Romance, legends, pageantry and panoply, the stories of the Round Table have it all. For hundreds of years people unquestioningly accepted King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot du Lac and even the Lady of the Lake as historical persons. Today, while few historians would admit to being swayed by Romance, the search for the "true" site of Camelot continues. And, in the past year, no fewer than two popular books have been published on who "was" King Arthur and the other personages who figure in the legends which, all together, make up what is known as "The Matter of Britain."
Whether or not Arthur existed, there is no doubt that the tournament -- and the joust -- was a popular form of medieval entertainment. While the Church many times attempted to outlaw it, the pure savagery of combat, of "tilting in the lists" was somehow tempered by this belief in a past that perhaps never was. For the participants, as well as the spectators, the joust became a Philosopher's Stone that could transfigure all involved into golden legends brought to life in their own time and realm.
And so today through the magick of the Macintosh we ask you to participate once again in The Lists. Raise your pavilions, unfurl your banners, couch your lances and hold onto your mice. The heralds are sounding their horns and the Tournament is about to begin!
THE SIGN-IN SCREEN
The first screen that appears is more important to gameplay than might be obvious. Make certain that you fill out the two text fields that are in the two large banners.
As with any HyperCard screen you can switch between fields and highlight them with the Tab key. Or, simply move the browse pointer and use normal Mac double-clicks to highlight.
Where you enter your name, please enter it in a form similar to "Sir Whoever" or perhaps "John of Wherever." And, don't forget to enter the name of your Lady in the second field. If all goes well you may wind up with a handsome certificate with which you can show everyone your prowess, gallantry -- and, yes, chivalry. But even then be humble, for a knight's true reward is simply gaining honor in his own eyes.
To the lower right of that screen are three pictorial icons. The first icon sends you here, the second one sends you into playing the game, and the third one will take you to both shareware pleas and dedicatory thank yous. Press the center icon to begin TILTing.
THE COMBAT SCREEN
There are an awful lot of choices on the next screen! Well, a knight had to have brains as well as brawn; he had to be able to grasp complex tactics as tightly as he could a lance.
The two main columns of choices are labeled "Aiming Points" and "Defense Tactics." You'll need to make a choice in each column before proceeding.
Aiming points are the various areas you want to try to hit on the opposing knight. Defense tactics are the manner of riding that you will choose so as to avoid having your opponent score on an area he has targeted on your own armored but still vulnerable-to-pain body.
Choosing a defense tactic can be simple -- or complex. There are many considerations. Some are more obvious than others and all are factored into the Combat Results Table (called a CRT). For example, if you lean to the right your lance will extend over the lists (the central wall between the two, mounted combatants) which will mean that it is very difficult for your opponent to hit your helm or crest, but it does leave the right, or dexter, side of your shield well exposed.
Likewise, your aiming point will have a heavy influence on the result of the combat depending on how your computer opponent has chosen to position "him"self. You can aim at the crest on his helm all day, but it's a pretty small target compared to the shield -- unless he happens to be leaning just right.
To make a choice you may click on either the radio button associated with a choice, the label, or on the pictorial icon. Clicking on any of these three spots per choice will highlight that choice's radio button.
I will be making the CRT the game is based upon available separately from this
"stack" via MAUG(tm) and other user groups. But I would advise that much of the fun of the simulation will be had in trying out various combinations and noting which ones work well and figuring out why. After all, a knight very seldom would refer to a cheatsheet. (Of course you can also look at the CRT message handlers in the background script area but perish the thought.)
On the lower right of that screen are the various icons again to take you here or to the shareware plea. Or, at the top right of the screen, you can quit to Home. Of
course, a knight who runs home will never become King.
Along the right hand side of that Combat screen you will note a knight who has obviously seen better days. He might be the loser, or even the winner, of a particularly rowdy tilting. After all, jousting was one of the first contact sports.
Luckily, at least the central portion of the battered knight's shield has survived. Click on his shield and you will accept the aiming point and defense tactic choices you have made and then automatically move on to the...
JOUST SCREENS
These screens are the heart and soul of TILT! and are where the "action" takes place. On each screen is a pictorial representation of your opponent's defense tactic position, a dialog box which tells what is happening in a sort of "local color" manner, and two boxes which give the cumulative scores you have made and those made against you.
There are six Joust screens, each one with the opponent arrayed in one of the six defensive tactical positions you chose from in the previous screen. Here's where you find out if your aiming points were ducked out of or ridden into.
The first two lines of the large Results box will detail where your opponent has aimed on your mortal form. After a few seconds of calculations you will see whether or not you or your opponent, or both, were successful in breaking a lance upon the other's armor. The Results box will also detail when a crest has been torn from a helmet, when a rider has been unhorsed, and if a rider commits a foul
(such as hitting the wall or, most foul of all, hitting the opponent's horse.)
What does all this mean? Well, the Joust had a very formalized set of rules. The game of TILT! is based upon a subset of those rules of jousting put forth in the year 1466 by Sir John Piptoft.
In the course of a Tournament you will have to fight at least three passages of arms (called jousts or tilts) against an opponent. In this two-person Tournament your job will be to vanquish the Silicon Knight.
The Tournament will, basically, be decided as the best two out of three of these passages of arms with each passage being decided as follows:
1) A Joust will continue until one knight breaks three lances on his opponent or else until one of the combatants is unhorsed.
2) Unhorsing an opponent is the highest possible point, WITH THE CONTESTANT UNHORSING HIS OPPONENT THE MOST TIMES DECLARED THE WINNER OF THE OVERALL TOURNEY.
3) Otherwise, he who strikes and tears away the crest of the helm the most times is declared winner of the Tournament.
4) Otherwise he who breaks the most lances in the three Jousts that make up the Tournament is the winner.
5) In the event of a tie, the judges shall choose as best they may.
But beware of penalties, such as:
1) Any knight striking the wall shall lose one lance from his total score.
2) Any knight striking horse shall be instantly expelled from the tournament.
So, you and your siliconized but chivalric opponent will joust three times in the course of the usual tournament. Each joust will last through at least three passages of arms (unless you or your opponent strike horse!) and likely many more.
In the score boxes, updated after each Joust, you will see how many Crests you and your oppoent have each won so far in the tournament, and how many times you have unhorsed each other. You'll also see how many total lances you and he have gained in the tournament and how many in just the present passage of arms (as when one of the knights reaches three lances, as per above, that passage is over).
When you finish a passage of arms please mouse up to the small banner which reads "FIGHT ON" and click upon it. That will take you either back to the Combat Screen to prepare yourself for the next passage of arms, or to various dialog boxes if you have won either a Joust or the complete Tournament.
Note that it is completely possible, even likely, that you can win more passages of arms and still lose the tournament. That is because the medieval judges felt that unhorsing an opponent was much more impressive than simply splintering your lance upon him. As jousts were practice for war this makes much sense. Grabbing another lance from your squire or off a body was far easier than trying to get up from the ground wearing a full suit of armor.
If you do win the Tournament, get your printer ready for a beautiful certificate, suitable for framing.
And before we play, let's let Edmund Spenser set the mood from Canto II of his classic FAERIE QUEENE:
