THE FANTASTIC FOUR
LOADING INSTRUCTIONS:
Note... This program requires MS-DOS versions between 1.0 and
2.11. higher versions will not work.
1). Boot your computer with the DOS 2.11 disk in drive A:
2). If you have a Color Monitor and wish to view the
Graphics, type MODE CO40
If you have a Monochrome Monitor or if you wish to play
the game in Text form only, type MODE MONO or MODE BW80, depending
on your hardware setup.
3). Insert the FANTASTIC FOUR disk in Drive A:
4). Type START
HOW AN ADVENTURE WORKS:
You are in charge of the main character... any action,
response or behavior that the character performs comes from you.
When your character asks, "WHAT SHALL I DO", answer him by typing
in 2-word commands from your keyboard. If your character has
spotted an item in his vicinity, he might be able to acquire it if
you tell him to TAKE it or GET it, as in GET BOOK or TAKE HAMMER.
Be literal and precise. your character is depending on you to
tell him exactly what to do. If he or she doesn't understand your
meaning, you'll be told that they don't understand. When that
happens, try different commands until you find one that works.
Finding out what commands work and what ones don't is part of
the fun of an Adventure. Common Sense helps. For example, your
character cannot Wear a coat until he has Gotten it first.
To find out what your character has with him at any given
time, type TAKE INVENTORY.
Some, (but not all!) of the words you might find useful are:
Climb Examine Leave Move Quit Say
Drop Go Light Pull Read Take
Enter Help Look Push Save Wear
Solving the mystery is up to you. Good Luck!
BACKGROUND DATA ON THE THING AND THE HUMAN TORCH:
THE THING:
Real Name: Benjamin J. Grimm
Occupation: Professional adventurer
Identity: Publicly known
Legal Status: American citizen with no criminal record.
Former Aliases: None
Place of Birth: New York City
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Daniel (father, deceased), Elsi (mother,
deceased), Daniel Jr. (brother, deceased)
Group Affiliation: The Fantastic Four
Height/Weight: 6'0" / 500 pounds
Eyes / Hair: Blue / None
UNUSUAL FEATURES:
The Thing's body is covered with an orange, flexible, rocky-
textured hide. The Thing has no apparent neck and has four toes
and fingers. The increase in volume of his fingers has not
decreased his dexterity. His skin is apparently susceptible to
"drying" or what in a normal human would be loss of skin oil, for
his skin can be "chipped" under certain circumstances. The Thing
has no outer ear structure.
POWERS:
The Thing possesses superhuman strength, endurance and
durability. A mutagenic, specific-frequency cosmic ray bombardment
caused his musculature, bone structure, internal organ
composition, soft tissue structure, and skin to greatly increase
in toughness and density. The Thing is strong enough to lift
(press) 85 tons in peak condition. He can exert himself at high
levels for about an hour until the build-up of fatigue poisons in
his blood impairs his strength. His reflexes have remained at
their above-average human levels despite his greater mass. The
Thing's lungs are of greater volume and efficiency than human,
enabling him to hold his breath underwater for up to 9 minutes.
The Thing's five senses can withstand greater amounts of sensory
stimuli than he could while human, with no reduced sensitivity.
The Thing's body is able to withstand extremes of temperature
from -75 to +800 degrees Fahrenheit for up to an hour before
exposure or heat prostration occurs. He can withstand the
explosive effects of armor-piercing bazooka shells (15 pounds of
high explosives) against his skin with no injury. He is still
susceptible to colds, disease, and emotional stress.
The mutations to the Thing's body have continued to slowly
progress, changing the composition of his epidermis from an
abnormally dense, relatively smooth hide to a flexible,
interlocking network of rock-like muscle lumps. Reed Richards has
attempted to return the Thing to his normal form on numerous
occasions, but those attempts ultimately met with failure. The
Thing's appearance has stabilized during recent years.
The Thing's intelligence seems to have been completely
unaffected by the transformation. He has had a great deal
experience at hand-to-hand combat.
*****************************************************************
HUMAN TORCH
Real Name: John "Johnny" Storm
Occupation: Adventurer
Identity: Publicly known
Legal status: American citizen with no criminal record
former Aliases: None
Place of Birth: Glenville, Long Island, New York
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Franklin Storm (father, deceased); Mary Storm
(mother, deceased), Susan Storm Richards
(sister); Reed Richards (brother-in-law);
Franklin Richards (nephew)
Group Affiliation: Fantastic Four
Height / Weight: 5'10" / 170 pounds
Eyes / Hair: Blue / Blond
POWERS:
The human Torch possesses the mental ability to control
ambient heat energy and the physical ability to control his entire
body, or portions of his body, into a firey, plasma-like state at
will. The cells of a normal human body convert energy from
foodstuffs into a form of energy useable by the body, adenosine
triphosphate (ATP). Among other mutagenic changes, the cosmic ray
bombardment triggered a specific genetic-code rearrangement that
caused the Human Torch's ATP production sites to generate a new
form of energy-containing molecule. (Reed Richards has dubbed this
molecule ribo-heptaphosphene, AR-HP). This complex molecule not
only provides ordinary bodily energy, but contains large stores of
latent chemical-bonding energies. Another favorable mutagenic
change are his cells' ability to utilize this extra energy by
converting it into a moderate-density, plasma-like state that is
regulated by a sub-conscious mental field and can be modified by
an act of will. When sufficient quantities of energy are consumed,
the Torch unavoidably reverts to his solid state.
When aflame, the human Torch is enveloped by a low-intensity
flame (reddish, approximately 80 degrees Fahrenheit), which ranges
from 1 to 5 inches from his body. The energy used to support this
low-level plasma is small; only when the Human Torch wills his
flame to a higher level does the majority of surplus energy within
the AR-HP complex become involved. In its plasma state, the
Torch's body is no longer solid; projectiles that are not melted
pass harmlessly through his body.
The Human Torch can generate shapes composed of fire from any
point on his body (he usually uses his hands to "sculpt" the
flames). He can form fire into long streams, spheres, or even more
complex shapes like sky-writing. These flame-objects will only
retain their shape as long as he concentrates on them. The objects
will only burn for about 3 minutes before expiring unless the
Torch continues to infuse it with energy. The temperature of these
fiery projections is generally around 2,800 degrees (near the
melting point of iron).
The Human Torch's plasma has a high hydrogen content, and is
surrounded by an exuded cloud of mono-atomic hydrogen atoms. This
hot cloud provides sufficient bouyancy for him to to float. With
mental stimulation of his flame, he can provide enough lift to
carry around around 180 pounds. By forming a jet from his feet,
directed behind him, he can achieve speeds of up to 140 miles per
hour.
