                                BLACK LAMP


Typed in by THE SOUTHERN STAR. Edited by PARASITE.


Being the story of Jack - Jolly Jack the Jester, hero of this Medieval
mission of daring and romancd; this courageous crusade through rustic
landscapes and Gothic interiors; this audacious quest to rid a kingdom of
Evil; where the reward for success is the land of a Princess and the price
of failure is Death!

PROLOGUE
Once upon a time there was a Jester called Jack - Jolly Jack, Jester by
appointment to King Maxim of Allegoria. Jolly Jack, master of with an
repartee, breaker of the ice at parties with a joke here, a tumble there, a
quick whack of the pig's bladder elsewhere.

As long as Jack was at work, the Court of King Maxim was a happy place.
However, this general hilarity served only as a temporary respite from the
sad truth. For, as even the King had to admit, theirs was not a happy
kingdom...

Local folklore has it that the continued peace, prosperity and happiness of
the kingdom was due in no small part to the presence, among the Crown
Jewels, of a certain set of enchanted lanterns, the most revered of which
was known as "the Black Lamp of Allegoria". And it was certainly true that
an evil blight had befallen the kingdom ever since the lamps had been
stolen - whisked away in the dead of night, it was said, by Dragons. Since
then, the kingdom had been plagued by strange and monstrous beings; since
then, animals, birds and insects, previously docile, were now, under some
evil influence, attacking the innocent populace.

And so it was that Jolly Jack was working overtime to keep spirits up at
Court. And it was not easy work for him, for behind the facade of the
Jester's smile, there lurked a pain that ached deep within him - the pain
of unrequited love. Not that the object of his affection did not love him in
return. Far from it. The problem was that she happened to be the boss's
daughter - Her Royal Highness the Princess Grizelda.

Of course, the King forbade such a marriage at first. The idea of his
beloved maiden daughter with that Fool - it was virgin on the ridiculous!
And it's true that Jack was a bit short on the usual qualifications; he
wasn't rich; he wasn't a prince; he didn't have a kingdom; he wasnn't even
particularly handsome. However, softened by the pleas of his daughter, King
Maxim came up with a cunning compromise. He would allow the marriage if,
and only if, Jack could prove his worth by seeking out the Dragons, and
bringing back all the enchanted lamps intact. It was a good plan - he had
nothing to lose if it failed - except that he'd have to find a new Jester.
And if it succeeded, well, he'd have to let his daughter marry this idiot,
but it would be worth it - it would be worth anything - to restore harmony
to the kingdom!

Jack, however, was not such an idiot as the King believed. Spurred on by
love, he accepted the challenge eagerly. But not blindly, for he was fully
aware that without help, the quest would be tatamount to suicide. Luckily,
he knew who to turn to...

During his time off, when not wooing the princess, Jack was wont to hang
out in the taverns with Pratweezle, the King's sorcerer. Ever ready to help
a pal, Pratweezle was able to conjure up two magic spells; the first gave
Jack the power of recuperation, enabling him to cheat death a limited
number of time; and the second gave Jack's belt buckle the power to emit
shattering bolts of pure Magic!

And so it was that, having bade a fond farewell to Grizelda, Jolly Jack the
Jester set forth, with purposeful expression and determined gait, on that
fateful day....

PLAYING THE GAME

THE QUEST
Jack's quest is to explore the kingdom of Allegoria in order to find the
nine Enchanted Lamps and return them to their rightful place. As he can
only carry one Lamp at a time, and he is inevitably going to be set upon by
evil Enemies of one sort or another, the quest is likely to be, at the very
least, long, exciting and dangerous - or at the worst, deadly!

The quest will start in a certain part of the kingdom. There, in that same
place, you will notice an empty Chest, divided into nine compartments,
colored the same as the missing Lamps. there are 20 of these Chests dotted
around the Kingdom. It is to these Chests that Jack must return the nine
Lamps.

THE LAMPS
The Lamps are scattered far and wide throughout the kingdom. When Jack
finds one, he must collect it and take it back to any one of the Chests.
But the Black Lamp is different - it is always guarded closely by that most
fearsome of Enemies, the Dragon. And the Dragon won't give it up until he's
dead! Every Dragon will have a Lamp of some color, so the only way for Jack
to return all the Lamps is to fight every Dragon he meets!

THE KINGDOM
The kingdom of Allegoria, for the purposes of Jack's quest, is divided into
lots of different scenes. Some of these are outdoors, the rest indoors.
Indoor scenes consist of one screen only, whereads the outdoor scenes, such
as woods, lanes or streets, are wider than one screen, and consequently
scroll as Jack moves along.

outdoor scenes can have exits to adjacent scenes at the extreme left or
right ends, and also exits to the rear and to the front. Exits to the rear
are denoted by such naturally occuring outdoor features as gates, doors,
stiles, etc. Exits at the front are marked by two markers. Thus when Jack
leaves a scene by a rear exit, such as a gate, the same exit will then
become a front exit of the new scens, and its location will be marked by
the markers. And vice versa.

Indoor scenes are more complex in that they contain such features as
tables, chairs and barrels that Jack can jump onto and from; ladders and
stairs that Jack can climb up and down; and platforms that Jack can walk
along or jump on and off of. Like those outdoors, the indoor scenes can
have exits to the left, right, rear and front. However unlike outdoor
scenes, they may also have exits to adjacent scenes above or below.

BONUS OBJECTS
Scattered around the kingdom are various Bonus Objects that Jack can
collect along the way. These take the form of Jewels, Musical Instruments,
Weapons, Food and Drink.

All these Bonus Objects are worth collecting for their points value, but,
more importantly, they also have magical properties that enhance Jack's
ability to stay alive and fight his Enemies. This will be explained over
the page, where we take a closer look at Jack himself.

JACK
Jack walks with a jaunty, but determined gait, and an expression of grim
purpose. He's an agile chap, so he can jump pretty well (after all,
tumbling is part of the Jester's trade!). To protect himself against the
various Enemies he has his enchanted belt buckle that can shoot out bolts
of pure Magic!

CONTROLS
Use joystick port two, the Joystick Button, SPACE bar or Right Hand Mouse
Button are always used to fire the Magic Bolts.

        The movement controls are a bit more complex.....

                        Exit Rear/Climb Up/
                          Standing Jump
Left Diagonal Jump/            /\                      Right Diagonal Jump/
  Left Up Stairs                                       Right Up Stairs

        Left  <                                 >   Right

Left Down Stairs                                       Right Down Stairs
                              \/
                       Exit Front/Climb Down

In outdoor scenes Jack can walk left and right through the scrolling
landscapes. For the purpose of moving between adjacent scenes, he can exit
rearwards (into the screen) when immediately in front of a rear exit, and
forwards (out of screen), when immediately behind a front exit. He must be
facing forwards to use a front exit or backwards to use a rear exit. When
not immediately in front of a rear exit or behind a front exit, he can jump
instead.

In indoor scenes the exits work in the same way. In addition, Jack can walk
left and right along the floor, and on any raised platform, talbe or
rampart, etc. He can also jump up onto things like chairs and tables, and
down off them. Weh at the foot or top of a ladder, he can climb up or down
it.

All these variations mean that Jack responds to your control in different
ways at different times. However, the control system is intelligent enought
to work out the desired response according to Jack's position on screen.

ENERGY
Thanks to the spells of Pratweezle, Jack has five lives (Lucky CBM 64 users
get seven!). These are governed by his energy level. As soon as his energy
level drops below zero, he will lose a life. His energy is depleted as a
result of damage sustained while fighting Enemies. He can lose Energy by
falling and jumping from too great a height. However, Energy can be
regained by collecting bonus food and drink objects that can be found along
the way.

BONUS OBJECTS
The other Bonus Objects have different effects; every time Jack collects a
sield/5 jewels he is endowed with magical Armour, making him invulnerable
to the onslaughts of his enemies. However, this invulnerability lasts for
only twenty direct hits/30/40 seconds. But he can always go on to collect
another/5 jewels.....

Likewise, collecting a musical instrument gives him increased "Bounce
Factor", rendering him immune to damage (and loss of Energy) caused by
falling too far. This will only help Jack for up to five high jumps.

And for weapons collected, Jack gets Super Fire Power - making him able,
for his next fifteen shots, to kill strong Enemies with just one bolt from
his belt buckle! However, these "Super Shots" will not affect the dragon.

JACK'S ENEMIES
Every creature that Jack will meet, whether humanoid, animal, bird or
insect, is an Enemy. The different Enemies will try to inflict damage (and
resultant loss of Energy) on Jack, so he must fight back valiantly with his
Magic Bolts. But, discretion being the better part of valor, there may be
times when it is better to simply get the hell out!

Most of the Enemies will attack by launching some sort of projectile at
Jack, whether it be Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Spearhead, or whatever. Jack
can fire his Bolts at the Enemies themselves.

The various types of Enemy differ in the amount of damage they can inflice
on Jack in one go. For instance, a Dragon can cause a lot of damage,
whereas a Werewolf will not cause so much. Likewise, some Enemies will be
harder to kill than others. Thus it will take more hits to kill a Dragon
than, say, a Werewolf.

As a general rule, the more evil and vicious an Enemy is, the more damage
it will do to Jack, and the more hits will be needed to kill it.

Let's meet, in ascending order of evilness and viciousness, the Enemies...

DRAGONFILES AND WASPS
Relatively harmless, these Insect Enemies appear first in swarms, but then,
suddenly, a single Dragonfly or Wasp will detach itself from the swarm and
swoop down to attack.

VAMPIRE BATS
These unsavoury creatures are found only indoors. At the approach of an
intruder, they drop down and fly - straight for the neck!

WEREWOLVES
Once just ordinary forest-dwelling wolves, these poor creatures have been
turned into man-eating Werewolves. Extraordinarily swife on the attack,
they hurl themselves at their victum, tearing into his body in a flash
until, satiated, they themselves die. About the only good thing one can say
about Werewolves is that they only appear outdoors.

CROWS
As befits birds of the air, the Crows are found only outdoors. They drop
innocent looking thistledowns - which explode on impact!

BUZZARDS
Buzzards too are outdoor creatures. Flying high in the sky, they are a
difficult target for Jack's Magic Bolts. In their talons they carry
exploding skulls which they drop like bombs at their victim.

GOBLIN WARRIORS
Taking the form of swordsmen, archers, or spear men, the Goblin Warriors
are a force to be reckoned with. With the archers, evil arrows are the
preferred form of weapon; whereas the swordsmen fire balls of fire from the
centre of their shields; and the spearmen have spearheads that suddenly
detatch and hurl themselves at the victim.

SLIME WITCHES
The Slime Witch is an ugly old crone who atacks her hapless victim by
spitting out great globs of revolting gooey green slime. Her friend, the
Flying Slime Witch, flies around on a broomstick that fires the slime out
of the end of the handle!

TROLLS
These ugly green creatures have a novel way of attacking the unsuspecting
traveller. They bang the ground ferociously with their hammers until sparks
of fire fly out of their intended victim.

SLAYERS
These Knights of Evil are truly formidable opponents. Their method of
attack is to wave their weapons around in the air, generating lightning
bolts that fly off at the wretched victim.

IMPS
Second only to the Dragons in nastiness are the Imps. Resembling little
trident-toting devils, they prefer the subtler forms of attack - none of
this weapon-waving or ground-banging for them - they merely unleash
flashing flames of Evil from the tips of their tridents!

DRAGONS
The Dragons are indeed the most fearsome of Jack's opponents. There will
always be one Dragon guarding the Black Lamp. But there may be others
lurking around, often blocking some vital entrance or pathway.

A Dragon's form of attack is to breathe out fireballs which are aimed at
the victim with a high degree of accuracy. jack can shoot these or try to
avoid them, but all the time he must be trying to kill the Dragon itself.

Jack's Magic Bolts will only damage a Dragon if they hit certain vulnerable
parts of its body. The Dragon will give up its Black Lamp on its death.

THE SCREEN
Displayed around the main playing area of the screen are various counters
and indicators....

LAMP INDICATOR - At Bottom Center. Indicates which color Lamp Jack is
currently carrying.

SCORE - At Bottom Left. Keeps track of your player's current score.

BONUS OBJECT SYMBOLS - At Top of screen. The Shield/Helmet symbol stands
for Armour, gained by collecting a Shield/5 Jewels; An Aura Cloud/Winged
Foot stands for Bounce Factor - gained by collecting a Musical Instrument;
and the Axe/Sword/Belt Buckle symbol stands for Super Fire Power - gained
by collecting a Weapon.

The symbol will start flashing to warn you a few seconds before the extra
power runs out.

ENERGY BAR - At the Bottom Right

LIVES - At the Bottom Right of the screen, indicated by the Baubles (those
cute little Jester's-Heads-On-Sticks). The number of Baubles indicated the
number of Lives left after the current one.

EXTRA KEYBOARD CONTROLS
Pause                   Help
Unpause                 Delete
Abort                   ESC
Music/sound effects     F9
Sound/No sound          F10

SCORING
Your objective in playing Black Lamp is to score as many points as possible
before you run out of lives. You start with five lives, but an exra one is
awarded every 100,000 points. You are allowed no more than seven lives
(including the current one) at any one time. You score points for...

        1. Returning Lamps safely to a Chest.
        2. Killing Enemies.
        3. Shooting the various enemy Projectiles.
        4. Collecting Bonus Objects.

HIGH SCORE TABLE
        The High Score table appears after each game. If you get sufficient
points you can enter your name.

LAMPS
        Score is given when a Lamp is returned to a Chest...

AMIGA                   POINTS

YELLOW LAMPS            3000
GREEN LAMPS             3100
DARK BLUE LAMPS         3200
RED LAMPS               3300
PURPLE LAMPS            3400
LIGHT BLUE LAMPS        3500
BROWN LAMPS             3600
GREY LAMPS              3700
BLACK LAMPS             3800

ENEMIES
Points are scored for killing Enemies, and for hitting the projectiles that
most of them fire...

ENEMY           KILL POINTS                             PROJECTILE POINTS
Dragon                  2500    Fireballs               100
Imps                    750     Flames of Evil          100
Slayer                  675     Lightning Bolts         100
Troll                   600     Sparks                  100
Slime Witch             525     Green Slime             100
Flying Slime Witch      475     Green Slime             100
Goblin Archer           450     Arrows                  100
Goblin Swordsman        425     Spearhead               100
Werewolf                300
Vampire Bats            300
Buzzard                 225     Skull Bombs             100
Crow                    225     Thistledowns            100
Dragonfly Swarm         150     Single Dragonfly        100
Wasp Swarm              150     Single Wasp             100

BONUS OBJECTS
JEWELS: Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald. Score 2,500 to 3,000 points each.
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: Harp, Bugle. Score 2,500 to 2,500 points each.
WEAPONS: Mace & Chain, Axe, Dagger. Score 1,500 to 2,000 points each.
FOOD: Leg of Pork, Boar's Head, Roast Turkey. Score 950 to 1,000 points
        - plus Energy.
DRINK: Goblet of Wine, Horn of Ale, Flagon of Cider. Score 850 to 900
        points each - plus Energy.

COLLECTING AND RETURNING LAMPS AND OBJECTS
        Lamps and Bonus Objects are collected simply by walking over them.
Only one Lamp can be carried at once, but there is no limit to the number
of Bonus Objects that can be collected.
        If you are carrying one Lamp, and you come across another, you can
swap the one you are carrying for the new one simply by walking over the
new one. If you don't want to swap, you'll have to avoid walking over the
new one by jumping over it instead.
        To return a Lamp to any Chest, simply walk, while carrying the
Lamp, in front of the Chest. The appropriately colored compartment of the
Chest will then be filled in accordingly. All the other Chests will also
reflect the new status.

SPEED AND DIFFICULTY LEVELS
        During each game of Black Lamp, the action will get faster and more
frantic as the game progresses.
        The first time you play black Lamp you will automatically stat on
the easiest difficulty level. A Chest will always be located in the
starting scene. The colors of the compartments in the Chest tell you which
Lamps you have to find. There will always be at least one Black Lamp to
find.
        Later levels got progressively more difficult: the speed of the
game will increase, and the number of Black Lamps may increase, thus
increasing the number of Dragons you have to encounter! If you actually
succeed in returning all the Lamps to the Chests, you can continue the
game, starting at a higher difficulty level.
        No two games of Black Lamp will ever be exactly the same. There can
never be a set pattern for success, because for each new game, the Lamps,
Enemies and Bonus Objects will be placed in new locations.

COMMAND KEYS

MOVEMENT                   JOYSTICK, KEYBOARD
Up                              Q
Down                            A
Left                            X
Right                           Z
Fire                            SPACE
One player switch               F1
Two player switch               F2
Music/Sound effect toggle       F9
Sound/no sound toggle           F10
Pause game                      HELP
Abort game                      ESC
