Nine Princes in Amber - documentation du jeu pour C64

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The Project 64 etext of the Nine Princes in Amber manual. Original document released 9/85 by Spinnaker under the "Telarium" label. Converted by Paul David Doherty h0142kdd@rz.hu-berlin.de.

9AMBER10.TXT, May 1996, etext #33

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The Pattern of Amber
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Always will ambitious men in the shadow of a throne reach for the power of the throne; as this was true for Chaos, so it is for Amber. There are many paths to Amber, and I, Dworkin, know them all. For I am the Pattern, and it is the Pattern which casts the myriad shadows which surround Amber -- Amber, the one true world, created as the powers of Chaos raged and despaired. The immortal children of Oberon walk the shadows at will, but dissatisfied, return ever and anon to Amber's gates. For they need to rule as fire needs air, and only in Amber will they find the challenge -- and the power -- they seek.

These are my notes; there are darker secrets than those inscribed here which I dare not entrust to paper. All around me, the royal sons and daughters of Oberon plot and scheme to place themselves nearest their father's throne, and in their hands the knowledge I bear would surely open the gate to Chaos, the realm of oblivion....

***

Ah, Amber
...golden queen, wrested from Chaos with toil and blood. Those who seek to rule you have no understanding of your nature, and I fear for you in their hands.

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The Royal Conflict
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So the children of Oberon plot for the throne...let them plot forever. Their plots are as the nipping of lion cubs at their sire's heels, for none will rule so long as Oberon wears the crown. Still they scheme, waiting for the end of Oberon's day. They make alliances in an attempt to secure their positions. The one who finally sits on the throne will come to it on the shoulders of those with whom he allies. But he must take care; many agree to join forces only to betray an ally at their convenience.

Not all are like this. Some are more honorable than others -- Benedict is faithful to Amber alone, and will protect it with his life. But Corwin and Eric, it would seem, have eclared a blood feud on one another. There is more than the throne between them, though they will not admit it; neither one will rest until the other is dead or disgraced. Bleys and Brand, those of Clarissa's lot, seem to have reached an agreement of some kind; I do not trust those two minds when joined in common cause. Of all the women, only Fiona seems to bear any interest in the throne. As for the rest, they lack either the will or the desire to take the throne for themselves; they are content to ally with the strongest candidate.

All dealings with the offspring of Oberon are hazardous, for each is dangerous after the manner of individuals. Secrets I might trust with one I would never give to another; I deal with each according to his nature.

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The Paths to Amber
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Even as all roads lead to Amber, many paths lead to the throne. With each decision made, some paths will open up, others become forever sealed. Should two members of the royal house of Amber meet, they will alter the paths to the throne irrevocably; the fruit of that meeting may not become clear until the throne of Amber is within a prince's sight. In Amber one can always return to a meeting and try to change history; it may open up new, untravelled paths. A princess, if spared, may return to kill her brother. It is a wise prince who searches for different alternatives.

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Physical Diplomacy The Politics of the Sword(*)
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Although the royal siblings may choose verbal sparring with each other, they do not hesitate to resort to physical persuasion as well.
Random and Julian, it seems, must be dragged apart nearly every day.
This is potentially deadly play, as the royalty of Amber has learned well how to use a sword. All have learned the basic skills; some, however, have gone beyond their masters. A prince of Amber can protect himself -- or avenge an insult.

(*) See functional documentation for instructions.

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The Rite of Passage: Walking the Pattern(*)
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As each member of the royal house of Amber comes of age, he must prove himself to be a prince of the blood by negotiating the Pattern. Walking the Pattern is not a task lightly taken, for once begun, even I can do naught but continue forward to the finish, or face oblivion.
The Pattern gives the knowledge that a prince of Amber must have to fulfill his destiny.

When a child of Oberon walks the Pattern, he must pass through the five veils. Only then will he stand at the center of the Pattern and know what it is to be a true prince of Amber. With each veil passed, the way becomes more treacherous, but the rewards greater; and with the conquest of the final veil, a prince of Amber will know the secrets of both shadow and my gift, the Trumps.

(*) See functional documentation for instructions.

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The Language of Amber
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Artful communication is of great importance in Amber, and the Thari language reflects this, for half of our verbs are "communication" verbs. Though dialogue must be precise and short, by its nature it suggests a great deal more than is actually spoken.

Dworkin


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FORMULATING COMMANDS IN AMBER
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CONVERSING IN THARI

When speaking in Thari, use short, concise sentences.
For example:

Objects are used in Amber, of course, but their importance has diminished over the centuries as communication has become more refined. When working with objects, the verb, directly followed by the object, will be best understood.
For example:

In order to see something more closely, EXAMINE THE [object]; to see what is being carried or worn, check the INVENTORY or INV. In order to clearly see who is nearby, one should LOOK.

Sentences can be made more complex by combining up to three short phrases; to do this, the phrases must be separated by the word AND or THEN.
For example:
TAKE THE SWORD THEN EXAMINE THE SWORD
EXAMINE THE DESK AND OPEN THE DRAWERS


THE ART OF COMMUNICATION

As Thari has evolved, communication verbs have been split into several categories. These divisions reflect the type of verb: "hostile," "friendly," "neutral," or "response." These verbs have been codified, in their categories, in the verb list. Action verbs, such as ATTACK, RETURN, or CALL are listed as well.


SACRED COMMANDS OF THE ROYAL HOUSE OF AMBER

Once a prince of Amber has completed walking the Pattern, he will have the knowledge he needs to use the tools that are his birthright.
Several specialized verbs, used only by the royal blood of Amber, are listed below.
CONTACT -- contact using the trumps
BREAK -- cut contact using the trumps
IMAGINE -- cast mental images
WALK SHADOW -- traverse the shadows cast by Amber.

NOTE: one can only "walk shadow" to a person if his/her location is known.


TRAVELLING THROUGH AMBER

When travelling through Amber and the shadows it casts, one can move from one location to another by the use of the commands LEAVE, EXIT, or GO TO [place]. One may also FOLLOW people who are going in a direction.
For example: FOLLOW DEIRDRE.

THE BASICS OF SWORD FIGHTING

CUT -- slashing at the opponent with the blade of the sword.
THRUST -- lunging at the opponent with the point of the sword.
FEINT -- pretending to attack one portion of the opponent's body in an attempt to force him to protect that spot, thereby leaving another area unprotected.
PARRY -- stopping an opponent's attack.
HIGH/LOW -- the direction of the movement. High is the head and heart; low, the abdomen and legs.

These movements can be combined in the following ways:

THE PATTERN

When you have reached the Pattern, a screen with five stars will appear. You must create a path that crosses each in order to complete the Pattern.
To play the Pattern game:
1 -- Choose among the five pieces in the bottom left hand corner. They are numbered, from left to right, one through five. As a piece is chosen, a different piece will replace it.
2 -- Create a path by connecting the pieces to the existing path, beginning in the bottom center of the screen, by choosing the number of the piece that will continue the path.
3 -- To add additional branches, add a "T" piece, and a differently colored branch will form off the original path. As each new branch is made, a new color will appear at one end of the "T". The original color will continue at the other end. You may have up to four branches; the first is white, then red, blue and black. Paths can cross differently colored paths, but if you try to cross the same colored path you are on, you will lose the game.
4 -- To place a piece on a particular path, type the number of the piece, followed by the color of the path, e.g. 1 WHITE, 5 RED, or 3 BLUE.
5 -- Choosing a piece which does not fit the path you select will cause you to leave the Pattern and lose the game.

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Warranty

If this product should fail to work for any reason whatsoever during the first 30 days following purchase, return it to the dealer from whom it was purchased for a free replacement. If it should fail to work after the first 30 days, mail it to TELARIUM at the address below. If it has been physically damaged, you will be charged five dollars for a replacement.

TELARIUM CORP. * One Kendall Square * Cambridge, MA 02139 * (617) 494-1224

This software product is copyrighted and all rights are reserved by TELARIUM CORP. The distribution and sale of this product are intended for the use of the original purchaser only and for use only on the computer system specified. Lawful users of this program are hereby licensed only to read the program from its medium into memory of a computer for the purpose of executing this program. Copying, duplicating, selling or otherwise distributing this product is hereby expressly forbidden.


NINE PRINCES IN AMBER computer program is a trademark of Telarium Corp. (c) 1985 Telarium Corp. All rights reserved. Based on the books Nine Princes in Amber and The Guns of Avalon, (c) 1970 and (c) 1972 respectively, by Roger Zelazny. By arrangement with Byron Press [sic] Video Productions. The adventure game Nine Princes in Amber was written in SAL by Telarium Corp. IN-AMB

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NOTE: Only those verbs in *BOLD* can be used alone. All other verbs require a direct object.


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How to Play Nine Princes in Amber
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TO LOAD THE GAME:

Loading instructions for your machine may be found on the enclosed insert.

The following instructions will help you as you play NINE PRINCES IN AMBER. It is particularly important to make a Save Disk so that you can save your game. To do this, follow the instructions under "Create" as soon as you boot AMBER.

NEWDATA
Enter NEWDATA when you first load the game to obtain any instructions that may have changed since the publication of these notes.

CREATE
NOTE: The program will erase the contents of any disk created as a Save Disk.
The create command will create a Save Disk, which will enable you to save at any point in the game. You must create a Save Disk before you can save a game. This should be done as soon as you boot NINE PRINCES IN AMBER.
To do this:
1 -- Enter CREATE. Follow all the instructions on the screen.
2 -- The words "CREATE complete" will appear when the Save Disk is ready.
3 -- Remove the Save Disk and replace the game disk in the drive.

SAVE
NOTE: You cannot save or restore during a fencing match or in the Pattern Game.
You can save at any point in the game, and restore back to that point later. There are two reasons in particular for saving: first, if you are in a life-threatening situation, and second, if you feel you might want to restore to that point in order to try a different path. To save a game:
1 -- Enter SAVE.
2 -- Follow all instructions on the screens (you can type up to 30 characters identifying your location when you save).

When the save is complete, you will get a short description of your location followed by a cursor. You can continue your game after this.

RESTORE
You can restore to any point you have saved on the Save Disk at any time during the game. To do so:
1 -- Enter RESTORE.
2 -- Follow all instructions on the screens.

AMBER will resume from the point you selected, and you can continue your game.

If you have died during the course of the game and wish to restore, simply type "R" when the screen asks if you would like to play again. Follow the instructions on the screen; AMBER will resume from the point you selected, and you can continue your game.

NOTE: If you change your mind after typing CREATE, SAVE or RESTORE, type "*" to cancel the command.

PAUSE
When you have finished reading a paragraph, press the spacebar to continue.

RESTART
Enter RESTART any time you wish to return to the beginning of the game.

QUIT
Enter QUIT if you wish to end the game before completing it.

PICTURESON/PICTURESOFF
NINE PRINCES IN AMBER can be played without graphics. If you wish to play using text only, enter PICTURESOFF. You can recall the graphics to your screen at any time by entering PICTURESON.


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[insert:]

NINE PRINCES IN AMBER (tm)

Loading on the Commodore 64 (tm)

Note: This game uses one disk drive.

1. Arrange your computer with one disk drive and a monitor or television. *Do not connect a printer.*
2. Turn on the disk drive and the computer. Make certain that the SHIFT LOCK key is up.
3. Insert game Disk Side A into the disk drive and enter: LOAD "DISK",8.
4. When the computer responds with READY, enter: RUN.
5. The program will load automatically.

Loading on the Commodore 128 (tm)

1. Turn on the disk drive and the monitor or television.
2. Depress the COMMODORE KEY (lower left) on the keyboard and turn on the computer.
3. The screen will display the words "*****COMMODORE 64*****"
4. Insert the game disk Side A into the drive and follow the instructions above beginning with the LOAD command.

----------------------------------------------------------------
Commodore 64 and 128 are trademarks of Commodore Electronics Ltd.

I-C6-AMB

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End of the Project 64 etext of the Nine Princes in Amber manual.

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