. P.O. Box 7287 Mountain View, CA 94039 Write "Mindshadow Hints" in the lower left hand corner of the envelope, forquicker processing. ---Provided by THE SOUTHERN STAR for M.A.A.D.For more Amiga documents, visit www.lemonamiga.com