Secret of Kyobu Di

Return to medieval Japan in this exciting game of treacherous mazes and hidden treasures. This sequel to The Seven Skulls is a BASIC program that works on 8-bit Atari computers with at least 48K memory, disk or cassette.

Ever since you became the Shogun of Japan with the help of the Princess Tanuki (The Seven Skulls, Antic, October 1988), things have been going from bad to worse. Someone has been systematically stealing the Sacred Treasures ofJapan, including the Pearl of Wisdom, the Golden Helmet of Truth, the Sacred Sword of Justice and the All-Seeing Ruby-Eye of the Great Buddha. The Emperor has given you the task of recovering those national treasures.

Even more important, the beautiful Lady Tanuki was recently kidnapped and is being held for ransom at the castle of Kyobu Di, the warrior monk.

After a fierce battle, your army stormed the castle only to discover that the evil monk took Lady Tanuki to a secret chamber far beneath the castle. Lighting a torch, you and six of your bravest samurai enter the underground maze that separates you from Kyobu Di...

GETTING STARTED

Type in Listing 1, SHOGUN.BAS, check it with TYPO II and be sure to SAVE a copy before you RUN it. Antic Disk owners will find SHOGUN.BAS on the monthly disk.

If you have trouble typing the special characters in lines 305-310, 1105, 1150-1160, 1226-1236, 1254 and 31000, don't type those lines. Instead, type Listing 2, check it wih TYPO II and SAVE a copy. When you RUN Listing 2, it creates these hard-to-type lines and stores them in a file called LINES.LST (or to a separate cassette).

To merge the two programs, disk users LOAD "D: SHOGUN.BAS" and then ENTER "D:LINES.LST." Cassette users: CLOAD Listing 1, then insert the separate cassette used for Listing 2 and ENTER "C:." Remember to SAVE the completed program before you RUN it.

MAZE OF DEATH

Your position in the maze represented by the torch you are carrying. The torch burns oil which must be replenished from time to time.

Yellow jars of oil can be found at various spots in the maze. Touching a jar with your torch will relight the torch if it has gone out or add oil to a dwindling supply. The amount of time left before the torch goes out is displayed at the bottom left corner of your screen.

If necessary, the torch can be extinguished by pushing the fire button on your joystick.

To reach the secret hiding place of Kyobu Di you must first pass through a large sinister maze. The stone walls of the maze contain numerous one-way doors that let you climb up or down, but only in one direction. These doors have been cleverly hidden so you will have to knock on the walls with your torch to find them. Finding a hidden door automatically moves you to the other side of the wall.

Scattered around the maze are land mines and trip wires. These obstacles can be seen and easily dealt with (or avoided) as long as your torch remains lit. If the torch goes out you'll be "left in the dark" as to their exact locations. A dangerous situation, indeed!

Stepping on a land mine results in instant death to one of your rescue party.

Crossing a trip wire tells Kyobu Di your location in the maze and he will try to kill you by throwing a battle ax, spear, or shuriken (pointed-star). He may even shoot an arrow at you. Although Kyobu Di has been known to miss with the spear, he is most proficient with all other weapons. So as soon as you hear the "twang" of a trip wire, move quickly to a spot where you will be out of the path of Kyobu Di's weapons.

You begin the game with seven men. Each time you step on a mine or get hit by a weapon, you lose a man. A skull will be added to the bottom of the screen to signify your loss. Collecting seven skulls (deja vu, huh?) ends the game.

TREASURES

Also in the maze are keys and iron chests. Keys are collected by touching them with your torch.

The different-colored chests can be opened only by touching them with the torch, but only while you possess a key of the same color as the chest.

Some chests are empty. Others contain items you may find useful during your journey through the maze. Unused keys and any other items found are displayed at the bottom of your screen.

FINAL MAZE

As you near the secret hiding place of Kyobu Di, you will find no mines or trip wires. You are now close enough for Kyobu Di to see the light from your torch and he will react accordingly.

The Final Maze also contains new hidden doors which let you pass through walls to the left or right. At the beginning of each game you may choose how, or where, the keys will be placed in the maze. Press [OPTION] to place some of the keys in new random locations. Press the [SPACEBAR] to put all keys in the same locations each time the game is played. The challenge of Random Keys should be attempted only after you have become familiar with all aspects of the game. You are now ready to match wits with the warrior monk. Local villagers have planned a fireworks celebration in your honor in the unlikely event that you successfully rescue the Lady Tanuki.

A final warning! Kyobu Di is a master of cunning and deceit. Many deadly surprises await those who act rashly or fail to unravel the Secret of Kyobu Di!

Bernard Taylor is a bulk mailing specialist from Roseville, California. This is his second appearance in Antic

Listing: SHOGUN.BAS Download