GCW Games & More & Wacky Windows Companion/gcw.iso/g/bdquest/dbquest.txt

Text File | 1994-02-04 | 22KB | 536 lines

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FOR A QUICK START EXPLANATION OF DBQUEST, PLEASE VIEW THE QWKSTART.TXT FILE!

TO HELP ME MAKE BETTER GAMES, PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTIONS IN THE README.TXT
FILE & E-MAIL ME THE ANSWERS!

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                            DBQuest PLAYER'S GUIDE

                         DBQuest IS (C) COPYRIGHTED 1993
                         BY FUTURISTIC IDEA STUDIOS (TM) WITH
                         ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  FUTURISTIC IDEA
                         STUDIOS, DBQuest, and THE PRESENT IS
                         THE HISTORY OF THE FUTURE ARE TRADEMARKS
                         OF DEBRAY BAILEY

                         THE ORIGINAL DCPLAY MANUAL WAS
                         WRITTEN BY DAVID HERNANDEZ.  THIS
                         MANUAL IS MODIFIED FOR USE WITH
                         DBQuest VERSION 1.2.

                         THANKS TO DAVID HERNANDEZ FOR
                         A GREAT GAME MAKING SYSTEM.





GETTING STARTED

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS:

This software SHOULD run under @ 400K, leaving plenty of space for your TSRs,
device drivers, etc.  BUT, it runs best with a large amount of RAM free.
I usually run this game with at least 500-600k free.  If you notice that
the sound drops out unexpectedly, you may need to free more conventional RAM.

To hear sounds, you must have a Sound Blaster (or better) card from
Creative Labs.  Compatible cards may not work correctly.  This limitation
will be removed in future games created by Futuristic Idea Studios.

NOTE:  If you do not want sound, or the sound does not work with your hardware,
       then delete the dcsounds.vfl file to save hard disk space.  Also note
       that, contrary to what the program tells you, you DO NOT need
       sbfmdrv.com installed to hear sounds since no FM synthesis was used to
       create music.

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS:

Before you can start playing a game, you should have the
following files in your current directory:

GAME FILES:

An adventure should include the following files:

WORLD.IDX      World's Index File
WORLD.###      Landscaping for world number ###
WORLDO.###     World's objects and characters
WORLD###.PCX   World's graphic representation (optional)
WORLD###.SCR   World's control script (optional)
WORLD###.CFM   World's background music score
PLAYERS.DTA    Character Statistics File
PARAMS.DTA     Game wide parameters
TEXT.DTA       Encoded text blocks for the entire game
HINT.DTA       Hints from bartenders, etc.  Some false quests too???
OPICT###.PCX   An object's graphic view (optional)
CPICT###.PCX   A character's graphic view (optional)
VOICE###.VFL   A character's recorded voice (optional)
*.SCO          A compiled control script (many)
*.PCX          A script controlled graphics file
*.VLO          A file for the graphics blocks
*.TXT          All the documentation, manuals and notes you'll need
DCSOUNDS.VFL   A file that holds digitized sounds effects
DCPLAY.EXE     The main runtime game
DBQuest.BAT    Use this to start the game


CREATING A NEW CHARACTER

In this game, you are a human hero.  You are able to wield any weapon,
wear any armor, and cast any spell (subject to your POWER limit).
The following character attributes are provided to you so that you can see
what limitations, or advantages your character might have in the land
of Bright Wood.

There are eight character attributes:

STRENGTH

In hand-to-hand combat, you will do more damage when using
contact weapons if you have a high strength rating.  A high strength
rating will also allow you to carry addtional weight.

SPEED

Speed is important in a battle, as it may allow you to strike
more than once per round. If your speed exceeds that of your
current foe by more than 10 points, you will be able to strike
twice. If it exceeds it by more than 20 points you will be able
to strike 3 times.

AIM

Aim betters your chance of hitting a target with a missile
weapon. It doesn't affect hand-to-hand combat. In general, you
can expect to hit a target about 1 out of 2 times.  This number can change
for a variety of reasons including:  potion effects, ring effects, staff
effects, and it may change when you are promoted to a new level of
experience.

DEXTERITY

This attribute is important in combat, as it helps in avoiding
getting hit!  It also helps to avoid traps when you try to break
the lock in a chest or door.  A character with dexterity under
9 might have trouble using weapons, and might harm himself
during combat.

I.Q.

A high I.Q. will help the character to gain extra power when
promoted to a new level. A character with a low I.Q. might
actually lose power when promoted to a new level!

POWER

A magic user consumes POWER points when casting
a spell. Power is replenished with time and rest.

HIT POINTS

This is the amount of damage that a player can take before
dying.  A player with only 1 h.p. is unconscious, and a player with 0 h.p.
is dead.  If your character (the main character) dies, then you are
automatically resurected, and teleported to a specified location.  If you
die too many times in a short length of time, you may not be resurected!
Extra hit points are earned when you are promoted to a new level.

ARMOR CLASS

This attribute depends on the armor you are wearing, as well as
the magical items and/or spells that may protect you at any
given time. The HIGHER your a.c. the less damage you suffer
after being hit.

PLAYING THE GAME

GAINING EXPERIENCE:

When you play the game, you will get experience points for every
point of damage done to a monster during battle. You will also
get experience (and a reward) for performing "quests".

When your experience reaches a certain level, you will be
AUTOMATICALLY advanced to the next level.  When promoted, you
will get additional hit points, and your strength will increase.

INTERACTING WITH OTHER CHARACTERS

You will encounter many different characters during the course
of your adventures.  The character CLASS will direct a
character's actions to a great extent.  The following are the
standard classes of characters, but remember each character is
an individual, and the following is just the expected behavior
for a character of any given class.

REGULAR

This is someone that might be interested in joining your party.
Talk to them before you ask them to JOIN your group. Once they
join, if you ask them to leave you have to share your gold with
them and they take any item they are carrying with them.  There
is a maximum of 6 characters in a single party, so choose your
companions well. Use the VACATE command to ask a character to
leave your group.

MERCHANT

Merchants buy and sell items. Their merchandise varies a lot,
but they usually concentrate on certain 'types' of items like
weapons, armor, food, magic potions, magical items, etc.
Merchants will usually buy only items of a type similar to the
merchandize they carry. For example, an armorer (sells armor,
shields, etc) would not be interested in buying a yellow potion.

CIVILIAN

These are the normal, everyday people of Brightwood.  Each has his or
her own objectives and motives.

BARTENDER

The bartender at the local pub is a good source of information.  However, the
wise adventurer will also make sure to "mind his P's and Q's"!

HEALER

Can heal your wounds, cure your poisoning, resurrect your dead
and remove cursed items (for a price, of course).

TELLER

These person can usually give you a good lead, but their words
are often quizzical, and expensive.

BEGGAR

These are the unfortunates of Bright Wood.  Those who show compassion
to these poor folk are often rewarded with a tidbit of town gossip.

QUESTOR

This person will give you a quest. If you accept, you will have
to go and get a specific object, for which the questor will pay
well. Finishing a quest will also give you additional experience.
A questor may also ask you to find and bring a person. This
normally implies a rescue mission.

GUARD

A guard will not let you approach the door or passage it is
guarding.  Talking to them can lead to a fight, unless you are
prepared to give it the password required. Some guards have been
known to take bribes.

MOVING AROUND

You move around by using the arrow keys (up, down, left, right).
When you see a town or an entrance or exit, press the 'E' key to
Enter or Exit through the door.

Time passes every time you move. Characters will automatically
eat every 512 steps. If you run out of food, they will slowly
starve to death.  If a character gets poisoned, 1 hit point for
every 8 steps will be lost until a cure is found.

Hit points are regained every two steps (if you're healthy and
well fed).

Character's must rest (Camp Out). An exhausted character will lose
hit points.  When you camp out, your attributes will return to normal.
This includes hit points as well as other attributes modified by magical
items or potions (if the effect was temporary).  You will be warned when
your characters are getting tired.  In civilized areas, players must rest
in beds. To sleep in a bed, simply walk up to it and then USE it.

Remember to remove magical items before camping out, or their
effect will be re-invoked when you wake up.  Since most magical items have
a limited number of uses, the wise adventurer saves them for moments of
great need.

If monsters appear while camping out, you may not have regained
all of your hit points, and the monsters will have the initiative
(first strike) because they caught you unprepared for battle.

THE PARTY'S SPOKESPERSON

To set or change the party's "primary" character, type the
number of the character (1 through 6).

If you want to see the statistics on the entire group, press 0.
The primary character remains selected and is highlighted on the
screen.

Commands like Get, Drop, Wield, Remove, Talk, etc., are always
performed by the primary character. Thus, if you talk to a
merchant, and buy something, it will be placed in the primary
character's back pack.  If you wish to move an item to another character's
backpack, you will need to have the character who is holding the item DROP it,
and then have the character that you want to move the item to GET it.

Food and Gold are the general exception. They are always shared
by the entire party. If a food item is put in the backpack, it
probably means that it's not regular food (for example "magic" food).
Some food has been known to have strange effects (one of which is poisoning!).

TALKING TO OTHER CHARACTERS

When talking to other characters, you can use "keywords" to
conduct a conversation. Most characters will respond to key words
like:

HELLO  -  Greets the  character.
NAME   -  asks the character what his/her name is.
JOB    -  asks the character what he/she does.
JOIN   -  asks the character to join the party.
BYE    -  ends conversation (player may also simply press return)

Also, any words in CAPITAL letters are key words.  This was done to make
conversation easier for the player.

Some characters will show you a menu from which you may interact
with it.  If the character is interested in idle chat, you will
se a 'Talk' option in the menu, otherwise, the character is
interested only in doing business.

IF there is a price associated with an option (such as buying
an item), it will be shown to the right of the menu entry in
either gold pieces (GP) or silver pieces (SP). Remember that
there are 10 silver pieces in every gold piece.

SAVING, RESTORING AND RESTARTING A GAME

Saving the game often is highly recommended. You can save up to
999 copies of the game (slots 1 to 999).

If you need to stop playing, press F10 to suspend the game. The
current game is always saved in slot 0. When you come back, the
game will continue where you left off.

To go back to a saved game (restore) press F4 and indicate the
slot that you want to load.

Should you want to restart the game from the very beginning,
press F6.

If you choose any of the above options by mistake, press <ESC> to
return to the game.  Generally, <ESC> will back you out of ANY choices
available in the game.


                              COMMAND SUMMARY



     0    - Show party summary stats.
            This command will show all the characters in your party.  This
            is the normal view.

     1-6  - Selects primary character.
            By pressing 1-6, you are selecting a primary character that
            corresponds to the number that you select.  Primary characters do
            all the interacting with other characters.  Usually, the primary
            character is the player.

     A    - Attack a group of monsters.
            If a group of monsters is beside your party, you can use this
            command to attack them.

     C    - Camp Out.
            When the party gets tired, you will need to rest.  In the
            wilderness, the party simply sets up a tent.  In civilized areas,
            however, the party must rest in a bed.  To rest in a bed, simply
            move the party next to a bed and USE it.

     D    - Drop an object from your back pack.
            This command will allow you to select an object to be dropped
            from the primary character's backpack.  Note that readied items
            cannot be dropped until the are 'unreadied'.  If your inventory
            is more than one screen long, pgup/pgdn can be used to scroll
            up/down.

     E    - Enter or Exit another world.
            This command will allow the party to enter a town, dungeon, or
            any other place that can be entered.  When you are ready to exit
            a town, simply 'step out' of the 'edges' of the town.  Then, the
            program will ask you if you want to exit, and if you do, you
            should select yes.  If you are trying to enter stairs, or a ladder
            then you should move your party over the stairs or ladder, and then
            press "E".

     F    - N/A

     G    - Get.
            This will allow the primary character to get an object.  To get an
            object, the party must either be standing on top of the object, or
            next to the object.  To open a chest, the player must use the get
            command.  For the convience of the player, chests, when picked up
            are converted to a small sum of money (usually 1 silver piece).
            This avoids the tedium of the player having to get a chest, and
            then put it back down.

     H    - N/A

     I    - Inventory.
            This command shows an inventory of the primary character.
            If your inventory is more than one page long, pgup/pgdn can be
            used to scroll up/down.

     J    - N/A

     K    - N/A

     L    - Look. To examine something closely.
            This command will allow you to get a description of what you are
            looking at.  Not all objects (furniture, trees, etc.) have
            descriptions.  Generally, only things that you can GET, USE, or
            TALK to have descriptions.

     M    - N/A

     N    - iNvoke a magic scroll or a gem.
            This will invoke a magic gem, thereby releasing its magic.

     O    - N/A

     P    - N/A

     Q    - Quaff.
            This command enables characters to drink potions, and eat any
            special food items that they might have.  NOTE:  This does not
            apply to normal 'eating'.  This command is for special items
            only.  To feed your party regular food, all you have to do is to
            keep some food in your inventory.  You party members will feed
            themselves when they are hungry.

     R    - Remove.
            This command allows a character to remove armor, weapons, staffs,
            amulets, rings, or anything else that can be readied.  If the
            item cannot be removed, then it is cursed.

     S    - Spell.
            This allows spell casting characters to cast spells.  A menu will
            appear, and the player must choose the desired spell to cast.
            NOTE:  When in combat, only combat spells will appear.  Likewise
            when not in combat, only non-combat spells will appear.

     T    - Talk.
            This command allows the primary character to talk to another
            character.  To talk to someone, simply move the party next to
            them and press 'T'.  Then, press one of the four arrow keys to
            select which direction the party wishes to talk in.

     U    - Use, Unlock.
            This command allows the primary character to use an object.
            Some examples of objects that can be used are:  beds, fountains,
            chests (when locked), doors (when locked), boats, skiffs, and
            rafts.  There may be other items that can be used, that are not
            listed here.  Experiment!

     V    - Vacate.
            This command allows you to remove a character from your party.
            Vacated characters stay wherever you leave them, and will join
            you at a later date, if you so desire.

     W    - Wield or Wear.
            This allows a character to wield weapons and staffs, and to wear
            rings, amulets, and armor.

     X    - eXit.
            This command will allow the party to exit from a boat, skiff or
            raft.  This command will also 'exit' the party from battle, if
            things are not going well.

     Y    - N/A

     Z    - Zap.
            Staffs are imbued with magical energy.  To use this energy, the
            player should select 'Z' for zap.  Staffs have a wide range of
            uses, so the player will have to experiment to see which staffs
            are useful, and which are not.

Function_Keys

     F1   - Help.
            This command shows limited help.  To scroll up or down the
            menu, press pgup, or pgdn.

     F2   - To SAVE the current game.
            This command will allow you to save your game.

     F4   - To RESTORE a saved game.
            This command will allow you to restore your saved game.

     F6   - To RESTART a game from scratch.
            This command will allow you to restart a game.

     F10  - Save game (slot 0) and return to DOS.
            This saves your game in slot 0 and returns you to DOS.

     ***  - For more information on saving, restoring, and restarting, see
            the above sections on those subjects.

     ESC  - Cancel last operation or try to escape during battle.
            This command will cancel the last operation.  Most menus, and
            choices can be cancelled using this command.  ESC will also
            allow you to escape a battle (same as eXit).










                        DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY.


     DBQUEST IS MARKETED BY FUTURISTIC IDEA STUDIOS AS FREEWARE.
     YOU MAY COPY AND DISTRIBUTE THIS PROGRAM AS MANY TIMES AS YOU
     WISH, AS LONG AS:

     1.  NO FILES ARE ALTERED IN ANY WAY.

     2.  ALL THE FILES ARE DISTRIBUTED TOGETHER.

     3.  NO MONEY IS PAID FOR THIS PRODUCT OTHER THAN THE AMOUNT REQUIRED
         FOR SHIPPING AND MEDIA (CD-ROM, DISKS, ETC.) WHICH IS NOT TO
         EXCEED $7.00.

     4.  THIS COPYRIGHT NOTICE IS RETAINED.

     FUTURISTIC IDEA STUDIOS HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR
     IMPLIED ABOUT THE MERCHANTABILITY OF THIS PRODUCT TO SUIT A PURPOSE.
     DBQUEST IS PROVIDED "AS IS" BY FUTURISTIC IDEA STUDIOS.  DEBRAY BAILEY,
     THE AUTHOR AND SOLE OWNER OF THIS SOFTWARE, TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR
     LOSS OF DATA, DAMAGE TO EQUIPMENT, OR DAMAGE TO PERSON THROUGH THE USE
     OF THIS SOFTWARE.  SHOULD THE SOFTWARE PROVE DEFECTIVE, THE ENTIRE
     BURDEN OF ANY AND ALL REPAIRS, REPLACEMENTS, AND/OR RESTORATION OF
     EQUIPMENT OR DATA RESTS WITH THE USER. IN NO EVENT WILL THE AUTHOR BE
     LIABLE FOR ANY COSTS AND/OR LOSSES EITHER TANGIBLE OR INTANGIBLE ARISING
     FROM THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

     IN NO EVENT SHOULD THE ARTWORK, SOUNDS, OR TEXT FROM DBQUEST BE
     DISTRIBUTED ALONE OR WITH ANOTHER PROGRAM WITHOUT CONSENT OF THE GAME
     AUTHOR, DEBRAY BAILEY.

     USE OF THIS SOFTWARE DENOTES ACCEPTANCE OF THE ABOVE TERMS.


Futuristic Idea Studios, DBQuest, and The present is the history of the
future are TRADEMARKS of DeBray Bailey

DBQuest is (C) COPYRIGHT 1993 by DeBray Bailey WITH ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Sound Blaster is a TRADEMARK of Creative Labs Inc.