McMurphy's Mansion Copyright (c) 1984, 1987, 1989 martin-art P.O. Box 7493, Pasadena, TX 77508 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WORLDWIDE. This manual is copyright 1984, 1987, 1989 by Martin-Art P.O. Box 7493, Pasadena, TX 77508. All rights reserved worldwide. *********************************************************************** SHAREWARE This game is a SHAREWARE product. This means for a small fee that you send to the software author, you receive a professional quality program. It does not mean that this program is free. If you enjoy playing McMurphy's Mansion, you should send $16.00 to David Martin, PO Box 7493, Pasadena, TX 77508. Please register. $2.50 of each registration fee goes to feed hungry people including children. In the spirit of shareware, we encourage you to copy and share this disk with your friends! Instructions for obtaining a game solution are on page 13 of this manual. FRENCH VERSION - An all French version of McMurphy's Mansion will be available in March, 1990. To order it, send $16.00 to the address shown below, and ask to be registered for the French version and if you do not already have the disk, ASK FOR A DISK TO BE SENT TO YOU! It is a separate registration from the registration of the English version. *********************************************************************** Game Difficulty Level: Average Playing time: Approx. 80 hours ---------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION ===================== It was three weeks ago when you received the telegram that would change your life FOREVER... It seems that an unknown uncle has died in faraway Scotland and left you his entire fortune. $10,000,000 to be exact. There is only one small problem... Dear old Uncle McMurphy was a bit demented and has hidden your inheritance somewhere in his mansion or on the mansion grounds. The old man (Uncle Mac) felt as though any relative of his should EARN his inheritance. Therefore, he has left you with only one clue (a small brass key) proudly presented to you by his laywer, Barrister Aaron McBee. It is now up to you to use your superior brain power to solve the puzzles left in the mansion by your Uncle McMurphy and find your fortune. - PAGE 1 - ABOUT ADVENTURE GAMES ===================== NOTE: If you have played other adventure games and want to skip this section, please do so. But be sure to read about the ultimate goal of the game and also about the special command abbreviations used in McMurphy's Mansion. McMurphy's Mansion is played like many other all text adventure games on the market today. In these adventure games, you will be reading about what is happening to your "computer self" on the screen and responding with a typed in message that tells your computer what you would like to do next. It's like being in a computerized book, with you being the main character, deciding what is to be done next. The plot in McMurphy's Mansion is simple; FIND THE FORTUNE. You type in commands to command your computer self to do what you would do if you were actually in a particular situation or location in the game. This is done by typing in commands from the keyboard like this: >EXAMINE THE BOX There will be more command examples later in the manual. After your command is entered, the game will respond to the command or action you have just taken. The game's response to the "EXAMINE THE BOX" command might look something like this: The box appears to be made of burl walnut. It is about the size of a cigar box. In this way you can explore your surroundings and manipulate objects that are in the game. Just like a real mansion, McMurphy's is full of strange and wonderful objects to be looked at and examined. Some are important to the puzzles of the mansion and others are not. You will have to determine which is which. - PAGE 2 - LOADING THE GAME ===================== LOADING FROM FLOPPY --------------------- Insert the game disk in the A: drive of your computer system. At the DOS prompt type in START so your screen looks like: A:\>START (then press the ENTER key) When you press the ENTER key some text will come on the screen for you to read. Then the game will load and you may start playing. Just be sure to always leave the game disk in drive A: while playing the game unless you are prompted to do otherwise. The game program needs to access some of the files on the game disk while you are playing. If your game will not load using "START", try "MCMURPHY" instead. LOADING FROM HARD DISK ----------------------- To play using a hard disk, just copy ALL of the files on the game disk to the hard disk directory of your choice. Then load the game from that directory when you want to play. The McMurphy's Mansion program searches for the game files in the default directory. GAME FILES ====================== The following files are critical to the playing of the game and must be on the game disk or in your hard disk subdirectory. Again, when playing from a hard disk, be SURE all of these files are in the same directory. UNCLE.BAT MCFILE.DAT MCMURPHY.EXE MCWM.DAT - PAGE 3 - BEGINNING THE GAME ===================== YOUR NAME, PLEASE. --------------------- After you enter "UNCLE" from your keyboard, the game will load. The screen will clear and you will see a copyright notice and some text to read. Before you actually begin the tough part of playing McMurphy's Mansion, you will have to answer several questions about yourself. The first question concerns your first name. Answer this question by typing in your first name and then press ENTER. Any 11 letters (or less) may be entered as your name. The game uses your name during your explorations of the mansion. LADDIE OR LASSIE? --------------------- It is traditional in Scotland to call young adventurers by "laddie" (boy) or by "lassie" (girl). When prompted, simply press the key shown for the correct choice, either "1" for "Laddie" or "2" for "Lassie". GAME INTRODUCTION --------------------- Included in "McMurphy's Mansion" is a detailed introduction and explanation that will help familiarize you with this mess your uncle has left for you. There is a good description of the mansion and the mansion grounds. The first few times you play the game, you should read this introduction carefully. The detailed description of the mansion will help you in getting to know the old place. (There even may be a clue or two in the introduction.) After you read the introduction on the screen a few times, just answer "N" to the question about reading the introduction and go straight to the playing of the game. You may of course read it any time when you load and run the game. - PAGE 4 - YOUR FIRST COMMAND --------------------- The game introduction included in the program tells you about McMurphy, his lawyer McBee and the mansion. Each time you read the introduction, you will need to use the game command "LOOK" for your first actual game command. This allows you to read a description of your bedroom (the room you find yourself in when the game begins). Just type in the word "LOOK" and press the ENTER key. >LOOK (then press the ENTER key) The description of your bedroom is included at the end of the game introduction. Because it is there on the screen anyway, you will not need to enter "LOOK" as the very first game command when you read the introduction. After the game gives you the description of your bedroom, you are ON YOUR OWN! Just decide what you would like to do next and DO IT! But, be careful, an old mansion can be a DANGEROUS place!! COMMANDS USED IN THE GAME ========================= "McMurphy's Mansion" is played in a manner similar to many other adventure games. You should enter commands (being as brief as possible) and as though each one started with "I would like to:", for example: Actual commands you enter: -------------------------- "I would like to" >EXAMINE THE BOX or "I would like to" >LOOK UNDER THE SOFA NOTE: A list of sample game commands is found near the end of these instructions. - PAGE 5 - MOVING AROUND IN THE GAME ========================= To move from one location in the game to another, simply enter the compass direction you would like to go in. You may use all 8 compass directions (N, S, E, W, NE, NW, SW, and SE) and two additional directions, UP and DOWN. You may either spell out the entire word or use the abbreviation as shown. As you travel around the mansion and the mansion grounds, it is also important to draw yourself a map of the mansion and the mansion grounds. Then maybe you won't become a lost adventurer! Actually, the game has a built-in map that is shown on the screen, but it is more fun to turn off the screen map and draw your own map on paper. (The command to turn on the map is "MAP" and the command to turn it off is "XMAP". See next section.) GAME COMMANDS =============== There are many commands that you may use in your quest for your fortune. The explanation and abbreviations (show in parentheses) are listed for the commands that have a special meaning in this adventure game. Part of the fun of the game is finding out which other words the game understands (hundreds, by the way). LOOK (L) - The LOOK command gives you a view of your current surroundings and the objects that you can see. Use this command to look around where you are or to see if an action you have just taken has changed things around you. EXAMINE (X) - This command will give you a description of an object. Some objects must be in your possession (inventory) before they can be examined. INVENTORY (I) or (INV) - Lists your current possessions that you are carrying around with you. During your adventure, you will need various objects to perform certain tasks. Of course, the things you need are never where you need them, so you will have to "TAKE" them and carry them with you. Objects in the game may be moved from place to place and left whereever you wish (DROPPED). - PAGE 6 - The game will display your inventory list on the screen. The command to turn on the list is "LIST" and the command to turn the screen list off is "XLIST". Those commands follow in this section. TAKE (+) - This command is used to add items to your inventory. Some things such as doors simply can't be "taken", but if you see something you want, TAKE IT! It may be "takeable" and may not be. The only way to find out is to try. Also, some items in the game must be taken and placed in your inventory before they may be examined. To make it easier to take objects, you may use the "+" key for an abbreviation of this command. Also, the "=" key has been temporarily fixed so it will be a "+" key instead. That way, you don't have to hit the SHIFT key all the time for "+". (You're welcome.) To use this abbreviation, just press the "=" key, a space, and then enter the object you wish to take. For example, >+ BOOK means the same thing as >TAKE BOOK DROP (-) - If you have something in your inventory that you don't need any longer, or don't want to carry around any longer, DROP it. The object will then remain in the location where you dropped it just in case you want to come back later and retrieve it. MAP - This command turns on the screen display of the map. Only simple minded adventurers and "weakies" actually need the map. It is more fun and a greater challenge to draw one by hand. XMAP - What is turned on can be turned off. XMAP turns off the screen display of the map (the more preferred method of play). REPEAT (R) - If you should want to repeat a command more than once, just enter "R" the second time instead of retyping the entire command over again. This will help keep the blisters off your fingers. - PAGE 7 - COLOR - If you don't like the default colors of the screen and text, you can use the command COLOR to change them. Just enter the command and follow the instructions on the screen. WORDY - When entering a location for the first time, you will be given a lengthy and complete description of that location. After you enter a location for the first time, you will only be given the name for that location (YOUR BEDROOM). If you would like to have the long descriptions given every time you enter a new location, enter the command WORDY. SHORTY - Turns off the long descriptions of each location. You will still get the long description the FIRST time you enter a location, but after that, you will only get the name of the location. LIST - Shows inventory items on the screen under the map. List will show your inventory even if the map is off (XMAP). Only "sissies" use this command. XLIST - Turns off the screen display of inventory items. MANUAL - This command causes the game program to print the McMurphy's Mansion manual for you. Be sure to have your printer on-line and ready to print when using this command. QUIT - Used to end the game. (Be sure to SAVE your position first if you plan to play from this position later.) USING NUMBERS - An occasion may arise in the mansion when you would like to include a number in your command. If you need to use a number, just enter the number instead of spelling it out (5 instead of five). HELP - This command will give you a brief overview of the game and remind you of some of the more important game commands and the abbreviations for those commands. ABOUT THE MANSION ===================== McMurphy's beloved mansion is truly beautiful and full of antiques. Although the mansion has many rooms, only the important ones are included in the actual game. Sorry, no bathroom. - PAGE 8 - All of the doors in the mansion are open for your convenience, unless closed for a reason. Also, there may be objects mentioned in the descriptions of the rooms that you cannot TAKE or EXAMINE. They are included to give you a "feel" for the room and your surroundings (for example, the china in the dining room). Of course, this old mansion has plenty of windows. While in the mansion, it may be helpful to look out the windows. To do this, enter the command LOOK EAST or LOOK NORTH or LOOK in whatever direction the window is located. If there is a window in that direction, you will be given the view out of that window. If there is no window in that direction, you will be given the same response as the normal command "LOOK". Game abbreviations will work in this command ("LOOK SOUTH" may be entered "L S"). FINDING THE FORTUNE!! ===================== MASTER CLUES - As you solve the puzzles of the mansion that dear old Uncle Mac left you as his legacy, you will receive a total of 3 MASTER CLUES. When you figure out what the MASTER CLUES are for and use them correctly, the FORTUNE WILL BE YOURS!!! GOLD BARS - That's right! 24K GOLD!! There are 12 gold bars hidden in the mansion. After you have found all 12 bars you will be given one of the three master clues that lead to the fortune. Once "TAKEN", a bar cannot be dropped. You will have to use your brain (till it hurts) to figure out the way to get the other two MASTER CLUES. - PAGE 9 - SAMPLE COMMANDS ===================== The commands listed below are to give you an idea about complete game commands in general. These particular commands may or may not work while playing McMurphy's Mansion. >X THE BOX same as >EXAMINE THE BOX >NORTH same as >N >LOOK UNDER THE DRESSER >TAKE THE RING THEN GO WEST >- BOX same as >DROP BOX >TURN THE HANDLE >OPEN THE TRUNK >LOOK UNDER THE SOFA >X THE CHAIR. X THE SOFA >N.S.S same as >NORTH.SOUTH.SOUTH. >PULL THE LEVER MULTIPLE COMMANDS As you can see from the example commands, you can enter more than one command at a time. When you do enter more than one, be sure put a period (.) after each command just like you would after any sentence in normal writing. You may also use the word "AND" or the word "THEN" to separate the multiple commands instead of the period: >TAKE THE BOX.EXAMINE THE BOX or >TAKE THE BOX AND EXAMINE THE BOX or >TAKE THE BOX THEN EXAMINE THE BOX All three of these commands work in exactly the same way. Because the word AND is used to separate commands, do not use it to do something to more than one object. The command TAKE THE BOX AND THE KEY will not work. (Please review sample commands) - PAGE 10 - When using multiple commands, you should limit your total command to include only two or three. If you enter more than that, the game responses could scroll off the screen before you have a chance to read them. SAVING AND RESTORING YOUR POSITION ==================================== Playing this game takes many hours. So that you will not have to begin from the very beginning each time you start to play, special commands are used to save the progress you have made during a playing session. These saved positions also help in case the power should go out while you are playing. SAVING A POSITION ===================== When you are about to quit for the day or you are about to do something dangerous in the game, use the SAVE command: >SAVE All of the information about what location you are in and the items in your inventory and the progress you have made will be stored on your disk in a special file. Then when you restart the game at a later time, you can RESTORE the old position and begin exactly where you left the game. You will be in the same room, with the same inventory, etc. Here is how to SAVE a position: 1. Use the game disk to save positions OR use any formatted disk with at least 10,000 bytes free. 2. Enter the command SAVE like this: >SAVE 3. You will be given instructions on the screen about which keys to press to save the position. Don't worry, it's simple! 4. Make a note about the position number you have just saved for later reference. You may save up to 9 separate positions on a single disk. This allows you to save positions for several different people who are playing McMurphy's Mansion from the same game disk. - PAGE 11 - RESTORING A POSITION --------------------- The command RESTORE is used to restore one of the previously saved positions on your SAVE diskette. To restore a position, enter the restore command like this: >RESTORE If you wish to restore a position, the RESTORE command will usually be the first command you will issue when you load the game. Of course you may restore any position at any time. 1. You must change disks if the position to be restored has been saved on a disk different from the game disk. The instructions given on the screen will tell you when to change disks. 2. Follow the instructions given on the screen and your position will be restored. 3. Make sure the game disk is in drive A: or you are in the correct subdirectory on your hard disk and the game can PROCEED! Now all of that hard work won't have to be repeated each time you begin the game. JUST ONE MORE THING... ---------------------- Well, that's about it for the instructions. But there is just one more thing you should know before you go play. If you should find an old diary somewhere in the mansion, and you want to read on a specific page, enter a command that looks like this: >READ ON 9-1 IN THE DIARY or >LOOK ON 9-1 IN THE DIARY The entry of "9-1" in the example would be for September 1st. Just use whatever day you wish. Reading the diary may help you, it may not. - PAGE 12 - And REMEMBER!!! If you DO SUCCEED, NO MORE WORK!!! SLEEP TILL NOON!!! The McMurphy fortune CAN BE YOURS!!! You now have our permission to go play. --------------------------------------------------------------- **** REGISTER YOUR GAME **** As mentioned in the beginning of the instructions, the shareware fee of $16.00 should be sent to the address below to register your McMurphy's Mansion. When you register, you will receive a game hint sheet and a game solution. Please include a stamped self- addressed return envelope along with your registration. (Please remember that $2.50 of each registration goes to feed hungry people including children. AVOID INSANITY! If you have been playing and are about to be sent to a rubber room somewhere, register your game and GET THAT HINT SHEET and SOLUTION!! David Martin P.O. Box 7493 Pasadena, TX 77034 - PAGE 13 - This sheet is provided for your notes. You will need it. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Gold Bar 1 _____________________________________________________ Gold Bar 2 _____________________________________________________ Gold Bar 3 _____________________________________________________ Gold Bar 4 _____________________________________________________ Gold Bar 5 _____________________________________________________ Gold Bar 6 _____________________________________________________ Gold Bar 7 _____________________________________________________ Gold Bar 8 _____________________________________________________ Gold Bar 9 _____________________________________________________ Gold Bar 10_____________________________________________________ Gold Bar 11_____________________________________________________ Gold Bar 12_____________________________________________________ MASTER CLUE #1 _________________________________________________ MASTER CLUE #2 _________________________________________________ MASTER CLUE #3 _________________________________________________ - PAGE 14 -