BLACKMARL DEEP

TUTORIAL · TRONSOFT GAMES · VERSION 1.0.0

Blackmarl Deep is a parser adventure. You read where you are, type what you want to do, and the game answers in prose. This tutorial covers everything needed to finish it.

HOW TO BEGIN

Launch from the Tronsoft Games library. You start at the Creek Landing, above ground, carrying nothing. The warden is standing beside you.

• LOOK — describe the room, what you can see, and the exits.
• TALK TO WARDEN — she explains the job.
• NORTH — into her cabin, where the kit hangs on pegs.
• TAKE LAMP — pick something up.
• INVENTORY — list what you carry.

Take all four pieces of kit: the carbide lamp, the bolt key, the canvas satchel, and the hoist bell. Every one of them opens a gate later.

CONTROLS

Keyboard-first, but every command is also a button in the bands beneath the story. You can finish the whole game with a mouse.

Press Up and Down to recall commands you have already typed.

TURN ORDER

No opponents and no clock. The game waits indefinitely, then responds. One meaningful action — moving, taking, dropping, using, opening, talking — is one turn, shown in the status bar. Looking around and checking records are free. Nothing acts on a timer; the lamp never runs down.

MOVEMENT

Rooms connect by compass direction plus UP and DOWN. The EXITS pane lists every way out and where it leads, the Movement band gives you a button for each, and Map in the quick row draws the workings with your room in brackets.

One shortcut exists: USE BELL rings the hoist cage from anywhere below ground and lands you at the cabin door. It matters once your pack is full.

SCORING

The game is scored out of 100.

The PLAYER pane tracks Score, Caches, and Explored as you go. SCORE reports the same in text.

The seven caches

• Lead tube of assay samples
• Iron strongbox
• Silver pocket watch
• Foreman's medallion
• Seam of raw opal
• Brass theodolite
• Bundle of company scrip

COMBAT

There is none. The bat colony at the roost is a puzzle, not an enemy, and cannot be fought. You cannot be hurt and you cannot die.

WINNING CONDITIONS

Carry all seven caches to the warden's cabin and type USE TALLY. With the full set in hand this awards the final 30 points and ends the game at 100 out of 100.

You may enter caches in batches — the board reports how many are still logged underground — but the game is only won with all seven in hand at once. Carrying capacity is unlimited, so one trip is simplest.

LOSING CONDITIONS

None. You cannot die, be trapped, run out of light, or lose an item permanently. Nothing can put the game beyond winning.

SAVING AND RESTARTING

• SAVE marrow — save to a named slot (SAVE alone uses quick).
• RESTORE marrow — reload that slot.
• SAVES — the Save Manager: review, restore, or delete slots.
• RESTART — begin again; saved slots are untouched.
• TRANSCRIPT — review the session and download it as text.

IF YOU GET STUCK

Type HINT. It reads your situation and starts with a nudge; ask again for a firmer steer, and a third time for the answer. Hints are recorded in your statistics only and reset on RESTART.

A SUGGESTED FIRST HOUR

north / take lamp / take key / take satchel / take bell
south / down / south / down        (the hatch opens with the key)
use lamp / west / west             (strike the lamp, then the crosscut)
open chest / take prop
west / down                        (the winze to the Sump Hall)
use valve / take samples           CACHE 1
west / north / west / take strongbox   CACHE 2
east / south / east / north / take watch   CACHE 3
north / take medallion             CACHE 4
use satchel / north
use prop / take opal               CACHE 5
north / take theodolite / take scrip   CACHES 6 and 7
use bell / use tally