SHADOWGATE - Mindscape - Part 1

   (Solution supplied by The ST Adventurer's PD Library)

Shadowgate is STILL an excellent adventure game with click-on
commands, graphics and sound.  To begin playing this game you need
to familiarise yourself with the commands.  Use OPEN to open
doors, books and scrolls.  EXAMINE will describe the details of a
particular object, or it will read a scroll or book.  SPEAK is
used only once. HIT and CONSUME are not used, however.  OPERATE is
the most important command in the game! It is used for anything
that involves mechanical manipulation, such as secret panels
...... and there are LOTS of secret panels!!

For example, when the game begins you see a door with a skull over
it.  Click on OPERATE and then click the skull and finally click
on the skull again. The skull will move, revealing a key hidden
behind it.

Always carry spare torches. These can be collected from many of
the rooms in Shadowgate and once burnt-out, there is normally no
way to relight them.  When you get the message that your torch is
'flickering', click on the burning torch, then OPERATE, then click
on an unlit torch to light it.

SAVE your position regularly! You will die many times on your
route through the castle and will have to start again without a
restorable position.

EXAMINE EVERYTHING in every room that you visit. Open closed
objects to see what they contain. Be ever wary that you may be
able to manipulate objects to further your progress.

There are a lot of 'red herrings', dead ends and areas where
certain death is unavoidable.

So.......let's begin the adventure!!


Before opening the door TAKE the KEY from behind the skull. Now
that you're inside, TAKE and LIGHT one of the unlit TORCHES you
see on the wall. TAKE the other one.  (Your torches eventually
burn out and they warn you by 'flickering'. Light another one
IMMEDIATELY and discard the old one when it burns out).

You will see two doors. One to the right (in the pillar) and one
in the centre (a double-door). UNLOCK, OPEN and then go through
the CENTRE door.  You can now discard the key as you will not be
needing it again. You will see a hallway and an alcove with a book
and two candles. OPEN the BOOK.  Another KEY is hidden inside the
book. TAKE it. Go back and USE this KEY to UNLOCK the door in the
pillar.

OPEN the pillar DOOR and go in. It's a closet! TAKE the SWORD and
also the SLING that you find there. Discard the key. Go back to
the room with the candles and the book. DO NOT REMOVE THE BOOK OR
THE CANDLES. (Or a trapdoor will fly open underneath you and send
you to your death!!). TAKE the TWO TORCHES (Especially the one
that looks like a flashlight) and EXAMINE the MASONRY in this
hall. At the back you will find a loose STONE. OPERATE it and it
will move away revealing a hole in the wall. Go through the hole
and you find yourself in a room with a ledge. There's a doorway on
top of the ledge. Ignore it. It is a 'red herring' and cannot be
entered!

A silver arrow points to the right. OPERATE the LEFT torch (click
OPERATE then click the TORCH TWICE) and a door opens! You can't
take these torches because they are secured, but TAKE the ARROW.
Go through the secret door.  You will now see two bridges. Take
everything from your Inventory EXCEPT your torch. You will then be
able to walk across the rope bridge without it collapsing.

You'll see a statue of a snake. Leave it alone but remember this
room and how you got here! Go back and cross the OTHER bridge, but
first LIGHT the SPECIAL TORCH (the one that looks like a
flashlight). It burns with a GREEN flame! Now, when you meet the
Wraith you can OPERATE the GREEN FLAME torch on the WRAITH and
give it a banishing hotfoot!! (If you don't do it quickly enough

the Wraith will curse you.....and we're not talking bad language
either!!!).

TAKE the TWO TORCHES and the CLOAK and go through the doorway that
you now see.  You will be in a room with barred windows. There is
something inside one of the windows but you'll never find out
what! There is a large rope on the ground and a sign: "EPOR".
Click on "SPEAK". Click on the ROPE. Type in the word: 'EPOR'
(Yes, it IS ROPE spelled backwards!). The rope should now rise and
provide you egress through the ceiling, but don't go there just
yet.  First, TAKE the SCROLL from the shelf. Leave the bottles. If
you EXAMINE the room you'll find another loose rock towards the
back. OPERATE it and another hole appears. We'll come back and go
through it later. We need to gather a few things from some of the
other rooms first.

You can either go back the way you came or go up the rope. Let's
go up the rope! Click on the TOP exit. You'll be in a mirrored
room with an exit down the rope and another exit.  Take the other
exit. You'll be in a hall of coffins.  Might as well OPEN the
bottom right sarcophagus - the one that is covered with fish
scales.  There's a Mummy inside! Use your TORCH to set fire to the
Mummy and TAKE the SCEPTER....well, let's do American-speak, eh?!
Now I bet you'd like to know what's in the other coffins so I'll
enlighten you! One contains a Banshee (which won't kill you but
will certainly deafen you for a little while); Another contains
some 'green goo' that dissolves your fragile body should you
happen to walk through it, and the other contains a bag of
(unrequired) gold coins. Incidentally, one of those bottles you
left alone at the bottom of the rope is a 'goo-dissolver' ......
interesting or what?!

Exit this room towards the bottom and you'll find yourself in a
hallway with THREE doors.  The one to the right is where you want
to go. You will see a Shark swimming in the lake and a Skeleton
which is also in the lake.  And of course, this Skeleton holds in
his outstretched boney hands...? Yes, that's right, a Skeleton
Key! We'll be back for it.....

@~But not until Issue 15 - watch this space!