Realmz FAQ (kinda)
Ivans Shiachang Chou
I've noticed a few questions that are asked over and over, so this is kinda a
cursory FAQ for Realmz
Q) What is Realmz?
A) Realmz is a fantasy role playing game, where you can generate characters of
various classes (fighters, magic users, thieves...) and wander around
in this world trying to complete quests and kill monsters, while
accumulating wealth, experience, and various other items (weaponry,
armor...)
Q) Where do I get Realmz?
A) If you have membership at America Online or CompuServe you can be the first
in your neighboorhood get it. If not, wait patiently a few days while
some nice person uploads it to summex-aim.stanford.edu and you can
anonymously FTP it from there.
Q) What are the system requirement's for Realmz?
A) The author states: 2 Meg RAM, 13 in. Monitor capable of 256 colors and 6 Meg
of hard drive space. Let me add that it's not the 13 inches that's
important but the ability to display 640X480 pixels. I am able to
play quite well on a Powerbook Duo 270c, whose monitor is only 8.4
inches. And the more memory you have the happier the program will be.
I also think that a machine with a 68020 or better is also required.
Okay that's for people that haven't gotten it. The following is for people
who have been playing without reading the manual.
Q) How do I target spells (or missile weapons for that matter)?
A) After you select the spell (or the weapon) you get a line that starts at
your character icon and ends in a little box. The number in the box
tells you how many targets you may select. Move the box onto the icon
of the monster and hit "T" for "T"arget! If you are allowed more than
one target, repeat this step. If your target is off the screen and yet
still within range, pull the target box to the edge of the screen and
click the mouse button. This will scroll the screen over in that
direction. (warning: some users have complained about crashing the
program by trying to hit targets off screen, though this has never
happened to me.) When you're done, hit the space bar.
Q) How do I use a missile weapon?
A) Equip the character with it (most characters can be holding a melee weapon
and a missile weapon). When in combat mode, click on the little icon
next to the character's weapon. It is a small rectangular icon just
right of the character's weapon icon and it has a small scimitar and
a bow in it. Click on it, and you'll switch weapons. The weapon icon
of a missile weapon will be "raised" and you can click on it and you
target it like a spell.
Q) Is there a better way to kill monsters that are separated from you by a
wall or a mountain than to wander all over the screen to track it down?
A) Of course! If you are intent on hunting it down and killing it by hand,
there is a button called "shift". While the cursor is an arrow, you
normally click to make the character move in that direction. If you
press "S" you can scroll the window in that direction without moving
your character, so you don't have to wander aimlessly looking for a
break in the wall. Keep in mind that the battle map is just a zoom in
of the dungeon/surface map. If you remember the terrain before you
enter the combat, you'll find that it's pretty much the same after.
Another thing that helps is that sometimes the monsters aren't even on
the screen and you don't know which way to wander... try "R" for reveal
friends. You'll find that it also reveals your enemies too.
But the best way to kill monsters from far away, that I've found is to
have an enchanter in the party able to cast Lightening Strike. This
spell's range is up to 20 units away and if you have enough spell
spell points can inflict up to 24 points of damage (if I recall
correctly). Very efficient. Cannot be blocked by walls, slagtites,
mountains...etc.
Q) What are some of the "hard" monsters?
A) Orcus (and henchmen) in the temple at the sunken town of Waterford.
Red Dragon in the Kobold Caverns. Lots of Crab-Squid things and 3
Green Dragons in a different part of the same cave. You can also
summon a demon at the pentagram in the same cave. The Skeletal giant
that's locked behind the iron door. And you can find a good fight at
the Spider Tower. Where are these places? You can find them in the
tip sheet included with the game.
Q) What's the difference between Guard, Delay, and Finish?
A) You can end a character's attack turn in one of the following ways:
attacking something, or one of the above. Guard will "save" your
attack for later when a poor unsuspecting monster wanders too close
to you. Delay should be done before you move. It's good when the
character is trapped behind other characters, you can "wait" to move
until after another character has moved. Finish simply ends the round
with no attack.
More questions?
Ask, and I'll try to answer.
Cheers,
Ivans
--
-----------------------------\||/----------------------------------------------
|ic...@helmholtz.bu.edu =={}== "Wholly devoted to live and to die, |
|Boston Univ. Coll. of Eng. /||\ for the sake of the call" |
|Dept_of_Biomed._Engr.________||______________________--_Steven_Curtis_Chapman|
John W. Komp
: Hi there everyone,
: I've noticed a few questions that are asked over and over, so this is kinda a
: cursory FAQ for Realmz
<FAQ deleted>
: More questions?
: Ask, and I'll try to answer.
OK. Here's one. How do you make any money besides taking quests?
I've had my 1st level party running around the graveyard (and the
dungeon & caves in it) for a while now and haven't gotten a single
gold coin. I'd really like to buy some armour before going out to
face the higher level enemies.
: Cheers,
: Ivans
-John
: --
: -----------------------------\||/----------------------------------------------
: |ic...@helmholtz.bu.edu =={}== "Wholly devoted to live and to die, |
: |Boston Univ. Coll. of Eng. /||\ for the sake of the call" |
: |Dept_of_Biomed._Engr.________||______________________--_Steven_Curtis_Chapman|
--
****************************************************
This morning I shot six holes in my freezer
I think I've got cabin fever
Somebody sound the alarm
- J. Buffett
****************************************************
Ivans Shiachang Chou
: : I've noticed a few questions that are asked over and over, so this is kinda a
: : cursory FAQ for Realmz
: <FAQ deleted>
: : More questions?
: : Ask, and I'll try to answer.
: OK. Here's one. How do you make any money besides taking quests?
: I've had my 1st level party running around the graveyard (and the
: dungeon & caves in it) for a while now and haven't gotten a single
: gold coin. I'd really like to buy some armour before going out to
: face the higher level enemies.
: : Cheers,
: : Ivans
: -John
The following will is also included in an updated FAQ.
-Ivans
Q) I've got wimpy 1st level characters. How can I get some gold to buy some
awesome weaponry and armor before venturing forth?
A) There are ways to "get" magical items without a fight. The King will give
you a lot of generic stuff for just agreeing to go on his quest. But
how do you get past the magistrate to get into the castle? Well,
don't ignore poor little beggars in the streets. If you scratch her
back (or her dog's back) she'll scratch yours (in a manner of saying).
There's a lame giant that has a stash of magic armor/weapons that he'll
let you in on if you help him. If you take the dagger from the old
woman being attacked in the town, you'll have one awesome weapon, but
you're better off letting her be, and buying the dagger from her later.
The arena is always good for 50 gold pieces (and whatever the monster
might be carrying) a shot. Also, pick up as many weapons and armor as
you can carry and sell it back to the shops (if your mac doesn't crash
when doing so). You can accumulate a lot of money this way.
Alan D Earhart
In article <30lr8o$c...@gazette.medtronic.com>,>: Hi there everyone,
>
>: I've noticed a few questions that are asked over and over, so this is kinda
a
>: cursory FAQ for Realmz
>
>
>: More questions?
>
>: Ask, and I'll try to answer.
>
>I've had my 1st level party running around the graveyard (and the
>dungeon & caves in it) for a while now and haven't gotten a single
>gold coin. I'd really like to buy some armour before going out to
>face the higher level enemies.
You need to explore and experiment more. There is a very easy way to outfit
your party with very little cost to yourself ( read VERY little....).
Get out of the graveyard and into the city......
Chuck Simciak
My stalwart posse of butt-kickers has achieved status, and lots of money.
We spend it on armor galor and find ourselves with a sense of
untouchability. However, we are so weighted down, some characters can
only move 1 square per turn. How can I avoid this and not loose my low
armor class, or money, or re-roll my characters?
Chuck Simciak !"The broken image of Man moves in minute by minute
w...@po.cwru.edu ! and cell by cell... Poverty, hatred, war, police-
sim...@ccsmtp.ccf.org ! criminals, bureaucracy, insanity, all symptoms of
WRUW 91.1 FM Cleveland ! The Human Virus." - William S. Burroughs
Ivans Shiachang Chou
: In article <30jn0d$b...@news.bu.edu> Ivans Shiachang Chou,
Perhaps your greatest burden is caused by your money. What to do what to do...
Well, if it is money, you can drop it (oh NO!) or have it changed into gems.
This is done when at a shop or temple and clicking the bag with the gems button
which is directly below the party's pooled gold. There is a nominal 5% fee,
but you will find yourselves far less encumbered. My characters are armed to
the teeth, and yet have between 9 and 15 moves. Granted the character with the
15 moves is equipt with boots of speed and can have up to 17 moves per turn.
I generally do not have a problem with armor and weapons (unless characters
have less than 9 for strength...)
Thanks, I'll include this with my next mailing if the un-official Realmz FAQ.
Please let me know (email preferred) if this solves your problem.
Ivans
--
Pamela Sears
>untouchability. However, we are so weighted down, some characters can
>only move 1 square per turn. How can I avoid this and not loose my low
>armor class, or money, or re-roll my characters?
Lose the money, dude. Gold is HEAVY!
Pam
--
________________
|--------------- | Pamela Sears
|| __________ | The Scripps Research Institute
|| |--------- | | Graduate School/Joint Program
|| || ____ | |
|| || |--- | | | 'Scientia Per Repertum'
|| || || | | |
|| || |____| | | Hmm... or is that,
|| |__________| |
|________________| 'Scientia Per Repetitio?'
Bill Kelly
Ivans Shiachang Chou <ic...@helmholtz.bu.edu> wrote:
>Hi there everyone,
>
>I've noticed a few questions that are asked over and over, so this is kinda a
>cursory FAQ for Realmz
>
>Q) What is Realmz?
>
>A) Realmz is a fantasy role playing game, where you can generate characters of
> various classes (fighters, magic users, thieves...) and wander around
> in this world trying to complete quests and kill monsters, while
> accumulating wealth, experience, and various other items (weaponry,
> armor...)
>
Thanks for the info. What style of graphics does Realmz use?
Is it an 'Ultima' style top-down view? Is it DungeonMaster style?
Or something different? I gather that the combat is 'turn-based'.
Do you, as the player, get to control or influence the combat, or
do the characters in your party fight automatically? Can you
break off during battle or is it a fight to the finish each time?
Thanks,
-Bill
--
Bill Kelly FORTH LOVE IF R> 32767 ERASE THEN
bi...@crash.cts.com "Global Global"
Doug Creutz
1) How do you put scrolls in scroll cases?
2) When you pick locks/bend bars, two green/yellow/red bars appear on the
screen, as well as a timer. What do I do here (to successfully complete the
action?)
3) In the manual, it gives base successful chances for different kinds of
activities. Do thieves and monks get better as they advance levels, and
how much?
Thanks
-Doug
P.S. I think this stuff was inadvertently left out of the manual.
Erik Svensson
>In article <30jn0d$b...@news.bu.edu> Ivans Shiachang Chou,
>ic...@helmholtz.bu.edu writes:
>>More questions?
>>
>>Ask, and I'll try to answer.
>My stalwart posse of butt-kickers has achieved status, and lots of money.
> We spend it on armor galor and find ourselves with a sense of
>untouchability. However, we are so weighted down, some characters can
>only move 1 square per turn. How can I avoid this and not loose my low
>armor class, or money, or re-roll my characters?
Have you tried changin gold into jewels and jewelry?
cheers
--
Erik Svensson
Research Officer National Defense Research Establishment (FOA)
Guided Weapons Division Stockholm, Sweden er...@sto.foa.se
"The problem with the future is that it keeps turning into the present."
-- Calvin
Jeremy Kemper
>My stalwart posse of butt-kickers has achieved status, and lots of money.
> We spend it on armor galor and find ourselves with a sense of
>untouchability. However, we are so weighted down, some characters can
>only move 1 square per turn. How can I avoid this and not loose my low
>armor class, or money, or re-roll my characters?
change your gold into gems (as previously mentioned) and make sure to get the
*LIGHTEST* of everything. Leather armor +2 = banded armor and it weighs
MUCH less. Also buy only leather types of other armor. Leather gloves lower
your AC the same amount that chain or plate does. And get rid of crap you'll
never use but you're carrying around anyway, like those cool weapons that you
just HAVE to keep, but you can't equip because you already have another cool
weapon. Just keep the encumbrance as looooooow as possible.
-jeremy
jke...@scripps.edu
Tom Phillips
jke...@scripps.edu (Jeremy Kemper) writes:
> change your gold into gems (as previously mentioned) and make sure to get
> the *LIGHTEST* of everything. Leather armor +2 = banded armor and it
> weighs MUCH less. Also buy only leather types of other armor. Leather
> gloves lower your AC the same amount that chain or plate does.
I wondered about that -- why get plate gloves that are much heavier
and cost more than leather gloves, when they both have the same effect
on armor class? Unless you do more damage slapping a monster with an
iron fist...
Oh, here's some other things. Has anyone run out of arrows yet? I
assumed that you had to buy them by the quiverful as they aren't
sold any other way, but the one I bought has yet to hit empty.
Is there any way to put discovered scrolls into a scroll case? I
know that when you make one yourself it goes in, but I'd really
like to stow away the ones I've found.
How about another strange glitch: I was down exploring the "scary
place" in the graveyard. The first thing you come across are four
caves on the western side of the map; I entered the first, and was
attacked by cave beetles. The battle was constrained by the fact
that you couldn't scroll the view to the left -- the area was up
against the left edge of the main cavern map. When I appeared, my
characters were about 3 or 4 squares away from the left edge, with
beetles on both sides. If I attacked the ones on the right, there
was no problem. When I went to go for one on the left, the dialog
came up that asked "run away/return to battle?". There was no way
that I could hit one; I had to back up and let them come after me.
I have a feeling that it's caused by being that close to the edge
of the dungeon; I'd like to hear if anyone else has seen the same
bug (the program bug, not a cave beetle!).
OK, one last question. What opinions do y'all have on what makes
up the ideal party? The one I'm playing around with now consists
of paladin/2 fighters/cleric/magic-user/thief. I tried a monk in
the first party; he did fairly well after 4th or 5th level. I
haven't tried the enchanter yet.
Ah, the memories this game bring back! I know I still have a bunch
of books and a bag of dice around here somewhere...
Tom Phillips | If you must mount the gallows, give |
Michigan State University | a jest to the crowd, a coin to the |
Graphic Artist Wanna-be | hangman, and make the drop with a |
phil...@student.msu.edu | smile on your lips... --Birgitte |
Mark Phaedrus
Creutz) wrote:
> O.K., here's three tougher questions.
> 1) How do you put scrolls in scroll cases?
You don't. This is probably the most confusing thing about Realmz'
magic system; the scrolls you pick up in shops have nothing to do with the
scroll cases. If you have a scroll case of your class, it basically
allows you to "store" up to five spells, provided you have blank parchment
in your possession. When you rest, a "Create" icon will appear if you
have a scroll case. You pick a party member (it only shows party members
with appropriate scroll cases), then pick Create again; this puts you
through the normal procedure for casting a spell, but instead of actually
casting the spell, it creates a scroll, which shows up in one of the five
empty spaces on the scroll screen. (This newly-created spell does not
show up in your inventory; it's effectively "in the scroll case". It does
use up a piece of parchment, though, which comes out of your inventory.)
Now, later on when you're out of spell points and awaiting certain death,
you can click the "Scroll" icon; the five scroll slots appear again, and
you can activate any of these "scrolled" spells.
It's also confusing that ordinary scrolls, the type you pick up in
shops and that appear in your inventory, aren't used with the "Scroll"
icon; instead, they're used with the "Items" icon.
> 2) When you pick locks/bend bars, two green/yellow/red bars appear on the
> screen, as well as a timer. What do I do here (to successfully complete the
> action?)
As near as I can tell, there's nothing you can do; the bars are just
an elaborate way of saying "you succeed" or "you fail".
> 3) In the manual, it gives base successful chances for different kinds of
> activities. Do thieves and monks get better as they advance levels, and
> how much?
Easy enough to find out; just click on the "Click for special info"
area of the character status screen, and see if the numbers there change
when you go up in levels.
--
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\o\ If you're interested in books/stories with transformation \o\
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Erik Giberson
: Oh, here's some other things. Has anyone run out of arrows yet? I
: assumed that you had to buy them by the quiverful as they aren't
: sold any other way, but the one I bought has yet to hit empty.
Arrows appear to be unlimited (and a good thing too). Now if only
they'd do the same with throwing stars, as my monk is starting to run
out....
: Is there any way to put discovered scrolls into a scroll case?
Not that I've found. =(
: OK, one last question. What opinions do y'all have on what makes
: up the ideal party? The one I'm playing around with now consists
: of paladin/2 fighters/cleric/magic-user/thief. I tried a monk in
: the first party; he did fairly well after 4th or 5th level. I
: haven't tried the enchanter yet.
My initial party consists of a paladin, a ranger, a monk, a cleric, a
magic-user, and a thief, and I've had no complaints so far, except for
finding some nifty items that only enchanters can use. I'm considering
dropping one of the fighter-types or the thief and adding an enchanter
for my second party. You can never have too much magic on your side,
after all.....
: Ah, the memories this game bring back! I know I still have a bunch
: of books and a bag of dice around here somewhere...
And a shelf full of modules, and binders stuffed with notes, and
a mess of character sheets, and.....
--Erik
David_...@magic-bbs.corp.apple.com
"1) How do you put scrolls in scroll cases?
2) When you pick locks/bend bars, two green/yellow/red bars appear on the
screen, as well as a timer. What do I do here (to successfully complete
the
action?)
3) In the manual, it gives base successful chances for different kinds of
activities. Do thieves and monks get better as they advance levels, and
how much?"
1) You don't. Scroll cases are used only for creating scrolls.
2) Nothing. It's just something that's designed to keep you on edge to see
if it'll work or not. Either the desired outcome will occur or it won't,
based on your percentages. There's nothing you do at this point.
3) Yes. In AD&D I think it's about 5%/level. In Realmz, I don't know.
Dave
Milo (Michael) Sharp
> OK, one last question. What opinions do y'all have on what makes
> up the ideal party? The one I'm playing around with now consists
> of paladin/2 fighters/cleric/magic-user/thief. I tried a monk in
> the first party; he did fairly well after 4th or 5th level. I
> haven't tried the enchanter yet.
I've got Morderd the anti-paladin, Morgu the fighter, Gibbous the monk,
Calliope the thief, Faith the cleric, and Fistandantilus the enchanter.
Enchanters are nice since they can wear better armor and use better weapons
than mages; my enchanter has a Short Sword +3 right now.
Anyone notice that the items in Madam Otik's shop are random, from game to
game? My first game found some pretty slim pickins in there, but my second
game started out with the short sword I mentioned above, Plate Armor +1, the
Concealer of Lies (a thieve's cloak), and a bunch more nice stuff. Some stuff
is consistant, like the ion stones and the frozen viper, but a lot of the rest
seems to change from game to game.
---
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Macintosh Lab Manager and AppleMail : mi...@server.uafac.alaska.edu
Apple Student Representative AppleLink : milo....@applelink.apple.com
Academic Computing SnailMail : PO Box 752324
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"Once again, thanks to all the people who sent in error reports and
suggestions for improving the new features. You may all be hopeless geeks,
but you're great beta testers." - John Norstad, author of Disinfectant and
Newswatcher
Tho Dinh
fx...@aurora.alaska.edu (Milo (Michael) Sharp) writes:
> Anyone notice that the items in Madam Otik's shop are random, from game to
> game? My first game found some pretty slim pickins in there, but my second
> game started out with the short sword I mentioned above, Plate Armor +1,
> Concealer of Lies, and a bunch more nice stuff. Some stuff
> is consistant, like the ion stones and the frozen viper, but a lot
> seems to change from game to game.
I don't believe this is true. However, the things that Madam Otik sells
changes depending on what *level* you are playing at. Playing at the
veteran level gives you the most options.
Tho Dinh
td...@asucla.ucla.edu
Mack
>game? My first game found some pretty slim pickins in there, but my second
>game started out with the short sword I mentioned above, Plate Armor +1, the
>Concealer of Lies (a thieve's cloak), and a bunch more nice stuff. Some >stuff
>is consistant, like the ion stones and the frozen viper, but a lot of the >rest
>seems to change from game to game.
I noticed the same thing, but I have a feeling it is because I was
using 1.22 instead of 1.21
-Mack
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ma...@rpi.edu | "I do not like gold eggs and
ftp bevelac.stu.rpi.edu (on vacation) | meat, it is you who I want
128.113.85.106 | to eat."
http://www.rpi.edu/~mackd/myhome.html | -Animaniacs
----------------------------------------------------------------------