| SAPIENS : The Situation of the Hero
"A thousand centuries ago the human adventure began". Dawn rose on the land of the Light Footed, 100 thousand years ago. Torgan awoke and stretched his young and powerful muscles. Calmly he attached two leather bottles to his braided vine belt, collected the sharp pointed assegais, grasped the heavy stone ax and tried it for a moment before tying it to his side. He was then ready to face the day. With gnarled hands he rubbed his face, still striped with ritual paint, then unconsciously stroked the wolf's teeth necklace lying on his chest. The warm and familiar touch of the ivory made his mind wander slowly back to the events of the evening before. He saw again the garish light of the fires where the sweet scented herbs were burning, the painted faces of the warriors seated In a circle and himself, standing before them, anxious, waiting... The venerable tribal chief, Hognor, then approached and traced out with red clay the signs of force, courage and wisdom on Torgans cheeks and lorehead whilst murmuring the ritual formulas. All the men then began to chant a slow recital to appease the spirits of the dead hunters. Their voices were not as many as before, as many men of the tribe had fallen In battle, or not come back from distant hunts. Torgan knew the tribe was sick and hungry. Everyday the children suffered from terrible deseases from eating unknow plants, and were dying in atrocious suffering. For several seasons the persistant drought had dried up the land and yellowed the meadows. The big game, wild ox and bison, had disappeared and food was becoming increasingly scarce. Hordes of wolves descended from the north and the bears letf the mountains. The hunting territories, until then sufficient, were becoming too small. The law of force was replacing ancestral law in violent battles between neighboring tribes, especially with the bloody and fanatical Mad Hyenas. The number of hunters dropped in each affray and this Is why many of the young, who until then had only picked, had to leave pramaturely for the hunt. How many of them could hope to survive these terrible trials ? For Torgan. this was the moment he had awaited to prove his valor: he knew that to conquer, he had to find allies amongst the neighboring tribes, choose courageous hunting companions and possibly tame wild animals. Halting this train of thought, Torgan went with a firm step to the Village Fire where Hognor was already giving his orders. SAPIENS : Brief Historical Survey 100.000 years ago. in what was to be later called Southwestern Europe, lived Homo sapiens Neanderthalensls. a close cousin to Homo sapiens sapiens. Small In size and sturdy in appearance, the Neanderthal survived Irom hunting and picking. His environment (biotope) was very similar to ours: hardwood and pine forests in the north, moors or savannahs In the more arid areas. The Neanderthal was far from being a primitive. Altough sometimes cannibalistic, as certain remainders of meals might Indicate, he buried his dead, used fire and stonecuttlng, and was already communicating 2 million years ago. It can be assumed that the social structure was based on the tribe; certainly with clearly defined hunting territories. The Internal volume of the skull was very large (sometimes greater than of the scientists who measure it), thus assuming a high degree of intelligence, and therefore a rudimentary articulated language. At that time survival depended on hunting, the search for water points, medicinal or nutritive plants and the cutting of weapons from flint. And here the Neanderthal was the fruit of an evolution which adapted him splendidly to his environment. It would be pointless to try to live in a perpetually hostile world and it is probable that the recent power of language available to Homo sapiens enabled him to make allies and start up "adult" discussions. Whereas a more primitive hominidae would have taken to arms. A) SAPIENS : The Game for IBM PC and Compatibles. So as to respect the rhythm of the game and speed up the choices of the user. SAPIENS is based on two scrolling menus. Seven keys are used: the four arrow keys corresponding to digits 8, 2, 4, 6 on the standard keyboard providing UP. DOWN. LEFT, and RIGHT. The carriage return key corresponds to VALID or CHANGE WEAPON, the space key Is, KEY-IN. the ESC key is EXIT. To perform an action It is first necessary to select. In the main menu to the left, the action required then validate by pressing on VALID or RIGHT. The corresponding submenu then appears in a window. According to the same principle the suboption Is selected then validated: the action is then performed. The different actions and subactions are : SAPIENS Obtains further information on the game, defines preferences (music on or not. noise effects...), saves the adventure In process on the diskette (do not use the game disk), reloads a previously saved adventure.. Beware, only one status of the game can be saved per day. In order to know the list of adventures available on the diskette, simply indicate "CAT' (for Catalog) Instead of the file name. The screen colors can also be defined so as to make the display more pleasant: and, if your Compatible so permits, two different palettes have been allocated to the upper and lower part of the screen. You can therefore select the position of the operation of the two palettes together with the background and write colors of the lower part. If ever the separation is not stable, through this option you can fix both palettes to the same value. The keys allocated to the different movements can be specified: up, down, right, left, valid or change weapon, key In. exit. Nevertheless certain details are necessary: initially the player is alone but progressively, as he continues, he can find a friend who will follow him and assist him In combat. This friend can be Human or Animal. In the case of an animal, the teammate will always be controlled by the computer alternatively, If he is a human, he can be manipulated by a second set of keys on the keyboard and, during combats, perform : exactly the same kind of action as the main player. On redefining the keyboard it is therefore necessary to choose a first set of keys for the main player and a second set for the secondary player. Naturally it is advisable to select different keys for the two players. A little advice : take care not to Ill-treat your mate because he might not put up with it... A character other than Torgan can be totally defined, this being proposed at the start of the game. This Is done by the "character" option. To do this it will be necessary to christen him, decide whether he is to be a man or woman, and to select their characteristics : force, agility, charisma (ascendency over others), vitality. Naturally the choice is linked to the sex selected: a woman may have less force but more charisma... then it will be possible to modify the appearance of the individual created; is It to be blond, brunette, bearded ? Health Indicates the current health of the character. During the game it is necessary to check whether he is hungry, thirsty, tired, Injured or in good health. Moreover, the quotas selected on defining the personage will appear at the top of the screen. Take Objects and plants are to be found on the ground. These are discovered progressively with the movements. They can be gathered up to be used, processed, or even consumed. For this purpose the TAKE option must be selected. The list of objects available then appears so that the objects to be taken can be selected. Put The objects in your possession can be abandonned when they are no longer useful. Say Provides for communication with other humans. For exemple "Good Hunting" breaks up a friendly conversation. The answers appear In the central strip. A person can be Insulted to make him fight. Beware, the tribe will not much appreciate one of its members being knocked over the head. A prepossessing person can be attracted by gifts (see next option) and a suitable word. In this case the two characters will continue the adventure together, but the main character will always conduct the dialogue. Give It may be useful to coax a friend or calm down an enemy. This option should then be used to offer a gift suitable to the situation. When the other character is prepared to make an exchange and the rules have been followed, GIVE is used to exchange objects. Look Is divided into four options: Landscape : the view Is then perspective. The Left and Right keys pivot the character. UP speeds UP. DOWN slows-down. KEY-IN stops sharp. VALID connects the card, pressing again disconnects It. EXIT returns to the main menu. Lateral view: In the landscape the character moves quickly, but to take the time to observe It Is possible to move from box to box. To do so lateral view movement must be selected. You can then see the character moving, bending down, grasping a weapon, throwing an assegai or striking. In LANDSCAPE VIEW when an animal or person is encountered, you automatically switch to lateral view. In the event of a fight. It is highly advisable to give the blows standing : the impact will have more force. The other symbols placed on either side of the viewing window indicate the state of the character and, through their pulse speed, the degree of breathlessness. Two persons on each side can fight simultaneously. Beware, a character too out of breath can no longer strike. Panorama: makes a complete survey by showing the perspective view. This can be stopped at any time by pressing on an action key. Map: gives an arial view of the landscape, the arrow indicating your position and direction. Zooming can be obtained by using the up and down keys. Consume, Tend with or Sleep. Maintain good health. Make From flint it is possible to produce assegai blades or stone axes. For this purpose the flint must be cut (black square) so as to be as close as possible to the ideal shape (in dotted lines). The movement keys displace the cursor representing the point of impact: by pressing short or long on the Key-in key will produce a soft or strong Impact. When the work is finished, press on Exit. A trick worth knowing; if you initiate the game without music enter "SAPIENS m" on the DOS call. The "m" suppresses the music. GOOD HUNTING B) SAPIENS : The Game for ATARI ST SAPIENS has been designed to operate fully with the mouse. Generally speaking the lefthand button is used to validate, the righthand one to exit from an option or mode. In MENU mode, the icone of the mouse Is a hand. When the hand points to an option, it can be selected by "clicking" the lefthand button. When the hand points upwards or downwards, i.e.. when you are above or below the menu required, pressing on the button scrolls the text. Finally the closed fist indicates that no selection or scrolling action can be accomplished. The different actions and subactions are : Sapiens Obtains further information on the game via the INFORMATION submenu. You can choose whether you wish numerized so-called "DMA" or MIDI music. The MIDI MUSIC option can also cut off the music (switch off your synthesizer if necessary). The most current types of synthesizer can be used; three channel monophonic, single channel polyphonic type via the MIDI setting suboption. By using a synthesizer this alleviates the work of ST and considerably increases the speed of the game. To save an adventure on diskette, replace the game diskette by one of your diskettes correctly formatted ans click an SAVE ADVENTURE. An adventure can be reread by LOAD ADVENTURE. Beware, only one state of the game can be saved per day. In order to know the list of adventures available on the diskettes, simply Indicate "CAT" (for catalog) Instead of the file name. Via the AUTO-HELP / KEYBOARD-HELP suboption you can choose when a human aid is available, if it will be controlled by the computer, or by a second player. A character other than Torgan (defined at the start of the game) can be totally defined. This Is done by the "character" option. To do so It will be necessary to christen him. choose whether he is to be a man or woman, select their characteristics : force, agility, charisma (ascendency over others), vitality. Naturally the choice is linked to the sex selected: a woman can have force but more charisma... then It will be possible to modify the appearance of the individual created : is it to be blond, brunette, bearded? Health Indicates the present state of the character: during the game It is necessary to check If he is hungry, thirsty, tired, injured or is in good health Moreover, this is to remind you of your strong and weak points. At the top of the screen the quotas selected when defining the character appear. Take Objects and plants are to be found on the ground these are discovered progressively with the movements. They can be gathered up to bo used, processed or even consumed. To do so you must select the TAKE option, the list of ob|ects available then appears. Put down The objects in your possession can be abandonned when they are no longer useful, for example meat which Is rotten, or broken flints. Say Provides for communication with other humans. For example "good hunting" breaks off a friendly conversation. The answers appear in the central strip. You can insult a person to make him fight, but beware, his tribe will not appreciate it If one its members is knocked down. A prepossessing person can be attracted by gifts (see next option) and a suitable word. In this case the two characters will continue the adventure together, but the main character will always conduct the dialogue. Give It may be useful to coax a friend, or calm down an enemy. It is then necessary to use this option to offer a gift suitable to the situation. When the other character is prepared to make an exchange and the rules are observed. GIVE is used to exchange objects. A little advice : each tribe has its preferences and it may be an advantage to discover them, in fact a gift without value for one way prove to be inestimable to the other. Look is divided into four suboptions : In LANSDSCAPE view the mouse movement is a little different. It is the position of the mouse on the table which is taken into account and not Its movement. Thus the mouse placed to the right of the central position makes you turn slowly to the right. If you press on the lefthand button the movement will be more rapid. Likewise the rotation to the left. The mouse moved forward will move you forward. and moving the mouse backwards will stop you. By pressing on the lefthand button whilst leaving the mouse down, you will display the map. To exit from the landscape view you press on the righthand button. LATERAL VIEW: in landscape the character moves rapidly, but to take the time to observe it is possible to move from box to box. To do so choose the lateral view movement. You can then see the character walk, bend down, grasp a weapon, throw an assegai or strike. The mouse UP, DOWN movement obtains standing up and bending down, RIGHT - LEFT turning round, the righthand button changes weapon, the lefthand button strikes. To exit from a laterial view press on the righthand button whilst moving the mouse downwards. The four symbols placed on either side of the viewing window Indicate the state ol the character and by their pulse speed the degree of breathlessness. Two people on each side can fight simultaneously. Beware : a character too out of breath can no longer strike. Initially you will be alone on your quest, but progressively, as you continue, It will be possible for a friend to join you who will follow you and assist you in your fight. This friend can be Human or Animal. In the case of an animal the teammate will always be managed autonoumously. Conversely It It Is a human, he can be manipulated by a set of keys on the keyboard and then have fights with exactly the same type of action as the main player. The four arrow keys on the keyboard provide for the movements, SPACE for striking and RETURN for weapon change. A little advice: take care not to ill-treat your mate because he might not put up with It. In case of a fight it is highly advisable to give your blows standing: the Impact will have all the more force. Panorama: accomplishes a complete survey by showing a persepctive view. You can halt at any time by pressing on an action key: press on the rightland button to exit. Map: provides an aerial view of the landscape, the arrow Indicating your position and direction. You can zoom, raising or lowering the mouse. Press on the rightland button to exit. Consume, tend with of sleep. Maintain good health. Make From Hint it is possible to produce assegai blades or stone axes. To do so the Hint must be cut as close as possible to the ideal shape (In green dotted line) . First of all you must place the forelinger on the point of the impact selected, then porportion the force of the blow by pressing short or long on the lefthand button. When you consider the work finished use the righthand button to exit. GOOD HUNTING. C) SAPIENS : The Game for AMSTRAD CPC To play, you have an action menu (to the left In the lower part of the screen). Select the action via the UP and DOWN arrows then call the corresponding submenu via the RIGHT arrow. When the subactlon suits you, validate It by ENTER or RETURN. Here are the different actions: SAPIENS enables you to SAVE or LOAD an adventure, and also to define a character. HEALTH Indicates whether you are hungry, thirsty, tired, Injured and the general state of your constitution. TAKE speeds up the list of objects within your reach, you can than pick them up. PUT DOWN shows you the list of objects In your possession: you can then decide those you wish to abandon. SAY assists you to communicate with your fellow men ("good hunting" breaks off a friendly conversation). The questions and answers of your encounter appear in the central strip. GIVE enables you to make gifts (to coax an enemy) or exchange an object with a friend. LOOK is divided Into: LANDSCAPE which shows you a perspective view of what is around you. The RIGHT and LEFT keys pivot you, UP and DOWN speed up or slow down, SPACE stops sharp, C calls the map. ESC on Amstrad returns to the action menu. LATERAL VIEW where you see yourself toghether with another character: you can move yourself to the left or right with the LEFT and RIGHT arrows, stand up or bend down with UP and DOWN, brandish one of your weapons with ENTER on Amstrad. throw an assegai or give a blow with your first oraxe by pressing on SPACE. ESC for Amstrad returns to the action menu. In a fight the symbols placed on either side of the viewing window indicate, by their form (heart or skull) the vitality of the combattants and by their pulse speed breathlessness. Beware : If you are too out of breath you can no longer strike. PANORAMA : gives you a complete survey of yourself whilst showing a perspective view. You can halt It at any time by pressing on a key. MAP supplies an "aerial" view of everything around It. he arrow indicates your position and direction. You can vary the zoom with the UP ans DOWN arrows. STOP or LEFT enable you to exit. CONSUME : Tend with or Sleep enable you to maintain your good health. Make From the flints In your possession It is possible to produce assegai blades or stone axes. To do so you must cut the flint (black square) so as to be as close as possible to the ideal chape (In dotted lines). The arrow keys move. In the four directions, the cursor corresponding to the Impact point. By pressing short or complete long on SPACE will produce a more or less strong impact. When your work is complete press ESC on Amstrad. Finally when you are in the menus the M key enables you to start or halt the music. (C) LORICIELS 1987. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Retyped in 2014 by hERMOL Visit my website at http://CPCRULEZ.fr ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |