Introduction

The Alien From Outer Space:
"We cannot say whether we have killed all the mutants or not. The Alien Life form may still lie hidden inside one of us, but we don't know who, so we cannot trust one another. Help us to destroy it before it destroys us."

Programmed by Andrew Pickford.

Plus another great adventure: Dragon's Tooth by Philip McHardy.

The Alien From Outer Space

The Scenario:
As head scientist of the British Institute of Antarctic Research, it is your job to periodically visit each station on British Artarctic Territory. Whilst at Halley Bay on the Caird Coast, you receive an urgent message from Ian Davies, the radio operator at the Mt. Cohan station. You travel there by helicopter and are greeted by its six members. Whilst the rest of the crew are eating their supper, David Ryder, the group leader, tells you of their position:

"Last Thursday I was in my dormitory, writing up the reports of sightings of UFOs in my diary, when I heard an horrific scream from the corridor. I rushed out to see someone strangling Alan Thomas. The attacker turned to face me and I was petrified - his face was horribly distorted and his body looked battered and broken. I turned and ran down the corridor to the kitchen, where I grabbed a breadknife and waited, terrified, behind the door.

"The creature burst in and I swiftly thrust the knife into its chest. Then, to my horror, it withdrew the knife and rushed at me with it. I dived to one side and the creature crashed against the cooker.

"Its tattered clothes came to rest on the gas rings and burst into flames. The other crew members came in and watched in disbelief as the body melted, boiled and evaporated. We rushed back to where Alan Thomas was lying, but I knew before we checked that his neck was broken.

"We stood there for a while, wondering what to do, when suddenly Alan sat up, his head resting on his shoulder, his tongue hanging pathetically down from his gaping mouth. Before our eyes, the skin on his face tightened and split and, like a man possessed, he began to laugh.

"Acting on impulse, Nigel Fox drew a pistol from his anorak and shot the abomination between the eyes. It spontaneously combusted and, like the other creature, nothing remained afterwards. We cannot say whether we have killed all the mutants or not. The Alien Life Form may still lie hidden inside one of us, but we don't know who, so we cannot trust one another. You must help us to destroy the Alien Life Form before it destroys us!"

Interaction/How To Play

The 'Alien Life Force' may enter other members of the research team, transforming them into 'mutants' by possessing their bodies. These mutants will attack the other members of the team in an attempt to possess them all. Each non-mutant character has a limited amount of strength which is decreased each time he is hit or comes into contact with a mutant. When he loses all his strength, he dies. And then...

The behaviour patterns of the mutants are recognizably un-human. They are dangerous and damaging...

It is best to start by drawing a map, discovering the whereabouts of various objects you will need, and determining the occupation and patterns of behaviour/movement of the other characters. There are ways of discovering such information.

Commands

To kill a character (or his mutant form), you can type: KILL [character] WITH [object]

Occasionally, you will be required to be more specific, e.g. STAB [MAN] WITH [DAGGER]

Useful Words

LIGHT/EXTINGUISH
INSERT
BREAK
OPEN
GET
DROP
PULL
EXAMINE
FILL
EMPTY
ENABLE
DISABLE
SEARCH

Note that there is a subtle difference between EXAMINE and SEARCH!

Directions: N(ORTH), S(OUTH), E(AST), W(EST), U(P), D(OWN), etc.
LOAD (e.g. a weapon with ammunition)
MAKE (an object, although you may need to be precise)

If an object is discovered within another object, you must TAKE [object] FROM [object] in order to retrieve it.

Commands can be very complex and you should experiment to achieve the desired results.

Special Commands

SAVE (position to tape/disc)
LOAD (position from tape/disc)
HELP
INVENTORY (Lists objects held)

Completing The Game

To win, you must kill all the mutants. How to do so and how to confirm that you have indeed done so is down to you!

The Dragon's Tooth Storyline

Your village was once a pleasant one, set in the rolling hills of the south. The villagers had no fears and lived a comfortable life, as crop failure was unheard of in these parts. The village had two gates, one leading west into lands inhabited by folk of the same friendly nature as the south, and the second gate faced north, leadng into lands of which little was known. Many evil rumours and tales were told of the wilderness of the north, and the north gate was seldom opened.

The northern lands were much less prosperous than those in the south, and the people of the north became most resentful about it. They appointed a powerful Sorcerer as their leader and persuaded him to curse the southern lands so that all future cros would fail. The Sorcerer created a dragon with such power that with one breath every field in sight would burn.

He freed his creation the next year and the dragon was unleashed with devastating results. The southern lands soon became impoverished and many starved.

It was at this time that a brave elf from your village set out to slay the dragon and rid the villagers of their curse. The dragon, who slept outside the entrance to his master's fortress in a mountain, was caught unawares and the elf cut off its mighty head with one blow. However, the elf had overlooked one vital detail; there was only one approach to the mountain entrance, and he had been followed up by a patrol of sentinels.

The sentinels attacked the elf from behind and he was overcome and killed; his body was dumped in the dark forest. The evil sorcerer managed to reincarnate the dragon's head which he mounted above the entrance as a guardian. He also took the dragon's only tooth from which his creation had begun. The tooth acted as a life force for the curse, and so long as it existed the curse remained on the southern lands.

The only hope for the people of the south now lay in the hands of an ageing wizard who lived on a high hill, on the borders of the wilderlands. The elf had been a close friend of the wizard and in a fit of rage he stormed up the mountain and used all his powers to pass the guardians within. When he confronted the sorcerer, there was an almighty battle. The wizard's rage was such that he easily overpowered his enemy and destroyed him. However, once his rage had cooled, his old body paid the consequences of the battle and he became no more than a feeble old man. The sentinels within the mountain captured him and locked him away in a deep maze.

The wizard had taken his pet crow 'Rak' with him, and when Rak saw his master being locked up, he flew back to the first village he came to and told the sad story to the villagers. He said that the wizard knew how to destroy the legendary tooth, if only someone could find it and give it to him.

You happen to overhead the crow's tale and decide there and then to find the tooth and give it to the wizard. You depart immediately on your desperate quest.

Instructions

You must PAY characters for goods or services, KILL them with objects.

There is a lamp which can be used to provide light in certain dark situations! It may be activated by LAMP ON/LAMP OFF but you may need something else to create a spark, and use fuel wisely!

You can use adverbs to perform actions in certain ways, e.g. KILL OGRE QUICKLY WITH SWORD, OPEN DOOR CAREFULLY. You can also specify actions in particular directions, in addition to the standard directions of movement, e.g. SHOOT ARROW UP, LEAP EAST.

Loading

Tape: Side 1 contains The Alien From Outer Space. Side 2 contains Dragon's Tooth. Type *RUN (RETURN) to load.

Disc: Hold SHIFT and tap BREAK to boot disc. Choose the adventure you wish to play from the on-screen menu.