Welcome To
			    The Spatent Obstruction
				   11-1-92
			    By Christopher Canavan



WHAT IS THIS THING ANYWAY?

  Well, to be very vague about this, you are now reading the docs to a
shareware text adventure game. Back in the early 80's a small company named
Infocom were releasing such games as Zork, Planetfall, and the hundreds of
sequels to Zork. Text adventure games were a massive hit but died out but the
end of the 80's and into the mid 90's because graphic adventure games were
being released. But, there were still text adventure game fans and I made this
game in tribute to those elite few still out there or for the people who are
just interested in this sort of thing.
  A text adventure game is best described as a "use you imagination" sort of
game. A few of you are probably out there sighing now and you guys can exit and
erase this game. You won't be interested. What happens in this game is that you
are put into a situation and are forced to make it out alive. This can be
anything from a quest for a magic stone to getting of an island with your life.
You move from room to room using simple commands and pick up and use objects
you find along the way. You will be faced with various problems that must be
faced before you continue and, thus, the game will progress until it ends or you
die.

WAIT! IS THIS LIKE ALL THOSE OTHER TEXT ADVENTURE GAMES?

  Actually, this game has a neat little twist. In most adventure games it just
do what has to be done and that's about it. Well, in this one I took a writing
standpoint and, in basic terms, made an interactive novel in which you get
actual dialogue. It was a bit of a pain trying to convert all the writing
symbols (such as commas, etc..) to the AGT meta-language. But, I think I did a
good job. Just like any other novels this game is divided into chapters.

OK, I'M READY, WHAT IS THIS GAME YOU GAVE ME?

  The game you are going to be playing is called "The Spatent Obstruction".
It's a game that puts you in the place of a regular guy adventurer named Aber
Johnson. You will meet friends along the way and a few will even join you for
the game. I'm not going to tell you much, it's your job to figure the rest out.
  The game uses the AGT text system and is programmed in the AGT language which
I prefer to Basic any day. For those interested, the AGT system can recognize
over 400 words (I estimate at least 500) and is capable of 200 locations,
hundreds of objects and nouns, and about 200 creatures. For reference, the game
Leisure Suit Larry I, from Sierra On-LIne, there were only 60 locations. So,
you can imagine the fun you'll have with this one.

WOW! WHAT GREAT GUY MADE THIS GAME?

  The author, writer, and programmer of this game is the one, the only, Chris
Canavan. I live in a nice little town called Wallingford in an even nicer state
named Connecticut. I'm not big on programming but I like to think I have some
skill in writing so I decided to make a little step from writing a short story
and go for an adventure game. I hope you enjoy it!

HOW MUCH DO I PAY FOR THIS?

  As a matter of fact, you pay nothing. You have it now so it's pretty obvious
you didn't pay anything for it! What kind of stupid questions are you asking me
anyway? But, this is shareware, and YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS! It means that if
you like the game, just a little bit, then you send me a small donation so I
get something in return for the many hours I put into this game. To get more
information on the paying part of this deal see the end of this doc.

CHRIS, COME ON, HOW MUCH TIME DID YOU REALLY SPEND ON THIS?

  Guess what? I can't tell you. I am writing these docs before I actually start
programming the game. This means that all I have, sitting on my desk here, are
the few maps and and notes I made to the game. Trust me. It's going to take
awhile.

THE GAME IS GREAT! BUT, I'M STUCK!

  All I can do is laugh. Well, hmmmm, I can do a bit more. If you sneak a
little peek at the end of this doc you'll see that if you send in your
donations you will get a disk full of hints! Well, I have to have some way to
get donations here.

CHRIS, I'M THE TYPE OF PERSON WHO ABUSES HINT BOOKS! I JUST WANT ONE HINT!

  One hint, huh? Ok, write me at the address you send the donation to, tell me
what's wrong and i'll send you a hint. But, you should really think about
making that donation!

YOUR TELLING ME ALL THIS STUFF BUT HOW DOES THE GAME ACTUALLY WORK?

  Woah, slipped my mind. I guess I should start getting boring now and explain
how to actually use this thing. But, wait! It has a built in help file! All you
do, is when it asks you if you want instructions, hit Y.

OK, I'M READY TO PAY THAT DONATION NOW! TELL ME HOW!

  You are?! Great! Ok...GO READ:


			      **** REGIS.FRM ****

WHATS IN THE FUTURE?

Well, there will be a sequel to the Spatent Obstruction. For those of you who
actually make it to the end of this you will find that a sequel is very much
needed. But, those of you playing this have probably gotten it from a bbs or a
friend. There will be no distribution of the sequel unless the donation is
paid. This will give you the sequel along with a few other little things. The
reason for this is to give the user (that's you, by the way) a reason to
donate. Also, I am in the process of reviewing software that will allow graphic
adventure games to be made in the similar format (EGA or higer and 80206). With
the donation you will get all of these sent to your house. So, let me just say,
in a final little statement, that it is really worth donation for the simple
reason that I put good time into this and the fact that you will receive future
releases.