HOW TO PLAY AN ARCHETYPE ADVENTURE

In order to play an adventure, you must have two files:  the Archetype
interpreter (PERFORM.EXE) and the adventure's .ACX file (GORREVEN.ACX,
for example).

At the DOS prompt, type "perform" followed by the name of the adventure:

C:\>perform gorreven

Type English phrases when the game asks you "What should I do now?"

What should I do now? look
What should I do now? open the closet
What should I do now? look inside it
What should I do now? get the coat
What should I do now? inventory
What should I do now? look at it
What should I do now? put it on
What should I do now? i
What should I do now? take it off
What should I do now? put it down

...and so forth.  If you want to see a list of some of the verbs and
prepositions that the game understands, type "help".  It will not be a
complete list since it will not show all the synonyms that the game
understands, and it does not show all the nouns that the game knows
(since that could give things away), but it does show you what kinds
of actions you can do.

Note above:  the command "i", or "inventory", shows all the objects you
are currently carrying.

The game can understand a variety of pronouns, and also understands that
different pronouns refer to different kinds of things:

What should I do now? look at the sunglasses
What should I do now? look at the cupboard
What should I do now? put them in it

However, that kind of thing won't work when both objects have the
same pronoun.

You can also use the word "everything" to refer to all the objects
available:

What should I do now? take everything
What should I do now? drop everything
What should I do now? put everything in the bag

There are a number of special commands, such as "help", that consist of
a single word typed at the prompt.  These will work for nearly every
adventure:

save                save your current state in a file.  The game will
                    ask you for the file's name after you type "save".

load                load a previously saved game state.  The game will
                    ask you for the file's name after you type "load".

quit                quit playing the adventure

help                display part of the game's vocabulary

look                look around the current location

leave (or exit)     leave the current location.  This only works if you
                    are in or at an object which is inside of a room,
                    for example, on a couch.  "leave the couch" also
                    works.

When you are in a room, you will be informed of the obvious exits.  Type
the name of the direction at the prompt in order to move in that direction.
Most directions have an abbreviation, usually the first letter of the
direction's name.  For some directions, such as "southeast", "northwest",
etc., the abbreviations are "se", "nw", etc.  Most games use the cardinal
directions:  north (n), south (s), east (e), west (w), northeast (ne),
northwest (nw), southeast (se), southwest (sw), as well as up (u) and
down (d).  However, some games may define different directions.

You can "go to" some objects in a room, for example, certain kinds of
furniture.  To say "enter" the object will almost always work; and many
objects respond to more natural synonyms.  For example, all of the following
could all be ways to indicate that you wanted to visit the desk:

What should I do now? enter desk
What should I do now? go to the desk
What should I do now? sit at the desk

Once there, you can leave the object and return to the room it was in:

What should I do now? leave the desk
or just
What should I do now? leave

When the game gives your "visible exits", those are only the exits in
the "compass directions", such as north, south, etc.  You might be in
a closet, for example, and it says there are "no visible exits"; however,
typing "leave" puts you back in the room which contains the closet.
This "visible exits" list also does not list exits which you might be
able to accomplish by entering some object, such as "enter the dark hole".
It depends on the way the author of the adventure has written it.

In general, it helps to remember that you move from "room" to "room"
by means of typing a direction, such as "north", "n", or "go north".
Those directions do not work in any other context.  Some games (such
as STARSHIP) define their own directions.  In STARSHIP, instead of
north, south, east, and west, you move fore, aft, starboard, and port,
abbreviated as f, a, s, p respectively.

If you seem to be getting "stuck", remember that you should explore every
location, and most of all, "look at" every object in the room.  To
"search" or "examine" an object usually implies a closer examination.
When you enter a room, the game does not consider it to be a detailed
examination.  Just taking a second look can give a lot of hints.

If you're still stuck, some games have a "hint" command.  Just type
"hint" by itself and it will give you a hint as to what course of action
you might want to pursue next.

Don't be discouraged if you find yourself "dying" or "losing" a lot.
Some games (such as GORREVEN) have a high danger level and the wrong
timing or a few wrong moves will doom you.  Use "save" a lot and
learn from the past!

If the game seems to be misunderstanding what you're typing, try rephrasing
it.  Most well-written games respond at least to the names by which objects
are described in the adventure.  The game cannot understand complex
sentences containing conjunctions or conditions:

What should I do now? get either the axe or gun and kill the dwarf with it

...but it can understand simple imperative sentences with a subject and
direct object.  If your goal is to confuse the game, you will get bored
quickly, since it is not very hard to do.  You will probably have the most
fun if you just "play along".  It helps to remember that by and large,
the game only understands these sentence constructions:

<verb>          such as "save", "load", "quit", "look", "i", "north"

<verb phrase> <subject noun phrase>
                such as "get the fur coat", "push the button",
                        "look at the diary"

<verb phrase> <subject noun phrase> <preposition>
                such as "pick it up", "take the coat off"

<verb phrase> <subject noun phrase> <preposition> <direct object noun phrase>
                such as "open the closet with the keys",
                        "put the battery in the calculator",
                        "open the medicine cabinet with the credit card"

Enjoy!

