Software Vault: The Games Collection 1

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Text File | 1993-08-05 | 18KB | 446 lines

Choosing a champion After the cinematic introduction, four characters will appear. Click on the portrait of the character you wish to play through- out this adventure. Ak' Shel "Do my looks frighten you? Magic runs strong amongst my people. I may not seem as sturdy as the oth- ers, but I'm far more adept with the various magics of the Lands." Michael "Let's not have any fooling around her. Strong is strong! Trust your instincts on this one. I'm the best fighter of the bunch--a natural!" Kieran "Strength, magic...what good is it all if you can't dodge blows? I'm fast! Quick! If you want to win this quest quickly, you had better pick me." Conrad "I'm the most well-rounded champion for your cause. With all the dangers in the Lands, you will need someone with my adaptability." Page 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adventure screen 3D view The 3D view is the "window" to your adventures in the Lands. Taking items Using items To take an item in-hand from To consume or use an item in- the 3D view or inventory bar, hand, position it over the por- move the mouse pointer over trait of the person you want to the item and left-click (press use it on, and right-click (move the left mouse button). the mouse pointer over the item and press the right Throwing items mouse button). To drink a An object in-hand can be potion, place it in-hand and thrown by left-clicking in the right click it on a character's upper two-thirds of the 3D portrait. The only exception is view. using weapons; see Combat (page 11) for more details. Dropping items An item in-hand can be dropped or placed in the 3D view by clicking in the lower third of the view. Page 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adventure screen Examining the Lands Left-clicking on items, decorations, and scenery in the Lands may reveal valuable hints or hidden items. Tapestries, paintings, and doors are just a few of the things in Gladstone Keep which you can examine by left-clicking. Be sure to fully explore the Lands for clues and lost treasure! Maps of the Lands Once you have acquired the Magic Atlas, you can use it to look up your position. When you find the Atlas, left-click on it. A map will appear. Your current location will be indicated on the map by a flashing arrowhead. Any areas you have explored since finding the Magic Atlas will be shown. The Atlas has two arrow buttons on it. Left-click on the left arrow button to turn to the previous map. Left-click on the right arrow button to turn to the next map. Left- click on the Exit button to return to the Lands. Page 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adventure screen Finding your way in the dark Dungeons and underground caverns are often dark. This can make exploring tricky. You will want to find a lantern as soon as possible. Lanterns automatically provide light when you enter dark areas. As the oil in the lantern is used up, the lantern will begin to dim. You will need to find oil for you lantern if it runs low. Left-click on your lantern to see how much oil remains. Money purse Silver crowns are the standard unit of currency in Gladstone. Page 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adventure screen Portraits Portraits of the characters in your party appear below the 3D view. Left clicking on a character's portrait will bring up his character screen. This screen shows his equipment, skill levels, and ability scores. The two action buttons are for combat and spell-casting. When you click the combat but- ton, the character will attack with whatever weapons are in his hands, or with his bare hands if he is unarmed. When the button is deactivated (grayed), he is recovering from his swing, and will not be able to strike again until the button is active. See Combat (page 11) for more details. When you click the spell button, the charac- ter will cast whatever spell is selected from the spell book. After the spell button is clicked, you must choose which level of spell you wish to cast; if the power level is grayed, the charac- ter is not yet powerful enough to cast that level. The two color bands to the right of the portrait represent the character's magic and health. Clicking here will give the numeric equivalent of his Magic bar and Health bar. Page 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Character screen Left-clicking on a portrait will bring up that character's screen. This screen shows his equipment, skill levels, and ability scores. Equipping the character To equip a character, place an item in the corresponding equip- ment box. The character's equipment will affect his ability scores (see page 7). Shields, armor, robes, boots, helmets and other such equipment will affect the character's Protection. The charac- ter is armed with whatever weapon is placed in his hand; this affects his Might. Page 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Character screen Ability scores Ability scores reflect the character's latent strength enhanced by armament or other equipment. Latent abilites vary from charac- ter to character; when a character is wearing no armor or no weapons, the base ability score is shown. Whenever he changes weapons or armament, the affected ability score will aso change. Might determines the amount of damage a character inflicts when you click on his combat button. When you place a weapon in his hand, this number will change to reflect the offensive ability of that weapon. Soome weapons will do more damage than others, some are magaic, and some have hidden advantages. Experiment with various weapons and see which gives you the best advantage in combat. Protection reflects the character's defenses against injury and attack. This is a combination of the character's natural agility, the thickness of his hide, and the protective gear he's wearing. Magical armor, jewelry, and even some weapons may also change this score. Page 7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Character screen Skill levels A character's abilities as a Fighter, Rogue, and Mage are reflect- ed here as skill levels. The meter bar shows how close the char- acter is to advancing to the next skill level. Your character starts his quest as a beginner in all skill categories. Fighter skill determines how well a character fights in hand-to-hand combat. In the danger-fraught Lands, there are plenty of opportunities to improve this skill through combat. Rogue skill determines how well a character can pick locks and use bows and thrown weapons. Practice makes perfect: the more you pick locks and use bows, the quicker your Rogue skill will advance. Characters with a high Rogue skill will also be more likely to locate traps and items hidden in the Lands. A character's Mage level determines his ability to cast spells. Cast spells frequently to improve this skill. As this skill advances, the character can cast more complex spells more quickly. Acquiring spell scrolls and using magical items may boost magic levels. Page 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Character screen Advancing skills The meter bar next to each skill name reflects how far the character is towards advancing that skill to the next level. Advancement requires experience. When your character is the only one in the party, then all you do counts toward your character's experience and skill advancement. When there is more than one character in the party, click on the portrait, combat button, or spell button to make one of the characters the active character. The active character is indicated by the box around the character's portrait. This indicates that this character's skills and abilities are currently used. For example, when you pick a lock, you are employing the active character's Rogue skill. For the best chance of success, click on the portrait of the character with the highest Rogue skill level. This will make that character the active character, and in picking the lock you are employing his high Rogue skill. Page 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Character screen Status symbols The status symbols indicate if the character is poisoned, sleep- ing or stunned. Poison A poisoned character will grow sicker and sicker, his Health bar reducing gradually, until he falls unconscious. Use ginseng or a high-level Heal spell to stop the poisoning. Sleep A character in an unnatural sleep is affected by sleeping gases or magic. He'll eventually awak- en, over time. Stun A stunned character is unable to fight--i.e., the spell button and combat button are inactive-- because he is recovering from a particularly hard blow. The effect is temporary, unless he keeps getting stunning blows. In that case, better move out, fast! Page 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combat Combat in the Lands is real-time. Monsters won't wait for you to decide what to do. Fight or flee! Attacking To attack a monster, left-click on a character's combat button. That character will strike with the weapon in his hand (see Equipping, page 6). While recovering, the combat button is deactivated, and the character cannot strike again until the button is reactivated. You can also fight with magic. The magic of the Lands is a wondrous thing and certainly isn't limited to just fighting your way out of (or into) trouble. But it helps. Damage When your attack is successful, a number will appear on the com- bat button indicating how much damage was done to your oppo- nent. The amount of damage is determined by your character's weapon and Might. The same rules apply when you opponent attacks you. If your opponent's attack is successful, a number appears over the charac- ter's portrait, indicating how much damage was done. The amount of damage will also be reflected by a decreasing Health bar. Page 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combat Injury & recovery The Health bar will decrease as a character takes dam- age. If the Health bar is red, that character is in grave dan- ger; a single blow could render him unconscious. If all characters in the party are unconscious, the game ends. When your character is unconscious, he cannot be healed by rest alone. You must use aloe, ginseng, salve or magic to restore consciousness. Resting To rest, left-click the rest button. This is the easiest way to heal injuries and restore magic. As long as a character is conscious, he can fully recover his health by resting. If your party is resting in an unsafe place, there's a good chance mon- sters will interrupt your repose. Medicinals Medicinals can be used at any time, even in the middle of combat. Different medicinals have different potencies and their effect will vary, but even weak medicines are useful for restoring consciousness. Aloe is used for minor healing. A salve is a more potent healing agent. Ginseng is special because it will cure poison as well. Page 12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combat Weapons Each weapon affects Might and Protection scores differently. For purposes of combat, there are three types of weapons: cut- ting, crushing, and puncture. When fighting a particularly tough opponent, consider the difference between bladed and bluntel weapons. Opponents with unusally tough hides, such as the giant lizards of the Southlands, are resistant to blades. In this instance, a blunt mace is much more effective. Armor You can greatly improve a character's Protection score by equipping him with armor. The more Protection he has, the more difficult it will be for ene- mies to injure him in combat. Page 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magic Casting spells Before you acquire a spell book, you can cast a combat spell called Spark by left-clicking on the spell button and choosing a level to cast. To cast a spell from your spell book, select the spell by left- clicking on the spell's name. Then, click on a character's spell button and choose which level of that spell you wish to cast. The higher the level of the spell, the more magic (as indicated by the magic bar) it will require of the character, and the more damage that spell will do. Spell book Eventually you will acquire a spell book. All the spells your characters can cast are listed here. The selected spell is always printed in red. To select a different spell, left-click on it. Magic The amount of magic a character has is based on his Mage skill. As the Mage skill increases, the character's magic increases as well. The Magic bar by the character's portrait indicates how much magic he has. Magic scrolls Throughout your adventures, you will find scrolls that have spells written on them. To add these spells to your spell book, take the scroll in hand and right-click on the character's portrait. Page 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shopping Buying In a shop, left-click on the item that you wish to purchase. If that item is for sale the proprietor will name the price. When an item is purchased, the silver crowns will be automatically deduct- ed from your purse, and the item will be placed in your inventory bar. Selling Most shops will also buy items. To sell an item to a proprietor, take the item in-hand and left-click in the 3D view. Page 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Options Click on the disk icon to bring up the Options menu. The Options menu allows you to load a game, save a game, delete a game, bring up the Game controls menu, or quit playing. Load a game Left-click on this button to see a list of previously saved games. Left click on the description of the game you wish to load and resume playing. If you have saved more than five games, directional arrow buttons will appear, allowing you to scroll through all the games you have saved. If you have not yet saved any games, your only choice will be Main Menu. Left-clicking on this will return you to the main Options menu. Save this game Left-click on this button to bring up a list of previously saved games. If you have not yet saved any games your only choice will be [Empty Slot]. Left-clicking on a previously saved game will per- manently replace that game. Left clicking on [Empty Slot] will cre- ate a new save-game entry. Once you have typed in the descrip- tion, left-click on the save game button or Return. NOTE: If the empty slot button is not present, there is not enough space on your hard drive to create a new save game. Delete pre- viously saved games to make room. You may save a new game over a previously saved game; however, this will permanently replace the previous game! Delete a game Left-click on this button to bring up your list of previously saved games. Left-click on the description of the game you wish to delete. You will be asked to confirm your selection. Be careful! Answering "Yes" will permanently remove the game from your hard drive. If you have not yet saved any games, your only choice will be Main Menu. Left-clicking on this will return you to the main Options menu. Page 16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Options Game controls Left-click on this button to bring up the Game controls menu. The Game controls menu allows you to adjust the music, sounds, monster difficulty, 3D smooth scrolling and floating cursor. Music Left-click on this button to toggle the music on or off. Sound Left-click on this button to toggle sound effects on or off. Monsters Left-click on this button to cycle through three difficulty levels for monsters: Wimpy, Normal or Ferocious. "Wimpy" reduces the mon- sters' Health and attack effectiveness. "Ferocious" increases the monsters' Health and attack effectiveness. Smooth scrolling Left-click on this button to change the way you move around in the Lands. "Yes" activates the smooth 3D scrolling system. Selecting "No" will speed up movement on slower systems. Floating cursor Left-click on this button to change the way your mouse cursor works in the Lands. Turning the floating cursor on transforms your mouse cursor to a movement arrow when it's near the edges of the 3D view. Left-clicking while the cursor is a movement arrow will move you in the indicated direction. When the floating cursor becomes a circle with a slash through it you cannot move in that direction. Resume game Left-click on this button to return to the Lands and continue play- ing. Exit game Left-click on this button in the Options menu when you are done playing. You may wish to save your game before exiting. Page 17