Introduction
About The Author...
Jonathan Partington, in his more serious moments, is a professional Pure Mathematician who teaches Maths in Cambridge college and is, he says, 'a popular and witty speaker'. En route to writing adventure games he achieved a certain notoriety in the field of Computer Poetry, and one of his computer sonnets, "How can the purple yeti be so red?" appeared in several anthologies of comic verse.
As is appropriate for a Mathematician, his adventures tend to have an inner logic of their own, although what it is, is not always immediately apparent to the player! There is an eager following for his games amongst the computing fraternity at Cambridge University, and they are rarely disappointed.
About The Adventure...
Night, blackest night. Bones weary after days and nights in the saddle. And always, always, at the back of your mind: Hamil.
Hamil: A land of sorcery and romance; of strange but loyal beings; of immense fountains, a castle, a museum filled with bizarre antiquities which only the King can put to use.
'Mine', you tell the damp walls of the primitive chapel, a place of temporary refuge from the hostile beings who've been following you for weeks, equally determined to be the new masters of the land you seek. 'All that - and more - should be mine.' For you are the rightful heir to the throne of Hamil. How unfortunate that you were stolen away as a child. And how splendid that you are, at last, setting out to reclaim your throne...
Slowly, like a black tide, comes sleep, blissful sleep, and you dream again of the legends that say one day you will return to claim your rightful inheritance...
GAME SIZE: Moderate, with many ususual puzzles.
RATING: Medium.
Also From Topologika...
Acheton by Jon Thackray, David Seal and Jonathan Partington
A mysterious body - known only as The Ruling Council of Acheton - has issued a challenge to life-forms everywhere: "We hereby challenge the greatest adventurers in the universe to uncover the dread secrets of our Realm. Deeds of heroic valour will be required, and feats of intellect that Newton and Einstein would have boggled at... The rewards will be great: riches immense, and power supernatural, and the knowledge that you have succeeded where thousands have failed."
GAME SIZE: Expansive, with a wide range and very high standard of problems. RATING: A real challenge.
All your life you'd known there was something special about you, that you were extra-ordinary in some way. When you were young you'd chanced to hear unbelievable rumours, and, sometimes, sinister strangers seemed to be watching you. Finally you found out just what was special about you: you were the rightful heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Hamil. But by then it was too late. You'd been kidnapped...
Years passed, and the rescue you dreamed of failed to materialise. Finally, older and stronger, you escaped and, riding a mighty black stallion, set out to reclaim your throne, travelling for many a day and night; through swamps, jungles and icy wastes; across deserts; knowing that for every step forward you took, your enemies would take two...
But luck was with you and, after many days in the saddle, you reached the neighborhood of your Kingdom, Hamil, and took shelter in a primitive chapel, desperately needing a good night's sleep before the next bizarre stage of your journey...
"Perhaps I was fated to come to this particular place," you told the damp walls of the chapel, as sleep, like a black tide, began to sweep over you, and you dreamed again of the legends that said that one day you would return to Hamil to claim your rightful inheritance...
Hamil - A land of sorcery and romance; of strange but loyal beings; of immense fountains; of castles; and a museum filled with bizarre antiquities which only a King could put to use. A land where the powers of darkness always threaten; of ancient and unusual mazes, constructed by powerful wizards in bygone days, waiting to ensnare even the most ingenious explorer. A land of mysterious beasts eager to exterminate you if you stay in the same place too long. Where a mighty vampire haunts underground caves. Where creatures wait, in deep and dismal pits, ready to grab the unwary passer-by. Where ancient spirits in huge rolling cornfields serve long-forgotten deities. Where something is spoken about only in hushed tones, something known only as the 'snark'...
And so the real adventure begins.
Waking, you find yourself trapped in the chapel. If you leave it, it is at your peril. The decision is yours. Perhaps the chapen is not all it seems, and you are closer to the land of Hamil than you first imagined. It may be worth your while to investigate further. Regaining Hamil will not be easy, and you will certainly have to be able to prove that you are who you say you are...
Hint Sheet
Kingdom Of Hamil comes with on-line help which you get into by typing HELP (RETURN). The program will halt and wait for you to type in a number so that it knows which 'hint' you want. You therefore need to know which numbers refer to which hints. The following pages of this Hint Sheet contain a series of questions that players typically ask, like 'How do I catch the jackdaw?'
Various 'key words' have been deleted from these questions - making it harder to accidentally see the solutions to other questions - and are reproduced below.
The numbers alongside the words refer to the questions. The number that follows each question is the number to key for that particular hint. Good luck!
BOOJUM 4 GROVE 14 PTERODACTYLES 26
BOOMERANG 5 HEXAPOD 15 PLAIN 2,27
CAVE 6 HOBGOBLIN 16,37 ROCK 2,27
CHAPEL 7 INFORMATION 36 ROOM 3,9,13,36
CORNFIELD 20 JACKDAW 17 SLAB 28
CREATURE 24 LABYRINTH 18 SNARKS 4
DEPARTURE 19 LOUNGE 19 STATUE 29
DOOR 30 MAIZE 20 STEEL 30
DRAGON 8 MAZE 21,35 TAPESTRY 31
DUST 9 MONEY 35 TREASURE 32
ENCHANTRESS 10 MONSTERS 18 TYRANOSAURUS 33
FARE 11 MURALS 22 VAMPIRE 1,34
FIRE 12 OBJECT 23 WALL 12
FISH 3,13,36 PIT 24
FOREST 6 PORTCULLIS 25
Hint
1 How do I kill the *******? 21
2 How do I get back through the ***y *****? 23
3 How can I avoid the **** **** collapsing on me? 28
4 How do I avoid the ******? 17
5 How do I avoid being killed by the *********? 18
6 How do I get into the **** in the ******? 14
7 How do I get out of the ******? 1
8 How do I drive away the ******? 34
9 What is the **** **** for? 22
10 How do I avoid being killed by the ***********? 31
11 What do I need to pay the ****? 5
12 How do I get past the **** of ****? 29
13 What can I do in the **** ****? 13
14 What do I do in the sporific *****? 10
15 How do I stop the ******* from sobbing? 16
16 How do I avoid being killed by the *********? 25
17 How do I catch the *******? 11
18 How do I get past the ******** in the *********? 12
19 What do I do in the ********* ******? 35
20 How do I survive in the *********? 15
21 How do I get through the **** of Hamil? 4
22 What is the significance of the ******? 9
23 What is a given ******? 36
24 How do I avoid being killed by the ******** in the ***? 33
25 How do I get past the **********? 30
26 How do I avoid being killed by the ************? 8
27 How do I navigate the ****y *****? 19
28 How do I get under the ****? 2
29 How do I move the ******? 32
30 How do I get past the ***** ****? 3
31 How do I move the ********? 24
32 I can't find all the ********! 37
33 How do I escape from the ************? 7
34 How do I avoid being killed by the *******? 20
35 How do I collect all the ***** in the **** of Hamil? 6
36 What use is the *********** I find in the **** ****? 27
37 How do I kill the *********? 26
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"KINGDOM OF HAMIL" (C) Dr Jonathan Partington. Pbh'ed by TOPOLOGIKA 1987
