The Pen And The Dark

A challenging adventure game based on The Pen And The Dark, one of Colin Kapp's classic SF series of stories about The Unorthodox Engineers.

Faced with an insuperable problem under alien conditions, Fritz van Noon's hand of Unorthodox Engineers have no option but to resort to unorthodox methods.

Can you, in the role of Fritz van Noon, discover the purpose of the indestructible pillar of darkness left by an alien race on an otherwise normal planet, and solve the riddle of contra-energy?

There are clues in the story, but you won't find all the answers in print!

Important Note

Ensure that your computer is in the CAPS LOCK mode, so that your typed command is displayed in upper case. If the CAPS LOCK light is not on, press the CAPS LOCK key once.

How To Play The Game

An Adventure game is one in which, by instructing the computer in simple English sentences, you act out a role in a particular situation. You may move around from place to place (GO NORTH, GO DOOR, etc), you may pick up and drop many of the objects you can see (TAKE LETTER, DROP TORCH) and you may examine and manipulate many of the objects and items you see before you.

The Pen And The Dark has a wide vocabulary, but if a word you use is not recognised, you will be told. In that case, try another similar word, or perhaps think of a different way to overcome the situation.

Respond to the prompt on the screen with one-word or two-word commands, typed in UPPER CASE.

The game is presented on the screen as scrolling text. Because of this, the details of your current location may disappear off the top of the screen. To redisplay and update them, simply type LOOK.

Note that each time the location details are displayed, either by typing LOOK or because you have moved from one place to another, the screen will first be cleared, so that you will lose any messages and commands previously shown.

If you wish to examine or look at something specific in the game, then the command LOOK DOOR or EXAMINE DOOR will act in a different way from LOOK on its own. If there is anything interesting to be learnt, the appropriate message will be displayed, but the location details will not be repeated.

To move around from place to place, the verb GO is used (e.g. GO NORTH, GO DOOR). Any of the exits which are displayed on the screen may be taken by typing the first letter of the direction (e.g. instead of GO NORTH, type N). This will speed your game up, partly because it is shorter to type, and partly because the computer will give a command priority, and has less work to do in deciphering it.

To pick up an object, the commands TAKE and GET are recognised. To see what you are carrying, type INVENTORY or INV.

The words LOAD and SAVE apply only to loading and saving the game. Using them will put the computer into LOAD or SAVE mode. These words will not help with progress - either orthodox or unorthodox - through the game.

Because the game follows the narrative of Colin Kapp's story The Pen And The Dark, you will find when playing it, that you will have to go through all the various key features of the plot. Even though you may know how to deal with a particular situation in which you find yourself, due to the narrative structure of the game you will have to 'act out' the storyline.

Before starting out on your Adventure, you are recommended to read the first part of the story up to the beginning of page 14. This sets the scene, and also contains valuable information which you will certainly need to be able to complete the game.

If, during play, you find you need help, then read through the rest of the story. This won't altogether spoil your game, although it may take out some of the excitement of discovery! On the other hand, don't think you will easily be able to complete the game just because you have read the story. Much of the adventure is set around how to obtain and use the resources necessary to complete your objective. If you are really in trouble, you can acquire a 'hints sheet' from the publishers by sending a stamped, addressed envelope to Unorthodox Engineers Dept., Mosaic Publishing Ltd, 187 Upper Street, London N1 1RQ.

Your objective? That will be outlined to you during the opening stages! Apart from that, you are on your own! And don't forget - to complete an Unorthodox Engineers' adventure, you may have to think in an unorthodox way!

To Save A Game Position

You may save your current game position so that you can turn the computer off, yet return later to the same stage in the game. To do this, type SAVE GAME (RETURN) and follow the on-screen instructions.

To Load A Saved Game

At the start, or at any time during playing a game, you may restore a previously saved game position by typing LOAD GAME (RETURN). Follow the on-screen instructions and you will be returned to the game at the stage you were at when you saved it.

Loading

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