MERLIN #9
DECEMBER 1985
That Wheel of Fortune is still spinning in the top spot

This month sees the second of our adventure top tens. As you can see, Wheel of Fortune still retains the number one spot, a result that I completely agree with as in my opinion it is the best adventure available for the Electron.

ADVENTURE TOP TEN

1. Wheel of Fortune (Epic Software)
2. Philosopher's Quest (Acornsoft)
3. Classic Adventure (Melbourne House)
4. Eye of Zolton (Softek)
5. Sphinx Adventure (Acornsoft)
6. Strange Odessey (Adventure International)
7. Twin Kingdom Valley (Bug-Byte)
8. Pettigrews Diary (Shards Software)
9. Quest for the Holy Grail (Epic Software)
10. Staff of Law / Galadriel in Distress (Potter Programs)

Classic Adventure, Sphinx Adventure and Twin Kingdom Valley are still doing well, though the other three Epic games have slipped quite a lot.

Pettigrews Diary has made a welcome appearance, as have Philosophers Quest and Eye of Zolton.

Potter Programs have two games in at equal tenth and their other adventure, Superspy Flint, was actually the next highest marked.

Surprisingly (to me), two adventures that I have not yet seen, Galadriel in Distress and Strange Odyssey, are in there too.

Keep your marks coming in for the next Top 10 in a few month's time.

I've bowed to the vast weight of correspondence asking me to do a Sphinx special. Next time I shall be telling you what does what and to who!

Incidentally, I still haven't managed to get all the way through it without that blasted dwarf getting me. Does anyone please know a way of saving a game?

M. Carter has asked me to mention that he has written in as his friend doesn't believe him and Suzanne has asked me to say hello to Sam P. and Sam W. Hello! And that's the last time I'll do that.

Sacha El-Mokaden (hope I got that right Sacha), has written in with a few questions. As far as I know, Acornsoft don't have any new adventures scheduled for release.

I don't know if the Fourth Protocol is to be released for the Electron - though I hope it will be - and Level 9 have no plans to convert their adventures.

David Johnson, Richard, Ian, Andrew and Lee among others have been asking over the last few months how to put in the fuel capsule in Stranded.

I must confess that I have been telling them to insert the capsule but I have had a reply telling me I was wrong!

I have had another look at it and the solution is to drop the capsule and then pull the lever.

P.G. Peters has followed some earlier advice of mine and shot the robot, but hasn't realised that the recoil has thrown him towards the ship and that he can now go into the airlock and use that lockpick.

Peter Laughton and Steven Bloud have some questions about Sadim Castle. How do you get the wheelbarrow through the undergrowth, how do you get the knife and where do you dig with the pickaxe?

Ken Edgar can't get through the jammed heavy metal door at the end of the underground tunnel. Can anyone help with any of these problems?

lain McLean has sent in some useful tips for Countdown to Doom and has also asked for some help.

I haven't done so well here myself, so any help will be much appreciated.

Darren Woodward would like to know how to get the pagage off of Cleopatra's Needle. So would I. I would also like to know what a pagage is!

Andi Sinnott has asked for help with The Count but has not given me any idea what the problem is. Please write back Andi and tell me where you are stuck.

Kristina Hook Totton has asked some interesting questions about Twin Kingdom Valley.

You can end the game by entering QUIT but once you have done this you can only load in a saved game or restart by loading in the game from scratch.

To save a position on tape you enter in *SAVE and to reload a saved position you type *LOAD. The program does the rest.

Some versions of the game don't seem to accept these commands, in which case I'm afraid you can't save your position.

The reason you keep getting the message "locked" is because you are trying to cheat.

Without getting too technical, the easiest way to explain it is to say that the program has been saved in such a way that it cannot now be LOADed or *LOADed in. It can only be CHAINed or *RUN.

Stuart Moore is having trouble with Galadriel in Distress. Can anyone tell him how to read the runes on the signs and open the chest in the fire goblins' room?

H. Reynolds can't talk to the ghosts, find the gun or burn the sagebrush charcoal in Ghost Town. Isn't charcoal the result of burning something? Anyway, can anyone help him?

Finally, before moving on to problems I can solve, thanks to Simon O'Callaghan I can reveal how to get the keys in Greedy Dwarf.

Light the torch one move north of the rats and throw it south. Easy when you know how.

HINTS DEPARTMENT

Richard Hayward and Peter Laughton are both having problems getting into the caves in Adventure. Richard says he has tried OPEN SESAME and it doesn't work. It does you know! And that should also answer Peter's question.

Colin Mayner wants some answers to his problems in Eye of Zolton. SAY the PASSword to get into the castle.

Don't bother with the tiger yet, you need to get something from the castle to protect you.

That maze does contain something you want, but doesn't lead anywhere.

Scott, Tim, Celici and Craig have asked for help with Castle Quest.

The witch doesn't like water but since she is very agile I suggest you find an enclosed space and throw the bucket at her.

You can go two ways to the witch. One way you have already seen all the screens you are going to see, which assumes you have got past the troll.

The other way assumes you have got past the spider, but to see anything further you will have to go back and get past that troll!

A lot of the screens you think you can see are just window dressing.

Matthew Bowen and Andrew Davies have two questions about Twin Kingdom Valley - how to get the jug of gold and how to kill the dragon?

Try filling the jug and use a staff.

M. Ryan has written in to ask whether there is anything in the maze in Classic Adventure. Yes and no.

There are two mazes, one contains the vending machine and need not be entered, while the other contains some treasure.

Nicholas Ryba has got the chain in Classic but doesn't know what to do next. Take the bear back the way you came.

Carl Barlow - thanks for the tips on Strange Odyssey by the way - wants to know how to open the keybox in the Stolen Lamp.

Use the grenade to open the box, but do it in such a way as to kill two birds with one stone.

Jason Drew wants to know how to kill the guard and the vizier. Think of the guard as a bird. You can't kill the vizier.

Andrew Clark and Amanda Kemp want to know how to get across the glacier in Sphinx Adventure. As long as you have got the ring you can use the wand.

Andi Sinnott, Jonathan Lee, Andrew A., S. Kelly, Nicholas Ryba and Jamie Rees are also having problems with Sphinx. Try magic in the spell chamber, though rubbing the ring should be left till last.

The bear will follow you and chase off the orc. Use the cheese past the goblins to catch the mouse - you should feed it.

The mouse is in the dungeons of the vampire's castle. Use your bare hands to kill the dragon.

The only thing you can't do with the bear following you is cross a certain bridge.

Diaxos will help you get back anything the troll takes, even though he keeps it safe for you, The Sphinx is in the desert.

To get past the pirate without losing anything you should map out the locations carefully. When you have found the way round him, use it.

Tony Sweetland and Jason Drew have some questions about The Incredible Hulk. You can't get in the chief examiner's office without being seen.

To pull the ring in the first room remember what Strange told you. To get the bio gem without the natter egg exploding try eating the egg.

To get past the ants you should make sure that the wax leaves them no orifice to enter.

Patrick Moore (any relation?) wants to know how to get past the ferocious dog in Greedy Dwarf. Give it a bone.

Chris, James Quinn and H. Reynolds also have some problems with this adventure. Wave something to get down the cliff. I think the burnt scroll is a red herring.

I don't think you can get back through the gate. Drop a sausage and map carefully to get back out of the maze. Kill the spider with the sword.

Yes, there is something north of the cave of echoes - use the amulet to find out what is there.

Simon O'Callaghan and lain McLean want some help with Countdown to Doom. The spacesuit is UP and NORTH of the landing area and if you save that blob from falling into the swamp you be rewarded with a trip back in time.

Christian Howells and Eric Clarke are stuck in Wheel of Fortune. Tell the former about the bull and he will go off to get it. Shoot the werewolf with the silver bullet.

Once you have got down the well you should explore everywhere and take everything to the canal bank. Then go into the fly's cave and out into the spider's cave.

You now need to go back up through the trapdoor (hint - it's bolted). I'll leave it to you to find out what objects to take with you and what to leave up by the canal.

Simon O'Callaghan and the King of the Valleys (sic) have asked for help with Castle Frankenstein. The hammer is in the castle kitchen - somewhere. The monster will help with the ring near the experiments room.

Pyramid of Doom is also causing problems for H. Reynolds and for C. Sullivan. Leave the purple worm alone, throw the ruby at the statue and feed the oyster.

Peter Laughton and Ken Edgar would like some help with Sadim Castle. Use the stake to raise the portcullis. Give the wheelbarrow to the gardener after killing the cheetah with the knife.

Jason McCauley is well and truly stuck in Gisburnes Castle. The flint is used to fire the cannon. The dynamite is a red herring.

You need the rope and the key to get into the dungeons. Kill Gisburne and get a key off of him to get into the chapel. Oil the rusty lock to get through.

Geoff Lumley has written in with a lot of questions about The Count. I haven't received a review copy of this yet but his letter raised such a lot of questions that I went out and bought it.

His first question concerns the capital As that keep cropping up in the text. These are not clues but mistakes!

He goes on to ask if ADEWNTURE and TAKE INORY mean anyting. No, they are also spelling mistakes.

The program also responds with a YOU CAN'T DO THAT YET when you try to fly. Ignore this, you can't fly.

The dedication to Alvin Files and using a mixture of upper and lower case in the opening description are also not clues of any kind.

You don't need to get into the coffin until you are ready to finish the game. The CENTURY OF DUST is a clue to the fact that the room isn't used and therefore a safe place to leave things.

The vents are red herrings. Yes, you can get back into the bedroom from the ledge if you use the right command.

The first night you will get bitten, but the bottle of blood will help on the second night.

The crowd are hostile because you haven't killed Dracula.

Last, but not least, Christopher Morgan can't get the coin in Mystery Fun House. A sticky problem this!

Chew the gum, stick it on the branch and then you can get the coin from the grating, but make sure that you keep the gum for later.

I'll leave that for you to chew over. See you next month.

This article appeared in the December 1985 edition of the "Electron User", published by Database Publications.

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