RANARAMA
(c)1987 Hewson Consultants / Graftgold Ltd 
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[Docs reviewed for C64 version use.]


Aim of the game
Mervyn the sorcerer's apprentice has inadvertantly changed
himself into a frog whilst trying to make a potion to improve 
his looks! Trapped in a dungeon with only evil Warlocks and 
their minions for company, he must escape...

Game play
You start in one of the rooms on the top level of the dungeons. 
Your aim is to explore each room in turn to track down the
evil Warlocks, but you will also have to fight their malevolent
minions. In some rooms there are also squat weapon generators 
which create spinning blades and other weapons to attack you. 
You can destroy these for extra points.

Each room lights up as you enter it. You will see the room's
inhabitants and magical floor Glyphs (if any) which can be used 
to help you. When you locate a Warlock, leap on top of him to 
enter a ritual combat in which you must put the letters of the 
word RANARAMA in the right order before time runs out. Pairs of 
letters may be swapped by moving a cursor over them and pressing 
fire.

When a Warlock is defeated, the runes he holds are scattered to 
the four winds. Collect as many of them as you can before they 
fade and die, as you can use them to cast spells to increase 
your power and resilience.

GLYPHS: 
There are four types of Glyph:

Glyph of Power (star symbol)
Releases magic bolt which kills some or all of your opponents 
in the room

Glyph of Seeing (eye symbol)
Shows all rooms and doors explored so far. With the See spell, 
it also shows in red the position of Warlocks.

Glyph of Sorcery (triangle)
Essential for casting spells. At least 5 screens of information 
can be accessed using up/down to scroll through the screens. 
The first screen shows spells currently in use and also runes 
collected so far. Subsequent screens give details on other 
active spells and spells which can be cast using the runes 
collected. These can be cast by pressing the fire button.

Glyph of Travel (diamond)
A side view of the dungeon appears and you may use up/down to 
travel to another level, or press fire to leave the Glyph. 
You may not be able to return the way you came!


SPELLS: 
There are also four types of spells - Power, Offense, Defense
and Effect. You start the game with the weakest versions of 
each but as you collect runes from defeated Warlocks, you may 
cast stronger versions. You will need these to survive in the 
lower levels!

Bear in mind that spells should be evenly matched. A strong 
Offense spell, for example, makes your fire more powerful but 
also rapidly drains a weak Power spell so you might die from 
lack of power. 

You start the game with Psychic, the second weakest Power spell, 
with Mortal (the weakest) in reserve. Your power continually 
drains at a steady rate and if you do not succeed in replen-
ishing it with Energy Crystals or a stronger Power spell, you 
will eventually fade and drop to the Mortal level. If you fail 
a second time on Mortal you die for good.

You also start with the weakest Offense spell (Zap), which means 
that some generators and creatures will need several hits to 
destroy. Your Defense spell (Protect) is also weak, giving you 
only minimal protection against attack. Your initial Effects 
spell (Find) enables you to locate invisible doors. If you 
suspect there is one in your current room, stop and press fire. 
Any hidden doors will then be revealed.

ENERGY CRYSTALS: 
You will stumble across these floating, spinning crystals from 
time to time. Touch them to absorb their energy and replenish 
your power level.


THE EVIL MINIONS :

Dwarf Warrior - 1st Level Fighter - (100 Points) - Weak
Fire Golem - 2nd Level Fighter - (200 Points)
Bisect - 3rd Level Fighter - (300 Points) - Average
Guardian - 4th Level Fighter - (400 Points)
Death Serpent - 5th Level Fighter - (500 Points) - Tough
Ghoul - 6th Level Fighter - (600 Points) -
Arachne - 7th Level Fighter - (700 Points) - Hard
Gargoyle - 8th Level Fighter - (800 Points) - Very Hard!

WARLOCKS :

Wizard - Level 1-4 Mage - (500-4000 Points)
Are frequently cowards, running away if you are of a higher level

Necromancer - Level 5-8 Mage - (4500-8000 Points)
The toughest of the tough, they give no ground and possess
devastating spells. Do not tackle without a high Defense spell!


CONTROLS
C64 Joystick in Port 2, or keys:

Up       - A, S, D, F, G
Down     - Z, X, C, V
Left     - B, N
Right    - M
Fire     - H, J, K, L

Autofire - W

Use Offense Spell - Fire with a direction selected
Use Effect Spell  - Fire with no direction selected
Activate Glyph    - Stand on Glyph and press fire with no
                    direction selected
During Combat -     Use left/right to select a pair of letters
                    and press fire to reverse their order

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Comments
"The most innovative GAUNTLET clone."

Rating
90% (CRASH #38, March 1987)

Now
An excellent game; one of the best Spectrum games written.


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