Your Spectrum 19 - Hack Free Zone

Your Spectrum
Issue 19, October 1985 - Hack Free Zone

H A C K F R E E Z O N E

Ger-reat! A big hand for our child of the computer age, Hex Loader who's commandeered the column that beats the cheats. Over to you, Hex ...
Hi there! Hex Loader, here, and have I got some tips for You-hoo! Having trouble with a megagame? Well, you're looking at the man who can help. I have the technology No, scratch that ... I am the technology! All accusations of egomania aside, I am, after all, computer generated, so it only follows that I should know what goes on inside my silicon-based buddies. Am I right? Or am I right? OK, so bragging without proof is like toad-in-the-hole without sausage, so here we go with this month's postbag. Everybody who's anybody is playing Ultimate's Knight Lore. With good reason, it's a superlative game. The basic principle of the game being to put the Seven Charms into the Wizard's Cauldron, in order: Bottle, Sphere, Chalice, Bottle, Diamond, Sphere, Poison, Boot, Cup, Diamond, Poison, Boot, Chalice, Cup. As Simon Robinson of Enfield tells me, "The list would be better drawn in a circle, as the first object required may be any one of them. Once you know your position in the list, you can proceed with confidence." Simon also sent me a map of the game. Admirable patience, there, my old chutney, but unfortunately I don't have the space to print it. I would far prefer that if any of you people have any tips, you write them out rather than draw them. Small diagrams, yes. Annotated screens, yippee! Lunking great reams of tightly drawn maps, no. That kind of thing makes my optical pickups hurt. Now the first of many tips for Gargoyle Games' Dun Darach. This quick starter comes from P. Bradford of Nottingham, who tells me, "Go to the casino and make some money." Easy? Yep! All you do is take your 2000 iridi into the casino, and then Save the game! Then, place your bet on the 2-1 table; if you lose the bet, all you do is reload the saved position and replace your bet until you win. But that's almost cheating and you know what I think of	that! Just this once though - now go to the bank and deposit most of the money, avoiding pickpockets. Go to the Thieves' Guild and buy a licence for 10,000 iridi. Keep the asterisk on the licence to avoid being 'mugged'. Go to the Minstrel at 10 Old Hill, and buy a lyre for 1,000 iridi. When you meet Dain, behind the invisible door on Park Row, give him the lyre, and he will give you the shield. Take the shield to 'Hail Midir' at 35 Marsh Street, drop it on the altar, and pick up the M-key. You can use this to let you through the invisible door on Cross Street, opposite number 55, and obtain the Tele-stone. Go to the Strong Room at 1 North Wall, and get the pearl. Once outside the Strong Room, the licence can be discarded. To avoid mugging, though, put the asterisk against the Tele-stone. What you do now, and where you go to finish the game, I'll tell you next time. Dun Darach is such a complex adventure, it can't be thrown into such a small space as this, so I guess I'll be featuring it for some months to come. Jerry Tattum of Rowlands Gill, Tyne and Wear has a few terse comments about Avalon. "Assuming you have found the route out of the Gatehouse level, here are a few things to bear in mind. Don't touch the walls in the tunnel, as they waste energy. Don't waste the Energise spells. Search for the Free Energy Point when you get to a new level, you need to know where it is. The sword Caliburn is an essential piece of equipment, although tricky because you can't see it! Don't use Caliburn on the other wizards, you'll lose it. If you can't zap a wizard, try giving him something. Finally, if it moves, kill it!" That's it, time to Log Out, and still not a POKE in sight. See you next month, and keep those letters coming to Hex Loader, Hack Free Zone, Your Spectrum, 14 Rathbone Place, London W1P 1DE. Oh, yeah and another thing ... (click, bzzzzzzzzz)	KNIGHT WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT Remember the charms must go into the pot in the right order. To find out which one you need first you'll just have to trundle off to the wizard's lair at the start. The object you need flashes on and off above the cauldron.		Don't mess with the wizard, chum. He may look charming as he toddles off round the pot but touch him and you'll wave farewell to another life.

		Try this tip. As objects are only accepted in the right order, it's an idea to collect as many as possible and then drop them in the adjoining rooms. Then nip into the den and with luck the charm you need will he close at hand.	Only when the sun's shining will the wizard let you add ingredients to the pot. At full moon, when you've adopted your lycanthropic persona - that's a flash way of saying you've turned into a wolf - the sparkler in the cauldron tries to beat the living daylights out of you. Give yourself plenty of time and avoid the room if the sun's just setting.
		LAYING DOWN THE LORE Like all good sentries, this one sticks to his appointed path - backwards and forwards from door to door. The only way you'll get him to deviate is to push the table in his way to collect the object. Don't worry, he's a bit weedy and will only jolt the table not shove it to one side.		You don't have to use the table to reach the top of the arch - drop an object so that you're standing on it, then press jump and pick at the same time. This is a good tip for getting over all sorts of obstacles that at first seem insurmountable.

		You'll have to use this table if you want to get on top of the situation. Push it over to the arch and use it as a half-way stage to jumping up to the charm.	Don't touch the ornaments! They may look like harmless wolves heads but they're as deadly as the real thing. All over the castle you'll find inanimate objects have got it in for you.