Abandonware DOS title

A Personal Nightmare manual

PERSONAL NIGHTMARE

The village of Tynham Cross, nestled in the hills of Woldshire,
holds many childhood memories for you.  Brought up a vicar's son, life
was very quiet in this sleepy little village.  In order to pursue a more
interesting career opportunity you left home many years ago and lost
contact with your parents.  Consequently a letter from your mother came
like a bolt from the blue.  The letter troubled you, you didn't know why
but it seemed to be trying to tell you something.  On the surface it was
just as ordinary letter from a mother trying to re-establish contact
with her son but underneath there seemed to be something wrong, very
wrong. Perhaps it was the reference to your father's strange behaviour.
According to your mother, your father, the local vicar has started
behaving very strangely and has developed a keen interest in the life
story of James Hyatt, vicar at the Church of St. Anthony some three
hundred years earlier.  Your memories of this particular character
remain pretty vague but you do remember something about him being killed
by his own parishioners, apparently in some bizarre ritual to rid the
village of some devil or other.  Of course such events were fairly
common in those times for it was during that period in history that the
great witch hunts were going on and even something as simple as a failed
crop usually resulted in some poor woman being burned at the stake or
drowned in the village pond.  Anyway the tone of the letter seemed to
beg you to come home and you have made preparations to visit as soon as
possible. A second letter received only the day before your visit alarms
you even further.  More a message than a letter it came from your father
advising that he had made arrangements for you to stay at the local inn,
The Dog and Duck, as he was having the house redecorated and didn't
think that the work would be completed in time for your visit.  He had
added that your mother's sister, Alice, had been taken ill and was
currently bedridden and that your mother had gone to visit her in
Campbelthorpe, hoping to return in time for your visit.  He also
enclosed a brief brochure about the inn.
You have taken the train and during the long journey have fallen
asleep.

ATARI ST/AMIGA
Insert disk 1 into drive A and turn computer on.  The game will
autoboot and run automatically.
The game will run the opening sequence automatically.  You can
choose not to see this sequence every time you play by simply pressing
"escape" at any time during the opening sequence.
The game will then ask if you wish to restore a saved game or not
(answer Y or N) and then the game will start in the bar of The Dog and
Duck public house.

The object of the game is to defeat the power of the devil that has
taken over the lives of some of the residents of the village.  You will
need to identify who these characters are and then, by presenting the
village policeman with the evidence of their horrific crimes, have them
arrested.  You will also meet and have to deal with one or two little
pets belonging to the devil and in case you get bored there are one or
two people who need rescuing before they are used to make up the numbers
at some rather unpleasant rituals.

The game can be controlled by used of the mouse, although on some
occasions it will be necessary for you to input some commands via the
use of the keyboard.  The game may also be played entirely by the use of
the keyboard as a true text adventure.
The main area on the screen will graphically display the location
you are in and the events taking place within it.
The right hand panel is the command window.
The left hand panel is the movement window.
The window directly beneath these is the text response window and
the bottom line is the text input window.
If you wish to "examine" something on the screen then the examine
command should be selected from the right hand window, by use of the
mouse pointer (run the mouse pointer up and down the right hand panel
until the  examine command is highlighted, then select the command by
pressing the left hand mouse button).  You will notice that the word
"examine" has appeared in the text input window.  Alternatively just
type in the word "examine" by use of the keyboard.  Next select the
object or person that you wish to examine, by pointing to the object or
the character on the screen and pressing the left hand mouse button.
Again you will notice the name of the object or person displayed in the
text input window.  Your text input window will now read something like
"examine bugle", this can now be selected by either pressing the right
hand mouse button or alternatively by pressing return on the keyboard.
The description, or appropriate response, of the person or object will
be displayed in the text response window.
Should you wish to "pick up" an object from the "action" window,
then select the "pick up" command from the right hand window and then
select the item on screen.  Alternatively, if the item can be picked up,
then when the left hand mouse button is held down the mouse pointer will
change to a hand and by dragging the item to the "inv" box (in the left
hand panel) the item will be placed in your inventory.
To display your inventory select the "inv" icon with the mouse. 
The screen will display icons of the objects that you are carrying.
Some of these objects may be containers.  To view the contents of them,
double click on the icon of the container object and the contents will
be displayed. These objects can be removed from the container by
selecting them with the mouse and dragging them to the "inv" icon.  To
exit the inventory mode select exit from the line displayed above the
icons.
It is also possible to list the visible takable objects in any
location by selecting the icon marked "room".  This will display on
screen icons representing all the items that can currently be removed
from that location and again by holding the mouse over the item required
and then pressing the left button until a hand appears it is possible to
transfer these items to your inventory.  (This option will not display
or take any hidden objects).
Similarly should you wish to "drop" an item you will have to either
select the "drop" command from the right hand panel or the "inv" icon
from the left hand panel.  Once the inventory screen is displayed then
the item to be dropped is picked up with the mouse and placed into the
"room" icon.
Should you wish to examine an object you are carrying then just
select the item from the inventory with one click of the left hand
mouse button and the items description will be displayed in the text
window at the bottom of the screen
To move around the game you may select any of the "lit" compass
points, or up and down arrow, in the left hand panel.  This will result
in you moving to the location in that direction.  Directions that are
unlit may indicate one of two things (A) There is no location in that
direction (B) Movement in that direction is prevented by someone or
something e.g. a locked door.
Movement is also possible by selecting, with the mouse, any visible
door on the "action" screen.  If the door is locked and providing that
you have the key the door will be unlocked.  A second selection of the
door will open it and a third selection will allow you to pass through
it.
Other commands you may find useful are:
Ask (character) about (character)
Ask (character) about (object)--Be careful with this one as it may
have unfortunate consequences.
Ask (character) about (event) 
EG:  ASK MR. JONES ABOUT BUGLE 
In order to complete the game it is necessary to show various
pieces of evidence to the policeman.
EG:  SHOW LETTER TO POLICEMAN

SOME CHARACTERS YOU WILL MEET IN YOUR NIGHTMARE
MR. ROBERTS--REGISTRAR  Registrar of Births and Deaths
JIMMY BLANDFORD--A professional photographer who enjoyed a good drink.
SUSAN BLANDFORD--The pretty wife of Jimmy Blandford.
MICHAEL WILLIAMS--A city type who has only recently moved into the
village.
MRS. JONES, wife of Mr. Jones--Landlady of the "Dog and Duck".
TONY DONALDSON--A young lad who lodges with the Jones'.
SGT. JEFFERSON--The Police Sergeant in charge of law and order in sleepy
Tynham Cross.
PETER MASON--The owner of the local garage.
MR. JONES--Landlord of the "Dog and Duck" for the last 20 years.

The lives and movements of all these characters will help you to unravel
the mystery of Tynham Cross.

TO SAVE A GAME
To operate the Save Game Option, you may either type SAVE and follow
prompts or using the Mouse click on Save Icon in right hand box.
Always save program to a blank formatted disk rather than a game disk.