In-Game Screen

The in-game screen is divided into two main areas. At the top you see the current room graphics with Caren. At the bottom you see the item and action panel.

The right part of the panel displays the items you have in your possession, the left part shows different symbols.

How To Play

In the room, you will usually see your flashing pointer.

This will change to a colour flashing larger symbol when it is hovering over a game object.

Depending on the actions available for this object, the corresponding panel symbols will be highlighted in white. Four actions are available:

[X] perform no action
[O] look at the object
[Hand] use object
[Arrow right] use object with an item from your inventory

You can select and execute the available actions by keeping the joystick button depressed for a moment. The central cross will begin to flash and the room pointer will change its shape to indicate the change in mode.

Now, while keeping the button pressed, you can select the highlighted options by moving the stick in the corresponding direction. Once an object is selected, you may release the button.

If you selected 'use object with' the selection frame will enter your inventory. Here, you can choose the item via joystick and make your selection by releasing the button.

A quick double-click on an object will execute the default command directly. Usually this will be the 'look at' command. In some cases it will execute 'use'.

There is a notable exception, though. Caren will leave the current screen when she walks up to open doors, stairways, ladders or sometimes just the border of the screen leading to a neighbouring room.

Quick Exit

A 'quick exit' option has been implemented if the pointer is hovering above a valid exit area. A double-click on one of these quick exits will immediately exit the room. In some cases, this is the only way to exit a room. Whenever a quick-exit is available, the pointer turns into a exit sign.

Walking

A single click on the room graphics will instruct Caren to walk there if possible. She will find the shortest route around obstacles herself. If the target cannot be reached, she will walk to a point below or above the chosen position. If that is not possible, she will refuse to start walking.

Speaking

When Caren speaks, the upper part of the screen id replaced by a text field with speech bubbles.

When other characters, or the narrator, talk, the text will be red on white. No speech bubbles are shown here.

Other than from the main menu, you can launch the game directly from file:

Load 'KERNAL' for the game with ROM loader (i.e. SD2IEC with JiffyDOS)
Load 'FASTLOAD' for the fastloader version.

Game Controls

The game character Caren is fully controlled via joystick in port 2. Some keys provide special functions:

F1 - Load previously saved game
F3 - Toggle game language between English and German
F5 - Set the text speed. By default this is set to 5.
F7 - Save game to disk
RETURN - Set the speed to trigger the action panel (default is 1).

To avoid accidental loading or sacing, you need to keep the button pressed for a while before the action is carried out. This is indicated on the screen.

Game Credits

Programming And Scripting ... Martin Wendt
Graphics And Animation ... Oliver Lindau
Music And Sound Effects ... Kamil Wolnikowski
Proof-reading And Testing ... Robert Megone
In-Game Tennis ... Andreas Varga