The Lost Kingdom

0.17 26-Jul-2004 (57k) *** Winner of the 2004 2k Classic Text Adventure Competition ***

The Lost Kingdom
(C) Jon Ripley, 2004


Chapter I

"It has been ten thousand long years since Earth fell. The battles of the
late 21st century which had nearly brought all life on Earth to extinction
became, in later centuries, the catalyst of peace. The men and women of
Earth united under a single banner working for the first time in known
history for the benefit of all life. In time gaia healed but the petty hate
and prejudice of the past were not forgotten, these symbols of the ultimate
savagery of the human spirit became the new teachings and time came what
became known as the age of miracles.

It was during the age of miracles that humankind left the confines of Sol
and the era of colonization began. Humans spread throughout the spiral arms
of the milky way sending waves of colony ships to explore. And the dominion
of humanity began to spread seeds throughout the galaxy.

But the age of miracles was also a time of great foolishness, the machinery
of death and destruction that had long been banished from the realm of
humans may have saved them. The long peace which had saved the dark heart of
humanity, sped, when it came, the downfall of mankind.

And Earth fell.


Chapter II

"A lone colony ship escaped the ravages of the aggressors, fifty thousand
humans from a planet that once held nine billion souls. Our ancestors came
to this green and blue sphere, the fourth that orbits in the orange light of
Kappa Ceti in the constellation of the great whale. The second of two colony
ships sent here from the birthplace of humanity.

The first ship which carried the doctors, scientists and engineers with the
equipment and resources needed to set up and sustain our colony never reached
the Ceti group. This ship, sent five years ahead of the colonists, our
ancestors, felt the first of the suffering that became the ruin of Earth.
Five millennia of peace left those lost souls defenceless against the threat
of the aggressors.

But we escaped, we survived. Many of our ancestors died taming this rock we
call home. The colony ship now is lost to the ravages of time, stripped for
our need for resources. But we prevailed, as meagre as our forefathers
existence was, we prevailed.

We survived.


Chapter III

"Almost nine thousand years have passed since that time. There has been no
news from the land of our ancestors, we are alone. It is not something we
speak of but it has long been feared that we are the last descendants of all
humanity. A million individuals remaining, the legacy of nine billion souls.

The downfall did not take long to begin. The true form of the soul of
humanity was given reign. Our forefathers had to start again. From small
agricultural projects and later animal husbandry this land became our
sustenance. It did not take long however for the old petty hatred and greed
to resurface in the souls of our ancestors. Greedy men who wanted power,
land and who wanted dominion over others became the driving force of the
path our civilisation has followed.

The second age of castles and kingdoms began out of the petty struggles for
power and the desire to protect meagre possessions. Huge fortresses of stone
protected these weak men. Great walls were built around townships, the
separation of one human from another because of minor differences, the
hatred, returned.

The technology we have now would be seen as primitive by those from the 21st
century of Earth history, as the technology of that time seemed primitive to
the colonists who set out on that fateful mission. Wood, clay, stone and
impure metals are the basis of our tools. Our bodies provide the energy that
drives our machines. It is a fire in the hearth that warms us on the long
cold winter nights where most of our population huddle in hovels.

It is not so for all.


Chapter IV

"There are a secretive few left who are pure descendants of the small core
of engineers and scientists from the surviving ship. They who have carried
on the pursuit of technology and science. And I am one of them.

Your people call us the techno-mages and you fear us though we do not
understand why. I do not know what you believe we represent for it is rare
that we interact with outsiders. I am one of the few who has ever revealed
her true identity. Please do not fear me. I am here to help.

As you may know, the ruler of the kingdom two hundred miles south of your
land is amassing a great army and preparing to attack and in a few short
years they will come to rape and pillage the great resources of your land.

You represent the noblest of men. Your line has ruled this kingdom
peacefully for a thousand years with a firm but fair hand. You represent the
greatest hope on this planet to redeem humanity. We techno-mages have
decided that is a major turning point in the history of this planet. We will
help you protect your land and we can help you bring all the kingdoms
together.

You can return humanity to the age of miracles with our help.


Chapter V

She was once a maid in my castle until she revealed her true identity. Lured
by the promise of peace and lured by the flesh she became my closest and
most trusted advisor. It was the beginning of the end of me.

Yes, I admit that the history seemed true enough, she told me more than
anyone outside the ranks of the techno-mage has known since history was
largely forgotten during the troubled times.

These dark mages did want to bring all the people of Kappa Ceti 4 under a
single leader. They did want the people of all the lands to unite under a
single symbol of power. But I grew to understand that I had been deceived.

The techno-mages wanted to hold that power, and peace was not part of their
plan. Their spies had infected the minds of the Kings and Queens of all the
kingdoms and they were distracting us from the changes that were taking
place in our lands. I was the only ruler not blinded by greed or want of
power, I would have seen the changes and they knew that.

But they blinded me by the flesh and the lure of peace. All lies, very
seductive lies. But still lies.

The kingdom to the south fell and then the world changed.


Chapter VI

I awoke to find myself living a mockery of my former life, now it seemed to
all that I was just a simple peasant, my home a hovel. They had changed me,
stripped me of my birthright and taken the symbols of leadership that my
people loved and respected. I was just another lowly face, forced to eke out
a meagre existence in a poor land that was not my home.

I knew that in order to save my people, no all people, from the horrific
dominion of the dark techno-mages I had to take back my birthright, stolen
from me by the woman I had once wanted to be my queen.

She had left me one gift. A wooden mockery of my throne sat in the middle of
the one room I now called home.

That day I set out on a quest to seek the destruction of my betrayer, to
regain my birthright and find the symbols of power. I knew that only with
these could I retake my kingdom. And with them maybe then I could rally the
people of this world to join with me take down the new aggressors which
threatened us all.

Once I finished the first part of my quest I would return here to sit and
rest, on that, the only chair I had in the hovel. For even though it is the
only throne I have I am still a King.

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Further Information
-------------------

The Lost Kingdom contains 26 rooms, 23 verbs, 11 objects, 22 items of
descriptive text and 26 miscellaneous messages. Lost Kingdom contains more
than 2,048 bytes (2Kb) of descriptive text. The full program is 2,807 bytes
long (2.74Kb) and requires no external data files. The game engine comprises
52% (1,453 bytes) of the program and the other 48% (1,355 bytes) is the game
data. There are nine possible endings, one true, eight deaths and many
puzzles to solve during the game. Making a map is strongly advised.

The game uses a modified one/two word parser. All commands should be entered
in lower case, all verbs may be abbreviated. 

Some of the verbs that you may use during the course of play include: north,
south, east, west, drink, drop, eat, examine, fill, inv, kill, light, look,
quit, take and throw. 

Useful shorthand verbs include: n (north), s (south), e (east), w (west),
i (inv) and ex (examine).

The Lost Kingdom is written in BBC BASIC and is compatible with the Acorn
Electron, BBC A/B/B+/Master/Compact, Arthur and RISC OS computers. It will
also run under BBC BASIC for Windows, and other compatible BBC BASIC
interpreters. Lost Kingdom requires at least 33Mhz processor, 48Mhz or
faster is recommended. The Lost Kingdom is not compatible with Brandy BASIC
and will be unplayable on any real 8-bit machine.

There are four files in the LostKingdom.zip archive:

LostKingdom,ffb is the Acorn BBC BASIC version.
LostKingdom.bbc is the non-Acorn BBC BASIC version.
LostKingdom.txt is the instructions for and back story behind the game.
LostKingdom.exe is the non-Acorn version wrapped in a BBC BASIC
                interpreter, compatible with Windows 95 or later and
                wine on linux and unix.

This game is free software.

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                     Copyright Statement and Disclaimer

  Copyright (c) 2004 Jon Ripley.  All rights reserved.

  Redistribution and use in binary form, without modification is permitted
  provided that the following conditions are met:

  1. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
     notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
     documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
  2. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
     must display the following acknowledgement:
         This product includes software developed by Jon Ripley.
  3. The name of the author may not be used to endorse or promote
     products derived from this software without specific prior written
     permission.

  THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR(S) ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS
  OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
  WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
  DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
  FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
  CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
  SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR
  BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY,
  WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE
  OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN
  IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.