Cream of the Crop 20/Cream of the Crop 20 (Terry Blount) (1996).iso/games/morbi10.zip/README.TXT

Text File | 1996-06-29 | 18KB | 351 lines

  Robert J. Deutsch
  1152 N. 14th St.
  Allentown, PA
  18102
  Net: [e-mail]


                    *** WELCOME TO MORBIUS' ISTHMUS! ***
                 A World-Simulation RPG by Robert J. Deutsch


                      SYSTEM NOTES, PLAYER'S GUIDE
                   For: Morbius' Isthmus (Version 1.0)


                        SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

  You will need at least a 386SX PC compatible machine with 16mhz speed,
MS-DOS 5.0, and 2 megabytes RAM. Recommended is a 486+ but it
is alright on a 386SX/16. Installing a drive CACHE is also recommended.

      ************ FINE TUNING FOR YOUR SYSTEM  *********************
  You can adjust several speed factors such as how fast monsters and
people walk when the hero is walking or standing still as well
as the speed at which torches flicker and clocks tick, etc. This can
be very important if you are running a fast machine like a 66 or Pentium.

  When in the game, press SHIFT plus the _ underline key.
  You will see three numbers, like maybe 3000,8,8  You can enter
  new ones. Here are a few examples:

Good numbers for a 386SX/16 are:  1100,2,4     (Enter with commas)
Good numbers for a 486DX/33 are:  2000,8,8     (Enter with commas)
Good numbers for a 486SX/50 are:  3000,12,12   (Enter with commas)
Good numbers for a 66/Pentium  :  9000,11,11?  11000,13,13? Varies.
  (This can vary on different machines. All values can be in the
   range of 1-32000 for a wide range of optimization.)

  The first number is a ratio that controls how fast people and monsters
will move in RELATION to your character -- when he is walking as opposed to
standing still. The goal is to enter some number between about 1-32000
so that people walk at the same speed whether you are walking or standing.

   You can determine an accurate value by watching as NPC's
walk nearby. Walk a bit, stop, walk again. The NPC's should continue at
the same pace, whether you are walking or standing still. If not, try
a higher or lower value. Lower values speed them up. Higher values
slow them down.

   The second number controls the speed of moving things, like torches,
waterfalls, blinking things, etc.  Use the above reference to
modify it, probably a value between 2 and 100 or so. Higher if needed.

  The third number is for the various grandfather clocks you will find.
Again, experiment with values between 2-100. They will not affect the actual
time in the game, but merely adjust the realism of the tick and pendulum
for different machines. This number is usually close to the things number.
Walk near a clock and watch it's tick. Try different numbers until it
goes at a realistic speed.

  The installed program will require about 2.5 megabytes of hard drive space.
It has been tested with everything except hard disk compression
utilities. Although it might work, we would recommend not to use a disk
compression utility. It will also help speed the game. You should also
exit WINDOWS because sometimes the game can conflict with Windows.
Run it from the DOS prompt, exited from windows. The game CAN run in
Win3.1 or Win95, but if you experience wierds slurs in the speaker and
slow-ups, its best to exit windows, or if in Win95, re-start it in
the true DOS mode.

           MORBIUS' ISTHMUS -- The Story so far...

  A long time ago, legend says an alien from the stars visited some people
living in a dormant volcano. That was generations ago. Lately there has
been a strange unrest growing amongst the people in this underland world.

  Does it signify the return of the alien, whom legend calls: Morbius?
Or is something more evil invading the dungeon? Thrust here by a mystery
which you hope to be a dream, YOU must confront the truth in mankind's
first contact with an alien entity from the stars!


                          *** PLAYGUIDE ***

            ***MAKE SURE THE CAPS AND NUMLOCK KEYS ARE ON!***

  Just run the file MORBI to begin the game!  You'll see other EXE's in
the list, but it'll crash if you don't run only MORBI to play. You'll
need to be in the right directory, for example:
CD C:\MYSTUFF\DOWNLOAD (ENTER) or whatever, then type
MORBI or run MORBI.EXE from Win3.1's file/run menu, or Win95's start.
  Again, if you hear wierd sounds and slow-ups, get into DOS.

  When you are done looking at the title screen, tap any key. You will be
taken to the main menu. When first running the game, you should select V for
view introduction. It tells about the mountain and why you're here. When
it is done, you will be back at the menu.

  Now select S to start a new game. If you type Q for quest onward
by mistake, it could crash until you have a SAVEd game.

  After the game loads, you will see a viewport where the hero has
arrived. Everything happens in this viewport. Underneath is his statistics
and a quick-list of commands. The stats line contains the following:

  LEV:1   HP:65   HM:65   EXP:0   MANA:15   AC:0   ATC:0   AMMO:0   GOLD:5

 These are abbreviations for: Level, Hit Points, Hitpoints Maximum,
Experience, Mana Points, Armor Class, Attack Class, Amount of Ammo,
and Amount of Gold.

  Level is an over-all indicator of how powerful you are. It also controls
how many hitpoints you have, as well as mana.

  Hit points are your current energy. It will go down in combat, but can be
restored by sleeping (if you have food in your pack), or by magical means.
You can also restore a bit by eating. In the jungle dungeon area, you can
eat as much as you want from the trees. You will also find nourishing
berries in the game.

  Hitmax is controlled by level. It shows the maximum hit points you can
have. This also can be modified by magical means, and will rise as your
level rises. You will discover early in the game how to move up levels.

  Experience is an over-all measure of how much you have accomplished.

  Mana is like hit points, but determines how much magical energy you
have for casting spells. It will go up when you rest to a maximum
determined by level, or can be adjusted with certain herbs you will find
in your quest.  It will always restore to full when you sleep at an Inn.

  Armor Class is a value from 0-15, with 15 the strongest. It determines
how much you will resist enemy blows, and is determined by what type of
helm, shield and armor you are wearing. Some people claim there is magical
armor, but most Arms Masters regard this as hogwash, since it supposedly
raises one's AC to 18.

  Attack Class determines how powerful your current weapon is, and gives an
indication of how hard you will hit an enemy. Many variables in combat can
modify this somewhat.

  Ammunition shows how many projectiles you have for a ranged weapon. These
are kept in a seperate quiver, and will not clutter your inventory pack.

  Gold is how many gold pieces you have in your purse, also seperate from
the main inventory pack.


                          *** COMMANDS ***

  The keyboard inputs are very intuitive and easy to use. They are
all highlighted at the bottom of the screen.

  Please remember to keep NUM and CAPS lock ON. At every step of
every command, a display line will appear at the bottom of the screen
listing available options. We firmly believe the player should have it easy
with inputting commands, and save his problem solving for the quest!

  Movement is controlled with the KEYPAD arrow keys. For now, you can move
in four directions. In COMBAT, however, you can ATTACK in all eight, using
keys 7,9,1 and 3 as well as 4,6,8 and 2. (See addendum)

  L-Look: When tapped, you'll see a red cursor. Move it with the same arrows
as for walking. The cursor will move all over the screen. Tap L again to get
a description of anything in the land.

  Remember to LOOK in open chests, and BLOODSPLATS if you kill a monster.
Many neat items are found in this manner! This is also needed to LOOK
in a hole you may have dug for treasure.

  G-Get: When tapped, you'll be asked to