+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + + + + + CROSSBOW - THE LEGEND OF WILLIAM TELL + + + + WALKTHROUGH AND STRATEGY GUIDE + + + + + +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ------------------------------------------------ The Game Title: Crossbow - The Legend of William Tell Developer: Intelligent Design Publisher: Screen 7 Release Year: 1990 Platform: Amiga ------------------------------------------------ This FAQ/Walkthrough Author: Master484 Year: 2012 Version: 1.0 ------------------------------------------------ ############################################################################### DISCLAIMER This guide was written for the Gamefaqs.com website. This guide is copyright (c) of Master484. Do not post this guide anywhere else without a permission from the author. Also this guide was made for the Amiga version of the game. So it may not be 100% accurate for any other platform versions. ############################################################################### ############################################################################### TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Overview 2. Controls 2a. Keyboard Commands 2b. The Icon Interface 2c. Combat Controls 2d. Basic Actions 3. Enemies, Weapons & Combat 3a. Weapon List 3b. Enemy List 4. Item Descriptions 5. Random Info 6. The Walkthrough ############################################################################### +++++++++++++++++++++++++ + + + 1. OVERVIEW + + + +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Crossbow - The Legend of William Tell is a mouse controlled arcade adventure game. It's based into the legend of William Tell, who is a well known Swiss folk hero. Most people are familiar with this legend, at least the famous "shooting an apple from someone's head" episode should ring some bells. But to summarize it up, the plot of the game goes something like this: The land is ruled by an Evil tyrant called Gessler. He lives in total luxury inside his great castle, but the people of the land are poor and hungry. And also Gessler has captured Tell's son. So Tell readies his crossbow, and goes on a mission to free his son and to end Gessler's rule once and for all. The game itself is a free-roaming adventure, where the player is given free hands to do anything he/she wishes to do. There are no set objectives besides the main quest, which is to beat Gessler. But everything else is up to the player. Should you just go straight into the Castle, and show them who's boss? Or would it be wiser to first explore the countryside, gather some equipment, and talk to the people in the hopes of gaining some support? It's all up to you. The game is amazingly flexible for it's age (released in 1990). You can even turn into a bad guy, and just kill everyone you meet, including peaceful townsfolk...although this doesn't help you quest. The game also has a double scoring system: negative and positive score. Every "good action" increases your score, while "bad actions" decrease it...and if your score falls below zero, you'll get a negative score. There are also two High Score tables, one for positive scores (Best Tells), and one for negative scores (Worst Tells). So even if you never beat the game, you can still be the "baddest Tell in Town". And speaking about beating the game, it's not so easy...the battles are hard and enemies many. There are a few "sudden deaths" too, most common of which is to get surrounded by wolves in the woods. And going into certain areas without the right equipment will almost certainly get you killed. But don't worry, this guide will tell you how to succeed. ############################################################################### +++++++++++++++++++++++++ + + + 2. CONTROLS + + + +++++++++++++++++++++++++ =============================================================================== 2A. Keyboard Commands =============================================================================== The game is mainly mouse controlled, but there are some keyboard commands as well, which are listed below: --- F1 - Toggle in-game music on/off F5 - Pause F6 - Shows your current Score F10 - Restart game (press "Y" to confirm) ESC - Save/Load Game into a separate data disk. HELP - Show Map ARROW KEYS - Walk RETURN - Stop --- Notice that those are actual Amiga keys. So If you're using an emulator, you need to press to corresponding key on you PC keyboard. Most of the keys are the usually the same for both Amiga and PC, except for the "HELP"-key, which the PC keyboard doesn't have. So for the HELP key, try pressing "Page Down", or the other keys around it. =============================================================================== 2B. The Icon Interface =============================================================================== The lower half of the screen contains the icon panel, through which most game commands are given. ----------------------- RIGHT SIDE PANEL The right side panel is a "control board", which is used to move Tell around. The arrow icons of course move you, and the square symbol between them stops you. The other icons in it are: 1. The Mouth Used either to Talk or to Eat, depending on the situation. 2. The Green Hand Used to give items to someone. 3. The Red Hand Used to pick up items. 4. The Arrow Head Click it to find out how many arrows your crossbow has ready. If you have no arrows loaded, then the icon will be dark. ----------------------- LEFT SIDE PANEL The left side panel is your inventory. It has eight categories: Treasures, weapons, crossbows, arrows, documents, keys, food and armor. Here is a brief description of each of these inventory menus: --- 1. Treasure menu Shows all valuable items you have found. Click on a item to know its value. --- 2. Weapons menu Clicking on this menu icon shows all weapons, AND also automatically readies a weapon and puts you to battle mode. So think twice when you click this icon, because it can cause a normally peaceful character to get angry at you. --- 3. Crossbows menu Shows your current crossbow equipment. The upper row shows your current crossbow model. The middle row shows your current loader model. And the lowest row shows all available targeting sights. Click on the sights to change between them. Click on the highlighted crossbow model to ready your crossbow for shooting. --- 4. Arrows menu The upper row shows your current Quiver model, while the remaining rows show how many arrows you have left. Click on the arrow symbols to load them into your crossbow. --- 5. Documents menu Shows all documents that you are carrying. Click on a document to see it's description. --- 6. Keys menu Shows all your keys. Click on a key to check it's description. --- 7. Food menu Shows all the food you're carrying. To eat, first click on a food item, then click the mouth icon in the right panel. To find out how many food items of a certain type you have, double click on it's icon. --- 8. Armor menu Shows all types of armor and shields that you have. All armor items that you pick up are automatically worn. --- In addition to all these menus, you'll notice that there's also a ninth icon; a small "cup icon" next to the armor menu... This is the "drink icon", and it lightens up if you have some drink with you. It works just like the food icons do; double click it to find out how many "flagons of beer" you have with you. =============================================================================== 2C. Combat Controls =============================================================================== There are two ways to do combat in this game. ---------- Firstly, you can bash people with melee weapons. Just open the weapon menu, and you'll enter combat mode. The weapon that you have last used will be automatically readied. But you can choose a new weapon from your inventory at any time. If you have no weapons, then fists are used. In combat mode, you'll notice that the usual movement icons disappear, and are replaced with combat icons. These icons have the following meanings: Two green arrows - Take a small step forwards or backwards. Sword in red background - Block Arrow circle - Turn around Three big arrows pointing up, middle and down - Strike high, middle or low. (the available strikes depend on the weapon in use...some weapons have only one possible strike) And finally there's that last icon, yes, that colorful one in the bottom... Click on it, and William Tell goes into a berserk state! In this state you can hit much faster, but you constantly lose health while in this mode, so use it with care. ---------- ---------- The second way to do combat is to use your Crossbow. Open the crossbow menu, and click on the crossbow. This activates the "crossbow window" in the middle. Aim at your target, and fire. Just make sure that the enemy is about in the middle of the window, and in front of the crossbow, and then fire, and you should hit it. If you don't get it, just practice it a few times. It's quite easy. Also notice that the crossbow shakes quite a lot... But this isn't really a big issue, because most enemies are so large that the shaking doesn't matter, just aim at the center torso, and you'll score a hit. But later in the game you'll get better crossbows, which greatly reduce the shaking. ---------- =============================================================================== 2D. Basic Actions =============================================================================== This is a short summary about basic interactions with the game world. --- To open a locked door: First walk into the locked door, and the game tells you what key it needs. Then open the key menu, and select the right key; this lightens up the "lock icon" in the right corner of the key menu. Click this lock icon, and the door will be unlocked, and now the door will be like any other "exit" in the game. --- To talk someone: Face the person in question, and click the Mouth Icon. --- To give items to someone: Open your inventory and click on the item you want to give. This lightens up the "Green Hand" icon in the right panel; click that, and the item is given. --- ############################################################################### +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + + + 3. ENEMIES, WEAPONS & COMBAT + + + +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ This section will list all weapons and enemy types in the game, and tells you how to succeed in combat. For the combat control icon descriptions, see the previous chapter. First, some basic things: Notice that not all people you meet are always hostile, even if they're classified here as "enemies". You can encounter peaceful knights, as well as hostile villagers, so nothing is set to stone. Only the wild animals will always attack you. Another thing which constantly changes is the amount of health the enemy might have. For example some knights are weaker than others, even if they all look the same. When you lose a fight against an enemy, quite often you don't get killed, but instead are captured. For example the knights will always capture you, while monks will sometimes capture you and sometimes kill you. This is one of the most important aspects of the game, because getting captured automatically transports you into another location in the game world. This can be very useful sometimes. Also, never try to block the enemy strikes. It's too hard to get the timing right, and while you're concentrating on that, you of course can't be hammering the attack buttons. Never go into the berserk mode either. It's true that it allows you to attack faster, but quite often you just end up losing more energy than you would have lost in a normal fight. The enemies can appear in two ways: 1. Fixed enemies These are scripted characters, which will always appear in certain locations. For example the guards at the crossroads and the wolves in the "wolf traps" are fixed enemies. Some fixed enemies drop items when killed. 2. Random encounters These are characters and enemies that can randomly appear anywhere and anytime. For example suddenly appearing wild animals or patrolling knights are random encounters. These enemies will always disappear if you exit and re-enter the screen. Also they will never drop items when killed. So avoid fighting them. And when fighting against an enemy, your weapon of choice is most important. Choose poorly, and you're in trouble. =============================================================================== 3A. WEAPON LIST =============================================================================== Ok, so let's take a look at the weapons. The main weapon of the game is of course the crossbow: *************************** CROSSBOW *************************** The crossbow has three arrow types: Blunt Arrow - Average Damage Sharp Arrow - Good Damage Broad Arrow - Extreme Damage The blunt arrows are of course the most common ammunition type. They do average damage, and usually can't kill anything in one hit, except some low health enemies, like the weaker villagers and monks. The sharp arrows are a little bit better, and are able to drop some average health knights and hawks in one hit. And two of these fired in quick succession are guaranteed to kill almost anything. The broad arrows is the best arrow type, and also the most rare, so use them wisely. One broad arrow will almost always be enough to kill any enemy in the game. Normally the crossbow can hold only one arrow at a time. But later in the game you'll find various Loader Equipment, which allow more arrows to be readied, up to a maximum of four arrows. Also the loaders decrease the time it takes to load the arrows. The final loader type is called "Cranequin", and it will practically turn your crossbow into an automatic rifle, but it will take some time to find, so be patient. Also the crossbow can have up to three different targeting sights. But these have no actual effect into the crossbows performance, they just offer some aiming help to you. And finally, there are three different Crossbow Models in the game. The better crossbow you have, the less it will shake in the "aiming window". You of course start the game with the worst model. The crossbow is a good weapon against all enemies. Except wolves and warthogs, which are very hard to hit, because they charge at you so fast that you don't have to time to shoot them. Crossbow ammunition is of course limited, but you'll quite often find arrows lying around the forest and elsewhere. So don't be afraid to use them. *************************** In addition to the crossbow we have the melee weapons, which will be listed below. Each melee weapon has the following qualities: 1. Strikes Tells what strikes the weapon can perform: Low, Middle and High. Certain enemies can only be hit with certain strikes. 2. Range Tells the attack range of the weapon. Long range weapons can't be used at all if you're standing too close to the enemy. This is a big problem against enemies that charge next to you. 3. Power The weapons general attack power. ------------------------- STAFF Strikes: Middle, Low Range: Short Power: Weak The staff is a weak weapon, but it's quite fast. But still it takes a long time to kill anything with it. But to it's credit the staff has a Low strike, so before you find the Short Sword, it is your only hope against wolves and warthogs. With some luck, you might be able to kill a single wolf with the staff, but don't count on it. ------------------------- AXE Strikes: High Range: Medium Power: Average The axe is good against unarmored targets like villagers and monks, but weak against heavily armored targets like knights. And it only has a High strike, so it's useless against wolves and warthogs. ------------------------- SHORT SWORD Strikes: High, Middle, Low Range: Short Power: Average The Short Sword is the best general purpose weapon in the game. It has all three strikes, and does good damage against wolves, warthogs, hawks and unarmored humans. And it's short range weapon, which means that you can always hit an enemy, no matter how close it comes. This weapon is the best "wolf solution" that you can your hands into. Although the wolves will still be dangerous, but at least now you can hit them back, and therefore you'll be able to explore all those nasty "wolf zones" in the woods. The Short Sword is weak only against the knights and castle guards, because it can only scratch their heavy body armor. But this doesn't matter so much, as there are many other ways to deal with them. ------------------------- TWO-HANDED SWORD Strikes: High, Middle Range: Medium Power: Good If the Short Sword was the "wolf solution", then the Two-Handed Sword is the "knight solution". Just keep swinging it at them, and they'll surely fall. But don't try to face the wolves with this, because you can't even hit them. Also, try not to get captured by the knights after you have found the Two-Handed Sword, because the knights will confiscate it. ------------------------- MACE Strikes: High, Low Range: Medium Power: Good This weapon can only be found in the main part of Gessler's Castle. It's power is approximately equal to the Two-Handed Sword, and also it's main purpose is the same: to crush armored opponents. But it's attacks are quite slow, and you can't take it outside the castle. ------------------------- MORNING STAR Strikes: High, Middle Range: Long Power: Very Good Like the mace, the morning star can be only found in the castle, and can't be taken outside the castle. This is the most powerful melee weapon in the game, and it will devastate all those Gessler's guards that are foolish enough to stand in it's way. But it's also pretty slow, and has a longer attack range than any other melee weapon in the game. ------------------------- FIST Strikes: Middle Range: Short Power: Weak If Tell has no weapons at all, then he has to rely on his fists. One middle strike is all you can do, and the damage potential is almost zero. But most of the time you're carrying weapons of some sort, so use them instead. ------------------------- =============================================================================== 3B. ENEMY LIST =============================================================================== This section lists all enemy types in the game, and tells how to beat them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BLACK KNIGHT Armor : A black full plate mail and shield, offering good protection. Attack: Swings a long sword in a professional manner, doing average damage. What happens if you lose to it: You'll be thrown into the Castle Dungeons. Description: This is the standard soldier of Gessler's army. They are hard to beat in the beginning of the game, since nothing seems to be able to significantly hurt them. Even the axe, which works fine against monks and villagers, can't really damage the knights. But once you get the Two-Handed sword, they'll fall quite easily. Also a single Broad Arrow or two Sharp Arrows will usually kill a knight straight away, except in very rare cases. Their attack power is average, making them quite dangerous in the beginning. But if you get just one shield upgrade (iron buckler), their sword swings can hardly scratch you from there on. So just an iron buckler-staff combination allows you to beat a knight, although it takes some time because of the staff's poor attack power, and the axe fares no better. Also the knights are "safe" opponents, because they'll never kill you. If they beat you, you just get "taken into Gessler's Castle", and are thrown into a place called "North Dungeons". And escaping from there is quite easy. But the real power of the knights is in their numbers. They're everywhere, guarding important crossroads, and are often supported by either monks, wolves, or both. And you often meet them as random encounters in the forest as well. So when you encounter many of them, consider bribing them instead of fighting. Even a single "flagon of beer" can pacify 5 hostile knights at once. The knights come in two variants: black and bronze. The rare bronze variant can only be encountered at the castle main gates, but except for the bronze color it is otherwise identical to the normal black knight. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CASTLE GUARD Armor : A glorious full plate armor, which looks cool and protects well. Attack: Swings a yellow battle axe, doing Average damage. What happens if you lose to it: You'll be thrown into the Castle Dungeons. Description: These guys are the Gessler's Guard, that you only meet inside the castle. They wear metal body armors and green, dark green or purple capes. And while they look mighty, they are actually almost identical to the normal black knights. Although they seem to have a somewhat higher average health. But that's the only real difference. You don't really have fight them until the end of the game, when you reach the Main Castle. Although in the early game "castle prison" you'll face one. But because the prison isn't connected to the main castle, you don't have to worry about these guys for a long time. But once you're inside the Main Castle, they actually become a big nuisance. This is because you lose your Two-Handed Sword when you enter the castle (why you lose it? Read the Walkthrough to find out :D ), and the Two-Handed Sword is the main "knight killer" weapon of the game. But there's a replacement for the Two-Handed Sword...two replacements to be accurate. These are the Mace and the Morning Star, which can be found only inside the castle. And once you find either one of these weapons, the Gessler's Guard is virtually doomed. But before you find these weapons, rely on Broad Arrows and bribery. The castle guards love beer as much as the black knights do. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- MONK Armor : Some brown robes, which don't seem to offer any protection at all. Attack: A Furious axe swing, which catches you off guard, and hurts a Lot. What happens if you lose to it: You'll either die, OR are taken into the village. This depends on whether the monk is Good or Evil. Description: The monks look harmless but beware, in combat they can be more dangerous than the knights. They appear to be unarmed, but under their brown robes they carry lethal axes, which can do incredible amounts of damage. Also their melee attack is super fast, making it almost impossible to block. So avoid close combat at all costs and shoot them from the distance. The monks wear no armor, so most melee weapons work well against them, should you choose to fight them close up. And most have very little health too, so one or two swings from a Two-Handed sword will usually do the trick. But some monks do have higher life bars, and it's better to fight these "iron monks" from the distance. Although maybe half of the monks you meet in the game aren't hostile at all. But the other half is. And in the beginning of the game it's hard to tell which ones of them are Evil and which ones are Good. Even if the monk is accompanied with knights that doesn't necessarily mean he's Evil. So when you meet a monk, stand back and observe them for a moment. Sometimes an angry monk will swing his axe in the air towards you even if you're standing far away, and this is a sure sign that he is going to attack. So aim and fire. Later in the game you'll get an amulet called "Holy Relic". This amulet allows you to see a monks alignment right away; Good monks will have a "saint ring" above their heads, while Evil monks will have a storming cloud. But even this doesn't fully solve the problem, because Good monks can still become angry at you, and some "special" Good monks start as hostile (you must pacify them with bribes to get some special items). So, in order to clarify, there are three monk types in this game: 1. Evil and Hostile They will always be hostile, and will always kill you. 2. Good and Hostile They start as hostile, but can be pacified with bribes. When you pacify this type of monk, you might get a reward from him. If they beat you, you'll awaken in the village. 3. Good and Peaceful Starts as peaceful and stays that way, unless you anger them. If they beat you, you'll awaken in the village. And one last thing that helps against the monks is the Bible. There's only one Bible in the entire game, the one which you find from Tell's home. If you're carrying this Bible in your inventory, some Good/Hostile monks will instead be Good/Peaceful. So always take it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- VILLAGER Armor : Ordinary clothes, which don't protect much. Attack: A fancy looking staff attack combo, which doesn't hurt at all. What happens if you lose to it: You'll be taken into the village. Description: These are the people of the land, that you, as William Tell, are trying to help out. During your adventures you'll often meet them. Almost all villagers start as peaceful, and those few exceptions that don't can always be easily pacified with bribes (give them either food or beer). Also quite often you'll have these guys asking food or alms from you. When this happens, it is advisable to give them something. If you don't do so, then they attack you. They can be easily killed of course, but doing this decreases your score. So give them a low quality food item, such as a mushroom or an onion. This will always make them satisfied. Even if they asked for money ("Got a penny Sir?"), just give a mushroom instead, it always works. The villagers you meet in the wilderness are also a great way to teleport back into the village. Do it this way: 1. Turn away from the villager (so that he won't get angry at you) 2. Go to the berserk mode, and wait for your health to drop until you faint. 3. And now you'll be taken into the village. :D And finally, if you want to fight them, then the axe is probably the best early game weapon to do this. The villagers only attack is a lazy staff strike which does almost no damage, so you should have no trouble dealing with them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- PRISONER Armor : Wears a gray jacket of some sort. Which doesn't protect. Attack: Swings a woodsman's axe with some skill. Can hurt if it hits you. What happens if you lose to it: You'll die. Description: Prisoners sometimes randomly appear when you're captured in the castle prison. They look almost like your character does, and they always carry an axe. They always start as peaceful. They just walk next to you, and do nothing. They always have a very low health, and can be easily killed by just a few hits if you choose to fight them. But they do have one dangerous feature: If you lose to them, you'll DIE. Also you will die if you faint from low health or hunger when one of these guys happens to be in the same room with you. So even a peaceful prisoner can indirectly kill you. So, if you meet a prisoner when in the castle prison, it's wiser to exit the screen, especially if you're in low health. Who knows, you might pass out, and it will be game over. One option of course is to kill all random prisoners that dare to disrupt your meditations. But this decreases your score. Near the end of the game, when you're inside the Main Castle, you'll eventually meet huge crowds of these prisoners. They're all innocent people of the land, captured by Gessler...But still, don't faint in front of them, because you might end up dead. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARCHER Armor : A standard looking military suit, and a helmet. Attack: Occasionally shoots arrows, but rarely hits anything. What happens if you lose to it: You'll faint. Description: The archers are special enemies, which you will meet in only two places of the entire game. All screens in the castle roof have an approximately 50-50 chance of containing one archer. They'll always appear in the walkways which you can't reach, and will try to shoot you, but they usually miss (about 80% of the time). And even when they manage to hit you, they don't do much damage. You can of course shoot back with your crossbow. But hitting them is very hard, so it's better not to waste your arrows on them. The second place where archers are guaranteed to appear is at the Main Gate of the Castle, which will have two archers near the upper corners of the screen. They can shoot at you, but this time you can't shoot back. But this doesn't really matter, as these guys miss even more often than their comrades in the walkways. And one more interesting note about the archers: If they somehow manage to hurt you enough, you'll just faint. So you won't be killed or directly captured. Fainting from an archer hit equals "fainting from wounds and hunger", and after this you'll randomly either "wake up refreshed" or then you're "found by Gessler's Guard" and thrown into the dungeons. But if the screen contains other enemies in addition to the archer, then you'll actually "lose" to them, and are treated accordingly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- WOLF Armor : None Attack: Continuously bites you Hard, aiming to kill you as fast as possible. What happens if you lose to it: You'll die. Description: Wolves are the deadliest enemies in the early game. The reasons for this are: 1. You need a weapon with a Low Strike to hit them. In the early game you don't have such a weapon, except for the Staff, but it's attack power is too weak to seriously damage the wolves. 2. The crossbow is almost useless against them. You simply don't have enough time to shoot them. And once they're biting your feet, it's too late, because the you can't aim the crossbow low enough to hit them. 3. Often you'll run into a pack of wolves instead of just one. So even if you somehow manage to beat one, the others will finish you off. And quite often you'll find yourself surrounded from both sides, which can be deadly situation even for a well prepared adventurer. 4. And finally, some "wolf screens" in the game are reached via "one-way paths". These pathways disappear behind your back when you go through them. So when you turn around to make a quick escape, you'll find out that the road you just used isn't there anymore. And after this you usually die. So, to beat the wolves, you will need both a good weapon and good armor. For the good weapon, there's only one alternative: The Short Sword. It does good damage against them, and it's fast. You'll find the Short Sword in a place called "Stefan's Cottage". The easiest way to reach it, is to get arrested by the knights, then escape, and go North-North-West-West, and you'll see a house; that is Stefan's Cottage. A better armor will also help. At least try to get the Iron Buckler before facing the wolves head on. But even with the best equipment, beating big wolf packs can still be tricky. The recommended tactic is to enter the screen, kill one wolf, and then go back to rest. For those nasty wolf screens where you are surrounded from two sides, use the same tactic, but instead of killing a wolf, just hit it a few times and then retreat. Then enter the screen again, and again hit it a few times. Repeat this until you manage to kill it, and hopefully now you won't be surrounded anymore. For those "death trap" wolf screens, where the pathway closes behind you, there are no good tactics. Just fight to the death, and hope you don't die. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- WARTHOG Armor : None Attack: Bites you quite Hard indeed, not as Hard as the wolf, but still.. What happens if you lose to it: You'll be taken into the Wart-Hog's cave. Description: The warthog's behavior resembles the wolf, but it's a lot less dangerous. Yes, it's fast, bites hard, and you need the short sword to beat it. But if you happen to lose to it, you will never die. Instead of dying, you'll be taken into a place called "Wart-Hog's Cave". This cave is full of food, and also the Two-Handed Sword is in the woods nearby. Although all exits from this area are blocked by deadly "wolf screens". But still it's better than being killed right away. And you can easily escape the Warthog's Cave area by waiting for a random encounter knight or villager to appear, and then either get arrested or do the "faint trick". So losing to a warthog isn't such a bad thing. Also you'll never encounter more than one warthog at a time. So if you just have the short sword, they should present no problem. And if you don't have the short sword, then just avoid them, unless you want to go to the Wart-Hog's cave area. And some warthogs drop a "side of ham" when killed, which is the best food item in the game. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- HAWK Armor : None Attack: Pecks and scratches you once, then flies away and disappears. Ouch. What happens if you lose to it: You'll die. Description: This is an annoying enemy, as it usually catches you off guard, hits you once, and then flies away without giving you a chance to strike back. But it's not really that dangerous, although it does quite a lot damage. But it only hits you once. And in usually that won't be enough to beat you down. But in rare cases that one hit may deplete your last health points. And if this happens, you will DIE. So be careful. The only reasonable way to kill the hawk is to shoot it with the crossbow. One sharp arrow or one broad arrow will usually be enough. You can hit it with High Strike melee weapons too, but you won't have enough time to actually kill it, because the hawk always escapes after hitting you once. Some hawks drop a "roast chicken" when killed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPINNING DEMON Armor : Colorful clothes. Attack: A fiendish spin attack, which does massive damage and kills you fast. What happens if you lose to it: You'll die. Description: These are colorful small creatures that spin through the air towards you, and when they reach you, they'll hit you hard and often until you drop dead. They look like small court jesters or clowns to me, but I can't be sure what they are, so I'll just call them spinning demons. This is the most dangerous enemy in the game, and you'll meet them only in the castle. Luckily it has low armor, and usually it can be killed with either one Sharp Arrow or one Broad Arrow, depending on the amount of starting health it has. But if you allow it to close up, it will quickly destroy you. So make sure you have a broad arrow loaded, and try to hit it. But because of it's small size, the chance that you miss is quite real. If this happens, exit the screen as fast as you can, load a new arrow, and try again. One tactic is to let it come quite close, almost next to you, and then fire. This way you'll hit more surely. But of course if you miss, then you're troubled. So I would say the best tactic is to keep your distance, shoot all readied arrows, and then run away to reload. If you want to try your luck in close combat, then the only weapon you can use is the Short Sword. Any other melee weapons won't work, because they have too long hit distances, and you can't "step" into the right distance like you can with human opponents, because the demon will immediately follow you. So, keep bashing the "High Attack" icon, and good luck. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ############################################################################### +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + + + 4. ITEM DESCRIPTIONS + + + +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Besides the weapons and bow equipment that were described in the previous chapter, there are many other items in the game. I'll shortly describe them and their use here. --- Treasures: These are used only as bribes, and they are the most effective bribes in the game. The more valuable the treasure, the more likely it will cause a positive effect. One of the treasures is called "some gold coins" (value 84) which you find from Tell's home, and this gives you the impression that you'll find more gold coins in the future. But you won't, it's just a normal "treasure" just like the gems and necklaces. --- Papers: The knights will constantly ask you to show these, and won't let you pass until you do. But these papers are not actually so important, and you can complete the game without finding any papers at all. Although having them can make you life much easier in some places. After all, there's a big difference between: + Walking through seven knights +++ Fighting your way through seven knights + --- The Bible: Having this with you can make some monks more friendly towards you, but other than this it serves no purpose. But always remember to take it, this way you'll make sure that the monks at the Shrine will be friendly at you. --- The Keys: These open locked doors. But you actually need to get just one key to complete the game, which is the Medium Metal Key (which will be "upgraded" to Gold Key). But still it's highly recommended that you find them all, so that you can get access to better weapons, armor and equipment. --- Food: Your health continuously drops during the game because of battles and hunger, and eating food is the only way to increase your health. So try to gather as much food as you can, so that you can always return to full health when needed. Although you can never actually die of starvation, you'll just temporarily pass out. Ham and Chicken are the best food items, Onions and Mushrooms the worst, and everything else between them has more or less average nutritional value. Also mushrooms can sometimes be poisoned; eating them damages health, turns screen colors into an eye catching blue/pink theme, and you can't walk normally anymore. But this state soon disappears, and everything returns to normal. Maybe 10% of all mushrooms are poisoned, and there's no way to know for sure. --- Armor: There are three armor types in the game. 1. Your Shield, which has five upgrade levels. 2. The Chainmail, which can't be upgraded. 3. The Holy Relic, which allows you to see the monks alignment. --- Drink: Drink works just like food does; consuming it increases your health. But there is one difference, which is that the "some drinks" that you find so often in this game, have a much better bribery value than normal food. In fact they can be considered the main bribery item of the game. So don't drink them yourself, but offer them to others to drink. --- ############################################################################### +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + + + 5. RANDOM INFO + + + +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Here is some random info, like useful tricks and frequently asked questions. --------------------------- Frequently Asked Questions: --------------------------- Q: How can I beat the wolves? A: Get good armor, and then use the Short Sword. Q: How can I open the drawbridge at the castle gates? A: Walk to the extreme right side of the screen, go to combat mode, turn around, and then shoot the black hole with your crossbow. Then repeat this process for the left side. Q: What is the difference between the Main Castle and the "castle prison" where the knights take you when they arrest you? A: The "castle prison" is a separate area from the "Main Castle". In the game they're both referred as "Gessler's Castle", and yes, they both mean the same place, but still there is no direct connection between them. So if you end up arrested and are thrown into the castle prison, you can't reach the main castle parts from there. The only way to reach the main castle is to enter it through the castle's main gate. Q: What happens if I get arrested inside the Main Castle? A: You'll be thrown into the same castle prison where the knights in the woods take you, and there's no way back to the main castle parts, except through the main gates again. Q: What is the purpose of the "apple shooting" scenes that often happen when you're arrested? A: They offer you a chance to get more points. Hitting the apple will boost your score quite a lot. But hitting your son instead will end the game. But you don't have to hit the apple to complete the game. It's just a bonus game. Q: How many times can the apple shooting scene happen? A: There seems to be no limit. I have tried shooting the apple over ten times in a row, and hitting it every time, and was thrown back into the prison every time, and still these scenes kept on appearing. Q: When I'm arrested, why the knights confiscate only the Staff and Two-Handed Sword, but not any other weapons? A: Who knows? Maybe they didn't notice them. :) But a more likely explanation is, that the game would become too hard if you lost all your weapons and equipment every time you get arrested. Q: Do I have to rescue my son from the castle dungeons in order to beat the game? A: No. You can leave him there if you wish. Q: What happens if I kill the woman in the red dress in the castle dungeons? A: Then you won't get the Gold Key, and can't finish the game. Q: A knight asked my papers, and I tried to bribe him with everything I had, and he accepted the bribes, but still kept asking for papers, and didn't let me pass. So bribing doesn't work? A: Bribing will never work those knights who ask your papers. It only works for "normal knights". Although the "paper knights" seem to accept the bribes, the will always go back to the "paper asking" mode after taking your offerings. So never try to bribe them. Q: Is there a limit on how much stuff I can carry? A: No. Except for the arrows; the number you can carry is limited by your current quiver model. Q: Can I die of hunger? A: No. You'll just drop unconscious from "wounds and hunger", and will later either wake up or be found by knights/guards. Q: Upon entering the castle through the main gates, why can't I go back to the woods through those same gates? A: Because the castle gate is a one-way exit; you can't return using it. If you need to go back to the woods, then jump from the castle roof. Q: Why do I lose my Staff and Two-Handed Sword when I enter the castle through the main gates? A: As the game tells you, Tell throws them away to "avoid suspicion". And although this turns out to be a bad decision, there's nothing you can do about it. Q: Why do I lose my Mace and Morning-Star when I escape the castle by jumping from the roof? A: Again, the game tells you the reason; Tell "wisely" lightens himself for the jump. Is this a wise decision or not, who knows? Maybe. Q: Why do the warthogs always take you into their cave instead of killing you? A: I don't know. Maybe they're trying to help you out. Or then they're all vegetarians, and hence won't eat humans. --------------------------- Useful tricks: --------------------------- 1. Hitting the apple: Aim your crossbow so, that the apple is barely visible behind front section of the crossbow. As the crossbow shakes, the apple should jump between being hidden and being visible. Then shoot, and you have a good chance of hitting it. 2. Walking past enemies: You can walk through some enemies by just continuously clicking the walk arrow. This trick will quite often work for human opponents (knights, villagers, etc). With this trick it is possible to pass through knights without even getting hit, because they're so slow. But monks are faster, and they'll almost always manage to hit you if try this. And also, this trick doesn't work for wild animals. 3. Getting past paper asking knights without papers: When the knight asks for papers, just hit him, so that he gets angry. Then use the "walking past enemies" trick described above. This works most of the time. After walking past the knight, you can then pacify him with bribes. 4. "Checkpoint team" analysis: Quite often you meet knight-monk-wolf combinations at crossroads. These "checkpoint teams" are actually composed out of two teams. The knights and the wolves form team number One, and the monks form team number Two. So if you bribe one of the knights, both the knights and the wolves will become friendly, but the monks will usually stay hostile (provided that they started as hostile). Keep this in mind. 5. The "Faint Trick": Fainting in front of certain game characters will cause you to be taken into various places of the game world. There are three possibilities: 1. Faint in front of villagers, and you'll be taken into the village. 2. Faint in front of a warthog, and you'll be taken into the Wart-hog's cave. 3. Faint in front of the knights, and you'll be taken into the castle prison. There are two ways to faint; Firstly, start a fight and lose. Or if you don't want to fight (villagers), then simply face away from them, go to combat mode, start the berserk mode, and wait for your health to drop into the "faint zone". 6. Getting health back by sleeping. Quite often when you faint from low health, you "wake up refreshed", and get some health back. So if you find yourself in low health, you might consider fainting yourself with "berserk mode faint trick" mentioned above. If you're lucky, you'll wake up refreshed, get some health back. But if you're unlucky, you'll be found by knights/guards and taken into prison. 7. Arrow farming When you're thrown into the castle prison, you can abuse the apple shooting scenes to get as much arrows as you can carry. Just do the "faint trick" all the time, and at every faint there's a good chance that you'll be "found by the guards" and this in turn creates a chance that Gessler will order you to try the apple shooting. And when this happens, pick up the extra arrow bundle from the ground. Then either shoot the apple, or just wait for a guard to appear; he will knock you unconscious, and you'll be thrown back to the prison. Then just repeat this process as many times as needed. Even if you try to shoot the apple during this process, you'll still end up getting more arrows than what you lose. This is also a good method to get a high score, if you can hit the apple every time while doing this. ############################################################################### +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + + + 6. THE WALKTHROUGH + + + +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ --------- Foreword: --------- Okay, this is the walkthrough. Since this is a free-roaming adventure, there are many different ways complete it. What I present here, is one possible method. This is a Complete Walkthrough, so we will visit all screens, get all items, treasure and equipment, and discover all secrets. For all the enemies that we will face, I have written a strategy to beat them. Other ways to deal with them are possible as well. I just wrote down the method that I used while playing this game and writing this walkthrough. So if you read "shoot it with broad arrows", but then notice that you have already wasted
your broad arrows into something else, then try to come up with an alternate
strategy. :)

Also this game has random encounters, that obviously won't be appearing in the
walkthrough. Use the "general strategies" to them, which I described in the
Third Chapter of this walkthrough. But most often just run away from them, as
there is no actual reward for beating them.


Okay, let's go:



===============================================================================
The Beginning
===============================================================================


You start the game in the front of your house. Go inside the house. There's
a bible, some gold coins and food; take them all. Go through the north door,
which leads to the forge room. There take the Staff and the Axe. Then exit the
house.

You're now in front of your house again. Load your crossbow with a Sharp Arrow.
Go West. A hawk will attack you. Try to shoot it. If you managed to kill it,
you will get a Roast Chicken. If you missed, then too bad. There are arrows in
the ground. Take them.

Go North. In the ground you'll find a Gold Ring and a mushroom. Take them.
Go back South, and then go two screens West. You'll meet a friendly monk, who
gives you a Large Gem.

Go two screens North. You'll meet a villager, who asks either food or money.
Give him a mushroom. Now go two screens East. You'll arrive at The Ruins, and
from here you'll find a Bow Upgrade, which is the Gaffle. You can now load 2
arrows to your crossbow. Go back two screens to the West, and you'll be back
at the place where you met the villager.

Now you need to go into a place called Hermit's Cave.

Follow these directions:
Go SOUTH, WEST and SOUTH.
You will now be in "South Woods".
Now, Go WEST, SOUTH and WEST.
You will now be in "Riverside".

Load crossbow with a Blunt Arrow.
Go North.
A hostile monk attacks you.
Shoot him.
Then walk left a little bit, and you'll see an exit to North.
Go through the exit, and you'll be inside Hermit's Cave.
You'll find The Large Metal Key, an Iron Buckler and the Golden Crucifix.
Take them, and exit the cave.
You are now where you killed the monk.

Go two screens EAST.
You are now in "South Woods".
Go NORTH, EAST and SOUTH.
Then go EAST, EAST, EAST.
You are now in front of your home house again.



===============================================================================
The Prison
===============================================================================


Now we need to get ourselves arrested by the knights.
Why?
So that we'll get inside the castle prison.
Then we will escape, and continue our adventure. :D

So, you're now standing in front of your home.
Go East, and there will be a crossroads guarded by knights.
Hit them, and they'll get angry.
Let them beat you, and now you'll be arrested and are thrown into prison.

(A more heroic way to do this: at the crossroads, you can actually kill one of
the knights if you wish, but let the second one capture you.)

A sidenote:
During the next episode, it is likely that Gessler orders Tell to attempt the
famous "apple shooting" one or more times. If this happens, then try it, but be
careful, because hitting your son instead of the apple ends the game. So rather
aim too high than too low, ok? And don't worry if you miss every time, there's
no punishment besides being thrown back into the prison.
Just don't hit your son and you'll be alright.
And every time you're ordered to shoot the apple, there will be an arrow bundle
in the ground, and this is a good way to get more arrows.

Ok, you are now inside the prison, also known as the "North Dungeon".
And you have lost your Staff, but that doesn't matter.

Go East, and you'll meet a Castle Guard.
He won't let you progress any further.

So start hitting him with either your fists or with the axe, and try to defeat
him. Most likely you'll lose, but this doesn't matter, because you'll just be
thrown back into the "North Dungeon", and will get some health back when this
happens. Or then you'll be ordered to shoot the apple, but after this event
you'll always be thrown back into the same dungeon again.

Then just go back where the guard is, and continue beating him.
Eventually he'll fall to the ground. It will take several "fights" to beat him
this way, but there is no real risk of you dying during these fights, so just
relax.

So, now the guard is finally dead, and you're standing in the prison hall.
There's one mushroom here, take it.

And now, there is a door to the North.
Behind this door is a dangerous enemy: a spinning demon.
And unlike the guard, it CAN kill you...

There are two ways to handle it:

1. Evade it.
This is perhaps the wisest way.
It's quite easy, but you must be fast.
Do it this way:
Enter the screen, and immediately move Right, and right after this move North
through the door. And that's it.

2. Kill it.
This is what the real William Tell would do.
Load you crossbow with a Sharp Arrow or better.
Before entering the room, make sure you're facing Left.
Then enter the room, quickly draw your crossbow, and fire.
It's dead. Hopefully.

Whatever way you did it, you are now in the castle courtyard.
There are some arrows, take them.
Move West, and you'll see some bread lying on the ground.
Take it, and then move back East again.
Now go through the North gates, and you'll be on the roof of the castle.
Walk Left until you see an exit towards North. From this point you can
jump down. Do it.

You have now escaped the prison.

(note: in the castle roof there might be an archer aiming at you, but don't
worry about him, he usually either misses or doesn't shoot at all. But if the
archer still scares you, then just exit the screen and go back. He might not
appear this time.)



===============================================================================
Castle Reaches
===============================================================================


After jumping from the castle roof, you'll find yourself in a place called
"Castle Reach". Every time you escape from the castle prison, you'll end up
here. Keep this in mind, should you be arrested again.

Ok, there are some mushrooms here, take them.
Then go North.
You'll meet a friendly monk, who gives you Brown Papers ("Free the Villagers").
But you won't need these papers for a long time.

Go North again.
A hostile knight attacks you. He's quite strong, so don't fight him.
Instead bribe him by giving one drink (flagon of beer) to him.
If you don't have any drinks, then simply walk past him by continuously clicking
the "walk arrow". This works for most knights. Or then just fight him anyway.

But anyways, after dealing with the knight, go two screens West.
You'll see a house.
Go inside.
This is Stefan's Cottage.
Here you'll find the Short Sword, and lots of food.
Take everything, and exit the house.

Go West.
Two villagers are hanging around here, and the other one will ask food.
Give him a mushroom.

There's an exit to the North, and that screen will have a wolf in it.
So ready your short sword, and go North.
The wolf will attack you from the left, but it's quite weak; a few hits from
the short sword will kill it.

Now load crossbow with 2 blunt arrows.
Then go West.
Two hostile monks will attack you.
Shoot your 2 arrows, and then retreat to reload.
Then enter the screen again, and shoot.
Repeat this until they're both dead.
It takes about 6 blunt arrows to kill them both. (3 per monk)
The other one drops a Diamond Choker.
Take it, and there are some arrows on the ground as well.

Now go West again.
Again you'll see two monks!
But this time they're peaceful.
They'll give you some food and White Papers ("Access to Northern Reaches").
The road here continues to West, but don't go there...
It will lead into a place called "North End", and we don't want to go there.
Later maybe, but not now.

So head back where you came from, two screens East, then South and East again,
until you arrive back at Stefan's Cottage. Then keep walking East, until you
reach that junction where the knight tried to ambush you.

Go North.
You are now in "Northern Forest".

Go West.
You'll meet one knight and three villagers.
The knight is weak, so shoot him with a blunt arrow.
Then talk to the villagers.
One of them will give you Red Papers ("Free This Prisoner")

Go back East, and then East again.
You'll meet five knights and one wolf.
Keep walking past the knights, until one of them asks you to show papers.
Show the White Papers to him ("Allow bearer into Northern Reaches").
Now they'll let you pass.
So go East, and then East again.

You'll arrive at a T-junction.
Now eat something to reach full health.
Turn so that you're facing left.
Go South, and you'll be surrounded by two wolves.
Kill the left one with the Short Sword, and then escape back North.
Eat something again, and then go back South to kill the remaining wolf.

From the wolf screen, go two screens West, and you'll arrive at The Shrine.
There are two monks here.
Talk to the second monk, and you'll get the Holy Relic.
Also you'll find Crossbow Model Upgrade, the Jeweled Chalice and lots of food.
After taking everything, return the way you came from, until you're back
at the T-Junction.

Now go East.
You'll meet two villagers and one monk.
The first villager gives you a Roast Chicken.
Take it.

Go East again.
A single monk approaches you.
The Holy Relic will tell you that he's Good, but still he seems attack you...
This is one of those infamous Good/Hostile monks.
Give him a treasure or two to pacify him.
Although he will accept only the best "bling bling" you have.
The Diamond Choker or the Golden Crucifix are usually enough.
Alternatively two flagons of beer seem to work too.
It's your choice.

After the monk has been pacified, he will give you the "Special Papers".
These papers can be shown to all random encounter knights who ask you to show
"your papers", which you normally never have.
But on the other hand, you can usually just run away from the random encounter
knights. So is it worth to lose some treasure to get these papers? You decide.

Ok, now we are done at the "Castle Reaches" area.
Next, we need to visit the Village of Claremont, and the areas around it.
But walking all the way there would take forever, and the road is filled with
nasty situations...

So, let's just teleport there.
Do it this way:
You are now where you bribed that greedy monk, and he has suddenly disappeared.
So go West.
In this screen you have one villager and one monk.
Now turn so that you face away from them, go to battle mode, click the "berserk
icon", and wait for your energy level to drop, so that you'll faint.
And after you faint, you're "found", recognized as William Tell, and the "Good
People" will take you to the village. :D



===============================================================================
The Village
===============================================================================


You'll wake up in an unknown house. Take the arrows from the table. There is
also an axe, but you already have one, so leave it there. Exit the house.

You're now standing outside the "safe house". This is where you end up every
time when you faint in front of a villager or friendly monk. And also the main
village of Claremont is very close now.

Go East, and you'll see a screen full of monks.
But don't worry, they're all peaceful if you have the Bible with you.
From this screen, go North and North again.
Now you'll be in East Claremont.

One of the villagers will ask food, give him a mushroom.
In this screen you'll see one locked house.
It requires the Large Metal Key, and you have it.
So unlock the door, and go inside.
You'll find food, Crossbow Model Upgrade, and Purple Papers ("Free access to
Garrison"). You now have the best crossbow model, provided that you got the
previous upgrade from The Shrine.

Exit the house, and go South-South; you're now back in the "monk screen".
Make sure that your crossbow is loaded, and then go East.
A hostile monk will try to attack you by surprise, so shoot him right away.

Then go East again.
Here you will see three villagers. Walk forwards until one of them attacks you.
Don't kill him, but instead give him a beer drink, and he'll calm down. Now
take all mushrooms and other things from the ground, and talk to the villagers.
They should all give you food items after you have pacified them and have
hanged around in the screen for a while.

Now go West-West-West, and you'll be back at the "safe house".
Go West one more time.
There's a villager, asking for food. Give mushroom.

Then go North to reach a place called "Eleanor's Orchard".
A furious warthog attacks from the left, kill it.
From this screen you'll find a Quiver Upgrade, 5 apples, and the killed warthog
will drop a side of Ham.

Go North through a one-way exit.
A villager appears, and asks for guess-what. Give mushroom.
If you go East from this screen, you'll end up in "West Claremont".
But we won't be going there now.

If your health is low, eat.
Face left, and go North (this is again a one-way exit, so you can't back).
A wolf attacks from the left, kill it.
This screen has a house, which is called the "South Farmhouse".
Go inside it.
Once inside, a villager comes and begs for food. Give mushroom.
This is a two-room house, so go East to enter the other room.
In this room you'll meet a monk, who gives you the Wooden Key.
And from the table you'll find Blue Papers ("Freedom of Castle Woods").
Ok, now exit the house.

You are now standing outside the SOUTH Farmhouse.
And that Wooden Key we just got will open the door of the NORTH Farmhouse.
And where might that be?

Follow these directions:
Go West.
Go North.
You'll now be in "Old Village".
Walk to the right end of the screen, and you'll find an one-way exit to North.
Go through this exit.
You now seem to be standing in some random woods...(a surprise, eh?)
But actually you're just two screens from home. (Check out East-East!)
But we're not going home just yet.
Instead, go WEST, NORTH, NORTH.
And now, you'll are in front of the North Farmhouse.

Use the Wooden Key, and go inside.
You will find a Shield Upgrade (Steel Buckler), and lots of food.
Take everything, and go outside.

Congratulations for making it this far.
This is where the easy part of the game ends. :D



===============================================================================
Wolf Forests and Secret Caves
===============================================================================


Ok, so now we need to go into some of those areas that we have been trying to
avoid so hard in the past.

First, let's go to the Secret Cave.
You are now standing outside the North Farmhouse.
Go SOUTH, WEST and SOUTH.
You're now in "South Woods".
Go WEST and SOUTH.

Eat to full health.
Find the exit that leads South.
Face left, and go South through the exit.
A strong wolf attacks from the left.
Kill it.

Again eat to full health.
Go West, and you'll meet a pack of 3 wolves, which are all strong.
Kill or wound one of them, then exit the screen and rest.
Re-enter, and fight again.
Repeat this hit-run strategy, until you have killed them all.
Then explore this wolf infested screen...
From the far left end you'll find an exit to South.
Go through it, and you'll be inside the Secret Cave.

From the cave you'll find the Small Metal Key, a Quiver Upgrade, and the
Pearl Necklace. The small metal key opens the other house in Claremont, but we
won't go there yet.

Exit the cave.
You're now where you killed the 3 wolves.

Now we will go to the second cave, which is the Wart-Hog's Cave.
The most usual way to reach this cave is to get yourself beaten and "captured"
by a warthog. But we will be using a shortcut, which is located very near.

Go East, and then South. (which is a one-way exit)
A wolf attacks from the right, kill it.
Then check the left end of this screen, and you'll find a sneaky one-way exit
which leads into the "back chamber" of the Wart-Hog's cave.

This cave is full of onions and carrots, take them all, and then exit the cave.

You're now in the famous "warthog forest", which seems quite peaceful, but in
reality this is a nasty death trap, where all exits are guarded by wolf packs.
Many players hopelessly die here without even knowing what they did wrong. :)

The key to beating this area, is to have the Short Sword and the Steel Buckler
with you, as well as lots of food, all of which you have.

But we are not just seeking to escape this area...we are seeking for a special
super-secret cave, which is absolutely vital to find if you want to beat the
game.

So...
From outside the Wart-Hog's cave:
Go EAST and EAST.
Here you'll find the Two-Handed Sword.
Take it.
Then go NORTH and NORTH.
You'll be in "Low Meadow".
Take the arrows.
(the "Low Meadow" is a "drop zone" into this area; many one-way exits lead into
Low Meadow, and going through them simply gets you trapped in this area.)

From Low Meadow, go back South.
Eat to full health.
Go East, and you'll meet 4 wolves.
Use the usual hit and run strategy; Fight, retreat, rest and fight again.

After you have killed all four, go EAST.
A hostile super-health monk will attack you.
Shoot him with 2 blunt arrows, and finish the job with the Two-Handed Sword.

Now explore the screen.
From the far right end you'll find two exits: One leads North and one to South.
Go through the South exit, and you'll be inside the super-secret cave, which
is so secret, that it doesn't even have a name.
From here you find the Medium Metal Key, which is the most important key in
the game. It will open one particular cell door inside Gessler's Castle, but
more about that later.
There are some other stuff in this cave as well, like food...and a short sword.
But we already have a short sword.
Well, take everything anyway and exit the cave.

You are now where you killed the monk.
Go North.
Then go West.
A warthog attacks.
Kill it.
Then go NORTH, EAST and NORTH.
You're now in that mysterious "Old Village" screen again.
Go North through the one-way exit.
And then go EAST twice, and you'll be outside your home again.

Oh boy, we made it.

Maybe we should save our game now?
Nah, just joking. :D



===============================================================================
Unfinished Business
===============================================================================


Now we should go and take care of some unfinished business in Claremont.
Because we have that Small Metal Key, remember?
Let's check our pockets, to see if it's still there.
Yes.
So let's go to Claremont.
And this time we will use the main road.
So maybe we'll get a chance to test that Two-Handed Sword as well.

So, go East.
Remember this checkpoint?
This is where we got ourselves arrested back then...
So, now it's payback time.
The two knights should easily fall to the Two-Handed Sword.
The monk is weak, one blunt arrow will kill him.
Then switch to the Short Sword, and kill the wolf.

Then take the mushrooms.
And go South.
Here you'll meet one peaceful knight and one hostile monk.
Walk past the knight, and bribe the monk with beer.
The monk gives you Yellow Papers ("access to store room").
Then you can smash the knight if you wish.

Now go EAST, EAST and SOUTH.
Then go WEST, and kill the knight.
He will drop a Bow Sights Upgrade.

Face right, then go South.
There will be a knight on your left and a monk on your right.
Shoot the monk with a blunt arrow, and crush the knight with Two-Handed Sword.

From here, the road to East leads to the castle, while the road to West leads
to Claremont. So let's go West.

You're now in "East Claremont".
Go West one more time, and you'll be in "West Claremont".
There are two houses here, and we will go to the left one.
And if one of those sad losers here asks for alms...give it a mushroom.
Ok, so unlock the left house with the Small Metal Key, and go inside.

Here you'll find a Chainmail and some food.

Also there is a Two-Handed Sword, but don't take it, because you already
have one. And you might need a replacement sword at some point, because you
still can get captured by the knights, and then you'll lose your Sword. And
entering Gessler's Castle loses your Sword as well, and if you decide to come
back, then it's nice to have spare Sword waiting here.

Ok, the house is now explored.
Our unfinished business here in Claremont is now finished.
Exit the house.

You're now in West Claremont, and it's time to evaluate the situation.

You should now have the following equipment:

- The Medium Metal Key
- Two-Handed Sword
- Short Sword
- The Best Crossbow model
- The Best Quiver Model
- Steel Buckler
- Chainmail
- Holy Relic
- All Papers except one.
- Lots of food, drink and treasure.

These are enough to beat the game.
If you wish, you can now go straight to the Castle.

But there is still some equipment out there in the woods.
One Crossbow Loader Upgrade and Sights Upgrade are waiting in a place called
"North End", which we avoided earlier, because it was too dangerous back then.

So, if you want to fully upgrade your crossbow, then you must visit North End.
But if not, then just skip the next chapter of this Walkthrough, and continue
reading the from the "Gessler's Castle" part.

Also I must warn you that the North End area will consume a lot of your food,
because it's full of tough fights. So if you don't have much food with you,
then it's best not to go there. I would estimate that you need to restore
yourself to full health AT LEAST FOUR TIMES in the North End. So take a count
of your Hams, Chickens, Cakes, Cheeses, Breads and everything else, and if you
think that you might not have enough, then don't go to North End. And also
remember that after surviving North End, you'll be going to Gessler's Castle,
which is damn hard too.

But keep in mind that the real William Tell would most likely go to get those
missing crossbow upgrades. :D



===============================================================================
North End  (an optional side quest, which can be skipped if you wish)
===============================================================================


So, let's go back to North End to get those missing crossbow parts.
Still remember where it is?
No?

Okay, follow these directions:
The road there should by now be cleared of all enemies, so I'll just put the
directions here without any "strategy tips".

You are now standing in "West Claremont".
Go EAST, EAST, NORTH.
Go EAST, NORTH, WEST
Go WEST, NORTH, NORTH
You're now in "Castle Reach".
Go NORTH, NORTH, WEST, WEST.
You're now outside Stefan's Cottage.
Go WEST, NORTH, WEST, WEST, WEST.
And now you're just one screen away from North End.
Stop here.

Eat to full health.
Go West.
In this screen there are 3 knights and one wolf.
The first knight is quite weak, kill him with Two-handed Sword.
But it's better to weaken the other two knights with a few arrows before
beating them with the sword.
After the knights have fallen, the wolf attacks, and it's very strong.
So you might want to retreat and eat to full health before taking it on.
One of the knights will drop a Bow Sights Upgrade, so take it.
You now have all targeting sights.
Also they'll will drop a Two-Handed Sword, but leave it here as a spare sword.

After beating them, eat to full health again.
Face left, and then go South.
A wolf attacks from the left, kill it.

Again eat to full health, and ready yourself for a tough fight.
Face right, and go South.
You'll be surrounded by 3 wolves, two on the left, and one on the right.
Kill the right one first.
If you start losing too much health, then retreat, rest, and re-enter.
Once you have killed the wolf on the right, the way to the next screen is open.
So you can progress East without killing the remaining two wolves, but beware,
in the next screen waits two hostile knights, who attack you right away.
So I recommend that you kill the remaining wolves as well, so that you can run
away from the knights if necessary.

Ok, you have now killed the 3 wolves.
Eat to full health.
Load your crossbow with good arrows.
Go East.
Here are those two knights I mentioned.

Notice that the first knight will be standing right in front of you.
In fact he'll be so close that you can't use the Two-Handed Sword to hit him!
So you have two options: either shoot him, or use the Short Sword.
I recommend that you first walk straight into him, hit a few times with the
short sword, and then shoot him, and finish the job with the short sword,
if he's still alive.
But don't run away from this "tight spot", because there's a nasty "game
feature" here: when you then re-enter the screen to fight this "blocker knight"
the short sword too will sometimes be unable to hit him for some reason.
So don't take any chances.

After you kill this "blocker knight", the other knight will advance. Quickly
move forwards to meet him, so that you won't get stuck into that same tight
spot again.
Kill this second knight, and he will drop a Crossbow Loader Upgrade, which will
be the "Windlass". Your bow can now take three arrows at one time.

Go East.
Once again there's a knight.
Smash him.
Take the three mushrooms from the ground.

In the right end of this screen you'll find a path leading North.
Before going through it, face left, and ready your short sword.
Then go North, and two wolves will attack you from the left.
Both of them have only average health, so they should fall quite easily.

Eat to get your health back.
Then go West.
Here awaits your final challenger: a furious warthog charges forward.
Kill it.

The place where you are now is called the "Vegetable Patch".
From here you'll find 6 mushrooms, 4 apples, 4 carrots and 3 onions.
Also the warthog will drop a side of Ham.
And also there's a Two-Handed Sword here.
All this food will partly compensate for the food loss that occurred during the
many fights here in North End. Although you didn't get it all back, but this is
better than nothing.

Go through the North exit (one-way exit), and you'll be back where you started
this little "forest walk". Check West; that's the guard post you destroyed a
while ago.

Okay, now you have found all crossbow parts that can be found from the forest
regions. The last upgrade is in the Castle, and that's we will be going next.

So let's go back to West Claremont, and prepare ourselves for the final
episode.

For those people that can't get there by themselves, here are the directions:
Go EAST until you reach "High Woods".
Go South.
You'll meet those two villagers. (lazy people will use the faint trick here)
The rest of us will walk:
Go EAST, EAST, EAST.
Go SOUTH, SOUTH, SOUTH, SOUTH.
Go EAST, EAST, SOUTH, WEST.
Go SOUTH, WEST, WEST.
You're now back in West Claremont.



===============================================================================
Gessler's Castle
===============================================================================


So, here we are in West Claremont.
And it's time for us to finally attack Gessler's Castle.

First, we need to breach the outer defences.

So, first eat to reach full health.
Then go EAST, EAST, and EAST again.
You'll meet one villager and two knights.
The knights will ask your papers.
Show the papers that are titled "Freedom of Castle Woods".
Then go East again.

You're now in "Castle Grounds" and will meet six knights and two wolves.
Walk past the first two knights; they do nothing.
But then the third knight attacks you.
Give him one or two beer drinks, and he will calm down.
Now they will all let you go through.
Walk right until you see an exit leading North.
Go there, and you'll arrive at the Castle Gates.

A sidenote:
(If you wish, you can also fight your way through this knight army, but I
don't recommend it. The best way to beat them is to use a lot of Broad Arrows,
but you should rather save them for the Castle Guards, so...)

Ok, you're now standing at the Castle Gates.
There are four bronze knights here. (ordinary black knights in bronze uniforms)
One of them will approach you, and asks your papers.
But you don't have them.
The correct papers would be the "Gray Papers", but they can be found only from
inside the castle. And then if you later decide to escape the castle, you can
use the Gray Papers to easily re-enter it.

But, since we don't have the Gray Papers, we have to fight our way inside.
So load your crossbow with Broad Arrows, and shoot the knights. The first
three of them have long health bars, but will easily fall to your Broad Arrows.
But the fourth knight is probably the strongest knight in the entire game.
But still, he's just a knight. So show him who's the boss. There are also
two archers on the roof, but don't care about them, they rarely hit anything,
except the ground.

Okay, the four knights are now dead.

And now, you'll notice a big problem:
The drawbridge is closed, and there seems to be no way to open it...
And it is at this point, where even good players can get stuck.
They think that there's no solution, and their minds darken, and they give up.
And here is wisdom:
It is the Ability and the Endurance required to solve these kind of problems,
that make the difference between Good players and Hardcore Players.

To open the drawbridge, you have to shoot those two black holes next to it.
But if you now draw your crossbow, you'll see nothing special in the
targeting window...
In order to see those black holes in it, you must go to the very edges of the
screen.
So first walk right as much as you can.
Then switch to the battle mode, and turn yourself around so that your face
will point towards left.
Now draw your crossbow, and you'll see the castle wall and the black hole in
the targeting window.
Shoot at the hole, and the drawbridge will partly open.
Then walk to the extreme left, and repeat this process for the other side hole.
And now the drawbridge will be completely open.

Eat to full health, load your crossbow with Broad Arrows again, and go inside
the Castle.

...

And now, something funny will happen:
You'll lose your Staff and Two-Handed Sword. :D

The game gives you the reason:
"To avoid any Suspicion, You quietly discarded your Staff and Two-Handed Sword"

And yes, at first this sounds quite reasonable. So it seems like we're going
avoid direct fights from here on, and rely on stealth instead. So we would go
in there, sneak our way around the guards, find our Son, and set him free.
And then we would find Gessler too, and assassinate him.
And after this we would make our escape, and nobody will notice anything.
"The name is Tell, William Tell", and victory for the home boys, right?

Okay, sounds good enough, let's do it.
But in the very first screen three castle guards will immediately surround
and attack you, and in this fight you'll be a big underdog, because you just
throwed away your best weapon ten seconds ago.

So I guess someone actually bothered to sound the alarm after we killed those
four knights guarding the drawbridge? Oh well, doesn't matter, let's just draw
our Two-Handed Sword, and beat the hell out of them.
But wait, where's my Sword?
Oh damn, we just tossed it to the castle moat!

So quite honestly, this has to be one of the worst "sword discard" decisions
in history. Only Luke Skywalker's "lightsaber discard" in the end of the
Return of The Jedi rivals it: throws away lightsaber, then faces the Emperor
unarmed, and almost dies. :D

But anyway, let's continue the walkthrough.

...

Okay, so much for a stealthy entrance.

Upon entering the castle, three castle guards surround and attack you right
away. They're tough, and our best weapon against them is the short sword, which
can't really hurt them. But luckily, you can "walk through" the guard on your
right, even though he's hostile. So bypass him, and now you won't be surrounded
anymore. Then shoot them all with Broad Arrows.

Another option of course is to bribe them by giving "some drinks" to them.
Just imagine the following scenario:
Castle Guards: "Okay guys, once Tell comes through the gate, kill him."
Castle Guards: "There he is, go get him!"
Tell: "Now hold on guys, I have some beer here for you."
** Gives beer cans to guards **
Castle Guards: "Hehe, a very Noble Gesture, Sire!"
Castle Guards: "Okay, you're free to go." :D

Either way, those guards are now no longer a problem.
Our first objective here is get a replacement weapon for our lost Sword.
And luckily, that objective is relatively easy to achieve.

The place where you're standing now is called "West Courtyard".
There's a door leading North.
Load crossbow with broad arrows, face right, and go through the door.
A strong spinning demon will attack form the right.
Shoot it; It will take 2 broad arrows to kill it.

This room is called the "Middle Hall".
The North door here will lead to the castle's Arsenal, but we don't have a key
for it yet.

Go West.
There's a lot of food and drink on the table, take them.
Here, the West door leads to Gessler's throne room.
But we don't have a key for that either.

So, let's go North instead.
Again, you'll see a table full of food and drink.
Take everything.
Also from the right corner of this screen you'll find the Golden Plate.

Now, go North again.
You'll be on the Castle roof.
(From these "castle roof" screens, you can escape the castle if you want to,
just jump down like you did before.)

Go East.
Here you'll see two peaceful guards.
Walk to the second guard (the one on the right), and give him some beer.
This causes him to give you the Morning Star, which is the most powerful melee
weapon in the game.
(The morale of the feared Gessler's Guard seems to be pretty low, because you
can buy them to your side by just giving them beer...or then they all have a
serious alcohol problem.)

After this go back West, and then West again.
Three guards will stop you, and ask what business you have there.
Show them the Purple Papers ("Free Access to Garrison")
Now they'll let you pass.
Take the arrows here, and load your crossbow with broad arrows.
Then go through the South entrance.

This is the Garrison, and four hostile knights will surround and attack you.
Shoot three of them with broad arrows, and crush the last one with the
Morning Star. One of them drops the Silver Key, which will open the door
to the Arsenal. Also you'll find a Mace, an Axe and some arrows here.
The Mace is slightly weaker than the Morning Star, but still it's a nice
addition to your inventory.

Okay, now go back to the "Middle Hall". (North-East-South-South-East)
Unlock the North door with the Silver Key, and go inside.
Here you'll find:
2 Morning Stars, 1 Mace, 1 Short Sword, arrows, and a Shield Upgrade.
The Shield Upgrade will be the Large Shield. (provided that you got all 3
previous shield upgrades from the woods.)
But all of these weapons here you already have, if you have followed this
walkthrough to the letter. So leave them here for possible future use.

Go South twice, and you'll be at "West Courtyard" again.
Go East.
You're now in "Middle Courtyard".
Go North.
Take the mushrooms.
Load crossbow with Broad Arrows.
Go East.
A spinning demon attacks.
Shoot it.

Go East again.
Here you'll see a castle guard, and a prisoner.
The castle guard will ask you for food.
(maybe he is imprisoned here for some felony, and is hungry...
or then he's a villager in disguise, who knows...) :)
Anyway, give him a mushroom, and he'll let you pass.
Walk to the prisoner, who will attack you.
Give the prisoner some drink, and some food, and then talk to him.
If succeed in making him friendly, he will give you the "Gray Papers".
And if you read them, they'll say "Bearer has Full Access to Castle".
If you show these papers at the Castle Gates, the knights will let you inside
the castle without any fighting.

Okay, go back where you came from; West and West.
Then go North.
Three guards will surround and attack you.
Give them a beer drink or two, and they'll calm down.
Or just beat them.

Go North to reach "North Hall".
Two guards are here.
The left one will attack you right away, while at the same time the right one
asks for papers. Show the Yellow Papers here ("access to store room"), and they
will let you through.

Go East to visit the Store Room.
Here you'll find two Maces, some food and arrows.
Then return back West.

Now go through the North door, and you'll end up in the castle's "High Tower".
Here you'll find the final Crossbow Loader Upgrade, which is the "Cranequin".
Your crossbow can now take 4 arrows at one time, and the loading times will be
reduced to almost nothing; just click on the arrow, and it will be instantly
loaded.

If you explore the High Tower screen, you'll notice that there is a "jump
point" here, just like in the normal "castle roof" screens.
And yes, you can jump down from the High Tower. But you will die if you do.
So try it at your own risk. :)

Okay, this castle section is now explored.
So keep going South, until you're back in the "Middle Courtyard".

Now go East, and you'll be in "East Courtyard".
There are three guards here.
Shoot them all with Broad Arrows.

Go South.
You're now in "East Hall".

Go West.
You're now in a hall which has a painting on the wall.
Go West again.
A strong spinning demon attacks you.
Shoot. It will take two broad arrows to kill it.
From this room you will find the final Shield Upgrade: The Pavisse is yours.
Also there's a Jeweled Crown here, which is the most expensive treasure in the
game (value 2000).
Now return one screen East.

Go South.
This room is the entrance to the castle dungeons, where all prisoners are
being held. A guard here will ask your papers.
Show him the Brown Papers ("Free the Villagers by Special Order of Gessler").

Go East, and shoot the spinning demon here.
This will make our life easier later.

After shooting the demon, return to the previous screen and go West.
This room is full of prisoners.
Walk past them, and go South.
Then go East.
Here you see two prisoners.
Ignore them, and go South.

Here three guards will attack you from the right.
Kill them either with broad arrows or with the Morning Star.

After killing the guards, go East.
Here you'll find your Son.
Talk to him.
You have now rescued your Son.

The door you just used was a one-way exit, so you can't return through it.
So instead go North, and North again.
Then go West, and you're back at the prison entrance room.

Go West, and South.
Then East, and South.
You're now where you killed those three guards.

Go West.
A spinning demon attacks.
Shoot it.
Then again go West.

In this room there's a door leading North.
Load crossbow with broad arrows, face right, then go North.
A strong spinning demon attacks from right. Shoot it.

Go West.
There are two strong guards here. Kill them with arrows.

And now, go West, and you'll bump into a locked door.
Use the Medium Metal Key to unlock the door, and enter.

Now, be careful.
There's a woman in red dress here.
She will approach you, and will attack you with some kind of a blade weapon.
But do not harm her.
Instead, you must give her enough items, so that she will calm down.
The minimum amount seems to be two drinks.
But do not hesitate to give more.
If the drinks don't seem to work, then start giving treasures.
Eventually she will calm down.
Then talk to her, and she gives you the Gold Key.
This Gold Key will open the door to Gessler's Throne Room.

Now, go back East and East.
In this room there's one-way exit to the East.
Go through it, and then go North.
You're now in the "prisoner hall" again.
Go East, and then North.
This is the painting hall.
Go East and North.
Now you're in "East Courtyard".
Go West, West, West.
Now you're in "West Courtyard".
Go North and West.

And Now:
the West exit of this room leads to "Gessler's Room".
So walk to the West door, and use the Gold Key to unlock it.
Then ready yourself for the final battle, and enter the room...

When you enter, the fight will start right away without any introductions.
Gessler will quickly walk next to you, and starts attacking with two daggers.
But don't worry, his attacks won't do much damage. Although he hits quite fast.
The only problem you have, is to decide which weapon you'll use to kill him.
And you have two options for that:
1. Shoot him right away. One broad arrow or two sharp arrows will be enough to
drop him.
2. Use the Short Sword. This is the only melee weapon that will work against
him, because he will constantly move next to you.

This fight can end up in two ways. In the first case Gessler can die right
away. This happens if you manage to hit him so hard, that his life bars goes to
zero. This is possible to achieve by certain arrow/melee attack combinations.
In the second and more common case, Gessler will surrender once his health
gets low enough.

If the fight ends up in Gessler's surrender, then William Tell decides to
humiliate him by trying to shoot an apple placed on his head. You can then
either shoot the apple, or "accidentally" hit Gessler instead, which kills him.
In both cases you'll finish the game. Although hitting the apple will give you
much more points.

...

So, Gessler has now been defeated!
He used to be a rich man, an arrogant lord, and a curse to the land.
And he angered us all, but nobody had the courage to oppose him.
But then he angered Tell, and took an arrow to the knee. :D

So, well done and congratulations!
You have now completed "Crossbow - The Legend of William Tell".


......
......
......



===============================================================================
===============================================================================
===============================================================================


So, this is the end of our guide for the Amiga version of Crossbow.

Thanks to You for reading this guide, and thanks to all those people who made
this game. I hope all of you people out there have enjoyed playing this nearly
forgotten cult classic as much as I have.

This game told the tale of William Tell, a man whose heroic struggle against
overwhelming odds is a good example for us all.
So, try to live your lives like Tell did:
Be the master of your own destiny, and never bow down to Gessler's hat.

....
....
....

If you have any questions regarding this guide, or if you want to check out
some freeware games and programs that I have made, then visit my website at:
------------------------------
http://m484games.ucoz.com
------------------------------

M is the name, 484 the game.


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