| Genre: | Text Adventure |
| Publisher: | Heyley |
| Machine Compatibility: | Acorn Electron |
| Release: | Professionally released on 3.5" Disc |
| Available For: | Acorn Electron & BBC B/B+/Master 128 |
| Compatible Emulators: | Elkulator 1.0 (PC (Windows)) |
| Original Release Date: | 1st September 1988 |
| Features: | Speed Boost when combined with the Turbo Driver |
| Original Release Price: | £7.99 |
| Market Valuation: | £41.67 (How Is This Calculated?) |
| Item Weight: | 64g |
| Box Type: | Supplied Unboxed |
| Author(s): | Tony Heap & Howard Roberts |
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Electron User
1st September 1988
With a little more polish and development, Heyley could soon challenge Robico, Level 9 and Infocom as serious producers of micro adventures. Read Review
Full Instructions
Introduction
The Taroda Scheme has 220+ locations, nearly 80 objects and 200+ messages. In total, the squashed data files comprise over 75K.
Instructions
The game understands one or two word commands, e.g. CLIMB TREE or JUMP. If it doesn't understand, try a different work, for example, if you type: PUSH BUTTON and it responds: 'I don't know how to PUSH' you could then try: PRESS BUTTON.
The second word in your command, the object, may also produce an error. Maybe you have typed GET MATTRESS and it responds: 'I can't see a matador with a green cape'.
This is because there is a matador with a green cape. This is because there is a matador somewhere else in the game and the computer does not recognise the word MATTRESS.
You can only manipulate those objects that are prefixed with 'You can see'; you cannot manipulate objects mentioned in the room description.
The program distinguishes between objects whose status has changed. For example, it says 'You see an empty bottle'. To get it, type: GET EMPTY BOTTLE, because later you might be able to fill it and the message would be 'You see a full bottle', and to get it you say: GET FULL BOTTLE.
This would also apply to objects like ropes (tied or untied) and keys (various types; skeleton, brass, etc.). When checking your response, the computer refers only to the first few letters in each word; four letters for the first word and three letters for the second word, so the words: CLIMB THE TREE could be written as: CLIM TRE to save time.
Commands
The Taroda Scheme recognises a wide range of words. Some you will have to discover for yourself, others are standard, for example:
| Command | Meaning |
| GO NORTH or N | Move northwards |
| GET KNIFE | Take the knife |
| WEAR COAT | Put the coat on |
| DROP ROPE | Put the rope down |
| EXAMINE NOTE | Look at the note more closely |
| GET ALL | Pick up everything from the floor. |
| LOOK or L | What does the room look like? |
| SCORE | How am I doing and for how long have I been playing? |
| INVENTORY or I | What am I carrying and wearing? |
There are some commands which have little to do with playing the game but are commands to the program.
| Command | Meaning |
| QUIT | Abandon the game. |
| SAVE | Save the current state of play to disc. |
| RESTORE | Load a previously saved position. |
| *CAT, *. or CAT | Catalogue the disc. (Directory paths can be given) |
Saving and Loading Game Positions
When using SAVE and RESTORE, note the following:
| 1. | Do not attempt to save a position on the adventure disc itself. You can't. |
| 2. | Trying to SAVE on a disc which is full or whose catalogue is full will result in a 'Disc full' or 'Cat full' error message. |
| 3. | The 'Channel' error appears if you attempt to RESTORE a non-existent file. |
| 4. | You will be prompted for a filename and drive number. |
Do not save a game on anything other than a disc of the same track size, or you will have to start again. Remember to put the adventure disc back in drive 0 after saving or restoring a position.
Scoring
You score for getting on in the game, for holding or wearing certain objects and, of course, for winning.
Hints
Almost everything in The Taroda Scheme has a purpose. EXAMine every object you come across. Messages can often give you some help. If you try to get an object and the reply is 'You can't' then it means that the object is too heavy,e.g. you have tried to get a spaceship, or that you have to do something to the object first, e.g. you have tried to get a robot; maybe you have to unplug it first. Read the description of locations; they often contain clues, e.g. if a room is floored with soft earth then maybe you should try digging. Use SAVE and RESTORE regularly. Since the journey through the game is very long and extremely difficult, it is inevitable that at some time you will be killed.
You don't want to have to start from the beginning all over again just because you hadn't saved a position. Use SAVE whenever you think you may be going into danger. It might also be a good idea to SAVE your positions under numbered files, e.g. GAME1, GAME2, GAME3, etc. just in case you find that you have lost an object that you need later on in the game. Finally, make a map as you go along, summarising each location and showing its exits. The Taroda Scheme is fairly easy to map pictorially and a map will help you to find your way around the game.
Background
The year is 10340 AD and the planet Earth is now destroyed and forgotten by most, if not all, of mankind. Pioneers have colonised other planets, and eventually the inevitable Galactic Empire was founded. This Empire now spans over 700 star systems, and life is enjoyed by everybody (except for the poor, who don't matter anyway!).
Obviously, the terraformation of many planets is not as well balanced as that of Earth. This has led to different planets being designated for specialised functions, according to their qualities. For example, the planet Berkshaka is used as an industrial world because of its trees' surprising tendency to grow in the shape of nuclear reactors and twenty storey office blocks.
The planet Taroda was colonised in 8237 AD and is now used to supply great quantities of its methane atmosphere and its naturally abundant ore 'strykalite' (a barbeque lighting fuel) to Sartravaag, its neighbouring star system. Other projects are also carried out on the planet's surface.
The methane is collected using huge spherical dumps, each the size of a moon, but much, much denser. An electrostatic field is created around them and this excites and attracts the methane gas. It is then shipped to Sartravaag VI in a compressed form, along with great amounts of strykalite. The whole process is automated using the new molecular computer, designed by Dr. Jane Rasgovt.
The only inhabitants of the planet are the mine labourers (slaves) who are kept in suspended animation for ninety percent of the time.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is fairly mundane. You are to make the five-yearly check on the system to make sure all is well. As you can probably guess, it isn't going to be. This computer will self-destruct in five seconds...
The Taroda Scheme was written and conceived by Howard Roberts and Tony Heap using a highly modified version of Jonathan Evans' ADVENTURESCAPE program, a clapped out issue 3 Beeb and a beautifully clean, brand new Master 128 of which Howard was extremely jealous - until he went out and bought an Archimedes (Grrr).
The game took five months slaving over a hot keyboard; Howard made 1,026 typing errors; we used up 752 sheets of cheapo 60 gram printer paper and 234 sheets of high quality 90 gram paper (Tony was a real Scrooge with his paper!); the whole game was corrupted once and the company nearly went into liquidation three times.
Thanks to absolutely nobody, because we did it all ourselves, apart from the testing by Hugh, the proof-reading, whcih was courtesy of Alan Heap and Ken Roberts, to Jonathan Evans for a good review of Pirate's Peril.
The Taroda Scheme incorporates several extremely brilliant and amazing new routines which improve the playability and speed of the game, all of which were designed by the extremely modest authors.
Screen Designers
The following utilities are also available to allow you to edit the supplied screens of this game:
Cheats
Download
A digital version of this item can be downloaded right here at Everygamegoing (All our downloads are in .zip format).
| Download | What It Contains |
|---|---|
 | A digital version of The Taroda Scheme suitable for Elkulator 1.0 (PC (Windows)) |
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