Journey Brought to you by Belgarath Table of contents Getting started Loading the game The Journey screen The initial menu Playing the game Selection methods Party and individual commands Hints: The musings options The game option Save Restore End session Controls Tips for enjoying Journey About the author About the artist Preface A shadow of evil has fallen over the land. The crops are blighted, the earth scorched from lack of rain. Disease and famine ravage the once-prosperous people, whose hope of salvation fades with each passing day. The only hope left is to find the wizard Astrix, in faint hope that he will emerge from his distant solitude and offer his assistance. A party was dispatched, but they haven't been heard from since their departure months ago. Now, with winter's hardships looming on the horizon, a second expedition has been assembled and will soon embark on a fateful Journey into the unknown. The party of four is led by Bergon, a strong and fair man and a carpenter by trade. The Wizard, Praxix, wise yet unpredictable, provides the party with knowledge of lore and magic. Esher, the well-respected (if somewhat curmudgeonly) physician, has also been asked to make the trek. Finally, Tag, an apprentice food merchant, has agreed to tend to the party's provisions and to make a diary of its adventures. The tale is told by Tag and the story of your Journey is seen through his eyes. Whether your party meets the fate of its predecessors or returns triumphant is in your hands. In Journey, the decisions you make for the party and its members are woven into an epic tale of danger and mystery, of breathtaking beauty and heartbreaking loss, of desperate struggle and, finally, of ultimate triumph. Your Journey will provide you with many hours of enjoyment and many hundreds of difficult decisions. But unlike other games you may have played, there are virtually no dead ends. Any action you take will advance the story toward one of its many endings. But there is only one ending that is the best. To lead the party to its ultimate victory is a challenge worthy of only the most brave and most clever adventurer. Getting started Loading the game If this is your first time playing Journey, you should read the Reference Card that came in your package for loading instructions specific to your computer. Also, it is always prudent to make a backup copy of the disk(s) that came in your game package. Put the original disk(s) away for safekeeping. The Journey screen When you have successfully loaded Journey and passed the title screen and introduction, your screen will look something like this: ------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | | | | | | | | B | A | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-----------------------------------------------------| | | | C | | | |------------------------------------------------------ The Journey screen is divided into three distinct areas: A) The story of Journey will appear here. Frequently, however, there is more to be told than can fit within this area. In that case, the word "MORE" will appear at the bottom; you can view the rest by pressing any key on your keyboard (or pressing your mouse or joystick button). B) You will glimpse the world of Journey through the handsome illustrations that appear here. C) All of your selections while playing Journey will be made in this area, which is itself divided into three sections, described on the following pages in the Playing the game section. The initial menu On the startup screen, five options are displayed in the lower left. Start sets you off on your Journey. Background relates the events leading up to your Journey. If you are playing for the first time, it would be worthwhile to read this prologue before selecting Start. Change Name allows you to personalize your Journey by renaming the narrator of the story from Tag to a name of your own choosing. Help summarizes these instructions. Game displays a group of options that do not affect the story, but rather the play of the game (e.g. saving your place, making a transcript, etc). These options are described in detail in the Game option section. Playing the game Selection methods You can make selections with your mouse, joystick, or keyboard. If you have two of these devices (e.g. a mouse and a keyboard), you can make selections with either of them or both. Mouse: Point at, then click on, your desired selection. Joystick: Move the joystick to highlight your desired selection, then press the joystick button. Keyboard: Use the arrow keys to highlight your desired selection, then press the RETURN or ENTER key. After you have selected Start, your screen should look something like this: ------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-----------------------------------------------------| | | | | | A | B | C | | | | | |------------------------------------------------------ Party and individual commands In playing Journey, you have the task of making decisions not only for your party of characters as a group, but for the individuals as well. As each decision is made, the story will move inexorably forward. Looking at the bottom portion of the screen, you will see that it is divided into three areas. A) The first column lists the PARTY COMMANDS, those actions which are taken by your entire party as a group. Most often, these will involve moving from one place to another. On the screen you would select Proceed to continue down the road or Enter to enter the pro-visioner's shop. B) The second column lists the members of your party. When your Journey begins, there are four: Bergon, Pra xix, Esher, and Tag. During the course of your Journey, characters may be added (by choice) and lost (rarely by choice); all such changes will be reflected here. C) To the right of each character's name are INDIVIDUAL COMMANDS, actions which the character can perform at any given moment. On the screen you will see that Bergon can get the advice of the group (Get Advice), Praxix can cast a spell (Cast) and examine objects (Examine), and Tag can drop things (Drop) and check on what he's carrying (Inventory). These options change frequently during play to reflect the circumstances of the story (e.g. Tag might have an option to Pick Up if there were anything on the ground to take). Many of the actions you can select require additional information (e.g. which spell to cast, which object to take, which legend to tell). When you select one of these options, a list of possibilities will appear. Simply select your choice from the list, or select [cancel] to change your mind about taking that course of action. * Notes for keyboard users 1) A quick way to move the highlight bar back and forth between the PARTY COMMANDS section and the INDIVIDUAL COMMANDS section is to use the space bar. 2) You can quickly highlight and select an option by typing its first letter. However, the highlight bar must be in the PARTY COMMANDS section to choose a party option or in the INDIVIDUAL COMMANDS section to choose an individual option. 3) You can select [cancel] with your BACKSPACE, back arrow, or DELETE key. Hints: The musings option Your Journey will be long and challenging, and it is unlikely that you will see it through to a happy conclusion until you have played for some time. Do not fear--all of the obstacles and pitfalls you face can be overcome in a logical manner; yet some may initially baffle even the most sophisticated player. If you should reach an unsatisfactory ending, you will have the option of reading some of the narrator's "musings," thoughts made in hindsight about the decisions made during the Journey. Each "musing" refers to a specific point in the story where you may need some additional guidance. Of course, rather than using these musings right away, it might be more enjoyable to first experiment with different courses of action. The game option The Game option is always available as the last of the PARTY COMMANDS, at the lower left of the screen. Selecting this option displays a menu of control functions that have no direct effect upon the story, but rather upon the playing of the game. The options are: Save allows you to make a "snapshot" of your position in the story (a bookmark, if you will) so that you may return to that precise spot in the story at a later time. Unlike other games you may have played, Journey tries to lessen the interruptions you suffer by needing to frequently save your game place. Indeed, you will probably enjoy the flow of the story more if you avoid using Save regularly during your first time through the story. The exact procedure for Save varies among computers, so you should check the Reference Card for the correct procedure for your machine. Restore returns you to a previously Saved position. As with Save, the exact procedure will vary among computers. Check your Reference Card for details. End Session ends your play of the game, either by saving (Save), quitting (Quit), or by starting over from the beginning (Restart). Selecting End Session will cause another menu to be displayed allowing you to choose between these three options. Remember, you must Save your game before ending a session if you wish to Restore your current position. Controls causes the Controls Menu to be displayed. The controls are: · Script On: This allows you to use your printer to make a transcript of the story. You may wish to use this feature to aid your memory about events earlier in the story, or just to have a souvenir of your Journey. A menu w ill be displayed asking if you wish your transcript to include the party's commands or not by selecting Commands or No Commands. If you select Controls while you are already making a transcript, you will be given the option of Script Off; this option can now be used to end your transcript. · Refresh: This option refreshes the screen display, in the unlikely event that it should become garbled by a power glitch or other such nuisance. · Version: This will display the release version of Journey as well as the serial number of your copy of the game. Please include this information in any call to Customer Support. · Check Disk: This option performs a check on the contents of your game disk(s) to ensure that they are undamaged. If you suspect a problem with your disk, use this option to "verify" its contents. If the disk checks out "OK," then there may be either a problem with your computer hardware or a bug in the game. * Note Most of the Game Menu and Controls Menu options can be accessed with function keys (if your keyboard has them). The keys are defined as follows: F1 Save F2 Restore F3 Restart F4 Quit F5 Script On/Off F6 Refresh F7 Version In the case of Restart and Quit, it will be necessary to confirm your choice by hitting the same key again. Tips for enjoying Journey · Try to play as much as possible without overusing Save--remember, all puzzles can be solved logically and without resorting to "try-and-die, brute force" methods. If you are unable to solve a puzzle, you might eventually want to refer to the musings option after reaching an ending. · You might find it appropriate to make a Save each time you visit the Wizard Astrix. · There are no "dead ends" in Journey; feel free to experiment and take chances. Every action you take w ill cause the story to move forward. · Utilize the options available to you judiciously; if more than one character can take the same action (e.g. examining something) do not assume that the result will always be the same. · If you are using a keyboard, remember the available shortcuts (space bar to move between PARTY and INDIVIDUAL COMMANDS, and using the first letter of choices to make a selection). About the author Marc Blank, a graduate of MIT and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, is one of the founders of Infocorn. He co- authored the original mainframe version of Zork in 1977 at MIT, and went on to become one of the pioneers in the field of interactive fiction. At Infocom, he co-authored the Zork Trilogy and Enchanter, and was the sole author of Deadline, the first interactive mystery, and Border Zone, Infocom's first tale of intrigue. Marc considers Journey to be his second greatest departure from traditional interactive fiction, the first being his move to Southern California in 1986. Marc and his wife, Cezanne, embarking on a Journey of their own, recently migrated north to the West Coast's cultural mecca of the 21 st century, Central Oregon. About the artist Donald Langosy is a Boston artist whose drawings and oil paintings can be found in private and museum collections around the world. He has recently discovered a new medium in the computer, creating unique illustrations for Shogun and Journey. Donald shares his home and studio with his wife Elizabeth, daughters Hadley and Zoe, and his talkative cockatiel Picasso. Brought to you by Belgarath