long way home

Games for Spectrum, C64, Amstrad, Amiga, Apple ][ and the rest of the 8-bit and 16-bit platforms. Pleas for help, puzzles, bug reports etc.

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terri
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Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2004 5:08 am
Location: Canada

long way home

#1 Post by terri » Fri Nov 02, 2007 8:42 pm

I am stuck at the end of this game. WOS availability. In case there is someone out there who wishes to tackle this old adventure, I am providing detailed information about it.

This is an eight-part game that was serialized in an e-zine when the Spectrum 16 and 48 were in use. Each month another part would be made available. It is not a very complicated game to play (with a few exceptions). Each section is short and appears to be independent of the others, though at times there are codes to enter the next venue. Certain verbs are available only in certain parts. Your goal is to get to the Transmat and materialize into another venue, and continue so for eight general areas. Most often you need to type in the full direction (e.g. NORTH instead of abbreviating it), though sometimes the abbreviation is sufficient.

The game is available as a series of "stand-alone" games, as well as a complete version. The former contains graphics. In order to get this version, go to WOS and download each individual tape. You then need to navigate through the available options as you cannot just "click on" the part pertinent to the game. The instructions are generally the same for every game. Most often you need to play the arcade games to get to the next screen, which is tedious, especially if you don't like arcade games. The option "M" (move to the next screen) sometimes works to avoid this. The parts do not correspond to the tape, so you need to keep track of which part you are at.

Given that Part 2 appears to be bugged (in both the test and graphic version), you cannot continue with this version, as it seems that (in this format), you need to complete each game before you can proceed to the next part. But if you download each individual part, the other games continue to be playable, though on one tape, I needed to "convert" the Spectrum to a 16 version.

You check your inventory by typing GOT (not available in all parts). Typing HELP, or examining an object sometimes gives you a hint. You check where you are by typing SEE. A list of available verbs can be obtained by typing any word which the parser does not recognize (LIST works well). Use this to get the specific verbs you will need. Nevertheless, you don't really know when to use these words. Sometimes more than two words are needed. Codes are given to get to the next section, but hints are given to by-pass this. I was unable to finish the last section, but that may be because I was unable to finish part 2.

Now I will move on to other things because this has taken too much time.

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