Greetings

My name is Merlinus Ambrosius, but men call me Merlin.

Aye, I live still, even unto this present day.And I shall live on into worlds which you do not dream of,

but which I already see.

Legends tell you that I was beguiled into a trap, imprisoned in a hollow hill,

a doddering old man blinded by misguided love for a beautiful yet evil sorceress.

Imprisoned I am, but not blinded-- not now, or ever:

But let me tell you of those days.In a time almost before memory, there was a battle among the gods.

The evil demon Nudd was defeated and chained to a golden throne below a mountain.

Manacled though he was, his evil still extendedbeyond the mountain, making the surrounding land barren,

and polluting everything it touched.The enchantment he had cast over the Lady of the Lake

had such strength that even my gods were powerless to break it.

Then a new god came into the land.His power was so great that the spell over the lady

could be broken by the mere touch of the hawthorn flower that was holy to him, the one that bloomed only

on the anniversary of his birth.

When Arthur was born,he learned to embrace the power of the new god.

But he also knew that the old gods, my gods, were not dead. Only thus was he able to gain the sword.

So look now at those days through the eyes of the boy.

Learn of England's need for himand how he came to write his name in legend.

I say to you, the day shall come when the worldhas need of him once more. On that day

shall I break these icy bonds and rise to my destiny -- to bring new life, through fire and glory,

to the bravest and truest knight the worm has ever known: to Arthur-- the once and future king.

Preface to the StoryIt has been many years since King Utherhas died, and his once-proud kingdom is indanger of coming apart at the seams. Noone has been able to draw the legendarysword from the stone. No one has been ableto unite the country against the invasion ofthe Saxons. The people grow weary of lifewithout a High King, and they are ready toaccept a usurper on the throne, even thoughthey know he is not the rightful heir.

In Arthur, you play the role of theyoung king who has grown up in ignoranceof his heritage. The time has come for youto draw Excalibur from the stone and riseup to defend Britain. But before you can doso, you must prove to Merlin that you areready to take up the burden of kingship. Asyou progress through the game, you mustearn the wisdom, experience, and chivalrypoints that will demonstrate to Merlin thatyou are indeed ready to claim your birth-right.

TABLE OF CONTENTSIf you've never played Infocom's interactivefiction before, you should read this entireinstruction manual. If you're an experiencedInfocom player, just read Section I: AboutArthur.

Section I:

About ArthurUsing the New InterfaceMappingIf You Have a MouseHintsSpecial CommandsAbbreviationsSample Transcript and MapAbout the Author

Section II:

About Infocom' s Interactive FictionAn Overview:What Is Interactive Fiction?Starting and Stopping·• "Booting up"• Saving and restoring• Quitting and restartingCommunicating withInfocom's Interactive Fiction·• Basic sentences• Complex sentences• Talking to characters in the storyTips for NovicesEleven useful pointers aboutinteractive fictionQuick Reference GuideA brief description of the mostimportant things to know aboutinteractive fiction.

SECTION I:ABOUT ARTHUR

Using the New InterfaceWe've developed a new look for the screento make our games even more enjoyable.

The lower part of the screen containsthe command line and the traditional writtenaccount of what happens to you during thegame.

The upper part of the screen containsyour choice of any one of the following sixwindows. (Use the function keys specifiedto bring up these windows.)

Graphics: This is the default setting inwhich the game will start. No matter howfar afield you roam, you will always be ableto get a picture of where you are. (Functionkey 1)

Map: This feature maps the environmentfor you as you move through the game. Thedarkened square marks the room that youare currently in. The empty squares arerooms that you have previously explored.The compass rose displays all legitimateexits from your current location. If you havea mouse, see the "If You Have a Mouse"section for quick and easy ways to movearound your once and future kingdom.(Function key 2)

Inventory: This window will display a listof all the things that you are carrying.(Function key 3)

Score: Your level of accomplishment isrepresented here, both in bar charts and innumbers. (Function key 4)

Room Description: This is useful if youwant to take a quick glance at your sur-roundings without "wasting" a turn. Thewindow displays the same information youwould get if you typed LOOK. (Function key5)

Text Only: For the hard-core, give-me-text-

or-give-me-death gamer who would ratherdie than look at a picture. Return once moreto those thrilling days of yesteryear -- whenmen were men, text was text, and graphicsgot eaten by grues. (Function key 6)

The function keys on your machine arelisted below:· Apple IIe, IIc, IIgs: Closed Apple/Optionkey pressed simultaneously with keys 1through 6.· Apple Macintosh: Command key pressedsimultaneously with keys 1 through 6.· Amiga: Keys F1 through F6.· IBM-PC and compatibles: Keys F1 through F6.

MappingArthur contains an on-screen mappingfeature. When you want to see the map,press function key 2, which will bring up themap window (or simply type MAP). Themap will show only those locations whichyou've already visited, as well as the then-current legitimate exits from those locations.

On the map, your current location willbe a darkened square. If you have a mouse,you can move around the geography byclicking on an adjacent room or on thecompass rose.

You may still want to draw your ownmap to keep track of where objects arefound, and to be able to look at the entireArthur geography at once.

If You Have a MouseIf you have an Apple IIgs or Macintosh, anAmiga, or an IBM with a Microsoft-compatible mouse, you can take advantageof several Arthur features.

You can use the mouse to movearound the geography by clicking on anadjacent room in the map window, or byclicking on the appropriate point of thecompass rose. (See the "Mapping" sectionabove.)

In addition, you can use your mouse tonavigate through the hint menu and to selecthints.

HintsArthur contains on-screen hints! If you everget stuck, simply go to Merlin's cave andlook inside his crystal ball (or look into thecrystal of the torque that Merlin drops onthe ground at the beginning of the game).Then follow the instructions on your screen.The hints generally progress from a gentlenudge to a complete answer. Sometimesyou will be told that there is an object or apiece of information that you haven't yetdiscovered. When that happens, return tothe story and try another approach --sometimes a puzzle cannot be solved untilyou have solved another one first.

The hint system tries to be smart aboutwhere you have been and what you haveseen. If you haven't seen or heard about theBottomless Pit of Despair, then it will notshow up as a hint topic until you do. This isto prevent you from learning about some-thing's existence inadvertantly when youconsult the hint system on another matter.Thus, when you start the game, the list oftopics in the hint system will be very small.But don't panic! As you progress, there willbe more and more things you can consultthe hint system about.

Despite the above, we strongly recom-mend that you look at only one hint at atime. Avoid the temptation to use the hintstoo often; this inevitably spoils, or at leastlessens, the fun of solving a puzzle.

If you don't have the willpower to stoplooking at the hints, you can type HINTSOFF. This will deactivate the on-screenhints (unless you RESTART orRESTORE to an earlier point).

Special CommandsBelow are explanations for a number ofuseful one-word commands, with theirabbreviated form following in parentheses.In many cases, these will not count as amove. Type the command after the prompt(>) and press the RETURN (or ENTER)

key. Most of these commands appear in allInfocom games, but those that are starred(*) are new.

AGAIN (G) - This will repeat yourprevious input. For instance, typingATTACK THE PLAID DRAGON thentyping AGAIN would be like attacking theplaid dragon twice in a row.

BRIEF - This command tells Arthur not togive a full description each time you enter alocation. In BRIEF mode, Arthur will fullydescribe a location only the first time youenter it. On subsequent visits, Arthur willtell you only the name of the location andany objects present. Arthur will begin inVERBOSE mode (see VERBOSE below)and will switch to BRIEF mode only if youtype BRIEF. While you are in BRIEFmode, you can always get a full descriptionof your location and the items there bytyping LOOK.

*COLOR - If you are playing Arthur on acomputer with a color monitor, you cantype COLOR to change the colors of thetext and background on your screen.

INVENTORY (I) - Arthur will list what youare carrying and wearing.

LOOK (L) - This will give you a fulldescription of your location.

*MAP - This will bring up the map screenin the upper window.

*NOTIFY - Normally in Arthur, the gamewill notify you when your score changes.You can turn off this notification feature byusing the NOTIFY command. TypingNOTIFY a second time tums the featureback on.

OOPS (O) - If you mistype a word, suchthat Arthur doesn't understand it, you cancorrect yourself at the next prompt bytyping OOPS and the correct word. Forexample, if you typed SHOOT THEHEDGHOG WITH THE CROSSBOWand were told "[You don't need to usethe word 'hedghog']" you could typeOOPS HEDGEHOG rather than retypingthe entire sentence.

QUIT (Q) - This lets you stop. If you wantto save your position before quitting, followthe instructions in the "Starting andStopping" section on page 10.

*REFRESH (R) - This command clearsyour screen and redraws the display.

RESTART - This stops the story and startsit over from the beginning.

RESTORE - This restores a previouslysaved position. See "Starting and Stopping"on page 10 for more details.

SAVE - This puts a "snapshot" of yourcurrent position on your save disk. You canreturn to a saved position in the future usingthe RESTORE command. See "Starting andStopping" on page 10 for more details.

SCRIPT - This command tells your printerto begin making a transcript of the story. Atranscript may aid your memory, but is notnecessary, and will work only on certaincomputers. Read your Reference Card fordetails.

*UNDO - You can use this command to"back up" one move. Suppose, for example,that you found a package but didn't knowwhat was in it. You might type OPEN THEPACKAGE and be told "An evil mistescapes from the package and destroys allyour possessions." You could then typeUNDO, and you would "back up" onemove. Your possessions would be intact,you could try giving the package to an

enemy, or leaving it alone, or somethingelse. Note that the UNDO command worksonly on certain computers with enoughmemory.

UNSCRIPT - This tells your printer to stopmaking a transcript.

VERBOSE - This command tells Arthur togive you the wordiest level of description.See BRIEF above.

VERSION - Arthur responds by showingyou the release number and the serialnumber of your copy of the story. Pleaseinclude this information if you ever report a"bug" in the story.

WAIT (Z) - This causes time in the story topass. Normally, nothing happens in thegame until you type a sentence and pressRETURN (or ENTER). You could leaveyour computer, take a nap, eat dinner, andthen return to the story to find that nothinghas changed. You can use WAIT to maketime pass in the story without doinganything. For example, if you saw twosoldiers arguing, you might WAIT to seewhat they will do; if you were aboard aship, you might WAIT to see where it goes;if you expected something interesting tohappen at Easter, you could WAIT FOREASTER. If something interesting happenswhile your waiting, you'll have the option tostop waiting.

AbbreviationsThe following is a list of abbreviations youcan use for commonly used commands.

D - Down E - East G - AgainI - Inventory L - Look N - North NE-Northeast NW - Northwest O - Oops Q - QuitR - RefreshS - SouthSE - Southeast SW - Southwest U - Up W - WestX - ExamineZ - Wait

Sample TranscriptThis transcript is not from Arthur, but it willgive you a good feeling for how Infocom'sinteractive fiction works. It contains somesimple puzzles and their solutions. Theplayer's commands appear in capital lettersafter each prompt (>).

>LOOKPath

Your quest for the Seven LostJewels of Nimnul has brought you to apath, deep within a dark forest. Thepath goes north and south from here.

You see a small box half-buriedbeneath a pile of leaves.

>TAKE THE BOXSuccumbing to the thieving instinct thatdrives adventurers such as yourself tosteal anything that isn't tied down, youtake the box.

>OPEN ITYou open the box. Inside is a smallscrap ofpaper.

>EXAMINE PAPERMost of the writing is illegible, but youcan make out the following words:

"When thou wisheth to causesomething to lose dimension, utter theancient word 'Twerplotz' Contrariwise, ifthou desireth to cause a thing tobecome enlarged, then shalt thou say'Blimpsnarf.'"

>NORTHClearing

You come to a clearing in thewoods. A path leads to the south, andthe way to the east is blocked by a thickhedge of thorns. There is a woodsmanhere, roasting a deer over a huge fire.You haven't eaten all day, and the hunkof meat he holds in his hand looksparticularly appetizing.

>ASK WOODSMAN FOR MEAT

"Well now," says the woodsman."There's enuf 'ere for two, but me fathertold me never to give up sump'n fornut'n. 'Ave ye got anything to offer?"

>INVENTORYYou are wearing an expensive cloakthat is fastened at your neck with acopper pin.

You are carrying a sword, a smallbox, and an incredibly battered brasslantern that is so banged up from pastadventures that it's a miracle it gives offany light at all.

>TRADE BOX FOR MEATYou give the box to the woodsman andhe gives you the meat. You wolf it downand your hunger disappears.

>THANK WOODSMAN"No need for thanks," the woodsmansays, holding up the box. "It's a fairenough trade."

>EASTYou wave a jaunty farewell to thewoodsman, turn, and walk face-first intothe hedge, impaling yourself on thethorns. You pry yourself free and do aquick impression of a sieve leakingblood, then fall to the greensward,dead.

..... You have died. * ....

[Do you wish to RESTART, RESTORE,UNDO, QUIT, or get a HINT?]

>UNDO

[Undone]

>CUT HEDGE WITH SWORDYou hack away at the hedge with yoursword. For every branch you chop off,two grow back in its place. Thewoodsman chuckles knowingly.

>ASK WOODSMEN ABOUT HEDGE"Oh, that there's an enchanted 'edge,that one is. On t'other side is a beautifulgirl locked up in a tower. Legend 'as itthat once a year - at the stroke ofmidnight on St. Winget's day - an 'oleopens up in the 'edge." He pulls his OldWoodsman's Almanac out of his backpocket and consults it. Then he licks hisfinger, holds it up to the wind, ponders amoment, and continues, "As luck wouldhave it, today 'appens to be St. Winget'sday."

>WOODSMAN, TELL ME ABOUT THEGIRL"A lovelier lass never breathed. Theysay 'er skin is fair as heifer's milk, 'erneck is graceful as a swan's, an' she'slively as a young colt. Mind you, I'venever seen 'er, but if I was twenty yearsyounger, I wouldn't mind 'aving a go at'er meself."

>WAIT FOR MIDNIGHT[Time passes...]

In the distance you hear the sound of achurch bell striking the hour. As you idlywonder if the hour ever strikes back, ahole opens up in the hedge leading tothe east.

>EASTYou are too big to fit through the hole.

>TWERPLOTZ MEYou shrink to half your original size.

>EASTMeadow

You walk through the tunnel andemerge into daylight on the other side.There is a perfectly round tower herethat has no doors or other openings,except for one tiny window at the verytop. To the north is a large tree with ahuge trunk.

>CLIMB TOWERThe walls are too smooth to climb.

>HIDE BEHIND TREEMeadow, behind the tree

You walk behind the tree and peeraround the trunk at the tower.

>Z[Time passes...]

Suddenly an old crone comes up tothe base of the tower and cries,"Grizlbut, let down thy hair."

Moments later, a mass of goldenhair cascades out of the window. Thewitch climbed up the hair anddisappears into the tower. [Do you wantto continue waiting?]

>YesAfter a while, the crone emerges fromthe window, climbs down the hair anddisappeared into the forest. The hairretreats into the window above.

>OUTMeadowYou step out from behind the tree.

>GRIZLBUT, LET DOWN THY HAIRA clump of hair falls from the windowabove, hitting you squarely on the headand knocking you unconscious. After afew moments, you recover and staggergroggily to your feet.

>CLIMB HAR[You don't need to use the word har.]

>OOPS HAIRTower Room

Ignoring the shrieks and cries ofpain from above, you climb up the sideof the tower.

Climbing through the window, youdiscover to your dismay that the legendgot the animals right, but the particularswrong. The girl has the face of a horse,the figure of a cow, and the voice of anenraged swan. She looks at you as shehauls in her hair and squawks, "You'reawfully small to be going aroundrescuing maidens."

>BLIMPSNARF ME

Poof! You regain your original size.The girl smiles at you demurely,

bats her one eyelash, and rasps, "Hello,sailor."

>LOOKTower Room

You are in a small room at the topof a tall tower. The only escape liesthrough the window to the west or thelocked door to the east. Imbedded in thedoorknob is one of the Seven LostJewels of Nimnul.

>TAKE JEWEL

You tug at the jewel, but it refuses tobudge.

>OPEN DOORThe door is locked.The girl strokes her moustachemeditatively and brays, "The witch whoimprisoned me here told me that thedoor would open only if I would speakaloud the answer to the following riddle:Forward I'm heavy, backward I'm not.What am I?"

>SAY "TON"The door springs open, and the jewelpops out into your hand.[Your score just went up by 5 points.]"Darling!" the girl honks. "I'm yours!"She leaps into your arms. You staggerbackward under the tremendous weightand crash into the wall.

>DROP GRIZLBUTThe girl thuds to the floor andeverything else in the room jumps. Shewraps herself around your leg andbeseeches you to take her with you,

>EASTCorridor

Dragging Grizlbut behind you like aball and chain, you leave the room toexplore the rest of the tower.

About the AuthorBob Bates recently knuckled under topressure from the programming communityand stopped wearing ties to work. Since thepublication of his last game (Sherlock: TheRiddle of the Crown Jewels) he has beenliterally inundated with a request for hisautograph. His wife, Peggy Oriani, remainsunimpressed and steadfastly refuses to carryhis luggage when they travel.

The author wishes to thank DuaneBeck -- without whom this game wouldnever have been completed -- and StuGalley, whose lust for wallabies isunequalled in the northern hemisphere. Fora complete list of credits and

acknowledgments of all those who workedon Arthur, type CREDITS while playing thegame.

SECTION II:ABOUT INFOCOM'SINTERACTIVE FICTION

An Overview:What Is Interactive Fiction?Interactive fiction is a story in which you arethe main character. Each interactive story,such as Arthur, presents you with a seriesof locations, items, characters, and events.You can affect the direction of the story bymoving from place to place, using theobjects you find, and interacting with theother characters.

An important element of interactivefiction is puzzle-solving. Think of a lockeddoor or an invisible creature not as apermanent obstacle but merely as a puzzleto be tackled. (Find the key that unlocks thedoor, or figure out how to see the creature.)

In Arthur, time passes only in responseto your input. Nothing happens until youtype a sentence and press the RETURN (orENTER) key, so you can plan your tums asslowly and carefully as you want.

Arthur measures your progress bygiving you a score. You'll get points forsolving puzzles and for reaching newlocations. A perfect score is your goal;making sure you have fun getting there isours.

Starting and StoppingStarting the story: To load Arthur, followthe instructions on the Reference Card inyour package.

On your screen, you will see a descrip-tion of the opening location of the storyfollowed by the prompt (>), indicating thatArthur is waiting for your first input.

Here are a few inputs for you to try atthe first several prompts. After typing eachinput, don't forget to hit the RETURN (orENTER) key.

>INVENTORY>EXAMINE THE TORQUE>LOOK AROUND

>EXAMINE THE STONEYou should now have a feel for interacting with the story. You decide what to do next.

Saving and restoring: It will probably takeyou several days to complete Arthur. Usingthe SAVE feature, you can continue thestory at a later time without having to startover from the beginning, just as you canplace a bookmark in a book you arereading. Even if you aren't about to stopplaying, it's useful to SAVE before (or after)trying something dangerous or tricky. Thatway, even if you get lost or "killed" in thestory, you can return to your saved position.

To save your place, type SAVE at theprompt (>), and then press RETURN (orENTER). Then follow the instructions forsaving and restoring on your ReferenceCard. Some computers require a blankSAVE disk, initialized and formatted. Usinga disk with data on it (other than Arthursaves) may result in the loss of that data,depending on your computer. You can saveyour position as often as you like by usingadditional blank disks.

Any time you want to return to a savedposition, just type RESTORE at theprompt (>), and hit RETURN (or ENTER).Then follow the instructions on yourReference Card. You can then continue thestory from your save.

Quitting and restarting: If you want tostart over from the beginning, typeRESTART and press the RETURN (orENTER) key. (This is usually faster thanre-booting.) Arthur will ask you to confirmthis command.

If you want to stop entirely, typeQUIT and press RETURN (or ENTER).Once again, Arthur will ask to make surethis is really what you want to do.

Remember: when you RESTART orQUIT, you must SAVE if you want toreturn to your current position in the story.

Communicating with Infocom'sInteractive Fiction

In Arthur, you type your commands in plainEnglish each time you see the prompt (>).Most of the sentences that Arthur willunderstand are imperative sentences. Seethe examples below.

When you have finished typing yourinput, press the RETURN (or ENTER)key. Arthur will then respond, telling youwhether your request is possible at this pointin the story, and what happened as a result.

Arthur recognizes your words by theirfirst nine letters, and all subsequent lettersare ignored. For example, Arthur would notbe able to distinguish betweenDEMONSTRAtion, DEMONSTRAtive,and DEMONSTRAtor.

To move around, just type thedirection you want to go. Directions can beabbreviated: NORTH to N, SOUTH to S,EAST to E, WEST to W, NORTHEASTto NE, NORTHWEST to NW,SOUTHEAST to SE, SOUTHWEST toSW, UP to U, and DOWN to D. IN andOUT will also work in certain places.

Arthur understands many differentkinds of sentences. Here are examples,using objects and characters that don'tnecessarily appear in Arthur:

>WALK TO THE NORTH >WEST >NE>DOWN>TAKE SHINY FISH THEN TOSS ITIN POT>OPEN THE EGG>READ THE PROCLAMATION>BRIBE THE GUARD WITH THEPUMPKIN >TAKE THE BOW THENTHROW ITACROSS THE RIVER>SHOW MY MANACLES TO THEIDIOT >HIT PURPLE KNIGHT WITHLANCE >CLIMB INTO THE PIT

You may use lower-case letters and wordslike A and THE if you wish. Arthur doesn'tcare one way or the other.

You can use multiple objects withcertain verbs if you separate them by theword AND or by a comma. Some examples:

>TAKE THE CANDLE AND THE CRAB>DROP THE CANDLE, THE CRAB,ANDTHE NUTMEG

You can include several sentences onone line if you separate them by the wordTHEN or by a period. Each sentence will behandled in order, as though you had typedthem individually at separate prompts. Forexample, you could type all of the followingat once, before pressing the RETURN (orENTER) key:

>TAKE THE KEY. GO DOWN THENOPEN THE WOODEN DOOR

If Arthur doesn't understand one of thesentences on your input line, or if anunusual event occurs, it will ignore the restof your input line.

The words IT and ALL can be veryuseful. For example:

>CLOSE THE HEAVY WOODENDOOR.LOCK IT>TAKE THE ARMOUR. PUT IT ON>TAKE ALL>EXAMINE THE BREADFRUIT. TAKEIT.EAT IT>GIVE ALL BUT THE TORQUE TOTHEIDIOT

The word ALL refers to every visible objectexcept those inside something else. If therewere an apple on the cabinet and an orangeinside the cabinet, TAKE ALL would takethe apple but not the orange.

Sometimes Arthur "knows" you meanto answer a question posed by anothercharacter. In these situations you can omit

the name and comma. For example, ifMerlin asked, "What's your favorite color?"you could answer

>BLUE

You can also ask questions of characters byusing the form ASK [someone] ABOUT[something]. For example:

>ASK MERLIN ABOUT CRYSTAL BALL>ASK COOK ABOUT BIRD

Feel free to ask characters about anythingthat interests you. They may have some-thing to say about it. If not, you've probablyasked them about something that they're notinterested in.

When a character asks you for a pass-word or to solve a riddle, the most effectiveway to communicate your answer is toenclose your answer in quotes:

>SAY "ANSWER" TO CHARACTER

Other than the above case, use theverb SAY sparingly, if at all, because thegame will sometimes appear to understandthings in quotes, when in fact it doesn't.

Arthur tries to guess your intentionwhen you give incomplete information.When it makes a guess, it will tell you. Forexample:

>UNLOCK THE DOOR[with the key]The door is now unlocked.

If your command is ambiguous, Arthurwill ask you to clarify. You can answerthese questions simply by supplying themissing information at the very next prompt.For example:

>GIVE THE PROCLAMATIONWho do you want to give the proclama-tion to?

>THE QUEENThe queen smiles as she accepts yourgift.

Tips for Novices1. Draw a map. It should include eachlocation, the connections to adjoininglocations, and any interesting objects there.(See the small sample map that goes alongwith the sample transcript on page 7.)Remember, there are 10 possible directions(NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST,NORTHEAST, NORTHWEST,SOUTHEAST, SOUTHWEST, UP, andDOWN) plus IN and OUT.

2. EXAMINE all objects you come acrossin the story.

3. TAKE as many things as you can carry.Most objects that you find are important forsolving the puzzles that you'll run into.

4. SAVE your place often, so that if youmess up or get "killed," you won't have tostart over from the beginning. See page 10for instructions.

5. Read the story carefully! There are oftenclues in the descriptions of locations andobjects.

6. Try everything you can think of. Evenstrange or dangerous actions are fun andmay provide clues; you can always saveyour position first. Here's a silly example:

>GIVE THE RUBY TO THE GRIFFINThe griffin's beady eye fixesmomentarily onthe ruby. It continues to peck at yourleg.

Thus, you discover that maybe givingsomething more edible to the griffin (a slab

of raw meat?) might save your leg.

7. There are many possible routes to theend of Arthur. If you get stuck on onepuzzle, move on to another. Some puzzleshave more than one solution; other puzzlesdon't need to be solved at all. Sometimesyou will have to solve one puzzle in order toobtain the item(s) or information you needto solve another puzzle.

8. Play Arthur with a friend! Differentpeople may find different puzzles easy andcan often complement each other.

9. If you really have difficulty, get a hint. Ifyou ever get stuck, simply go to Merlin'scave and look inside the crystal ball (see the"Hints" section on page 5). Then follow theinstructions on your screen. You don't needto use the hints to enjoy the story, but it willmake solving the puzzles easier.

10. Read the sample transcript on page 7 toget a feel for how interactive fiction works.

11. You can word a command in manydifferent ways. For example, if you wantedto hide Excalibur inside a dark hole, youcould type in any of the following:

>DROP THE SWORD IN THE PIT>THROW THE SWORD IN THE PIT>PUT SWORD IN PIT

If you type a sentence that Arthur doesn'tunderstand, try rephrasing it or usingsynonyms. If Arthur still doesn't under-stand, you're probably trying something thatisn't important for completing the story.

Common ComplaintsArthur will complain if your input confusesit completely. Arthur would then ignore anyfurther sentences on your input line.(Certain events, such as an attack, will alsocause Arthur to ignore any additionalsentences on your input line, since the eventmay have changed your situationdrastically.) Here are some of Arthur'scomplaints:

[You don't need to use the word.] That word is not in the story's

vocabulary. It may help to use a synonymor rephrase the command; more likely,you're just barking up the wrong tree. (Oryou may have a typo in your sentence.)Arthur recognizes over 900 words, all thatyou need to use and most that you're likelyto use. However, Arthur uses many wordsin its descriptions that it will not recognize inyour inputs. So, you might read, "Themoon casts violet shadows acrossthe moor," but discover that Arthurdoesn't know the words MOON orSHADOW or MOOR in your input. Whenthis happens, you can assume that you don'tneed to refer to those things to complete thestory; they are there only to create a morevivid image of your location.

[I think there's a verb missing in thatsentence!] Unless you are answering aquestion, each sentence must have a verb(or one of the special commands). Amongthe most important verbs that Arthurunderstands are TAKE, DROP, PUT,GIVE, LOOK, READ, EXAMINE, OPEN,CLOSE, ENTER, EXIT, EAT andWEAR. There are many more.Remember: you can use a variety ofprepositions with your verbs. (For example,LOOK can become LOOK AT, LOOKINSIDE, LOOK BEHIND, LOOKUNDER, LOOK THROUGH, and soon.)

[I can't understand that many nounswith .] Arthur recognized your verb, but itcan't understand so many noun "phrases"with it. An example is PUT THE SOUP INTHE BOWL WITH THE LADLE, whichhas three noun "phrases," one more thanArthur can digest in a single action.

[You can't see any right here!]The object that you referred to is notvisible. It may be somewhere else, or it maybe present but in a closed container.

[You can't use more than one objectat a time with .] You can usemultiple objects (that is, nouns or nounphrases separated by AND or a comma) orthe word ALL only with certain verbs, suchas TAKE, DROP, and PUT. For example,EXAMINE will not work with multipleobjects; you couldn't say EXAMINE ALL orEXAMINE THE BOWL AND THESWORD.

[There isn't anything to !] Youused the word ALL, but there aren't anyappropriate objects visible.

[Sorry, but I don't understand.Please say that another way, or trysomething else.] The syntax (sentencestructure) you used is not among thehundreds of syntaxes that Arthurrecognizes. For example, SiT UNDERTHE TREE and SKIP AROUND THEMAYPOLE are syntaxes that Arthurwouldn't recognize. There's a limitedamount of space in the program, sosyntaxes that are less common or not usefularen't included. Try rephrasing the sentence.

[I beg your pardon?] You pressed theRETURN (or ENTER) key without typinganything.