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EXCELSIOR Phase One: Lysandia Player Reference Manual Castle Software Excelsior Phase One: Lysandia By Daniel Berke and Matthew Engle Reference Manual Edition 1.0 (C) Copyright 1993 by Daniel Berke and Matthew Engle All Rights Reserved. CASTLE SOFTWARE PROVIDES THIS SOFTWARE "AS-IS" AND DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NEITHER CASTLE SOFTWARE, DANIEL BERKE, MATTHEW ENGLE, NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF THIS SOFTWARE SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF PROFIT, DATA OR USE OF THE SOFTWARE, OR SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR OTHER SIMILAR CLAIMS. THE PERSON USING THE SOFTWARE BEARS ALL THE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF THE LIMIT OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. TABLE OF CONTENTS Overview 2 Installing Excelsior System Requirements 3 Installation Instructions 3 SoundBlaster Sound Support 3 Compatibility Notes for OS/2 Users 3 Troubleshooting 4 Game Startup 5 Character Creation 6 Resuming Games 9 Playing Excelsior 10 Commands Movement 11 Action Commands 11 Special Commands 14 2 OVERVIEW Excelsior is a role playing game (RPG) designed for one player. It was designed in the tradition of many other RPGs that have been available for computers since the early eighties. If you are familiar with RPGs, you may choose to skip ahead to the installation instructions. For those who are not familiar with RPGs, the idea is simple. An RPG places you in the role of a person in a fantasy land with a task to complete. At the beginning of the game, you get to design your character by defining his or her physical and mental attributes. Your character is then placed in the fantasy world - a world filled with monsters, magic, ordinary people, and all sorts of other wondrous things. Your goal will be described to you at the outset of the game, and it is up to you to figure out how to achieve it. You communicate with the people in the game, gather clues, and perform tasks which draw you closer and closer to your final goal. In addition, as you progress, your character develops both physically and mentally. In the end, if you have prepared well, you will achieve your ultimate goal and bring your quest to completion. 3 INSTALLING EXCELSIOR SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Excelsior requires an IBM PC with the following minimum hardware: 1. A hard drive with 4.5 megabytes of free space 2. VGA graphics 3. 640k of RAM In addition, Excelsior supports the use of SoundBlaster sound cards. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS Excelsior is supplied in a self-extracting archive. All that is necessary to run Excelsior is to create a directory on the hard drive (normally called EX), and decompress the files. The easiest way to do this is as follows: Step 1: Create the EX directory on your hard drive. Step 2: Copy all the files from the source disk to the EX directory. Step 3: Switch to the EX directory on the hard drive. Step 4: Uncompress the files by typing EXLSIOR. When the process is finished, Excelsior will be set up completely and ready to play by typing EX. If for some reason you have difficulty in setting up the game, please contact Castle Software for assistance. SOUNDBLASTER SOUND SUPPORT To enable SoundBlaster sound in Excelsior, you must use the CT-VOICE.DRV driver file which is supplied with the SoundBlaster card. Excelsior needs access to this file, which can be done one of two ways. The simplest option is to copy this file into the Excelsior game directory. Your other option is to provide the path to this file through the use of the SOUND environment variable set in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. (Note that the default SOUND path is not to the directory in which CT-VOICE.DRV was placed by the SoundBlaster installation software.) COMPATIBILITY NOTES FOR OS/2 USERS There are three issues which OS/2 users must be aware of when they run Excelsior in a virtual DOS session. 1. Excelsior must be run in a full screen DOS window. 2. The PC speaker sound effects may not function properly because they use the system timer. On some systems, this causes the entire machine to lock up, while on others, the sound simply distorts. As a result, we do not guarantee that these sounds will work while running under OS/2. 3. When using a SoundBlaster card, occasionally the sound will not function properly. If the sound effects sound scratchy or completely garbled, exit the current DOS session and open a new one. Often, this will solve the problem. If this does not work, end any other programs running concurrently and open a new DOS session. 4 TROUBLESHOOTING Problems with running Excelsior generally are related to either sound or expanded memory (EMS) support. If you are experiencing problems with SoundBlaster sound, first be certain that the CT-VOICE.DRV driver file is installed as discussed earlier. In addition, verify that sound is enabled in the Game Setup menu (press Alt-G while playing). OS/2 users who are having trouble with sound should refer to the above section on OS/2 compatibility issues. If you have an expanded memory manager installed (such as EMM386, QEMM, etc.), Excelsior will detect and attempt to use up to 1.5 megabytes of expanded memory (EMS). This memory used for various game data which would otherwise be read off of disk, such as SoundBlaster sound. As a result, you should notice a significant increase in game speed when using EMS. Unfortunately, as is often the case, various other programs which you may be running (such as disk compressors and other TSR programs) may also be attempting to use EMS. Sometimes this can cause conflicts, which leads to unpredictable behavior. If you experience any "lockups" or other bizarre problems while running Excelsior, we suggest that you disable EMS. This can be done by using the -e option at the command line. Run Excelsior by typing "EX -e" to disable EMS use. If this does not solve the problem, please contact Castle Software so that we may diagnose the problem. 5 GAME STARTUP To run Excelsior, type "EX" at the DOS prompt. The title screen will be displayed. Upon pressing a key, the main menu will appear. At this point, you have four choices: (C) Continue your adventure (S) Start a new adventure (D) Display the credits (Q) Quit to DOS Pressing "C" will resume a game already in progress. This is the option which you will be selecting once you have created a character. See the section on Resuming Games for more details. Pressing "S" will allow you to create a character for use in the game. Refer to the section on Character Creation for the details of this process. Pressing "D" will give a complete list of those who worked on Excelsior. Pressing "Q" will end the game and return you to the DOS prompt. 6 CHARACTER CREATION Excelsior provides you with a large number of options when creating a character. As a result, the process must be done carefully in order to tailor your character to fit your wishes. It is strongly suggested that you read through the Fixer's Handbook before beginning the creation. (If possible, read it as you go through the process.) Excelsior characters are complex and to optimize your abilities, you will want to understand the differences between all the choices you are presented. This information can only be found in the Fixer's Handbook, as much of it takes place "behind the scenes" and does not have a noticeable on-screen effect during character creation. To start working on your character, press "S" at the main menu. This will bring up a blank character screen. The initial values for your primary and secondary attributes are shown. These will change as you develop your character. The first step is to give your character a name. Enter a name less than fifteen letters long at the prompt. When done, press Enter. The next step is to assign a race to your character. The different races are discussed in the Fixer's Handbook. Use the arrow keys to highlight the race of your choice. Press Enter when that race is highlighted to select it. If you have a mouse attached to your system, you may use it during the character creation process to highlight selections. The left mouse button selects the current selection, exactly like the Enter key. After selecting your race, take note of your attribute values. Some races have implicit bonuses and penalties as part of their nature. These adjustments should be apparent to you from reading the Fixer's Handbook. Next, you must select a gender. This is generally male or female, but a few races offer the option of sexless. As with race, your gender may affect different attributes. The next step in creating your character is to adjust your primary attributes. This is where you can tailor your character to your liking, from mindless brute to frail wizard, or anything in between. These three attributes affect different abilities your character will have during the game, and ultimately will be used to determine which class your character qualifies for. Again, a complete discussion of how the primary (and secondary) attributes affect you is detailed in the Fixer's Handbook. Before you begin adjusting your attributes, take note of their current values. These are the lowest values to which they may be set. For example, if your dexterity is 13, you can increase and decrease it at will, but you can not decrease it below 13. This holds for all attributes. In addition, the maximum for any one primary attribute is 50. You are given 30 points to divide up among your primary attributes. On the right side of the screen you will see a window with options to increment and decrement each of the three attributes. Select an action and press Enter to perform it. You can add and subtract points at will, there is no set order. 7 Feel free to experiment. When you are confident with your distribution, press Escape. This will end the selection process. Be sure to use all 30 points; there is no reason not to. You can not "save" some for use later. If you only use 28 of the 30 points, the two you don't use will be lost for good. The secondary attributes are similarly adjusted. However, you are only given five points to distribute. This is because the maximum value in any one of the secondary attributes is ten. Distribute all five points in a similar fashion as you did for the primary attributes, and press Escape when you are finished. The next step in creating your character is to select a class. There are thirteen classes from which you may be allowed to select. However, most classes have certain minimum requirements in order for you to qualify. These are hinted at in the Fixer's Handbook. Most of these limitations are based on common sense: if you have a strength of 15, don't plan on being a warrior. Only the classes you qualify for (based on your six attributes) are displayed. Make your selection by highlighting your choice and pressing Enter. The next step is to select skills for your character. There are twelve possible skills, and you may choose two skills to start with. This may not seem fair, but note that during the course of your adventure, you will have the opportunity to learn all of the remaining skills. It is likely that your character will initially start with one skill already learned. This is because certain skills are implied by being a certain class. For example, a mage by definition is a magic user. Therefore, the magic skill is already learned. After you have chosen your two skills, press Escape. The final step in creating your character is to adjust your alignment. The ramifications of this are discussed in the Fixer's Handbook. Please note that certain classes have alignment limits. For example, you can not have a purely good assassin. These limits are discussed in the Handbook. If you attempt to set your alignment to an disallowed value, you will be told so and asked to readjust it. To adjust your alignment, a scale will appear on the screen. The left end represents evil (red) and the right end represents good (green). The initial setting is in the middle, or neutral (white). Use the arrow keys to shift the scale to the desired alignment and press Enter to select it. 8 Finally, the game will ask you if you are satisfied with your character. If you are happy with your character, type "Y". Answering "N" will discard your character and return you to the main menu. Once you have created your character, the introductory text will be displayed. After you have read it, the game will begin. Your character will be given a small initial amount of gold and food. At this point, you should seek out the nearest town and equip yourself for your adventure. After that, you're on your own. Good luck! 9 RESUMING GAMES When you press "C" at the main menu, you will be presented with a list of games you have saved. Enter the number of the game which you wish to restore. The game will be loaded and your current status will be exactly as it had been when you saved it. You can now continue playing from the point at which you had previously left off. 10 PLAYING EXCELSIOR The game screen in Excelsior is divided into three windows. The large window in the upper left portion of the screen is the map window. This is where the terrain map is displayed, as well as the detailed player status screen and any long passages of text. To the right of the game window is the status window. During the normal course of the game, this window displays your vital statistics such as hit points, magic points, food, gold, readied weapon(s), and worn armor. Hit points and magic points are displayed as a fraction. The first number represents your current value, while the second number represents the maximum value attainable. Under normal conditions, these values are displayed in white. If the current value of your hit points or magic points is less than 20% of its respective maximum, the value is displayed in yellow. If the current value is less than 10% of its maximum, it is displayed in red. Furthermore, if your character is diseased, the hit point value blinks in green. If you are carrying less than 100 units of food, the food value is displayed in red. If your food reaches zero, the value begins blinking, denoting that you are starving. In the middle of the status window is a list of readied weapons. Your current weapons are always displayed. If you are using a missile weapon, the number of arrows or quarrels you have is also displayed. Below the weapon list is a list of all armor currently worn. Below this is your armor class, which is a gauge of how well protected you are. A zero represents no protection, while higher numbers denote higher levels of protection. Your armor class can also be affected by spells and potions for short periods of time. Often when speaking to other people in the game you will be asked to make a decision. This could be a simple yes or no, or a choice from a merchant's inventory list. When this happens, a highlighted bar will appear over the top choice. Using the arrow keys or the mouse, position the bar over your selection and press Enter or the left mouse button. In all situations, pressing Escape or the right mouse button will answer the question in the negative (or select nothing from a list). The window at the bottom of the screen is the command window. This window displays the results of each command you execute. For things simple as movement, it merely displays the direction in which you are moving. However, in cases such as talking to other people, most dialogue which takes place is displayed here. Any time the text takes up more than one screen, a blinking arrow will appear signifying that there is more text and the game is awaiting a key-press. On some occasions you will be asked to answer a question or provide a password to someone. This too is done in the command window. When this situation arises, simply type in your response and press Enter. 11 COMMANDS There are many commands in Excelsior, each one representing a particular action which you can perform. Before introducing the command set, a few words should be said about the concept of directional specification. For many commands, in addition to specifying the command itself, a direction also needs to be specified. For example, when attacking, in addition to invoking the attack command, it is necessary to specify the direction in which you wish to attack. Commands that require a direction prompt you with a flashing red question mark ("?") in the command window. To specify a di- rection, press any of the valid direction keys or position the mouse cursor in the general direction and press the left button. Pressing Escape or the right mouse button will abort the command. MOVEMENT Moving around the land of Excelsior is simple. The screen is laid out in typical map style with north at the top of the screen. To move around, the mouse or keyboard is used. If you are using the mouse, simply hold down the left button with the cursor positioned in the general direction in which you wish to travel. If you are more comfortable using the keyboard, you can use either the cluster of arrow keys or the numeric keypad (be sure NUM LOCK is off). The advantage to using the keypad is that it allows you to move along the off-cardinal directions (northwest, northeast, southwest, southeast). In addition to movement, these same keys are used to specify directions for commands which require a directional specification. ACTION COMMANDS The following is a complete list of the keys used in the game to perform the different available actions. Note that almost all keys are abbreviations for the command, which makes the command set very simple to remember. In ad- dition, if you have a mouse, you may press both buttons simultaneously to bring up a list of commands. You can select the command to execute by highlighting it and pressing the left mouse button. A - Attack Attack allows you to strike at another person or monster. Upon invoking the attack command, you will first be told which weapon you are attacking with and then you will be prompted for a direction. In cases where you have two weapons readied, you will need to specify two directions, one for each weapon. B - Board or exit a ship or horse Board allows you to get on or off of a ship or to mount or dismount a horse. There are certain restrictions to this command. For example, you can't board a ship while on horseback. In addition, you can't exit a ship while it is under a bridge. C - Cast a spell The cast command is used to invoke spells. When you type the cast command, you will be prompted for the spell name. Each spell has a two-letter ab- breviation which you must type at this time. If the spell name is invalid (or you press Escape), the command will be aborted. If you enter a valid spell 12 name, one of two things will happen. If the spell requires a direction (as is the case for most offensive spells), you will be prompted for a direction, just like in the attack command. If the spell does not need any further information besides the name, it will be cast. See the Fixer's Handbook for more information about the various spells in the game. D - Drop an item The drop command is used to discard an item in your backpack. When you invoke the drop command, a list of the items you presently have in your backpack is displayed in the status window. Select the item to drop, and then specify a direction in which to drop it. Note that weapons and armor must be removed before they can be dropped. E - Enter structure or use ladder The enter command allows you to enter a building or dungeon. To perform this, you must be standing on the structure which you want to enter. In a dungeon or keep, if you are standing on a ladder, the enter command causes you to climb either up or down. F - Fire a ship's catapult Every ship is equipped with a catapult used for defense. If you are on board a ship, this command will initiate an attack using this catapult. You may still use your normal weapons to attack by using the attack command. G - Get an item The get command is the opposite of the drop command. It allows you to pick up an object and add it to your backpack (assuming you have room). To get an item, invoke the command while standing next to the item and specify the direction in which the item is located. Note that since each "tile" can hold two items, if there are two items in the specified direction, you must specify which one. This is done by pressing the right arrow to pick up the object on the right side of the tile, and the left arrow to pick up the object on the left. If there is only one object in the tile, this step is not necessary. If you are using a mouse, simply click on the item you wish to take. H - Help This item brings up a screen which lists all of the game commands for easy reference. I - Inspect your surroundings The inspect command is used to more thoroughly search an object for any special characteristics. For example, you could inspect a wall looking for a secret door. Inspect requires a direction. K - Close a door The close command simply closes the door in the direction you specify. L - Look around The look command is used to identify terrain and/or objects. It merely tells you what you see on the surface; no in depth searching is performed. For example, if you look at a wall, look will respond with "You see a wall", while to search the wall for a possible secret door, you must use inspect. Look requires a direction. 13 O - Open a door Open allows you to open a door in the specified direction. This command will fail if the door is locked or already open. P - Pick a lock Use the pick lock command to attempt (by less than legitimate means) to unlock a locked door. To do this requires a skeleton key, which is lost after use. Your success at picking locks depends on your dexterity, among other things. The pick command requires a direction. R - Ready a weapon The ready weapon command allows you to select your weapon(s). The ready weapon command will list all the weapons in your backpack which you can use. This takes into account any limitations imposed by the weapons (such as a minimum strength requirement). If your current readied weapon must be un- readied before using the new one (for example, unreadying a two-handed weapon), it is done automatically. By selecting "None", you unready all readied weapons. S - Swim The swim command is used for crossing short distances of water. Needless to say, you must know how to swim to use this command. Swim needs to be told the direction in which you wish to swim. Note that you can swim as long as you want, but after a certain amount of time without resting on land, you begin to drown. T - Talk to someone The talk command allows you to communicate with the person in the specified direction. You are able to speak with people who are not only adjacent to you, but also one tile away (such as the case when you must speak over a counter to a merchant). The variety of interactions you can have depends on the person you are speaking with. In the case of a merchant, his or her inventory list will appear in the status window for you to select from. Any item which you cannot use (such as a weapon you are too weak to wield) will appear in red. Since talk is such a frequently used command, you can click on a person with the right mouse button to initiate a conversation. U - Use an item The use command lets you use an item in your backpack. This is used with things such as torches, shovels, potions, etc. Some objects will require a direction (such as digging with a shovel). W - Wear armor The wear armor command is similar to the ready weapon command. It displays a list of items which you may wear, taking into account any requirements (strength, etc.) imposed by the item. You may also remove currently worn armor with this command. 14 SPECIAL COMMANDS There are several special commands which deal with more functional aspects of the game: Space - Pass time Pressing the space bar causes one turn to pass. Since time does not elapse in the game until you make a move, this is useful if you want to wait for some- thing to happen. F1 - Player status Pressing the F1 key brings up the player status screens. These screens display your character's attributes and skills, the contents of your backpack (items you can't use are named in red), in addition to any "special" items you have, and spells in your spellbook. Spells currently active are highlighted in yellow. Alt-G - Game controls The game control menu allows you to set various game parameters such as the display time between messages which appear in the command window, sound effects (on or off), mouse control (on or off), and the frequency of auto- saves. Alt-S - Save game This command allows you to save your game. The game will prompt you for a game number from zero to nine, or press Escape to abort the process. You may enter a short description of the save position for reference. You can then restore the game using the Alt-R (restore) command. Alt-R - Restore game The restore command allows you to load previously saved games. This is done by typing in the number of the game you wish to restore, or by pressing Escape to abort the process. If the restore is successful, the new game is loaded and you continue from where you left off. Alt-X - Exit to DOS This command exits you to DOS. If you want to continue playing later from your current position, you must save your game previous to quitting, since it is not done automatically.