textfiles/apple/DOCUMENTATION/fellow.ring.1

     
     
         [Complete Fellowship of the Ring Documentation]
     
                Typed By:  Otay and Beowulf
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 INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Middle-Earth. You are about to begin a journey into the land
of hobbits, wizards, and dwarves, of Gandalf the Grey, Sauron the Great,
and the Rings of Power. This is the Magical world of J.R.R. Tolkien's
The Fellowship of the Ring. 

This is the story of Frodo Baggins, Bilbo's heir and now the possesser
of the One Ring. In the Fellowship Adventure, you you play the part of
the hobbit Frodo or any of his hobbit companions, Merry Pippin, or Sam.
Your mission is to keep this Master-Ring from the Black-Riders, servants
of the Dark Lord Sauron, as you search out the woods of Loth Lorien, the
goal of the first adventure in the series. But you journey is a perilous
one, fraught with danger and adventure. Each time you play the game,
your path may lie in a different direction bringing new mysteries at
each turn. 

The fate of Middle-earth is in your hands, Frodo, but don't let that
worry you. Good luck, and may you return home to tell the tale! 

BRINGIN TOLKIEN TO THE COMPUTER

In playing this adventure game, you will assume the roles of the
characters from J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy world. You must specify the
actions and movements you want to perform, and the computer will react
accordingly. 

In producing the Fellowship of the Ring Adventure, it has been necessary
to expand beyond the scope of the original book. It was not possible to
follow the book precisely and still allow players to make their own
decisions or to tread paths the characters never walked in Professor
Tolkien's novels. To limit the game that way would leave you little
reason to play; you could simply read the book and save yourself a great
deal of trouble. 

As it is, you, the player, will be faced with situations that are
entirely unfamiliar - even if you are deeply versed in The Lord of the
Rings - but that are totally in keeping with the fantasy world created
by Tolkien. Even Familiar situations can prove to be dangerous and
challenging. Fans of the books may be in for a nasty surprise if they
plunge confidently into the depths os dire (but expected) encounters,
secure in the knowledge that familiarity with the books is enough to
ensure easy victory. 

To those unfamiliar with Professor Tolkien's works, the game is readily
playable. At no point of the game is a knowledge of the book assumed,
although it is recommended that the book be read, if for no other
purpose than to become more familiar to Middle-earth and its
inhabitants. 

So play well, have fun, and if the wargs get you, just remember:  you
knew the job was dangerous when you took it! 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE RING WARS

In the middle years of the Second Age of Middle-earth, Sauron the Great,
master of the evil realm of Mordor, beguiled the great Elvin Smith
Celebrimor of Eregion to teach him the craft of making Rings of Power.
Three rings were made to grant the Elf lords their powers of wisdom and
magic. Then Sauron and Celebrimor labored together to create the Seven
and the Nine, which were given to the great lords of Middle-earth.
Unknown to Celebrimor, Sauron had betrayed him. Deep within the bowels
of Mount Doom, Sauron constructed the Ruling Ring, a ring that could
enslave the wearers of other rings to him forever. So powerful was the
spell that Sauron bound much of his power into it, forever linking his
fate with that of the ring.  When Celebrimor realized that Sauron had
betrayed him, he hid the Three Elvin-rings from him. Over the ages, the
Dwarven rings were nearly destroyed by the Dragons, but their wearers
were even so brought into all-consuming greed and folly before they
fell. The Nine-Mortal Lords "faded" from use of the rings and became the
Nine Ringwraiths, forever enslaved in Sauron's will. A bitter war took
place, with the prize being the fate of Middle-earth. At last Sauron was
over-thrown, and the ring was cut from his finger by the human King
Isildur. 

Isildur was in turn slain by orcs in an ambush many years later, the
ring slipping from his finger as he tried to swim across a river to
safety. 

Several millenia later, the ring was plucked from the river by a
hobbitlike creature named Deagol. Deagol was tricked into giving up the
ring by Smeagol, a skulking character, who saw the ring and coveted it.
Smeagol was soon corrupted by the ring and eventually fled with his
prize to the heart of Misty Mountains.  There he hid himself in the
darkness, and became to be known as Gollum. The ring sustained his life
force for many dark centuries before it sensed its master stirring once
again. 

Many years ago, Bilbo Baggins found the ring in a goblin's den, where it
lay falling from Gollums finger. After many adventures, Bilbo returned
at last to his home in the Shire. (much of this background material is
covered in the book The Hobbit.)

The ring has now passed onto Frodo Baggins, Bilbo Baggins heir, Bilbo
having long since retired and and moved to Rivendell. In recent times,
Gandalf the Wizard (an old and trusted friend) has told you of the
ring's dark history. The servants of the enemy even now are seeking the
One Ring, and the hobbit Baggins who possesses it. 

Gandalf tells you to take the ring to Rivendell, far to the east, and
there to seek Elrond, who will advise you what to do with the now
dangerous treasure. As the Enemy is watching the roads he advises you to
travel by circuitous routes, and to adopt a psuedonym for the time
being. 

To aid you in your quest are your three hobbit companions:  Merry, Sam,
and Pippin joining you at the Bag End, your comfortable home in
Hobbiton-on-the-Hill. Merry awaits the group at the house in
Crickhollowm to the east of Hobbiton, by the western bank of the
Brandywine river. 

A quality inherent in the ring is that it makes the wearer invisible to
all but the most powerful creatures. Gandalf has warned you not to make
use of the ring yourself, lest you also "fade" and become a Ringwraith.
Gandalf will aid you as much as he can, but he has many tasks to perform
to make the passage to Rivendell as safe as possible for you. For all
intents and purposes you are on your own. 

COMMUNICATING WITH THE PROGRAM

The Fellowship of the Ring includes a very sophisticated communications
program called Inglish. Inglish will allow you to enter commands and
converse with other characters in familiar sentences. Those of you who
have played the Hobbit Adventure will find that the Inglish language has
been enhanced in this program. 

More details are given later about the power of Inglish, but the
important thing is that you can enter your commands in simple, everyday
langauge, instead of computer terminlogy. 

The Fellowship of the Ring has a very large vocabulary, so you should
have little difficulty expressing your ideas and commands.  Commands
will usually take the form of actions, and this guide contains and
abreviated list of some of the actions you can use. The list, however,
includes only some of the most common commands and words; the program
actually knows over eight hundred words, and hundreds of these are
available to you in playing the game. The best thing to do is to try a
word. The computer will tell you if it does not know it. In some cases,
if the computer does not understand your command, it will ask for a
clarification. 

THE SCREEN DISPLAY

The Fellowship Adventure screen is divided into two windows; the
description window and the communications window. The adventure
descriptions-the text that describes your surroundings and the
activities around you - appear in the description window at the top of
the screen. Whenever you enter a new location, the computer will give
you a full description of the area, the objects that are in plain sight,
and a list of exits that are visible. 

The second time you enter a location, the computer will give you only a
brief description of the location. If you wish to obtain a more complete
description, simply enter the command, LOOK, and the computer will reply
the lengthy text. 

The description window is also the area where the location graphics
appear. The picture will appear the first time you enter a location,
each time you use the LOOK command. The graphics provide you with
pictures of the immediate location, though no characters will be
pictured. These are left to your imagination. 

Below the adventure script, and arrow indicates the communications
window, or the space in which you type in the actions you wish to
perform. These action commands will appear on the screen in capital
letters. 

Once you have type in and entered your commands, the computer will
perform and otherwise acknowledge your action, or inform you that it
does not understand the command. Once the computer has acknowledged an
entry, it will print any new text that results from your actions, and
then indicate that it is ready to receive a new command. 

ROLES YOU CAN PLAY

One of the most fascinating features of the Fellowship of the Ring is
that it offers you the opportunity to play any one of seven roles
withing the game, and even switch roles while playing.  This not only
allows you to "be" hobbit characters throughout the game, but it also
allows up to four people to play the game simultaneosly. 

SINGLE-PLAYER GAME

When you first load the Fellowship Adventure one of the questions you
will be asked is: 

WHICH HOBBIT CHARACTERS DO YOU WISH TO PLAY? 

Frodo, Merry, Pippin, or Sam? 

At this point you will chose all of the characters you might like to be
during that session of play. If you are playing for the first time, it
is a good idea to choose only the role of Frodo. The first character you
enter is the first character you will "be" in the game. 

Whenever you chose to play just one character, the computer will take
control of the other three characters and ensure that their actions are
in keeping with their personalities. It also means that whenever you
wish these characters to perform specific actions for you, you will need
to instruct them by talking to them directly, using the SAY TO command
(see the section of the Inglish language). 

When you play more than one character, the computer will look after the
characters you are not controlling at the moment, but only in situations
where you have not instructed them to do anything for a while, or when
the entire party moves somewhere else. This means that you will need to
instruct each character much more carefully than if you had chosen only
one character for the same session. 

When you are ready to change characters, simply enter the command: 

BECOME (name)

and you will be playing as that character. You may also change
characters by entering: 

I AM (name)

or omit either command and simply enter the name of the character you
wish to become, as in: 

PIPPIN

Once you have changed characters, it is a good idea to enter the LOOK
command, since you may very well find yourself in a different place and
situation. 

MULTIPLE-PLAYER GAMES

The easiest way to play with more than one character is with a friend or
three, each of you controlling one of the hobbits. In this way, you can
help eachother throughout the adventure, and the human interactions on
top of the computer will make the game that much more fun. 

The initial selection of characters and the commands to change
characters are the same for a multiple player game as for a single
player game. You select all the characters you want to play at the very
beginning of the game. To change characters use the BECOME or I AM
commands, or simply enter the name. By using these commands, you and
your friends can "take turns" playing the different characters you have
selected. 


THE INGLISH VOCABULARY

Included here is a llist of actions you can use when playing The
Fellowship of the Ring. Please note that this does not include the
"magic words," or special verbs for actions that can be used only in
certain areas and at certaing times. Finding out what these words are
and how to use them is all part of the fun of the game. Remember that
this is only and abbreviated vocabulary list. You can always try a new
word to see if the program will understand it. 

MOVEMENTS

North (N)    Northeast (NE)    Northwest (NE)
South (S)    Southeast (SE)    Southwest (SE)
Up (U)
Down (D)

ACTION VERBS

ATTACK     GO THROUGH     SHATTER
BLOW       HELLO          SLASH
BREAK      KILL           SLICE
BUY        KNOCK ON       SMASH
CARRY      LIFT           SMOKE
CLIMB      LIGHT          STRANGLE
CLOSE      LOCK           STRIKE
CROSS      OPEN           SWIM
DRINK      PAY            TAKE
DROP       PICK UP        THANK
EAT        PULL           THROW
EMPTY      PUT ON         TURN
EXAMINE    PUT OUT        UN LOCK
FILL       READ           UNROLL
FOLLOW     RUN            WAIT
GET        SAY TO         WEAR
GIVE TO

SPECIAL COMMANDS

BECOME      LOOK     SAVE
HELP        NOPRINT  SCORE
INVENTORY   PRINT    LOAD
QUIT

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