There is no underlying goal for the completion of The City of Bywater. You are a group of adventurers who have arrived in the city of Bywater with a small amount of money and a great desire for adventure.
This is a first attempt at creating a scenario, and I don't have access to professional fantasy writers. (Not yet anyway) It's a pretty loose storyline. You can pretty much go where you like, when you like. Some people will like this better than the strictly linear games that guide you along a path. Finish X, so you can try Y, to get to Z. What happens if X is boring, or you can't figure it out? You would be stuck in that case. Never fear! Now you will be able to do what YOU want to do, not what the game designer (ME) wants you to do. Pretty slick!
Disclaimer
I have not had the chance to play test this on every configuration, so it may not work on some systems or with some inits/cdevs. I do not make any guarantees as to the compatability now or in the future with any hardware or software, nor do I accept responsibility for any damage caused by this software package.
I reserve the right to make any changes I see fit to the game or it's playability in the future. This will be necessary as I develop new scenarios, because I will have to change the way some things work in order to maintain good gameplay or add new features.
Preferences
After you've played a bit, you may want to customize the game so that it suits your needs better. The preferences menu will allow you to do this.
Volume can be set from within Realmz. When you quit Realmz, the volume will be reset to the volume you had before starting Realmz.
Delay Speed refers to general length of time between messages on the screen, as well as the speed at which you move around on the main and combat screens. The higher the number, the longer messages will be displayed.
Default To Last Spell will automatically pre-select the last spell cast by a character, whenever that character casts another spell. (Real handy!)
Faster spell casting will speed up the flight time of spells for those that hate to wait. (This may vary by the speed of your machine, so I am working on a better method.)
Max Sound Channels: The Macintosh is capable of 4 sound channels. The default is to use 3 for Realmz. If you select Max Sound Channels, then all 4 channels will be used. This will keep the sound from lagging behind a bit, but will also keep control panels such as alarm clock from chiming.
Horse Party Icon will change the default icon used to depict the party's location to a horse, which may be easier to see on some systems.
Drop Item Protection will prevent you from accidentally droping items and loosing them forever. With Drop Item Protection turned on you must hold down the command key (‚åò) and then clicking drop or hitting the 'D' key.
Forget Treasure Protection will alert you if you leave money in the moneypool during the collection of treasure and items.
Fast Trade/Buy/Sell This option eliminates the need to drag items left or right across the screen to trade items amongst your Pcs or to buy or sell items in the shop. With this option on you only have to click on the item and it will automatically be placed on the other side.
The big downfall to this method is that you will not be able to see the weight/cost/offer of the item prior to the action.
NOTE: Even with this option off you can still perform this method by holding the shift when clicking on an item. This will give you the added flexibility of being able to trade items quickly while still being able to see more information prior to the action at selected times.
Auto identify With this option on, the first member in the party who is capable of casting IDENTIFY will attempt to identify items as they are taken during the collection of treasure. This will prevent you from having to cast identify on items in the items screen.
Auto join When you take items during the collection of treasure or buy or trade items they will automatically be joined with similar items. i.e. If your PC has 12 torches in a bundle and buy 6 more he will now have a single bundle of 18 instead of a bundle of 12 and a bundle of 6.
Not all items can be bundled. Items such as torches, parchment, flasks of oil, darts, throwing stars etc... are examples of some that can.
Auto cash in If your PC does not have enough gold to purchase an item, gems and jewelry will be cashed in to make enough gold to buy the item. Gems and jewelry from the pool are cashed in first. If there is still not enough gold then the PCs gems and jewelry will be cashed in.
Only gems and jewelry from the pool and the PC attempting to buy the item will be cashed in. Gems and jewelry from other PCs will not be cashed in.
Default application font If this item is checked, then the Theldrow font will not be used. Instead the default application font will be used which is less artistic but easier for some people to read.
Append PCs class to portrait If this item is checked, then the PCs class will be displayed (In abbreviated form) below their portrait.
Show spell description If this item is checked, then a brief description of a spells use will be displayed on the screen during the spell selection process.
Q & A
Q: What do I gain by registering?
A:
1) The about box will not appear every time you play realmz.
2) You will be able to create characters starting as high as the 12th level in ability.
3) You will not be restricted on the maximum levels allowed to begin an adventure.
4) You will be able to play scenarios that are released in the future.
5) Your characters will be saved as they gain levels, otherwise they are limited to achive level 3 as a maximum. They will still continue to rise in ability within any one game, but if you begin a new adventure they will be reduced to level 3.
6) Your support will help insure the continued development of Realmz and new scenarios.
Q: How do I delete a character from the party or replace them with someone new once the game has started?
A: Select Modify Party under the character menu. This will bring up the same screen you used to assemble the party. You will not be able to change the difficulty level, but you will be able to replace the members of the party. The only limitation is that you cannot add any more experience levels than the party already has. For example, if you had 6 characters each at the 2nd level of experience, then you can only have a maximum of 12 levels of experience within the new party. So make sure you have generated all characters that you wish to add, BEFORE entering this screen.
Q: How do I know when I have completed the scenario The City of Bywater.
A: You won't. The City of Bywater has no main goal. You will find many smaller quests within the scenario, but none will end the game. You can continue to adventure for as long as you wish. You may find that as you adventure further away from the city, the adventure is actually quite large. The reason there is no goal in The City of Bywater is because I created it as I was programming the game as a whole and it just sort of came together without a main theme.
Q: I have already paid my $25 to register. Why should I continue to pay for each scenario?
A: The whole idea behind Realmz is that you can take your characters from one scenario to the next and see them grow in ability. Each scenario takes a long time to create and at no small amount of effort on my part. Your continued support will make the job of creating new scenarios beneficial for both you and me. Registered owners of Realmz will be able to play new scenarios without having to pay; but without that support, the incentive to take my time to create new scenarios would simply not be there.
Q: What improvments are planned for Realmz?
A: Once the ball gets rolling on this I would like to make the dungeons have a 3D perspective and would like to incorporate the ability for people to play via Modem. In this case you could assign the control of different PCs to different people or maybe even assign the control of the monsters to another player. (This network idea is probably just that, an idea.)
Notes about the included scenario: The City of Bywater
The city of Bywater is an honest city. The average man has little to fear except for the occasional cutpurse. The city is ruled by a kind king. Recently, a tower has been built by a cult of spider worshippers just to the east of the city. Though they have broken no laws, it is widely known that they practice evil ceremonies, and rumored that they plan on the eventual overthrow of the king. Many believe the spider tower actually contains NO spiders, but other forms of arachnids instead. Open ranges frequented by goblins lie south of the city. Eastward, tribes of orcs rove the land. Southwest of the city, the land is largely unexplored. Rumors say that the lands are occupied by small groups of hill giants.
SOME TIPS:
1) Don't be paranoid. Bywater is an honest town. Do not walk around in fear of the town guard unless you have done something wrong. Realmz is unlike many adventure games that plunge you into trouble for no apparent reason.
2) A good defense is often your best offense. Before engaging in a known battle, it is helpful to camp and cast a few defensive spells. This will significantly improve your chances for success in battle.
For example: Just prior to a battle, you should camp, then cast any defensive spells such as Bless, Bark Skin, Protection from cold, etc...
3) Save your game often! This can't be stressed enough! After the successful completion of an encounter or major battle, it's wise to save the game. If your party dies, you will be able to pick up where you left off.
4) A well-balanced party is essential for success. To survive, almost any party will need at least one Cleric and either a Magic User or Enchanter. Clerics are very defensive in nature and have a wide variety of defensive and healing spells. Magic Users and Enchanters have a few defensive spells, but as a whole, have many more offensive spells. Magic is sometimes the only way into certain situations, or out of trouble.
