PC Gamer 3.12/1998-03_Disc_3.12.iso/PATCHES/batpatch.exe/README.TXT

Text File | 1997-11-26 | 17KB | 429 lines

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Battlespire Readme
-

  This readme document contains additional information
about Battlespire after the manual was printed. This file
resides in your game installation directory for viewing
at any time.


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Installation Problems
-

  If the installer appears to freeze after choosing the
"Install Battlespire" option from the main menu, then it
is most likely that one of your disk drives is not
responding.  Often, this would be a network drive.  If
you cannot install the game using the installer, you can
perform a forced install following the instructions in
the "install.txt" file.


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Running under Windows 95
-

  If you are running under Windows 95 and you want to
run the game by typing "spire" in a DOS box, make sure
that the DOS box has 65535 bytes of DPMI memory set up
for it. You can do this by looking under the "Memory"
tag when viewing the properties of the DOS box.

  Also, on many computers, Battlespire does not respond
nicely when one of the windows keys or a windows ALT-key
combination is pressed.  It is best to also disable the
windows key and any ALT-key combination to prevent
accidentally activating them.


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Energy Star Settings and Screen Savers
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Turn off Energy Star settings and screen savers; otherwise, the game may crash or hang.

To turn off Energy Star settings and Win95 Screen Savers, right-click on the Desktop and select "Properties." In the Display Properties window, click the Screen Saver tab. Set the Screen Saver to (None), and uncheck the Low-power standby and Shut off monitor settings.


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Spell Scrolls
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When you find a spell scroll, double-click on it in your inventory screen, and a spell may be added to your spell list. If you already know the spell on the scroll, the scroll is worthless to you... but in multiplay, a teammate may find that scroll useful.


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New Spells
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  Surprise, surprise.  There are a few new spells in
Battlespire designed to help even out the game play in
both single and multiplayer modes.  They are:

  Slow

  When cast on a player or monster, his legs are put to
sleep, slowing him down to a turtle's crawl.  After a
while, the spell effect wears off and the victim returns
to his normal speed.

  Haste

  Essentially the opposite of Slow.  The legs enter a
hyperactive state which enables the player to move
faster than normal.  This spell can be cast multiple
times.  Of course, it can get rather painful if you
slam into a wall at high speeds.

  Strength

  When cast, the muscles of the subject takes on the
properties of tempered steel.  The damage inflicted
in melee combat multiplies giving swords and other
wielded melee weapons a decided advantage over bows
and arrows.


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Multiplayer
-

  There are two ways to play a multiplayer game with
Battlespire. The first method uses a local area network
with the IPX protocol. The second method uses an internet
gaming service provided by Mplayer.

  If you are trying to get a DOS machine (NOT a Win95
DOS box) to connect to a Win95 machine and vice versa,
make sure that they both are using the same IPX frame
type. Windows 95 defaults to an "Auto" frame type
which may or may not be the same type the DOS machine
is using.

  Hints

  Monsters can be your friends too, especially on capture
the flag levels.  When in need of assistance defending
your flag against intruders, fire up a couple of summon
monster spells for instant relief.

  Of course, you can always drop a few delayed damage
mines around your flag.  Remember that they do not last
forever.


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Reporting Bugs
-

  Before deciding that you have discovered a bug in the
game, first make sure that you can reproduce it. If you
can do that, then you may call Bethesda Softworks tech
support at 301-926-8300. Prepare a list of important
information such as the type of computer you have been
running the game on, the amount of system memory, the
type of video card, and so on.


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A Note on View-Based and Cursor-Based Movement Modes
-

  The View-Based Movement Mode is Totally Excellent and
Super-Satisfactory in every way. We Internationally
Celebrated Game Developers at Bethsoft universally adore
and cherish the View-Based Movement Mode, and recommend
it for all our Fine Customers.

  However, in deference to fans of some Pretty Decent
Games Published in the Good Old Days, we also provide the
option to use the Venerable and Exceptionally Okay
Cursor-Base Movement Mode.

We invite you to try both modes, but have no reservations
about which is the best.


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Hints for Aspiring Heroes
-

1. "Manual? We don't need no stinking manual! HAW-haw-
haw-haw-haw!"

  We're shocked... SHOCKED... to discover some gamers
don't read the manuals. We sheepishly admit that we don't
read manuals, either, and that we usually do just fine...
for about five minutes. Then, after we have been somewhat
hammered or killed or otherwise thoroughly frustrated in
our Pursuit of Happiness, we break down and read the
manual to find out how the interface works, for instance,
or what spells do, or how to put armor on.

  We're certain you're far too Wise and Sensible to
ignore the nice manual.


2. "Wow. I am being killed somewhat now. This is...
well... pretty hard."

  Well, duh! Your character is a green, though promising,
aspirant in a desperate situation, surrounded by immortal
fiends, in unfamiliar territory, with no line of retreat,
limited intelligence, no allies, and modest resources.
But, as your mom will tell you, if at first you don't
succeed, try, try again. Don't expect to sail through
Battlespire. Efficient operations behind enemy lines
involve three phases: scouting, sniping and bushwhacking,
and frontal assault.

  Scouting: Fill in the map. Look for scrolls. Chat and
run. Find the locked doors and figure out what the keys
are. Pick up loose treasure. While scouting, run like a
bunny. Don't fight. Use stealth, or Invisibility, or
Etherialness. Avoid engagement until you know the lay of
the land, the nature of the enemy, and the shape of your
mission. Scout out possible allies and resources, and
plan your operations on their availability. Run around in
circles until the bad guys are out of spell points.

  Sniping and Bushwhacking: Pick off solitary
individuals. Use missile weapons or spells at range where
efficient. Lead slow-witted, gullible monsters on long
treks into deep pits where you can slaughter them at
leisure. Sucker over-eager monsters without spells or
missiles into quiet, secluded places where you can shoot
or bake them from a safe distance.

  Frontal Assault: Take on the tough guys toe-to-toe.
Wade into the mobs of fireball-blasting fiends.


3. "Gee. A doojigger. Don't see one of THOSE everyday.
Wonder what a little doojigger does."

..Now and then in your explorations you'll come across
something cool. It looks interesting. And dangerous. And
you'll wish you knew what it does, and whether it is
safe, or useful.

  The technical term for this is "a big mystery." You'll
encounter lots of big mysteries in Battlespire. This is
because the otherworldly fiends who have ravaged the
locations you're traveling through have thoughtlessly
forgotten to leave instructions on how to use their
plunder.

  For instance, you find the Thongs of Baleful Woe. Maybe
you are a little nervous about putting them on. You can
search and search and search through the documentation,
and never find out what the Thongs of Baleful Woe do. So
you will just have to fool around with them to figure
them out, or just leave them alone.

  You may be scandalized to discover that there are
cursed and dangerous things scattered throughout
Battlespire. Whenever something bad and mysterious
happens, you might want to take everything you are
carrying, put it in a sack, then amble off a good
distance from the sack and examine your character sheet.
If the bad and mysterious thing stops happening, you will
want to examine everything in your sack very carefully
before putting it on again.

  And you may get a funny message telling you "You are
forbidden from equipping that item." Now, you have never
had any trouble the item in question before. This is
another good time to take off your stuff, put it in a
sack, and amble off a good distance to examine your
character sheet. You may find that something you are
wearing or using is causing a bad and mysterious thing.

  You may also come across an occasional mysterious
creature who is AMAZINGLY durable. INCONCEIVABLY durable.
It seems to live a charmed life. This will perhaps drive
you mad, especially if you are one of those efficiency
nuts who want to kill EVERY SINGLE CREATURE in the game.
Well. Go ahead. But don't waste any scarce resources on
these guys, and don't expect a fountain of treasure when
you slaughter them. They DO have a mysterious purpose,
but... it's... well... mysterious. Sorry.


4. "I'm glad we had this little chat."

  You will find gobs and gobs of dialog in Battlespire.
Sure, they're monsters, but they have a lot of really
interesting things to say. So we recommend chatting with
monsters before you murder them. Some monsters will give
you nice presents. Some will give you keys. Some will
give you helpful hints. Some will even join you in your
quest. On the other hand, some will tell you big fat
lies, and summon minions to rend you limb from limb.

  Some epic heroes have a nasty habit of slaughtering
their potential informants. They just can't help
themselves. Fortunately, we usually provide an
Alternative Exhaustive Search Solution to permit such
well-intentioned homicidal maniacs to collect all the
clues and keys they need, even if they have depopulated
the environment. On the other hand, the Alternative
Exhaustive Search Solution is generally far more tedious
and horrible than the Enlightened Meaningful Dialog
Solution. Nuff said.


5. "Riddles? I HATE riddles!"

  Simmer down. Riddles make some people's heads explode.
So Battlespire always thoughtfully provides an
alternative method for discovering any passwords or
riddles you need. Of course, we reward clever players who
admire our clever riddles by making their path a little
easier, while other players have to wander around for
hours looking for scrolls and plaques where we coyly
secreted the answers to the riddles. You're welcome.


6. "I don't think we're in Tamriel anymore, Toto."

Veterans of Arena and Daggerfall! Warning! Battlespire is
Extra Not Like Arena and Daggerfall, for one thing, and
Battlespire takes place in a place Not At All Like
Tamriel.

  Arena and Daggerfall are Huge, Sprawling Persistent
Worlds. There are towns with guilds for training and
quests, and places to sell loot and buy equipment. When
you run low on health and spell points, you sleep, and
voila! back to 100%.

  In Battlespire, the only ways to increase skills are to
use them, or spend build points between levels. There is
only one quest -- find your companion, and get out alive.
There's no place to sell any loot you can't use, and
there's a limit to what you can carry from level to
level. Use it, or lose it. And you can't sleep to heal.
You CAN often find nice blue gems which restore health
and spell points when you click on them or run into them.
[These blue gems kinda disappear for a while as they
recharge, but they return. Honest.] And you will be Very
Glad to find Cure Health and Restoration potions, or
magic items with Healing or Magica Resartus powers.

  Furthermore, your poor character is stranded in the
Daedric Realms. This is not very much like the
comparatively benign and picturesque lands of Tamriel.

  The Daedric Realms are populated by immortal Daedra,
not mortal beings. When you destroy their forms, they are
cast into Oblivion for a while. This is No Fun, but it
isn't like dying, and it makes Daedra kinda casual about
wading into a dustup. And the Daedric Realms are weird.
There's plenty of magical energy around, and this makes
for a rather strange geography. Also, Daedric
architecture and workmanship are fairly eccentric, mostly
because Daedra are, by and large, crazy as rats in a
drainpipe.

  So. This is the World of the Elder Scrolls, and much of
what you see will be familiar, but much will be not at
all familiar, and sometimes bewildering. We're sorry. But
it's just those darned Daedra. Really.


7. "Good grief, man. It's only a game...."

  We are Pleased and Gratified to see how seriously some
gamers approach the challenge of preserving the skin of
their lovingly crafted characters. We LOVE to see how
terrified they are of losing them, and how desperately
they experience the dramatic tension of our lovingly
crafted narrative. But...

  We also hope gamers will play around with Battlespire
and have all sorts of fun that has nothing to do with the
drama of the Imperiled Hero on a Desperate Quest.

  For instance, your character is standing at the edge of
a high cliff staring down at a pool of molten lava. Now,
in real life, you hardly ever want to indulge an impulse
to hurl yourself off a high cliff into a pool of molten
lava. But in Battlespire, well... sometimes it is a lot
of fun to do Totally Stupid and Pointless Things.

  Just Save Your Game. Early and Often. With a saved game
safe and secure on your hard disk, you can go ahead and
do silly, senseless things. Like give a sassy answer to
the Lord of Destruction. Or touch something thrumming
with Unholy Power. Or dive off a cliff and swim around in
the lava looking for cool loot. Or double-click on a
magic item named "The Thongs of the Sunken God's
Awakening."


8. "Wow. Wish I could buy a vowel."

  Inevitably every gamer gets Stuck. You have done
everything you can think of, and you have no idea how to
get past a blocking challenge.

 Here's a list of things to try before you break down and
buy the Hint Book. [By the way, did we tell you we are
selling a Really Cool Hint Book that will instantly solve
every one of your problems? Of course, you should Blush
with Shame for using a hint book, but we won't Blush with
Shame for selling you one.]

  A: Review the messages left for you by your companion
and by other allies. These usually help define the
problems that need to be solved on a level, and hint at
the first steps in solving them.

  B: Tour the terrain once more looking for things you
missed, like secret doors, or little buttons, or doors
you forgot to open, or locations you neglected because
something distracted you. Review your automap and look
for areas you haven't visited or explored thoroughly.
Look under and on top of stuff. Click on stuff. Look in
dark corners and the bottoms of pools.

  C: Talk with everyone one more time. And if you
accidentally murdered everything that talks, look around
for a little scroll or plaque that gives you the password
or hint you need.

  D: Search for more resources. Try using those weird and
wacky magical items you sensibly refused to fool with on
the first pass. Drowning a little bit? Hunt Water
Breathing potions or Water Breathing magic items. Getting
killed a little bit? Get some armor, or try some
Resistance or Shield potions. Not making an impression on
daedra with your iron dagger? Find a short sword made of
decent metal. Almost dead and out of spell points? Try
some open field running to the nearest blue gem
restoration station. No idea what that interesting and
dangerous looking widget does? Look for scrolls that
Reveal the Secrets of Arcane Devices.

  E: Try a different approach. Never used the
Etherialness spell before? Never used a missile weapon?
Not having a lot of luck with that Three Stooges Concept
character design (all your points in Endurance and Luck)?
Disdaining to learn the Cure Health spell because it
isn't Manly? Refusing to use spells at all because you
hate that silly wizard stuff? Loosen up.

  F: Check your assumptions. "Oh. They wouldn't put
anything down THERE." "Naw. They would NEVER let me
wander away and leave something important lying around."
"Nah. Already talked to her before. Don't need to talk to
her again." "Come on. They would never have a monster
that I can't kill." "They wouldn't put a really deep hole
here without a way for me to get out of it."  "No way I
could ever jump across THAT!"