Action Ware 12: Heretic & Hexen

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*********************************** * Welcome to HTFAQ.TXT! * *********************************** * A Completely Unofficial Guide * * to * * "Heretic: City of the Damned" * *********************************** * Author: Christopher Paul Boduch * * Date: 01/18/95 Version: 1.0 * *********************************** --------------- About HTFAQ.TXT --------------- This article is provided on an "as is" basis in an attempt to help inform the gaming masses about the game "Heretic", by id Software and Raven Software. This article carries with it no warranties of any kind regarding it's use or usefulness, and the author of this article claims no responsibility whatsoever regarding the same. This article was created by it's author without any direct input from either id Software or Raven Software, and, therefore, any questions regarding the information provided in this article should be directed solely to it's author. This article is Copyright 1995, by Christopher Paul Boduch. All rights reserved. ------------------------ Trademarks/Service Marks ------------------------ All products or services mentioned in this article are hereby acknowleged to be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. ============ Introduction ============ HTFAQ.TXT grew out of my original response on the CompuServe GAMERS forum to a member's question about the various "artifacts" found in the shareware game "Heretic: City of the Damned". Since, as of the inception of this article, there was still no official text regarding many of the elements of the game, I figured "what the heck" <g>. I hope you will find the information I've put together in this article to be a good basic grounding in the "how to"'s of playing Heretic. I also hope that you have as good a time playing Heretic as I do! By the way, in keeping with the theme of Heretic, "FAQ", as used in this article, is an acronym that stands for "Foretold Answers to your Questions" <g>. If you should still have any questions about Heretic after reading through this article, please send me some eMail via my CompuServe address 72610,444. I shall endeavor to keep this article updated as much as possible. Happy Heretic-ing :) Chris =============================== How do I start playing Heretic? =============================== I am assuming at this point that you have Heretic: City of the Damned and that you have successfully installed it. In case you don't have it ... The full three episode version of Heretic is available direct from it's publisher, id Software. Their # is 1-800-IDGAMES. The single episode shareware version can be downloaded on-line from a variety of places, including CompuServe (GO HOTGAMES) and probably a BBS near you. Once you run Heretic, press <Esc> at the logo screen to get the menu. Select "New Game" and press enter (okay, this is really simple stuff, but it's in case any newbies need it). Pick one of the skill levels presented: Thou Needeth a Wet-Nurse : 'Nuff said Yellowbellies-R-Us : No more diapers for you! Bringest Them Oneth : Ooh, daring aren't you? Thou Art A Smite-Meister : The first real skill level <g> Black Plague Possesses Thee: Maximum Action!! You're in! Have fun ... you're on your own from here! Just kidding <g>. ================================================================== Who am I and why do I have this diamond-claw thing in front of me? ================================================================== You are a cowled and caped magician of Elf descent -- a Heretic! That "diamond-claw thing" you keep pointed out in front of you is your ElvenWand. As you journey through this magical realm, you're sure you'll need it defend yourself against whatever evils may beset you. Like many magicians worth their weight in wisdom, you also carry a solid, trusty Staff. It's not only helped you up the steeper climbs, but has been quite useful for crushing the soft heads of the occasional walking bat you've encountered. Mmmm... delicious! Now, if only you could quench your thirst as well, eh? Aha, you're in luck! Looks like there's some water up ahead ... =========================================================== What's this display area just below my ElvenWand all about? =========================================================== This is the status area - it keeps you up to date on things like how healthy you are, how much ammo you have, etc. From left to right, here's what you see: A Horned Skull holding one end of a chain: This is a graphical display of your health level. A box titled "Life" with a number in it: This is the numerical display of your health level, up to 100% (maybe more in the registered version). A box with a number and a picture in it: This is the numerical count of the ammunition you have for the weapon you're holding. The picture shows the type of ammo. A set of three gray boxes arranged vertically: One of these boxes gets colored in for each of three different color keys you pick up on your journeys. A black box (with a picture in it, sometimes): This box shows your current "stand-by" inventory item. See "Inventory Items" below for more info. A box titled "Armor" with a number in it: This is the numerical display of your armor percentage, up to 100% (maybe more in the registered version), if you've picked up any. See "Non-Inventory Items" below for more info. A Horned Skull holding the other end of the chain, with a flag marker very near to it (hopefully <g>): The flag marker on the chain is used to gauge your health (in DeathMatch mode it is the only indicator your have). When the flag is all the way toward the skull on the right, you are in good shape. You may have also noticed a gray border area around your view. The size of this border area can be reduced to no border at all or increased to give a very small (but faster drawing) viewport. See the Keystrokes section below. ======================================================== The Evil Creatures in Heretic: City of the Damned (okay, "Monsters" <g>) -- in approximate order of appearance. ======================================================== Gargoyles: ---------- They're fiery red with wings and beady little eyes, can walk or fly depending on their whimsy, and just love to scratch at you. They'll drive you batty if you just leave 'em hangin' around, so get in a little bit of bat-minton practice. They make a lovely dunking sound when shot down over water <g>. Golems: ------- These are rather large, tan, beefy looking bald guys who are made of stone and can't walk straight <g>. If you think you've got the muscle to fight it out with them up close, go for it! Otherwise, stay at least a step or two away ;-> Undead Warriors: ---------------- Tall and lanky, they seem to have a never-ending supply of green hatchets to throw at your cowering skull. It's times like these you wish you were the one wearing the helmet! Fire Gargoyles: --------------- Egads ... more bats! These little nasties are just like plain old Gargoyles, except for those smoking hot fire balls they throw at you! Nitro-Golems: ------------- Great; a golem that fires flame covered screaming heads at you! Oh, and they follow you around too? Just what you needed, an inarticulate tour guide without a body. Which way out of this dimension? Undead Warrior Ghosts: ---------------------- Guess the afterlife has a hatchet throwing school - not only are these skeletal wraiths hard to see, but they've got much better aim - what with their fancy red hatchets and all! Nitro-Golem Ghosts: ------------------- Basically Nitro-Golems under cover as thin air - you'll get to see them just as they're ready to pump some skull into you. Disciples of D'Sparil: ---------------------- Whispering Wizards, these guys are spooky! Draped in purple robes, they float around effortlessy -- just waiting for you to come have a chat with them <g>. Whatever are they saying?? Iron Liches: ------------ You won't meet them until the very end of your journey through The City of the Damned. Heck, you'll wish you didn't have to! Chickens: --------- See "Morph Ovum" below <g>. =========================================== Artifacts found in the realm of the Heretic =========================================== Littered about the landscape you will find a great many items varied in purpose and appearance. Weapons, ammunition, healing potions, keys, and other magical artifacts -- all yours for the taking! Many of the items you find may be put to immediate use, but others you will want to carry on your person for use later at just the right moment. Being a magician, you find it easy to keep such items in your cape as an inventory. See the Keystrokes section below to learn how to access and use your inventory. ====================== Weapons of the Heretic ====================== About the Weapons in general: ----------------------------- All weaponry used by the Heretic have a normal mode and an "enhanced" mode. The enhanced mode is brought about by casting a spell from the Tome of Power (see Inventory Items below). The spell, once cast, works for all weapons you carry -- but only lasts for about 30 seconds or so. Weapons that require ammunition have a normal capacity and an increased capacity. You get an increased capacity for your weapons when you pick up a Bag of Holding (see Non-Inventory Items below). Well, let's see what we've got ... #1 - The Staff: --------------- Pretty decent against gargoyles and chickens, but if you want to use it against the golems you had better be a master of the "stick and move" <g>. No ammo involved ("infinite"). When enhanced, the tip of the Staff is enveloped in blue fire and your lunges will either smite your enemy to bits in a blue flash or hurl them backwards a few steps. Note: Pressing the "1" key toggles you between wielding the Staff and The Gloves of the Necromancer (see below). #1 - The Gloves of the Necromancer: ----------------------------------- An absolute must have for sheer "shocking" joy! Sends bolts of lightning into anything within arm's length. Great for saving ammo in the later levels when you've got some bats busting your chops, but be careful getting in the clenches with other creatures (most of them are still able to attack you while your "jolting" them). No ammo involved ("infinite"). When enhanced, the color of the bolts changes from green to red and they have the added effect of transferring health from the creature you are attacking and into you. This can let you stay in attack mode even though you are being attacked, since you will be receiving health in the process. Note: Pressing the "1" key toggles you between wielding The Gloves of the Necromancer and the Staff. #2 - The ElvenWand: -------------------- Shoots little yellow crystals into your enemies. Not the most powerful of weapons, but it only takes one or two shots to kill a gargoyle; 4 or 5 (dead on) to take care of a golem. Normal ammo capacity is 50; increased capacity is 200. When enhanced with the Tome of Power, it becomes a rapid fire weapon firing more powerful streams of yellow crystals. #3 - The Ethereal Crossbow: --------------------------- Shoots green ethereal arrows that can "split-off" and hit more than one target. The arrow splits into three pieces, one larger and two smaller (these two have less effect, of course). Great for just about anything, especially from a distance. Normal ammo capacity is 50; increased capacity is 100 (too bad - would like 200 or 300 <g>). When enhanced with the Tome of Power, becomes a rapid fire weapon that sends out "streams" of arrows at a time (highly effective). #4 - The Dragon Claw: --------------------- A rapid fire weapon that shoots blue energy bolts into your enemies. When not used rapid fire style, it doesn't seem to be as powerful as the Crossbow (even though it's weapon # is higher), but in rapid fire mode it is highly effective. Since it is rapid firing, you tend to use up the ammo quicker than the other weapons, so load 'er up! It is great for taking on just about anything, but you will waste ammo if you try to use it for long distance attack. Normal ammo capacity is 100; increased capacity is 400. ================ Ammunition Items ================ Wand Crystal (yellow diamond): ------------------------------ Adds 10 to the ammo count of your Elvenwand. Wand Crystals are often dropped by the Golems when they die. Those crystals sometimes add less than 10 to the ammo count. Crystal Geode (yellow rectangle): --------------------------------- Adds 50 to the ammo count of your Elvenwand. Ethereal Arrows (green cluster of arrows): ------------------------------------------ Adds 7 to the ammo count of your Ethereal Crossbow. Ethereal Arrows are often dropped by the Undead Warriors when they die. Those arrows sometimes add less than 7 to the ammo count. Quiver of Arrows (green arrows in brown quiver): ------------------------------------------------ Adds upto 30 to the ammo count of your Ethereal Crossbow. Claw Orb (shiny blue orb): --------------------------- Adds 15 to the ammo count of your Dragon Claw. Energy Orb (sparkly blue orb): ------------------------------ Adds 30 to the ammo count of your Dragon Claw. ========================================= Non-Inventory Items (immediate use items) ========================================= Keys: ----- You'll need these to open some doors. They come in different colors - yellow, green, and blue - to match anything a fashionable magician would wear during any season <g>. Note: Most doors are clearly marked by a post on each side with an orb at the top of the same color as the key required to open it ;-> Bag of Holding (brown satchel): ------------------------------ Increases the maximum ammo you can carry for each weapon. Crystal Vial (blue bottle): --------------------------- Gives you 10% health (unless you are already at maximum health, in which case, being a smart magician, you decide to leave it hanging about should you need it later). Silver Shield (ummm, looks like a shield <g>): ---------------------------------------------- Provides you with upto 100% armor (a lot better at absorbing the blows of your enemies than your tattered old magician's cape <g>). Map Scroll (brown scroll): -------------------------- Provides your already magical aura with a boost of E.S.P., thus allowing you to see areas on your map that you haven't even been to yet! ============================================================ Inventory Items (must be "invoked" - see Keystrokes section) ============================================================ Note about Inventory Items: --------------------------- When moving from the current level to the next, you may notice that some of your inventory does not go with you. This is a feature of the gameplay, so as not to make the game too easy. You will typically lose any multiples of your items (leaving you with only one in the next level), or lose some items altogether (such as the Wings of Wrath). At press time <g>, the makers of Heretic are considering adding a command line option to control this feature for the next version. On to the items ... Quartz Flask (purple bottle): ----------------------------- Gives you 25% health. Tome of Power (black book): --------------------------- Serves two purposes: 1) Weapon Enhancer. It makes whatever weapons you have more powerful for about 30 seconds or so (see Weapons above). 2) De-Chicken-Izer. Let's you turn yourself back into a magician if you've been turned into a chicken (see "Morph Ovum" below). ShadowSphere (green mask): -------------------------- Makes you partially invisible for about 30 seconds or so. While you are invisible, most of your enemies have a tough time aiming straight at you ;-> Ring of Invincibility (gold ring with jewel): --------------------------------------------- Makes you invincible for about 30 seconds or so. Your view turns pure gold, and nothing can harm you (not even those Iron Liches!). Wings of Wrath (golden bat): ---------------------------- Gives you the ability to fly for about 60 seconds or so. See the Keystrokes section below to learn how to maneuver yourself around while flying. Morph Ovum (egg with wings): ---------------------------- Turns any enemy it hits into a chicken (and thus makes them very easy to triumph over). See the "Chicken Mode" section below. Torch (ummm ... looks like a torch): ------------------------------------ Brightens your view in any room, for about 60 seconds or so. Time Bomb of the Ancients (hourglass): -------------------------------------- Is just that: a timebomb. As soon as you drop it, get out of the way because it's got a pretty short fuse <g>. You can "drop" these whilst flying as well! ========== Keystrokes ========== You can run the SETUP.EXE and choose to configure the keyboard any way you wish, but for starters, these are the default keys. Choosing your Weapon: --------------------- Use the Number Keys (1,2,3,4,etc.) above the letters to switch the weapon you are currently holding. See the Weapons section above. Note: the "1" key toggles between the two "#1" weapons when you have both of them. Inventory Access: ----------------- To view your current inventory, press either the "[" or "]" key. Your display will change to show you a scrollable list of your inventory items. Each icon may have a number at the bottom right that represents how many you have (if you have more than one). The maximum # of each item you can carry is 16. Use the same two keys to scroll left or right thru the inventory. When the cursor highlight is on the item you'd like to keep at the ready, press Enter. Now that item shows up in the regular status area. When you're ready to use (invoke) _that_ item, just press Enter again. Note: If it's the Morph Ovum, make sure you're looking at whatever you want "chicken-ized". It fires a spread of 5 eggs, so you could turn multiple enemies into chickens if you're lucky! Immediate Invocation of Inventory Items: ---------------------------------------- Some (unfortunately not all) of your inventory items can be immediately invoked with one keystroke. These are: BackSpace: Invokes the Tome of Power Page Up : Invokes the Wings of Wrath and starts you flying! Flying keys: ------------ Insert - Fly Down (Lower your height) Home - Fly "Level" (Medium height) PageUp - Fly Up (Raise your height) Looking (and aiming) keys: -------------------------- Delete - Look Down End - Look straight ahead PgDown - Look Up (seems weird, but matches the Flying key) Auto-Map Display: ----------------- Press the TAB key to shift between viewing the "real world" and your own magical remembrance of areas you've visited so far. If you've obtained the Map Scroll, you'll also see areas you haven't been to yet outlined in light grey (including secret areas). Other Keystrokes: ----------------- For the other keystrokes, call up help while in Heretic by using the "F1" function key. This will explain how to increase or reduce the border area, how to zoom in/out within the map display, how to save/load games in progress, etc. ============ Chicken Mode ============ One of the best parts of Heretic is "Chicken Mode". Not only can you use the Morph Ovum to turn your enemies into chickens, but you yourself can be turned into a chicken when playing a DeathMatch against other magicians. When you are turned into a chicken, your view changes to floor level, your health goes down considerably, and you start to see the world over a rosy red beak <g>! Your best defense while a chicken is to either run like heck (you become very fast indeed) until you "snap out of it" <g>. If you'd like to see how powerful your beak is, however, you could also try pecking your foes to death! You'll notice when you are a chicken that your "momentum" is a bit different. You tend to "glide down" off of high places and "lift up" when running over stairs. Being so small, you can now skoot through many of the "windows" you could only look through as a magician. This will help you save your chicken butt if you can keep away from your enemies <g>! Also, while you are a chicken, you are still able to invoke a limited number of inventory items. These are: Morph Ovum : get even with whoever chicken-ized ya! Tome of Power : return to being a magician (ho-hum) Wings of Wrath : become a flying chicken! Enjoy your clucking while you can! =========== Cheat Codes =========== Cheat codes are activated by simply typing them in anytime during play. Note that cheat codes do not work in multi-player modes, nor do they work when playing alone in "Black Plague" mode. Briefly, here they are: quicken: become invincible ('GOD' mode) rambo: Get all weapons with max ammo and full armor skel: get all the keys ponce: get your youth, er, health back kitty: set "Clipping" mode off/on (walk thru walls or not) massacre: wipes out all the nasties at once cockadoodledoo: chicken-izes you shazam: same as activating the Tome of Power (enhances weapons) engageXY: warps you to Episode X, Map Y gimme: get an inventory item once typed, your asked for a letter (a thru j) and then a count of how many you want (1 to 9), as follows: a = Ring of Invincibility b = ShadowSphere c = Quartz Flask d = Not in Shareware Version (says "bad input" after #) e = Tome of Power f = Torch g = Time Bomb of the Ancients h = Morph Ovum i = Wings of Wrath j = Not in Shareware Version (says "bad input" after #) Also, while in the map display (TAB key), you can type: ravmap: toggles through showing just portion of map you've seen already, or the entire map including secrets, or that plus where the baddies are hiding. For you Doomers out there, you can try (but you may not like): IDDQD: ? IDKFA: ? I'll leave it up to you to find out what they do <g> (save your game first)! ================== Multi-Player Games ================== You can read all about how to play Multi-player Heretic in the README.TXT file included with the game. You can play DeathMatch or Cooperative, over a modem or on an IPX-compatible network. For quick connect up, I recommend using the new DM.EXE included with Heretic, which also works for Doom and Doom II as well as Heretic. In addition to launching multiplayer games, you can actually use it to launch your single player game in a "DeathMatch 2.0" style. This means that, although you are playing single player mode, all items you pick up will respawn again! This should be a great way for some of you novice players out there to learn the game without having to resort to lower monster count skill levels (and thus have more fun!). ======================================================= Map (Level) Names for Episode 1: The City of the Damned ======================================================= E1M1 - The Docks E1M2 - The Dungeons E1M3 - The Gatehouse E1M4 - The Guard Tower E1M5 - The Citadel E1M6 - The Cathedral (Hint: see E1M9) E1M7 - The Crypts E1M8 - Hell's Maw E1M9 - The Graveyard (Secret Level!) ====================================================== What's Coming Up in the registered version of Heretic? ====================================================== Episode 2 - Hell's Maw (continuing from E1M8, of course) Episode 3 - The Dome of D'Sparil New Monsters: Sabreclaws, Weredragons, Ophidians, Maulators (?) New Weapons: Hellstaff, Phoenix Rod, Fire Mace (?) New Magical Artifacts: Enchanted Shields(?), Mystic Urns (?), Chaos Devices (?), Lesser and Greater Runes (?), Inferno and Deflame Orbs (?) Note: A (?) next to an entry means I'm guessing based on gleaning some text from the Heretic files <g>! Next version I'll know the truth (and so will you!) ============================= Epilogue and Acknowledgements ============================= Whew! My head is reeling from typing all this stuff in! :) Anyway, if you haven't found some info you think should be in this FAQ, please send me some eMail as listed above. I'm sure I've missed a few things <g>. What's next for this FAQ? Why, all the low-down for the full, registered version of Heretic, of course! And the many additions, corrections, etc. that will come flooding in soon I think <G>! I'd like to acknowledge a few people here, most (heck, all) of whom have no idea their being acknowledged: My wife, Susan, because she's my wife and puts up with this junk as much as she can stand to <g>. My cohorts on the job, who still occasionally (but sometimes reluctantly <g>) agree to play Doom or Heretic DeathMatches against me. Heaven save their fragged to bits souls <g>. Hank Leukart, who put together an incredible FAQ for Doom and thus inspired me to stick my neck out with this one. Mark J. Thibodeau, for posting the names of the creatures as found in the registered version (lucky so and so <g>). David Bibby, for latching onto my original post, adding to it, and relentlessy doling it out to all who asked for info about Heretic <g>. All the different folks who posted cheat codes on GAMERS, including, but probably not limited to: Robert E. Waring, Brandon Jones, and "Fric" (along with Roger and Justin Strauss). So, that's it for this version. Hope you liked it! Meanwhile .... Happy Heretic-ing :) Chris P.S. If you are familiar with the Doom FAQ, you've seen the great text representation of the Doom logo at the top of it. I would love to include a similarly great Heretic logo at the top of this FAQ for the next version. If you have the time, the inclination, the ability to make one, and the desire to "get your name in lights" in this FAQ, please eMail it to me at the address above - thanx!