ESCAPE FROM SHAZZAR
Leisure Games, 1982
===================
Solution by Exemptus - December 2019
Overview and general hints:
---------------------------
This game is a short, quasi-deterministic text adventure very similar
to "Keys to Gondrun" (apparently by the same author). The map and
object locations are fixed except for treasures, which depend on the
order the treasure rooms are visited. Leaving the treasure rooms
triggers random monster fights. Attacks can be avoided by using the
right defence for each monster attack, which are:
Hit......Dodge
Stab.....Parry
Kick.....Cover
Bash.....Block
The objective is to enter the Shazzar temple and get our thruster. We
cannot enter the temple without a certain amount of treasure, but there
is a bug: even if we get all the treasures in the game it tells us that
we don't have enough treasure. This is because we need to be carrying
*exactly* 700 points of treasure to enter. This does not make sense for
the logic of the game, so I assume the author intended to write the
following in the listing:
1170 IF TV>=700 THEN GOTO 1185
but instead the listing says:
1170 IF TV=700 THEN GOTO 1185
which makes it unnecessary to go for all treasures (which is perfectly
possible). The solution below assumes that the player wins all random
battles and that the bug is left uncorrected.
Each object in the game has a treasure value, shown on screen. The
values are as follows:
Trowel: 200
Statue: 25
Brooch: 499
Spade: 10
Gems: 600
Coins: 750
Cup: 699
Sword: 474
Any other objects: 1
Which means that we just have to be carrying the Cup and any other
object in order to enter the temple. The other object is forced and
necessary to reach the temple anyway: the leather sock. Without it the
dwarf on the fountain does not let us pass. In order to get the cup it
seems to be necessary to visit several of the other treasure locations.
There are five food objects in the game which can be eaten or drunk
(mutton, chips, sandwich, tea and wine). Each can randomly double or
halve our strength, so they are tricky to deal with. It is in principle
possible to force the random generator in the game to generate a
predictable sequence so the good foods are known, but I'm ignoring
these details.
Walkthrough:
------------
GO WEST
GO NORTH
ENTER TUNNEL [first treasure location]
TAKE BROOCH
LEAVE
[Random battles are normally triggered when leaving treasure locations,
except here and in the shrine.]
DROP BROOCH
GO SOUTH
GO SOUTH
GO EAST
ENTER HUT [second treasure location]
TAKE SPADE
LEAVE
[A random battle is triggered here.]
DROP SPADE [The spade is necessary to go north from the Hut, but in
fact we do not need to make that move ever, so we can just leave it
here]
GO EAST
ENTER CAVE [Third treasure location]
TAKE GEMS
LEAVE
[A random battle is triggered here.]
DROP GEMS
GO SOUTH
ENTER INN [Fourth treasure location]
TAKE COINS
LEAVE
[A random battle is triggered here.]
DROP COINS
GO WEST
GO SOUTH
GO WEST
GO SOUTH
ENTER HOUSE [Fifth treasure location]
TAKE CUP
LEAVE
[A random battle is triggered here.]
TAKE SOCK
GO NORTH
GO NORTH
GO EAST
GO SOUTH
GO EAST
GO EAST
GO SOUTH
GO WEST
GO WEST [The dwarf lets us pass since we have the sock]
[Check that the treasure score shows 700 points, which should be the
case if we only have the cup and the sock]
ENTER TEMPLE
[End of game.]
