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                       T H E   R O A D   T O   H E L L

                       A Tale of Grief, Fog, and Choice

                              by Rogerio Biondi

                  Engine: PunyInform 6.4.1 / Inform 6
              Targets: ZX Spectrum, C64, CPC, MSX, Amiga, PC

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|                                                                    |
|                  "The road allows no rest.                         |
|                    But it allows choices."                         |
|                                                                    |
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  1. HOW TO RUN THE GAME
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- See the readme.txt file shipped with the game for installation
  and platform instructions.


SAVING AND RESTORING

Use the SAVE and RESTORE commands to save and restore your game,
following the conventions of your platform.



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  2. THE DEATH ROAD
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  There is a place, in the heart of the Bolivian mountains, where
  asphalt surrenders to mud and mud surrenders to the abyss. The
  ancients called it Camino de los Yungas. The world named it the
  Death Road.

  Three and a half meters wide. Twelve hundred meters of fall. A
  single mistake from the driver, a single curve poorly judged,
  and the vehicle disappears into the clouds that sleep below.
  Hundreds of crosses mark the asphalt. Some bear names. Others
  only flowers. Others... well... no one is left to visit them.

  When the fog descends, it does not descend alone. Truckers say
  they hear the engines of buses long gone. That they see passengers
  standing at the curve where the 1983 bus fell. That, on certain
  nights, someone knocks on the passenger window asking to come in.
  And everyone in Bolivia knows: you do not give rides on the Death
  Road.

  The Yungas. Where the mountain whispers. Where Supay walks. Where
  Pachamama remembers her dead.

  It is onto this road that you will set out tonight.


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  3. INTRODUCTION
======================================================================

  Your name does not matter much now. What matters is that your wife,
  Clara, has been dead for eleven weeks. Sunday morning. Drowning,
  the certificate says. Recovered on the shoulder of km 47. You have
  read those two lines a thousand times and they have never made
  sense together.

  There is someone on the other side of the Yungas. A defendant. A
  name on the summons that presses against the inner pocket of your
  coat. The judge asked you to deliver it yourself, by hand. Strange.
  No one else wanted to go. Maybe because it is the Death Road.
  Maybe because the defendant has friends. Maybe because the judge
  does not like you very much.

  The car waits outside, at the zero marker of the Broken Wheel Bar.
  Warm beer on the table, matches, an old newspaper. The briefcase
  with the documents. A photo of Clara, heavy with longing. And,
  three years behind her, the silence of a house with a pool that
  no one enters anymore.

  More than a hundred kilometers of mud, fog, and abyss separate
  you from the defendant. Several stretches with choices. Each
  curve with paths, and none of them safe.

  Some stops will comfort you. Others will not.

  The road is waiting. You are not alone on it.


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  4. HOW TO PLAY
======================================================================

  The Road to Hell is a work of interactive fiction: you talk to the
  game by typing short sentences in English, and the game answers
  with text describing what happens. There are no graphics. Your
  imagination does the heavy lifting, and nothing works better
  than that.

  --- Basic commands ---

    LOOK   or L         Look around
    EXAMINE X  or X X   Look at an object/person in detail
    INVENTORY or I      See what you are carrying
    TAKE X              Pick up X
    DROP X              Drop X
    OPEN X / CLOSE X    Open / close
    READ X              Read
    GIVE X TO Y         Give X to Y
    TALK TO X           Talk to X
    SAVE / RESTORE      Save / restore
    QUIT                Quit

  --- Movement ---

    N, S, E, W          North, South, East, West
    UP, DOWN            Go up, go down
    ENTER X / EXIT      Enter / exit

  --- Driving verbs (in the car) ---

    DRIVE or N          Go ahead
    TURN LEFT or W      Take the left path
    TURN RIGHT or E     Take the right path
    BRAKE or B          Brake
    ACCELERATE or A     Accelerate
    SWERVE or R         Swerve left/right
    PRAY                Pray (in critical moments)

  --- Useful verbs in the world ---

    KNOCK               Knock (on doors)
    BURN X              Burn / light
    EAT X / DRINK X     Eat / drink
    SIT X               Sit
    CARVE               Carve (with a sharp object)
    DIG                 Dig
    SHOOT X / KILL X    Shoot / kill
    FIX                 Reinforce an object
    PULL / PUSH X       Pull / push


  --- Goal ---

    Reach the Defendant's House by 9 a.m. the next morning and
    deliver the summons.


  --- Inner mechanics ---

  The game shows no numbers, but it watches you closely.

    SANITY       Rises with comfort, prayer, and rest. Falls in
                 the face of horror, alcohol, and voices that
                 should not be there. Your sanity changes what
                 you see, read, and recognize. Very low states
                 open dark doors. High states reveal subtle
                 messages.

    GRIEF        Longing has weight. It rises with triggers,
                 falls with small acts of redemption. In some
                 places, grief decides whom you recognize and
                 whom you do not.

    PHYSICAL     Hunger, cold, fatigue, wounds. Take care of
                 the body.

    BALANCE      Each stop tips you toward the light or the
                 darkness. At the end of the road, this balance
                 determines the ending.

  There is no "right path". There is the path you chose.


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  5. ESSENTIAL TIPS
======================================================================

  * EXAMINE EVERYTHING. In interactive fiction, X (EXAMINE) reveals
    more than LOOK. Look at the table. Look at the bench. Examine
    everything you come across.

  * READ EVERYTHING. Letters, newspapers, walls, signs, books.
    Important clues live in the margins. Some only appear when
    you are sane.

  * SAVE OFTEN. Use SAVE before any choice that feels dramatic.
    RESTORE brings you back. This road does not forgive.

  * TAKE NOTES ON PAPER. Like the old days. Names, mileage,
    strange clues, recurring phrases. Draw a map. The game
    rewards those who pay attention.

  * YOUR STATE CHANGES THE GAME. High sanity opens one layer of
    meaning. Low sanity opens another. High grief makes you see
    people and things in a darker light. Low grief makes you
    doubt. Neither the player nor the character can fully trust
    their own eyes.

  * NOT EVERY FAMILIAR FACE IS WHAT IT SEEMS. If something looks
    too good to be there, perhaps it is not.

  * THE PATH ONLY MOVES FORWARD. You cannot return to places
    already visited. Explore each one well, and look for objects
    that may be used elsewhere.

  * KEEP OBJECTS. Items may be used later. They may have more
    than one use. Before spending the last one, think where else
    it might fit.

  * USE THE BRIEFCASE WELL. The briefcase lets you carry more
    than the player can with empty hands. Use it wisely.

  * THE PATHS ARE DIFFERENT. The roads of each stretch, and how
    you travel them, tell different stories. In a single run you
    will not see everything. Play several times and try other
    choices.

  * REPLAY. The game can be finished in a little under an hour
    and has seven different endings. Play several times to
    discover them all.

  * STOP AND PRAY. PRAY is not decorative. At the right moments
    it opens passages that other commands do not.

  * THE CAR IS NOT JUST TRANSPORT. Read the manual in the glove
    compartment. It matters.

  * BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU DRINK, HEAR, OR TURN ON. Some temptations
    cost dearly.

  * TIME MOVES. In some places, lingering kills. Find a quick
    way out.

  * THE END HAS MORE THAN ONE FACE. There is no single ending.
    Everything you did on the road will collect its bill at the
    finish. Or its reward.


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  6. REPORTING BUGS
======================================================================

  Every interactive story has corners the author did not look into.
  If you find a bug, an odd line of text, or behavior that seems
  wrong, your help is welcome.

  --- What to note before reporting ---

    1. Platform and interpreter version
       (e.g., Frotz 2.54 on Linux, Spectaculator on ZX Spectrum,
       VICE on C64, Frotz/Z-machine on PC, etc.)

    2. Game version (release number, if visible)

    3. The exact command you typed
       (copy it verbatim, typos and all)

    4. The description of the place where it happened
       (use LOOK and copy the text)

    5. Your inventory at the time (use INVENTORY)

    6. The steps to reproduce the problem
       (preferably starting from a known SAVE point)

    7. What you expected to happen and what actually happened

    8. If possible, attach the SAVE file from just before the bug

  --- How to report ---

  Visit my page:

       rbiondi.itch.io

  Go to The Road to Hell and leave a private message (PM)
  directly to the author. Private messages are read carefully
  and answered whenever possible.

  Reporting bugs is an act of generosity. Thank you.



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  7. CREDITS
======================================================================

  Design, writing and code:    Rogerio Biondi

  Engine:                      PunyInform 6.4.1
  Language:                    Inform 6
  Targets:                     ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64,
                               Amstrad CPC, MSX, Amiga, PC

  Author page:                 rbiondi.itch.io


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|                                                                    |
|              The road is waiting. Safe travels.                    |
|                                                                    |
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                  (c) Rogerio Biondi - All rights reserved
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