Welcome to `The Elven Crystals'
==============================

This is `The Elven Crystals', a Text Adventure Game created by Simon P.
Osborne for your enjoyment. It was written with the aid of CAG (Create
Adventure Games), a PD package specifically designed to help those
without access to sophisticated programming languages to write nice
(-ish) games of the Text (-"Zork"-) style.

    ****************************************************************
    * Shameless Plug Time:                                         *
    * --------------------                                         *
    * CAG (Create Adventure Games) was used to write this product. *
    * It is the easiest way to create text-style games. It is the  *
    * best and USED BY the best!!! (Chortle, Guffaw) Look at The   *
    * Elven Crystals if U R still undecided about its excellence!  *
    ****************************************************************

The Elven Crystals was developed over a period of several months, but was
not deemed good enough by the author to be released to the public. But now
that the Amiga games forum is becoming more and more empty, I have decided
to allow the public to see finally the fruitage of my labours, and maybe,
just maybe, they can enjoy themselves for a couple of hours.

As a Fantasy Game Player for many years, both as a reader of gamebooks and a
player of RPGs, I have always loved fantasy, and often wondered what it
would be like to LIVE in such a fantasy world, able to perform many actions
that gamebooks wouldn't allow, but without the DM. In the case of TEC, your
trusty Amiga becomes your DM, taking you on a journey of a lifetime where
you will meet such characters as NED the Hobgoblin and FENGRIS the
Extra-Planar Spirit Wolf, not forgetting SIMON the NECROMANCER.

While some text games are boring, effort has been made to make the game both
challenging and enjoyable, and CAG (see above) has made this much easier to
do. In most text games syntax is very limited, with statements such as

>HIT MONSTER

being the norm. But TEC is more sophisticated. If >ATTACK THING is OK, then
TEC will reply and act accordingly. But most of the time, you must specify
what you are going to attack with, such as:

>ATTACK THING WITH WEAPON

or

>THROW BUN AT POPE

or

>HOLD UP MIRROR TO TRANSVESTITE.

This allows for the puzzles to be slightly more tricky, as does the SEARCH
command, explained in the BOOT-UP sequence more fully. But it also allows
for the game to be more interesting than simply being a series of directions
punctuated with badly-grammared commands.

TEC was the second adventure game written by myself (the first being
slightly destroyed by corruption of data integrity) and if this game is well
received, maybe I'll do another one ("NO! PLEEEEASE!!!" - LARPers and CCGers)
It is based on a book called The Elven Crystals (not surprisingly) which was
part of the DRAGON WARRIORS series of six books (it was the third) which
aimed to introduce a totally unique RPG system in six short books during
1985. The series was written by Dave Morris and Oliver Johnson (that may
mean something to you...?) and I only have the first three books. If anyone
wants to help me out on the final three I would be surely and definitely
appreciative...;-D! I also collect old Gamebooks ( I have over 250 at the
moment) so if you desire to get rid of some of your old gamebooks, write to
me at my address below and maybe I'll get back to you. If I'm not dead from
some psycho coming to my house from `down south' and killing me.

Also, if anyone would like to send me 
* a postcard or
* a photograph of themself or their `group' or
* a funny text file / story or
* an alcoholic beverage of some description or
* some neat new MIDI files for my Amiga or
* a nice computer picture (IFF, GIF, JPEG, PNG, BMP, etc supported) or
* a nice new Music MOD file (NOT rave music)
* etc, etc.

then please feel free! I'd like to see how far my game
can go around the country (the world?????). And I will try to pass the
information (Picture, MOD, MIDI file etc) to as many people as I can,
thereby increasing YOUR fame as well! (Please include a DOC file if you
would like me to do this.)

Useless information on the Author.
==================================

Favourite Game Systems: AD&D, Call of Cthulhu
Best Ever Character   : 21st level Human Warrior in Dragonlance
Favourite Character   : 9th level Half-Elven Bard in Forgotten Realms
Favourite CCG         : Magic - The Gathering 4th Ed.
Favourite Author(s)   : David Eddings and J. R. R. Tolkien
Favourite Book        : The Lord of the Rings
Favourite Music       : Indie
Best Band(s)          : Pulp, Sleeper, Gorkys, Placebo, Madness and any
                        other `Indie Slacker' music
Best Address          : 9 Charnwood Road
                        Hinckley
                        Leics.
                        LE10 1PX
                        U.K.
                        (This is my ONLY address, but I like the superlative
                         "BEST")

I realise that this is more information than anyone cares about, but does
anyone ever read DOC files to games anyway? If you HAVE, then THANK YOU FOR
READING THIS BORING RUBBISH!!!!!!! You deserve to have a good life. Goodbye,
see you in the remake in about 20 years.

EOF