Exile Editor for Windows Help Contents

Copyright 1995, Jeff Vogel

This stand-alone document contains all the information you need to use the Exile Character Editor, a utility for use with Exile: Escape from the Pit.

Exile is a full-length fantasy role-playing game for WIndows. Without a copy, this editor will do you little good. On the bright side, this editor can improve parties created all version of Exile.

Of special importance is the Registration Form, early in this document. You use it to pay for this Editor. Doing so gets you a  password which enables you to access all the features of the editor. To get to the registration form, go to the menu to the lower left that now says "About the Editor", and select Registration form.

The Exile Editor is being marketed under the shareware concept. In the unregistered (i.e. free) version, you can add gold and food, heal your party, unkill dragons, and take your party out of a town. Upon registering (i.e. paying), you will receive a code which will enable you to use all of the editors wonderful features.

Click on the topics below to find out about...

Introduction and Registration:

What is Exile?

How do I register?

Order Form

Getting 256 Colors

Using the Exile Editor:

Using the EditorGetting started.

Gold/Food/Healing

Adding Spells/Items

Adding to Skills

Adding Alchemy

Adding Special Items

Credits


What is Exile?

Exile is a fantasy role-playing game. What is that? Well, its like a fairy tale or Tolkein novel, right there in your computer. You play a party of adventurers, a group of warriors and mages, thieves and holy people, going on quests, solving puzzles, doing good (and bad) deeds.

Exile is designed to be as simple as possible to learn and play. If you, like many game-players, dislike reading the manual before jumping into the game, go ahead. It is recommended you read the Introduction (below), look at the illustrations to see what the buttons do, and, if you plan to design your characters from scratch (eventually a good idea), the section describing what the skills are. Also, the Hints For Getting Started section near the end of the manual contains some useful hints.

Introduction:

The surface world is ruled by the Empire. That's what its called. The Empire. Not the Empire of Something, or the Something Empire. Just the Empire. It's understandable. There's no need for elaborate names when there's only one game in town.

There is the Empire. It is ruled by King Hawthorne. It has been there, for all practical purposes, forever. And it will probably always be there.

The Empire has made everything calm. Orderly. The criminals? Timid, or dead. The Dragons? Dead. Fantastic creatures of all kinds? They were a sometimes difficult and always unpredictable presence. Now they're gone. Order at any cost was called for, and order was obtained.

But the Empire had mercy. It was ruled by humans, with human consciences. When the inevitable question of what to do about the misfits, the unruly, the generally awkward and useless originally came up, as it always does, the government opted for the simplicity of killing them. Recently, however, a group of reformers came into power, and they felt that this bloodshed had to stop. Just because someone opined that the Empire perhaps wasn't the best possible thing, it was decided, didn't necessarily mean that person should be killed. But something had to be done. On that everyone agreed. Order had to be maintained.

So, for five decades now, the Empire has rounded up the square pegs, the loudmouths, and the people just too independent for safety, and thrown them into a gigantic pit in the ground from which there could be no escape. There, they could live out their lives in peace, doing what they want, saying what they want, and never seeing the light of day again.

This worked so well, in fact, that the Empire started throwing the few magical creatures remaining into the pit as well. That these creatures might be a hazard to those already there was seen as a plus.

The grand experiment of teleporting misfits into the underworld was a great success, and caused nobody a bit of trouble. Well, at least as long as you weren't one of the ones thrown into the teleporter.

Unfortunately,  someone has decided that perhaps the people above would be better off if you were no longer among them. So down you go...


How to Register the Exile Editor

Exile is being marketed under the shareware concept. You can play the first half of the game at full functionality for free. To play the second half, you need to obtain a key (i.e. password) from Spiderweb Software.

PRICING:

    Exile is $25, the Exile Editor is $9, the hint book is $6, and the Exile Bundle (all 3) is $35.

You can register by credit card or by sending a check or money order.

CREDIT CARD:

To register by credit card, call, fax or E-mail the Public Software Library and ask to register Product Code 14127. The phone number is 1-(800)242-4775, the FAX number is (713)524-6398, and the CIS address is 71355,470. Be SURE to have your registration codes handy when ordering.

THIS NUMBER IS FOR ORDERING ONLY - THEY CANNOT HELP YOU WITH ANYTHING ELSE.

MINIMUM CREDIT CARD ORDER $15 PLEASE

COMPUSERVE ONLINE REGISTRATION:

While on CompuServe, go to SWREG and search for keyword Exile. Select Exile for Windows to register (make sure you register the Exile specifically marked as for Windows). You can only register the game and the $35 Exile bundle through CompuServe.

BY CHECK OR MONEY ORDER:

Foreign orders are welcome. Pay with a money order in US currency. To print the order form, click on Order Form below and select Print from the menu above. Pay with a check (to Spiderweb Software) or money order (to Jeff Vogel).

HOWEVER YOU REGISTER, DONT FORGET YOUR REGISTRATION CODES. WE CANNOT REGISTER YOUR COPY WITHOUT THEM!

You should get your registration codes, along with full printed documentation, in the mail within 3-4 business days. If you include an E-mail address, your codes will be E-mailed to you as well. Please dont panic if your code doesnt arrive via E-mail - E-mail often gets lost or bounced.

Order Form


Registration / Order Form

Make the check or money order payable to Spiderweb Software and mail to:

Spiderweb Software.

14 Easton Ave. #202

New Brunswick, NJ 08901   (USA)

 (908) 545-7552

If you can, please Include a self-addressed envelope.  It will make it easier for us to send your registration codes by mail.  Please print NEATLY and impress us with your penmanship.

Last Name                                              First Name

Address

City                                                         State                     Zip

Registration Code                                     To find out the registration code, select 'Shareware Info' from the title screen of Exile. Without this, we cannot process your order.

Registration Code for Editor                                     To find out the registration code, select 'Shareware Info' from the registration menu of the Editor. Again, without this, we cannot process an order for an editor.

For registration by credit card, call 1(800)2424-PSL. Minimum credit card order is $15.

I would like to register:

"Exile: Escape From The Pit  v1.0"............................................................NO        YES         ($25)

"Exile Character Editor".............................................................................NO        YES         ($9)

I would like to order by mail:

The hint booklet to Exile............................................................................NO        YES          ($6)

Send a copy of "Exile" and the Exile Editor on disk................................NO        YES          ($6)

   (this is only available by mail)

Exile Bundle: Exile, the Editor, and a Hint Book.....................................NO        YES         ($35)

Total so far:                                                                                                   ______________

Outside US and Canada add $3 shipping and handling                             ______________

NJ residents add %6 sales tax                                                                      ______________

Total:                                                                                                              ______________

My e-mail address is:

America Online

Compuserve

Internet

Other

Circle the name of the service you would like us to try and e-mail your registration  to.


Getting 256 Colors

Exile is unusual among Windows games in that its graphics are designed for 256 colors. Should the graphics come up looking utterly bizarre, it is likely that your system is not currently set for 256 colors. Following these directions should fix the problem:

1. Go to the Program Manager.

2. In the Main directory, run Windows Setup

3. In the Options menu, select Change System Settings.

4. You will be changing the Display setting, using the arrow control to the right. Select one of the settings that mentions 256 colors. Your best bet will probably be Super VGA 640x480 256 colors.

5. Hit OK, and follow the instructions youre given.

6. Restart the machine. Exile should be in living, vibrant color.

7. Doesnt that look much nicer? Have fun!

When being run, Exile takes over the colors in a system palette. Because of this, other applications may look somewhat odd. They will switch back to normal when Exile stops running.


Using the Editor

How to use the editor:

The Exile editor is very easy to use. To do so,

1. Run it.

2. Hit the "Load a New Party button."

3. Select the save file to edit.

4. Make the changes.

5. Hit the "Save Current Party" button.

To make a change, press one of the other buttons. Their uses are described in the next five chapters. Note, however, if you, in an unregistered copy, select any option besides "Gold, Food, Healing," you will not be able to save that party.

A Serious Warning

The Exile Editor is a powerful utility. And, as has been said, "With great power comes great responsibility." It is not only possible, but in fact quite easy to use the editor to make the game unwinnable. All you need to do is dispose of the wrong item, or rub away the memory of the wrong piece of information. The editor can also correct the damage, of course. But as a rule of thumb, it is best to

   1. Be careful, and

   2. Only do positive things with the editor. It's generally safe to give yourself new information or a new item, but very risky to take things away.

Fun Editor Suggestions

     Many uses of the editor are obvious, of course. Getting that pesky Dispel Barrier spell, or unkilling a dragon that had some valuable info are two obvious possibilities. Also, gold is often scarce early in the game, and the Editor provides generous (and low-interest!) loans. There are plenty of other uses too...

1. Exile is huge. Some people just don't want to spend the considerable amount of time to see all the scenery with a standard party. Get a really powerful party, and you can see the sights very easily. Trust me - even with a very powerful band the game is still a challenge.

2. Try making one really, really powerful character, and see how far that lone person can get.

3. Demonslayer is the single most difficult item to get. Simply giving yourself one (or six) saves yourself a great deal of trouble.

Menu Options:

The unregistered version of Exile has two other abilities, both accessed from the menu. Selecting Leave Town takes your party out of whatever town it was is. Things you did in town will be remembered, but angering the town guard will not.

Also, you can unkill all the dragons from the menu. Go to Adding Special Items to see how this works.


Gold/Food/Healing

This is the simplest option to use, as well as the most useful. It also is the feature that comes with the unregistered game.

To use, press the "Gold/Food/Healing" button, and enter your new amounts of gold and food in the appropriate fields. Pressing the "Heal Party" button heals all your damage, removes all curses, and raises all corpses from the dead.

When finished, press the "Done" button.

Note that you can carry at most 25000 gold and food. If you try to give yourself too much (or a negative amount), the amount may not be what you intend...


Add Spells/Items

When you hit the "Add Spells/Items" button, a screen comes up with a detailed description of your first active PC. Scroll through to other PCs by pressing the arrow buttons.

To add (or remove) spells, click on the lights by the spell names. You can change your Level, Experience and Skill Points using the fields near the top of the window. If you give yourself a lot of experience without increasing your level as well, the PC will gain several levels when you start playing this saved game.

You can bring up the standard item info window from this screen. This works as in Exile, but there is a new Id button as well. Hitting it Ids the item.

Finally, you can use this window to add all manner of wondrous things to your inventory. Hitting the "New Item" button bring us a menu with long lists of items. Pressing the button by each item adds it to your inventory. If you can't get the item, a message telling you so will appear in the field at the top (remember dead characters can't carry items). Hit done when you've gotten enough.

The items you can add are described below. Be warned -reading this list will give some game secrets away. Note that practically all of these items can be found in the game, but most are extremely rare.

Demonslayer - The incredibly hard to get and powerful artifact itself. The most

   reliable anti-demon magic.

Smite - Giant-slaying hammer.

Heartfinder - Not only a magic rapier, but also poisons anything it hits most of the

  time.

Scrioth - Magic greatsword, and fires flame spells to boot.

Alien Blade - Good greatsword, which also poisons like Heartfinder.

Magic Halberd, Magic Great Mace, Magic Greatsword, Magic

  Broadsword -  No special abilities, just extremely rare and effective weapons.

Yew Bow, Magic Arrows - Effective missile weapons.

Arrows of Light - Demon-slaying arrows.

Arrows of Life - Undead-slaying arrows.

Flaming Javelins, Magic Darts - Effective thrown weapons.

Leather Jerkin, Magic Leather Armor, Magic Chain Mail, Magic

  Breastplate, Magic Plate Mail - An excellent armor selection. Note that the

  Magic Leather doesn't interfere with spellcasting.

Magic Helm, Magic Greathelm - Very rare and effective.

Helm of Speed - Wonderful item. Occasionally hastes wearer.

Ruby Helm - Magic, fireball shooting helm.

Gold Ring of Protection, Gold Ring of Skill, Gold Ring of Regeneration -

  The best of their respective kinds.

Magic Shield, Magic Great Shield - Good shields.

Crystal Shield - Magic, protects from petrification.

Ice Shield - Magic, protects from fire.

Lifeshield - Saves life when user killed. Excellent item.

Orb of Thralni - Enables user to fly.

Graymold Salve - Rare and effective healing salve. Problem is finding right place

  to use it.

Ambrosia - Heals user completely.

Potion of Skill - Gives user skill points.

Potion of Bliss - Bless, cures, and heals.

Strong Energy Potion - Restores spell points.

Strong Invulnerabiltiy Potion - Casts Protection on user.

Wand of Death, Wand of Fireballs - Casts relevant spell.

Crystal Wand - Damages undead.

Prismatic Wand - Damages demonkind.

Lifesaver Amulet - Saves user when killed. Excellent item.

Silver Ankh - Protects from undead.

Onyx Charm - Protects from magic and fire.

Ruby Charm - Protects from fire.

Killer Poison, Resurrection Balm, Crude Sapphires - Standard supplies.

Nimble Gloves - Aid in thieving skills.

Magic Lockpicks - Gives large bonus in picking locks.

Deli Sandwich - Yum!


Add to Skills

Hitting the "Add to Skills" button brings up a window very similar to the training window in Exile. There is one subtle difference - you can add (or take) as much to (or from) your skills as you want. Hit "Cancel" to undo the changes, and "Keep" to keep them.

     Press the arrow buttons to edit different members of your party. Note however that when you change pages the changes you made in the previous PCs page are kept.


Add Alchemy

To gain or lose alchemical recipes, hit the "Add Alchemy" button. Click on the light by a recipe to add/drop it, and done when you're finished.


Adding Special Items

This window is used to add special items and change certain special things about the game. In general, to affect an item, click on the button by the item. Hit done when things are to your liking.

The items you can get here are fairly self-explanatory. You can give yourself all the special items that are not actually contained in your inventory, as well as the four parts of the password. You can also take special items away - don't do this unless you're sure you want to.

This is a list of all the special things that can be edited from this window. Be careful - reading the list will give some puzzles away.

Dragon Slain - Motrax, Athron, Pyrog, Khoth, Sulfras :  Most of the dragons give you some valuable piece of information. However, they also attack if you go anywhere near their hoards. If you kill a dragon prematurely, you can bring it back to life here. However,  it may not take effect instantly. You may have to visit some other towns to give the dragon's lair a chance to reset.

Know Ritual to Pass - Black Spire, Tower of Barriers :  When trying to find the teleporter to the surface world, you will need to pass two towers. You need a special piece of information to do so. Selecting these makes you know that information.

Have Broken Orb -  To join the Scimitar, you need to go on a mission to destroy and orb. Selecting this makes you have done so.

Have 6 Crystals - Selecting this gives you the six crystals, which you need to repair the crystal cavern. Note that this doesn't make the existing crystals disappear, so you may end up with a lot of crystals.

Have 5 Pieces of Mold - This gives you enough mold to satisfy the old crone who sends you looking.

Freed Spider From Aranea - This has you have completed the quest given you by the Friendly Intelligent Talking Spiders. It also unblocks the passage they say they'll unblock for you if you rescue the spider.

Get Maps to - Eastern and Western Towns, Eastern and Western Outdoors - This gives your party complete maps of the section you specify. These buttons only work with a save file with Save Files set, which was saved using the Save Maps option.


Credits:

Concept, Design, and Programming: Jeff Vogel