GANDALF THE SORCERER
FULL FAQ

Author: Sashanan (sashanan@hetnet.nl)
Date: 2 Novemember 2000
Version: 1.0

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This document is copyright 2000 Sashanan. All rights reserved.

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You are not allowed to:

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this FAQ without giving proper credit. This is considered plagiarism.


=================
TABLE OF CONTENTS
=================

- About this FAQ
- Overall description
- Controls
- Game components
- Tactics
- Revision history
- Final words


===========================================================================
ABOUT THIS FAQ
===========================================================================

I guess I've always been a Commodore 64 addict. It's the machine that
got me started on playing computer games, and some of its games have
left a lasting impression on me. One of those games is Gandalf the
Sorcerer, and you're now reading my FAQ on it.

Gandalf the Sorcerer is fairly complicated for a Commodore action game.
There are quite a few things to keep in mind while playing, and in the
later stages, you always find yourself needing to be everywhere at
once. This FAQ is meant to help you make most of the game. I cannot
guarantee you will finish the game with it; I never did, and I'm not
even sure there is an ending. But it will help you understand the
basics, and hopefully improve your play enough to boost your scores.

Note that I never had the manual to this game and I've never been able
to track one down. Therefore, I do not know the storyline. For example,
I'm referring to the attacking monster hordes as "trolls". Perhaps the
designers called them something else, like orcs, ogres, lizardmen,
Draconians, or something creepier. I don't know.
Should you have a copy of the manual, you could do me a big favour by
sending me the text! My E-mail address is sashanan@hetnet.nl.

This FAQ is divided into four sections. First comes the overall game
description, in which I explain the basics. After that, I discuss the
game's controls, which are fairly complicated for a Commodore game.
Then comes the detailed game components section, in which I describe
every single part of the game, one by one, giving as many details as I
know. The last section, game tactics, puts it all together. Here I
describe what I think is the best way to go about playing the game.


===========================================================================
OVERALL DESCRIPTION
===========================================================================

We take control of a robed wizard named Gandalf, a name that should
be familiar to Lord of the Rings fans. Gandalf has a castle of his own
and three princesses, who seem to spend most of their time cooking. I
guess that's one way to cut down on the personnel budget. The castle
is perfectly symmetrical, consisting of two floors and two towers.
In front of the castle is a large field, and monstrous hordes of trolls
are advancing on the castle from there. Their aim? To force open the
gate, kidnap one of the princesses, and drag her back to their lair,
quite possibly to eat her. Or perhaps to sacrifice her to one dark god
or another. There are other possibilities we probably don't even want
to think about. Whatever it is, though, it isn't pretty, and our job
is to prevent it from happening.

If the trolls manage to drag one of your princesses away, never fear -
the second one will take her place, and after that, the third one.
However, if all the princesses are captured, the game is over. Also,
the game is over if Gandalf is slain by the enemy. (Presumably they
won't have any trouble getting to the rest of the princesses if this
happens!)

From the relative safety of his castle, Gandalf can fire bolts of
lightning at his enemies. Unfortunately, his powers are far from
unlimited. For every shot, Gandalf loses a point of power, and when
he runs out, no more shooting. Gandalf can recharge his powers by
aiming his wand at a bright star burning in the night sky, for which
he has to visit one of the towers. Of course, while Gandalf is busy
recharging, he can't be shooting at trolls, so some will eventually
get through.

If too many trolls escape the wrath of Gandalf's magic, they will
force open the castle gate, and one will run in to snatch the princess.
All is not lost, because Gandalf can venture outside at this point,
kill the princess' captors and escort her back inside before the
enemies can retaliate. This is, however, a very risky move, because
now the trolls can fight back using their deadly fire breath.

If a horde of trolls is wiped out entirely, Gandalf wins - for now.
A more vicious horde is already underway, featuring faster, stronger
and smarter trolls. Your goal is to fight off the trolls as long as
you can, before you are ultimately overwhelmed.


===========================================================================
CONTROLS
===========================================================================

The Commodore 64 has a joystick with only a single fire button, which
somewhat limits the possible combinations. You use the joystick to
either move Gandalf around, or fire his lightning spell.

To aim your spell, simply move the joystick in the desired direction to
move your targeting cursor. When you're at the top floor of the
castle, you can aim at the fields outside. On the bottom floor, you
can only aim at targets which are also on the bottom floor. Outside,
you can aim anywhere.

To fire your spell, simply tap the fire button. A bolt of lightning is
fired and impacts at the location of your targeting cursor. Your
targeting is then reset, and you will have to acquire a new target.
You cannot fire more than one spell at a time.

To move Gandalf around, press and hold the fire button, then move the
joystick. In the castle, you can only move left and right. When you
go through one of the doors at the sides of the castle, you can
switch floors by moving the joystick up or down. You can also exit
the castle through the main gate by standing in front of it, pushing
the fire button and moving the joystick up. This is only possible if
the gate is open.

Outside, you can move Gandalf in four diagonal directions (horizontal
and vertical movement is not possible). You can only exit this screen
by entering the castle through the main gate again. (In fact, as you
will see, even coming near one of the other edges can be very
dangerous.)

Note that Gandalf cannot move if he is currently targeting a spell.
You must either fire or return his pending spell to his hand before he
can move again.
Another thing to keep in mind is that your spell automatically returns
to you if you stop targeting. This makes pinpointing a target
(particularly a quick moving one) tricky. Fortunately, your spells
having limited homing capabilities - once you align your sights on a
target, your cursor will automatically track the target for a limited
time. You should use this time to fire, of course!
If Gandalf has run out of power, he cannot fire any spells until he
has recharged his magic. You can still target, but pressing the fire
button will do nothing. You still need to return your cursor to
Gandalf before he can move again, so it's wise not to waste time
targeting when you cannot fire anyway.


===========================================================================
GAME COMPONENTS
===========================================================================

GANDALF
Our main character, a wizard in white robes. He starts with a power
attribute of 50, and spends one point of power whenever he fires a
spell. He can also lose power if he is struck by lighting (8) or bitten
by a poisonous spider (all power lost). Gandalf can recharge his power
in one of the towers of the castle.
Gandalf changes in colour as he loses power, so you can see quickly
what his status is like, without having to look up the number at the
top of the screen. The colour coding is as follows:

POWER	COLOUR
41-50	white
31-40	yellow
21-30	green
11-20	light blue
0-10	dark blue

Gandalf can die in two different ways. First, if he is bitten by the
spider when he has no power at all, he dies. (This happens most often
when the spider manages to bite you twice in a row. The first bite
reduces you to 0 power, the second kills you.)
Gandalf is also killed if a troll hits him with his fiery breath when
he ventures outside, regardless of remaining power. For this reason,
it's important to be careful outside.

PRINCESS
The one we're trying to keep alive. She can always be found cooking
one thing or another in the lower left portion of the castle. If the
trolls manage to invade the castle, they will snatch her away from
there and you will have to rescue her. If you succeed, she will return
to her cooking as if nothing happened. If the trolls manage to get
away with the princess, a new one will take her place at the cooking
pot.
The three princesses are colour coded as well. The first one is yellow,
the second is red and the third (and last) is white. They all act the
same. If all three are lost, the game is over, even if Gandalf
survives.

If a princess is dragged outside and you kill the troll dragging her
away (which can only be done if you go outside as well, you won't see
her and her captor from inside), she will stand in place, waiting for
you to take her hand and escort her back to the gate. Another troll
can move on to capture her at this point, or you can jump in, grab her
hand and lead her back to the castle. Personally, I'd go for the
latter.

TROLLS
The trolls come in different colours depending on level. The first
are green, but they go through all sort of colours in later stages.
Trolls appear from the forests around the castle, walk out into the
marshalling field before it, then advance on the gate. When they
disappear from sight, they line up at the gate in an attempt to force
it open. When enough trolls reach the gate (how many depends on the
level), they can force it open and one will come in to snatch the
princess.

If and when you venture outside, trolls become far more dangerous.
One will be dragging the princess away, and if you kill him, a new one
will try to move in to get her. Meanwhile, up to three other trolls
will do everything in their power to prevent you from getting the
princess back to safety. Every troll has the ability to breathe
scorching fire at you. One hit, and you're history! Should you be hit
while you were escorting the princess back to the castle, she is
toasted as well (not that it makes a difference, you lose either way).

If you kill a troll from the second floor of the castle, he'll leave
gold behind. If you kill a troll who came inside, or kill one while
you are outside, no gold appears.

THE GATE
At the start of each level, the castle gate is closed. As trolls
manage to escape the fury of your magic and reach the gate, they will
attempt to force it open. Whether they succeed depends purely on how
many trolls get through and what stage you are playing, there is no
time factor involved. Even if it looks like the trolls almost have it
open, they cannot actually force the gate until they get more backup.

When they finally open the gate, the trolls will send one of their
people forward to snatch the princess. If you're quick, you can kill
him inside the castle. This somehow demoralizes the rest of the bunch,
as the gate slams closed and they will have to start all over again to
open it.

If the trolls manage to drag the princess outside, the gate remains
open so you have a chance to go after them. If you get the princess
back to safety, the gate will close behind you. If the trolls escape
with the princess, the gate also shuts as the next princess appears.

THE SPIDER
By far the most annoying enemy in the entire game, the spider is not
interested in the princess at all. He's coming for you, and you only.
About halfway the first stage, the first spider appears outside. If
you're quick, you can kill him there, but new ones will appear. One
will eventually reach the gate. Although the spider cannot help the
trolls to open it, he'll slip inside as soon as they manage to lift it
even a bit, at which point he'll hide in one of the towers, only to
come dashing out and attacking you at the least opportune moment.

If the spider touches you, you lose all your power instantly, and need
to recharge in one of the towers. If the spider touches you and you
had no power to begin with, Gandalf will crumble into a heap, and
that's that. No second chances with this guy.

It's tough to kill the spider when he's already inside, because he's
small, fast and hard to target. Even if you do kill him, a new one
will appear almost immediately. You'll have to resign yourself to the
fact that, especially in the later stages, there will almost always be
a spider running loose in your castle. Just be thankful there is only
one at a time.

In later stages, the spider becomes quicker and quicker, and also
spends less time lurking in the darkness of your towers. He'll come
out more often.

The spider cannot harm you while you're in a tower, but he can attack
you both on the first and the second floor. If you're stationary or
moving towards him while he bites you, you suffer only one hit. Be
very careful when you run away from him, because if you're moving away
from the spider as he touches you, he'll touch you twice in a row,
which means instant death.

THE BRIGHT STAR
Gandalf will often run out of power from shooting at trolls (not to
mention being struck by lightning or bitten by spiders). He can
recharge his wand by moving closer to the bright star shining in the
sky. Moving into either of the two towers allows Gandalf to regain his
power.

However, recharging from the star takes time, which is usually a
precious commodity in this game. In later stages, recharging usually
means allowing the princess to be captured and giving the spider a free
entry into the castle. You have no choice but to recharge when you
can, though.

Note that you cannot recharge from the star if The Annoying Cloud (tm)
is in front of it.

THE ANNOYING CLOUD
If the spider wins the "most annoying feature of Gandalf the Sorcerer"
award, the cloud gets the honorable mention. Moving slowly from left
to right, the cloud is there for no other purpose than to make the
game more difficult in two ways.

First, the cloud blocks your ability to recharge magic when it is in
front of the bright star. That means even more time wasted waiting for
it to go away, and as you'll know after a game or two, wasting time
can be fatal in this game.

Second, the cloud just loves striking you with lightning. Occasionally,
but often enough to be very annoying, a lightning bolt is sent your
way when you're on the second floor. There's nothing to do about this.
If you are struck, you lose 8 power points, and you are immobilized
for a few precious seconds. The lightning can never kill you; if you
were already at power 7 or below, you are simply reduced to 0.

If you happen to be struck by lightning and attacked by the spider
simultaneously, the game is actually merciful. The spider will pass
through you as if you aren't there.

The cloud's greatest annoyance comes when the princess is captured,
because it will move in front of the bright star, and stop right
there. That means you cannot recharge until you rescue the princess.
Of course, if you're at power 0 when it happens (as the spider is
quite happy to ensure), that means you are powerless to do anything!
You cannot save the princess without recharging, and cannot recharge
without saving the princess. There are a number of very nasty words
for such a situation.
There is one way around it, though - if you go outside, then
immediately back inside, the cloud will move again. Of course, by
the time you are recharged and ready to save the princess, the trolls
have probably escaped with her. Besides, there's always the slight
risk of being scorched immediately upon exiting the castle if a troll
happens to be near the door.

GOLD
A troll killed from the second floor will leave gold behind. At the
end of each stage, when the trolls run out, all gold is magically
collected, but this form of collection seems to destroy some of the
gold. You get more if you collect the gold manually when you are
outside. Of course, this is a risky approach, but it results in far
more points, especially if the grounds are thick with gold.

GANDALF'S WAND
Whether you are inside or outside, your targeting cursor automatically
returns to you if you stop targeting. If you fire, it normally returns
to you as well. There is one exception and that is when you fire while
you're outside, and miss. In this case, the cursor will remain in
place where you fired, and you cannot fire again until you collect it!
I'm not sure why this is, but it's a very important thing to remember.
Try not to miss outside, and keep your shots relatively close to
yourself so you don't have to cross the entire screen to pick up your
wand if you do miss. (Of course, don't let the trolls come too
close either!)
If you go inside without collecting your wand, it'll automatically
come to you when you enter the castle.

THE STRANGE LLAMA
At certain points during a level, a very quick, yellow llama crosses
the screen horizontally. This always happens at the end of a level,
and sometimes during the level as well. I don't know if this has any
relevance or not. Perhaps you get some kind of bonus for hitting a
llama, but I never managed to. If you find out, please let me know.


===========================================================================
TACTICS
===========================================================================

I have arranged this section as a bunch of loose hints and tactics.
This kind of game does not allow for a true walkthrough. If you have
anything to add to the tactics outlined below, please drop me a mail.
I'll be happy to add any constructive hints, with full credit given.

- The intensity with which trolls approach varies. When it looks like
there is a temporary break in the enemy attack, seize the opportunity
to snatch a few power points from the bright star. You need them.

- When hunting the spider, don't bother to recharge to power 50
every time. If he'll bite you, you're back at 0 anyway. Rather,
recharge to 6-10 or so and try to beat him. If you manage it, you can
recharge then (but be quick about it, new spiders come quickly!)

- This should go without saying, but you should always recharge fully
between levels, while the computer is automatically collecting your
gold.

- Whenever you are outside, clear any monsters near the entrance
before you reenter the castle. They will still be there when you come
out the next time if you don't, and may scorch you before you have
a chance to do anything. Even if you do keep the entry clear, poor
luck may still kill you here. In other words, don't go outside unless
you need to.

- If the trolls are about the force the gate open, stand in front of
it and hold the fire button. Upon entering, the troll will immediately
be killed and the gate is fully closed again.

- Always keep an eye on the spider. Always. You must always know if
there is one in the castle, and if so, which tower he is currently in.
Then stay away from that side of the castle.

- The spider is your priority target as long as it's outside, try to
keep it out. Once it's in, hunt it when you can, but don't let it
distract you from your main goal, which is keeping the trolls out.
There is only one spider at a time, and as long as you can elude it,
it won't do any harm. In the earlier stages of the game, you can
actually outrun it. Later on, you'll have to stay as far away from it
as possible.

- When hunting the spider inside, go to the other side of the castle
and drag your targeting cursor along the bottom in the direction of
the spider. Don't rest it at the door of the tower you are expecting
him to emerge from, it won't hit that way. You must acquire and fire
when he appears, not before.

- If you cannot avoid the spider, don't run away from him, or you might
suffer a double hit. Stand still or move towards him. Best of all,
stand still and try to pick him off with a spell close by. The chances
are slim, but it's better than nothing.

- Take the opportunity to snatch gold when you're outside, but don't
overdo it. Particularly, stay away from the edges of the screen where
new trolls may appear. In the earlier stages, you may wish to allow
the trolls to capture the princess, just to have an opportunity to
go outside and snatch gold. This is too dangerous in the later stages
(although at that point, you probably won't be able to prevent the
trolls from getting the princess anyway).

- Fire carefully outside. Make every shot count, and try not to run
out of power. Remember that trolls only get replaced as you kill
other ones, so if they are all far away, don't bother fighting them.
Only kill those trolls you need to kill and leave the rest alone. Also,
get back inside as soon as possible!

- Do what you can to rescue a capture princess, but don't overdo it.
There are three princesses, but only one Gandalf. Only defend the
last one with your life.

- Don't bother trying to hide in the towers or on the first floor to
avoid being struck by lightning. There's no telling when it will
strike, no good way to avoid it, and you can't afford to be away from
the second floor for too long. The cloud is on the screen more often
than not, and you'll just have to risk it.


===========================================================================
REVISION HISTORY
===========================================================================

v1.0: (2 Nov '00) First version of the FAQ.

This may very well be the final version of the FAQ, as I've revealed
just about everything I know about the game. Any future revisions will
probably consist of spelling corrections, perhaps a few things I've
forgotten, and any additions and corrections I may receive.

===========================================================================
FINAL WORDS
===========================================================================

For questions, comments, suggestions, praise and criticism, contact the
author, Sashanan, at sashanan@hetnet.nl. Any serious mail will be answered.
Please put "Your Gandalf the Sorcerer FAQ" or something like that in the
topic.

If you wish to do anything with this FAQ except for just reading it, check
the Disclaimer section at the top of the FAQ to find out what you can and
can't do.

I have a small RPG review/walkthrough site called Sashy's RPG Temple at
http://come.to/sashy, feel free to check it out.

"Much that I bound, I could not free. Much that I freed returned to me."
(Lee Wilson Dodd)

This document copyright 2000, Sashanan. All rights reserved.
