4. Locations and Movement

Avalon's landscape is made up of individual locations connected together by exits, each one has a BRIEF and a VERBOSE description. If you explore in VERBOSE mode you will see the full description of each location as you move. This is highly recommended when you are exploring a new area, sometimes there are clues or hints to puzzles or secrets in the location descriptions as well as indications to the type of area you are in.

To move around in Avalon, you will first want to type LOOK or QL in order to see what the exits from the room you are in are. You'll find the exits at the end of the description, and to see what is beyond an exit, you may type GLANCE <direction> or just GL <direction>. To move in that direction, you simply type the direction.

Sometimes, you will encounter doors. A door may be open, shut, locked open, or locked shut. To try to open a door that lies to the north of you, the syntax would be OPEN DOOR NORTH or OPEN DOOR N. To close a door to the north, you would type CLOSE DOOR NORTH or CLOSE DOOR N. (As you can see, directions can generally be abbreviated in the ways shown above.)

Naturally, before you can open a locked door, you must unlock it, and before you can close a door that has been locked open (imagine a bolt lock that has been locked while the door is open), you must unlock it. To do so, you must obtain a key for the door, which may or may not be possible, depending on the door. There are other ways to bypass doors, but those are for you to discover. To lock a door to the north, assuming you are holding the proper key for it, you would do LOCK DOOR NORTH. The syntax to unlock a door to the north is UNLOCK DOOR NORTH.

There are many ways for insidious players to hinder your movement, and you would be well-advised to learn how to prevent them from doing so.

When in VERBOSE mode the information given by EXITS is greater. You can also ENTER or LEAVE some locations, a ferry or a trading caravan are examples. Always remember, not all exits from a location show up on the X command, or are immediately apparent. Locations may have secret exits or even portals. It is also easy to miss exits in the dark, so the carrying of a lamp to light your way is advised. Remember that lamps burn oil and this must be purchased from the traders markets. A low level of the perception skill will soon add useful commands for looking from one location to another.

Return to the index or carry on to examine The Continent Of Avalon.