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BLLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED USERS
                                
Computer technology is opening new worlds to people with
disabilities.  For blind and visually impaired people, screen
reading software and speech synthesizers have made possible
vastly increased productivity and career options, as well as
access to the exciting world of computer gaming.  But this access
depends on the ability to read the screen in text mode.  In the
past few years the explosion of graphics has threatened to
turn back the clock for blind people just as other people with
disabilities and the DOS-command-line-frightened general public
are about to gain even greater access to computers.  for access, as
defined by federal law, is
"unassisted access".  In any case, even if
methods can be worked out for reading text presented in graphics
mode, the trend is increasingly toward entirely textless control
screens, which cannot be navigated by blind users at all.)

It's neither obvious nor greatly important to the folks who are
thrusting us headlong into the world of graphic operating
systems, windows 95 and windows 98, and games, that in
doing so, they may reverse the benefits that computer technology
has conferred on people who are blind or visually impaired.  If
any of you corporate programmers out there see this game
(particularly those at Microsoft who refuse to give the Windows
source code to those who want to adapt it for voice output), I
hope you'll put a little thought into this.  After all, the
future is likely to be voice-input-output interfaces for all
users; graphics are just a way-station on the road to this
future.

                                       Voice Output
                                                
My information is that the majority of today's text game players
are people who are blind or visually impaired.  Being Visually
impaired myself, I know what many
blind people face when it comes to computer gaming.  There are just
to many graphic games on
the market, and very little thought has been given to the person
with a visual disability.

As far as I know this game will work with all known speech packages
and voice synthesizers. 
Below is a list of speech synthesizers and screen access products
that will work with this game.  If
your synthesizer or screen access product is not among these,
Please consult your manual that
came with your product on how to access text on the screen.

          Synthesizers that will work with this game.
                                
Dectalk synthesizers, keynote synthesizers, arctic synthesizers
eloquence.

      Screen access products that will work with this game
                                
Vocal Eyes, Windows Eyes, Arctic, Jaws For Windows.

If you have problems with your products, while using this game. 
The game will allow the use of
writing to the BIOS rather than writing directly to screen memory. 
To do this,
you invoke the /B switch when starting the game.  If you
understand batch programming, you can add this switch to the line
in the batch file. 

        HOW TO PLAY, COMMANDS AND VOCABULARY:
                                
      The Adventure Game understands a wide variety of commands.
      However, it has only a limited vocabulary, totaling
approximately four hundred words, so it
can get confused.  If you give it a word that it
      doesn't understand, it will tell you what word it doesn't
know.  Try
      entering your command again using a different word in place
of the one
      the game objected to.

Your commands should generally be in the format: 

<verb> <(multiple) noun phrase(s)> <preposition> <noun
phrase/object>

      Some (hypothetical) examples of valid commands:

         PLACE A RED ROCK IN THE SMALL BOWL
         PUT THE GREEN ROCK AND THE SMALL PEBBLE BEHIND THE OAK
TREE
         READ MY POETRY BOOK
         SWIM IN THE SWIMMING POOL
         EXAMINE THE GOLD RING, THE DWARF AND THE SILVER NECKLACE
         EAT THE CELERY, THE TUNA, THE APPLE AND THE ONION
         THROW THE BATTLE AXE AND THE LARGE ROCK AT THE WEREWOLF
         SHOOT THE BURGLAR WITH THE REVOLVER
         ATTACK HIM ("HIM" will refer to last noun mentioned, e.g.,
the burglar)
         FIRE THE LASER PISTOL AT THE ALIEN MUTANT
         GET THE BOOK (also: TAKE THE BOOK)
         READ IT ("IT" will refer to last noun mentioned, e.g., the
book)
         GET ALL (will get everything movable at the current
location)
         GET THE KEYS, BOTTLE, FOOD AND THE CLOAK
         EXAMINE THE KEYS, BOTTLE, FOOD AND CLOAK
         PUSH THE RED BUTTON AND THE GREEN BUTTON
         UNLOCK THE FILE CABINET WITH THE STEEL KEY
         JUMP THROUGH THE OPENING
         JUMP OVER THE LOG
         NORTH
         SOUTHWEST
         PLACE AN AXE AND THE SHIELD NEXT TO THE BIG TREE
TURN ON THE FLASHLIGHT
         LIGHT THE TORCH WITH THE WOODEN MATCHES
         SCREAM AT THE UGLY TROLL
         CLIMB UP THE LADDER
         EXTINGUISH THE FIRE (or PUT OUT THE FIRE)
         DRINK THE WHITE WINE
         THROW THE FIRE WOOD IN THE STOVE
         PULL THE BELL CORD
         WEAR THE STUPID HAT (also: PUT ON THE STUPID HAT)
         TAKE OFF THE HAT (also: REMOVE THE HAT)
         NE (for NORTHEAST)
         DROP THE KEY AND THE BOTTLE
         ENTER THE CAVE
         XYZZY (i.e., a "magic" word)
         TURN THE DOORKNOB
         PLAY WITH THE DOG
         TALK TO (or TALK WITH) THE OLD MAN (ABOUT THE WEATHER)
         TELL JEFF ABOUT THE SWORD
         ASK JODIE ABOUT THE CRIME

      Compound commands can be created by connecting single
commands (like those above) with "AND", "THEN" or the punctuation
symbols
"," or ";" to
      connect two or more separate commands.  However,
"end-of-sentence"
      punctuation symbols like ".", "!" and "?" should not be
used.  Below are a few examples of valid compound commands:

         TURN THE DOORKNOB THEN ENTER THE CAVE
         CLIMB DOWN THE LADDER THEN SOUTH, WEST AND NORTHWEST
         GET THE CLOAK AND THEN EXAMINE IT; READ THE LABEL
         DROP THE FOOD AND THE BOTTLE THEN UNLOCK THE DOOR AND THEN
LEAVE
         GET THE TORCH, LIGHT IT WITH THE WOODEN MATCHES THEN
EXAMINE IT

      If the game understands all of the words in your command,
but still seems confused by the command -- then try to say the same
thing using fewer words and a simpler sentence.  When in doubt,
simplify your commands as much as possible.  This also saves typing
effort.

                       SPECIAL COMMANDS:
                                
        The game uses a number of special commands for various
"housekeeping" chores.  These are all pretty standard for most
adventure
games, specifically:

         HELP          May (or may not) give you a hint.

         SCORE         Will summarize your progress, so far.

         INVENTORY     Will display a list of the items you are
carrying, and those items you are wearing.

LOOK          Will give you a full (verbose) description
of your current location.

         LIST EXITS    Will list the obvious (visible) exits from
your current location.  There may be other ways to exit
the location
                       -- but they may not be obvious.

         OOPS          Will allow you to edit (using the cursor
keys, and the delete, insert and backspace keys) your
previous command.  For example, if you enter THORW
ROPE by mistake, OOPS will enable you to edit this
command and correct it to THROW ROPE.

         SCRIPT        Causes output to go to both the screen and
a printer (using the LP1 port).

         UNSCRIPT      Causes output to go to the screen (only).

         QUIT          Quits the current game session.  Always exit
using QUIT
                       -- so the game can erase some temporary data
files and
                       save disk space!


                 FUNCTION AND ALT-CURSOR KEYS:
                                
      The combination of the ALT key and the cursor keys have all
been programmed to create an input command corresponding to
their respective movement or compass directions, i.e., the ALT key
and the
up-arrow key causes a NORTH command to be generated, the ALT key
and the
home key causes a NORTHWEST command to be generated, etc.

      Similarly, the function keys have been predefined to stand
for several of the most frequently used commands.  Further, by
giving
the command DEFINE, you may re-define any of the function keys to
give
any input command you wish.  For example, in this game you might
find
it useful to re-define one of the function keys to give the command
KILL
ORC WITH Axe or GIVE CANDY TO BABY.

      Hitting the '?' key (during the game) will display a diagram
of keys and
      their current definitions.  always "smart"
      or even appropriate) commands from which the player may
make a selection.

The "look-and-feel" options are accessed by hitting the ESC
key during the game

               function key Game playing commands
                                
F 1                         GET
  F 2                         DROP
  F 3                         EXAMINE
  F 4                         READ
  F 5                         OPEN
  F 6                         CLOSE
  F 7                         INVENTORY
  F 8                         LOOK

                             MOVING
                                
You can move in the eight most common compass directions, as well
as up and down.  You don't need, and can't use, such words as
"GO", "WALK", "ENTER", or "EXIT".  To move in any direction,
enter the direction you wish to take.  All of these can be
abbreviated to one or two letters:

NORTH N       SOUTH S       EAST E        WEST W
NORTHEAST NE  NORTHWEST NW  SOUTHEAST SE  SOUTHWEST SW

You can also control direction by using the cursor keys as though
the little arrows pointed to the four cardinal directions on a
map.  The other directions can be controlled as follows:

HOME     northwest
PAGEUP   northeast
PAGED OWN southeast
END      southwest
"-"      up
"+"      down

If you are unsure of where to go at any time, you can enter "LIST
EXITS" and the game will give
you the options for your current location.  

                       REPEATING COMMANDS
                                
the game saves your last command and allows you to repeat it,
assuming
you haven't entered anything else, without retyping it.  To do
this, enter "AGAIN" or "G".

                       CHAINING COMMANDS
                                
You can type in several valid commands in a row, separated by
commas, and the game will execute them one at a time.  Of course,
if the results of a command in the chain alters the situation
significantly, the rest of the commands that follow may no longer
be valid.

For example, you can type:

GET CUP, EXAMINE IT, DROP IT, NORTHEAST

Each command will be evaluated and the appropriate response will
occur before the game goes on to the next command in the list. 
If dropping the cup causes an explosion and blows you to kingdom
come, you may not be able to go northeast, even though you
entered the command.

AVOID putting "AGAIN" or "G" more than once in a chain of
commands!  Since AGAIN repeats the last command, and the last
command only, something like:

BUY CUP, AGAIN, AGAIN

can produce an endless chain of repeated commands, and your only
escape will be to reset the computer.

BRIEF AND VERBOSE

In the normal course of the game, every time you enter a location
you will get a full description of that location.  This can get
to be pretty boring if you've been to the same place several
times.  (Access Note:  it can be excruciatingly boring to listen
to with the typical screen reader.)  If you enter "BRIEF", you
will only get the full description the first time you enter a new
location.  Each subsequent time you go there, you will only get
the name of the room.  

To go back to the full description every time, enter "VERBOSE".

SAVING AND RESTORING

You can save your position at any point in the game.  Just enter
"SAVE"; the game will prompt you for a file name.  To restore a
previously-saved position, just enter "RESTORE"; the game will
list the available save files and ask you to choose one.
