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README.TXT
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1995-08-23
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LORDS OF THE REALM Additional Notes
Floppy Disk Version 1.02
-------------------------------------------------------
The following game-changes and notes could not be included
in this game's printed documentation.
Installation Note
-----------------
The installation routine for this game requires
approximately 6 additional megabytes of drive space above
the approximately 10 megabytes used for running the game.
This extra space is only needed during installation, and
will be freed up as soon as installation is complete.
If your hard-drive uses some form of disk compression (like
Stacker or Doublespace), then you will need additional disk
space during installation.
Once the patch has been installed, you need re-run the SETUP
program before playing the game.
Tutorial Correction
-------------------
There is a minor error in the game's tutorial. Fields
containing cows or sheep are NOT at their most productive
when there are three animals displayed in their field
pictures. In fact, the more fields you devote to a herd,
the more productive they will become (up to a point). The
strategy sections of the Techical Supplement describe this
correctly.
Command Restrictions
--------------------
You can only control your kingdom during your own turn.
Between turns, you can scroll around the map, switch to the
overview map, and access game options.
Playing this Game with the Aria Soundcard
-----------------------------------------
This game supports the Aria card, although its sound drivers
are extremely memory-intensive. If sound or music do not
play when you configure for Aria, you may be out of
available CONVENTIONAL memory. You can try to free up more
memory (with a boot disk), or configure for the Sound
Blaster card.
An Explanation of Stewardship
-----------------------------
As explained in the technical supplement, your steward will
offer to manage the labor allocations for your fields once
you control three counties. At the start of each season, he
will reallocate the workers you have assigned to grain,
sheep, cattle, fields and idle to complete the farming tasks
as best as he can. He provides a report which indicates
which counties require more farmers, and which have too
many.
(In addition to this, he now also indicates when the ration
allocations in a county have changed. This warns you of
food shortages so that you can respond to them.)
It's important to remember that the steward's purpose is NOT
to let you ignore your counties while you conquer the enemy
-- he will not reclaim fields for you, and you will still
need to manage your castle-building and production. And he
does not act on the warnings he gives you; you must decide
on a course of action whenever you have labor excesses,
labor shortages, or ration changes.
The best way to let the steward do his job is to leave
enough idle workers to cover your grain needs in the harvest
season.
Multiplayer Notes
-----------------
Some elements of multiplayer play were not mentioned in the
Technical Supplement:
1) In multiplayer mode, players can play full battles
between two human players, or between a human and the
computer. In human-vs.-human battles, both armies are
controlled using the mouse.
2) In a multiplayer game, the annual summary report consists
solely of the Status Flags screen.
3) All messages sent between players will appear at the end
of a season; all the players should therefore watch the
screen at that time to see if they have received any
messages.
4) Stewardship is not an option in multiplayer games.
Starting Location
-----------------
Players always start in one of six locations on the map; the
county you start with will have a strong effect on how your
kingdom will progress. For example, starting in a central
county provides more borders through which you may receive
immigrants (or invaders). Alternatively, the southwestern-
most county gets harsher weather overall than others, and
has only one county for immigrants.
Ale Limitations
---------------
Ale can only be purchased once per county per season. Its
benefit is also limited to +3 happiness per purchase. The
Buy Ale panel displays the expected happiness boost for
whatever amount you select.
Ale is consumed immediately upon purchase; as such, it
cannot be transported like other goods.
Merchant Delays
---------------
At harder levels, the appearance of mercenaries may be
delayed. Expect at least one new merchant to enter the game
each season (until all twelve are present).
Castle-Building / Deducting Resources
-------------------------------------
Stone and wood are allocated to castles at the end of a
season (not immediately). Therefore, if you buy stone or
wood, don't expect to see it deducted (and placed in your
castle) right away.
Army Discontent
---------------
The likelihood of an army to mutiny (i.e. turn into outlaws)
is indicated by a descriptive phrase showing their
discontent. This phrase appears on the Army panel (when you
click on an army), and on the first screen you see when
starting a siege.
Discontent is based on the army's morale, health, and the
types of units in it.
Indicating Army Movement
------------------------
The computer uses two methods to indicate whether or not an
army on the Kingdom map has moved. Armies that have already
moved in a turn will be displayed on the Kingdom map with a
still flag instead of a waving one. Similarly, Armies that
have NOT moved will flash on the Overview map.
Army Movement Limitations
-------------------------
You are not allowed to stand on top of an army or castle
while attacking another army or castle. Therefore, if you
move to attack an item, and your movement path passes
through another obstacle just before reaching that item, the
attack will be disallowed.
Mercenary armies
----------------
Unlike other armies, an army made up only of mercenaries can
disband in any county.
Aiming Ladders, Towers and Fighters
-----------------------------------
When sieging, you should always aim a ladder or siege tower
at its target BEFORE you aim infantry at it.
Secondly, you can only aim one fighter-unit at each ladder
or siege tower.
Finally, you can aim ladders and siege towers at structures
of any height; however, they are only effective against the
heights stated in the manual (i.e. any other attacks are
considered "long shots").
Picking up Siege Weapons and Fighters
-------------------------------------
If you can't pick up fighters or weapons from the "holding
area" in the top-left corner of the screen, it is because
you have another command currently selected. Right-click
the mouse to cancel the command.
Battering Rams
--------------
Battering rams are only effective at attacking either
gatehouses and keeps.
Eviction and Castles
--------------------
Neutral counties never maintain castles. Whenever you are
evicted from a county, any castle you have built there will
be demolished.
Connecting Via Modem or Null-Modem
----------------------------------
Here are some tips that will make connecting to another
player easier:
* Decide on who will click on OK (to become the master that
controls game setup) before getting into the game; conflicts
may occur if both people hit OK at the same time.
* If you are dialing another player via modem, you should
wait until a few seconds AFTER the other player sets up to
receive, before you dial. This gives his machine enough
time to be prepared for your call.
* If your mouse pointer freezes when you press the "Wait to
Receive" or "Dial Up Number" buttons, you may have selected
the comm-port that is used by your mouse. Make sure you
have the right comm-port selected.
* We have included an "Init String" command to the
Communications panel, to allow you to alter the
configuration string for your particular modem. We
recommend you change this only if you are familiar with
modem commands and the needs of your modem. If you change
this string and want to reset it to its default, exit the
game and run SETUP again.
* If you have trouble connecting via modem, try turning off
both machines, waiting five seconds, and turning them back
on again.
Special Rules for Modem-Play
----------------------------
When playing via a null-modem or modem connection, there are
some special rules that you should be aware of:
* When your human opponent battles the computer, you are
shown the battle from the perspective of the computer
opponent; as such, all messages pertaining to the battle are
presented as if you are fighting, although you are only a
spectator.
* When you save a game during modem-play, a copy of the game
is saved on BOTH machines with the MSV extension; both
copies of the game must be available when the game is loaded
later. These savegames cannot be loaded into a one-player
game, and vice-versa.
* Only the master can save and load games. When loading a
modem-save, the machine who was the master when saving the
game must ALSO be the master when loading it.
* The master should only save the game when BOTH players are
on the scrolling-map.
* If you lose the game while your human opponent and at
least one computer-player are still alive, you must hit the
End Turn button one last time to let the game continue.
(This also applies to multiplayer games played on one
machine.)
* Chat mode is only available from some game screens, and it
is only accessible when both players are in one of those
game screens.
* Armies "jump" from square to square as they move on the
scrolling map. This does not affect their actions in any
way.
* You can only create wagons during your own turn.
Special Indicators for Modem-Play
---------------------------------
In a modem-game, there are a couple of unique indicators to
be aware of:
* "Marching Lion" Pointer -- If you are in some screen other
than the scrolling map when this pointer appears, it is an
indication that the other player has ordered his army to
move. This pointer will remain until you exit to the
scrolling map, so that his army can complete its move.
* "End Turn" Shield -- Sometimes when you click on the "End
Turn" icon, its shield will change to the next player to act
that sequence, but the name displayed next to it will NOT
change. This indicates that you have ended your turn, but
game-time is paused until your human opponent exits the
screen or panel he has currently accessed.
* Other, self-explanatory panels will appear to indicate
when the game is waiting for your human opponent to complete
an action.
Problems with Modem-Play?
-------------------------
If you are having problems using modem-play, here are some
things that you can try:
* When connected, it is normal for the game (and mouse
pointer) to occasionally pause for a moment while
information is passed between the two machines. The music
will pause when this occurs. These do not indicate a
problem.
* If communications between the two machines are disrupted
by line noise, the link between the two machines may become
temporarily disabled. If this occurs, the mouse may
disappear, or the game may become unresponsive; try
pressing ALT-P to prompt the link to re-establish itself.
(However, do not use ALT-P when on the Battle Summary
panel; it will not work there.)
* At the end of each turn, the current game is automatically
saved as LASTTURN.MSV. If you lose connection in a game,
reconnect and load this game to resume play.
* Finally, if none of the above suggestions help, try
reconnecting at a lower baud-rate.
Additional Manual Credit
------------------------
Jeffrey Fiske was not listed in the manual as a Game Tester.
---------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 1994 Impressions Software, Inc.
If you experience any problems, check out the Technical Support
Frequently Asked Questions list, included with this archive. Simply type
TECHFAQ <ENTER> at the prompt.
Sierra Technical Support provides this documentation as a reference to
Sierra customers using Sierra software products. Sierra Technical Support
makes reasonable efforts to ensure that the information contained in this
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