GEnie Livewire e-zine/LW9409MM.ZIP/GAMER.TXT

Text File | 1994-08-28 | 5.9 KB | 156 lines

It's September. Days are cooler; nights are longer;
leaves are starting to turn. Summer's over and as BB
King says, "The thrill is gone." Unless you're an
avid skier, there isn't much to look forward to
except Spring (or maybe Christmas).

If you want to put some magic back into your life,
log onto GEnie right now and type M895 or the magic
word ORBWARS. Indulge yourself in a unique magical
multi-player environment where spells rule and
dragons drool: Simutronics' Orb Wars.

Do You Believe in Magic?

Orb Wars is unlike anything you've ever played
before. It's kind of like a roleplaying game, but
not quite. It's sort of like a fantasy adventure,
but not completely. It has elements of arcade,
action, sports and war games, but it's not remotely
like any of them.

Essentially, Orb Wars is its own unique genre. There
are no elves or dwarves; no fighters or rangers; no
swords, shields or armor. Just magic and the
practitioners of magic, played out in a contest
between two teams on a controlled field of battle.

All of the classic magical types are represented
here: Alchemists, Conjurers, Enchanters,
Illusionists, Necromancers, and Sorcerers. Each
class possesses its own unique set of skills,
strengths and weaknesses. It's up to you to learn
how to use them to your best tactical advantage.

Character generation is pleasantly uncomplicated.
You simply give your character a name and choose one
of the six wyzard types. While characters have stats
that affect their performance and enjoy bonus
increases for exceptional scores, long-term stat and
skill advances don't apply here. The characters in
Orb Wars are not permanent; the game is played in
30-day campaigns and new characters must be
generated at the end of each cycle.

The Campaign Trail

Each 4-week campaign consists of an ongoing series
of contests between two teams of wyzards, controlled
and conducted by the Council of Syiss,
affectionately referred to as simply the Council.

Players gather in the Sage Chamber, which in essence
is like a huge Real-Time Conference area. There,
they form teams of up to five members each, plan
strategies and then enter the arena to do battle.

The arena is actually a 50x50 grid consisting of a
variety of terrain areas, or maps, randomly chosen
by the Council. Each map is liberally seeded with
monsters and critters ranging from rats and orcs to
mondriks and dragons.

Magical objects, such as wands, staves, crystals and
vials, are also scattered around the landscape,
waiting to be found and used. But the most important
items, by far, are the orbs.

Tactics and Teamwork

Hidden throughout each contest area are several
large crystal spheres. Called "orbs" by the earliest
wyzards, they turn color when touched by any wyzard
-- red for one team, or blue for the other. The
primary objective of every contest is to locate,
capture and control more of these orbs than the
opposing team. Of course, nothing is ever quite as
simple as it seems.

Tactics and teamwork play an important role in each
contest and one of the central strategies for any
team is to locate and kill the wyzards on the
opposing team. The logic is inescapable: Dead
wyzards can't capture spheres or score points. As a
result, contests tend to be hard-fought and more
than a little bloody (they don't call this Orb WARS
for the heck of it).

Fortunately, death in Elanthia is not permanent and
characters can be resurrected. Unfortunately, it
takes time. And since each contest is run against
the clock, lost time can be equally fatal.

At the end of a contest, scores are determined,
points are awarded and winners are declared.
Individual scores are maintained throughout the
campaign, from contest to contest. At the end of the
cycle, the top 7 scores are awarded positions on the
Council and their names recorded for posterity.

The Transition Game

Although actually a simple game, Orb Wars can be a
bit intimidating the first time around. To make the
transition as enjoyable as possible, there are
several features or options available that come
highly-recommended.

The first and foremost is a graphics Front End, or
GFE. Located in the Orb Wars Library (Page 895, Menu
Option 3) there are GFEs for Macintosh, Amiga,
Atari, Apple IIgs and IBM-compatible computers. Each
delivers excellent graphics, sound and animation.
They also possess extensive macro capability --
something you'll find virtually indispensable with
all the mixing, chanting and summoning required to
prepare and cast spells.

Next is the documentation. In addition to the main
game manual, there are loads of help and hint
resources available, including quickstart and macro
files. You can find them in the Orb Wars Library or
the MultiPlayer Games Library (Page 1045, Menu Item
3).

Once you've got the general idea of how to play, you
can try out each wyzard type in the special Practice
area and work on your moves before committing to an
actual contest. You can access this area any time
within the game from the Sage Chamber by typing
/PRACTICE.

Then there's the Bulletin Board in the MPG
RoundTable (Page 1045, Menu Item 1). Check out
Category 28. You'll find nearly 30 Topics covering
everything from beginner's tips to tactics, trickery
and the Orb Wars Newsletter.

Finally, and equally important, every Wednesday
night from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM Eastern time, Orb
Wars is designated New Player Night. Log on and
learn the ropes from veteran players and maybe make
a friend or three. It's a great way to get to know
the game.

What the Witch Doctor Ordered

If the thrill is gone, if life seems to be in a
state of suspended animation where even the prospect
of going to work has lost its sparkle and shine,
then maybe it's a good time to enjoy the magic of
Orb Wars.

It's just what the witch doctor ordered for the dog
days of September -- a lot of flat-out, non-stop
fun!