To load Fantasia Diamond, type CHAIN"" and start the tape from the beginning. When loading is complete, the machine will wait for you to press a key before starting the adventure.

The screen is divided into two independent areas. The upper area is used to display the actions of yourself and all the other characters, descriptions of what you see around you and what is happening. The lower area is used for your input and is also used by the computer to provide certain information to you, for example error messages.

During play, every character will undertake some action about once every fifteen seconds, whether or not you yourself do anything. If you start to type, all of the characters stop until you press the RETURN key. Each character is then entitled to act after your command has been actioned. If you do not touch the keyboard for fifteen seconds, you will see the message:

  You do nothing

and the other characters will go about their business.

You may use the keys A to Z (which are always capitals), SPACE, '.', ',' and " (string quotes) in commands. DELETE will delete to the left of cursor. CTRL plus U will delete everything on the input line, and ESCAPE do all commands on the last line again.

Note: The ESCAPE key only works if typed as the first character on a line, and its action is immediate - you do not press RETURN.

Up to 78 characters may be typed per input. When the input area is full, the cursor will stop. Only the RETURN and DELETE keys are then effective.

Fantasia Diamond has a vocubularly of over 300 words, all of which may be typed in the input line either in full, or in an abbreviated form. When an abbreviation is used, the computer chooses the first word in its dictionary which looks like a match, so be careful.

For example, the verb EXAMINE can be abbriviated to EXAM or even EX, but not E, which is interpreted as a short form of EAST.

Finding appropriate abbreviations is largely a matter of experiment.

Fantasia Diamond has a fairly powerful language analyser which allows you to construct quite complex sentences. A sentence may contain several commands; each command starting with a verb. For example, you could type as two separate commands:

  OPEN THE DOOR (RETURN)
  GO EAST (RETURN)

or you could combine the two:

  OPEN THE DOOR AND GO EAST (RETURN)

Punctuation is optional, as is AND.

Most verbs allow you to use a list of objects, for example:

  GET THE FOOD AND THE WINE

In a very few cases, you will find that you can omit part of a command and the computer will still understand what you mean, but usually this is not so. As an example, when locking or unlocking things, you must also say which key you want to use - you cannot just say UNLOCK DOOR - that would be too simple! Sometimes, leaving part of a sentence out changes the effect:

  ATTACK THE ELF - means attack with bare hands
  ATTACK THE ELF WITH THE ROD - uses the rod as a weapon

Parts of sentences, and even words, can be abbreviated. If you want to open a small wooden door, you could, of course, say

  OPEN THE SMALL WOODEN DOOR

but it is quicker to say

  OPEN DOOR

Other possibilities are:

  OPEN WOODEN
  OPEN SMALL

and so on. Bear in mind, however, that the computer takes what you say literally and assumes that its meaning is clear. So, if you were in a place with a red door and a brown door and you said OPEN DOOR, the machine chooses one of the doors and tries to open it. This might mean that the wrong door is opened, or it might just mean you see an error message if the chosen door cannot be opened.

Abbreviating words is another way to save typing, but it can cause similar problems. Experiment to see what can be done, but if an abbreviated command does not work, type typing it more fully.

e.g. for OPEN DOOR you could type OP DOO but not OP D because 'D' is interpreted as an abbreviation for 'down'. Errors of this sort can be very misleading so take care!

Another feature which you may find useful is that the computer remembers the last verb you used from line to line. So if you wanted to pick up a key and some wine, you could say:

  GET KEY (RETURN)

and then just:

  WINE (RETURN).

Because you haven't started this line with a verb, the computer assumes that you want it to use the previous one. This applies to any verb like GET which allows you to use repeated objects.

Error displays always appear in the lower half of the screen. Once an error is found, the computer stops processing your instructions and comes back to you for more.

The most common error messages and their meanings are as follows:

I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE WORD (word) - When this occurs, none of the commands on the input line will have been executed.

I DON'T UNDERSTAND - This occurs when the computer cannot understand the form of your command. You may have missed some words out or typed them in the wrong order.

I CANNOT DO THAT - The computer understands what you want it to do, but for one reason or another, cannot comply because the action is not sensible or is not legal. E.g. you cannot talk to a dead person.

YOU ARE NOT CAPABLE OF THAT - The command is correct and understood, but you are asking to do something which your character is not capable of.

WHAT? - The computer is unable to make sense of your word order.

As you move from place to place, you will be given a short description of what is around you, and a list of the directions in which you can move. You will also be told of any objects/characters in the vicinity.

If you want to see the description of the current location again, you can type LOOK (or L for short). However, you may want to inspect particular items around you. For example, suppose you type LOOK and are told this:

  You are in a small dark room.
  To the west is a wooden door.
  Obvious routes lead north south.
  You can see:
  The brown chest.

It is possible to get a closer look at the chest by typing:

  LOOK AT THE CHEST

If you want to see what the chest contains, you can say:

  LOOK INTO THE CHEST

Of course, this does not work if the chest is closed. Similarly, if the wooden door is open you could say:

  LOOK THROUGH THE WOODEN DOOR

to see what is on the other side. If you know that the place on the other side of the door is called 'the little kitchen' then you may achieve the same by saying:

  LOOK INTO THE LITTLE KITCHEN

In each place, you will be told where you can go. For example, consider this place again:

  You are in a small dark room.
  To the west is the wooden door.
  Obvious routes lead north south.

You can easily move either north or south in many ways: GO NORTH, SOUTH, N, S, RUN NORTH, etc.

If you want to go west, you could of course just say

  WEST

but if the door is closed, this naturally doesn't work. Assuming that the door leads to the little kitchen, you can try:

  GO INTO LITTLE KITCHEN
or ENTER KITCHEN

Another less useful way of moving is to follow another character who is not in an adjacent place:

  FOLLOW BORIS

In this adventure it is essential for success that you co-operate with the other characters. There are times when you will be unable to get further without their help, because there are things that you are not capable of doing. At these times, you can ask someone else to help.

Suppose that you are already carrying so much that you cannot pick up a key that you need. Luckily, there is a trustworthy elf nearby who could carry it for you, he may run away with it, give it to someone else, drop it again, or anything he feels like doing!

The game recognises all of these commands. There are many others, which you have to discover for yourself:

You can save your current position at any time by typing SAVE. Follow the prompts on given on the screen.

To load a previously saved game, just type LOAD and start the tape.

If LOAD fails, the current game is lost and a new one is started automatically.

On the Electron version, in order to start a new game it is necessary to reload a small part of the game from the tape. This part is located immediately after the main game. At the end of a game (when you die) or when you QUIT, the computer will prompt you to start the tape to read this part.

In some places, it is possible to get some assistance by typing either HELP or HINT. There is no penalty for this. However, some of the clues are not quite straightforward and there are no hints for the easier problems.

If you cannot get the computer to do what you want it to do, either you are on completely the wrong track or you have used language too complex for the program to understand. Firstly, try to keep your commands simple - the fewer words the better. Refer to the section on error messages if in doubt.

The following general points should be kept in mind:

1. If a character refuses to help you, it may be because he is not capable of doing what you ask, or he may not feel like it. In the latter case you could try again.
2. Doing nothing is not always the same as waiting. This is important in some circumstances.
3. Do not give up hope when all seems lost. "Four walls do not a prison make" is true in Fantasia Diamond, even when the obvious means of escape are not available.

Finally, a last hint for music lovers: The leader is more long-sighted than short-sighted and could be regarded as untidy in his ways. If you don't oblige him, you will never escape. Good Luck!

What the reviewers said of the top selling ZX Spectrum version:

'The vocabulary used in the adventure is a very strong point...Highly recommended...overall value 10/10.'

- Crash Micro June 84

'A well thought out and well executed adventure.'

- C & VG May 84

'Fantasia Diamond from Hewson Consultants is ideal.'

- Sinclair User June 84