The BBC and Master Computer Public Domain Library

THE EYE OF ZOLTON

Professional, Originally Released On Cassette Only

Game Type          : Text Adventure

Authors            : David Featley and Mark Cook

Standalone Release(s)   : 1983: THE EYE OF ZOLTON, 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

In a far off land a good and fair King ruled his loyal subjects with the help of five magic objects. These five enabled peace and prosperity to be maintained in the Kingdom.

Suddenly the tranquil life of the Kingdom was shattered by the arrival of a stranger from beyond the mountains who tricked the King and stole the magic objects. The objects in turn then fell into the evil hands of the Black Wizard who was then able to cast a spell over the land enslaving its people.

Your task is to recover the five objects, and take them to the temple of Zolton, for only there will their ancient magic be powerful enough to overthrow the Black Wizard.

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.

Another superb adventure by David Featley and Mark Cook for the Acorn Electron and BBC Micro. This is but one of adventures classics by Brainstorm marketed exclusively by Softek International.

Instructions' Source   : THE EYE OF ZOLTON (Softek) Back and Inner Inlay

Review (Electron User)

This review is in response to a request for help from Elizabeth Young of Stondon Massey in Essex. She says the game is fascinating and I agree. Your ruler, the king, has had the five magic objects that enable him to maintain peace and prosperity in the land stolen by an evil wizard. As the influence of this wizard descends upon the land, you are summoned and told by the king that he has chosen you to recover the magic objects and take them to the Temple of Zolton. Here their beneficial influence will help the king defeat the wizard.

You begin your quest on a hilltop with the first task to equip yourself for the trials to come. You quickly discover a hut, two canyons, a lake, an island, a deadly forest and a mysterious castle. The island is the last place you want to visit so you search everywhere thoroughly before tackling the castle.

There is a way into the castle and you will be surprised at the help you can get here, always assuming you can recognise it! Once you have figured it out, you will be in the castle and the main body of the adventure. There are some really devious puzzles to solve, yet no real red herrings.

I will give you one tip. Though the program description says you have to return the five magic objects to the temple, they are not the only things that have to go there.

The program is written in Basic and thus easily listable. This might not help you if you get stuck however, since many of the room descriptions and word parts have been tokenised. For those who haven't met this term before, I'll try to explain. To save memory space the programmer has substituted the more commonly used words and word parts for symbols. The tokeniser converts these symbols into English when they are to be displayed on screen. It also converts your input into symbols the program can understand and respond to. The Electron itself tokenises Basic keywords, though very little information is given in the User Guide.

Overall, an ingenious series of puzzles. Despite being written in Basic it's a very nice game to play and is about average difficulty. I am impressed and have no hesitation in recommending it for all types of adventurers.

Merlin, ELECTRON USER 2. 2