NODES OF YESOD (c)1985 Odin Design: S. Fotheringham and C. Grunes Programming: R. Tinman Music: Fred Gray -------------------- DESCRIPTION Nodes of Yesod is quite a wacky action adventure game that uses the basic platform genre combined with a quite complex use of the joystick or keys. The use of the controls will take some time to get used to. I would not attempt to use the keyboard controls... The graphics smell of the spectrum machine where this game was first conceived, but they are pretty nice. A map of the world to explore is available separately and greatly helps. The music can be turned off, which greatly helps after a while (and it will take a looong while to finish the game...). CONTROLS Joystick and keyboard. Key selection by user is provided. CRTL aborts the game. RETURN pauses the game (quite cute - Charlie sits down...). INSTRUCTIONS Charlemagne "Charlie" Fotheringham-Grunes (the product of his designers!), apprentice savior of the universe, has been asked to find the source of mysterious signals from the moon - a large black Monolith (just like "2001"!). Like any hero should, he promptly volunteers for the task of finding the Monolith... To get to the Monolith, Charlie needs to find eight keys or "alchiems", which look rather like crystals, before he can get to the monolith. The color of these keys, red, magenta, green or blue as found is a clue. The game begins with you wandering around on the lunar surface near some lunar mole holes... Don't fall down a hole; instead wait for a mole to pop up and go over it to catch it (you'll know you caught it as the mole no longer appears...). Here the joystick controls have a twist as the scene has depth, and you need to use up-down as well as left-right while pressing the fire button to jump and move depth-wise to catch the mole. Then you can descend into the caves beneath the moon... The moon is, it seems, infested with various strange monsters (such as teddy bears on springs??). Most are merely a nuisance, blocking your way, but some are definitely harmful. You can however destroy some of them by jumping on them and so squashing them. As well as this, you will have to cope with muggers - astronauts in red spacesuits whose aim is to rob you of your alchiems. The task of finding the eight alchiems is complicated by the size of the cavern system (but a map is available besides these instructions...); not all of the access routes are clear, so you will have to use your friendly mole to make extra tunnels (it will be up to you to find where it can do that...). The use of the mole is the killer of this game as too often you will release it unintentionally, as the mole comes out whenever Charlie is immobile and up is pushed on the joystick (Charlie jumps only when the fire button is pressed while walking left-right). Pressing the fire button while the mole is out brings it back. While the mole is out Charlie cannot move. The game includes features such as whirlwinds that teleport you around the caverns, which might make exploring easier or alternatively leave you somewhere you would rather not be. Huge, deep shafts also exist, which can mean the certain loss of a life if you fall down one - unless you are lucky and find that the one you just fell into has a very powerful up-draft (the map tells you where it is). Extra lives can also be found scattered around under the form of helmets, which is just as well. Your vital signs are continuously ticking away, your current life force is steadily draining and your movements slow with every beating you take (and there is no Save Game in Progress...). When you get an extra life you will also obtain GRAVITY STICKS, that can be released by pressing the space bar (or is it by pushing the joystick down? I can't remember), which render astronaut muggers harmless and also cause all monsters in the immediate area to fall to the bottom of the cavern. SCORES RECEIVED "Superb and very rewarding." 93% (CRASH #19, August 1985) This was a comment for the spectrum version... SEQUELS/PREQUELS This game was the prequel to Arc of Yesod. -END-