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Text File | 1994-06-16 | 16KB | 340 lines

Dark Legions TM Version 1.0 Readme file updated 6/16/94 (c) 1994 Strategic Simulations, Inc. All Rights Reserved _____________________________________________________________________ BATCH FILES FOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT Please note that in the main directory for the game (normally c:\dlegions) you should find four batch files. Please DO NOT run these batch files unless you are prompted to do so by SSI technical support. QUICK START GAMES **JOYSTICKS NEED TO BE CALIBRATED FOR EACH QUICK START GAME** LIGHT-DARK-1 The forces of Light are arrayed against the forces of Darkness. The Dark side has more raw power initially, but the Light side has more potential and is in a good defensive position. The computer difficulty level is set to easy. You will be the Light side (player one). CLAN WARS-1 Here we have a battle between the Berserker Clan and the Orc Horde. The front lines have just spotted each other and are itching for combat. You are the Berserker Clan, player one. The computer difficulty level is set to average. ARENA-1 Two armies have met at a natural terrain feature known as "The Arena", to have it out. The computer player has a weaker force to start with, but has a few surprises for the unwary opponent. We'll leave it to you to find out what those surprises are. The computer difficulty level is set to easy. You will be player one. TRUTH-1 This quick start stresses the value of the Seer. Protect the Seer and you should be victorious. The computer difficulty level is set to average. You will be player two. CLASH-2 This is a two player game. Player one's forces consist of Demons, Wraiths, and Water Elementals. Player two's forces consist of Trolls, Vampires, and Fire Elementals. Both sides have a few sacrificial Orcs. The characters are spread all over the map, so it will be a fight from the start. Lots of action. TIDALWAVE-1 In this quick start game you will have mostly Water Elementals with a few land-based characters to battle with. The computer will have less Water Elementals than you, but will have more land based characters to battle with. The computer difficulty level is set to average. You will be player one. THATSCOLD-1 In this game the theory is to use the multiple Wizards and Templars to freeze any characters that come into sight. The computer is going to throw everything it has, which is a fair amount, at you. This quick start game is more of a strategy game than tactical combat, so the computer difficulty level is set to weak. You will be player one. TOE TO TOE-1 In this Quick Start game you will have to roll up your sleeves and get bloody. Warning -- this game requires some serious strategy! Your opponent has you outnumbered with quite a few surprises. This game is for experienced players. The computer difficulty level is set to merciless. You will be player one. EPIC-1 Each army is identical. The computer difficulty level is set to average. You will be player one. BALANCED-1 This is a good introduction to the game. Both you and the computer have one of each character, hence the name. The computer difficulty is set to hopeless. You will be player one. Hint: one of the Fire Elementals is a Shape Shifter. RULEBOOK ERRATA: P.25 Hidden Movement- If the alert option is on, then the character will stop as soon as the enemy comes into sight. The exceptions to this are the Wraith, Phantom, and Water Elemental, who will finish their move. P.33 Data Display: Life Force- The Wizard's Freeze Ball does no damage in combat. P.36 GamePlay Tips- The Berserker has the same stamina as the Orc. P.40 Special Notes- Illusionary Vampires are able to make Zombies. P.42 GamePlay Tips- If you give the Orb to a Phantom then you cannot give that Phantom any rings. P.42 Special Notes- The Phantom becomes visible in combat only when it swings. P.42 Special Notes- The Phantom is always visible to the Seer in combat. P.42 Special Notes- The Phantom is able to cross chasms and bodies of water. P.43 Special Stratigic Powers- The Seer's ability to destroy illusions on sight only works on the Seer's turn. P.43 Special Notes- The Seer's befuddle attack against computer opponents will make them hesitate. This ability is more effective on the weaker levels (see below for more information). P.44 The Shape Shifter's strength, movement, agility, and stamina on the Strategy Board will conform to that of the current form of the Shape Shifter. P.50 Special Notes- The Vampire can fly over water in the strategy board. GENERAL PLAYER NOTES AND ADDITIONAL FEATURES: Be sure of the army you purchased because exiting the purchasing screen finalizes your army. Characters' movement will decrease when characters are low on "Life Force." The limit moves option works for two player games only. During placement of characters the only way to change from 3D Mode to Overhead Mode and back again is with the "F1" key. When playing the computer set to "Merciless" the computer's characters, in combat only, will receive the following benefits: Strength +2, Agility +1. On map small04 there are large chasms creating islands out of the land, so be sure you have characters that can "move" from island to island. Walkers would be good for defense, of course. Rings of Speed would be a major benefit for characters that have low movement, like the Phantom. In combat, if the characters are standing very close to trees or rocks, their attacks may go right "over" the obstacle, especially with missile weapons. If the character you are playing is paralyzed by the Vampire in combat, do not hold down the attack button because the character will lose stamina. Fire and Water Elementals are stopped by poison and insanity traps but take no damage. If you set the computer level to merciless or difficult on small or tiny maps, keep the points down, or the computer's traps will hinder game play. Timing is crucial in combat. If an attacking character is hit with an attack that is quicker while in mid-swing, then that attack will be spoiled or "interrupted". The interrupted character will not inflict any damage in that attack. However, certain awesomely powerful attacks cannot be interrupted: Demon both attacks Vampire both attacks Fire Elementral mini-nova only Conjurer all three attacks The Demon's scream has no effect on either frozen characters or Trolls in rock form. ADDITIONAL NOTES ON MODEM and DIRECT LINK: During modem play, Dark Legions will make use of all the power the two machines have to offer. Modem play is best experienced with two fast machines (486DX/33+) at 9600 baud. If both machines are local bus, so much the better. For optimal gameplay with a modem, especially with less than ideal hardware or line quality, we strongly recommend that both machines have a serial/controller card of the latest type (16550 UART chip or equivalent). These cards have a buffer that makes data transfer more reliable. You can check your UART chip if you have MS-DOS 6.0 or higher: use the MSD.EXE program -- normally the UART chip type will be listed on the last line. Modems that are not 100% Hayes compatible may experience problems while connecting. You may need to try the connection several times: be patient. In order to make recovery from disconnections as convenient as possible, an autosave feature saves the game every turn. The last slot in the Load Game screen has been redesignated for this feature. If your game is interrupted, simply reconnect and load the Recover game, and you will have lost only a little time. During modem or direct link, if one player is moving in Over- head Mode and the other player is viewing in 3D Mode with animations on, there will be a long delay between movements. WARNING: do not play with the keys in direct or modem link when it is the other player's turn. CHARACTER NOTES: Conjurer- The type of characters that the Conjurer can conjure and the cost in Life Force is as follows: Demon 20 Fire Elemental 15 Phantom 12 Troll 10 Vampire 20 Water Elemental 15 Wraith 18 Demon- The Demon's Death Cry is unable to kill characters on the strategy board, including illusions. Fire Elemental- The Fire Elemental's flame suicide attack will not destroy illusions of Fire Elementals. Illusionist- The Illusionist can create illusions of all characters except for Phantoms and Zombies. The cost in Life Force for each of the characters is: Berserker 8 Conjurer 5 Demon 20 Fire Elemental 10 Illusionist 5 Orc 8 Seer 5 Templar 5 Thief 5 Troll 15 Vampire 20 Water Elemental 10 Wizard 8 Wraith 12 The cost to maintain an illusion is 10% of the creation cost. For example: an illusion of a Demon would cost the Illusionist two points of Life Force a turn to maintain. Orc- The Orc, when charging, does more damage when the target is pinned against the border and obstacles than out in the open. The Orc's charge cannot be initiated within a minimum range of about one inch. Phantom- When you take the Phantom into combat, remember that the Phantom's "invisibility" is most effective in a two player game. Seer- The Seer's befuddle attack will make computer characters hesitate in combat. The computer's difficulty level will affect the amount of time that the characters hesitate. For example: on Hopeless level the hesitation will be very pronounced, and on Merciless, will hardly be noticeable. The Seer's befuddle attack drains the enemy character's stamina. Once the character regains all its stamina it will throw off the effects of the befuddle. If you attack with a befuddled character then it will take you that much more stamina to recover before the effects of the befuddle wear off. Shape Shifter- The Shape Shifter in Phantom form is invisible on the strategic and tactical boards. If the Shape Shifter changes form at the begining of the turn, the Shape Shifter will retain the movement for the previous form for the rest of that turn. For example: if the Shape Shifter was a Troll and changes to a Vampire, the Shape Shifter will still retain the movement of the Troll. The Shape Shifter is immune to the traps that the current form is normally immune to. If the Shape Shifter changes into a form with less Life Force than the Shape Shifter's maximum (50) then the Shape Shifter will have the Life Force of the new form. Templar- The Templar is able to heal, in a limited capacity, characters that are near the Templar. If the character is in the adjacent square, that character will receive two points of Life Force per turn. If the character is two squares away, that character will receive one point of Life Force per turn. The Templar is unable to use his special healing on characters with a negative or zero revitalization. The special healing gives three times the revitalization of the character being healed. For example: the Templar healing a Wizard would give that character six points of Life Force. If charaters have Ring(s) of Rejuvenation they will not be included in the multiple when the character is being healed by a Templar. Thief- Make sure that you want to disarm a trap before you go to the "Decrypt Trap" screen because there is no going back once there. Manually disarming a trap: choose a symbol that is going to lead you in the right direction (follow the arrows). If the first couple of slots are open, make your best guess to start. Troll- Be careful to remember which Trolls you turned into rocks, for there are no identifying marks to remind you. Vampire- If you make a Zombie out of a character that had rings then those rings no longer function. In a Vampire vs. Vampire combat, if one of the Vampires gets paralyzed with its tongue out, that Vampire will not get any stamina back until its tongue is retracted and is unparalyzed. Vampires are unable to make Zombies out of conjured characters. If the Vampire is the Orb Holder and is the last of you characters, no matter how many Zombies you make your Vampire's life regeneration will still be -5. Water Elemental- The Water Elemental, when charging, will do more damage when the target is pinned between the borders and obstacles than out in the open. Wizard- If the Wizard tries to freeze a Water Elemental in combat as the Elemental is using its Tidal Wave attack, the Water Elemental's attack will not be stopped. The minimum range for the Wizard's strategic freeze attack is three squares, the maximum range is six squares. The damage caused by the freeze is ten points of Life Force. The frozen character will be frozen for one turn for every time that the character was hit with a freeze. In combat, the Wizard's freeze attack is less effective at close range. Wraith- The Wraith's special power, "Teleport", costs ten points of Life Force initially and one point for every square that the Wraith teleports. The Wraith's double grope attack does the same amount of damage as the single swipe, but gives the Wraith four times as much Life Force. The Wraith's agility is rated as a seven, but because the Wraith must first extend its arms, the character is a little slow starting off. Zombie- Zombies are unable to move on the first turn of creation. Thanks for playing Dark Legions!