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Steve Silver Adventure 1 (Steve_Silver_Adventure_1.txt)

Complete walkthrough of the ZX Spectrum text adventure 
"Steve Silver Adventure 1" (1983) by Colin Webb and Jim Bennett, published by 
WB Software.

Walkthrough:- 
E, N, TAKE BOARD, S, E, N, N, N, N (BELL TOWER), W, TAKE BATTERY, N, W, N, 
TAKE KEY, S, E, S, E, S, D, N, TAKE SMALL AXE, S, E, UNLOCK DOOR, WITH KEY, 
DROP KEY, N, E, TAKE GOLD IDOL, USE SMALL AXE, DROP SMALL AXE, S, D, 
TAKE GOLDCHEST, U, E, W, W, W, N, N, TAKE SAPPHIRE, DROP SAPPHIRE (this avoids 
a potential bug), DROP GOLD IDOL, DROP GOLDCHEST, D (BACK GARDEN), TAKE LADDER, 
S, D, S, E, (optional step:- S then N to play the "WILD ANIMALS" arcade 
sub-game but it is not needed to complete the adventure), U (SANDSTONE ROOM), 
TAKE LAMP, PUT BATTERY IN LAMP, E, TAKE MAGICWAND, W, W, N, TAKE DECODER, N, N, 
E, D, N (GUN ROOM), TAKE GUN, S, KILL WIZARD, DROP GUN, U, W, S, S, S, D (PIT 
OF ASHES), U, W, W, USE THE BOARD, N, N, TAKE GYRO, S, S, D, U, E, E, N, 
READ SIGN, DROP DECODER, N (GRASSY PLAIN), USE MAGICWAND, DROP MAGICWAND, W, 
TAKE FEW COINS, E, TAKE HAMMER, N, N, CLIMB UP LADDER, TAKE GOLD BELL, D, 
DROP LADDER, S, D, N, N, D, N, E (CELLAR), HIT BOLT, WITH HAMMER, DROP HAMMER, 
D, TAKE DIAMOND, S, TAKE GOLD RING, N, U, W, S, S, D (MEADOW), S, W, S, E, D, 
E, D, U (SPACECRAFT BAY), DROP FEW COINS, DROP GOLD RING, DROP DIAMOND, 
DROP GOLD BELL, D, N, N, N, N (CROSS ROAD), W, U, D, S, S, W, N, N, W, W, 
TAKE SNORKEL, E, E, N (OLD TEMPLE), D, N, N, TAKE SAPPHIRE, TAKE GOLD IDOL, 
TAKE GOLDCHEST, S, S, U, S, S, S, E, D, D (HOLLOW MOUNTAIN), DROP SNORKEL, E, 
E, N, N, TAKE BUCKET, S, S, S, S, S (DEATH PIT), U, D, D, N, U (AT A WELL), 
FILL BUCKET, E, S, U, S, THROW WATER ON FIRE, S, DROP WATER, DROP LIT LAMP, 
DROP SAPPHIRE (you have to leave some of the least-valued treasure behind as 
you can’t carry all of it - also the GYRO is needed.), TAKE DIAMOND, 
TAKE GOLD BELL, TAKE GOLD RING, ENTER SHIP, TIGHTEN WIRE, (You now enter the 
arcade sub-game where you must safely guide the ship through the roof opening).

If you didn’t crash the ship then, CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE REPAIRED YOUR SHIP 
AND ARE ON YOUR WAY HOME. SCORE = 3400.

Notes:-
There are seven treasures to collect as shown in the walkthrough. You get 100 
points for successfully launching the spaceship at the end plus additional 
points for the treasures (which must be in the player’s inventory) as follows, 
GOLDCHEST=900, GOLD IDOL=700, DIAMOND=600, GOLD BELL=600, GOLD RING=500, 
SAPPHIRE=400, FEW COINS=200. However, you can only carry a maximum of six 
items. Also the GYRO is needed to be carried onto the ship, or it can’t take 
off. There’s no obvious way to leave the ship once boarded, so it appears the 
maximum amount of treasure items you can carry on board is five. Leaving the 
two least valuable treasures behind results in a score of 3400.

There are two arcade action sub-games within this text adventure. The first one 
"WILD ANIMALS" is triggered by attempting to go north from the "WILD JUNGLE" 
location. It’s quite easy to beat however if your goal is to complete the 
entire adventure game, then there is no advantage to playing this subgame. 
There are no rewards for winning it, and it doesn’t open up any new locations 
or items. It’s just another way you can die and lose the game if you don’t win 
it.

The second one, "GUIDE THE SHIP" is triggered by the final command 
"TIGHTEN WIRE" from the "IN MY SPACECRAFT" location at the very end of the 
game. This one has to be played to complete the adventure. Although it’s easy 
to win after a few practice tries, it is a much faster subgame and it is very 
easy to accidentally crash the spaceship on initial attempts. On a real ZX 
Spectrum, crashing the ship would cause the game to be lost and the entire text 
adventure would have to be started again right from the very beginning. Under 
emulation, I would suggest saving a snapshot before playing this subgame.

There are many items not needed to complete the game and also puzzles that 
don’t need solving. E.g. you don't need to put out the fire in the fire pit to 
get to the spacecraft bay as you can instead go via the "STEEP POTHOLE" and 
"DARK CAVE" once you have the "LIT LAMP". Also you don’t need to use the rope

as it just provides another route into "WIZARD’S LAB". There are multiple ways 
of completing the game.

It’s not strictly necessary to kill the sleeping wizard. However if you don’t 
then he can turn the player into a toad (losing the game) after a few turns in 
the wizards’ bedroom.

Bugs:-
In the "FIRE PIT" location, typing "U" to go up will crash the game with the 
error "3 Subscript wrong, 6917:1". You can recover from this error and continue 
the game  by typing the following:- 
LET A$="GO UP"
CONTINUE

There is a bug which I call the "SAPPHIRE BUG", as follows. If you drop 
additional items in the sapphire room and then pick one of them back up again 
before the sapphire has ever been picked up, then you can never pick the 
sapphire up again. Attempting to do so fails and also causes the sapphire to 
disappear from the room. This bug may well affect other objects in other rooms. 
The workaround is to pick up the sapphire and drop it again before dropping any 
other items in the room so the description changes from "I CAN SEE A SAPPHIRE" 
to "I CAN ALSO SEE A SAPPHIRE". Once that description has changed, the bug no 
longer occurs.

Comment:- This game might have a few quirks and bugs but overall I really 
enjoyed the wide scope of it. I like the way it has the fantasy elements 
including a wizard and a magic wand along with a traditional treasure hunt. 
Yet it also has the sci-fi element of being stranded on an alien planet with a 
spaceship in need of repair and spy accessories such as decoder and a gun, all 
in the same setting. Some of the room names are quite memorable, for example 
"GUN ROOM" named so because there is a gun in it and "GOLD COIN ROOM" which ...

well you can guess the rest. I also like the varied (and in places crazy) 
geography and the "anything goes" style including the unexpected arcade 
elements. It’s something of a mashup of the simpler yet fun adventure games and 
type-ins of that era.

benkid77 15/05/2019