Welcome to Sanity Clause.  In my last game, Son Of Stagefright - The Sequel,  I
locked you away in an abandoned theater.  (If you missed it you REALLY should
scare up a copy somewhere.  It got rave reviews and all that good kind of
stuff.)  This time I take pity on you and let you run around the whole world
and regions beyond.

It all started out as a simple idea; could I design a game based on Santa Claus
making his rounds by staying within the midnight hour as it moved around the
globe.  The answer was, "NO."  Several months of frustrating research showed
that the arrangement of time zones, national boundaries, oceans, etc. made it
impossible.  The whole idea went on a back burner for almost a year.  (If
you're getting bored with this, just let me know.)  Then one day it hit me.
THE IMPOSSIBLE is my favorite project, so I set out in earnest.  Then my
computer broke down.  I was making great progress.  What evolved was a
patchwork of various national Christmas-related customs (some admittedly
slightly modified to have them all occur on December 24th), some fantasy, a
little craziness and eventually, anything that popped into my overworked mind
to get you around the world on time.  A lot of my information on local customs,
geography, language, etc. around the world came from reference books, some of
which were ambiguous or contradictory, so please take this in the spirit
intended - not a sociology lesson, just good fun.

The object of the game is to visit several key locations around the globe, but
you cannot do it all in one trip.  (The best combination of routes takes 5
trips.)  The "SCORE" command will give you a list of the key locations yet to
be visited.  Seems simple enough so far, doesn't it?

Your trips will not be without obstacles, however.  Your companion is an
apprentice elf named Dudley who has a penchant for fouling things up.  You also
seem to be having a great deal of trouble with your "Christmas magic" getting
cross circuited with various other forms of magic that you encounter -- with
very disturbing results.  You will need to stay on your toes to get through
this night.

Speaking of "night", here are a few of the ground rules for the game.  You are
Santa Claus (or "Sanity Clause" for this trip).  You operate by "magic", but
this magic is only effective around midnight on Christmas Eve.  This means that
you must keep within the midnight hour as it travels around the globe.  Also,
your usual means of travel is by flying reindeer.  Due to some quirk of
genetics, the reindeer can only fly at night, so you mustn't get into the sun
or you'll be grounded.  You are free to take any route you want.  No,
seriously, I mean that.  This game does NOT have a pre-set path.  If you want
to go to Tasmania instead of Queensland or Guam after New Hebrides, feel free.
There are, by my count 268 routes around the globe and the situations you run
into at a given location and the solutions to the puzzles may vary depending on
the route you came by.

You will meet various characters along the way; talk to them.  They may be of
use.  If you find objects, LOOK, READ, TURN, PULL, PUSH, TAKE, WEAR, etc.  The
vast majority will be of use to you at some point also.  As is usual for
interactive fiction, the screen will give you a running account of your
predicament, and you will enter your responses on the keyboard.  For instance,
if you are told that there is a wild man-eating kumquat behind the door, you
might enter: CLOSE THE DOOR.

Phrase commands in a verb-noun-preposition-object order, such as THROW (verb)
THE LITTLE BOOK (noun) AT (preposition) THE FLAMING DUCK (object).  DON'T use
periods, question marks, etc. at the end of the sentence.  Commands can be
combined and pronouns used for repeated references to the same thing:  LIGHT
THE LAMP THEN GIVE IT TO THE BARTENDER.  If something doesn't seem to work, try
re-phrasing it.  (AND, THEN, "," and ";" can link commands)

Pressing "?" brings up information on key assignments.  Use the BACKSPACE key
to edit your commands.  (The LEFT ARROW key is shorthand for "WEST")

Here are a few special commands:

AGAIN, G    - REPEAT LAST COMMAND
BRIEF       - GIVE SHORT ROOM DESCRIPTIONS
COMMANDS    - SHOW THIS LIST AGAIN
HELP, H     - HINTS (IF AVAILABLE)
INVENTORY, I- SHOW INVENTORY
LIST EXITS  - SHOW THE "ROOM'S" EXITS
LOOK, L     - DESCRIBE "ROOM"
QUIT, Q     - END THE GAME
RESTORE     - RESTORE SAVED GAME
SAVE        - SAVE GAME
SCORE       - SHOW SCORE
SCRIPT      - SEND MESSAGES TO PRINTER
SHOUT       - TOGGLES SOUND ON/OFF
UNSCRIPT    - STOP SENDING TO PRINTER
VERBOSE     - GIVE FULL DESCRIPTIONS
?           - LIST OF KEY ASSIGNMENTS




The AGT language is good at parsing (figuring out) your input, but here are a
few pointers that might save some frustration later.  When wearing something,
TAKE ITEM OFF will leave it in your possession.  TAKE OFF ITEM will set it down
completely.  When an item is contained within another item, the game will not
always respond as if it were in the room.  For instance, if a sock is in a
drawer and you say TAKE ALL, you may get the response that there is nothing
here to take.  Say TAKE SOCK and you will get it.  Also, you sometimes need a
tool to accomplish a task.  Saying OPEN THE WINDOW may get the response that
you can't do that.  Try OPEN THE WINDOW WITH THE CROWBAR.  If you don't get the
response you want with TALK TO GRANDMA, try ASK GRANDMA ABOUT THE GREEN MILK.


Be very careful to read everything that the game tells you.  Clues could pop up
about anywhere.  Also remember, the events that take place at a given location
may be different if you came by a different route or have different things in
your possession.






If you do want to check on some point, a $10.00, one time registration fee will
give me all the incentive I need to send a map and hint sheets and correspond
on any and all aspects of the game.

MIKE MCCAULEY                  ³ Please include whether your system is IBM
1442 SORREL ST.                ³ compatible or MAC, and what size floppy disk
SIMI VALLEY, CA 93065          ³ drives you have (e.g., 5-1/4" HD).

Relax and enjoy.  There are no naughty situations or language, but this is not
a "kiddy" game.  There are no ways to die (you are Sanity Clause, after all)
but there are many many ways (88 by my latest count) to flub up your Christmas
rounds for the year.  Now, HO, HO, HO, and away we go. . . .
