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FIVE STONES OF ANADON

Professional, Originally Released On Cassette Only

Game Type : Text Adventure

Authors : David Featley and Mark Cook

Standalone Release(s) : 1983: FIVE STONES OF ANADON, Softek, £7.95

Compilation Release(s) : None

Stated compatibility : Electron/BBC Dual Version

Actual compatibility : Electron, BBC B, B+ and Master 128

Supplier : SOFTEK, 12/13 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, LONDON

WC2 8LH

Disc compatibility : CDFS E00, DFS E00

Instructions

For some time now, the Wizard of Anadon has gradually been growing weaker. Now the time has arrived when he can no longer guarantee that his power is sufficient to protect the land. Reports grow of fire-breathing monsters terrorising hamlets all over the land and carrying off many scores of the land's people to their death.

In order to banish evil once more and restore the Wizard's power, you must gather all five parts of the great stone circle of Anadon. Only if you can transfer all five parts to the place where the magix is powerful can you hope to save the land.

But beware! Whilst the wizard is but weak he can help reveal the five stones to you, but should be weaken further they will be no longer visible! You will then still be able to gather them but your task will be a thousand fold harder.

Remember, if the Wizard should die then you will have failed in your task.

To load this adventure, simply place the cassette in your recorder and ensure that the tape is fully rewound. Now type: CHAIN"" and press <RETURN>. Let the tape run and answer NO (N will suffice) to the question as to whether you wish to load a prior game or not. The adventure will then load as the second file on the tape and start automatically.

Should you wish to save the game so far at any time, then simply type in SAVE as your response to the prompt. Note that many useful words which the game understands are set up for you so that a single press of a function key will produce the full response.

f1 - NORTH f2 - EAST f3 - SOUTH f4 - WEST f5 - UP

f6 - DOWN f7 - INVENT f8 - GET f9 - DROP f0 - HELP

Playing this 'adventure classic' is easy, but it may take you many months to solve. The computer will describe locations to you and ask you for instructions. You can move in all the main compass directions for instance, and the program will understand short forms (such as N for NORTH) as well as in fuller form. In general though, the computer will soon tell you if it doesn't understand what you ask of it.

If at any time you should feel at a loss, then typing HELP may lead to the computer supplying you with some useful information of hints and tips. Then again it may not...

Do not think that the task before you is an easy one... Many before you have tried and none have yet returned.

Instructions' Source : FIVE STONES OF ANADON (Softek) Back and Inner Inlay

Review (Electron User)

The last Softek adventure I reviewed - EYE OF ZOLTON - was very good. So it was with some interest that I loaded in THE FIVE STONES OF ANADON. I think that if anything, this is a better adventure than the last one.

Your local wizard is dying and it is up to you to recover the ring of five stones that are scattered about the kingdom. You start your quest in the wizard's house surrounded by a plethora of objects - a dust-pan, a broom, a fountain pen, keys, a crowbar and gloves to name but a few.

You discover the wizard, though why anyone should lock him in his own bedroom is a mystery to me. You soon come across a cemetery with grave advice and a cellar with a rather cross ghost. Further explorations lead you to a dragon and a black knight. The solution to the problem posed by the dragon requires knowledge of an old adage about making cakes. The result is invisibility.

An inconsistency here however is that while you are invisible you can get past the dragon, but the knight can somehow still see you.

One other thing that came as a surprise is that as the wizard weakens, the stones become invisible. Luckily though, you can still collect them if you know where they are. You are also limited to a set number of moves after the stones have become invisible because eventually the wizard dies and then the game is over.

One slight niggle I have is that you have to QUIT in order to LOAD a saved position. It is all too easy to load in the wrong data file. It isn't difficult to implement this and I am surprised Softek has not done so.

Aside from that we have an adventure that is a joy to play. Most of the most frequently used word parts are tokenised and thus, although written in Basic, the adventure is fast.

Overall, a very good attractively packaged adventure that is highly recommended.

Merlin, ELECTRON USER 2. 6