partial solution
The Four Symbols was written for the Spectrum, and is © 1992 by The Grue!.
This partial solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1.1 of the sample version of the game that was converted to TADS. Unfortunately, the TADS version on the IF Archive is a MS-DOS executable.
| Side of store | in→ ←w |
Inside store | ||||
| | | ||||||
| —— | Outside shop | Burnt down hovel | ||||
| \ | / | |||||
| The village pool | ||||||
| / | \ | |||||
| Village church | Outside your home | |||||
| | | | | |||||
| Amongst pews | Your home | |||||
| | | ||||||
| Near altar | ||||||
[Outside your home]
You begin with nothing but your clothes. Note that your clothes have a pocket.
>INVENTORY. X CLOTHES.
>OPEN DOOR. IN.
[Your home]
The stove is empty. You can examine the dust fairies.
>X PEG. TAKE PEG. OUT. NW.
[The village pond]
Examine the timber, pond, weeds, reeds, and ducking stool. (Yes, “ducking stool” is the correct term.) The timber is currently out of reach.
>SW.
[Village church]
>S.
[Amongst pews]
>S.
[Near altar]
Visiting the church isn't necessary, but it does provide a little more background on the story, such as it is.
>X ALTAR. X CASKET. OPEN CASKET. LOOK IN CASKET. X WINDOW.
>N. N. NE. NE.
[Burnt down hovel]
You can't really interact with the crowd, but if you stay and listen, you'll learn that Morgrom's home was struck by lightning, and that there's been no rain.
You can't do much with the black cat, either. PET CAT isn't implemented, and if you try to take the cat, you'll learn that that isn't a good idea, since black cats are associated with witches.
>TAKE ROCK. SW.
[The village pond]
>THROW ROCK AT TIMBER. TAKE TIMBER. (+5 points)
>NW.
[Outside shop]
You can't take the spider, open the locked door, nor see anything through the window.
>W.
[Side of store]
You need the timber to prop open the window, otherwise the window guillotines shut before you can enter. You can't take the timber once it is wedged in place.
>OPEN WINDOW. PUT TIMBER IN WINDOW. (+5 points)
>IN.
[Inside Store]
>X CHEESE. TAKE CHEESE. SMELL CHEESE. PUT CHEESE IN POCKET.
>OUT. S. SE.
[Surrounded]
Soon after you acquire the cheese (or maybe it's X number of turns after being seen with a black cat), you will be surrounded by angry villagers. You can't leave, or ask them about anything.
>Z. Z. Z. Z. Z. (wait until you're asked if the black cat is yours)
>NO. (answering YES is fatal.)
[The village pond, in the ducking stool]
Not much to do here except wait and tough it out. You will be ducked twice. If the cheese isn't in your pocket, the cheese will be lost on the second ducking. You can examine the stool and the bindings, if you like, but you cannot escape your fate.
>Z. (wait repeatedly until the empty casket is brought forth, and asked if you're willing to risk all to get the stolen symbols back.)
>YES. (+10 points; answering NO is fatal.)
| Ticket office | — | Platform one | ||||||||
| | | in↓ | |||||||||
| Narrow path | Storage room | — | Necro- polis | Inside coffin | ||||||
| / | \ | | | ||||||||
| Outskirts of Village | Edge of Shadowland | — | Decaying path | — | Cross- roads | — | Decaying path | |||
| | | ||||||||||
| Toll bridge | ||||||||||
| | | ||||||||||
[Outskirts of village]
The village is west, but you can't return just yet.
>TAKE GRAVEL. NE.
[Narrow path]
>SE.
[Edge of Shadowland]
>X SIGNPOST. READ SIGNPOST. E.
[Decaying path] (west)
The strange plants and spores cannot be taken.
>E.
[Crossroads]
>N.
[Necropolis]
>X BOX. TAKE BOX. W.
[Storage room]
You trip over a brick the first time you walk in here. Examine the corpses.
>X BRICK. TAKE BRICK. X COFFIN. TAKE COFFIN. E. N.
[Ticket office]
>X MACHINE. HIT MACHINE. (+5 points)
>TAKE TICKET. X TICKET. E.
[Platform one]
>X GUARD. ASK GUARD ABOUT TICKET. GIVE TICKET. (+5 points)
>DROP COFFIN. OPEN COFFIN. GET IN COFFIN. (note: ENTER COFFIN isn't supported)
[Inside coffin]
Actually, it isn't necessary to close the coffin.
>CLOSE COFFIN. Z. (wait repeatedly until the coffin is taken to a new location; +20 points)
>OPEN COFFIN. OUT.
[Outside cemetery]
I suggest saving the game here.
>TAKE COFFIN. READ NOTICE. E.
[Inside cemetery] (west)
>X TENT. READ INSCRIPTION. S. N.
[Embalming room]
I'm not at all sure if there's something that needs to be done here or not. Examine the slab, stains, lime vat, vinegar vat, bench, equipment, niches, and bodies. You can't take any of the equipment or bodies. Anything put into the lime vat bubbles away and is lost. Anything put into the vinegar vat sinks, but you can take it back. You can't lie on the slab, but you can put stuff on it. There's nothing under the slab, bench, or bodies.
>S. E.
[Inside cemetery] (east)
The northwest and southwest paths lead to two places called Deep inside cemetery, but there's nothing of interest there.
>S.
[Near freshly dug grave]
I think entering this location is the trigger to start the nightwatchman's timer. That is, he'll find you in X turns from now.
You may examine the corpse, his big toe, and the mole on his toe, but I have no idea why these details were included. You do need the silver coin, though.
>TAKE SILVER COIN.
Eventually, the nightwatchman finds you, and you find yourself back at Platform one.
[Platform one]
>W. S. S. E.
[Decaying path] (east)
>X ROBBERS. ASK ROBBER ABOUT COIN. W.
[Crossroads]
>PUT GRAVEL IN BOX. DROP BRICK. E.
[Decaying path] (east)
>SHAKE BOX. (+5 points)
[Crossroads]
>TAKE BRICK. TAKE BRONZE COIN. S.
[Toll bridge] (north)
Examine the bucket; it has bronze trim. The bridge is blocked by invisible force until the bronze coin has been put in the bucket. Anything else put into the bucket is lost.
>X BUCKET. PUT BRONZE COIN IN BUCKET. (+5 points)
>S.
[On toll bridge]
Caution: pushing the rail is fatal.
>S.
[Toll bridge] (south)
Note the silver bands on the tub; obviously, you'll need the silver coin to make the return trip.
>X TUB. S.
[Narrow path]
>S.
[Edge of thorny wood]
>S.
[Thorny wood] (1: north of copse)
There are nine locations called "Thorny wood". It's not difficult to use your inventory items to help map out this small maze.
Although I could approach the copse from the four cardinal directions, I was unable to actually reach the copse. I don't know how to destroy, scare, pacify, bypass, or otherwise negate the thorns that block your path.
>E. SE. SE. W.
[Clearing]
I found nothing that would fit in the boulder's opening. Nor did I find a way to get the rope. I'm guessing that there's a sword somewhere nearby.
>X ROPE. TAKE ROPE. X BOULDER.
>E. SW. SW.
[Near arbalest]
This arbalest seems to be some sort of catapult. But you need the rope to make it work.
>X ARBALEST. X CASTLE. X SMOKE.
>X MECHANISM. X BLADE. X PULLEYS. UP.
[In arbalest]
Note: the box of matches cannot be referred to as a "box". Also, although you can light a match, there's no BURN verb. So, burning the thorns isn't an option? Pushing the button does nothing, but since the arbalest is incomplete, that's not unexpected.
>X MATCHES. TAKE MATCHES. X BUTTON. DOWN.
[Near arbalest]
>S.
At this point, the game says you're at the end of the demo area, and I should have an emerald symbol, a silver coin, and a piece of cheese. Oops. I only have the last two. Can anyone help me finish this?