                  Zim Greenleaf's Laboratory Instructions 
    
    To you kamikaze gameplayers -- this game supplies a couple ways to get 
killed.  You can also get badly hurt. 
    To you bloodthirsty ones -- a couple chances to kill something. IF you 
can.    
    To you masochistic ones -- plenty of chances to suffer!
    And to you friendly ones -- a highly interactive and helpful (if you 
ask the right questions) NPC!
    And to you honest folks -- a chance to be honest!  How unusual!
    To you botanists -- as you move over the laboratory floor, the common 
name of an herb will appear at the top of the screen, while the Latin 
appears in the text.  You can guess the Latin name by the common, or vice 
versa.  If any aspiring botanists out there might be interested in a 
version that actually quizzes the player about the botanical names -- and 
rewards players for right answers -- do write and let me know.  
    For you non-botanists who just want entertainment, the botanical names 
mainly lend the game atmosphere -- you ARE exploring a sorcerer-botanist's 
laboratory after all! 
    A word to the wise -- this is the very first computer game Yours Truly 
has ever created.  Yours Truly is also NOT a programmer.  So, although I 
have done my best and double best, please write if you are ambushed by 
computer bugs.
    A word to beginners -- due to the nature of computer adventure games, 
not everything you see in a room can be taken or acted upon.  The computer 
may even disavow the existence of anything mentioned in a room description!  
Don't let this bother you.  You'll have to assume that anything described 
in the room does indeed exist -- but you, the player, simply cannot move or 
have it.  That's the way a computer game works.  
    In this game, you are transported to a magical dimension.  Where you can 
shrink.  And explore a slightly more than normal-sized room.  Namely because 
the resident NPC (non-player-character) is slightly more than normal-sized 
himself.  When you explore the laboratory floor, feel free to ignore the 
repetitive room descriptions, and refer to them only when you wish to know 
where the furniture is in relation to you.  You do need to glance at the 
bottom lines of a room description at least -- it is sometimes an item you 
can take.  Or has just attacked you!  
    The object of the game is to explore as much of the laboratory as 
possible, dispatching any nasty creatures that attack you, find as many 
valuable items as possible, return to your rightful size, and persuade the 
resident NPC, a benign but powerful fellow who dislikes being robbed as much 
as anyone else, to let you take your winnings back to your own dimension.  
    For those who are tired of killer cardboard NPC's that are there simply 
to attack and be attacked, Zim the Flying Sorcerer is NOT one of those!  
    For more details how this game works, see the file called Zim.txt. 
    If you want the game solution, send your request, $10 and a stamped, 
self-addressed envelope, and I'll provide the solution for Zim Greenleaf's 
Laboratory for you.  Even if you CAN figure out the game yourself, I hope 
you send me $10 in appreciation for all the hard work! 
    Good luck!

    Melody Grandy
    21 Hazelwood St.
    Asheville, NC 28806                                               

