~Thunderscape

Collection of tips, all obtained via the Internet.



~I've been in the troll caves for quite some time, I am not sure
~where else to explore (with that confusing map, I keep going to the
~same places over and over again!), and have no idea where the king 
~is.


There is a concealed passageway slightly to the east of the crevice.  
You have to find a rockslide and open up the passageway.  Then there 
is a barred door.  Go through and around north and west until you are 
on the other side of the crevice.



~Is it just me or are the keys next to impossible to find?
~I've searched throughout the mountains and I can't seem to find any
~other key except the Troll's gate key.  I've found some cool weapons
~and what not but no keys.  Reading over the manual it says the 
~places that you haven't found yet don't show up on the automap.. 
~Well, it seems like everything on the map is lit up.  I can't tell 
~where I have been or haven't been.. What are the little green spaces 
~on the floors?  I know which ones are the doors but what are these 
~little green ones?  The first few secret doors were very easy to 
~see, and now that I am in the mountain I can't seem to find any 
~more.  I know it's hard to explain where things are, but I need 
~some keys bad.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.


The green squares on the automap are actually monsters.  I only clued 
in when I checked the automap repeatedly and noticed the green 
squares moved!

As for the other keys I can't give exact directions to where the 
other two are, however they are in the same room.  To get to this 
area you need to find a spot where there is a pit and it looks like 
there is no way across.  I've diagrammed it below 
 
` _____
` | P _Y   (you can usually see Mantis's at Y)
` | P |
`--  --
`   X

Okay, the problem is you are at X, and there is no way across the 
pit, P, to point Y because of the L shape of the corridor.  However, 
if you look closely at the wall to the right of the pit you will 
notice a small ledge.  Crouch down to help see the ledge.  This ledge 
can actually be walked on and this is how you can reach Y.  From that 
point I continued exploring and managed to find the two keys.  There 
are several caved in walls and secret blocks that need to be moved 
before the keys can be found.  One good tip, use the keys to move and 
leave the mouse cursor in the middle of the 3D window.  It changes to 
a hand when it moves across a secret passage.

I noticed in a previous post that someone said there wasn't anything
interesting in the Troll's caverns.  I disagree and here's a few of 
the neat things I've found so far:

Brede's Katana  +25 to sword skill,double damage to demonic creatures
Blood Staff     +25 to pole arms, resist poisoning
Magic Staff     +25 to pole arms
Skull Splitter  +25 to Axes/Maces, improves chances of critical hit

A couple of chain shirts, leggings and helmets.

By the way, the $50 fee at the store to identify items is well worth 
it as they really spell out what an item does.  I really like to see 
this as part of the fun is finding neat item X and looking at it's 
stats rather then spend half the game wondering what the heck it does 
and is it any better then item Y.

					       (Gerald Nunn)


~Beginner's Tips

Thunderscape is the best game I've played since Arena.  That's the 
highest regard I can pay it.  And unlike Arena, there doesn't seem 
to be any SERIOUS bugs.  I've only had the game lockup on me once 
in about 12 hours of play.  I've put together a few tips to help 
you get started with the game.  Be careful in the following areas...

In Finea's store, the BUY/SELL buttons behave incorrectly if you 
temporarily leave the screen (like to view a character's inventory) 
and then exit back to the store screen.  I think the SCREEN always 
shows you the button the way you last left it, but I think  
internally the program must RESET the buy/sell function value each 
time you return to this screen, so that it's EXTREMELY easy to 
accidentally BUY something that the button says you are selling!  
This is also a problem if you leave the store, and then come back 
INTO the store... the BUY/SELL (and IDENTIFY button as well) will 
be lit (if it was lit when you left) but the program thinks they're 
NOT lit, etc.  The ONLY solution is to click the buy/sell button 
AT LEAST THREE TIMES before you begin to buy/sell something at the 
stores.  This will eventually cause the program to "catch up" to the
visible indication of how the button looks on the screen.

In the Troll Caverns, it's annoying to have to fight a Rock Lizard 
that's on the OTHER SIDE of a wall, but it's not a critical bug.  
You can't SEE the lizard on the other side of the wall, and 
apparantely it can't HIT you, but you can hit IT!  Just keep  
swingin' at the dirt wall! :)

In the Troll Caverns, be VERY VERY careful when you see some text 
on the screen that says something about a "rockslide" or "cave-in".  
This means that part of the walls BEHIND you have collapsed.  Later, 
when you go to EXIT this area, you'll see your path is blocked by a 
rock wall.  When you click on the wall, the game will ask if you 
want to CLEAR the loose rubble, yes or no.  If you say NO... you're 
screwed!  The game will NEVER ask you again, and there is usually 
no other way out of that area!  I don't think this is a bug per se, 
but just a poor decision on someone's part.  I'm usually CONSTANTLY 
clicking on walls as I move, and when this question came up I 
accidentally clicked NO before I knew I was even doing it!  I lost 
a lot of valuable spelunking when I realized there was no other way 
out, and the program would not let me clear the rubble.

Have Bert use his MIGHT BLOW option during combat.  During the first 
few levels of the game, this will almost GUARANTEE a "knockout punch" 
when Bert comes "up to bat".  This may only be true if you have your 
Combat Difficulty set to the EASY notch that's one notch BELOW the 
first Medium difficulty setting.  In the README file and you'll 
notice that the difficulty slider is actually a number between 1-100, 
although it only shows EASY/MEDIUM/etc on the screen.

UNDOCUMENTED FEATURES(?)  At least I haven't seen these documented 
anywhere.  You can actually LOOK UP and LOOK DOWN by using the Page 
Up and Page Down buttons... but you CAN'T use the PgUp and PgDn keys 
on the numberpad!  Those are used for movement only, as shown on 
page 5.  To look up temporarily, press and hold the Page Up key that 
is to the LEFT of the numberpad.  After you let up, your view will 
slowly drift back to "center".  Use Page Down to look down.

To view the complete contents of a scroll, pick it up from your 
inventory (or from off the ground) and click it on the USE button 
on the Inventory screen.  If there is more than 2 lines of text, use 
the Down Arrow key that is to the LEFT of the numberpad.

If you ever get stuck having to click on a button while you've got 
something in your hand, like a long sword or a scroll, always use 
the EXTREME TOPMOST EDGE of the "object" to click with.  This seems 
to always be the cursor "hotspot" regardless of whether it's a 
small rock or a long epee! 

AUTOMAP... what can I say?  It sucks!  However, here's my only "tip" 
for map survival: WHEN IN DOUBT, ROTATE THE MAP.  Only the skeletons 
of Vanguard Keep know how this map really works, but WE have to DEAL 
with it.  If you can't tell where you are on the map, click on the 
left or right rotate buttons to SLOWLY move the map a little.  For 
NO REASON WHATSOEVER(tm) the automap will automagically show you 
UPPER levels of a region that you couldn't POSSIBLY have caught a 
glimpse of with your eye, and 99% of the time this new information 
is BLOCKING where your party is standing.  In fact, there are some 
really BAD areas of Troll Cavern that simply can NOT BE SEEN on 
the automap, once the upper levels begin to appear.  I like to 
leave the walls turned ON, and then give the HEIGHTEN/SHORTEN WALLS 
button a SINGLE click, so the walls look more like "guard rails" 
than steep cliffs.

Riddle Buddhas... or whatever they're called.  There are 2 clues to 
solving these 2 riddles.  One clue can be found by reading the 
initial scroll that Thereos gave you at the beginning of the game.  
And clues to solving BOTH riddles can be found scribbled on a cave 
wall above the first Buddha guy.  You can't SEE the scribbling, but 
your cursor changes to a "hand" when over the area.  You can actually
"deduce" the 2nd riddle if you concentrate on the 3rd line of the 
riddle...

Be SURE to explore ALL ALONG THE BEACHES at the beginning of the 
game.  This includes areas UNDERNEATH the bridges and the pier!  
Don't worry... you can't drown!

					      (Brad)


~A complete player's guide wouldn't go amiss, so if you've 
~completed the game and can help out in some of this trickier
~situations then please write in with all your help....