Gate **
for 1.25MB IIgs  from Seven Hills
Joystick and stereo board recommended


The game uses a custom operating system and must be run from
 diskettes (not Hard Disk).  An 8-page manual is included.
 Features attractive top-down display, good animation, and
 decent sound/music (with stereo or mono option).

You can dig at (search) any square. Potions, gold, etc. may be found.

The top 5 scores are saved on-diskette with names.

There is no time limit.

You begin with a shooting weapon (unlimited 'arrows') wearing
 Leather armor.

Object is to defeat Darg, the Firemaster, who has taken you prisoner.
 Defeating Darg will restore peace to Divesia.
 
NOTE: The diskettes are not write-protected and may be copied using
 Copy II or Diversi-Copy.  Do not use either of the game diskettes
(i.e. STARTUP and DISK 2) to save a game. Format separate GAME SAVE
 diskettes before playing.  Only one game may be saved per diskette.



Display

Below the 'action area' are MAX (total weight you can carry) plus
 counts for YELLOW KEYS, RED KEYS, LIGHTNINGS. The large box seems
 to be for showing amulets you have collected. The large bar shows
 HEALTH (hit points).  A blue line appears below the bar when a
 STAR is used: monsters will run away from you.  The character
 pic shows current armor and shield.



Key functions

ESC: get Control Screen (click on "GATE" to get Key Function help)
*: Change weapon (this also cancels Search mode)
CLR: Dig or Search the current square  (sets Search mode ON)
SPC: use a Lightning (wipes out monsters on current display)
DEL followed by 1, 2, or 3: Drop a key or a Lightning (4 probably
 lets you drop an amulet-- not sure)
Open-Apple: Fire
Closed-Apple: Stop moving
2, 4, 8, 6 on keypad: move in direction selected
+/-: Increase/Decrease Sound level



Game Items

The Following can be carried with you:

Yellow Keys open plain doors
Red Keys open red doors
Lightning flashes destroy all enemies on current screen
Gold (100 per Treasure Chest opened) used to buy Food,
 Full HP restore, Armor, etc. at Magic Shops



The items here are used immediately:

Bottles of Food: restore HP
Blue Potions: increment number of objects you can carry (permanent)
Bombs: cause monsters who are shooting to self-destruct for several
 seconds
Stars: cause blue line to appear below HP gauge. While it's present,
 monsters will run away from you.
Rings: add to Score



Messages

Parchments: cause a message to appear. (Once  the message is displayed, the
 parchment will vanish; so, write it down.)

Panels: indicate places that may help you get your bearings

Hidden messages: appear when you pass over a square the message is
 in. (These do not disappear once displayed.)

Question marks: Ask a question. Answer correctly and you will get information.

Characters: there is a variety of characters and monsters which behave differently

Special spaces: Sometimes a flash will appear at the screen edge to let you know
 something has just happened when you walk upon a space. (It's up to you to figure
 out what it is.)

Note: If stuck, you can pick up some useful clues by looking at blocks $31C-$345
 of Disk 2 using a block editor such as Block Warden or BlockWorks.



Mods

To add to GOLD, KEYS, etc. use Copy II, Block Warden, or some similar utility
 to make mods to block $2C1* on the GAME SAVE diskette.

*Note: This location appears to be stable; but, it is a good idea to check the
       values for Experience, gold, ... found against the values jotted down from the
       display at the time of the last Save. If the values are wildly different or
       impossible, you probably have the wrong block (or wrong diskette).

$00-07: Experience  
 For example, 00 00 07 00 06 03 04 00 = 706340 experience. This same basic format
 is employed for other items. (00 04 = 4 keys, 00 04 02 02 00 00 = 42200 gold, etc.)

$08-09: Yellow Keys
$0A-0B: Red Keys
$0C-11: Gold
$14-15: Max (total carry)
$16-17: Lightnings


Hint: This game is excessively difficult at the start. That is, with the supplies
 and information available, you are likely to need many frustrating re-starts to
 get through the first few levels. A fair mod is to give yourself 20,000 or so
 Gold early.


SEVEN HILLS: 2310 Oxford Road, Tallahassee, FL 32304-3930
  atten: Childs (904-575-0566)


R/