The Lost Ruby
By J D Casten
For Atari 400/800/XL/XE
Solution by Garry Francis
----------------------------------------
This is a minimal solution to a very cruel and buggy game. The game that you'll find on most
archives is from the author's own web site. However, this game appears to be unfinished. Most
importantly, it is missing a line of DATA that makes it impossible to get access to some of the map,
hence it is impossible to get some of the objects that you need to complete the game. To fix this,
add the following line:
5024 DATA 22,23,27,25,35
Better still, download the bug-fixed version from the CASA web site. This corrects a couple of other
bugs and all the abysmal spelling.
Your objective is to find the lost ruby and return it to the throne room. You have 650 minutes of
game time to complete this mission. Each move takes 5 minutes, so that's 130 moves in total. In
this context, a 'move' is literally a move between rooms. Other actions, like getting and
dropping objects do not count towards the move count, but eating the cheese, drinking the wine and
pulling (or climbing) the rope cost you 10 minutes (or two moves).
During your travels, you will encounter a number of non-player characters. In most cases, you must
deal with these NPCs on the first move. This entails using the correct object. It doesn't
matter what verb you use, so long as you use the correct noun. I use the verb USE in the solution,
even though this verb is not ordinarily understood by the game. In this way, you can see where this
strange rule applies. You can use the following objects with each NPC:
Medusa: USE MIRROR
Wizard: USE SKULL
Bat: USE TORCH or SWORD or SHIELD
Troll: USE PEARL
Dragon (1st time): USE SHIELD
Dragon (2nd time): USE SWORD
Spider: USE TORCH or POISON
If you don't use the correct noun, you get killed. You will get killed a lot in this game.
There is no save game or undo, so make sure you take notes along the way.
The bat is a real pain. After dealing with it, it flies off to the next room that you're likely
to visit, so you must keep scaring it away. If you forget, it steals one of the objects you're
carrying.
Every time you get killed, you are revived and returned to the throne room. If you want to cheat,
you can use this as a shortcut to get back to the early part of the game (prior to the oak tree).
You won't find the correct way to get back until near the end of the game.
You can find hints in a book and a scroll. According to the BASIC source code, the scroll actually
contains multiple hints, but you would never know, as every time you read it, it gets spirited away
to another room. Try as I might, I could never find it. There is no way that you'd be able to
finish the game without reading the hints, but you would run out of moves before you could ever find
the scroll each time. As a consequence, I changed the source code so that you can at least read all
the hints without the scroll disappearing each time. Of course, you would have to think to read the
scroll multiple times in the first place.
There is one particularly unfair 'puzzle', where you have to LOOK in a rather plain room
to expose a new exit. There is no hint to indicate that you need to do this, but this is typical of
the cruel nature of the game. I think I would be the first person in the world to ever finish it and
that was only after I'd consulted the BASIC source code and fixed some of the bugs.
Your inventory is initially limited to 4 items. In the original game, there are three instances
where objects are removed from your inventory without adjusting the inventory count. This could
effectively reduce your inventory limit to one item! This has been fixed in the bug-fixed version.
Your inventory limit is increased to 6 items after you eat the pill. Even so, inventory management
becomes paramount, so drop items once you're finished with them.
Some optional (but significant) commands are shown in parentheses. These can be omitted once you
know what to do.
Here is the solution to the bug-fixed game...
(S)
(W)
(S)
(GET SCROLL)
(READ IT) ('I'm scared of the skull' this refers to the wizard)
(READ IT) ('A ring to open the coffin' refers to the crypt)
(READ IT) ('magicDRAGONwordGAURDSpobRUBY', lower case hint will get you killed)
(READ IT) ('The key is not easy to make' refers to key needed for two doors)
(READ IT) ('For the ruby you must dig')
(DROP IT)
(N)
(E)
(N)
ENTER CASTLE
W
GET MIRROR
E
S
E
ENTER HOUSE
(S)
(E)
(GET BOX)
(OPEN IT) (book appears)
(DROP IT)
(GET BOOK)
(READ IT) ('Trolls like pearls')
(DROP IT)
(W)
(N)
E
PULL ROPE (or CLIMB ROPE) (you're teleported to a corridor, there is no return)
N
LOOK (you find a door to north)
W
GET BOAT
E
N
GET RING (stream blocks the way, where did that come from?)
USE BOAT (you get the key)
DROP BOAT
S
E
GET CLAY
W
S
E
E
E
OPEN CRYPT (with ring, you find a shield)
DROP RING
GET SHIELD
W
N
E (Medusa glares at you)
USE MIRROR (Medusa turns to stone)
DROP MIRROR
GET MOLD
MAKE KEY (you acquire key, but clay & mold disappear)
W
N
W (you feel funny)
(READ WALL) ('Magical transportation')
E
S
E
N
GET ENVELOPE
OPEN IT (a pill appears)
DROP ENVELOPE
GET PILL
EAT IT (you feel stronger, you can now carry 6 items & get the magic sword)
S
E
S
GET SKULL
N
E
E
N
E
GET SWORD
S
GET OYSTER
N
W
S
W
W
W
W
N
N
GET TORCH
LIGHT IT
W
S
DROP SKULL (we'll come back for it later)
S
W (bat flies at you)
USE TORCH (or SHIELD or SWORD, bat flies off)
GET ROD
OPEN OYSTER (it's shut tight)
USE ROD (a pearl appears)
DROP OYSTER
DROP ROD
GET PEARL
E
USE TORCH
E
S
GET SHOVEL (you now have everything you need to get the ruby)
W
USE TORCH
W
USE TORCH
N
USE TORCH
N
USE TORCH
N (troll demands payment)
USE PEARL (troll lets you pass)
N
USE TORCH
E
N (door is locked)
USE KEY (door is open)
LOOK (you're in the dragon's lair, dragon attacks with fire breath)
USE SHIELD (dragon tries to kill you)
USE SWORD (dragon whimpers off)
LOOK
USE TORCH (you are now rid of the bat)
DIG (with shovel, a ruby appears)
DROP SHOVEL
GET RUBY
S
W
S
S
S
E
N
N
GET SKULL
W (wizard casts a spell on you)
USE SKULL (he screams and disappears)
DROP SKULL
GET POTION
(READ IT) ('DANGER: Poison')
E
N
E
S
E
E
E
S (spider tries to bite you)
USE POTION (you killed the spider)
S (door is locked, where did that come from?)
USE KEY (door is open)
LOOK (you're now at a large metal door)
S (don't go south or you'll meet the dragon again)
E
N
ENTER CASTLE
N
***THE END***
