Welcome to STAR OF THE  STARS,  stranger!  This  is  a  game of what some people call
"interactive fiction". The idea is that it should  be just like reading a story, only
YOU get to decide what the hero (or antihero) will do next. It is quite simple - just
read through the opening plot above,  decide  what you want your character to do, and
write down the following on  a postcard  or a piece of paper  (and put it in an enve-
lope):
- The game number and your name.
- The name of the branch point (see below).
- The number of your choice (or in  the  case  of  deciding what to do with  objects,
just write e.g. "wear the blaster" or "leave the cloak").

You may wonder what a branch point is. It is simply a point in the plot where you make
a decision. Branch points have names because  that is supposed to make it a bit easier
to find out what you want to do. The branch  point above is called HOME, so you should
write something like this:



Star of the Stars game 7 - John Doe 

Branch point HOME                   

Keep wallet, cloak and diskette.    

Wear button and blaster.            

Option 2.                           



That is, of course, assuming that  this  is  what  you want to do. Unlike interactive
books, S.O.T.S. also gives you  the  additional  option  "none  of the above". At any
branch point, if you can think  of  an  optional  action  that  isn't listed, you may
choose to do that  instead.  Just  describe  clearly  what  you want to do instead of
giving an option number. For example:



Star of the Stars game 7 - John Doe     

Branch point HOME                       

Keep wallet and cloak.                  

Wear button.                            

Go to the neighbour farm and propose to 

the farmer's daughter.                  



Special choices may lead  to  unexpected  results,  or  just  the  same as some other
action, or it may not work at  all.  The  only  way  to  find  out is to try and see.
Particularly inventive special actions and their  results may be included in the game
permanently, so that the next player  who comes  this  way  will find your suggestion
listed as one of the standard choices.  The  writer of this mess is also working more
or less continously on this game, adding  new  parts  whenever he gets an idea (well,
almost!), so the game keeps growing all  the  time  (well, almost!!), and if you play
the game again after a while you  may  find  a  whole  new galaxy where your previous
character only found a dead end!

  By the way, on your first turn you may also try to think up a name for your charac-
ter. The most visible effect of this will be that the character's name appears in the
heading "The adventures of ---",  but  there  may  also be occasions when the name is
used in the text. To choose a name, just add a line to your first turn, e.g. "Name my
character Flush Gorgon" (If you are  restarting  after  your first character died, he
will automatically get  the  old  character's  name  with  the addition of the suffix
"jr.". If you don't want that, you can just  rename your character). NOTE: You should
pick a male name, as the current version  of  the  game does not permit characters of
different sex (I'll have  enough  trouble  with  the  programming  without that extra
option, I think..!)

  Send your card to the address below. If  you're  in  a hurry, you can also phone in
your order, but there are some  limitations  to that option. First of all there is an
extra fee. Second, you can only use numbered choices, so more complicated turns (like
this starting turn, where you  make  several  decisions)  and the "none of the above"
option are not accepted. The information that will be accepted verbally is limited to
game number, your name (not the character's), the branch point and the number of your
choice.

                    Mailing address:
                              * Star of the Stars *
                              Ragnar Fyri
                              Idunns vei 15
                              1386  ASKER, Norway

                    Phone number (5PM-9PM): Norway 66 79 74 XX