ADVENTIONS
presents
Unnkulia Zero: The Search for Amanda
(Demo Version)
AND
Unnkulia One-Half: The Salesman Triumphant
(FREEWARE!)
Copyright (C) 1993 by D. A. Leary
All rights reserved
Difficulty Rating:
Trivial (2 out of 10)
It's here at last! Almost a year and a half in development, UNNKULIA ZERO is
now available to YOU! This package contains a fully-playable demo of Unnkulia
Zero, as well as the complete (and FREE) mini-adventure, UNNKULIA ONE-HALF:
THE SALESMAN TRIUMPHANT. To get the full UNNKULIA ZERO (as well as nifty
documentation containing a hand-drawn map) see the files ORDER.FRM and
CONTACT.US included in this package. Unnkulia One-Half and the Unnkulia Zero
demo are bannerware; please pass them along to your friends!
I. THE GAMES
We strongly suggest playing both games from a hard drive; they will run MUCH
faster. All you need to play either game is the .exe file - UU0DEMO.EXE or
ONEHALF.EXE. When distributing the games, please include the documentation
files ORDER.FRM, README.DOC, CONTACT.US, GENERAL.DOC and FILE_ID.DIZ. The
games are very forgiving about memory; however, if reporting a bug that
seems to be memory-related, please include a listing of your AUTOEXEC.BAT and
CONFIG.SYS files as well as your system set-up.
For those of you unfamiliar with text adventures, here are some sample
commands:
get lamp examine the shrine
put green key in red box eat slice of pizza
attack monster with pike kick the golden door
north ( can be just 'n' ) look under chair
get all put the widget on the thingy
drop all hit the moron with the cheez key
get the key and the sword and the axe and the widget
...and so forth. There are several specialized commands supported
that will be familiar to adventure junkies:
- "x" can be used for "examine"
- "i" for inventory - lists all carried items
- "g" for again - repeats last command
- "l" for look - prints room description
- "z" for wait - wait one turn
- "undo" - undo the last turn. Useful if you've screwed up! You can undo
more than one command. You cannot, however, undo if you are
killed!
- "wordy" - prints room descriptions each time a room is entered
- "terse" - prints room descriptions only the first time a room is
entered - standard mode
- "save" "restore" "restart" - commands to save, restore, and restart
a game
- "score" - prints your current score and gives you some idea of how
well you're doing
- "diagnose" or "health" - find out how you're feeling.
- "space" - will toggle spacing between paragraphs on or off.
- "indent" - will toggle paragraph indenting on or off.
Typing Function Key 1 on the keyboard will put the game in "Review Mode."
You can then use the cursor keys and "Page Up/Page Down" to scroll through
the last several pages of your game. On most systems, the game will save at
least ten pages of text. Type F1 again to return to the game.
Numbers in brackets (example: [4]) are footnotes. The footnotes provide
information that may be interesting or amusing, but are not crucial to the
game. To read a footnote, type "footnote" followed by the number (example:
"footnote 4").
Both games have a fairly large vocabulary. If the game doesn't understand a
command, try rephrasing it.
For additional help, see the file GENERAL.DOC.
II. SPEAKING WITH CHARACTERS
You're not the only one wandering around Unnkulia! There are several
ways to talk to others in the game - try any or all of the following syntax
constructions...
Examples:
There is a huge green dragon here.
>dragon, hello
The dragon nods politely at you.
>ask dragon about the purple key
The dragon doesn't want to talk about that.
>tell dragon about the sword
The dragon's ears perk up.
>show sword to dragon
The dragon cowers in fright!
>dragon, follow me
The dragon bows its head in submission and agrees to follow you.
III. GENERAL HINTS
Examine everything, and not just the items you can pick up. There are
many things in the game that can be manipulated. Read the room descriptions
carefully.
Save often. There are many ways to die. Even the most innocent object
is potentially deadly!
The puzzles are all fairly logical. Some, however, require violating
certain sacrosanct principles of traditional adventure gaming.
We strongly suggest making a map, and we ain't kidding! There aren't any
mazes in either game, but a map may help you spot areas you've missed.
IV. ADVENTIONS AND YOU! (Here comes the pitch...)
No, it's not too good to be true - you ARE getting something for nothing!
However, we hope you'll seriously consider purchasing the full-length version
of UNNKULIA ZERO. Travel to far-off lands...climb Wowsa Willy's magical
tower...seek enlightenment from Duhdha in the afterlife...wander through the
Mines of Dioria...and learn the secrets of the Dread Unnkulian Nuclear
Reactor! (Dam Skairee!)
Send your check for $25 to:
ADVENTIONS
PO Box 851
Columbia, MD 21044 USA
Order by credit card from High Energy Software by calling 1 (415) 493-2430
during business hours. VISA and Mastercard accepted.
(Maryland Residents add $1.25 sales tax...overseas buyers add $1.00 shipping
and handling. Allow 1-3 weeks for delivery.)
We always want to hear from you! Report bugs, ask for hints, or just shoot
the breeze...send email to us at:
Compuserve: 76440,2671
GEnie: ADVENTIONS
Internet: dmb@ai.mit.edu
or on the following BBS's: (Users "Dave Leary" at Fantazia and "David
Baggett" at High Energy)
FANTAZIA (410) 521-5636 (8N1)
High Energy BBS (415) 493-2420 (8N1)
Both BBS's feature no ratios and quick validation!
Most game companies have abandoned interactive fiction because it
isn't profitable enough. We think that interactive novels are
exciting and important elements of the gaming world that offer
possibilities currently impossible to explore in graphics-oriented
settings. Please support us to help keep the interactive fiction
genre alive. Thanks!
V. TADS
Unnkulian Underworld was designed using TADS, the Text Adventure
Development System. We highly recommend it for anyone interested in
writing adventures - anyone with a minimum of programming experience
can pick up TADS quickly and easily. TADS is available as shareware,
so you may be able to obtain TADS from the same place you found
this package.
For more information about TADS, please contact Michael J. Roberts at:
High Energy Software
P.O. Box 50422
Palo Alto, CA 94303
or call the High Energy BBS. (We think it's a happening place!) Set
your modem to 14,400bps (or any lower speed), N-8-1, and dial
415-493-2420. The BBS is open to the public -- you don't need to be
a registered user of any High Energy products to access the system.
High Energy can also be reached by electronic mail through selected
on-line services:
CompuServe: User ID 73737,417
GEnie: Mail Name M.ROBERTS10
Internet users can send electronic mail through CompuServe, and High
Energy can reply to Internet addresses. Send mail to
73737.417@compuserve.com (note that the comma in the CompuServe
address becomes a period for Internet users).
VI. A FINAL WORD from the author...
This game is dedicated to all those who registered Unnkulian Underworld and
Unnkulian Unventure II. Without your support, Unnkulia Zero would never have
been written.
Thanks to Dave Baggett for Monkey Wrench Insertion and to Tim "Timon Marmex"
Trzepacz and Chris Nebel for cranking out quality maps and documentation.
Thanks also to all the playtesters (yes, you'll be getting your free copies
soon), especially Bruce Davis for his twelve-hour marathon session. Thanks
to Mike Roberts, who made all this possible. A special hello to SYNTAX and
RED HERRING adventure magazines and all the folks overseas. (You know who
you are!) And finally, thanks to my sainted mother, both for birthing me and
taking that "dam spiffee" cover picture for the documentation...
Look for "THE LEGEND LIVES: AN UNNKULIAN UNIVERSE UNVENTURE" - coming this
summer from ADVENTIONS!
