Twilight’s Ransom Brought to you by Belgarath BACKGROUND In Twilight's Ransom, you assume the role of Ron Mulligan, a hard working, honest but unextraordinary young graphic artist, employed by a” advertising agency in the fictional metropolis of Liberty City. Your girlfriend of several months is Maria Chavez, a pretty Salvadoran immigrant who waits tables at Corazon’s, a prominent hispanic restaurant in the city. Recently you‘ve realized your feelings for Maria are quite strong. You’ve “ever been one to believe in love at first sight, but you can’t deny you’ve been attracted to Maria from the moment you met her. Although you live “ear one another, you haven’t see” Maria in over a week. Between the both of you working and her attending evening courses at the community college, finding time available for dating is difficult. Thus on this particular Saturday in September, you are especially looking forward to a night out with Maria. But you arrive at Maria’s apartment only to find it ransacked and Maria kidnapped. Your job is to find Maria and rescue her from her captors. But first you must discover who has kidnapped her and why. You trusted Maria completely, but apparently she was keeping secrets from you. What would a young Salvadoran waitress have that somebody would want badly enough to kidnap her? You must piece together subtle clues to track down the an- swers to this question. Once you learn who kidnapped Maria and why, you must discover where she is being held and devise a res- cue plan. Complicating these formidable challenges are the dangers lurking on the shadowy streets of Liberty City. According to Liberty Mayor Joseph K. Delvane, the city is undergoing a” un- precedented economic and social renaissance. He may be right during the day, when the city, with its well groomed parks, clean streets and friendly people is a pleasant place to live. But when the sun sets, the shadows release a collection of freaks, oddballs and outcasts that would make a circus side show jealous. Walking the streets of Liberty alone at night causes eve” the most fearless man to look over his shoulder. Twilight’s Ransom occurs in Mid- Town Liberty City, where all the varied neighborhoods and dis- tricts meet in the immediate radius of the Tempest River. Can you save the life of the woman you love? You have 12 hours to find out. MOVEMENT AND MAPPING To move through Liberty City, you must type the directions you wish to move in: NORTH, NORTHWEST, NORTHEAST, SOUTH, SOUTHEAST, SOUTHWEST, EAST, WEST, UP and DOWN. You can abbreviate directions to N, NW, NE, S, SW, SE, E, W, U, D. If something in the game blocks your progress in a given direction, Twilight’s Ransom will explain the obstacle and ask you to enter a different command. Twilight’s Ransom requires a level of mapping in excess of the average adventure game, due to the size of the “playing area” and the number of locations. You will need to map both the city blocks, noting street names and landmarks, as well as the interiors of buildings. As you walk the streets of the city, Twilight's Ransom selects from the sprawl- ing city landscape those locations which may be helpful in solving the mystery. A sample of movement and mapping as it could oc- cur in Twilight’s Ransom appears below. > YOU ARE ON THE CORNER OF MAIN STREET WHICH EXTENDS EAST AND WEST AND GARRET STREET RUNNING NORTH AND SOUTH. >E YOU ARE ON MAIN STREET WHICH EXTENDS EAST AND WEST. TO THE NORTH IS FRANKY’S TAVERN, A MODEST SALOON OCCUPYING THE GROUND FLOOR OF AN AGING STONE FRONTED BUILDING. FRANKY’S HAS NO WINDOWS, EXCEPT FOR TWO SMALL TINTED WINDOWS IN THE FRONT DOOR. THE IMPOSING FACADE OF THE SECOND NA- TIONAL BANK OCCUPIES THE SOUTH. To enter a location from the street simply type the direction the location occupies relative to your position. To enter the bank you would type: >S > THE MONOLITHIC GRAY FACADE OF THE 2ND NATIONAL BANK BROODS LIKE A MONSTROUS TOMB. THROUGH A WINDOW YOU SEE THE DARK- ENED BANK OFFICES, CLOSED FOR THE EVENING. >S THE BANK IS CLOSED. >N YOU ARE ON MAIN STREET. >N YOU ARE IN FRANKY’S TAVERN, A SMALL SMOKE FILLED ROOM, WITH ALUMINUM FRAMED TABLES AND CHAIRS ARRANGED OPPOSITE A BAR EXTEND- ING ALONG THE EAST WALL. A GROUP OF MIDDLE AGED MEN SIT AT THE BAR, MANY WEARING BALL- CAPS AND JACKETS EMBLAZONED WITH THE LOGOS OF THE LIBERTY CITY COMPANIES THEY WORK FOR. A DOOR TO THE SOUTH LEADS TO MAIN STREET. If the bar had been closed, the response would have read: YOU ARE IN FRONT OF FRANKY’S TAVERN. THE BAR IS CLOSED FOR THE EVENING. MAIN STREET LIES TO THE SOUTH. COMMANDS The following points will be helpful in entering commands in Twilight’s Ransom. - Twilight's Ransom recognizes the first six letters of every word. Thus words whose first six characters are identical will be inter- preted the same. - You can use the articles THE, A, AN. - You must strike the ENTER or RETURN key for Twilight’s Ransom act on your command. - A verb can have more than one object. Example: > TAKE THE WATCH AND THE KEYS > DROP THE SCARF AND GLOVES - You can enter more than one sentence per command, provided you separate the sentences with a period or the word THEN. > BREAK THE WINDOW WITH THE BRICK. TAKE THE WATCH, THEN CLIMB UP THE FIRE ESCAPE. - Twilight’s Ransom interprets both upper and lower case letters in the same fashion. - If Twilight’s Ransom can’t understand your command or you aren’t specific enough, it will ask you for more information. - For convenience and increased playability, Twilight’s Ransom allows you to edit a typed line before you press the ENTER or RETURN button. If you type > DRAT THE KEYS IN THE HALLWAY, you can correct the line to read DROP THE KEYS IN THE HALLWAY before pressing the ENTER or RETURN key. (This feature may vary, depending on the version of Twilight’s Ransom you own. Consult your user’s card for ver- sion specific information.) - The word “all” refers to every visible object. Typing > TAKE ALL would result in your taking every visible object from your present location. - Twilight’s Ransom will recognize the pronoun “it.” Example: > TAKE THE ROCK THEN THROW IT THROUGH THE WINDOW. Below is a sample, but not comprehensive list of commands which Twilight’s Ransom will recognize: TAKE OPEN LOOK WALK CLIMB TIE PUT DROP UP HIT REMOVE UNTIE BREAK LISTEN EXAMINE UNLOCK PUNCH SEARCH FEED SPRAY DIG ASK TELL TIME SIT FIND BEAD WAIT SW SHOW WEAR ANSWER SHOOT TURN COMMUNICATION As you prowl through Liberty City you will encounter a variety of colorful and potentially dangerous people. You can communicate with these people using a number of commands. Here is a list of types of commands essential to communicating with the citizens of Liberty City. > SHOW THE PAINTING TO THE POLICEMAN > TELL THE POLICEMAN ABOUT THE PAINTING > ASK THE POLICEMAN ABOUT THE PAINTING > ASK THE POLICEMAN FOR HELP > ASK THE POLICEMAN WHERE IS THE PAINTING > ASK THE POLICEMAN WHO HAS THE PAINTING > ASK THE POLICEMAN WHO IS THE ARTIST > TELL THE POLICEMAN THAT THE PAINTING IS IN THE MUSEUM. SPECIAL COMMANDS These special commands are extremely useful and can be used at any time during the game. INVENTORY (I): This command provides a list of the objects you are currently carrying, including the objects in your wallet. NORMAL: Twilight’s Ransom's normal mode provides a full de- scription of the location upon your first entering the area and will subsequently only name the location. Enter the LOOK command if you require a full description. Twilight’s Ransom operates in NORMAL unless otherwise specified. BRIEF: In Brief, Twilight’s Ransom will display only the name of the place you have entered. For a description you would need to enter the LOOK command. VERBOSE: Twilight’s Ransom will provide complete descrip- tions each time you enter a location. LOOK (L): This command provides you with a full description of your location. QUIT (Q): This command allows you to exit the game. RESTART: This command stops the game in progress and places you at the beginning of a new game. SAVE: This command allows you to save your current position on a storage disk. To return to the saved position type RESTORE. (See your user’s card under Starting and Stopping for the restore instructions for this version of Twilight’s Ransom.) WAIT (Z): This command allows you to pause in the game and allows a turn to pass without your taking any action. SPEECH ON: This command activates the speech synthesis option. Speech synthesis capability varies with each version of Twilight’s Ransom. Consult your user’s card under speech synthesis for instructions concerning speech and this version of Twilight’s Ransom. SPEECH OFF: This command deactivates the speech synthesis option. Consult your user’s card for speech synthesis directions for this version of Twilight’s Ransom. VERSION: The version command displays the version and series number of the game you are playing. In reporting any problems you may encounter with the game, please include the version number. If for some reason you cannot run the program, you can still access the version information stored in the file, VERSIONDAT. HELPFUL TIPS 1) Make a map. Mapping is critically important in Twilight’s Ransom because as the game progresses you will need to be aware of your relative position in the city. You should sketch both the city blocks and location interiors. 2) Examine all objects and locations carefully. 3) Read the descriptions carefully, since they contain clues necessary for solving the mystery. 4) Save the game frequently. If you get “killed” during the game you can return to the identical location rather than start from the beginning. PROBLEMS If you experience any technical problems with Twilight’s Ransom you can phone our support line at l-800-521-2488. This line is for technical problems only and not for help in game play. When reporting any problem with Twilight’s Ransom be sure to include the version of the game you are playing. You can find thii information by entering the VERSION command. Be sure to return your registration card upon purchasing Twilight’s Ransom, as having your game registered aids our service efforts. Brought to you by Belgarath