THE HOBBIT - SOLUTION - TYPED BY VAXALON - 1994 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BARD Find him in the wooden town in the middle of the long lake. If he's not there, go away and come back until he shows up. If he still doesn't show up, there's always the chance that he's been killed, in which case you've no choice but to start again or resume an earlier saved game. When he eventually shows, SAY TO BARD 'NORTH', then follow him yourself for two locations before you change his direction of movement with SAY TO BARD 'UP'. When you an he both run out of UPs to follow, SAY TO BARD 'NORTH' again until you both reach the hall where the dragon sleeps. Some players suggest you try to CARRY BARD, which apparently works sometimes. As for what happens when you meet the dragon, see under 'The Dragon'. BIG CAVERN WITH TORCHES TIE TORCH to take a torch from the wall, then TAKE ROPE to give you a torch and rope tied together. BLACK RIVER To cross it, try HELP. If that doesn't get you on the right track, then THROW ROPE ACROSS: you may need to try it a few times. PULL to haul the boat the boat across from the other side, then CLIMB INTO BOAT to sail across and CLIMB OUT at the other side. BUTLER To avoid capture, wear the magic ring. If he happens to turn up just at the moment when the magic wears off, you'll need to know how to escape from the dungeon: see under 'Elvenkings Dungeon'. THE DEEP BOG Can't escape from here - avoid going in. THE DRAGON You can't kill this on your own, you need to get Bard to do it for you. SAY TO BARD 'SHOOT DRAGON' is the command needed. You may need to repeat this a few times. As with all commands in the Hobbit, if they don't work after maybe half a dozen requests, the possibility is that they may not work at all, so you'll have to start again or go back to an earlier saved game. It can be maddening, but the artificial intelligence routines built into the program mean that there's no way round it. ELROND Find him in Rivendell, and SAY TO ELROND 'READ MAP'. You will get one of several replies, which you don't need to note down, though what you do need to note is that whichever route Elrond tells you about is only created in the game at that moment. If you didn't ask him to read the map, that route would remain blocked off to you. He may also give you some food if you WAIT around. ELVENKING'S DUNGEON Try HELP first of all. Watch the butler and note his movements. WAIT until he unlocks the door, WEAR RING to make yourself invisible for a few moves, and leave when the butler opens the door. SW takes you to the cellar, or WEST to the great halls. ELVENKING'S HALLS (a) Getting in: WEAR RING and EXAMINE DOOR in the elvish clearing. Then WAIT until door opens and immediately go NE before door closes. If you miss, repeat the routine. WEAR RING again as soon as you're through the door. (b) Getting out: You can always get out the way you came in, and in later stages of the game you may prefer to do this. On your first visit, however, you escape through the cellar. WEAR RING at all times. In the cellar you need an empty barrel, so keep your eye on the butler when he visits as he may well empty one for you. Alternatively you can OPEN BARREL and DRINK WINE for yourself - the program responds accordingly! Then you CLIMB INTO BARREL, CLOSE BARREL and WAIT until the butler throws the barrel through the trapdoor, taking you to the next location. Another method is to JUMP just as you see the butler throwing a barrel, but that can be slightly trickier on the timing. The main thing is to WEAR RING throughout. THE EMPTY PLACE Impossible to enter. Seems to be a location that should have been removed from the game but wasn't. FOOD Elrond will give you some, and there's also some in the cupboard behind the curtain in Beorn's house. A quick way to get at this is to type the single command: OPEN, OPEN, GET. Eating builds up your strength if you're planning to smash a door, a warg, a goblin or anything else. FOREST RIVER Avoid it. No escape. GOBLINS' CAVES (a) Getting in: There are two ways. One is to WAIT in the large dry cave until a goblin appears through the small insignificant crack and throws you in the dungeon. The other is via the back door, through the goblins' gate. Just OPEN DOOR and go DOWN. (b) Getting out: Through the door again, and the goblins' gate. OPEN DOOR and UP. You must map the caves throughly. To get to the gate from the big cavern with torches go DOWN, WEST, EAST; from the dark winding passage it's SW, DOWN, WEST, EAST; from the location where you find the ring go NORTH, SOUTH, NW, EAST. (c) Finding the magic ring: This is essential if you're to complete the adventure. From the dark winding passage go SE, EAST, SE, EAST; from the big cavern with torches go DOWN, NORTH, SE, EAST. GOBLINS DUNGEON (a) Digging: Only your second priority is escaping from the dungeon, your first is to explore. DIG SAND reveals a trapdoor, which you STRIKE or SMASH until the thing gives way. SMASH TRAPDOOR WITH SWORD often works more quickly, but unfortunately often breaks your sword too and you're plunged into darkness. You can take the small curious key, which has a small curious use later on, but you cannot take the goblins' cache which you will also find. (b) Escaping: HELP give you a clue: 'a window should be no obstacle to a thief with friends'. So wait until Thorin or Gandalf turns up. This tends to be after just a few WAITs, so if you're on the twentieth wait and there's no sign of either of them it rather looks liek they've both been killed and you'll have to start the game again or try going back to an earlier saved game. If one of them does arrive, SAY TO GANDALF (OR THORIN) 'OPEN WINDOW'. As with all commands in the Hobbit, it may well need repeating. When the window's been opened, SAY TO THORIN (OR GANDALF) 'CARRY ME'. Once they've picked you up, SAY TO GANDALF 'LEAVE' or SAY TO THORIN 'GO WINDOW'. As soon as you're out of the dungeon you must of course immediately save your game, as you're likely to be thrown back in there very quickly until you can manage to find your way to the location with the magic ring, after which you should be safe. THE GOLDEN KEY Found by wandering round the narrow paths in the Misty Mountains. Starting at the Misty mountains location, try typing N, NE, N, SE, D, D, D, D, E, GET, U, W, N. You'll then find yourself back where you started with the golden key in your possession. It has no use other than scoring you points, but as you don't need maximum points to get through the game it's a bit pointless, unless your a perfectionist. GOLLUM "What are the answers to Gollum's riddles?" is a popular question. I don't know the answers to them all, but you don't need to. If you try to answer and get it wrong. Gollum will probably kill you. If however, you just ignore him and move away, nothing happens. THE LARGE KEY Found in the trolls clearing, but if you try to get it straight away, or just wait around, you'll get grabbed by the trolls, which is a painful experience. Move away from the location and WAIT until you're told that a new day has dawned. This turns the trolls to stone and you can go back and get the key. The key is used to open the rock door on the neatby hidden path with footprints. THE MAGIC DOOR WEAR RING, EXAMINE DOOR, WAIT (until it opens), NE. THE MAGIC RING See entry for goblins' caves for location of ring. When you find it, WEAR RING. This makes you invisible for three or four moves, and stops you being caught by the goblins, which can bring tears to your eyes. It also puts Thorin into a panic, but thats his problem. When in the caves it's best to type WEAR RING every other move, to be absolutely safe. Invisibility is also useful later on in the game. THE MAP SAY TO ELROND 'READ MAP'. Unless he does so, the route he tells you about won't be created in the game and will remain blocked off to you. THE PALE BULBOUS EYES You can avoid the eyes by taking a different route home, but if you do come across them you should immediately WEAR RING, go back the way you just came, WAIT twice, then continue. THE RETURN JOURNEY Once you've killed the dragon and collected the treasure, you need to go all the way back home again. Safest seems to be to go to the waterfall and WAIT until the wood elf turns up and throws you in the Elvenking's Dungeon. From here you already know how to escape, and going down from the cellar usually allows you to reach the forest river on the return journey. Alternatively, go out through the magic door, back to the Elvish clearing and WEST to the bewitched gloomy place. Then again, go to the waterfall but instead of waiting for the wood elf travel through the forest and brave the pale bulbous eyes. THE ROCK DOOR Needs the large key to unlock it. THE ROPE Found in the trolls' cave near the start of the adventure, beyond the rock door. You need the rope to cross the black river. SCORING Very strange. Some people report finishing the game with scores as low as 50%, and some with over 100%, both theoretically impossible! Scoring is obviously as random as some of the other elements in the program, but you don't need a perfect score in order to finish. Some points are scored by merely visiting certain locations, others by getting objects that have no other use at all. Generally, though, you'll know you're on the right track if you have 25% when you leave the goblins' dungeon, 35% after the Elvenking's dungeon and 75% when you've got the treasure and set off home. You get 2% for going east from Bilbo's house, going east from the misty mountains, entering Beorn's house, going south from the spiders' web, going north from the spiders' web, reaching the ruins of the town of Dale and finding the side door in the lonely mountain. You get 5% for entering the trolls' cave, entering the smooth straight passage and for leaving by the west exit after going into the Elvenking's dungeon. You get 12% for visiting every location in the goblins caves. You get 10% for making a second visit to long lake, 20% for entering the hall where the dragon sleeps and 25% for depositing the treasure in the chest. THE SWORD Found in the trolls' cave beyond the rock door. Useful for attacking creatures with, but also very fragile and can break at any time. Another reason to save your game regularly. If you can do something with your bare hands then do it that way and don't risk the sword as this is also your source of light in a great number of places. THE SMALL CURIOUS KEY Found beneath the trapdoor in the goblins' dungeon, this has a small curious use. If you WAIT in 'a little steep bay' on the mountain where the dragon lives, then a hole appears which is the side door of the lonely mountain. The key opens this door and allows you inside the mountain, which is not very exciting but adds to the points. THE SMALL INSIGNIFICANT CRACK This appears from time to time in the large dry cave, if you WAIT long enough, and through it a goblin will emerge and throw you into the goblins' dungeon. This is a quick way to get into the caves without going round through Beorn's house, which in any case you can visit on your way out of the caves. From one of the locations in the caves you can see the other side of the crack, but it's still small and insignificent. A SOURCE OF LIGHT Use the sword found in the trolls' cave, and be careful not to break it as it's your only source of light and is vital if you're to get through the game. THE SPIDERS WEB The get through this you must SMASH WEB, followed by the direction in which you wish to move. The spiders will immediately set to and try to rebuild the web, so be prepared to SMASH WEB with each move you make. To finish the web off completely you can try to SMASH WEB WITH SWORD, but this will also finish the sword off completely too. If you go south from the place of black spiders, and then back again, you score 2.5 %. THE TROLLS CLEARING Help give you a clue, as indeed does reading the original book of the Hobbit, though this take slightly longer. To get the key that's in the clearing you must go away again and wait until you're told that a new day has dawned, when you return the trolls will have been turned to stone. THE WARG You can usually defeat this little blighter, which pops up all over the place. Take a bite to eat first and attack it. It's usually safe to use your sword against it, as it seems to be made of a warg-proof material, but save your game first just in case. THE WOOD ELF Pops up now and again, but the place where you actually want to see it (which means that it probably won't be there) is at the waterfall or the running river on your journey home. WAIT until it turns up and throws you in the Elvenking's Dungeon, from which you already know how to escape and this then gives you a choice of routes home. If the wood elf doesn't appear you'll have to face the pale bulbous eyes. Originally displayed at the `Spectrum Adventurer' web pages (URL - http://home.virtual-pc.com/isblpx/index.html)