8bit Games for BBC Micro, Electron, Master and ZX Spectrum www.rucksackgames.co.uk
Information
Platforms:
BBC Micro B 32k
Acorn Electron 32k
BBC Master 128k
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Designed and Programmed by: John Blythe
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Additional Compatibility and SSD compression by: Lurkio
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Graphics Compression and De-Compression routines by: Tricky
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Slim Font Code by:
Robin Nixon
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Cover Artwork by:
John Blythe
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Graphics by:
John Blythe
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Format:
Single-Sided SSD file.
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Started: Jun 2016
Complete: Dec 2016
Progress: Complete (Released)
Play the game now online with JSBeeb. Click here.................
The Plot
The year is 1862. You recieved a letter from your old childhood friend Raynard. You have kept in touch on and off since you left your village for the city to find work and a more interesting lifestyle. Raynard elected to stay and eventually moved to a neighbouring village called Raven Wood to take over the running of his fathers' Blacksmiths. He would carry on his fathers work for the great estate after which the village was named. The new head of Raven Wood manor (Lord Elgan Wood) was a strange fellow, who only recently arrived to take control of his now dead fathers' legacy. Rarely seen outside of the manor the new Lord is a strange and mysterious fellow. Soon after his arrival strange events started to befall Raven Wood.
First, was the disappearance of several children in the Sirens' Wood. Then when the Priest of the village church went to the manor for help he was never seen again. The appearance of strange creatures and now some sort of strange snow storm which has beset the village are making travel impossible.
It's now been over a month since you heard from Raynard, his last message was disturbing and he pleaded for you to return to help him put a stop to these events. He was going off to confront Lord Elgan who he believed to be at the heart of this dark trouble.
After braving the mountain pass you arrive at Raven Wood and its an eerie scene, snow is falling, but its July! The air is chilling to the bone. The villagers are keeping indoors for fear of freezing to death.
​You stable the horses and return to find the driver has disappeared!? It's time to find out what's going on and what has happened to Raynard?
How to Play
This is a text adventure game or sometimes called 'Interactive Fiction'. To play simply type in commands and solve puzzles. Commands such as; TALK BARMAN or GET KEY or SWING AXE. These can be shorten to 4 letter commands such as; SWIN AXE or TALK BARM for instance to reduce typing time. You can move around the game world by typing in directions such as: N for North or S for South for instance. Also U for Up and D for Down, there's also IN and OUT.
The commands follow a simple Verb/Noun structure like GET STICK or USE KEY for instance. Here are some useful keywords to know.... USE, EXAMINE, DROP, GET, TAKE, IN, OUT, SAVE etc. There are more but thats half the fun to find out. Remember they can all be shortened to 4 letters.
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Moving around use commands: N S E W U D IN OUT
To see what you are carrying type INV for Inventory.
To save your progress type: SAVE this will save your progress. There is only one save file per game.
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Good Luck and Happy Adventures!
The Map
Before you set off, you search your fathers old chests. When he was younger he did a bit of travelling. You scrabble through lots of old papers and maps and then you find it! A map of Raven Wood. He obviously didn't get into the estate of Lord Raven Wood, but he seemed to have done a thorough exploration of the surrounding lands.