                             Rooms of the Abyss

The story begins...

  Once upon a time, in a land named Garthern, there lived a benevolent king by
the name of Edward.  King Edward ruled the land fairly and orderly for many 
years accompanied by his faithful assistant, Deerg the Wizard.  Deerg was very
wise in the ways of alchemy and sorcery, and protected Garthern from many out-
side foes.  Everythig was complacent throughout the realm until one unfortunate
night when evil thoughts overtook Deerg's mind.

  Deerg figured that with his magical powers and might, he could overthrow 
Edward and rule Garthern himself with an iron fist.  While gathering his evil
horde of turncoats, Deerg poisoned the King's gruel and began his plot to take
over.  Unfortunately for Deerg, he didn't calculate the resistance of the loyal
members of Edward's army.  Led by the brave knight Sir Mark Wolfe, the legion
of good met Deerg and his evil followers.

  A great battle ensued as Wolfe and Deerg confronted each other in the midst
of war.  Mark lunged at Deerg with his sword, plunging it deep into the chest
of the evil wizard.  As he took another look at the fallen wizard, Mark 
realized it was an illusion and he had actually killed one of his own soldiers.
Spinning around, Mark had just enough time to see Deerg wave his staff as he
fell to the ground unconscious.

  Light began to pour through Mark's eyes as he awoke from his deep slumber.  
Sensing that he was in an unfamiliar place, he sprang to his feet and scanned
the environment around him.  After close scrutiny, Mark noticed he was in a 
small room with a door in front and to the right of him.  No lantern or 
candle was visible, yet the room almost glowed with an unnatural light.  
Glancing down, Mark noticed a small, silver key lying by his feet.  As he bent
down and touched it, an echo filled his subconscious as Edward's voice was 
heard: "Sir Mark Wolfe, if you are to prove your worth as a knight, you must
fight your way through these Rooms of the Abyss.  Only with the magic and items
found in here can you defeat Deerg after you escape.  You must save Garthern and
avenge my murder.  Good Luck...".  The voice faded and Mark was left standing 
alone, clutching the silver key in his hand.  His mind raced as he paced the
room, searching his thoughts for a course of action.  Finally, Mark tightened
his grip on the key, glanced upwards toward the heavens, and slowly began to
make his way to the large, wooden door that loomed in front of him...




Game Requirements: VGA graphics, 384K of RAM.

Recommended: Hard Drive, 12Mhz or better.





                                 Instructions

1. To install the game onto a hard drive, which is recommended, use the 
   INSTALL.BAT file located on the disk.  Let's say for instance you want to  
   install the game from floppy drive A: to hard drive C: in a directory
   called ROOMS.  Put the game disk in the A: drive, access the drive, then
   type in INSTALL C A ROOMS, where C is the hard drive letter, A is the 
   floppy drive letter, and ROOMS is the directory you want it in. 
   This will make the directory ROOMS on your hard drive and copy all the
   needed files over.  When the installation is complete, access your
   hard drive, in this case, type in C: <ENTER>, then CD ROOMS <ENTER>, 
   and finally ROOMS <ENTER>.  You will then be greeted with the intro screen.


2. To run "Rooms of the Abyss", insert the disk into a drive, access the drive,
   and type in ROOMS, then <ENTER>.

3. After reading the intro screen, the program will search for a mouse.  If 
   you want to use a mouse during the game, make sure your mouse driver is
   loaded before playing.  If a mouse is detected, a screen will come up
   asking you if you want to use it.  If no mouse is detected, the program
   defaults to the keyboard.  Whatever method of control, whether defaulted
   to or chosen, will be saved to a file called CONFIG.ROM.  Everytime you 
   play after the first time, the program will search for this file and use
   the method of control saved in it.  If you would like to change the
   method of control, simply erase the CONFIG.ROM file.  To do this, access
   the directory or disk, then type in ERASE CONFIG.ROM <ENTER>.  Now when
   you run the game, it will ask you what method you want. 


4. After step 3, wait for the main menu to appear.  If you choose 1,
   you will be taken to the Game Options Menu.  If you choose a 2, you will go
   through the title screen and begin a new game.  Choosing a 3 will auto-
   matically exit you to DOS.  If you chose to start a new game, you will start
   in level 1, room 1.  A silver key will appear on the floor.  Use the arrow 
   keys to move around and use the commands(see #4) to perform certain actions.
   A small square at the bottom of the screen means there is a door behind you.

   WARNING!!!  Do not rapidly press the arrow keys, or any other keys for that
               matter, as it will cause bothersome, but not critical, 
               graphical problems.  Allow each room to be drawn before typing
               any keys.

5. There are fourteen action keys in this game.

   4-1. A=Ascend         Allows you to move up a ladder or similar object.
   4-2. C=Chat           Initiates communication with another character.
   4-3. D=Descend        Allows you to move down a ladder or similar object.
   4-4. F=Fight          Initiates combat with an enemy.
                         See item #6.
   4-5. G=Game Options   Lets you choose between starting a new game or exiting
                         to DOS.
   4-6  H=Help           Takes you to the help screen, a smaller version of this
                         manual.
   4-7. K=Knapsack       Displays your current inventory.
   4-8. M=Map            Displays a map of the area you have explored.
   4-9. O=Open           Opens a chest in a room.
   4-10. R=Restore       Allows you to type in the name of a saved game and 
                         restore it.
   4-11. S=Save          Saves your current status and allows you to continue
                         at another time.
   4-12. T=Take          Allows you to take an item you find in a room.
   4-13. U=Unlock        Unlocks a locked door, if you have the key.
   4-14. Z=Utilize       Displays a numerical list of items available to be 
                         used. To use the item, type in the number preceeding
                         the name and press <ENTER>.

  Left arrow-Move left.
  Right arrow-Move right.
  Up arrow-Move forward.
  Down arrow-Move backwards. 

  If you are using the mouse, you will notice 4 red squares on the right hand
  side of the screen, pointing in all 4 directions.  To move the way of the 
  arrow, simply click on the arrow.



    To get back to your game after you have viewed the map, knapsack, or a 
    similar command, press the spacebar.  Generally, when the computer says to
    hit a key, you should always hit the spacebar.  The following keys should
    be hit if you have accidentally struck the command and don't want to 
    perform it:
                Restore Menu: Hit <ENTER> to return to game.
                Game Options Menu: Hit the spacebar to return to game.
                Save Menu: Hit <ENTER> to return to game.
                Utilize Menu: Hit <ENTER> to return to game.

    Mouse users: To return to the game, you should generally press the right 
    button.     

 
5. Combat

    Fortunately for you, Deerg's denziens are frozen in their trcks and will not
    attack you unless provoked by the (F)ight command.  You may walk right
    past these monsters, but be warned: You must eventually fight these
    monsters to go to the next level, find secrets, and eventually finish the
    game.  Once invoking the (F)ight command, you will be greeted with the
    combat screen.  On the left you will find your hit point bar compared to
    the monsters hit point bar.  In the middle, you will see the monster or
    monsters' weapon, and your weapon move as the battle ensues.  And finally,
    at the right, the Comabt Options and Combat Results boxes will appear.

    The Combat Options box shows you the command keys available for combat.  
    These include:
                   (A)ttack- You will attack the monster once.
                   (I)ntimidate-You will try to scare the monster.
		   (S)kip-You will skip your turn.
                   (R)un-You will try to run away from the monster.
                   (C)onstant Attack-You will keep attacking without pressing
                                     anymore keys until you or the monster dies.     		
   
    If you have more hit points than the monster, you will start first in combat
    and take turns after that.  If the monster has more, the opposite is true.
    There is a chance, as you will see, that you or the monster will miss an 
    attack during the battle.  There is also a small chance, depending on the 
    level, that the monster will become frightened and run away forever.  


6. On the (U)tilize command

    The utilize command will allow you to use different items any time.  If
    you wanted to use a lower class weapon than you currently have, go to the
    utilize screen, type in the number preceeding the wepon, and press <ENTER>.
    You will now be fighting with the weapon you just selected.  To use any
    potions you find, do the same thing.  Potions usually restore hit points,
    how many depends on the level.


7. On Maps...

    The automap feature only works up to and including level 8.  From there
    on it's up to you to map the levels. (We couldn't make it that easy!)


8. Other topics:

    This game has a total of 10 levels in it with over 700 rooms to explore.
    There are plenty of weapons, armor, keys, and other goodies to find along
    the way.  Use the keys to unlock doors with an X through the handle.
    Also, watch out for the evil servants of Deerg, which are roaming through
    the rooms.  You will gain experience points as you continue on your quest.
    You will need to accumulate enough experience points to move to a higher
    level.  You will start with zero experience points.  Try to gain experience
    as quickly as you can, or watch your hit points fall.  If your hit points
    ever drop to zero, your game is over.  
    
    Remember to keep your eyes open for hidden secrets.  Deerg is a twisted,
    sly wizard, and all is not as it seems.  Good luck!  The people of Garthern
    are counting on you!

9.  On getting the Hint Book...

    Can't find the key to unlock that stupid door?  Stuck somewhere in the 
    middle of level 9?  Sounds like you need the official Rooms of the Abyss
    hintbook!  Chock full of every map to every level, every location of every
    item in every level, and much much more!  Sound interesting?  Just fill out
    the registration form below and send it along with your 10 dollar 
    registration fee.  You will receive the hint book along with the Rooms of
    the Abyss newsletter, containing info on the authors and upcoming games
    from us.  It took us over a year to finish this game, and we'd really
    appreciate any support you can give us.  Even if you don't have any 
    money(like us!), write us a letter anyway, telling us what you liked and 
    didn't like about the game and what we could improve on.  Your response
    is greatly appreciated!   


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Registration Information


    To become a registered user(which is strongly urged) and receive the 
    official "Rooms of the Abyss" newsletter and Hint Book please fill out the 
    following form or write on a piece of paper your name, address, and
    phone number along with $10.00(U.S. currency) to:
 
       Rooms of the Abyss                       Rooms of the Abyss
       c/o Damon Lichtenwalner       or         c/o Martin Binder
       R.R. #1 BOX 1313                         105 Lafayette Ave.  
       Kunkletown, PA  18058	                Palmerton, PA  18071

    Please make checks or money orders payable to either Martin Binder or
    Damon Lichtenwalner.  Your support is greatly appreciated!  Registered
    users will also be entitled to any special offers that might arise for the
    future games along with all the newest versions of everthing else we do.
    What are you waiting for?  Register today!


                            Rooms of the Abyss
                   Created, Written, and Programmed By:
                   Martin Binder and Damon Lichtenwalner
                             Copyright 1992



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|                                                                             |
|     Rooms of the Abyss                        Rooms of the Abyss            |
|     c/o Damon Lichtenwalner       or          c/o Martin Binder             |
|     R.R. #1 BOX 1313                          105 Lafayette Ave.            |
|     Kunkletown, PA  18058                     Palmerton, PA  18071          |
|                                                                             |
|            The people of Garthern thank you for registering!                |
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