                             DOCS FOR DEMONIAK
                                BY VOLTAIRE

Demoniak  has arrived.  This is not good news.  This Demoniak dude you see,
is  a  large  demon  from  a parallel universe, who enjoys enslaving entire
planets.   Normal  future mythology would have mankind's shiny space fleets
whizzing  out  and  bombing  the  beast.  Mankind's state, however, in this
future  view, bears sad similarities to the present day.  The world is in a
mess  and we couldn't organize a round of drinks in a distillery, let alone
a  galactic  strike  force.   Thus,  world  saving  is left in the hands of
private enterprise.

Luckily  one  man has his act together, a certain Doc Cortex, the cleverest
man  in the entire universe.  He gathers together a band of misfits to help
him build the ultimate bomb, the only thing that can stop Demoniak.

Demoniak  is a text adventure.  Now before you delete this file and the two
disks  the  program  is  on  PLEASE  READ ON.  Popular in the early days of
computing  the  text adventure has been largely forgotten since the 16-bits
made  it  big,  because these machines allowed glorious pictures and sounds
while  adventuring.   Why  be  satisfied  with  mere text?  In Demoniak the
descriptions  and  story  rattles  across  the  main game screen, while you
interrupt  the  game  interjecting actions for the characters you currently
command by entering text commands.

Traditionally, there would have been no choice of the character you control
but in Demoniak, it can be any one of 50 characters, who all have different
views  of  events.   So  during the game you are leaping around a galaxy of
planets  and  personas,  aiding  the  gang  of five (Doc Cortex, Sondra the
psychic,  Flame the fire girl, Sirius the muscle, and Madlock the magician)
in their quest.

The  worlds  the  team visits are crazy places and a black nihilistic humor
pervades  the  whole  game.   Each  of the 50 characters you can become has
psychological  problems  that  loom  large just when you need it least.  To
achieve  free movement you need to learn to appreciate the game's amusingly
warped  perspective.   Then  it  becomes clear how to encourage folks to do
stuff their predetermined character would never dream of.

The  50  characters all have defined characteristics and objectives, so the
curious  will  have  great  fun  becoming periphery players and pushing the
Demoniak  universe to its logically mad conclusion.  The mind-reader Sondra
is  fun,  because  her  psychic abilities let you watch the thoughts of the
person she's talking to.

Now,  those of you who enjoy the slash and hack of Dungeon Master or Eye of
the  Beholder are going to have a big attitude adjustment to make until you
become  used to the "logic parser"(text/game interface).  The parser is far
more  intelligent than the average Infocom text basher.  It allows compound
sentences  and  short-cut  commands.   You  are  still forced to master the
syntax  system  to succeed and annoyance is inevitable as this process runs
its  course.   Typing the wrong command earns a "you do not need to use the
word....."  and  a  vicious  circle  of  harried and frustrated key bashing
commences.



The  limitations  of  the  text  adventure  mode  can  not  be held against
Demoniak,  as  it  forces  the form and frees it considerably from previous
constraints.

Thrills  are  few  and  excitement is sparse but the challenges of a 50 way
logical  puzzle-49  more  than  usual-  are  intriguing!  Refreshingly, the
combat  is particularly flexible and reasonably tense.  You can even become
your enemy and mess with their happy fighting thoughts.

There  are  many  excellent  graphics  still  screens  and a very well done
animated introduction.  This is not text only.

So  if  you  dread  the  thought  of  actually using your brain rather than
strumming  a  joystick please give this to a friend.......or come enjoy the
warped universe inside your own head!!!!

Here are a few key hints and short-cuts:

Demoniak  works  from  DF0:   only.   You  must  put Disk 2 into DF0:  when
prompted even if you have 2 drives (How very European)

If  you want to talk to someone, type their name then enclose what you want
them to say in " ".  Example:  Cortex "What is a 3 toed eye muncher?"

n= go north        s= go south     e= go east      w= go west
u= go up           d= go down      o= go out       l= look around
x= show exits      quit= quit      save= save game  

Now go play and discover your own.
 
