
Mysterious Adventures 
---------------------

Brian Howarth wrote his eleven "Mysterious Adventures" between 1981 and
1983, originally as text-only games for the TRS-80. Later versions (like
the Commodore 64 ones presented here) had line-drawing graphics. To play
the adventures contained in the two disk images you will need a
Commodore 64 computer and some way to transfer the disk images to that
computer, or a C-64 emulator. (Two widely used C-64 emulators for PCs are
"PC64"/"PC64WIN" and "C64S"; you can find them with archie.)

If you have neither a C-64 nor a C-64 emulator you must get the text-only
versions of the adventures. You can find them in the Interactive Fiction
Archive at ftp.gmd.de. Brian Howarth gave his permission to upload his
games to that archive.

Two peculiarities of the C-64 versions:
- Room descriptions are only visible in Text Mode. To switch between
  Picture Mode and Text Mode, press RETURN.
- You can only save/restore to/from a tape or a tape image. As far as I
  know there are no disk versions of these games. It should be possible to
  hack the games to make them use disks for save files.

Have fun, and happy nostalgia!


Contents
--------

#1:  The Golden Baton

Your mission is to recover the Golden Baton, a priceless artefact that
holds within it a kind of life force that maintains the equilibrium
between good and evil.  Stolen from the Palace of King Ferrenuil, the
kingdom is already beginning to feel the effects of drought and
pestilence.

#2:  The Time Machine

Trapped in a thick fog on the moors whilst searching for the house of Dr
Potter, you begin to wonder just what sort of a story will unfold for your
newspaper about the strange goings on that have been witnessed at this
home... that's if you ever find it.

#3:  Arrow of Death Part 1

Although restored to its rightful place in the throne room over 5 years
ago the Golden Baton which usually shines brighter than normal gold has
suddenly become tarnished, at the same time gloom and despair settles over
the whole kingdom.  Find the source of this evil influence before it is
too late.

#4:  Arrow of Death Part 2

Having successfully completed Arrow of Death Part 1, you now have the
components to make a magical arrow with which you will be able to destroy
Xerdon, the evil accomplice of the Wizard Akyrz, the real mastermind
behind the evil that has befallen the Golden Baton.

#5:  Escape from Pulsar 7

As last surviving crew member of this ill-fated space freighter you must
somehow manage to make your escape in the frail shuttle craft without
being eaten by the mutant monster now roaming free.

#6:  Circus

What appears to be a circus in full swing from the distance suddenly
becomes as silent as the grave as you open the gate into the field.  Never
the less you must find some petrol for your car, so here goes...

#7:  Feasibility Experiment

A human guinea-pig for a race of super intelligent beings that have no
bodily form.  Plucked from your bed in order to satisfy their craving for
life force that will sustain them.  A warrior that can live up to the
image of Alexander the Great.

#8:  The Wizard of Akyrz

Twice defeated by a mere mortal it has taken the evil wizard some time to
recover his powers.  Now he forms a new plan to trap and utterly destroy
the earthly being that dares to thwart him.

#9:  Perseus and Andromeda

Take on the role of Perseus, son of Zeus and Danae.  Bring back the head
of Medusa the gorgon, whose very glance can turn a man to stone.
Otherwise King Polydectes will have his wicked way.

#10:  Ten Little Indians

A train journey begins your quest for the golden idol left by Major
Johnston-Smythe when he died.  Other treasure hunters have tried before
you, most of them have never been seen again...

#11:  Waxworks

A nightmare comes true, you must find your way out of the wax works
factory in which all the exhibits mysteriously come alive.


History
-------

27 Feb 1995  first release of this compilation                 [1.0]
4 Sept 1995  two fixes                                         [1.1]
             - The BOOT program didn't work with the C64S emulator.
             - One picture (Mountains, north of grassy Plain) in
               "Feasibility Experiment" was broken. Thanks to Jacob
               Gunness for helping to fix it.
17 Jan 1996  one fix                                           [1.2]
             - One picture (in a GIANT building) in "Arrow of Death
               Part 1" was broken in _all_ C-64 versions I had. It is
               likely that a correct C-64 version of this game doesn't
               exist. I fixed the graphics data according to the Sinclair
               Spectrum version (the graphics part of the Spectrum and
               C-64 versions is identical). Thanks to Werner Spahl for
               the (correct) Spectrum version.
 

Copyrights
----------

All games (c) 1981,82,83 by Brian Howarth. Games #5-7 co-written by 
Wherner Barnes. Games #8 and #11 co-written by Cliff J. Ogden.  All
graphics by Jon Blacow.

Disk images, README.TXT and all mistakes in creating them by Paul David
Doherty <h0142kdd@rz.hu-berlin.de>
