Blurb

"Welcome to the second computer game to feature the contents of my diary - is there no such thing as privacy? Such is the price of fame I suppose.

The aim of the game is to make me as popular as possible with everyone. You make decisions for me through multiple choice questions. Now I am more mature, life is even more complicated and I have even more decisions to make, so there's a lot of text in there and some very nice illustrations too.

Some may think it's a game; I prefer to think of it as a sort of quest for the Meaning of Life - not easy to find in Laurel Close, Leicester!

So good luck; being popular as well as an intellectual is not so easy. I should know, I've spent all my life trying!"

The BBC B version is not illustrated.

Introduction

Playing this game will take you through eighteen months in the life of Adrian Mole. When you have loaded the first part of the game, following the instructions below (under the heading Using The Program), you will see that, as you progress through the days in Adrian's diary, you will be asked to make choices for Adrian. Press a number from 1 to 3 to choose one of the options suggested. Pressing key number 4 will display the command and help system menu. This gives a list of the additional features in the game and full instructions on how to use them.

The Game

Whether you have read Sue Townsend's best-selling books or not, you should have no trouble guiding Adrian through the trials and tribulations of school and family life! Knowing the books won't necessarily give you an advantage: in the game, familiar scenes may well have a new twist.

There are number of random elements included so each game may be different. Adrian's view of the world is unique and entertaining andyou help make decisions about all aspects of his life. He is surrounded by colourful characters and you will need to consider carefully the best way to impress them! Your ultimate aim is to make Adrian as popular as possible with everyone and at regular points in the game your score will appear as an indication of how well you are doing. (You could, of course, play it the other way and try to make Adrian as unpopular as possible!)

Using The Program

The game consists of a number of separate programs. Please see the cassette label for the position of the different parts of the game. Each program covers a few months of Adrian's life. When playing the game, press SHIFT when the game pauses.

Saving The Game

While playing the game, you can save your current position (so that you can turn the computer off, yet return later to the same stage in the game). To do this, insert a spare blank cassette in the recorder.

Type 4 instead of 1-3 when asked to make a decision and follow the instructions on-screen.

Reloading

When reloading your saved game, make sure the section of the game you saved from is loaded into the computer. Type 4 instead of 1-3 when asked to make a decision then type LOAD (RETURN).

Follow on-screen instructions to load your file.

Loading

Tape:
PAGE=&E00 (RETURN)
*TAPE (RETURN)
CHAIN"" (RETURN)

When the game starts, don't forget to stop the tape and do not rewind it.

When you reach the end of a program, a message on the screen will ask you if yu want to go to the next program. Type YES (RETURN). Start the tape and press RETURN twice.

The next program loads in the same way as the first one. Remember to stop the tape when the game starts again.

You do not need to play the whole game through from the beginning, but may load each part separately. To permit this, there may be a couple of short loader programs between each part. These will be ignored when you are chaining on from one part to another, so do not assume you have a loading ault if your computer does not immediately load the next part.