Minnesota Smith's Aztec Adventure by Chris Spicer Contents 1) Introduction 2) Introductory Story 3) A Beginners Guide To Adventures 4) About This Game 5) Requirements 6) Installation 7) Help Section 8) Credits, Copyrights and Disclaimer 9) About Me And The Game 10) Hellos 11) An Advert! 1) Introduction Hello there! Welcome to the guide to Minnesota Smith's Aztec Adventure. I hope to make this guide well-written and informative. You may have noticed that it's supplied in two versions, a simple ascii version and an Amigaguide version for those who can handle it. So, what is Minnesota Smith's Aztec Adventure? It's one of those games that used to be known as "text adventures," but which are now known as Interactive Fiction. If you've never played one before I suggest you read the section A Beginners Guide To Text Adventures. Of course, first of all I'd read the Introductory Story, as this will give you an idea of who Minnesota Smith is and what the adventure is about. For those of you expecting a serious adventure, sorry, but this game is for fun only! There are plenty of jokes in the adventure. I'm especially proud of the fact that you can examine just about everything - I spent ages putting in descriptions of everything I could think of. I'm a little worried that this game might be a little short. It has 60 locations to explore, including a 23-room maze. However, in playtesting it didn't take very long to complete. Therefore I'm already working on a new challenge for Minnesota to take on, one that will be absolutely MASSIVE! Thanks for playing my game. I hope you enjoy it! - Chris Spicer 2) Introductory Story It started, as it always did, with a job offer. And with a woman. The director of the British Museum didn't approach Minnesota Smith himself. Instead, knowing Minnesota's weak spots, he sent women. The latest was a Reader in Ancient History. Her name was Anna. She was beautiful, brunette, buxom and, basically, babelicious, and she sat patiently in the living room of Minnesota's flat while he made a cup of tea. Minnesota Smith was an explorer and an adventurer. He had modelled himself on his personal idol, a famous celluloid adventurer with a similar name. Minnesota had a fedora, a leather jacket and a bullwhip. He didn't come from America, but figured that was a minor point which could probably be ignored. He lived in what would be a posh apartment in a good area of London. Unfor- tunately Minnesota's personal habits had reduced it to a level somewhere near Pigsty. Not the best way to impress Anna, but Minnesota wasn't worried. At least she liked tea. Minnesota poured a cup for Anna (black, no sugar) and one for himself (very white, so much sugar the spoon stood upright in the mug) and carried the two mugs into the living room, where Anna was sitting on a spot she'd cleared herself on the sofa. She glanced around the apartment, taking in the beer cans, the pile of unwashed laundry and the large stack of pizza boxes. "Nice place you've got here," she lied. "Thanks," said Minnesota, handing her a mug. She smiled, took a sip of tea, and grimaced. Minnesota carried on reguardless. "So, what's the job?" he asked, flopping down into an armchair. Anna carefully placed the mug down on a nearby table which actually turned out to be a tea-tray stacked on top of a pile of FHM issues. She steepled her fingers. "We've come across a plan for an ancient aztec temple," she said. "The temple is situated in the middle of dense jungle and is said to be the home of a legendary fabulous treasure." "What kind of treasure?" "Er... our research drew a bit of a blank on that one." Anna sighed. "The director sent me here to request your help." "Really?" said Minnesota, smiling smugly. "He sent you here because he knew he needed the adventuring, trap-beating, temple-exploring skills of Minnesota Smith, did he?" "No," said Anna. "He said 'Go and get that Minnesota Smith, noone else would be stupid enough to fall for the idea.'" Minnesota laughed. So did Anna, after a while. Anna had booked a private charter on a plane which would fly them to a private airfield near the reputed site of the temple. She'd already made contact with a local who claimed to have seen the temple as a young man, and who could guide Minnesota to it now. She spent the entire plane journey pouring over piles of books, and seemed quite happy to do so. Minnesota, on the other hand, was a little dissappointed. Usually the heroine (Every hero had to have a heroine, and although Anna seemed a little more straight-headed than the women he was used to, Minnesota was prepared to let her count as one) had given into his manly charms by now. Usually plane journeys were spent seeing how far the seats would go back. But Anna was more interested in academia. Minnesota was more than a little discouraged. The plane journey was long and boring, and Minnesota was glad when they touched down at the private airfield. After they'd unloaded Anna's books they telephoned a for taxi. The car that arrived had, apparently, once been one of New York's yellow-cabs. Quite what it was doing in the darkest depths of South America Minnesota couldn't even begin to guess. Anyway, it wasn't a yellow-cab any more, more of a muddy-cab. The car took them to a local village, where Minnesota met the guide. His name was Salami. Salami seemed friendly enough, except for the distinctive odour which followed him around and, occasionnally, reached places before he did. Apparently Salami had been playing in the forest as a child and had become lost. He had wandered near to the temple before coming across some distinctly dodgy-looking statues and running all the way back to the village. Village elders had warned him that he had encroached upon a sacred site, and that if he ever returned his feet would be burnt off, and maggots would crawl into his eyes, and the ghosts of his ancestors would eat his living soul, and that his bones would become as boiling lead, and that his brain would melt and run out of his nose, although apparently the large cash incentives offered to him by the museum were proof against some events occuring now. It was decided that Anna would stay in the village to do further research, and that she and Minnesota would stay in contact by radio. Minnesota and Salami, and two local boys who the guide had employed to carry the luggage, would leave in the morning. The next morning Minnesota, Salami and the two luggage-carriers stood at the edge of the village. The journey to the temple would take less than a day, but Minnesota had insisted on taking plenty of food and water as they didn't know how long they'd stay there. He turned to Anna. "Well, I guess this is it. I'll keep in contact with you over the radio," he said, before turning away. "Minnesota," Anna called, and he turned back to her. She walked slowly up to him. "I... just in case I don't see you again, I just wanted to say..." "It's alright, there's no need to say it," said Minnesota. He placed his hand under Anna's chin and tilted her head up so she was looking at him. "I know exactly how you feel about me," he said, and Anna smiled. "It's okay," he continued. "We can still do it later." "Do what?" asked Anna. "Er, have sex," said Minnesota, aware that the conversation wasn't leading quite where he'd thought it would. "Have sex?" Anna took a step back. "I don't want to have sex with you! I just meant that I no longer thought that you were a total idiot - although I think I've changed my mind!" Anna turned and stormed off back to the village. Minnesota was aware of laughing behind him, and turned round to see Salami and the two boys sniggering unashamedly. "Come on, let's get going," he shouted, hefting the radio onto his back. He stalked off into the forest, followed by the two boys. "...have sex..." "Shut up!" It was almost mid-day when trouble hit them. It started when Salami spotted a rare snake, one which apparently was a harbinger of bad luck. He spent several minutes gibbering about boiling lead before Minnesota bought him back to his senses by slapping him with a bunch of rolled-up bank notes. Then one of the boys tripped over a lemur and badly sprained his ankle. The other boy had to help him back to the village. That left Minnesota and Salami to carry the rest of the luggage. Just after mid-day Salami motioned for Minnesota to stop. they crouched down behind a tree. "This area filled with traps," explained Salami. "Very dangerous. Lucky for you that I am best guide in South America! I know where all traps are, get you through them no problem." He stood up and took one step before a piece of ground shifted under his feet. "Oh dear..." he said before a branch came swinging out of the undergrowth and impaled him through the neck on a long spike. Minnesota stood up and walked carefully across to where Salami hung, impaled on the spike. He waved his hand in front of the guide's face. "Salami? Hello?" he said. No answer was forthcoming. Minnesota pulled the radio microphone out of his pocket and pressed down the send button. "Minn to Anna, Minn to Anna, come in Anna." Anna's voice, distorted by the radio, came back to him via the ear-phones he was wearing. "Anna recieving, what the hell's happenned now, over?" "There's been a bit of an accident, over." Minnesota winced. "What kind of accident, over?" "The native-guide-being-impaled-through-the-neck-by-ancient-trap kind, over." Anna's next word was luckily obscured by static. "Now what?" she asked. "Now," said Minnesota, "It's just you and me. Over." "What?" "We can still uncover that fabulous treasure, but I'll need you to guide me. You okay with that?" "I suppose so..." "Good." Dropping the luggage, Minnesota steeled his nerves, took one last glance at Salami, and set off down the path towards the temple. 3) A Beginners Guide To Adventures Blimey, this section could be very, very long. There's so much to be said about text adventures, and I certainly haven't got enough time to go into all the details, but I'll try to cover the main details here. Text adventures are just that. They let you wander around a series of linked rooms collecting objects and solving puzzles, but everything is described to you in text, and the only way you have of controlling the game is via text input. For instance, a room description might be: You are standing in the living room of your house. There's a roaring fire in the grate, and you are surrounded by comfortable furniture. A door to the east leads into the kitchen, whilst another to the north leads out into the hall. You can also see: Your wallet From this room description you can do several basic things. To move to another room you would type in the direction you wanted to travel, in this case east or north. In most adventure games the directions can be abbreviated to N, S, E and W (North, South, East and West). Some games support Up and Down directions, and some also support NE, NW, SE and SW (North-East, North-West, South-East and South-West). You can also do some things with your wallet. To pick it up, you would type in GET WALLET or TAKE WALLET. If you decided that you didn't want it after all you would type in DROP WALLET. You could examine it using the command EXAMINE WALLET. That could bring up a message such as: The wallet is made from brown leather and looks quite expensive. In our imaginary game, you will need a front door key which is kept in the wallet. You would therefore type in OPEN WALLET, which would bring up the message: You open the wallet to find the front door key. So that's where you left it! All basic interaction with text adventures is done in this way. Some more advanced text adventures may have limited graphical interfaces, allowing you to choose a direction by clicking on a compass, for instance, or using objects by clicking on pictures of them. The text interface is called the Parser. This is a list of all the commands that you can type in that the computer will recognise. Basic parser commands are as follows: North : Move one room North South : Move one room South East : Move one room East West : Move one room West and so on for other directions... Take : Pick up an object Drop : Drop an object already carried Examine : Describe an object in greater detail. Inventory : Brings up a list of items you have collected Dig : Dig in the current location Push : Push an object or part of the scenery Pull : Pull an object or part of the scenery Eat : Eat an object Drink : Drink an object In : Enter a building Out : Exit a building Not all of these commands are use by this game, and there are further commands that are used which aren't listed here. If you get stuck there's a listing of commands in the @{"Help" link help} section - however, you should only use that list as a last resort. 4) About This Game There are a few things you should know about this game before playing it. Firstly, it consists of sixty rooms, including a maze, so making a map would be a good idea. If you've read the @{"Introductory Story" link story} (and if you haven't, why not?) you'll know that Minnesota and Anna were talking over a radio. Well, in this adventure you don't play Minnesota, you take the very important part of Anna (but I'm sure someone will make you put it back). The game is played as if you are back at base-camp talking to Minnesota over the radio. That's why he's got to describe everything to you, see... You can examine just about everything, and there are clues to the uses of objects in their descriptions. Sometimes the description will include a word which can be used in the parser. The system I've used to program the game will only accept two words. So there's no "Pour water on fire", it's just "Pour water". This game supports Save and Load functions. Just type in Save to save your game, and Load to load one. There are several red herrings in the game - to see what they are (or Cheat, as it's known in the trade) see the Help section. Finally, you may notice that the objects in the game aften have one word in their name with a capital letter, such as "a small brass Key". The long description is because there may be one key in the game, but to keep the parser as straightforward as possible, the word with the capital letter is the only one you need to deal with the object. 5) Requirements I couldn't really give you a definitive list, but this game has been tested on a 1meg A500 and a 10meg A1200, so it should work on just about everything. 6) Installation Installing this game to a hard drive couldn't be simpler. All you have to do is drag all the files to the same location. If you get this game in a drawer (I'm not sure how CD-roms are compiled - archived or not) then drag the entire drawer - it'll be simpler. 7) Help Section This Help section is divided off into smaller sections to make navigation easier. It contains several levels of help, from simple tips for those who don't wan't to spoil the game too much to the complete solution for those who are completely stuck. The Hints section is just that. The Commands listing is for people who want to know in general what commands the parser will accept. The Red Herrings lists the objects you don't need. But remember, give the game a go first. Don't resort to cheating unless you really have to! 7.1) Hints 7.2) Commands List 7.3) Red Herrings 7.4) The Complete Solution 7.1) Hints Examine everything! Don't worry if you fall into a trap, you're meant to. A picture tells a thousand words... Think of how you can get rid of vampires... Gitter Snakes and Winkle Birds don't get on. Scarlet fish - think about it! That guano is a load of poo! If two short planks were once one long plank then, with the right stuff, they could be again. That statue might move... 7.2) Commands List This list does not include the directional commands, and is in no particular order. TAKE, DROP, EXAMINE, EAT, DIG, INSERT, PRESS, JOIN, UNLOCK, READ, POUR, FILL, WEAR, PULL, PUSH, BLESS, TICKLE, REMOVE, TIE, JUMP, CROSS, DIE, COMMIT 7.3) Red Herrings The following itens are red herrings: An aztec Mask A scarlet Fish Some Guano Further more, in one location there is a sign which reads "Now wash your hands." It is not important, and was just placed in there for comedic effect. Ha. Ha. Ha. 7.4) Complete Solution This solution is the quickest way of completing the game. However, if you play it straight through you'll miss many of the descriptions, and therefore much of the humour. Use this as a guide, therefore, and examine everything. Get whip, get lamp, E, get snake, E, E. Press button, E, E, E, E, N, get hat, wear hat, S, W, W, W, N, Get Bucket. S, S, S, W, W, fill bucket, bless water, E, S, S, pour water, S. Get marigolds, wear marigolds, N, N, N, N, pull sword, S, E, N, N. E, E, E, insert sword, E, get feather, W, S, tickle statue, W, S, W. Get horse, E, N, N, insert horse, S, S, E, drop key, get planks. Join planks, get key, W, N, W, W, S, S, Cross Chasm, E, unlock safe, look. Get elixir, pour elixir, W, cross chasm, N, N, E, E, E, N, E, E. Drop snake, E, E, D, W, W, pull lever, E, push statue, W, tie whip, D. Get key, U, E, E. The Maze S (to enter), E, E, E, S, S, W, W, S, W, W, N, N, W, W, N. Unlock door, E, E, get cube, W, W, travel back through maze, U, U. Insert cube, D, D, travel through maze, E, E, get treasure. 8) Credits, Copyright and Disclaimer This game was devised, written and programmed by Chris Spicer using the CAG adventure creation system. Playtesting by Helen Spicer. Minnesota Smith (c) Chris Spicer This game, including the text, graphics and this file (c) Chris Spicer This game is freeware. You can distribute it as long as the following files are present: M.S.A.A. B*I.Coord Bobs CAG.Execute Readme.txt Readme.guide However you must NOT alter any of the files in any way. Permission is given for P.D. Libraries to distribute the game as long as no more than a nominal fee is charged (an acceptable amount to cover duplication costs). Permission is given for this game to be archived and uploaded to the Aminet as long as all of the files are present. Permission is also given for this game to be included on CD collections. I, the author, cannot be held responsible for any damage done to your computer by using this program. Usage of this program is deemed acceptance of the above conditions. 9) About Me And The Game My name is Chris Spicer. This game was written over a period of about a year, with huge gaps in between bouts of working on the project. My spare time has been split between working on this, writing reviews for an Amiga fanzine, writing and drawing comics, drinking, reading, and generally messing around on my Amiga, an A1200 which I love dearly. Oh yeah, and having major facial surgery. What next? Well, I already have ideas for the next Minnesota Smith game, so hopefully I'll start work on that soon. Look out for it. If you want to write to me for any reason (as long as it's not to write abusive letters about how short the game is) send your letters to: CHRIS SPICER 80 CASTLE ROAD WEDDINGTON NUNEATON WARWICKSHIRE CV10 OEW ENGLAND This readme was wriiten to the sounds of Alabama 3, Garbage, Midget, Snug, Audioweb, 187 Lockdown, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Warmjets, Marcy Playground, Skinny, Gomez and Morcheeba. 10) Hellos Hello to Robert Iveson, fellow Amigan and a good mate. Pity about his abnormal views on consoles! Hello to my sister, Helen - thanks for the playtesting! Hello to Simon Jenkins and Jason Albrighton - good mates. Hello to Rob, Kev, Rob, Col, Dan and, temporarily, Karen, the rest of the Chunder crew! And finally, hello to you, the user. If you've read this far then you're certainly more dedicated that I would have been! Bye Bye! Chris Spicer 30/4/98 1:48 am 11) An Advert! I've been writing reviews for a P.D. fanzine called The Domain. Well, the Domain has been forced to close, but a new fanzine is being launched. It will mostly be dedicated to gaming, and will include commercial and P.D. reviews. As I'm writing this a title has yet to be confirmed, but for more details you can write to: ROBERT IVESON 41 WELLSTONE GARTH SWINNOW LEEDS WEST YORKS LS13 4EJ ENGLAND I... thenkyou!