Scapeghost manual

1. Scapeghost
2. manual

Level 9's Scapeghost Manual

(c)1989 by Level 9 Computing


Game Background

Alan Chance was on an undercover mission, trying to infiltrate a drugs gang. All was going well, but then something or someone alerted the gangsters and they killed Alan and escaped, taking his colleague Sarah as a hostage. His fellow police falsely blame a mistake of Alan's for tipping off the criminals.

Alan has three nights as a ghost to disprove this false accusation, clear his name and gain revenge. Use his detective skills and growing spirit powers to delay the gangsters, track down their new hideout and bring them to Justice.

Disc loading instructions

The underlined text is what you type. Then press ENTER or RETURN:

Amiga 500 or 2000	Insert the game disc and turn on your Amiga.
Amiga 1000	Insert your Kickstart disc and turn on your Amiga. When it asks for Workbench, insert the game disc.
Amstrad CPC 6128	Turn on your CPC (6128 or 464/664 expanded to 128K) and insert the game disc. Enter RUN"MENU"
Amstrad PCW	Insert your usual CP/M+ disc and turn on your PCW. Insert the game disc and enter MENU
Apple II	Insert the game disc and turn on your Apple II.
Atari ST	Insert the game disc and turn on your ST.
Atari XE or 8OOXL	Remove any cartridges. Insert the game disc. While holding down OPTION for at least 5 seconds, turn the Atari on. If nothing happens, turn off the Atari for 30 seconds and try again.
BBC master or 48K+	Turn on your BBC micro, insert the game disc and press SHIET and BREAK together. If this doesn't work, press CONTROL SHIFT D and BREAK together.
CBM 64 or 128 disc	Turn on your Commodore (while holding down the Commodore key, if you have a 128). Insert the game disc and enter LOAD"*",8,1
IBM PC and clones	Insert the normal MS-DOS or PC-DOS disc and turn on your IBM PC. Replace it with the game disc, and enter MENU
Mac,Mac+	Insert the normal operating system disc and turn on your Mac. Insert the game disc and double click on the MENU icon.
Spectrum +3	Turn on the Spectrum, insert the game disc and press ENTER.

Tape loading instructions

Put one of the game tapes in your recorder. The underlined text is what you type, followed by ENTER or RETURN. If the tape doesn't move, press ENTER or RETURN again.

Amstrad CPC tape	Turn on your CPC. If it has a disc drive, enter |TAPE. Type RUN"" start the tape on play and press SPACE.
Atari XE,800XL	Remove any cartridges. While holding down START and OPTION for at least 5 seconds, turn on the Atari. Start the tape on play and press RETURN. If nothing happens, turn off the Atari for 30 seconds and try again.
CBM 64 or 128 tape	Turn on your Commodore (while holding down the Commodore key if you have a 128). Press SHIFT and RUN/STOP together and start the tape.
MSX 64K	Turn on your MSX, enter RUN"CAS:" and play the tape.
Spectrum 48K	Turn on the Spectrum, type LOAD"" and play the tape.
Spectrum 128k+2	Turn on the Spectrum, press ENTER and play the tape.

Commands

When the game prints 'What now?" or ">", it is waiting for you to type a command and press ENTER or RETURN. (The game also waits when it has more text to print than will fit on the screen at one time; read what's displayed and press either SHIFT or SPACE to continue).

This game knows four types of commands:

Movement. Type a direction: NORTH, NORTHEAST, EAST (and the other compass directions). IN, OUT, UP or DOWN. GO or RUN take you to a named place, e.g. GO TO SHED, and FOLLOW is self-explanatory.
Actions: e.g. LOOK, GET THE THISTLEDOWN. DROP IT, EXAMINE THE WREATH, PUT THE WHITE CARD ON THE WREATH or GIVE PEBBLE TO JOE.
System commands. EXITS, INVENTORY and SCORE give information; WORDS, PICTURES, BRIEF, VERBOSE, EXITS OFF and EXITS ON control the output; UNDO, SAVE and LOAD, RAM SAVE and RAM LOAD save your position or return to one, and RESTART restarts.
Commands to others. You can give commands to fellow ghosts, and a few living creatures, providing they are willing to follow orders. Type their name, followed by commands, e.g JOE, GO NORTH, GET EVERYTHING, THEN FOLLOW ME. You can cancel orders given in error by e.g., JOE, STOP
You can abbreviate commands, e.g. SOUTH to S and SOUTHEAST to SE, and even type several commands on one line, e.g. EAST, TAKE ALL, WEST. After typing a command (or commands), press the ENTER or RETURN key.

Example Game

The following example is not from Scapeghost. but it illustrates how to play. Your commands are in capitals after each ">" or 'What now?" prompt, and text in square brackets is comments...

As twilight fell, I felt my strength grow. Another day was past. Now I could leave the shadows where I had hidden from the sun, and move away through the Autumn mists.

> LOOK 
I was standing in the lee of a jutting slab of granite, near the northern wall of the Necropolis. I could see Ace.

Ace grinned and rattled her chains.

> EXAMINE ACE 
She was a strange spectre in grey overcoat and tricorn hat.

> ACE, FOLLOW ME 
Ace bowed her translucent head.

> SOUTH 
I floated south and was beneath the wrought-iron pergola which split the churchyard, dividing the graves on its north side from the grassy parkiand to the south. Ace entered from the north.

The moon rose above the jagged outline of a great family vault to the east, its beams illuminating a hidden memorial.

> EXAMINE MEMORIAL 
As I looked, a small blue spirit slowly oozed from the stones, brushed down his stomach and smiled. "Call me Junior", he wheezed.

I smiled sympathetically, then leapt in alarm as a large cat bounded past and raced away east.

> FOLLOW CAT


I floated east and found myself beside a fallen oak tree. It had once towered above the landscape, putting out a myriad twigs in every direction, but its roots were starved and old age had rotted its trunk. I could see the lynx and the fundamental statue. Ace entered from the west. The lynx bounded east.

I floated east and was outside the Sinclair family vault: a great Gothic monstrosity, each wing showing the date it was built. Prismatic windows cast spectrums on every side, but most of them bounced right back. The lynx squeezed east through a crevice and was gone. Ace entered from the west.

I tried to float east, but the crevice was too small and the building too holy. Meanwhile, Ace looked up at the vault. "Enter to want you if ring must you and, Pittance a for developer property a to sold all was this know you did?". she remarked, obscurely.

> UNDO ['Take back move" - available on most micros]


I found myself beside a fallen oak tree. I could see Ace and the fundamental statue.

> INVENTORY [or use "examine inv"] 
I owned a key.

Ace wandered thoughtfully north. Junior entered slowly from the west and collapsed. "I wish everyone didn't go so fast", he whined, fading away into the mist.

> EXITS 
Exits lead east, south and west.

> EXAMINE STATUE 
It was of gilded lead, and showed how bad atoms decay into protons and electrons. A plaque pointed north to the Professor's grave.

> BRIEF, WORDS, EXITS ON 
OK. OK. OK. [Locations will be described briefly, pictures turned off and exits reported automatically in future. To reverse these choices, you could use VERBOSE, PICTURES and EXITS OFF.]

>S [i.e. "SOUTH"] 
I floated south and was outside St Amiga's chapel of rest, a sludge grey building decorated with architraves and archimedes. Exits led all around and inside.

> GO INSIDE 
The door was just too solid for me to float through. Ace arrived from the north.

> OPEN DOOR 
As I opened the door, it released a switch and light bathed the area. Ace staggered backwards, moaning. I felt suddenly weaker and had to let the door swing shut. It pushed the switch and all was dark again.

> ACE, PUSH THE SWITCH AND WAIT 10 
Ace reached through the door and held the switch in place.

> OPEN DOOR 
OK. The light remained off. Ace made as if to applaud, but thought better of it.

> IN 
I went inside and found myself in the vestry of St Amiga's chapel, listening to the drone of PC fans and prayer disks. I could see a bell, a bottle and a candle.

> SCORE 
I scored 15 out of 1000.

> EXITS OFF [stop reporting exits] 
OK. The droning grew slower and more fragmented.

> RAM SAVE 
OK. [Before doing anything with these strange objects, save the position in RAM - i.e. in the computer's memory in case you encounter difficulties and want to return to this point, using RAM LOAD. To save to disc or tape, use SAVE and then LOAD.]

> EXAMINE ALL BUT THE CANDLE 
Bell: it was a small golden ornament. 
Bottle: as I reached for the bottle of holy water, I felt my strength drain away. I could not move, even to step back from the bottle.

> RAM LOAD 
OK. I was inside St Amiga's chapel, listening to the drone of PC fans and prayer disks. I could see a bell, a bottle and a candle.

> TAKE BELL 
I took the bell. I dropped the key. [Ghosts are relatively weak and cannot levitate many things at once.]

> GO TO MEMORIAL [letting the computer work out the route. Press any key to abandon this type of "high level" command.] 
I floated north and was outside St Amiga's chapel of rest. 
I floated north and found myself beside a fallen oak tree. 
I floated east and was outside the Sinclair family vault. 
Exits led west and inside.

> RING BELL 
Slowly and with a great noise, the side of the vault swung open...

Hints

Draw a map [or a series of maps]. Remember that the EXITS ON command lists all the paths from each location.

To make life easy for you. the objects that matter in a location are nonnally listed in a sentence like, 'You can see Ace and a key". Examine all the objects that you see. Most are useful.

Use the "high level" commands, such as GO TO CHAPEL, RUN TO SHED. FOLLOW DOG, WAIT 8, which do the work of many instructions. Pressing a key "breaks" out of such conunands.

Try everything you can think of - even weird or dangerous actions sometimes provide clues, and might be fun. You can use UNDO [or LOAD If you have previously used SAVE] to recover if the results are "fatal".

You can word commands in many different ways. For example, If there were an axe and a ball on the ground. you could take the axe by:

> GET THE AXE 
> TAKE AXE 
> GET ALL BUT THE BALL 
> LOOK AT THE AXE AND TAKE IT 
If the game doesn't understand your command, try rephrasing it and using synonyms. If the game still doesn't understand, you are probably trying something that is not important.

Hints for Part 1

Build up your strength as a ghost;
Recruit your fellow spirits;
Buy time by delaying the gang's criminal plans.
Hints for Part 2

Once in the gang's old hideout, collect clues to help the police work out where they have moved to;
Alert the emergency services and make sure that they trip over something really dramatic, so they know foul play is involved.
Hints for Part 3

Distract the lookout while the police are arriving;
Rescue the hostage and prevent the gang destroying the evidence.

Save on disc

To save game positions from the disc version of Scapeghost, you first need a blank disc of your own.

Before playing Scapeghost, format [initialize] this disc, using the ordinary software bought with your micro. [Exceptions to this are Apple II and Atari XE,800XL discs - Scapeghost uses its own disc format on these computers and will initialize the disc itself.]

When playing the game, enter SAVE and follow the instructions displayed.

To return to a SAVEd position, enter LOAD and YES. When entering a file name, you can either type a short word such as POS1, or use the full format permitted by your particular computer.

Save on tape

To save game positions from a cassette version of Scapeghost, you need a blank cassette of your own.

When playing the game, start a blank tape on RECORD and enter SAVE [if the cassette doesn't move, press ENTER or RETURN again). When the game starts running again, e.g. to prompt for your next command by displaying">" or 'What now?", stop the tape.

To return to a SAVEd position, enter LOAD and YES, then follow any instructions asking for one word from the story. Finally, rewind the tape on which the position was saved, and play it (if the cassette doesn't move, press ENTER or RETURN again).

Save in memory

To save your game position in memory (all except 48K Spectrums, 64K Amstrad CPCs and small BBCs allow this), enter RAM SAVE. To return to a RAM SAVEd position. enter RAM LOAD. UNDO is available on all versions which have RAM SAVE. UNDO takes you "back in time" to before you last moved; a bit like RAM LOAD where the corresponding RAM SAVEs are automatic. UNDO can be used many times in succession on larger micros.

Remember that the contents of memory are lost if your computer is turned off or crashes, so SAVE to disc or tape occasionally.

Additional features on Larger Micros

README FILE. Many of the disc versions have "Readme" files with helpful information. Boot (start) the computer with an operating system if one is needed and insert the game disc. Then:

Amiga	Double click on Scapeghost disc Icon and Readme file
Amstrad CPC	Enter LOAD"README" and LIST
Amstrad PCW	Enter TYPE README.TXT
Atari ST	Double click on disc icon and README.TXT
BBC	Enter TYPE "README"
IBM PC	Enter TYPE README.TXT
Spectrum +3	Select +3 BASIC at startup. Enter LOAD "READ.ME"
PICTURES. Most disc versions have pictures. They can usually be slid up and down by moving the mouse with left button pressed. except for:

Amstrad CPC	press F8 and F2
Amstrad PCW	pictures are fixed in place
BBC Master	hold down SHIFT and press the cursor keys
Commodore 64	press cursor keys
For more pictures on the BBC, Commodore 64, CPC, PCW and +3, wait until the game has loaded and is awaiting your command. Then flip the disc over.

Larger machines have picture cache, which means that previously loaded pictures are kept in memory in case they are needed again.

COMMAND RECALL/EDITING. Larger machine versions remember a list of your previous commands. You then use cursor keys to recall them, and backspace or delete to edit them for re-input. (On the Spectrum +3, use cursor keys with SYMB SHIFT pressed).

VARIABLE TEXT SIZE on Atari ST and larger BBCs. Experiment by pressing F1 and F2.

AUTOMATIC PLAY. Atari ST: when the game is waiting for a number at the start, wait for any picture to finish loading and press Alternate R. IBM PC: when the menu is waiting for you to choose a display format, press ALT R and continue by choosing the display.

Credits

Original idea: Sandra Sharkey, Pete Gerrard.

Game design etc.: Pete Austin.

Game programming: Graham Jones.

Game text: Graham Jones, Pete Austin, Peter McBride.

Cover Picture: Godfrey Dowson.

Computer Art: Dicon Peeke.

Systems: Mike and Nick Austin, John Jones-Steele, Mike Bryant.

Transport to your Micro: Nick Austin and Mike Bryant.

Scapeghost is published by, and copyright © 1989 of Level 9 computing, PO Box 39, Weston-Super-Mare BS24 9UR. [This address is no longer relevant as Level 9 computing are stony broke] If you have loading problems, return the cassettes or disc, without the packaging, to this address.


Free Hint Sheet

If you are really stuck, you can get a free hint sheet, with hundreds of clues, from the address above. Please enclose the "clue card" from the packaging and provide a large, stamped, self-addressed envelope (UK users), or four international reply coupons (overseas users). [Don't bother, click here to view it].


Text from the Back of the Gamebox

Scapeghost

It's not easy being a ghost; betrayed to a criminal gang and falsely blamed for your own death when they escape with a hostage.

Reincarnated in your old haunts, you have just three nights to clear your name. But with your detective skills and new psychic powers, a spirited revenge is a dead cert. The gangsters haven't the ghost of a chance!

Scapeghost uses the full power of Level 9's adventure system, with its unique "racetracks" and:

Hand-drawn pictures on disc;
Advanced English parser, including go/run to, find, follow etc;
True multi-person puzzles, requiring cooperation;
Inside: disc or tapes, spirit guide to undertaking Level 9 adventures, coupon for free monster cluesheet, and full-colour poster.

"Scapeghost" is copyright (C) 1989 Level 9 Computing

OCR'd in by Jeremy A.Smith - jeremyasmith@lwtcdi.prestel.co.uk - using Textbridge, and HTMLised. Proofread by Gunther Schmidl.
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