The Hobbit for Spectrum walkthrough

 THE HOBBIT - SOLUTION - TYPED BY VAXALON - 1994

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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)