Death's Head Hole

The classic rescue adventure. Breaks new ground in home computer simulations... highly recommended - Dragon Club news

Three cavers are lost, deep in different parts of the notorious Death's Head Hole. You and your three companions are the members of a newly-formed rescue team.

Most of the time, play is controlled by just four keys. But don't be misled by the game's apparent simplicity - the program is "intelligent" and responds to your initiative.

First, you must equip yourselves. If you wish, you may opt for a standard set of kit, until the knowledge you have gained suggests you should try a different combination of items. You are already wearing exposure suits, and have miners' cap lamps. One set of sub-aqua gear contains enough kit for the entire party, and you will have sufficient bottled oxygen for the expedition.

As long as you keep to obvious passages in the cave, your situation and choice of direction - North, South, East or West - will be described. You can, in desperation, try an unexplored route (a direction which is not described) but the mental tension involved will exhaust your fitness more quickly, and the route could be very dangerous. If you press Listen, passages in hearing range will be scanned for sounds of a lost caver, except when you are at the entrance. You take a break while you are listening, so your fitness will be debited accordingly, and your lights' batteries will also run down a little more. Your lights and fitness will, in any case, be gradually exhausted. The more effort required to tackle a particular section of passage, the more your fitness will be debited, although your lights will diminish at a fixed rate. When your main lights expire, any spare lamps you have will be substituted automatically, and your fitness, when it is exhausted, will be partially restored - once again, automatically - by your spare food packs. You will find more food at dumps left in the cave by the Mendip Rescue Organisation. You may also consume a spare food pack at any time, by pressing Food (As difficulties always seem to multiply when you're exhausted, it could prove beneficial to keep your fitness level as high as possible.) Extra equipment can be found in the Cave of Chasms, deep in the cave.

Your mission is urgent, as heavy rain is causing the stream passages to flood, and the dry passages to become unstable. In the main cave, this results in the dry passages choking with debris, while the unusual geology of the Cave of Chasms causes impassable chasms to form. Sumps - flooded sections of passage - form in the steam sections of the main cave. The sumps can be passed if you have a set of sub-aqua gear, and choked passages can be dug clear with a shovel. If you have this equipment, you need only give a normal instruction to move into the obstacle. Static sumps are filled by drips from the roof, and are too constricted to dive. If you have a bucket, you can bail them, allowing you to crawl through. A pitch is a vertical drop, requiring possession of a ladder; a climb needs a rope. You can, however, attempt to pass any hazard without the correct equipment - at your own risk. Stepping into a chasm is always fatal to every member of the party. In desperation, in remote parts of Death's Head Hole, bear in mind the old timers' tale of a lost cave. According to legend, this is an alternative entrance to Death's Head Hole, which disappeared during a massive cave-in.

While at the entrance, or in the first section of the cave, pressing Points will give you your current score.

To succeed, you must rescue every caver. Of course, we want you to protect your team members as well. But as members of the Mendip Rescue Organisation, they will be prepared to sacrifice themselves.

The television crews are assembled at the entrance and your mother has sold her story to The Sun.

The eyes of the nation are on you.

The best of British luck!

For beginners: Draw a 40 x 40 grid - you'll only have to do it once. The cave entrance lies at square 11,22; i.e. 11 squares right, 22 down from the top left hand corner. Don't be too ambitious at first. A good plan for an opening trip would be to head three moves north, then nine west through Entrance Series to discover Main Stream Passage, then to follow this to its bitter end, noting side passages as you proceed. Mark - S: Stream passage; D: Dry passage; St: Static sump; C: Climb; P: Pitch. Some sumps and choked passages are permanent features, but the creation of others is a feature of the program, so do not record these unless you are certain that they are permanent. With experience, you will discover a means of delaying their creation. You can press G to give up at any time. Your points score depends on the cavers found, the number of moves you make, and your courage. To give you a start: the F key can be your best friend.

Game Controls

NORTH (N), SOUTH (S), EAST (E), WEST (W)
F - Take Food
L - Listen
P - Points
G - Give up

If all else fails: A survey, showing the passages and features of Death's Head Hole, is available from Peaksoft, 7 Hawthorn Crescent, Burton-on-Trent.

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Tape: CHAIN"" (RETURN)
Disc: SHIFT-BREAK