Welcome to Maiden of the Moonlight! To start the game, type MAIDEN at the DOS prompt. (Optionally, you can install the game under Windows using the enclosed icon. If you do so, use MAIDEN -p as the command line. That will make the game pause for a keystroke before exiting and closing its window.) To play the game, all you have to do is give the computer instructions in simple, basic English. Whenever you see the > prompt, the game has paused to let you type in your next move. When you hit return, the computer will process the instruction you've just sent it and then display some new text to show you what has happened as a result of your actions. When entering your commands, usage of capitalization is completely optional. For purposes of illustration, this file will always give example commands in all caps. Using words like THE, A, and AN is also optional, as is the closing period at the end of a line. It is possible to abbreviate long words to their first six letters. You can, for example, use MATCHB instead of typing out the whole word MATCHBOOK each time. You may wish to rephrase commands that aren't being accepted by the computer, because it is just a computer after all and is much more limited in what it can understanding then a human being. The game will describe your starting location, and then give you an updated description each time you move into a new area. To move, all you have to do is tell the computer the direction in which you wish to go. If you need to read the room's description again, type L (for LOOK) and the computer will repeat the description for you. The directional commands understood by the game are as follows: NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, NORTHEAST, NORTHWEST, SOUTHEAST, SOUTHWEST, UP, DOWN, IN, and OUT. The first 10 can be abbreviated, respectively, as N, S, E, W, NE, NW, SE, SW, U, and D. You may run into other characters during the game. To ask them about things, simply use the command ASK (character) ABOUT THE (thing). You may also want to SHOW (character) THE (thing). There are a number of special commands, used for utility purposes or to make play a bit more convenient. Many can be abbreviated to a single letter. FULL - This command will tell you your score so far and list the various achievements you've made to earn that score. See also SCORE below. G (AGAIN) - This command will repeat the last command that you entered in. INFO - This command will give the version info for the game as well as listing the people that the author wished to thank for their support during the writing of this game. I (INVENTORY) - This command will list your possessions. L (LOOK) - This will repeat the description of the room. LOOK can be abbreviated L in other contexts as well. For example, typing L AT is equivalent to saying LOOK AT. O (OOPS) - This command allows you to correct a word that was misentered. For example, if you enter TAKE THE KNIVE, the computer will respond I DON'T KNOW THE WORD 'KNIVE'. You can type OOPS (or just O) followed by the proper spelling to correct the error. O KNIFE will tell the computer that the command was supposed to be TAKE THE KNIFE. QUIT - This command stops the game in progress. Be sure to SAVE your progress first! RESTART - This command restarts the game from the top. RESTORE - This command reloads a previously saved game. SAVE - This command saves a "snapshot" of your position on disk, allowing you to RESTORE to the position later. SCRIPT - This command is used to create a record of the text which is output during the game (including your commands). This captured data is stored in a text file and can be read later with any text editor. This feature is meant to provide a record of the game to be referred to if needed. SCORE - This command will display your score so far. See also FULL above. TERSE - This command restores TERSE descriptions, where the full description of a room or area is only given the first time you enter it. It is the default condition. See VERBOSE below. UNDO - This command allows you to take back the last turn without penalty. You can use UNDO repeatedly to continue "backing-up" through the game, so don't be afraid to try something risky. UNSCRIPT - This command stops SCRIPTing and closes the text file. VERBOSE - This command will put the game into VERBOSE mode, where each room will be described fully when entered, even if you have been there before. See also TERSE above. X (EXAMINE) - This command lets you take a closer look at something. It is a good idea to examine everything that you possibly can. Z (WAIT) - This command passes a turn without taking any actions. Maiden of the Moonlight also features a couple of convenience features that are designed to make it easier to review the text that has gone before and to re-use and/or re-edit previously given commands. By hitting the F1 function key, you can activate Scrollback Mode. The up/down arrows and the PageUp/PageDown keys can be used to read backwards and forwards through the text that has scrolled off the screen. There is a limit to how many pages full of scrollback info that the computer can hold, depending on the memory present in the computer running the game. The ESC key will exit Scrollback Mode and return the player to the > prompt. Outside of Scrollback Mode, the up and down cursor control arrows can be used to recall previous commands. Hitting up-arrow once will put the previous turn's command at the > prompt, where it can be edited if you wish. Hitting ENTER will send the command on to the computer. Hitting the down-arrow at this point will remove the command and give you a blank > prompt again. Note that this does not take back the last turn. It merely allows a command to be repeated and/or easily re-edited. See UNDO above for details on how to "back-up" during the game. The up-arrow can be used to go further back then just one command. By continuously hitting it, the game will bring up the bygone commands one-by-one. This can save a lot of typing! If you go past the desired command, hit the down-arrow. I hope you have fun playing Maiden of the Moonlight!