Welcome to this free demo of Derrat Sorcerum, a CD-ROM game from Mixed Metaphor Software.
Please read the manual. Derrat Sorcerum is a complex game, and you'll save yourself a lot of frustration if you take even a cursory look at the manual. (Of course, it's so well-written and witty that we don't even have to bring this up!)
Thanks, and enjoy the game!
— The Mixed Metaphor Team
Setting Up...
To play this demo version of Derrat Sorcerum, just double-click the game application, “Derrat Sorcerum Demo.”
The release version of Derrat Sorcerum requires a double-speed or better CD-ROM drive, at least a 13" monitor and at least 4 megabytes of free RAM. You'll also need a hard disk and at least 256 colors to play. The Derrat Sorcerum application is a a fat binary, and will run in native mode on a Power Macintosh as well as on a standard (68000-series) Mac.
The Derrat Sorcerum CD-ROM is a mixed-mode disc and contains high-quality music tracks, composed by Eric Speier, that can be played in any ordinary audio CD player.
A Little Background...
Before you being playing, you should be aware of how the world of Derrat Sorcerum works. This information could be vitally important as the game progresses.
The History... Thousands of years ago, the land of Teraknorn was ravaged by war. People huddled together in small villages, fearing the attacks of
roving bands of nomads. Anarchy reigned. Out of the darkness gradually arose the state of Naridor. Led by a line of Dukes who had survived the Dark Times, Naridor started on the long road to recovery.
The Dukes were noble and wise, and the land prospered. It is from this era
that we first see the magic arts, although there is evidence that they
pre-date even the Dark Times. It is also from this era that we get our
measure of time, "Derrat Sorcerum", Oldspeak for "In The Age of Magic."
 As the magic arts grew in power,
their practitioners came to be fear-
ed by the commoners. Hunted in
the countryside and scorned as
infidels in the cities, they fled to
the Crimson Tower, a fortress
built in a distant corner of the
land. Behind locked doors they
developed their arts, venturing
out only to get needed supplies.
The sparse population near the
Tower grew to accept the magi,
and soon the Crimson Tower
was abandoned. The magic arts
flourished and finally found
acceptance in the population of
the land of Naridor.
But magic was to suffer another blow. In 872 D.S., Duke Chort's blanket condemnation of all magic came as a surprise. Magi were once again the hunted. Naridor's capital city of Knadatorn was hit especially hard, as laws forbidding the sale of all magic-related spices and products were passed. Unbeknownst to the Duke, the Crimson Tower was once again put into operation. New magi were recruited from the surrounding hills and were taught in secrecy.
With time, the storm subsided. The Tower was once again accepted, and Duke Chort was no longer a threat. Magic became an integral part of everyday life, and the magi were once again to be respected. The ranks of the Crimson Tower grew, and the finest young scholars were sent there to learn the magic arts. But all was not as well as it seemed...
The Ranks of the Crimson Tower
The High Council of Wizards has approved the following system of ranks for use within the Crimson Tower.
Apprentice - Apprentices belong to the lowest rank in the Tower. Often young scholars, an Apprentice will serve a higher-ranking wizard in exchange for a small amount of tutoring. Apprentices can be recognized by their forest green robes, and often know very little magic.
Journeyman - A step above the Apprentice, a Journeyman knows considerably more than an Apprentice, and is considered much more powerful. Journeymen spend their time studying and expanding their knowledge, and are distinguished by dark red robes.
Wizards - After a Journeyman has been with the Tower for ten or fifteen
years, he or she is usually given a tenured Wizardship. Wizards are paid by
the Tower to educate Apprentice and Journeyman magi. Wizards promote the magic arts among the population and are respected by the townspeople. Most have stopped studying magic by this point. They wear dark yellow robes.
High Wizard - If a mage achieves Wizardship at a relatively young age and
wishes to go even further, the High Council offers this rank. Attaining a
High Wizardship is no easy task. Wizards must undergo a Challenge in the
Crimson Tower's Testing Compound. High Wizards are very closed-mouthed about what goes on in the Compound, but few who enter make it out alive. The rumor is that, in the test, a group of Wizards is teleported to the Compound. The first one to make it out becomes a High Wizard. The rest are left to die.
Council - The Crimson Tower is managed by the High Council of Wizards. The Council consists of five wizards, who together control the Tower in all
political, social and military affairs. It is unknown how one becomes a
Councilman, or how powerful each Councilman is. There can only be four
Council members, and it is widely believed that one must be a High Wizard first. There cannot be a new Councilman until a current one dies; the number four, according to ancient tradition, must be kept sacred.
Others - The Tower attempts to control all magic use, but some magicians
refuse to submit to their rule. These renegade sorcerers are known as the
Dak Laedo, and exist in unknown quantity.
In the game, you play Corin, an apprentice mage. You are in the midst of
your Journeyman test: escape from a locked room in a short amount of time. Traditionally, a graduating apprentice is met by a Wizard as he or she exits the room.
Playing the Game
Unlike other CD-ROM adventure games you may have played, Derrat Sorcerum takes place in the third-person. You can see your character, Corin, on-screen.
 
When you start playing the game, Corin is locked, hands bound, in a prison cell, as part of his test to become a Journeyman.
Dialog Boxes appear on the screen occasionally to tell you what Corin can see or is doing. You can dismiss dialog boxes by clicking on the OK button or, more quickly, by hitting the Return or Enter key.
You'll notice a toolbar at the bottom of the screen. It has several icons on it, all of which can be used to control Corin's actions.
  The icon at the far left is the Walk icon. When this icon is
selected, you'll be able to move Corin around simply by
clicking on the spot you want him to walk to. If you click on
a place Corin cannot walk, the cursor will change to an X.
 The hand symbol is the Action icon. When this icon is selected,
Corin can perform actions like pulling levers, opening doors,
talking to other characters, picking up objects, etc.
The next three icons on the toolbar are for spells. Corin, being an apprentice, only knows three spells initially. Simply click on a spell to select it, then click the thing you wish to cast it at. At the beginning of the game, Corin has the Unlock, Flame and Flare spells.
 Flare - Flare emits a brief but bright flash of light from the
caster's hands. It is often used by magi to stun thieves and
pickpockets.
 Flame - The Flame spell creates a small, short-lived fire, only
about the size of a candle's flame. It uses very little energy, but
is good for burning through ropes and other thin, flammable
items or materials.
 Unlock - This spell can unlock most normal locks. Anything
locked magically, or deadbolted, is impervious to this
particular spell.
 The pouch icon is the Inventory icon. Clicking on this icon
brings up a list of all the items Corin is carrying. To use an
object in your inventory, open the inventory window and click
on the item to equip it, then whatever you wish to use it on.
 Later on in the game, Corin
may discover scrolls. These
are pieces of parchment end-
owed by high-level wizards
and masters with the power
of certain spells, often quite
powerful. After these items
are used once, they can’t be
used again. Scrolls are often
used by apprentices in order
to cast spells they have not
yet learned. Scrolls appear
in your inventory, described
above, and are used like any
other regular object.
Other magical items, such as
potions and herbs, can also
be found in and around the
Crimson Tower. Their use is
similar to that of the scrolls.
Corin may also find potions, especially around the Crimson Tower. Potions and herbs (such as the magical wood Grapplebane) can often be mixed to create more powerful magic; however, they must be combined at a special mixing table or laboratory for a recipe to work. You should also keep in mind that potions can wear off over time.
The Crimson Tower frowns on the use of weapons by its magi. It is considered blunt and uncouth to solve problems using brute force.
Keep this in mind as you explore the Tower and other areas.
Managing Your Game
Often during play, you'll want to save your game. Saving ensures that you'll be able to return to a previous location in case you should choose the wrong path during the game. While the menu bar is hidden during game play, you can access it at any time by pressing Command-M. You can also control most of its functions with a few simple key combinations.
Command-S - Save your game. You'll be presented with a standard save dialog box. Because Derrat Sorcerum ships on a CD-ROM, you'll have to save onto your hard disk. Descriptive names are better than generic ones (“inside castle” or “with knife” are better than “hugo69” or “kdjfdkfjask”).
Command-O - Load a previously saved game. You'll be presented with a
standard open dialog. Simply navigate to your saved game and click the
“Open” button.
Command-Q - Quit. Since you'll never quit, we won't describe this function in detail.
Sorry, saved games are disabled in this demo version of the game.
Troubleshooting
Q. I just can't figure out how to get past this one puzzle.
A. If it's early in the game, check the “Derrat Sorcerum Hints” file included on the CD. Otherwise, think about it some more and make sure you've searched everywhere.
Q. When I double-click on one of my saved games, it won't open. Why?
A. First open Derrat Sorcerum, then load your saved game file from
within the game.
Q. The sound effects and music are too loud — I don't want my boss/mom/significant other to know I'm playing the game.
A. Press Command-M to show the menu bar, if it isn't already there, then you can use the Sound menu to turn the sound down or off.
Q. After starting up the game, the opening credits and titles don't show up.
A. Make sure you have Quicktime 2.5 or later installed. A copy of this can be found in the "System Extensions" folder on the Derrat Sorcerum CD-ROM.
Q. I just installed the game, and am getting erratic performance (music cuts off, graphics fail to appear, or Out of Memory errors.)
A. First, try increasing the game's memory allocation. To do this, select the icon by clicking on it. Then choose ‘Get Info...’ from the
File menu (you can also hit Command-I).
In the resulting window you should see a box which contains the preferred RAM allocation for Derrat Sorcerum. It should be set to 4000K. This is the smallest amount of RAM the game can have and still be fully functional. If you have more RAM, you should consider increasing its memory allocation. (The higher the better.) If Derrat Sorcerum says that it is out of memory when you try to run it, try reducing the preferred size, no lower than 3200K. You probably won't hear the game's music, but the game will function otherwise.
Q. I'm using Connectix RAM Doubler‚Ñ¢, and the game is suffering frequent crashes or unexpected quits.
A. Derrat Sorcerum has been tested with RAM Doubler, but it has been known to cause problems before. First, make sure you are not setting the game to use more memory than is actually existent in the computer, i.e., if you have 4 megabytes of memory RAM-Doubled to 8, don't give Sorcerer any more than 4096k. If you still experience problems, try disabling RAM Doubler altogether. However, this should not be necessary in most cases.
Q. I'm having other technical problems with the game or have questions that aren't answered in this manual.
A. Feel free to write or call. For the quickest response, you can e-mail Hopkins Technology at support@hoptechno.com.
A Final Word...
Derrat Sorcerum is a long, complex adventure. At times you may be stuck. If you hit an obstacle, don't run to your friends or give up. The fun of adventure games is in solving the whole thing yourself.
We hope you enjoy the game. We spent a lot of time and effort to make it as worthwhile as possible, and we welcome feedback from players. The Mixed Metaphor Software web site is at www.mixedmetaphor.com.
Send electronic mail to support@hoptechno.com.
We hope you enjoy this demo version of the game. The commercial version of Derrat Sorcerum is available through the Hopkins Technology order line, (800) 397-9211. This is the only source for the game as of this writing (11/17/96.)
Thanks again,
- Mixed Metaphor Software.
Credits
Derrat Sorcerum was conceived, designed, and programmed by Ben Spees, who was also responsible for all the graphics. Original music was composed and performed by Eric and Lynn Speier of Speier Music Productions (spmusic@soho.ios.com). Help with plot and puzzle ideas was provided by Josh Rothman, Hugo Mallinson, and Scott Richmond. Scott also coordinated the video capture for the human characters in the game. Corin was played by Drew Wilkins, Voraz by Brian Fayhe, and Jonorrah by Morganne Griffiths. The voices of Corin, the barmaid, and the balcony henchman were done by James Stern. Voices too numerous to list were performed by John Sample. Some texture photography was done by Neil Dreher. This game was developed by Mixed Metaphor Software using one Power Macintosh 7100/66AV, Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Director, Specular Infini-D, and approximately 2,947 cans of Mountain Dew.
