Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    looks like i got the defective version...  according to usenet rumor
    you can save "safely" by walking in a straight line while
    simultaneously clicking on the save game gadgets.  Works for me
    so far.  I don't have >512K so haven't run into that problem yet.
    
    Impressive game, particularly after reading the spoilers from 
    usenet.  Found lots of stuff they mentioned, still have lots
    more to go.  Can't send it back till i've played it some more.
    
    Hint#1  go to the graveyard (southeast from Tambry), fight thru
            the fence, they can't hit you with dirks or swords.  Search
            the bodies.   You want to get a sword.  Run back to the
            path heading NW to get away from wraiths, they don't follow
            up the path for some reason.
    
    That's enough to let you build up enough Vitality points to survive.
    
    -dave

    re.-1
    	a p.s. to hint #1...arrows go through the fence (#@#@@!~!!!).
    
    	A great game!!!  will be looking here (and adding comments)
    	for help.  a quick way not to get yourself killed follows...
    
    
    
    	go into each of the houses in the city. look around the fireplace
    	and you'll find items of interest. to be specific, look for
    	skull.  when you find it, then go out and find some orcs with
    	long swords. when you do, then hit the magic icon, then the
    	skull. the skull will kill everything on the screen. then go
    	search the bodies and get your sword (and some other goodies,
    	like maybe another skull...)
    
    
    					Jim
    

    
    Hi! I've been playing this game for about two months now. My character
    (Phillip) has the following stats: Brv: 476 Lck: 40 Knd: 25 Vit:
    148 and Wth: 152
    
    So far I've figured out the following missions:
    
    
    ************ You may consider this a SPOILER! *************
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    1. Find the Princess Mar of Marheim
    2. find the Talisman
    3. Kill the Witch
    4. find the Turtle
    5. Kill the Necromancer
    6. Tame the Golden beast
    
    
    So far i've found the turtle and I'm working on #3. 
    Opps! I just noticed two others from my list of goals.
    
    7. Find the Five figurines
    8. Find the Sun
    
    I have three of the five figurines and I still have no idea what
    to do with them. 
    
    
    Here are a few of my questions:
    
    1) what does the Blue Stone do?
    2) what does the crystal orb do?
    3) what is the significance of the small dungeon in the graveyard?
    4) what can be found in Hesmath's tomb? (nothing says me)
    5) Is Swan Isle important?
    6) Where can I find "the Sun"
    
    
    -ph
    
    P.S. I would be glad to post another reply with all of the information
    I have gathered.
    

    I have answers to most of your questions, and I think I am very
    close to solving the game.  
    
    DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT THESE CLUES!!!!!
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    LAST CHANCE TO TURN BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    1.  The blue stones are used for teleportation.  Go to any of the
    stone rings scattered throughout the land and use the blue stone.
    You will be teleported to another stone ring.
                                                              
    2.  The crystal orb is used to find hidden doorways in Hemsath's
    Tomb.  I mapped out the tomb, and it took four sheets of 8 1/2"
    x 11" paper.
    
    3.  You must meet the Wraith Lord in the cemetary at midnite.  I
    have not done this yet, but found a note in the Great Bog instructing
    me to do so.
    
    4.  Hemsath's Tomb contains one of the five idols.
    
    5.  Swan Isle is absolutely essential to the game.   The Golden
    Lasso is needed to take the swan.  Once the swan is captured, you
    can fly to the necromancer's castle, which is surrounded by unpassable
    mountains.
    
    6.  The Sunstone is needed to kill the Witch of Grimwood, who holds the
    Golden Lasso.  The Sunstone can be found hidden in a building in the SE
    corner of Holm.  The building does not appear on the map, but can be
    found with the Bird Totem.  The building is the castle of the Knight of
    Dreams, and is also surrounded by impassable mountains, but there is a
    tiny gap somewhere that your character can sneak through. 
    
    
                                                            
    
    

    
    Guess what! I just killed the Witch of Grimwood with 3 arrows to
    the head! (now if I can only find the princess)
    

    
    Well, I found the princess (with the aid of the goose) But for some
    reason, it left while I was in a building. How do I get it back?
    (I tried using the golden lasso and no luck...)
    
    
    
    
    
    P.S. Anybody know what the dark tower is for?
    

    The Golden Lasso does summon the swan, like the shell summons the
    turtle.  Make sure that the goose has a clear area to land in, and
    it should come.  I too found the princess, and after bringing her
    back to Marheim, I went to the clearing in front of the King's palace
    and selected 'use/lasso', and the swan showed up in about 10 seconds.

    I have a problem I am up in the frosty montains to kill the dragon
    and I have found three places that say you have come to a cave in
    the side of the mountains but I don't see any cave and no matter
    how I wiggle my controls I can't enter the any cave. Has anyone
    gotten this far and if they have how do you find or enter the cave?
    thanks ahead
    jeff
     

    RE #6,#7
    
    Hmmmm... I seem to be having the same problem as #6. Right after
    rescueing the princess I tried to summon the swan, but no luck.
    I tried in front of the palace, outside the city, I even went back
    to  Swan Island and couldn't find it.
    
    Any theories?
    
    							Jim
    

    Make sure that you people are using the later release of FTA.  The
    first release was extremely buggy, and acted wonky with extra memory.
    
    MicroIllusions will upgrade your original the same day they receive
    it.
    
    If you do have the new version, I swear that there is a cave in
    the Frosty Mountains.  I have been there and slain the dragon. 
    Go east for several screens from the Ranger until you hit a mountain
    ridge.  The, go south along the ridge.  The cave entrance is hidden
    in shadows, and its easy to pass right by.
                   
    As for the swan, after bringing the Princess back to Marheim, I
    just 'used' the lasso, and there it was right inside the main gates
    to the city.
    
    If you guys really get stuck, I guess I could upload the saved file
    to our VAX.

    
    I bought FTA at memory location this past weekend.  So fat it's great.
    Based on what I've seen so far, I'd recommend it.  Fortunately,
    I purchased the non-buggy version.
    
    regards,
    
    steve mcafee
    
    PS  There is a memory location 20% off coupon in the latest BCS
        Computer News (any one software item).
    
    PPS  Memory location will give DEC employees 10% off without any
         coupons.  (everyone probably knows this, i didn't).

    I am doing real well but I can't find the bone I found it one but
    I can't seem to find it again. If any one knows where the bone is
    please let me go.
              thanks
                   jeff
    

    spoilers...
    
    I found the bone in Hea???(sic)th's Tomb.  I don't happen to have
    the exact directions, but eventually you'll come to a crypt. Pass
    through the first one and you'll come to and continue on. Its found in
    the second small crypt.
    
    I just finished it myself. A few points and questions.
    
    The Necromancer was incredibly easy to kill (I don't know if 982
    for bravery  and 65 luck had anything to do with it)
                             
    Even after finishing the game there were some objects I had that
    I didn't know what they were used for:
    
    			The glass shard
    			The rose
                                                                
    
    						Jim
    
    ...by the way, just got Barbarian... so far it looks good. In fact,
    I think I'll start a topic for it...
    

    re #-1
    
    	A problem with the editor that I didn't notice until posted.
    	Second sentence after the ff should read
    
    	Pass through the first one you come to and continue on.
    
    				Sorry
    					Jim
    

    
    My main problem so far has been food.  I can't seem to get enough
    of it.  Is it possible to buy food and carry it with you like the
    apples in Marheim?  Whenever I try to buy food in a tavern I eat
    it on the spot.
    
    regards,
    
    steve mcafee

    
    It turns out that  you don't die without food (at least I never
    did). All you do is start to walk funny (as in not a straight line).
    Food can also be found in Marheim in the lowest set of buildings.
    I was never able to buy food and keep it for later. Julian usually
    just went hungry
    

    spoiler
    
    I have found the five idols 
    tamed the golden beast
    found the rose
    and the shard
    rescued the princes
    now I don't kown what to do If anyone has some hint on where to
    go next I would apreciate it.
                  jeff

    
    start looking in the south east corner (the plains of grief?...i
    don't have my map with me). you'll see a black fortress (not the
    tower) with lava right up to the front door... good luck, you're
    almost there.
    
    					Jim
    

    I gather this game is copy protected up the kazoo.  I don't like to use
    original disks at all (just conservative I guess) so I have been trying
    to get a working copy before playing much.  (No, I am not pirating - I
    bought my original, and the copy is just for protection.)

    I have MarauderII with Brain 8, and am still having trouble copying.  A
    verbatim copy seems to work for the most part, but is obviously not
    perfect because the music at the beginning is distorted (sounds like
    static over the music), and given that I wonder whether there may be
    other subtle errors.  INFO says the disk is 98% full, but LIST shows
    less than 500 blocks used.  For grins I ran DiskDoctor on it, which
    rebuilt all the files and resulted in INFO showing the same number of
    blocks used as LIST does.  I really expected this disk to not work at
    all, but surprisingly it works even better than before DiskDoctor, in
    that the static is gone from the music.  I don't trust this however,
    since there is probably now a bunch of inportant info in disk space
    marked free.

    Can anyone shed some light on this?  Can I expect the verbatim copy to
    work correctly?  (Obviously it is not an exact copy since it does not
    function identically with the original.)

    I may have to strike MicroIllusions off my list for future purchases
    because of their overzealous copy protection.  (Please no flames -
    there are enough for everyone on USENET.)

	Paul

    There are two versions of Faery Tale Adventure. Brain file 8 will
    copy the first. The second , which you and I have, requires Brain
    file 9 to copy (available any day...). The people at Discovery Software
    said that using Verbatim copy will work.  I tried it and had only
    a few problems .  The music was one. The only other problem I
    encountered was when saving and restoring a game when the swan was
    around. After the save the swan was a sprite made up of random colors.
    I was able to finish the game with my backup copy of the game.
    
    					Jim
    

    Re .1:    Bless thine immortal soul, Sir Brannon!!!!!
    
    I bought this game months ago when it first came out, but I vowed
    that I wouldn't start it until I had finished with Bard's Tale.
    Well, I killed the evil Mangar a few weeks ago, so I decided to
    take on FTA.  Har!  I spent hours exploring the world in small
    excursions because I couldn't keep Julian alive long enough for
    long ones.  Then I remembered this sacred note.  I went to the 
    graveyard and built my bravery up to 80 or so and then ventured
    out into the wild world.  The game has taken on a whole new thrill.
    I can enjoy both the scenery, and the fact that I'm not dying everytime
    I turn around.  I actually begin to look forward to hearing that
    disk spin....
    
    Gary

    re: .21   glad you liked it.  I died often until a friend mentioned
    that little trick to me.
    
    I just got another way around that problem.... downloaded FAERYED.ARC
    from the IDCMP BBS.  Unfortunately the one file in it is corrupted,
    but the corruption only shows up after you create a character (it
    gurus when you tell it you want to create another character).
    It was written an AmigaBasic and then compiled with ACBasic, but
    no source file was in the ARC.  I plan to test it this weekend,
    hopefully it will help me decode the format of the file (I have
    some buggy saved games that i'd love to recover).  Unfortunately
    it doesn't have anything that mentions setting the location - the
    buggy saved games all have my character appear out in the ocean
    somewhere too far to swim to land.
    
    more later,
    -Dave
    
    

    
    Hi guys, I have a few more questions.
    
    1) What are the objects on the Astral plane for? (sphere etc.)
    2) What is the black hole inside the square pathway for ?
    3) What and where is the ranger?
    4) Has anybody found the wand in the dragons dungeon? (I have)
    5) Everytime I attack the dragon, he stops shooting at me for a
    few seconds and then when I walk away he starts back up again
    6) What is the dark tower for?
    7) What is the rose and the shard for?
    8) Where is the necromancer?
    
    
    (I know it looks like a cheap way to finish the game, but I can't
    sleep until I do ;-)
    
    Thanks,
    
    -ph
    

    Having just finished this marvelous game a few days ago, I'll give
    it a shot.
    
    <<< Next unseen now if you don't want to be spoiled. >>>
    
 
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
        
    
       
    1) I'm not sure, but I suspect that it is either to poke fun at,
    or pay homage to, Electronic Arts.  The cube, the sphere and the
    pyramid are trademarks of Electronic arts.  I gather that they are
    just opponents like any other monster.
    
    2) Check your notes of the clues that you've received.  Look for
    one that starts: "Seek the place that is darker...."
    
    3) I don't recall any ranger.  Anyone else?
    
    4) There are more than one.
    
    5) I never suceeded in killing it, but I didn't need to.
    
    6) Not much, and there are more than one.
    
    7) I believe they are needed to get into the dark castle, but since
    I didn't try to go there before obtaining them, I can't be sure.
    
    8) Now that would *really* be spoiling it, wouldn't it? ;^)  You're
    close.
    
    Summon the Sight,
    Gary

    Re:  584.24.3
    
    The Ranger hangs out at the NorthWest most Stonehenge.  His only
    mission seems to be to point you towards the dragon's cave.
    

    
    	Hello,
    
    		I've been trying to get into Grimwood Forest, but can't find
    a way in to reach the buildings I see from above.
    
    	Any hints ?
    
    Thanks.
    
    Miguel

    There is an entrance to the Grimwood maze on the western edge of
    the forest.  From the aerial view, it is not possible to reach the
    witches castle from above ground.  It is necessary to find some
    hidden tunnels and underground mazes to come up inside of the forest.
    
    The way I navigated Grimwood was to tape a piece of mylar transparency
    over the screen, and trace the map with a Flair marker.  The
    underground passages must also be well mapped.
    
    Someone on Plink has created a hi-res IFF file of the Grimwood map,
    if you're curious enough to go get it.

    re: .23
    
    Astral plane???  what Astral plane?  any hints on how to get to
    it?
    
    thanks,
    -dave
    

    
    The astral plane is located in the Citadel of Doom about 10 screen
    sw of the dark tower. 
    
    Re: .23
    
    Thanks, but
    
    Can anybody tell me what the rose, the dark tower, and the shard
    is for? (Its not for getting in the tower.)
    
    
    Is there anything located in or on the Lake of Dreams?
    
    What are the log cabins for...the ad for Faery tale says that you
    might meet a woodcutter or two, is there a hint there?
    
    thanks,
    
    -ph
    

    
    	I've found magical items in the cabins and there was one 
    with an old man who gave hints on where to find the princess.
    
    	It's also useful to rest (if your character is sleepy), as I
    have never been attacked while inside.

    Miguel

    While browsing on Genie tonight I came across a solution to Faery
    Tale Adventure. If anyone's interested it can be found at

        	csc32::disk1:[j_parsons.amiga]ftsolve.arc

    Note that this is a solution and not a collection of hints.

    Wow! this game sounds good! Is it all hand-eye coordination fighting
    and movement, or do you just move around with the joystick, and
    do battle by typing (or mouse-clicking) in what you want to do?
    Either way this sounds like my next game! (I am presently working
    on the Bard's Tale- what a great game!)
    
    Dave

My 9-year-old son has been wandering around Holm killing ogres, witches, and
what not.  He's freed the princess, summoned the turtle and the swan, amassed
bravery in 4 figures, and collected 4 of the gold idols.  But he can't find
the one reported to be somewhere in Hemsath's Tomb.  Can someone give us a
clue about where in the tomb-maze to look?

Thanks,

Mike

    I have FTA coming in the mail to me, but I'm not so sure I want
    it now after reading some of the notes about copy protection and
    such. I had no problems with Bards Tale (i.e. Using the orig. disk)
    has anyone had problems with this. I have none of those copy protection
    breakers, either. Does MicroIll. let you buy backups for five or
    ten dollars like SubLOGIC? What is the better choice: Buy a backup,
    or buy a copy protection breaker? Please reply.
    
    Worrie Wart Dave
    

    There's a third choice: just use the original disk.  In my experience,
    I get tired of the game before the original disk wears out.
        John Sauter

    Yeah, and in the case of FTA, one doesn't do anything nasty like
    save games to the protected disk.  You save your games to one of
    your blanks.  I played all the way through FTA and the disk held
    up just fine.
    
    Refusing to buy cracking/copying software,
    Gary
    
    BTW.  Don't know if it's been mentioned before but Arcadia/EA's
    "Rockford"  (Similar to "Boulder Dash") is *not* copy protected.
    A non-protected EA game.  Will wonders never cease?  (Sorry for the
    side-track.)

    re .36
    
    <continuing sidetrack>
    Just as an aside, Bard's Tale II from EA is also non copy-protected.
    I almost had a stroke when I got it home and read this in the manual.
    

		I put BardsTaleII on my hard disk and it works fine, however,
	every time I exit the game it causes a Guru which GOMF1.0 says is a
	nonaligned word boundary or nonexistent memory reference.  Has anyone
	else seen this?

							JimBo

    re -.1
    
    Save the game to a blank disk? I'm not sure I understand (just recently
    I bought my amiga, and I have not yet had a game where you save: 
    Firepower, Jet, BT I, Arcade Action pk. 1) Does this mean that you
    use the original disk, and when you choose to save, it prompts you
    to install a blank disk, and when you want to return to your game,
    you boot up, tell it you want to restore your game, and insert the
    disk you saved on? This won't really help if the drive eats your
    original disk, though will it? I don't mind paying five or ten dollars
    for a backup if my orig. gets erased, but I refuse to buy a new
    one. Please explain.
    
    Dave

Sorry, reply .39 is referring to .36, not .38.
    
    Dave    

    Re .39
    
    In the case of FTA, when you click the 'save' gadget, you'll choose
    one of 8 or so places (files) to save it.  Then the game will prompt
    you to insert an empty, formatted disk.   (Note: When I played this
    game I had only one drive, two drive operation may differ.)  It
    will save the game in the place chosen, and then ask you to reinsert
    the FTA disk.  You may at this point continue playing, or you may
    quit.  When you start up the game later, and wish to restore, you
    choose that option, and it will prompt you to insert your save disk.
    You can guess the rest.  
    
    It's less likely that you'll damage your FTA disk because nothing
    gets written to it.  The only time I've ever damaged the data on a
    disk, was when I popped it out of the drive before the drive had
    finished *writing* to it.  I have mistakenly popped disks that were
    being read, and suffered no ill effects.  (But don't do this at
    home, kids.  :-) Wait for the drive light to go out!)  
    
    You still *could* lose your FTA original disk.  It does nothing to prevent
    that.  But it's not as likely to happen as it is if you'd saved to your 
    original disk.  I've played through both FTA, and Bard's Tale I and
    never had a problem.  Of course I'm just one of those hardnosed
    types who refuses to by copy programs because I feel they shouldn't
    be necessary.  (Okay, so I'm a child of the Sixties, so sue me. :-)

    Sounds like you'd feel more comfortable with Marauder II.  Go for
    it.  It'll copy FTA, and a lot more.
    
    Gary
    

    Hi,
    
    With regard to MaruaderII copying Faery Tale Adventure.
    Whenever I try to copy it I get the opening screens and music but
    when it comes to entering the passwords the screen goes blank. 
    Anyone got any good ideas why this should be so?
    
    I've thought about it possibly being that I have an old version
    of Maurauder [Marauder?Maurauder?Who cares1].  Also, can anyone
    tell me what the disk speedo is supposed to do?
    
    Cheers 
         Steve

Steve,
   Funny you should ask.  I just did the same thing a couple of days ago!  Use
the "verbatim" copy mode in Marauder and it should work ok.

						...richard

    This is strange.  I bought a copy of FTA from my local Amiga store.
     The game plays fine, but when I first boot it, the music sounds
     very hashy and noisy.  I wasn't sold a bootleg version.  The disk,
     packaging, etc. all seem to be legit.  The game plays fine and
     the hashy noise clears up within a minute or two, but I'm curious
     as to why it's there at all.  Looks like another screwed up copy
     protection scheme.
    
    					John 

I think mine does the same thing. In another note I believe there is an
explination...


John

Re: .44, .45

My copy (original unpirated disk) has the same scratchy music for a
second or two when I boot it before the music clears up.

My memory may be going but I could swear that the first three times
I booted the disk there was no static in the music.  The third time
(and forever after) I got the first few bars of static.  Pretty
strange since that disk has never been write enabled!

I have never had any other problems with the game.

    I have been playing this game for a while now and my latest expedition
    has been to AZAL.  I am really having problems finding it.  I have
    found the beggar who tells me something like how can you find it
    if you can't see it.  Is there anything of importance in AZAL ?
    If so, how the (explicative deleted) do I get into it ?  This
    frustrated FTAnetic humbly appreciates any help.
    
    Thx
    
    Steve
    

Re: .47

Fairy Tale Spoilers follow:

Where is AZAL?

It is where the beggar sits who says, "How can you find it when you can't
even see it?"

In order to see the city, you must have the five gold statues.

Is there anything important is AZAL?

Yes, the rose.

Has anyone figured out the trick to getting this game to run out of a RAM: disk?
I just called microillusions and got the party line that all their 
"entertainment" software ic opy protected and there ain't anything they're
gonna do about it so, tough, you can't run it out of RAM:

Sigh...

BobW

    The access to this file (ftsolve.arc) is not permitted because of
    missing login informations. Could you make this file open to the
    world or send it on "paois::barraud" please. I can't find the way
    to the witch and all tis sort of things.
    
    Thanks a lot
    
    Marc

    Is there any way of increasing "Luck" (=no. of lives)? Previous
    replies seem to indicate that someone has found out how to do this.
    
    Maurice

    One of the biggest aids for this game is the hints book from
    Microillusions. There's also a multi-game hints disk which has some
    invaluable maps and such for FTA.

    Spoiler (of sorts):

    It's been a while since I've played, so forgive me if the names and
    places are a bit off (oh yeah, big help I am!);

    Travel via sea turtle or circle of stones to the large island to the
    North of Tambry. Find the Crystal(?) Palace (you'll need keys to get
    in; blue I think). Once inside, find your way to the Sorceress and
    click on the "ask" gadget. Continue clicking away and watch your Luck
    total climb. I think the max is 65, and you should reach this after
    half a dozen clicks or so. I think she's got one of the gold statues
    also.

    Hope this helps,

    Pete

    I'm interested in the FTA hints booklet and the hint disk. My local
    supplier is not able to get them (He says). Anyone got them for
    sale? I'm sure I can convert Swiss Francs to whatever is useful
    to you. Also willing to exchange originals for my (Original box 
    and doc) Outrun and Pac Land, both of which I do not like.
    
    Regards,
    
    Maurice

    My son would like to ask for a hint.  Here he is:

    How do you enter caves?  I have encountered several places where I am
    told "you have found a cave in the hillside", but I have no idea how to
    get in.

	Keith

    This really ain't a spoiler, but for the sake of the purists...

    It's been a while, but I believe you enter them as you would other
    places; just move your character "into" the entrance. You'll know when
    you've hit the right spot because the game will pause as it loads the
    stuff for the cave scenes (just like when you enter a building). The
    tricky part is finding the entrance. Even when you get the "you have
    found a cave" message, its whereabouts may not be obvious at first.
    Each cave entrance is slightly different; look for a dark spot in one
    of the hillsides once you get the message. All the hillsides in a
    particular area may look similar so look carefully. They're always in a
    hillside.
    Once you get inside of a cave, grab some paper and a writing
    instrument. You'll want to sketch out a map of the cave as you go. Some
    are pretty tricky with a lot of dead ends, etc. Even with a map from
    the hints book, I spent a lot of time going in circles. It's well worth
    the trouble however; the music is great, but watch out for things that
    go bump in the night.

    Hope this helps,

    Pete

    I'm playing at the moment (nearly finished)
    
    Are there "lots" of caves. I found only ONE in the hillside (the
    dragons cave) and a couple in grimwood. Both times the enrances
    were absolutely obvious and I just walked straight in. Am I missing
    some some caves - I don't think so, because I walked round just
    about every mountain. If you really can't see the entrances, you
    may have a problem disc (there was something about this in an earlier
    note)
    
    Colin

    Finished last night (!). Nobody has yet answered what the rose and
    shard actually do. Anybody know?
    
    My guess: (spoiler alert)
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    The rose lets you walk on the lava. Pretty sure about this.
    
    The shard. Absolute guess, but there is some kind of force field
    you have to go through when you enter the Citadel of Doom. I just
    walked through as if it didn't exist. Any better ideas?
    
    
    Colin
    

    Just finished it too....
    
    The dificulties encountered by various people in finding the entrance
    to the dragon's cave are easily explained. I had this problem too.
    Basically the cave is on the west side of a ridge of mountains. When
    you approach the ridge from the east, you still get the message "Julian
    has found the entrance to a cave" or similar. If you approach the cave
    by going exactly due south from the ranger, you will have this problem.
    
    Course, the cave was not terribly useful.....
    
    I also have no idea what the rose and shard do....
    
    Good fun game. The most difficult part was Hemsath's tomb, plus I only
    found out how to get into 'Blackness darker than night" by complete
    accident. The Necromancer was no problem with my wand.
    
    Since I've finished it, it's now on sale for $10 / SFr 15.
    
    
    Maurice  (In Geneva)

    I have bought the game for a while and I desperately 
    a hint of some sort.
    
    I can't find 2 things...
    First, the 5th idol 
    and second, the Grimwood witch.  I have been twice to her
    castle and she isn't there.  Some taverns won't sell me
    food anymore (they ran out of it?),  I need any help I
    can get.
    
    Spoiler below.
    
     The 4 Idols I've found so far are
    1) The grimwood one
    2) Hemsath's tomb 
    3) Sorceress Island
    4) Far south east castle (forgot the name)
    
    Where is the fifth one?
    
    Thanks in advance, Vince.

>    First, the 5th idol 

    Spoilers...


    You can get the fifth statue from the Priest at Marheim, but there's
    quite a few tasks to complete before he'll hand it over. First you'll
    have to slay the Grimwood Witch. She posseses a lasso that enables you
    to tame the Golden Swan, who'll allow you to ride on her back. This is
    required to rescue the Princess imprisoned in the forbidden keep, which
    is only accessible via air; the swan can fly there with you riding her.
    For her rescue, the King of Marheim will reward you with gold and a
    writ. Bring the writ to the Priest and the idol is yours.

>    and second, the Grimwood witch.  I have been twice to her
>    castle and she isn't there.  Some taverns won't sell me
>    food anymore (they ran out of it?),  I need any help I

    I'm not sure why you haven't seen her. Are you sure you're in the right
    castle? It's quite a long journey through the maze in Grimwood. Have
    you aquired the Sun Stone yet? If you have enough bravery points you
    won't really need it to defeat her, but I don't know if you have to
    have it for her to appear. As far as food is concerned, you'll need
    enough gold to buy some. I believe all the taverns have an unending
    supply of food as long as you can pay. The keeps on the other hand are
    reported to be restocked from time to time, but I've yet to go back to
    one I've cleaned out and found anything new. Regardless, if your
    vitality and bravery points are high enough, you can survive just fine
    without food, if you can live with the "jitters".

    If you're serious about finishing the game (well worth the effort), I
    would highly recommend purchasing the hints book for FTA published by
    MicroIllusions.

    Pete

    Thanks Pete,
    Now I know that my next step is to find the witch in Grimwood.
    
    Is the witch castle is really in the middle of the Grimwood forest?
    it was a castle with some gold and few totems inside.  It also had
    5 pots with goodies in it. 
    Is the witch supposed to be inside her castle? Her castle looks like
    many forts with entrance in the middle of an internal court.
    If it is the one, I have been twice in it (once without the sun 
    stone and once with) I searched and searched, no trace of the witch...
    I will try to go back for a third time, but like you mentionned,
    it is indeed a long walk.
    
    As for the food, a tavern just won't give me food anymore, I have
    over 200 gold, but like you said it is not too important, I get
    used to Julian's "shakes".
       c
    V n e .
     i

>    Is the witch castle is really in the middle of the Grimwood forest?
>    it was a castle with some gold and few totems inside.  It also had
>    5 pots with goodies in it.

    Assuming you've entererd the Grimwood maze, it sounds like you've
    mistaken the Glade Keep for the Witches' Castle. The former is stocked
    with goodies for sure. Your description, however, leads me to believe
    you've entered Vermillion Manor; did you need keys to get in and out?

    Spoiler...


    Vermillion Manor is South of the Grimwood, not quite close enough to be
    considered on the edge. The Glade Keep is in the South-Eastern corner
    of the Grimwood maze. The Witches' Castle is almost due North of the
    Glade Keep (as the crow flies), but the twisty path is segmented, that
    is, the above ground paths are connected by an *underground* maze.
    Truly not an easy task without a map and even with a map, it's tricky.
    That is why I highly recommend the FTA Quest & Exploration Guidebook
    from MicroIllusions, well worth the ten bucks (give or take).

>    As for the food, a tavern just won't give me food anymore, I have
>    over 200 gold, but like you said it is not too important, I get
>    used to Julian's "shakes".

    I never had any trouble getting food, providing the Inn had a keeper
    in it and I had the cash. However, many of the Keeps, Cabins, Forts,
    etc, are void of food and I spent too much time searching them for
    food and treasure. After a while, I would plan to return to Tambry (or
    a known Inn) and stock up on food (not to mention saving the game)
    before heading for my next journey. You didn't by chance happen to slay
    an Innkeeper by accident (or out of anger) did you? What's the value
    of your kindness points? If they're low, you can gain some by being
    generous to Beggars, Innkeepers, etc, providing you've got money to
    spare! I'm not sure if kindness points has any bearing on your ability
    to buy food, however. Anyway, to save some walking, there's a circle of
    stones almost due North from the Grimwood entrance.

    Pete

    Thanks, 
    Now I am sure I was in the glade Keep.
    I haven't found the castle yet.
    It is definitely NOT vermillion's. That one is not in the forest.
    I've been tru that one.
    
    I'll be on my way back to the forest again...
    
    Thanks again.
    Vince.

What follows the formfeed is the ultimate spoiler for Faery Tale
Adventure:  it is a complete solution for the game.

I downloaded this from CompuServe or Plink back when the game first came
out.  I found it very valuable in solving the game, particularly when
used along with the Official Hints book from MicroIllusions.

If you don't want to see the solution skip over the rest of this note!

FILE: FAERY TALE HINTS or I'M SICK OF THIS GAME

BY: Chief Justice

WHY: Why not?


   Boy, am I glad my life can get back to normal, now that I'm done with
this S.O.B.  For those poor unfortunates who are still hopelessly mired
in some obscure area of this game, here's some much-needed help.

CHAPTER I: CHEAPIES & GETTING GOING

A: The first thing you will need to know is, what does everything do?
Here's a partial list:

DIRK, MACE, SWORD: standard weapons.
BOW, WAND: projectile weapons.
BLUE STONE: teleport, when used within any of 11 'great stone rings'.
GREEN JEWEL: infrared vision at night.
GLASS VIAL: use this to restore your vitality, usually from 3-11 points.
CRYSTAL ORB: see things that are hidden, most useful in caves and dungeons.
BIRD TOTEM: my favorite, overhead view of immediate surroundings.
GOLD RING: freeze foes for about 5 seconds.
JADE SKULL: kill all foes.
GOLD KEYS: open gold doors (duh).
GREEN KEYS: open doors at keeps, cabinets, & Vermillion Manor.
BLUE KEYS: open door at Crystal Palace.
RED KEYS: open secret doors in dungeons, tombs, & caves.
GREY KEYS: opens many doors, especially in Marheim, the Crypt, & caves.
WHITE KEYS: opens all castles.
GOLD STATUES: The 5 gold statues allow you to enter the hidden city Azal.
GOLDEN LASSO: Allows you to fly the golden swan.
SEA SHELL: Use to call the turtle when on the shore of any ocean.
SUN STONE: I didn't need it (I don't think I did...  I never used it)
ROSE: ditto.
CRYSTAL SHARD: ditto.
BONE: Used to get Crystal Shard, which I didn't need.
WRIT: Used to get one of the gold statues.

There were other miscellaneous items I didn't get, such as a fruit, an
herb, and a book.  Obviously, you don't really need them to solve this
one.

B: This is how to get going without getting killed 100 times, and having
to use that wimp Kevin to finish your game.  The first thing you should
do is search every building in Tambry.  Use the 'LOOK' option to find all
hidden objects.  Then, save your game as A.  This ends your session, you
will have to reboot, but hey, it takes less time than finding all that
junk again after you die.

   Now, follow the road southeast from the east exit of Tambry to the
Graveyard.  (If anyone tries to jump you along the way, use the Skull on
'em.  Especially if one of them has a sword.  Make sure you 'TAKE' from
every corpse you make.) Now, when you are in the Graveyard, you can swing
through the fence to kill and search skeletons, ogres and goblins (what a
cheapie).  Do this until you build some real stats (around 200-300
bravery).  It seems dull but it will help a lot down the road.

   Here's a few other cheapies I found.  When punks are attacking you,
try 'GIVE' gold - it'll jack up your kindness.  In fact, give gold to
everybody.  Use the sword as your primary weapon; as the game progresses,
your killing range increases.  Don't bother searching dead guys with
bows, all you find is arrows.

CHAPTER II: HOW I SOLVED IT

This is a general guide on solving Faery Tale.  Of course, you'll want to
explore a lot of the castles yourself.  Let me first say that the only
places to get food (most important) are the inns (small squares on map),
Tambry, and in the two bottom-left-most buildings in Marheim, besides the
castle.

1.  First thing you want to do, after tooling around the graveyard, is
head to either the Watchtower or Turtle Point.  At either place you can
get the seashell.  Once you do, you're set for water travel for the rest
of the game.

2.  Next, you want to start accumulating gold statues.  An easy one is on
the Isle Of Sorcery.  Find the Crystal Palace, use a blue key to get in
and talk to the Sorceress.  After you get the statue, keep 'TALKing' to
her - she will increase your luck to about 65.

3.  Call your turtle and sail north - the next easy statue is in the
castle at Seahold.  Remember your white key!

4.  Your next visit should be the cave in the Mountains Of Frost.  If you
can't find it, find one of the Rangers who are posted N, S, E and W of
the cave.  Follow the tunnel north from the 1st forked intersection, use
a gold ring (you should have plenty by now) to immobilize the dragon, and
proceed to the stone corridors.  Map these out!  You will eventually find
a MAGIC WAND.  Get it and get out.

5.  Next, you will need to kill the witch.  She is in Grimwood.  You must
use many Bird Totems to map Grimwood.  You will find 3 distinct sections
- a southwesterly section (useless), a main section, and an inaccessible
section up north surrounding the witch's castle.  Enter the main section
with the most northwesterly of 3 entrances to Grimwood (it's on the West
edge).  While in the main section, follow the trail up north past the
small keep in the southeast corner of Grimwood.  It will lead to a dead
end in which you will find a gold statue.  Then, go back and get as close
to the witch's section of Grimwood.  With a bird totem, you will see a
cave entrance (gray spot on map) in the witch's section.  Almost due
south, in your section at a dead end, you will see a black gap in the
woods leading underground (shows as a very small black rectangle when you
use totem).  Go in.  You will be underground.  Follow trail north through
large chamber, then take the west branch of forked intersection.  You
will find another forked intersection, this time go south.  You will exit
into the witch's section.  Follow maze to her castle, 'USE' magic wand
before entering.  Zap her a few times and she's history.  Pick up the
golden lasso she dropped.  Get out of Grimwood.

6.  Next, get set for air travel.  Head for Swan Island.  Just touch the
swan to mount it and fly.  By the way, if you save your game, and the
swan isn't where you left it, don't worry, just walk off for a few
screens, then come back, it'll reappear (buggy pgm, huh?).  Okay, fly the
swan to that 'Tower in the mountains' on your map that's just about
midway between Marheim & Seahold.  Just for fun, you can go to a temple
that's about 100 yards due northwest of the tower and get a Sun Stone
(I'm not sure that you need it).  Anyway, land on top the tower, take the
stairs, touch princess to rescue her.

7.  You will appear in Marheim, when you exit the Kings Castle, go
straight to the priest (due east of the castle entrance).  Use grey key
to enter building.  Take your 4th gold statue.

8.  Next stop, the Tombs Of Hemsath.  To get to the good stuff, take the
first two right turns down the corridors.  You should come to a loooong
path heading south.  Take the first turn to the east, you will come to a
stone maze with tons of gold doors.  Even I didn't bother mapping the
whole thing, but I offer these hints.  Take the first gold door north,
and use your ORB to find secret doors!  The 5th gold statue is in an
octagonal room to the northeast, while to the southeast you will come to
another stone corridor leading eventually to an alter which has a bone on
it.

9.  If you took the bone, go the the crypt in the graveyard at midnight
and give it to the wraith-lord.  He will give you a crystal shard.

10.  If you got all 5 statues, go to the hidden city of Azal.  In one of
the rooms you will find a rose.

11.  In the southernmost section of the Plain Of Grief, sequestered in
the mountains, you will find the Citadel Of Doom.  Don't worry about the
lava, you'll probably be able to walk over it (I was).  Enter the
Citadel.  Once in, enter the astral plane.  This will probably freak you
out.  Careful of the silvery tiles - they're slippery.  Don't fall off.
Once in, you will go north, then the path turns east.  There will be a
south turn off, ignore it.  You will go south a while, then turn east
into a large slippery square surface.  The path continues from the
northeast corner of it.  Follow it east, north, then west.  Ignore
another south turn-off.  Follow path west, south, west, north, west.  You
will come to a large area of 'negative energy' - you'll know it because
it blocks off the stars.  Walk right up as close as you can, then try to
walk backwards out of it.  Since it is negative energy, you will continue
forward into the void.  Within this void, you will find a large square of
red tiles.  Get out your wand - this is the home of the evil Necromancer!
Kick his ass and he drops the talisman.  Pick it up and you win, and feel
like kicking someone's teeth in after you spend 2 weeks of your life to
solve another huge adventure only to get a lame title screen at the
end...  argh!  How about a nice animated ending, like Questron?  Too much
to ask anymore?  Shit, make it worth my while, willya!


Another BFD file from Chief Justice.
Greetings to the rest of the BFD: PURE HATRED and T0M THE GNU AMIGA D00D.