Good point...I've been thinking about unifying the controls, but I'm also afraid it would make the game too simplistic, taking agency out of the player. Wouldn't it? It's a simple game, but maybe that would make it way too simple? Not sure on that.
In regards to the rope, you're supposed to cut the ropes to activate the mechanisms preventing your progress. It's simple puzzle, but the engine I wrote didn't predict much in the way of puzzles. Maybe an expanded version will have better ones.
For audio, you will need a OLP2LPT - http://www.serdashop.com/OPL2LPT; I'm working already on also supporting Covox Speech Thing clones (like the CVX4: www.serdashop.com/CVX4), but that will have to wait. At one point, there was PC Speaker audio, but it was annoying, so I took out - it might come back tho. I actually bought a Sound Blaster compatible card solely for the purpose of supporting it, only to discover my Desktop doesn't have a PCI slot (facepalm).
Thanks for the feedback!
(Disclaimer: I have sort of a "partnership" with Serdaco; but would support it regardless, since I want new and fresh stuff coming out of the retro community)