AP2 Instructions I, Character Generation A, select the character you want to modify by clicking on his picture on the top of the screen. His portrait will be placed to a small window with two arrows each side. B,if you are not satisfied with the character choose another one with using the arrows (left: previous right: next). The class and the name of the character are right below the picture. You can modify the name any time by clicking on it. You must enter at least one letter to continue ! There are NO restrictions in the game such like you must have 2 fighters and 2 mages, you may play with four fighters or four mages as well. However, it is very unlikely that you can survive long enough with such a party. The party the character generator starts with is the ideal for the beginners. There are three type of mage subclasses in the game; each has its weaknesses and bonuses as well. Your mage subclass can be seen from your spell points whichever is the highest, that is your subclass. C, You can increase/decrease the character's ability scores with clicking on the up/down arrows. You modify always the ability with a small red arrow next to it. Each character starts with 100 ability points, and each time you modify your attributes your points will be updated. You may notice that setting your abilty from 14 to 15 costs definetely more ability points than setting from 2 to 3. This is because you are rewarded with some bonuses for a high ability, and you are penalized for any attribute less than 6. More details later, in section 'character sheet.' You can not have any score set to 1, you can't leave the character generation program if any of your characters has such an ability. You are also restricted to have only two of your scores set to 15, as it is the highest attribute for your characters to start with. D, repeat A-C to create all of your characters. When you are finished click on 'exit' to go back to the main menu. *************************************************************************** II, Playing the game The game is fully point'n'click controlled, with the addition of an 'intelligent' pointer system. That means your pointer will always change its form to an icon if it is positioned over a special area of the screen. e.g you see a small disk appear if you move over the system menu The game display is divided into six sections -see 'pic0.lbm'-; A: play window B: select window C: action window D: movement E: compass/system F: message window a, The message window normally displays anything you should know about whilst playing and small messages too. Each message has its priority and you will only see the ones that are still valid. e.g One of your characters gains/loses a level, this is probably the most important thing for you, so this message appears instantly in the window replacing anything else. In some cases you should wait 3 seconds to read all of the message, but you will get the remaining part only if it is still important for you. e.g you want to buy a shield; first you are told what kind of shield it is then you know the price, unless you choose another item in a shop. *************************************************************************** b, Your compass always shows the direction you are heading for. Sometimes if you are teleported to another location in a dungeon that looks the same, or your party is spinned around this is the only way you can notice the difference, so always keep an eye on your compass, especially if you are stuck in a level. Rightclick in the area with a disk-like pointer will pause the game. Leftclick will bring up a menu where you can 1, save your current game-position 2, quit game, goes back to the main menu, but your game position is lost ! 3, continue playing *************************************************************************** c, There are three ways of moving in the game's world, you are free to use whatever method fits you well. 1, clicking on the arrows 2, use the lower half of the numeric keypad (number 1-6) or for loosers having an amiga600, optionally use the cursor keys for turning and going forward or backward. 3, in your play window anywhere your pointer changes its form into an arrow, clicking the right mouse button will do the movement that the pointer represents. *************************************************************************** d, In the action window you can; 1, select your current character.Leftclick on the portrait of the character you want to select. If you are not in a touch-spell mode (section 'spells') the new character will be selected, and its portrait will have a green border around. In touch-spell mode the pointer is a blue hand when it is positioned over a portrait, and leftclicking will cast your spell on that character. If a portrait is 'ghosted' it means your character is dead. Alternatively, you may use the numbers 1-4 for selection, in this case you don't have to move the pointer over the action window. 2, change order of your characters. Rightclick on a character, the pointer changes into a double-headed arrow. rightclick on another character to change with the previously selected one, or cancel this mode by clicking on the same portrait again. 3, activate the character sheet with clicking on the bars among the portraits. Alternatively, you can do the same by pressing the space bar. 4, see your magic/health points. The yellow bar is your health, the other three are (green, red, blue) cosmos, elemental and necromancy spell points in that order. Each bar shows your current points compared to the maximum of them. ie 17 of 34 or 200 of 400 will have the same size. if you want to know the exact values activate the character sheet. 4, change the current item (your pointer) with any of the items used by the characters, with leftclicking on the hand you want your item to be changed. However if the selected item is still in use -its icon is 'ghosted'- you can not change it. 5, use an item. if you rightclick on the hands (or icons if their hands are not empty) of your characters, you will use the item currently held there. more details in section 'items' If you use an empty hand of a fighter it means attack with bare-hands , BUT if you use an empty hand of a mage it will cast the previously readied spell. If the spell is a touch type one, the mage will cast it on himself, you don't have to select your target. *************************************************************************** e, in the select window you can; 1, change the current item (the pointer) with any item of your inventory. The inventory screen is a five by five square where each of your items carried by the SELECTED character will be shown. If you rightclick anywhere over the gaps between the inventory slots, and your current character is a mage the window will show you your available spells. 2, cast/ready a spell. If you rightclick anywhere but the spell icons the window will change to your inventory. see 'spells' 3, some system message appear here. *************************************************************************** f, Your play window is where everything from the game's world is shown. it may show you; 1, what you see around; section '3d interface' 2, character sheet; section 'character sheet' 3, a town; section 'towns' 4, a shop; section 'towns' 5, a chest inside; section '3d interface' *************************************************************************** III, Character sheet It always shows you the SELECTED characters abilities, scores, and you can only equip some item here. You can switch between your ability scores and your health/spell points by rightclicking anywhere, but the item slots. You may switch back to the display where you activated the character-sheet from, by either clicking on the 'x' icon or pressing the space bar. All the numeric values shown here are working this way; the higher the better (even your defence, unlike ad&d rip-offs !!!) if your score is normal it is shown in grey. if your score is under normal value it is shown in green. if your score is very low or not available it becomes red. if your score is higher than the normal (magical) it becomes blue. a, name: the character's name b, class: either fighter or mage A fighter cannot cast spells, but gets bonuses for non-magical attacks. A mage cannot use most weapons, he is good when the situation becomes tricky. They are the ones who heal your wounded characters, so it is sensible to have at least a mage in your party. If you want to have only one mage we advise to start with a necromancer, who can heal wounds in first level. The difference amongst the three different mage subclasses is that each class get some spells at different experience levels, and regenerates the spellpoints from his own sphere (subclass) twice as fast. A necromancer (necromancy sphere) is strong in healing spells. A conjurer (elemental sphere) is good in attacking spells. A voider (cosmos sphere) is a mix between the two previous spheres, and he is the best in the highest level attack-spells. c, sphere: your mage's subclass. none if it's not a mage d, level: the character's level see 'experience' e, food: your food level. if it is zero your character is starving and will loose health continuously ! f, money: the money available g, exp: your actual experience points see 'experience' h, ability scores: there are penalies for values under 6, and bonuses above 13. The maximum ability score is 20. Str: strength. how strong your character is. you will make an additional fix damage on a monster if your strength is above 13, but your attack will be weakened if your strength is under 6. It also modifies how easily can you hit a monster. If you are carrying too much weight your attacks will be slower. A strong character can carry more items before it gets penalized. This is a primary ability for fighters. Int: intelligence. each time you get a level your maximum spells points are raised. An intelligent character can get bonus spell points up to 34/level ! And a less talented one can loose them all... This is a primary ability for mages. Wis: wisdom. you may have a higher chance to withstand a magical attack. see section 'spells'. Also your magic points are regenerating faster. Dex: dexterity. it modifies your basic defence, your attacking speed, and the chance of hit a monster. Con: constitution. Adds bonuses & penalties to your maximum health, each time you get a new level. Your health points may regenerate faster. Def: defence. How easily can you be hit by a monster or a spell. There is NO maximum defence score ! i, health/spell points The first value is your current status, the second is your maximum score. Health: your character's health. if it is zero the character is dead. Always track your health and heal your wounded characters, before its too late. Cosmos: cosmos-magic points Element: elemental-magic points Necron: necromancy-magic points You can equip some items by placing them into the specific icon slots around the man's outline. Those items will only be active if they are put there. ie. carrying an armour in your backpack won't stop your enemies' attacks, you must put your armour on ! There are items which can not be equipped or you try to put them into the wrong place, in these cases you will get a message. There are items which only help for a specified class. Always try to wear an unknown item by mages & fighters and check your ability scores. Before you decide to change an item to something new check all your abilities and try to fight monsters as well. Some magical items are just not as good as they seem to be !!! *************************************************************************** IV, Items There are items that works equipped like armours, necklaces, robes etc. see above. Others should be placed into the characters' hands and must be used. Torches and shields must be held in hands, but they are used automatically. Some artefacts (greater magical items) have an automatic use always active PLUS they can have a bonus effect when used ! While an item is in-use, its icon is 'ghosted.' You cannot replace that item or use it again, until your hand is free again. Each item has a 'speed' that modifies how long are they in-use. Magical items are normally faster than the ordinary ones. Some items have a charge which tells how many times can you use them. When such an item expires its disappearing from your hand. There are items that have great magical powers when held in hands, but only a few charges for spells; these items should not be used for spellcasting only in emergency cases ! Weapons are melee/short and long ranged. Melee weapons can only be used succecfully with your first two characters in your party -those are the ones standing in front of your foes. Long range weapons can be used from anywhere in the party. Throwing weapons may be used from anywhere too. *************************************************************************** V, Spells a, to ready a spell 1, select the spell level with clicking on the numbers 1-7. You don't have to select a new level if the one shown is the one you wanted. 2, rightclick on the spellicon. you always ready a spell for the selected spellcaster. b, to cast a spell 1, select the spell level. 2, leftclick on the spellicon. If the icon is ghosted you can't cast that spell. If an icon is empty your mage's level is not high enough to know how to cast that spell. Each spell has its 'speed/casting time' like the weapons, this is the time you should wait between casting the same spell again. Spells cost different amount of magic points from each sphere e.g healing spells take a lot of necromancy points. Right from the spellicon you see its cost compred to 100 higher level spells are always more effective, than the lower level ones. for some healing spells (touch-spells) you may have to select your target. In this case the pointer changes into a blue hand. Touch-spells can be cancelled by clicking onto any touch-spell again. If you attack a monster with magic there is always a chance that it can fail or can't do the amount of damage you expected. This happens especially when attacking powerful monsters. If a monster attacks you by magic you do have these chances too, it all depends on your abilities and level. The higher the better. You may find locations in the dungeons where your spell points regenerates faster, these point are normally well hidden ! c, Missile spells (attack to long distance): magic missile, meteor swarm, power bolt, globe of air, globe of water, fireball, might strike, globe of fire lightning bolt, globe of energy d, Attack spells: (a square ahead) fire storm, cone of cold, fire area(surrounding spell), breeze of death lightning area, discharge energy, disintegrate energy balst, finger of death e, healing spells; cure light wounds, cure serious wounds, heal body, restore body restore party, ressurect body, ressurect party f, hold spells (hold your opponents); slepp, dream, hold creatures, hold everything g, miscellaneous spells; light: to seein darkness create food:<- create fire: burn your enemy levitate: halves the damage from fire, your party can walk on water, avoid some traps, go up in pits, step over pits going down. create potion: potions are handy in anti-magic areas create illusionwall: most monsters can't see you through walls. truesseing: illusinwalls disappear, some hidden things appears (high level dungeons) *************************************************************************** Experience: Your level depends on the amount of experience points you have. The highest experience level in this game is 20. High level characters can cast more effective spells, can regain their health/spells faster, can fight stronger monsters. You gain exp -experience points- for casting spells, and successfully attacking monsters. The more powerful your enemy is, the more exp you get. Some magical items may give you additional exp. *************************************************************************** 3d interface; Quite usual, hopefully you can write it down on your own. There is only on thing you should know about, unlike most games switches are very area sensitive; you cannot activate a hidden switch just by clicking on the middle of the wall, you have to know where it is. On the other hand your pointer changes into a hand when it is above a switch, this is something other games don't do at all. Positions of hidden switches on the walls may very within the same dungeon ! *************************************************************************** Towns; shosp; Buy an item; click on the picture of the shop with an EMPTY pointer. It will switch the select window to the list of goods they are having. if it is more than one page (blacksmith) you can turn the pages with the right mouse button. Select the icon of the item you want to buy. You will be told of what it is, and its price, if you want to buy something else click on that item. if you accept their offer click on the same item again. Your current item (pointer) will be the item you have bought, and the select window switches back to your inventory. If your character doesn't have enough money he collects the money from the others, pays the item, then shares the remaining money. If your entire party can't afford that item, a message appears. Sell an item; Get the item into the pointer, and click on the picture of the shop. You will be told if they want to buy that item, and the money they pay. If you accept it simply click on the picture again. and your item's sold. You can switch your select window between your inventory, and the shops stock anytime by clicking on the picture with an empty pointer. *************************************************************************** Hope these all helped to understand the game, and the manual you are writing will be correct this time; Istvan.