Shades - A beginners introduction - Part 3

                  By Grimwold / Flasheart

@~Continued from last issue

                       T-collecting

Treasure, or T, is the main method of gaining points. There are a
lot of items dotted around the game which are worth points. To
check whether an item is T or not, type VALUE (object). To score
points, you must drop the T in one of three places.  The most
common is the Mad King's Room (usually abbreviated to MKR). Just
drop the T there and it will disappear, adding to your points. The
second is the high bridge between the East and West towers of the
castle. This one is a bit tricky to find, but is safer as there
are fewer mobiles in the area.  The third, and most sought after
place is the fountain in the formal gardens. This gives double
points for any T put in it, but there is a hitch. There is a
mobile that hovers very close to the fountain and often attacks
you when you are putting your T in it. Another pain is that for
most of the time, the fountain is covered in an acidic gunge which
will eat your T, costing you points. There are two ways of getting
around this, the first is to pour something into the fountain (I'm
not saying what it is!) and the other is to wait until the
fountain spurts. The latter is a bit risky as you will have to
either hang around for a long time, or hide the T somewhere,
giving others a chance to nick it!

Some of the T is only available by solving various puzzles, and
some of the T is needed to solve those puzzles, such as the
platinum key which, although worth some points, is needed to open
a door. It is wise, therefore, to be careful when depositing your
T that you don't lose something you want later on, such as the
brass or platinum keys, or the rod or rat.

There are quite a few puzzles, most of which are quite easy to
sort out though if you have particular difficulties it might be
worthwhile asking another player if they can give you the answer.

It takes 200,000 points to become immortal, so don't expect to
reach it overnight. You will almost certainly be killed many times
before you begin to feature on the score board.

The score board is situated in Heloise's wine bar (CHAT) and can
be read by typing READ BOARD, or READ 10 - 40. This gives the top-
scoring mortals in the game.

If you really want to score points, then don't venture out of safe
when there are other players about.  Chances are someone will
attack you when you least expect it. Another thing to think of is
that sometimes there are invisible immortals hiding, and if they
see you busy collecting T, they might bring in a second character
just to attack you. If you think there might be someone knocking
about who intends to do you harm, the safest thing is to log off
until later.  Typing BW or QW during your T collecting will also
give you warning of other players.

It is highly advised to carry a weapon when T collecting,
especially at higher levels as the mobiles will often attack you
on sight.  Most of the mobiles are easily killed by a high-level
character with a weapon.

Remember to SAVE every time you score any points or regain lost
stamina!

                           Resets

Shades runs in 45 minute cycles.  At every reset (shown by a
'roaring rushing sound') all T is replaced (at different
locations) and the mobiles are moved back to their starting
places. A ten-minute warning is given by means of a bell ringing,
and a further three minute warning is given by another bell
ringing more urgently. If you are T-collecting, then you have to
deposit it quickly, then save before the reset, otherwise you will
lose all the possible points. If a reset happens during a fight,
no points are lost by either person.

The reset will take you back to the GAME> prompt, where you will
have to type SHADES, NOVICE or CHAT to get back into the game.

                  General Behaviour in Shades

Shades has a definite "No Swearing" policy.  If you swear when
talking, telling or shouting (or even emoting) you will be either
Jailed or Zapped. Jailing will take you to the Prison, and dumb
you, so you cannot talk any more. You cannot leave the prison
until the next reset (sometimes even longer if you have been
particularly nasty).  A Zapping, or other immortal-induced quick
death just throws you back to the GAME> prompt and can be
considered as a warning. Continued swearers may be blotted, that
is, their persona deleted from the host's files.  All in all, a
good system, especially as there is no way to limit the age of
people playing Shades, and also that many people find swearing
tiresome or even offensive.

Apart from that, it pays to be civil to the other players in the
game. Don't assume that if a player is a lower level than yourself
that they are new and can be bullied, many people have several
different personas at different levels.

                    Other features of Shades.

There are two message areas on shades, the first is the wall in
Heloise's wine bar and can only hold ten 1-line messages at a
time. Useful for leaving quick notes to one another.

The second is the ChatTrack (or CT) situated W and S of Helly's
and holds the longer messages. You can leave all sorts of messages
on there.

There is a large help system contained in Shades, typing HELP
anywhere will give you a short list of topics, and typing HINTS
will give the novice some early pointers. There is another large
help area, in the form of a set of specially described rooms. To
find this, from Helly's go N and N again. You can wander around
here and get some more detailed hints.

To get into Helly's from within the game, from the Natural Cavern,
go E, SE and S.

To leave the game rather than quitting, you can go W, N from
Helly's.

There are several other Private rooms in the Inn which you can
chat to a selected person. The trouble with chatting to someone in
Helly's is that other people chip in with various comments which
can get confusing sometimes, especially if you're trying to help a
novice.

Other events: Every Thursday and Sunday nights there is a regular
quiz, and it's advisable to log on early as Shades gets pretty
busy at these times. The times are around 9PM Thursday and 10PM
Sunday.

                     Shades Software

Since Shades has been running for a long time, there is a variety
of software available for it, mostly to aid fighting. There's
"Shades Fighting Software", "Orgasmatron" and "SuperTarget"
available to PC users, of which I think the latter is the best.
All this software relies on redefining keys to do various things,
such as F6 with SuperTgt is defined to "Cripple1", which will
cripple the first person on your 'hit-list'.  SuperTgt,
Orgasmatron, Shades Fighting Software and some other Shades-
specific software is available from many BBSs, one of which is
Arkham (number below).

Amiga owners have a chance to use Ripper, of which I know very
little. If you're seriously into fighting, it might be worth
asking around in Shades as to where you can get it.

                   Logging-on to Shades

I won't tell you how to dial the number to Shades, I'll assume
that you're already fairly familiar with your comms software and
know how to dial out.

After a short pause following the "CONNECT" message, your screen
should clear and fill up with a list of four choices.

Type SHADES (enter) at the "*>" prompt and you should then get a
"Test Gateway" message. Press enter again at this and, all going
well, you should get the "START>" prompt. Sometimes though, Shades
will not let you through the gateway and will return you to the
"*>" prompt. The only thing to do then is try again. It will
usually let you in the second time around.  Occasionally, you
cannot get through the gateway at all, it just freezes on you. Not
much you can do here, except try again later. I think this is
because Shades has gone 'down' and there can be a delay until it
is up and running again. (Once down for four days)

Right, if you're now in and faced with the "START>" prompt. If
this is your first time, type "HELP".  This will aid you in
creating a new persona (the person you will be in Shades). Typing
"CREATE" will take you through the initial creation phase.  Be
warned at this point, that when choosing your persona's name, to
have a list of alternative choices, as many have already been
used.  (This is why I am Flasheart in Shades, Grimwold had already
been nicked!). You put in your own password and are issued with a
special ID number.  There is no limit to the number of personas
you can create, though most people manage with three or four.  One
for points, one or two purely for fighting and possibly one for
anonymity.

The next time you log in, and are faced with the "START>" prompt,
type LOGIN followed by your ID and password.

If you have created or logged-in successfully, you will then be
faced with yet another prompt, this time "GAME>". You can also
type "HELP" here for more detailed aid.

You are given three methods of entering the game, SHADES, CHAT or
NOVICE. Typing "SHADES" will take you to the edge of 'safe' ready
to enter the game proper. Typing "NOVICE" will do the same, just
one location away.  "CHAT" is where most players start off, which
takes you to Heloise's Wine Bar where you can meet the chatters.
You can leave and enter Helly's at any time, so you don't have to
log-off again.

To leave Helly's and enter the game, go West five times. To get
back into Helly's, from the Natural Cavern, go E, SE, S.

          Essential Shades Info:
Telephone number: 0181 265 6500
Protocol: 7E1 or 8N1
Baud: Up to 2400. (This may seem slow but it makes for fairer
fighting.)

          Arkham BBS (Shades Software, under COMMS heading)
Telephone number: 071 738 5596
Protocol: 8N1
Baud: Most.






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