THE SPECTRUM GAME DATABASE



THE HOBBIT



PUBLISHER

Melbourne House



AUTHOR

Beam Software



YEAR

1982



CATEGORY

Text Adventure



DESCRIPTION

The Hobbit is a text adventure with graphics.



CONTROLS

Commands are entered using the keyboard.



INSTRUCTIONS

The objective of the game is to get the treasure form the Dragon

and place it in the chest.  Commands can be given in normal

English.





CHEATS

The following is the complete solution.  Simply type in each

command one after the other.



OPEN DOOR

EAST

NORTH

SOUTHEAST

WAIT (UNTIL DAY DAWNS)

WEST

TAKE KEY

NORTH

UNLOCK DOOR

OPEN DOOR

NORTH

TAKE ROPE

TAKE SWORD

SOUTH

SOUTH

SOUTHEAST

EAST

NORTH

WAIT (UNTIL CRACK OPENS)

DOWN

Use the map of the Goblins Lair to get the ring and to get out

through the crack.  If the crack is not open then simply OPEN

CRACK.  You should now be in a cave.

SOUTH

EAST

EAST

OPEN CURTAIN

OPEN CUPBOARD

TAKE FOOD

NORTH

SOUTHWEST

NORTH

NORTHEAST

NORTH

SOUTHEAST

DOWN

DOWN

DOWN

DOWN

EAST

TAKE KEY

UP

WEST

NORTH

EAST

EAST

EAST

NORTHEAST

EAST

EAST

THROW ROPE ACROSS RIVER - Keep doing this until it lands in the

boat.

PULL ROPE

CLIMB INTO BOAT

CLIMB OUT OF BOAT

EAST

BREAK WEB

NORTH

WEAR RING

EXAMINE DOOR

TAKE OFF RING

GO THROUGH DOOR

EAST

OPEN DOOR

WEST

SOUTH

WEAR RING

WAIT (UNTIL BUTLER OPENS BARREL AND DRINKS WINE)

CLIMB INTO BARREL

WAIT (UNTIL YOU LAND)

EAST

SAY "NORTH" TO BARD

FOLLOW BARD

SAY "UP" TO BARD

FOLLOW BARD

SAY "NORTH" TO BARD

FOLLOW BARD

FOLLOW BARD

SAY "SHOOT DRAGON" TO BARD

Do not say "KILL DRAGON" or you will both be slaine

TAKE TREASURE

SOUTH

SOUTH

SOUTH

DOWN

SOUTH

SOUTH

WEST

WAIT

WAIT

WEST

WAIT

WAIT

WEST

NORTH

WEST

SOUTHWEST

WEST

WEST

WEST

SOUTHWEST

OPEN DOOR

OPEN CHEST

PUT TREASURE IN CHEST



Killing Goblins

As you know that when you escape from the Goblin's dungeon you

keep getting caught by the goblins who throw you back in.  This

is a bug to get rid of them:  When you reach Rivendell take the

lunch and kill Elrond. Take him to the small cave where the crack

is and when a goblin appears throw Elrond at him. If you kill one

with your sword then they will regenerate and turn up later but

this method gets rid of him perminently. There are 6 different

types of goblins so you will have to repeat these 6 times.



Some Hobbit pokes

POKE 52224,255 - Turns off the graphics

And here is an amusing one:

POKE 46848,1:POKE 27832,0:POKE 43787,201

Then type in Sit Down and see what happens :-)



Pale Bulbous Eyes.  When you enter a location with them, wait

twice before moving.



COMPLETING THE GAME

When you get to the lonely mountain, kill the dragon ('Shoot

dragon'.  Obvious, isn't it !?) and get the treasure, you then

have to figure that you have to take it back home again. Once it

is put in the chest, the final message says something like:  "A

horde of elfs and dwarves appear led by Gandalf and carry you off

on their shoulders proclaiming you Master Adventurer."  And the

game starts again (obviously).





INLAY CARD TEXT



CONGRATULATIONS



Congratulations!  You are about to play the most sophisticated

game program yet devised for any microcomputer.



Melbourne House in association with the Tolkien Estate are very

proud to be able to present to you THE HOBBIT, an amazing program

based on J.R.R. Tolkiens brilliant fantasy novel.



In THE HOBBIT program, you take on the role of Bilbo, the hobbit.



You will be able to roam freely throughout Middle Earth, explore

and discover this wonderful enchanted land.  You will meet all

types of creatures, some friendly, others much less so.  Your

adventure will be dangerous and exciting - it will be up to you

to face the challenges which confront Bilbo.



If you are unfamiliar with Hobbits, you should know that hobbits

are a little people, about half ouor height, and smaller than the

bearded dwarves.  Hobbits have no beards.  There is little or no

magic about them.  For a fuller description you will have to read

THE HOBBIT, but this description should be enough for you to

realise that most other creatures you will meet in this

adventure, including dwarves, will be bigger and stronger than

you.



You will therefore need to exersise all your cunning and skill

to survive.



At the point where this Adventure commences Gandalf, who is a

wizard, has talked you into entering a new and exciting adventure

to help out Thorin, the dwarf.



Your mission is to seek out the evil Dragon and return the

treasure he hoards back to your home and place it for safe

keeping in the chest.  As a secondary mission, you must look out

after Thorin and protect him.  Should he be killed during the

adventure, it is most unlikely you will be able to survive the

dangers ahead of you on your journey!



Best of luck Bilbo: may you return with wonderful tales to tell

on a cold evening in front of a log fire.



COMMUNICATING WITH THE COMPUTER



The computer in this Adventure acts as a go between  for you. 

You tell the computer inplain Inglish exactly what you want to

do, and the computer will translate that request and execute it.



The computer will also be your source of information about where

you are, what you can see and what the other creatures in the

adventure are doing.



If the computer is not sure of something you meant, or if there

is any ambiguity about what you said, it will come back to you

with queries asking for clarification.



The computer has a large vocabulary - it knows over 500 words,

and it can perform over 50 different actions (made up by over 30

verbs listed at the back of this booklet, combined with over 10

prepositions) so it is capable of very sophisticated

communication.  The use of plain INGLISH allows you to enter your

instructions in normal sentences.



The Screen Display



The screen display has been divided into two "windows" -



The bottom five lines of the screen is your "communication

window" with the computer.  Everything you type will be shown

here in capital letters, and this part of the screen will scroll

independantly of the rest of the screen.  If doe some reason

there is confusion about what you typed in, the computer will

prompt oyu in the same "communication window" area.



An obvious example is where you mistyped a word, such as DOOR -

the computer would return with the prompt -

   I don't understand the word "DOR".

Other messages will also be printed here when the computer is not

able to execute what you typed in.



The rest of the screen is the "Adventure window" - this is where

you will be able to find out what is happening in the adventure,

what you can see, and so on.



The "Adventure window" is shown on the screen in upper and lower

case.  Every action that you take is also printed on the

"Adventure window" (usually in more detail than what you

entered!)



Any action that takes place, whether performed by you or one of

the other characters will be shown:

   You take the short strong sword.

   Thorin examines the curious map.



Descriptions of the locations, objects, what is in the objects,

and so on, is also shown on the "Adventure window".



The "Adventure window" scrolls independantly of the bottom

screen.  Usually what happens will be able to be printed on

screen without losing anything.  Occasionally, such as if you

have typed in many sentences at once, or if there is a lot of

action going on, the information will take up more than one

screen full.



The screen scrolling speed is slow enough to be able to be read

at normal reading speed.  You may however want to examine a

particular message more carefully - holding down any key will

stop the scrolling.  Taking your hand off the key will return to

normal scrolling speed.



GENERAL CONCEPTS FOR THE HOBBIT ADVENTURE



THE HOBBIT Adventure is an adventure simulation where you have

to instruct Bilbo on what to do in various situations.



The map of WILDERLAND, where the action takes place, can be found

in the book of THE HOBBIT, and over 50 of the locations described

in the book are represented in this Adventure.



On first entering a new location, the computer will give you a

full description of where you are, and what the p[lace looks

like.  You will also be given a list of the visible exits from

where you are.  It is a good idea to draw a map of the way the

different locations connect to each other, should you need to go

back or if you should get lost.



The second time you arrive at any location, the computer will

give you only a short description of where you are.  If you want

a complete description again, you can obtain it by asking the

computer to have a look around.  It's that simple.



On your adventure you will find many strange and wonderful

objects.  Some may have magical properties, while other may not

be what they first seem to be!  Some can be sued as weapons,

others can be be eaten, and so on.



There are however certain general laws of physics inWilderland

that must be obeyed:



* You cannot lift any object that is too heavy, or, if you are

carrying too much, lift another object if that would mean

carrying too heavy a load.  The same obviously applies to all

other creatures in the adventure, but as they are likely to be

stronger than you are, they may be able to lift things you can't.



* You do not have to be carrying an object in order to be able

to use it.  For example, if there is a sword lying on the ground,

you can say KILL THE GOBLIN WITH THE SWORD

The major exception is if the sword (or any other object you want

to do something with) is carried by someone else - as everyone

else is stronger than you, they won't let you take anything they

are carrying.



* Some objects can act as containers - for example, sacks,

barrels, and so on.  You cannot put an object into a container

if it's too large to fit, nor can you put in or take out any

objects if the container is closed.



* Some containers may be transparent, while others not.  You will

be able to see the contents of any transparent container but if

it is not transparemt, you will not be able to see inside it

unless you open it.



* Liquids behave just like liquids - this means that you can't

carry them around without putting them in a container; if the

container breaks the liquid spills to the ground, and so on.



* Some things may be locked - doors are an obvious example, but

so many windows, secret caches, and so on.  To unlock them you

will need the right key.



* Some things are breakable, and you must be careful in how you

handle them.  In other cases, you may want to deliberately break

an object.  Be careful what you try to break things with, because

you may find that trying to break a door with a bottle, for

example, will result in the bottle being broken instead!



* Fighting makes you weaker, as it requires so much energy.  You

will need to eat regularly to get your strength back, as

otherwise you may find yourself too weak to lift even the

smallest object.  Be warned though - don't be a glutton.



THE RULES OF INGLISH



With the help of this program, your program is now able to talk

to you in INGLISH.  What's more, woul will be able to talk to the

computer in INGLISH, and it will understand what you say!



INGLISH is the most sophisticated natural language recognition

program yet developed on any microcomputer, and Melbourne House

are very proud to be able to bring this implementation to you in

THE HOBBIT program.



The rules of INGLISH are simple - you probably already know

INGLISH without even being aware of it.



* Each sentence must have a verb.

   As a minimum sentence, you can have just the verb.

   For example:  RUN

                 CLIMB

                 WAIT

   These sentences are all fine.



   The meaning of the verbs may be altered by the use of adverbs,

such as

           RUN QUICKLY

        or VICIOUSLY BREAK THE DOOR



* Normal grammar applies, and the order of the different parts

of the sentence is not critical.



   For example, the following two sentences are both valid, and

both have the same meaning:

    WITH THE SWORD CAREFULLY ATTACK THE TROLL

    ATTACK THE TROLL CAREFULLY WITH THE SWORD.



*  Adjectives which describe objects must come before the noun. 

If it sound right, it probably is right.

    OPEN THE GREEN DOOR is right.

but OPEN THE DOOR GREEN is not.



This is pretty obvious.  If it sounds odd to you, you can be sure

the computer is likely to think so too.



* Prepositions, such as WITH, UNDER, ON, OFF and so on, usually

come before the noun in INGLISH:

    ATTACK WITH THE SWORD.

    PICK UP THE GOLD.



There are some verbs where the preposition could go before or

after, or where the more natural sounding sentence is with the

preposition last.  For example in:

   TURN THE LIGHT ON.

   PICK THE GOLD UP.

These are also acceptable.



Use of AND



You can use the word "AND" in all its normal meaning in INGLISH! 

This means, among other things, that you can enter more than one

sentence at a time.



The following sentences illustrates different meanings of the

word AND:

   TAKE THE LAMP AND THE ROPE OUT OF THE BARREL.

   DROP THE SHORT AND THE LONG SWORDS.

   TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN.



With the use of INGLISH, your computer will be able to understand

all the sentences correctly.



Punctuation



Different sentences should be separated by some sort of

punctuation - use AND, commas, semi-colons, and full stops as you

normally would.



The only limitation placed by the computer on how many sentences

you can enter at one time is a total limit of 128 characters.



Of course, keep in mind that each time you do something, the

other creatures may also decide to do something and you could end

up with some unexpected results if you enter too many commands

at once.



Using ALL, EVERYTHING and EXCEPT



It may not be convenient for you to enter the description of

every object in the room if you should wish to pick everything

up.



Therefore you can generalise by the use of ALL, EVERYTHING and

EXCEPT, just as you normally would.



You may qualify what you actually want to manipulate - in other

words you can say ALL DWARVES, or you can say EVERYTHING EXCEPT

GREEN BOTTLES.



The following are examples of valid sentences:



   EAT EVERYTHING

   OPEN ALL EXCEPT THE GREEN BOTTLE.

   BREAK ALL BOTTLES EXCEPT THE GREEN ONE.



Limitation of INGLISH



* To describe an object, you can only use the objects name and

its adjectives (if any).  For example, if you see that there is

some delicious foaming beer in a bottle, you could say:

   DRINK BEER

or DRINK DELICIOUS BEER

or DRINK FOAMING BEER

or DRINK DELICIOUS FOAMING BEER

or DRINK FOAMING DELICIOUS BEER



All these would result in quenching your thirst.

You cannot use the position of an object as its description. 

This means that a sentence such as

   DRINK BEER IN BOTTLE

is not acceptable.



* You cannot have more than one indirect object in a sentence.

Basically this means that you cannot specify doing one thing in

more than one way.



For example, you could say

   PUT THE ROPE ON THE TABLE

or you could decide to put it on the chair:

   PUT THE ROPE ON THE CHAIR



but you cannot put the rope on but the table and on the chair at

the same time.



You therefor can't say

   PUT THE ROPE ON TABLE AND CHAIR



This is a general rule, and means that you can't say things like:

   ATTACK WOLVES WITH EVERYTHING.



We feel that these limitations are fairly minor, and that you

should be able to express yourself exactly the way you feel most

comfortable.





FINDING YOUR WAY IN WILDERLAND



There are a number of ways you can tell the computer that you

want to move from one location to another.

Let's assume that you are at home (Biblo's home, that is), and

the computer tells you:

   You are in a comfortable tunnel like hall

   To the east there is a green door

   - Gandalf goes east. -



You can do any of the following, all of which are valid.



Using arrow keys



The four arrows keys can be used for fast movements in the main

direction: north, east, south and west.

(You do not have to press SHIFT - just the keys 6, 6, 7, or 8 -

and there is no need to press enter when using the arrow keys.)



Note that the arrow keys can only be used as the first key of

your command to the computer.  You may not for example, start

entering a word, backspace to the beginning of the line and then

press an arrow key.



Note also that the arrow keys cannot move you in the other

directions, such as southeast or up or down.



Specifying the direction



The eight directions of the compass (north, northeast, east

southeast, and so on...) and up abd down can be specified either

by their full spelling, or by abbreviation, or in a sentence.



For example, E.  EAST.  GO E.

             RUN EAST.  QUICKLY GO EAST.  are all valid.



As you may enter more than one sentence at a time, you can use

the directions as part of a longer command, such as

   TAKE EVERYTHING AND GO EAST

or TAKE ALL, E.

If you are very brave, you can try:

   E, E, SE, W



Passing through entrances



If you want to go through an entrance or a passageway, it is

quite valid to say, as in this case,

   GO THROUGH THE GREEN DOOR.



You may also go through windows, or any other open passageways.



An interesting point is that you can also LOOK THROUGH doors and

windows.  This can be very useful if you want to see where you

would get to by going in that direction, or to see who is there

waiting for you!



Entering places



If you know where you are going, you can specify the location;

as you well know, going east from your home leads you to the

lonelands.  You may therefore say:

   ENTER LONELANDS

or GO INTO LONELANDS



Following other people



If you know, as in this case, that someone you want to talk to

has gone out, you can follow them:

   FOLLOW GANDALF



Special crossings



Crossing rivers, ravines, chasma, and so on can be both dangerous

and difficult.

You could try to jump across a ravine or swim across a river -

in some cases, you may be able to use material you find to build

a temporary bridge, or use a rope to swing across.



The general instruction for such a crossing would be to secure

your means of crossing, and then to

   CROSS RAVINE



LIGHT AND DARK



In order to reach the Dragon and his treasure, you will need to

go through caves, dungeons and other underground locations.



Some places have natural light, while others are dark and

forbidding.  It goes without saying that if you go into a

location without a light, you won't be able to see anything.



However, you are likely to be disoriented and lose your sense of

direction - it's very dangerous to move in the dark.



SEEING WHERE YOU ARE



In addition to the many ground-breaking features implemented in

THE HOBBIT, you will also be able to see the view as Bilbo would

see it in most of the locations you take him to.



As you enter the new location, a visual representation will

appear on your Spectrum screen, and the game will pause to enable

[you] to view the scene.  Pressing any key will also allow you

to continue with the game.



The visual representation of each location will normally only be

shown to you the first time you enter that particular location. 

If you wish to refresh your memory as to exactly where it is you

are, you may enter the command LOOK.



This visual image is an artists impression of the scene, and will

not change as the game progresses.



SPECIAL COMMANDS



There are a number of special commands that are unique to THE

HOBBIT Adventure.  These are:



LOOK (or abbreviation L):  This gives you a full description of

where you are, all exits, and all visible objects, except for

what you are carrying.



INVENTORY (or abbreviation I):  This gives you a description of

everything you are carrying.



EXAMINE object:  This enables you to have a closer look at any

object you may encounter.



WAIT:  This allows the passage of time.



@:(Does not require ENTER key to be pressed)

 This is an exceptionally useful key which performs the function

of "DO LAST COMMAND AGAIN".

 This command can only be used as the first entry for a line.



PRINT:  This command turns on the ZX Printer (if you have one

connected to your Spectrum), and sends the contents of the

"Adventure window" to the printer as well as to the screen.  This

is very useful in trying to solve the problems of THE HOBBIT, as

it allows you to go over athe events of the day at your leisure. 

The print-out of the "Adventure window" makes excellent reading

-

comparable to a novel, but one in which you decide on the course

of action.



NOPRINT:  This command disables the PRINT printer function.



SAVE:  This command allows you to save the data about your

Adventure thus far on to tape for later playing.  After the game

has been saved the computer will ask you to rewind it for

verification.  When you have finished SAVEing your progress thus

far, the game continues normally.  The SAVE feature is very

useful if you have progressed deep into Wilderland and don't want

to start from the beginning again should you accidently get

killed.



LOAD:  This command loads from tape the previously saved

Adventure.



QUIT:  Restarts the game.



SCORE:  Tells you how ell you are going.



PAUSE:  Suspends the game until any key is pressed.





USING ABBREVIATIONS



It is possible to be extremely brief with the computer, and still

be understood perfectly well.  Obviously, though, the briefer

your sentence or abbreviation, the more likely the possibility

of misinterpretation.



It is also possible to type in less than a full sentence, and if

there is no mistaking your intention, the computer will do what

you wanted:



   You are in a comfortable tunnel like hall

   To the east there is a green door

   You see: a wooden chest



Let us assume you want to open the door, you would obviously say:



   OPEN THE GREEN DOOR



You could, however, also be brief and only say



   OPEN.



In this case, the meaning may seem obvious to you, but in fact

the computer knows that it is also possible to open the wooden

chest, and the computer will therefore ask you:

   OPEN WHAT?



You have a complete choice of answers here, including typing in

a new sentence altogether, or just the object you want to open. 

Let us assume that you answer the query with

   OPEN WHAT? ALL



The computer will now process your instructions, and you will see

on the "Adventure window" the results of your instructions:

   - You open the green door. -

   - You open the wooden chest.-



If you were to now again enter the command OPEN, the computer

would tell you, very reasonably:

   I see nothing to open.



Note that if you had typed in the full sentence

   OPEN THE DOOR

the reply from the computer would have told you

   The green door is open.

There is a price to be paid for being too brief!





ANIMACTION IS HERE



Amazing as it sounds, all the other characters you will meet in

THE HOBBIT have an independant character of their own.



This is another unique feature of THE HOBBIT which distinguishes

it from most other microcomputer games.  Each character of

creature is capable of performing a wide range of actions and of

making decisions based on what is happening.  Just as in real

life, they are doing something almost all of the time - they are

animated!



Each character will follow a course of action that is in keeping

with its character, and obviously the specific actions they take

will be different each time you play THE HOBBIT.



They will react in some way, not only to what you do, but also

to what every other creature they come into contact with does! 

Even when you're not around, they will go about their business.



Because of this unique feature, you will find that each time you

play THE HOBBIT things will proceed in a slightly different way,

and the further you get into the Adventure, the more different

it may be.  While this also means that there is no unique

solution solving the problems in THE HOBBIT, it also means that

you will face slightly different problems each time you play THE

HOBBIT.



This is not an Adventure that you will play only once!  Every

time you start, you will be on a new Adventure.



Time marches on



THE HOBBIT is played in real time - this means that things happen

as time goes on.  The only time the computer doesn't do something

is when you are entering a new instruction.



If you just sit and watch the screen, you will find that after

about 30 seconds, the following message will appear:

   - You wait. -

   Time passes . . .



And while you wait, every other creature will be doing its own

thing.





TALK TO THE ANIMALS



THE HOBBIT features ANIMTALK, the amazing implementation that

allows you to talk to the other creatures in the Adventure.



Now, at last, you can answer questions the other creatures may

put to you, and moreover you can say to the other creatures what

you would like them to do.



Of course, because every creature in THE HOBBIT is animated

through ANIMACTION, they will make their own mind up and decide

if they want to do what you suggested.



The format is exceptionally simple.  You enter

   SAY TO whomever "sentence".

For example,

   SAY TO GANDALF "READ MAP"

If he wants to, he may do it, or you may see the message:

   - Gandalf says "No!" -



You must have the message you want to say between quote marks,

and all the normal rules of INGLISH apply to what you say to the

other creatures.



Try not to say too much to one person at a time, because if you

are long winded they will think you are a bore, and will tend not

to agree to help you.  It is a good idea for the same reason to

try to limit the use of ALL in commands to other creatures.



You must be more careful than usual in typing what you say to the

other creatures.  They, unlike your computer, won't tell you if

they don't understand what you are saying to them - they'll just

think you are a little odd.



And if the other creatures think that you make little sense, they

are unlikely to help you much.



Cooperating with other creatures

You should know that for some of the problems you will find in

THE HOBBIT, a solution only exists if you are willing to

cooperate with the other creatures in the Adventure.



As you are only a hobbit, and have no magic, there will be many

things other people will be able to do better than you are able

to do, such as lifting heavy weights, fighting monsters, and so

on.



So you must be sure to stay on good terms with your friends.  Of

course, sometimes you will be on your own, and will have to fight

your own fights.



Fighting with other creatures

There would be no Adventure without danger, and many of the

creatures you will meet in WILDERLAND are less than friendly.



Many will attack you on sight.  Some will try to kill you, while

others will try to capture you.  It is also safe to say that any

creature will fight back if attacked.



As you are only a hobbit,  you will need weapons to help you, but

you will still be able to fight even without weapons.



If you do not specify a weapon (even if you are carrying one) ,

the computer will assume you wish to fight the enemy with you

bare hands.



Because of ANIMACTION, and the viciousness of some of the

creatures, do not be surprised to find dead bodies in your

travels - these are the results of fights going on in WILDERLAND



--------------------------------------------------------------



Due to the immense size and complexity of this game it is

impossible to guarantee that it will never be completely error-

free.



A great deal of time has been spent testing this program to

ensure it will behave as described within these instructions.



If, however, any problems are found we would like to know about

them so that future versions may be corrected.  We would also

like to hear any comments or criticisms you may have about the

game.



--------------------------------------------------------------



HINTS FOR THE HOBBIT



The best hints you can get for this Adventure come from the book,

THE HOBBIT.



This Adventure follows extremely closely the plot of the book,

and if you should find yourself stuck, the best solution is to

carefully reread the book.



Some parts of the adventure have slight departures from the book

to make it more interesting - the riddles that Gollum may ask

you, for example, are not the same as in the book!  That would

be too easy!



At some points in the game you may use the word "HELP" to get a

clue to help you continue.  These clues are meant to be somewhat

cryptic.



DICTIONARY



Movements:

DOWN D  EAST E  NORTH N  NORTHEAST NE  NORTHWEST NW  SOUTH S 

SOUTHEAST SE  SOUTHWEST SW  UP U  WEST W



Special verbs:

EXAMINE  HELP  INVENTORY I  LOAD  LOOK L  NOPRINT  PAUSE  PRINT 

QUIT  SAVE  SCORE



Action verbs:

BREAK  CLIMB  CLOSE  CROSS  DIG  DROP  DRINK  EMPTY  ENTER  EAT 

FILL  FOLLOW  GIVE  GO  KILL  LOCK  PICK  PUT  OPEN  RUN  SAY 

SHOOT  SWIM  TIE  TAKE  THROW  TURN  UNLOCK  UNTIE  WEAR



Prepositions:

ACROSS  AT  FROM  IN  INTO  ON  OUT  OFF  THROUGH  TO  UP  WITH



Adverbs:

CAREFULLY  GENTLY  QUICKLY  SOFTLY  VICIOUSLY





The plot of THE HOBBIT, the character of the Hobbit, and the

other characters from J.R.R. Tolkien's novel are Copyright (c)

George Allen and Unwin Publishers 1951, 1975, 1979 and 1981.



The program of THE HOBBIT is copright (c) by Beam Software 1982.



INGLISH, ANIMACTION and ANIMTALK are trademarks of Melbourne

House.



The program was written as a group effort by Phillip Mitchel and

Veronika Megler, with Alfred Milgrom and Stuart Ritchie over a

period of 18 months.



The illustrations are based on drawings by Kent Rees.

The cover drawing is by Con Aslanis.



Published by Melbourne House.



[end of booklet]





SEQUELS/PREQUELS

here were two sequels to The Hobbit released, both based on the

sequel to the book The Hobbit, called Lord of the Rings.



The Tolkien Trilogy (Beau-Jolly, 1989) contained The Hobbit, Lord

of the Rings Part One and Shadows of Mordor. The manual, which

was rewritten to cover all three games, was quite good by the

standards of compilations.





SCORES RECEIVED



REVIEWS:

The following text appeared in the Sinclair User Top 50 Spectrum

Software Classics, of which The Hobbit was number 1:



The world of computer games is divided into two types of people

- those who have escaped from the goblins' dungeons and those who

are still stuck there.

  The Hobbit was ahead of it's time when it was released in 1982 

and remains the adventure by which all others are judged.  You 

must follow the footsteps of Tolkien's Bilbo Baggins in his quest

for the treasure of dragon Smaug.  The game features

illustrations, character interaction, and a text interpreter

allowing the input of English sentences.  The plot changes each

time you play it, and the list of possible solutions is still

growing.



URL

ftp.dcc.uchile.cl/pub/OS/sinclair/snapshots/h/hobbit.zip





GENERAL FACTS

The game The Hobbit was based on a book of the same name by JRR

Tolkien, as was the sequel.



NOTES

The Hobbit was and still is regarded as a ground-breaking

adventure.  It was years ahead of it's time, but it does have a

few bugs in it that show their heads periodically.



It is best to play this game on the fastest speed your emulator

allows, to speed up the parsing and drawing of pictures.

