                        A Bloody Life!
                        ==============
An Interactive Hospital Drama, by Quentin.D.Thompson.
(NOTE : To my knowledge this is the first long, elaborate text game
to be set entirely in a hospital. If any of you doctors downloaded the
game because of that, you won't be disappointed!)

PREFACE : SOME TECHNICALITIES
=============================
I don't really think anyone playing this game will be playing his
first ever adventure game.....so let's dispense with the usual
"What AGT Can And Cannot Do" bit. If you're really desperate, I
HAVE included a copy of that file, but you'll have to read it
with a word processor, or (even better) a line editor. What this
file is really about is HOW "A Bloody Life" came to be written,
WHY it was written, WHAT to expect, and most importantly, WHAT to
do when you get stuck.

Last things first. Not being the 'register and get your hints'
type, a simple e-mail to me should do the trick. I can be reached
at : philip@giasmda.vsnl.net.in.

(But I've put so much online help into this game that it's near-
impossible to screw up, so do give it a bash before throwing in the
towel.)

Now, (swish, curtains, trumpet and electric guitar),
        on with the show.......

PART I. ANATOMY OF A PARODY
===========================
Perhaps because I'm a medical man myself (a student, to be more 
accurate, but that's not my USP) I have read quite a bit of fiction
set and centred in and around the lives of "sawbones" in hospitals,
clinics, and rustic Welsh villages (a la A.J. Cronin). As I slowly
read more and more of these, I found that there were two things I
didn't really enjoy about them:

First, the science. Even admitting that you couldn't expect someone
living in the 1940s (or even the 1970s) to know what we know now
(1998, at the time of writing this), there were still some things that
even a 1920s doctor of reasonable intelligence could be expected to
know. Yet, we still have people using strychnine as a tonic for
pneumonia, anticancer drugs being used in transplant rejections, and
so on. This may be a nit-pick, so on to....

Point Two: The SENTIMENTALITY! - All doctors, even those depicted as being
totally brilliant, dedicated, &c. &c, are always shown as being more
concerned about their personal (or, precisely, their romantic) lives
than their actual profession, with the result that:

A. all such novels are over-romanced, over-sexed, or BOTH...

B. they don't end with a successful cure but with an engagement,
   or marriage, or some rather more unmentionable things.

Now, this is a serious grouse. So serious, in fact, that it deserves
to be laughed at....or parodied. This, in fact, is the raison d'etre
of "A Bloody Life" - to punch holes in the inflated silliness of
this genre. If you have read up to here without falling asleep or
reaching for your bottle of Prozac, soldier on - the best is yet to
come.
But be warned, this game does end with a marriage - not yours if
you play your cards right.

PART II. ADVERSE DRUG REACTIONS
===============================

Therefore, in this game, everything - from the building descriptions
to the characters and objects - is meant for fun. When I refer to
the Executive Managing Director of the Institute as "Adolf Aryan
White", I am not showing my support for the Neo-Nazi movement, but
parodying the ridiculous habit of portraying administrators as
'bad guys', who are not only bigoted but unintelligent and
incompetent in the bargain. (This ought to be self-evident, but in
the PC Nineties, who can tell?) The same applies to any (perceived)
racist, sexist or cynical references. This game certainly owes more
to "Weird Al" Yankovic than to Benito Mussolini. In particular, the
sensitive player is warned about the following characters:

                 ADVERSE REACTIONS
             (uncommon, occur only in touchy individuals)


Accusation               Crude        Sexist     Racist     Anti-Religious
                                      
Mr. and Mrs. Weston        +            ++         -             -
Director Adolf White       +             +         +             +
Dr. Antoinetta Rice        -            ++         -             -
Candida Irons              -             ?         -             -
"Secret Man 666"           +             -         -             +
The Old Lady               -             ?         -             -
Hugo Grahame               ?             ?         -             -
Henrietta Grahame          -             +         -             -
The Crowd Of Students      + (in terms   -         -             -
                              of coding)
Bruce Darby                +             ?         -             -
Dr. William Irons          ?             +         ?             ?

+  : response possible
++ : strong response
? : doubtful response
- : absence of response
(That's about half my list of characters!)

P.S. If you like this sort of table, please credit Bertram.G.Katzung and
his excellent "Basic And Clinical Pharmacology" for giving me the idea.


PART III. THE STORY
===================

As the day begins, you (or rather your persona, Dr. Irons) are
standing in front of your place of work and trying hard to
keep your mind on your work and off the various irritations of
working in such an Institute. There's a massive radical lobby
(a la Black Panthers + Women Warriors) trying to dethrone
the Director, Dr. White; there's a malfunctioning robot that
seems to have got its directories scrambled; there are (of
course) patients to be attended to, wards to be visited, facts
to be unearthed (What for? Read on, please!); there is a bunch
of enthusiastic house-surgeons about to try a procedure with
a 0.02% success rate (the standard procedure is 92% effective,
but they're obviously trying to impress someone); there are
all kinds of personal imbroglios; and - worse than all - there's
a highly talented, highly attractive (get the picture) liver
surgeon, Dr. Antoinetta Rice, trying to get her hooks (or
forceps if you prefer) into you. Your task is simple - survival;
other things come second. In simpler terms, you have to avoid -
with all your might - becoming Mr. Antoinetta Rice.


PART IV. LIFE IS A MYSTERY
==========================

Though finishing this game is rather simple, unearthing all its
hidden depths is much more entertaining. Why is the janitor
complaining that he can't open his closet? What is the meaning
of that mysterious noise in an upstairs block? What can a film
magazine be doing in this game? Who is Secret Woman 777?

None of these are as exciting as they sound - but have fun anyway.


PART V. WHEN HATE PULLS THE TRIGGER
===================================

To be perfectly honest with you, there was one (or rather two)
particular books that kicked me into writing this. One of them
is an annoying textbook of Forensic Medicine, so don't bother
about it; the other was not merely annoying but nauseous. I
can't name it here because there are still libel laws, but
finding it out (it's hidden somewhere in the game) is part of
the fun. If you want to enjoy this game even more, get hold of
a copy (it's a real book), read it, and THEN play "A Bloody
Life".


PART VI. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
=========================

QUENTIN.D.THOMPSON is a noted author of Interactive Fiction, who
has the finest collection of unfinished projects in the world.
His projects include a rock'n'roll mystery, "Organ Grinder",
a sci-fi adventure, "Space Obstacle", and a platformer,
"Punk Pogan - The Search For Psycho Sid". If you are interested in
taking up one of these and finishing it (and even releasing it)
please mail me at

 Philip@giasmda.vsnl.net.in

for a zipfile containing the incomplete code and READMEs.
Personally, he's a forty-five year old brown male koala, who's
taken up medicine to beat the midlife blues (like Henderson in
Saul Bellow's irritating novel) with two not-so-adorable
cubs and mucho alimony payments.

Quentin. D. Thompson is a pseudonym and a pseudoidentity.


PART VII. A GLOSSARY OF HELPFUL TERMS.
======================================
Being a nasty sort of chap (just kidding), I haven't resisted the
temptation to use oodles of jargon in the game. If you get stumped at
a term, feel free to look it up here:

5-Alpha-Reductase : An enzyme involved in the production of testosterone.

Amiodarone : a drug used in treating heart failure.

Zidovudine : also called AZT, a drug used in AIDS therapy.

Adenosine : a naturally occurring chemical that may be involved
            in sleep and certain psychiatric disorders.

Antagonist : a drug that blocks the action of one of the body's own
             'chemical messengers'. Agonist is the opposite of this term.

Carbamezapine : an anti-epileptic drug.

Lignocaine : a local anaesthetic.

Autoclave : a furnace using steam at high pressure, used to sterilize
            surgical instruments.

Mallory's alcoholic hyaline : a deposit seen in the liver cells of
                              chronic alcoholics (under the microscope).

Fatty change : accumulation of fat in liver cells, due to alcoholism,
               starvation or a high-fat diet.

Dysplasia : change in conformation of cells, usually leading on
            to cancerous growth.

Tumour markers : chemicals produced by certain tumours, useful in
                 their diagnosis.

Oncology : the study of tumours.

Gastro-Enterology : the study of the alimentary system.

Pathology : the study of disease, its causes, and the changes wrought by it.

Obstetrics : branch of medicine dealing with childbirth.

Enkephalins, endorphins : brain chemicals similar to morphine.

5-HT (also called SEROTONIN) : brain chemical, implicated in depression.

Theodor Billroth : One of the greatest surgeons of all times - he designed,
                   among others, standard procedures for stomach and
                   thyroid operations.

Diazepam : commonly called valium; a sedative.

Ketamine : an anaesthetic agent.

Physiology : study of the functioning of organs.

Haemorrhoids : Piles (dilated veins in the rectum/anal canal).

Neurology : study of the nervous system.

Edrophonium : a drug used to diagnose myasthenia gravis.

Myasthenia gravis : congenital disease characterized by
                    severe muscular weakness.

Trisomy 18 : a congenital malformation.

Cystic Fibrosis : common congenital disease causing chronic
                  bronchitis and digestive disturbances.

Microvilli : small hair-like projections on intestinal cells, aiding
             in the absorption of digested food.

Whipple's disease : a chronic intestinal infection.

Tropical sprue : a malabsorptive disorder of the intestine.

Falciform ligament : a fold connecting the liver to the anterior
                     abdominal wall.

Percutaneous : through the skin.

Myocardial infarction : heart attack.

Prozac : (fluoxetine) an antidepressant drug.

Hypothalamus : portion of base of brain, involved in instinctual
               behaviour.

Purinergic : of a system that uses purines (chemicals such as adenosine)
             for transmission.

Schizophrenia : mental disorder, often erroneously called
                'split personality'.

Aortic regurgitation : disorder of one of the heart valves.

Necrosis : Abnormal death of cells.

Hippocampus, amygdala : parts of the brain concerned with memory
                        and emotion.

Pharmacokinetics : effects of the body on a drug.

Pharmacodynamics : effects of a drug on the body.

IP3 : inositol triphosphate (a chemical transmitter substance).

Tachyphylaxis : Rapid tolerance to a drug.

Phosphodiesterase : Enzyme involved in the termination of certain
                    chemically mediated actions in cells.

IV : intravenously.

Amobarbital : a sedative drug of the barbiturate family.

Aphasia : speech impairment due to brain damage.


If you DO have doubts on any of the "syndromes" (such as Romeo syndrome)
in the game, have no fear - they're fictitious!
Further questions can be addressed to me, but I tend to sleep on
replying.

PART VIII. THE PLAYERS.
=======================

The characters in "A Bloody Life" are:

Dr. William Irons, a neurologist.
Dr. Candida Irons, his daughter.
Adolf. A. White, Director of the Institute.
Dr. Antoinetta Bertha Rice, a hepatological surgeon.
The Janitor.
The Old Lady.
"Secret Man 666", a rabble-rouser.
Dr. Bruce Darby, a psychologist and surgeon.
George Newton.
Mrs. Newton.
A crowd of students.
Dr. Hugo Grahame, a gastroenterologist.
Dr. Henrietta Grahame, Hugo's sister; a surgeon.

PART IX. NOMENCLATURE.
======================
So where did I get the names from?

1) "Irons" got his surname from the drummer of one of my favourite
   bands - Pearl Jam. I just picked William out of nowhere.

2) "Candida" is my way of hitting back at a particularly irritating
   professor of pathology who used to bore us with "fungal
   infactions".....

3) "Dr. Rice" is a little involved and goes back to the time when
   I typed out an article about the novel "Wide Sargasso Sea" and
   found it total bilge. For those who are curious, it's supposedly
   a prequel to "Jane Eyre", and deals with Mr. Rochester's first
   wife, Bertha Antoinetta Mason. The novel's author was one
   Jean Rhys - misspell it and there you are.

4) "Hugo" - in memory of those three great Hugo games by David Gray.

5) "Henrietta" - perhaps the wife of King Charles the Ist; more because
   I wanted some confusion over the initials h.g.

6) "Secret Man 666" - perhaps a parody of some heavy metal bands.

7) "George Newton" - the surname from the movie "Short Circuit", the
   first name from Isaac Asimov's story "Robbie".

8) "Bruce Darby" - I don't know; Springsteen, perhaps?

9) "Adolf A(ryan) White" - a dig at the stereotype of the
                           bigoted hospital chairman.

PART X. THE SOUNDTRACK.
=======================

The following songs are on the 'soundtrack' - that is, lyrics from them
are included in various parts of the game:

Pink Floyd - "One Slip"
             "The Post-War Dream"
             "Keep Talking"
             "Welcome To The Machine"
             "Breathe (Reprise)"   
             "Brain Damage"

Tesla - "Signs"

Pearl Jam - "All Those Yesterdays"
            "Whipping"

Bruce Springsteen - "Brilliant Disguise"

Judas Priest - "The Last Rose Of Summer"

Elton John - "Man"

Megadeth - "Use The Man" (slightly modified....)

Radiohead - "Bones"

Van Halen - "Humans Being"

Dire Straits - "Hand In Hand"

You're welcome to listen to the originals, and tell me if you've got
better suggestions. (But please make them at least microscopically
amusing).

PART XI. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
======================

(Books inspirational in, or used for reference on, the game)

Fictional:
=========

1) "Kaleidoscope", A.J. Cronin.

2) "Lifeblood", Frank.R.Slaughter.

3) "The Final Diagnosis", Arthur Hailey.

NOTE. All the above novels are excellent substitutes for sleeping pills,
especially the last two.

Non-Fictional:
=============

1) Harrison's Principles Of Internal Medicine.

2) Bailey and Love's Short Practice Of Surgery.

3) Gray's Anatomy.

4) Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, Bertram.G.Katzung (editor)

5) Review of Medical Physiology, William.F.Ganong.

6) Farquharson's Textbook of Operative Surgery.

7) Davidson's Principles Of Internal Medicine.

8) Medical Microbiology.

9) Oxford Textbook Of Pathology.

10) Robbins' Pathologic Basis Of Disease.

NOTE. These are all real books; if you're interested, take a bash anyway.


PART XII. CINEMATIC VERSIONS.
============================
Since these days one can make "Super Mario Brothers" - or even "Mortal Kombat"
into a movie, I consider that this game has as good a chance as any of
being adapted by Hollywood. If you have any ideas on casting for the various
roles, please let me know!

Provisionally, I think Leonardo DiCaprio, that little shrimp, would make
an excellent Bruce Darby, and Kate Winslet, that little twerp, would make
an excellent Candida Irons. (If you're a Titanic fan, relax - the hard part
is over). 

A provisional piece of casting:

Bruce Darby - Leonardo DiCaprio

Candida Irons - Kate Winslet

Adolf White - Danny DeVito

Dr. Rice - ?

William Irons - Robin Williams? 

George Newton - Walter Matthau? Or do we need someone geekier?
                (Like that car salesman in "True Lies")

Mrs. Newton - ? (WHO THE HELL was Danny DeVito's mom in
                 "Throw Momma From The Train"?)

Secret Man 666 - so many choices : Kevin Costner, Tom Cruise, even
                                   Will Smith if you like.

The Old Lady - ?Jessica Tandy, ?Joan Hickson (too bad she's dead..)

Hugo Grahame - ?

Henrietta Grahame - ?

As mentioned above, please help me fill in the blanks!


XIII. WISHLIST.
===============

1) Wish the MST3K1 crew would get to work on that game. God, how much
   fun THAT would be!

2) Wish I could get good ideas for a sequel. There's one tentatively
   titled "A Bloody Life II - Kadalai Kings Of The Eastern Hemisphere"
   on the drawing board. Any suggestions? Comments? Queries?

3) Wish I could make it to ftp.gmd.de.

4) Wish I could write easier puzzles.

5) Wish I could get into an AGT contest.

XIV. SOME FUTURE IDEAS.....MAY OR MAY NOT BE DEVELOPED!
-------------------------------------------------------

1) A J.R.R.Tolkien parody, set in the Forest of Bleagh.
   Fight Luteum Tinnitus and the Faggot Elves of the forest
   of Lusitania! (You are Demon Pogie, the pet of Denim Devil
   Levi 501). Sounds weird? Is.

2) Historical fiction. I love this stuff ever since reading
   Alexandre Dumas, but as with medical fiction there are
   a lot of screw-ups here. (Jean Plaidy is a notable
   example.) A Jigsaw-style game, perhaps?

3) Continuation of the adventures of Dr.Irons.

4) A detective game. I've been dying to try one for years.


XV. AFTERWORD

That's all there is. We hope you enjoyed this game as much as we
enjoyed coding, testing and jucing up the data files.
Hints - if need be - are in a separate file, BLOODY.HNT. 

                                                Au revoir.

                                                Quentin.D.Thompson,
                                                Planet Earth, 1998 A.D.

