Swordquest - Earthworld (e)

                        Swordquest:  Earthworld             
                                v 0.5
                                8-4-00
                      author:  Dimetric Houston
                      e-mail:  dhousto6@bellsouth.net

CONTENTS:  
  Introduction
  Updates
  Story  
  Controls 
  Rooms and Zodiac Rooms
  Objects
  Action Sequences  
  Clues
  Walkthrough
  Tips, Tricks and Secrets
  Credits

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTRODUCTION:

Hello all.  This FAQ covers the game Swordquest:  Earthworld for the Atari
2600.  It is an adventure game.  It is the first in the awesome series of
Swordquest games for the 2600.  

The Swordquest series was Atari's first multi-part gaming series.  The games
were accompanied by a small comic book which, in addition to providing
entertainment, also yielded clues to helping complete that particular game
and the series as a whole.

The Swordquest games are:

Swordquest Earthworld
Swordquest Fireworld
Swordquest Waterworld
Swordquest Airworld

This FAQ only covers Swordquest Earthworld.

I am not going to bother with the copyright stuff.  If you are low enough
to try to bank a profit off of this, or you decide to plagiarize it, that's 
your wretched morality.

The newest version of this FAQ can be found at the following sites:

GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com)

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UPDATES:  
  v 0.5  8-5-00
     -Preliminary edition.      


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STORY 

You are Torr and Tarra, children of the great warrior Tarr.  Your father was
slain in cold blood by the evil king Tyrannus and his henchman, the wizard
Konjuro.  You are on a quest for the Sword of Ultimate Sorcery to exact
revenge upon Tyrannus and Konjuro.

Your quest will take you through four worlds of elemental power.  Each world
has different challenges to test your skill and imagination.  Conquer each
world and proceed to the next, all with the single goal of obtaining the 
Sword of Ultimate Sorcery.

Your quest begins in Earthworld.  This world houses 12 rooms, each occupied
by one of the 12 zodiac incarnations.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTROLS

Joystick:  -Moves character.
           -Moves cursor in zodiac rooms.

Button:  -Enters/leaves action sequences.
         -Takes/leaves object in zodiac rooms.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROOMS AND ZODIAC ROOMS

There are 12 rooms in this game.  Each room has a zodiac symbol in it.  You
can see this symbol and objects in the room by pressing the button when you
enter the room.

To avoid confusion, I am labeling the room you initally see as a "room."  
When I refer to a zodiac room, I mean the room with a zodiac symbol.  Often
you see this room once you press the button.

When you enter a room, it is completely empty, except for your character.
You must press the button to enter the zodiac room (or start the action
sequences in some cases).  Rooms are composed of four exits (top, bottom,
left, and right).

Some zodiac rooms house objects.  These objects are to be used to assist you
in completing the game.

Inside zodiac rooms are particular objects.  The flashing box is the cursor.
Objects are scattered all over the room.  The lower leftmost object is a
door.  To exit the zodiac room, place the cursor on the door and press the
button.  The object next to the door is the zodiac sign for that room.  You
can't do anything with the symbol.

To take an object from the zodiac room, place the cursor on the object and
press the button.  If you have enough space in your inventory, the object
will appear in the bar at the bottom of the screen.  This object is now in
your possession and will go with you from room to room until you leave it.
To leave an object in a zodiac room, place the cursor on the object you wish
to leave and press the button.  The object will disappear from your inventory
bar and appear in the room space.

Note:  Initally you will only be able to use the top and bottom exits in
       rooms.  In order to use the left and right exits, you will need a
       certain object.

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OBJECTS

There are a total of 16 objects in this game (one of them is actually your
goal, thus in reality there are really 15 useable objects).  These objects
will accomplish certain things depending on the situation.  Leaving objects
in certain rooms will yield clues that will help you complete the game.

Below are the objects:

Key                       Rope
Cloak of Invisibility     Shoes of Stealth
Water                     Food
Necklace                  Amulet
Dagger                    Talisman of Passage
Short Sword               Lamp
Leather Armor             Ring
Grapping Hook             *Warrior's Sword

*This is your goal for Earthworld

See the Tips, Tricks, and Secrets section to see some functions some of these
objects serve.

Note:  You begin with the Grappling Hook, Rope, and Dagger.

Note:  You can only carry a max of 6 objects.  If you want to carry something
       else, you will have to leave an object.

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ACTION SEQUENCES

Certain rooms have special tasks that must be performed before you are
allowed to enter the zodiac room.  These tasks are called Action Sequences.
They require skill to surpass.  Once you've gone past them, you automatically
enter the zodiac room.

Having certain objects on hand will help you in these action sequences.

The rooms having action sequences are:

Leo
Aquarius
Sagittarius
Taurus

When you enter the rooms and press the button, the action sequence will
start.

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CLUES

If you leave the right objects in a zodiac room, when you attempt to exit the
main room, a rainbow colored display will appear with some numbers in the
middle (plus you hear a catchy tune).  These numbers are further clues to
help you finish the game.  They often refer to the comic book.

A typical clue is 16 5.
(from the manual)
"This could mean look at page 16, panel 5 of the comic."

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WALKTHROUGH

This walkthrough is designed to help you through the complex maze called
Earthworld.  I'm listing the rooms by zodiac symbol.  The rooms have a
peculiar wrap-around feature.  See the grid below to see how the rooms wrap.
Rows wrap only to themselves.  For example, Virgo, Capricorn, and Taurus wrap
only to those three rooms.  Take the right exit of Taurus and you are back in
Virgo.  Left exit in Virgo puts you in Taurus.

The long left column shows the vertical wrapping of the rooms.  Initially
this is what you will have to deal with.  You must get a certain object to
enable horizontal travel (see below)

I am also listing the objects that are initally in each room.  If a room
doesn't have any objects, "none" will be written in the space.

*You start in the Virgo room.

**If you leave objects unmoved while traversing the rooms vertically, a clue
appears at this point (16 4).  This same clue appears at the horizontal point
shown as well.

                                  ^
                                  |
                                  |
                                Gemini---Libra------Aquarius
                                  |        |           |
                                  |        |           |
                                Cancer--Scorpio------Pisces
                                  |        |           |
                                  |        |           |
                                Leo----Sagittarius-**---Aires
                                  |        |           |
                                  |        |           |
                               *Virgo--Capricorn-----Taurus
                                  |
                                  |
                                Libra
                                  |
                                  |
                                Scorpio
                                  |
                                  |
                                Sagittarius
                                  |
                                  |
                                Capricorn
                                  |
                                  |
                                Aquarius
                                  |
                                  |
                                Pisces
                                  |
                                  |
                                Aires
                                  |
                                  |
                                Taurus
                                  |
                                   **
                                  |
                                Gemini
                                  

Virgo         Leo          Cancer       Gemini         Taurus         
-----         ----         ------       ------         ------         
necklace      food         ring         lamp           shoes of stealth
                                        short sword    key


Aries         Aquarius       Capricorn      Sagittarius        Scorpio
-----         --------       ---------      -----------        -------
none          talisman       leather armor  cloak of invis     amulet
              water



Libra         Pisces
-----         ------
none          none


Horizonal Travel:
-----------------
To enable the use of the left and right exits in rooms, you must be holding
either the Key or the Talisman of Passage.


Action sequences:
-----------------
Leo
Taurus
Aquarius
Sagittarius

Leo--Waterfall
--------------
Here you must manuever between the spaces of the waterfall (doesn't look like
one though, does it?).  Once you make it through one part, the larger line
appears in front of you.  This continues for four parts, each time the space
you must get through being smaller.

Taurus--Horns of Taurus
-----------------------
Here you must get to the other side without being hit by the horns.  If you 
are hit, you are sent back to the start.  These are invisible at first.  You
need the lamp to see them, or the cloak of invisibility or leather armor to
get through them unharmed.

Aquarius--raft
--------------
The most frustrating of all the sequences.  Here you must jump on the rafts
(press up on the joystick).  When the red part is directy in front of you,
press up to jump to it.  Continue to do this and move up to the exit.  The
challenging part about this is that the rafts change speed and size randomly
and constantly.  A long fast raft will break into one, two, or three slow
moving rafts or else several rafts (on a line) will merge into one.

Sagittarius--Spears of Sagittarius
----------------------------------
This is just like the Horns of Taurus.  See that section for the details of
what to do and how to handle this.


That's it for now, more in the next update!


------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIPS, TRICKS, AND SECRETS 


Object functions:
-----------------
this section is being done as I find what particular objects do.

Lamp--allows you to see the Horns of Taurus and Spears of Sagittarius.

Leather Armor--protects you from the Horns of Taurus and Spears of
               Sagittarius.  You can travel through the room without worry of
               being hit.

Cloak of Invisibility--same function as the Leather Armor.

Amulet--causes you to go to a random room when you exit a room.  The grid
        showing the room order is nullified when you have this object. 

Shoes of Stealth--I don't know the exact function these serve, but you will
                  notice that when you have them, you don't make any sound
                  while traveling.

Key--enables horizontal travel.  You can now use the left and right exits of
     rooms.

Talisman of Passage--same function as the Key.


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CREDITS

God--for the strength, life, and intellect to do this FAQ


I hope you have enjoyed this FAQ.  If there are any corrections, additions,
etc. that you see that need to be put here, please e-mail me and let me know.
Thanks for reading.

dhousto6@bellsouth.net
Dimetric Houston

The End