CHAOS ~~~~~ From YOUR SINCLAIR issue 57 (Sept'90) Right then, Spec-chums, Chaos is a bit on the complicated side, so we won't waste time waffling on about how good it is (like we normally do) - we'll just jump straight in and explain how to play instead. Okay? Okay. Right, between one and eight players can play (either controlled by your dear selves, or by the computer) and the basic idea is to kill off all the other players (within a time limit) and hence win (or draw) the game. Being a sort of strategy game you have to do it all rather cunningly and strategic-like by moving all your characters around the screen and casting spells and things. Sounds complicated? Nah, it's not (not very anyway) - simply follow our ber-illiant guide on how to play, and before you know it you'll be wasting whole days (if not weeks) on the thing! So how do I start? Well, firstly it'd help if you loaded up the game. Right, now politely tell your Speccy [..or Amiga with an identity crisis ] how many players you want and choose names, characters and colours for each by following on-screen prompts. Easy so far, huh? The game sort of goes in three phases - choosing a spell, casting your spell and then moving/fighting. (Everything takes place on a one-screen playing board by the way.) Right then, here are those three phase bits... CHOOSING YOUR SPELL Once you've selected your character and things, each player will be given four choices. So let's explain what they all are, shall we? EXAMINE SPELLS: Each player is given a personal selection of spells, each with a specific success rate of being cast. This success rate depends of the law and chaos of the universe - the lighter the colour, the greater the chance of casting the spell. Here's a humungous list of all the spells and what they do (you can press the key of the spell for some more info during this bit of the game if you want). CHAOS/LAW: Casting a Chaos spell will increase the success rate of casting all the spells with a star next to them. However, you must remember that the chances of success of your casting a Chaos or Law spell in the first place depends of the chaos/law of the universe at that time. (See?) CREATURE SPELLS: Casting one of these will create a creature which can be moved around to kill other creatures and wizards. You can get all sorts of info on them, such as their strength and abilities, and you'll also be able to find out whether your wizard can mount and ride on them, whether they can fly and whether they can fire at things. Creatures can be casted as true creatures (with a specific success rate of a successful cast), or as illusions which are always successfully cast but are vulnerable to another wizard coming along and casting a Disbelieve spell (which will then make them all disappear). DARK CITADEL/MAGIC CASTLE: These will create a little a house where you wizard can 'hang out' (man) and hide so he can't be attacked. DARK POWER/DECREE/VENGEANCE/JUSTICE: Aim this at a creature and it will be destroyed, aim it at a wizard and all his creatures will be destroyed providing the spell works, that is). DISBELIEVE: If you think another player has cast an illusion then aim this spell at a monster, and if he has then the monster will disappear. (Otherwise, erm, it won't.) GOOEY BLOB: This makes a big sort of green blob thingy which spreads around the screen and gets in the way. You can attack it, although the chances are it'll eat you before you can kill it, so perhaps that's not such a hot idea. LIGHTNING/MAGIC BOLT: This will send a bolt of lightning hurtling towards a desired creature or wizard. MAGIC ARMOUR/MAGIC SHIELD/MAGIC KNIFE/MAGIC SWORD: These will increase your wizard's attack and defence capabilities. MAGIC BOW: This will enable your wizard to fire at things. MAGIC FIRE: A fire will start and spread throughout the screen obstructing movement and killing anything in its way. MAGIC WINGS: This will enable your wizard to fly. MAGIC WOOD: This creates lots of trees all over the shop, which you can move your wizard into to obtain a new spell. RAISE DEAD: If a monster is killed then it will leave behind a corpse. Casting this spell will resurrect the monster, he will join your side and will also be undead - no- one will be able to attack him. SHADOW FORM: This allows your wizard to move up to three spaces at a time and also increases his defence. It will wear off if he is attacked though. SHADOW WOOD: Cast this and lots of trees will appear which will attack you if you stand next to them for too long. SUBVERSION: This enables you to take over other wizards' creatures. The chance of success depends on the creature's resistance, if you see what a mean. TURMOIL: This mixes up everything on the screen at random. WALL: You can create a small wall in three separate places with this to obstruct others. CAST SPELL Simply press the key of the spell you wish to cast. If you press the wrong one (you clot) then simply press 2 again and choose the right one. EXAMINE BOARD You can view the current state of play - where all the other wizards are, where the creatures are and so on. Press the keys 1-8 to view all the wizards' creatures. CONTINUE WITH GAME Erm, continue with the game. THE CASTING BIT Next is the casting bit. The name of each wizard and the spell he is trying to cast is shown underneath. Press Space to continue. Some spells are then cast automatically, other then need to have a target space. Move the square cursor thingy around with the eight directional keys around S and then press S to cast the spell. Don't forget that if the spell has a certain range then the cursor must be well within that many squares away, and the wizard must have a clear line of sight to the target. THE MOVEMENT BIT After you've cast your spell, you can move your wizard and your creatures around. Place the cursor over the character you want to move and press S, then move him where you want (not forgetting that you can only move each character once each turn). Most characters can only move one space at a time, but some can move more, or will be able to move more after casting specific spells. For flying creatures, move the cursor where you want them to go and press S to fly there. Some creatures will have ranged combat, and once you have moved them move the cursor to what you want to fire at (not forgetting to keep within range) and press S to fire. Alternatively just press K if you can't bothered to fire at anything and you, erm, won't. By the way, you can press 1-8 to display the various wizards' creations here, or even move the cursor to something, pressing I to get some info on it. Oh, and press 0 to end your turn. The next player then does the same thing. If you move next to another player then you will go into combat. Move into him if you want to attack, and after a few goes the physically strongest player will win. However, if one of the characters is undead then it cannot be attacked, although it can attack others. (Don't forget, people, resurrected corpses are undead.) This also applies to wizards who can attack other creatures and wizards can also be attacked by them. When a wizard is attacked enough, he will die and that player will be out of the game. The winner is the player who can survive the longest. Hurrah! And that's it actually. (Phew.) Simple or what?