----------------------- How To Play "the Star Portal" ----------------------- Adventure Game Toolkit General instructions: (Courtesy of David Malmberg) -------------------------------------------- This game allows you to use complex commands -- if you wish. Your commands can be expressed in the format: <(multiple) noun phrase(s)> Verb phrases can consist of a simple verb like EAT, SHOOT, READ or a verb followed by a preposition such as CLIMB UP, JUMP THROUGH, or SWIM IN. Noun (or object) phrases can consist of a single word noun like TREE, ROCK, LAKE or a noun and its adjective such as RED ROCK, SMALL BOWL or UGLY MUTANT. Several nouns may be connected with AND's or commas. Articles like A, AN or THE are optional. The personal pronoun MY is also optional. The pronouns IT, THEM, HIM and HER may be used to refer to a previously mentioned noun. Here are some (hypothetical) examples of valid commands: PLACE A RED ROCK IN THE SMALL BOWL PUT THE GREEN ROCK AND THE SMALL PEBBLE BEHIND THE OAK TREE READ MY POETRY BOOK SWIM IN THE SWIMMING POOL EXAMINE THE GOLD RING, THE DWARF AND THE SILVER NECKLACE EAT THE CELERY, THE TUNA, THE APPLE AND THE ONION THROW THE BATTLE AXE AND THE LARGE ROCK AT THE WEREWOLF SHOOT THE BURGLAR WITH THE REVOLVER ATTACK HIM ("HIM" will refer to last noun mentioned, e.g., the burglar) FIRE THE LASER PISTOL AT THE ALIEN MUTANT GET THE BOOK (also: TAKE THE BOOK) READ IT ("IT" will refer to last noun mentioned, e.g., the book) GET ALL (will get everything movable at the current location) GET THE KEYS, BOTTLE, FOOD AND THE CLOAK EXAMINE THE KEYS, BOTTLE, FOOD AND CLOAK PUSH THE RED BUTTON AND THE GREEN BUTTON UNLOCK THE FILE CABINET WITH THE STEEL KEY JUMP THROUGH THE OPENING JUMP OVER THE LOG NORTH SOUTHWEST PLACE AN AXE AND THE SHIELD NEXT TO THE BIG TREE PUT THE FOOD ON THE KITCHEN TABLE TURN ON THE FLASHLIGHT LIGHT THE TORCH WITH THE WOODEN MATCHES SCREAM AT THE UGLY TROLL CLIMB UP THE LADDER EXTINGUISH THE FIRE (or PUT OUT THE FIRE) DRINK THE WHITE WINE THROW THE FIRE WOOD IN THE STOVE PULL THE BELL CORD WEAR THE STUPID HAT (also: PUT ON THE STUPID HAT) TAKE OFF THE HAT (also: REMOVE THE HAT) NE (for NORTHEAST) DROP THE KEY AND THE BOTTLE ENTER THE CAVE XYZZY (i.e., a "magic" word) TURN THE DOORKNOB PLAY WITH THE DOG TALK TO (or TALK WITH) THE OLD MAN (ABOUT THE WEATHER) TELL JEFF ABOUT THE SWORD ASK JODIE ABOUT THE CRIME MAX, PUSH THE BUTTON HENRY, SHOOT THE MONSTER Compound commands can be created by connecting single commands (like those above) with "AND", "THEN" or the punctuation symbols "," or ";" to connect two or more separate commands. However, "end-of-sentence" punctuation symbols like ".", "!" and "?" should not be used. Below are a few examples of valid compound commands: TURN THE DOORKNOB THEN ENTER THE CAVE CLIMB DOWN THE LADDER THEN SOUTH, WEST AND NORTHWEST GET THE CLOAK AND THEN EXAMINE IT; READ THE LABEL DROP THE FOOD AND THE BOTTLE THEN UNLOCK THE DOOR AND THEN LEAVE GET THE TORCH, LIGHT IT WITH THE WOODEN MATCHES THEN EXAMINE IT One point of advice about command structure is in order. Your commands should be structured to follow the most "natural" sequence of words when two or more sequences are possible. For example, THROW THE GOLDEN EGGS TO THE TROLL will be understood by the game's parser, whereas THROW TROLL THE EGGS will not be understood -- even though it is understandable to most humans as equivalent. Similarly, you should avoid the verb "USE", such as USE THE KEY TO UNLOCK THE DOOR. This command should be entered simply as UNLOCK THE DOOR WITH THE KEY. If the game understands all of the words in your command, but still seems confused by the command -- then try to say the same thing using fewer words and/or a simpler sentence. When in doubt, simplify your commands as much as possible. This also saves typing effort. Remember, that one and two word commands are frequently all that is necessary to solve the adventure. SPECIAL COMMANDS: The game uses a number of special commands for various "housekeeping" chores. These are all pretty standard for most adventure games, specifically: HELP May (or may not) give you a hint. SCORE Will summarize your progress, so far. INVENTORY Will display a list of the items you are carrying, and those items you are wearing. BRIEF Will cause location descriptions to be brief. VERBOSE Will cause location descriptions to be verbose. LOOK Will give you a full (verbose) description of your current location. LIST EXITS Will list the obvious (visible) exits from your current location. There may be other ways to exit the location -- but they may not be obvious. SAVE GAME Will save the current game status on disk. RESTORE GAME Will restore a previously saved game from disk. SCRIPT Causes output to go to both the screen and a printer (using the LP1 port). UNSCRIPT Causes output to go to the screen (only). QUIT Quits the current game session. Always exit using QUIT -- so the game can erase some temporary data files and save disk space! AGAIN (or G) Repeats the last command (this will be extremely helpful in playing The Star Portal! Remember it! FUNCTION AND CURSOR KEYS: The function keys have been predefined to stand for several of the most frequently used commands. Similarly, the cursor keys have been predefined to correspond to the appropriate compass directions, i.e., the up arrow is NORTH, the PgDn key is SOUTHEAST, the "-" key is UP, the "+" key is DOWN, the Ins key is ENTER, the Del key is EXIT, and so forth. Hitting the F1 key will display a diagram of the definitions for all of the function and cursor keys if you need a reminder. SCREEN COLORS Screen colors may be changed while playing the game. Syntax is: COLORS [normal text] [highlighted text] [background] [reverse text] [reverse background] i.e., the command: COLORS white yellow blue black cyan will give you white letters on a blue background, and the status line at the top of the screen will be a cyan background with black letters. Your input will be in yellow. COLORS mono will give a monochrome color combination even on a color monitor. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOLUTION AVAILABLE: Star Portal is a medium difficulty adventure -- so you should be able to solve it yourself (after a lot of trial and error). However, if you get totally frustrated and/or really stuck and want some help, I can be reached on: CompuServe 70156,1636 BIX mdetlefsen GENIE mdetlefsen Enjoy it! Michael Detlefsen -30-