It's 20 A.D. and you're playing as Jesus of Nazareth. You're beginning your ministry in the town of Capernaum. Your goal is to convert as many followers as possible to your teachings.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Version 1.35 (Release 38/Serial Number 06132005022925A) of the game. These days, I use DOSBox to emulate the DOS platform.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Reading a walkthrough prematurely can sometimes diminish one's enjoyment of an interactive fiction game. Please make an honest effort to play the game before reading this walkthrough.
At various points in the game, you'll be asked to "press any key"; do so when instructed. I omitted those prompts in this walkthrough.
Note that there is only one save file, GAME.SAV, and you can only load it from the prompt at the start of the game.
Help tells you that no capital letters are permitted in commands, and some of the more unusual command-verbs are USE, CONVERT, WIELD, UNWIELD, and FISH. Note that GIVE is not understood.
I don't know of any command that displays Jesus's HP (hit points) or any other stats he might have.
Before the Northern Wall at Capernaum
> help. i.(Carrying nothing.)
> x note.(Harod wants obedience.)
> s.
In the central market, south of the Northern Wall
> talk to mary.(Find her medallion.)
> w.
Inside Peter's house, west of the marketplace
> talk to matthew.
> convert matthew.(no: He wants his papers.)
> w.
Western room, east of the main house
You don't need the scroll, so leave it here.
> x lamp. x scroll. read scroll.(Exodus 3:1-5.)
> take lamp.
> s.
By a small cot, inside the house of Peter
> x dagger. take dagger.
> n. e. e. s.
Inside a small house, near the main market of Capernaum
You cannot help the boy; ignore him.
> x boy.
> e.
At the eastern edge of a large house
> take medallion. wear medallion.
> s.
In the back room of a large house, in the town of Capernaum
> read papers. take papers.
> take tunic. wear tunic.
> take sandles. wear sandles.
> n. w. s. s. s.
Inside Peter's fishing boat, just off shore in the Sea of Galilee
> talk to peter. x boat.
> fish.(no: You must wield a spear first.)
> convert peter.(no: Convert others first.)
> n. w.
Upon the western shores of the Sea of Galilee
It's not obvious, but having the medallion is necessary for this conversion to work.
> talk to andrew. convert andrew.(Success!)
Andrew is now on Peter's boat.
> e. e.
Upon the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee
> talk to james. convert james.(no: He wants a fish.)
> w. n. n. n.
In the central market, south of the Northern Wall
You need the medallion to convert Mary.
> convert mary.(Success!)
Mary is now on Peter's boat. Oddly, you keep the medallion.
> w.
Inside Peter's house, west of the marketplace
You must be carrying the papers to convert Matthew.
> convert matthew.(Success!)
Matthew is now on Peter's boat.
> e. e. e.
Winding road, by a large olive tree
> climb tree.(not "up")
On the branch of a large olive tree
Nothing to do here, but you always wanted to climb an olive tree, didn't you?
> d. e. s. e.
On the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee, east of Capernaum
You cannot climb this fig tree, nor get any figs from it, curse the luck.
> x tree. s. s.
At the Roman garrison, southeast of the town of Capernaum
> x centurion.(has spear, helmet, and shield)
> talk to centurion.(He wants to see your papers.)
If you have the papers, you can go south past the centurion without needing to explicitly show them. The game doesn't understand "show" anyway.
> s. s. s.
On the shores of the Sea of Galilee, southern port
You must explicitly light the lamp, even though its description claims it's already brightly glowing.
> light lamp.
> w.(A large rock partially blocks the entrance.)
> enter cave.
Inside a small cave, near the town of Gergesa
> read lettering.
> s. w.
At the end of a small cave, western edge
A gladius is a sword, which isn't clear from the text.
> x gladius. x documents. x john.
> read documents.(It's about an angel telling Zacharias and Elizabeth about their son-to-be who will be called John.)
> talk to john. convert john.(no: He wants Harod's head.)
Is the gladius a better weapons than the dagger? Let's hope so.
> drop dagger. take gladius. wield gladius.
> e. n. e. n. n. w.
In a small chamber hall, heading to the north
> save.
> n.
At the throne of judgment, atop a stone staircase
Don't give Harod any chance to call for your arrest.
> kill harod.
Assuming you win, there isn't any head for you to carry. The centurion is here (even if you killed him before), but he doesn't automatically attack you. However, the Roman soldier in the market will automatically attack you when you try to go past him later.
> save.
> s. e. s. s. enter cave. s. w.
At the end of a small cave, western edge
> convert John.(Success!)
John is now on Peter's boat.
> e. n. e. n. n. w. n.
At the throne of judgment, atop a stone staircase
I want the spear for fishing, so the centurion must die. I hope my HP is back up to normal, but how can anyone tell?
> save.
> kill centurion.
Assuming you win:
> save
> drop papers. take spear.
> take helmet. wear helmet.
> drop lamp. take shield.
> s. e. n. n. n. w. n. w. w. w.
In the central market, south of the Northern Wall
> s.(Unfortunately, the soldier tries to arrest you and you're in a third battle to the death.)
Assuming you win:
> s. s. s. e.
Upon the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee
> unwield gladius. wield spear.
> fish.(Success, using the spear)
> x fish.
> convert james.(You must have a fish to succeed.)
James is now on Peter's boat.
> w. s.
Inside Peter's fishing boat, just off shore in the Sea of Galilee.
> convert Peter.(Success!)
All six disciples are here. You can now "set sail".
> set sail.
*** @ End of Game @ ***
Extras
Characters
Mary of Magdala is in the central market. She wants her medallion.
Matthew is a Roman tax collector inside Peter's house. He wants his papers.
A sickly boy is inside a small house. Although the game informs you elsewhere that you can heal the sick, you are not actually capable of healing this boy in this game.
Peter is a fisherman in his fishing boat. You must first convert almost everyone first before you can convert him.
Andrew is a fisherman is on the western shores of the Sea of Galilee. It's unclear why you need to carry Mary's medallion to convert him.
James is on the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee. He needs a fish. (He says he wants a large fish, but a small one will do.)
John is at the end of a small cave. He craves Harod's death.
A Roman solider watches the crowd in the market.
A centurion mans the Roman garrison. You must be carrying Matthew's papers to pass by him without incident. He has the only spear in the game that you can fish with.
Harod Antipas is the governor of Galilee.
Mentioned:
John the Baptist is mentioned in the intro.
Moses, Jethro (Moses's father-in-law), an angel, and the Lord are mentioned on the scroll you find in Peter's home.
Gaius Cassius a Centurion of Roman Legion X (Ten), wrote the papers you find in the large house.
Herod (King of Judea), Zacharias (a priest), Elizabeth (Zach's wife), Aaron (Elizabeth's father), another angel, and John (a future son who Elizabeth will bear) are all mentioned in the documents found in the cave.
Lazarus is mentioned whenever you successfully kill an enemy.
Credits
The opening paragraphs include this paragraph:
The sayings of Jesus: as recorded in the Gospels of Mark, Thomas and the Unknown Gospel (Papyrus Egerton 2). Credit goes to them for these words.
Endings
@ The Game is Over @
if the centurion, Harod, or the soldier kills you.
@ End of Game @
if Peter's boat sets sail with you and your disciples.
Inventory
You have a carrying capacity limit of seven items, including worn items. I have no idea if worn items acts like armor or not, but wear as much as you can, just in case.
LAMP = A small terra-cotta lamp, burning brightly with olive oil
It's in the western room of Peter's house.
Note that the lamp isn't actually lit when you first find it. Outside the cave, light the lamp. The lamp's light lets you see inside the cave.
Note that the lamp's lit status is not saved by the save game file. You may need to re-light the lamp after restoring your game.
There's no way to extinguish the lamp, but there's no need to.
SCROLL = A tattered scroll, with Aramaic writing on it
It's in the western room of Peter's house.
Read the scroll; it's Exodus 3:1–5. It tells of Moses finding the burning bush, and how God tells him to take off his shoes because this place is holy ground. Unfortunately, there's no holy ground in this game, so the scroll is irrelevant.
DAGGER = A small dagger, encrusted with tiny jewels
It's by a small cot in Peter's house.
Wield this weapon. It's your first weapon and I assume it's worse than the gladius or spear, but who knows?
MEDALLION = A rare medallion, glistening with the hypnotic light of the midday sun
It's in the eastern edge of a large house. Wear it.
You must be carrying the medallion in order to successfully convert Mary and Andrew. You keep the medallion, however.
PAPERS = A set of large, official looking papers (bearing the seal of Harod Antipas)
They're in the back room of a large house.
Read the papers. They're from a Centurion, addressed to Harod Antipas, saying the Judeans are righteous.
You must be carrying the papers in order to successfully convert Matthew. You keep the papers, however.
While carrying the papers, you can travel south from the north of the garrison, going past the centurion. If you don't have the papers, he arrests you.
TUNIC = A small tunic, worn around the torso
It's in the back room of a large house. Wear it.
SANDLES = A pair of leather sandles, worn by local fishermen
They're in the back room of a large house. Wear them.
GLADIUS = A short Roman gladius, without flutes or adornments
It's at the end of the small cave, where John is.
John begs you to use this weapon to kill Harod. Do so.
SPEAR = A Roman spear, about ten feet long with a wooden shaft
The centurion on the northern wall of the garrison carries it. He drops it when you kill him.
You must be wielding this weapon if you want to fish.
It's unclear if this weapon is better or worse than the gladius.
HELMET = A fine Roman helmet, made from brass and copper
The centurion on the northern wall of the garrison carries it. He drops it when you kill him. Wear it.
SHIELD = A large Roman shield, heavy but strong enough to stop most swords
The centurion on the northern wall of the garrison carries it. He drops it when you kill him. Carry it for defense.
FISH = A small fish, flapping about from lack of water
Acquire it by fishing with the spear when at any shore or on the boat.
You must have a fish in your inventory to be able to successfully convert James. Don't worry about the size of your fish; it's what you do with it that counts.
You may eat the fish at any time, then fish for another one. You can only have one fish at a time.
Score
The response to SCORE is:
You are Jesus of Nazareth, a simple prophet of the Essenes. You were born to save all of mankind from sin, as Abba (Father) has commanded of you. John the Baptist trained you to heal the sick, cure the blind and cast demons out of the multitudes. Your goal is to convert at least 4 disciples to your cause. Thus far, you have converted: list-of-converted-people [Either] You still have number disciple(s) left to convert. [or] You have converted all the disciples.
