                          CASTLE MASTER - HINTS

Typed in by AMAZON for LSD.


To summarise the information in the manual: Choose whether you're the
Prince or the Princess, then shoot the spirits on your way to rescue your
partner.
The Big Bad spirit (Magister) who guards the cell in which your twin is
incarcerated, can only be destroyed when all the other spirits have been
dispatched, so the route to your goal involves finding them all.  Your way
is barred by various puzzles, some of which must be solved in a particular
order, and by the locked doors, which may only be opened once you've found
the appropriate key.
Some room contain spirits.  You can tell if there's a spirit in the room
because the screen will jump around or flash in an alarming (some would say
lunch-retrieving) fashion.  A spirit can attack you either by sapping your
strength with its presence or by flying/crawling through you.  Either way
your strength (as indicated by the number of weights on the bar) goes down.
If it drops below one full weight each end, you can no longer run;if it
falls half a weight you can only crawl; no weights and your dead.  Spirits
can be destroyed by throwing a rock at them.  Use the mouse or the keyboard
to move the fire/action sight (that's the double-line sight, as opposed to
the single-line centre-sight) then the left mouse button or appropriate key
to throw.  Some spirits need more than one hit.  When you kill a spirit the
'spirit-level' bubble moves left a little.  As time proceeds the remaining
spirits increase in power and the bubble moves to the right.  If it gets to
the far right, the spirits have overcome you and your quest is lost.  Be
sure to keep an eye on the level and find some spirits if it gets to high.

AN initial recce of the castle surrounds (don't fall into the moat!  You
never paid proper attention to swimming lessons as a child...) reveals a
shut drawbridge and no other obvious way in.  Round the corner huddles the
Wizzard's Hut - walk into the doorway to get inside.
Turning to your left you see something on the table.  It's a piece of
cheese!  (there are several kinds of food in the game, but cheese seems to
be a bit of a favourite with the castle's inhabitants).   As you try and
move around you find you keep bumping into things.  Try walking ('W') or
crawling ('C') instead of running ('R').  Running is useful in open spaces
or long corridors, and if you run past something you can always run
backwards a little.
Now you're a little nearer the cheese, aim the sight on it and press the
right mouse button or the 'A' key to perform an action: in this case the
obvious action is 'eat', the cheese disappears to happy chomping sounds and
your strength increases.
Take a look around you.  There's a table with a large seat, there's a mat
on the floor, and there's what looks like a picture on the wall.  Go up and
take a close look at it (action on it).  It's a clue!  So that's how to
open the drawbridge...
Once you've opened it and gone into the gatehouse, turn immediately right
and go through the doorway into the Right Atrium, then ahead into South-East
Tower.  Turning a little to your left, you see a plain door.  Go in to the
kitchen (That fireplace looks interesting, maybe we'll have a closer
inspection later.)  Take a step forward and turn round to find a key -
action on the key to collect it.  Go to the information screen (either
press 'I' or click on the "Castle Master" banner at the top of the screen)
and then click on the key hanging on your key rack.  It's "Igor's Room
Key".  Click on "Game" to continue.
Go back outside, turn to the right (it's a good idea to close the Kitchen
door by actioning on it) and go to the next door along.  This has a
keyhole, implying the door is locked.  If you action the door it will tell
you where it leads.  If you action the keyhole, you will unlock the door
(provided you have the appropriate key).
After you've finished tangling with Igor, (hint - he has a thick hide)
continue around to the corner. Ahead of you is a simple puzzle, consisting
of a gate and some buttons on the wall.  There are more complex puzzles
further in the game, but they all rely on actioning, shooting, or
shouldering (running in to) something, or positioning yourself using the
contents of the room, or a combination of these.
After you've solved the puzzle (c'mon, what would you usually do with
a button?) go through the doorway to your left into the East Passage (what's
that hole in the ceiling?  Maybe it'll become significant later...) then
ahead to the North-East Tower.  I wonder what's behind that door?  Maybe
the clue will help.  Foe the time being, let's press on round.
After grabbing the cheese carelessly left lying around, and climbing in and
out the window a few times to convince yourself you can, walk carefully
over the paving slabs someone's kindly placed over that rather dangerous
lokking hole in the floor.  That's a curious little crawlway to our right,
i wonder if there's anything behind it?  Maybe later - for now we'll go
through the left doorway into the North Passage.
What's this step halfway along?  Doesn't seem trapped: perhaps we'll find
out what it's for later.  Meanwhile, over it and onward to the North-West
Tower.  Open that door slightly to your left and go in.  Shoot the spirit!
Now things are quieter let's have a look around.  That door ahead looks
rather heavy.  Actioning on it reveals the contents, while actioning on the
handle reveals that we need ten pentacles.
Turning round we find another key, and ten flashing five sided things.
Actioning on each of them reveals the location of each pentacle.  That'll
take quite a while; I wonder if it's worth it.
Back into the tower, turn right, close the door and follow the tower round
(another of those ominous looking holes in the ceiling...)  This door looks
interesting - it's got a sign next to it that looks like steps.  Shame it
doesn't open from this side - maybe there's another way down.
Here's another of those button puzzles, a little more complex this time,
but not too tricky.  Ouch!  Bumped your head - better crawl under.  This
door on the right seems to be padlocked.  You don't have a key for it -
maybe you can shoot it off...
In to the Guard Room (luckily, the guards seem to have deserted along with
the other human occupants of the castle) and by pressing your nose against
the grating you can see what's inside the Pentacle Vault.  Maybe it's worth
looking for the pentacles after all...
Back out, then through the doorway to your right.  Ignoring the side
doorway for now, through the doorway ahead into the S.West Tower.  Here's
another clue, but how do we get over this obstruction?  Maybe the roof is a
bit too low to walk over the top step...
Round the corner there are some double doors.  Somebody must have oiled
them lately, as they're easy to open.  In to the Great Hall (here's another
spirit!).  Now, where could something be hidden in here?
Back out in the tower, there's a doorway to the right into the Left
Atrium., which leads to the gatehouse again.  Go underneath the large
block, taking care with your timing to avoid being crushed (saving the game
is a good idea at this point.  Go to the information screen and click on
SAVE or press 's', then give a filename.  If you manage to get yourself
splatted, you can load it back.)
In the courtyard you may want to run as it's quite large.  Taking a look
down the well we find another key.  I wonder if there's anything else
interesting down the well?

   FURTHER questions: why is there a wooden horse in the stables;  what's
being guarded in the hay barn; where's the door for the smithy; what's the
secret of the flag; why is there a hole in the chapel roof; and what
happened to the last guy to give a sermon?
Take your time - there's more to this game than meets the eye.

End.
