Aleshar World of Ice manual
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ALESHAR: THE WORLD OF ICE
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Manual
(C) 1997, Hypothermia
Legal stuff
This is the full version of Aleshar: the World of Ice. No distribution
or copying of this product is permitted. You have purchased the license
to use the full version of Aleshar: the World of Ice on one (1) computer
at any time. You may have two (2) separate copies of Aleshar: the World
of Ice, so you may back up your game. Hypothermia is not responsible for
any kind of damage done to you or your system by using Aleshar: the World
of Ice. You use the product on your own risk. No part of Aleshar: the
World of Ice may be decompiled or modified.
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CONTENTS
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Introduction 1
Aleshar? 1.1
Story and background 1.2
Credits 1.3
Getting started 2
System requirements 2.1
Setting up the game 2.2
Loading the game 2.3
Troubleshooting 2.4 (NEW)
Playing the game 3
Outdoors 3.1
Cities and dungeons 3.2
The inventory 3.3
Combat 3.4
Damage 3.41
Weapons 3.42
Armor 3.43
Magic 3.5
Hazards 3.6
The "rules" 3.7
Registering 4
Why should I register? 4.1
How to register 4.2
Questions and answers 5
Hints and tips 6
Quick start 7
Weapon statistics Appendix A
Armor statistics Appendix B
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INTRODUCTION
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1.1 HYPOTHERMIA
Contact us:
Via EMail: hypothermia@usa.net
Via WWW: www.netti.fi/~vnorilo
Via modem: +358-9-376989 (Finland: 09 376989)
+358-9-85454082 (Finland: 09 85454082)
Via mail:
Hypothermia C/O Honkanen
Korpinkatu 17
04230 Kerava
Finland
Europe
Credits for Aleshar: the World of Ice
Design: Ossi Honkanen
Graphics: Janne Pulkkinen
Programming: Vesa Norilo
Music: Vesa Norilo
Sound system: Silvio Turello
Compression: Fabrice Bellard
Playtesting: Tuomas Koivusalo and the Aleshar Beta Crew
1.2 ALESHAR?
We came up with the concept of Aleshar in December 1995. The original idea
was to make a game called Cryosphere. Cryosphere was supposed to be a game
in an icy, cold, post-holocaust world. The game started forming after Vesa
created a scrolling fractal landscape. After about half a year of passive
working, we were about to scrap the whole project. Too many if's and but's
had driven us in to a dead end. Then one day, when Vesa and Ossi were
trying to think of a way to make the concept work, they got an idea.
The whole project was reshaped and rewritten. The cold, futuristic world
of Cryosphere was turned into a distant island of Aleshar. A whole new
world was created.
1.3 STORY AND BACKGROUND
You were born to a minor town mayor and his wife. Right from the beginning
they knew you were somehow different from other kids. And they were right.
You had the spark of Elemental Powers. Your grandfather once had the same
spark. And like the vast majority of young who were like you and himself,
he was to become a priest of the Cult of Wisdom - The only legal user of
Power.
Your grandfather abhorred the priest life. He was given a choice. To be
bereft of the Powers for ever, or to become a priest. He chose neither.
With the support of some of his friends, he managed to escape the priests.
But he was too dangerous an example. He was hunted down and executed
publicly. The priests were farsighted enough to accuse him of several
horrible crimes, to prevent uprising by Alesharians.
Most people still believe the Cult is the only answer to their everyday
religious needs. But your father knew the truth. The Cult had many good men,
true keepers of wisdom, but as every power does, even wisdom corrupts.
Cult leaders often became ambitious and greedy.
And some became cruel.
Knowing this, and remembering his thraumatic experience from childhood,
the execution of his own father, he would never allow you to become
a Priest. Neither would he allow you to meet the fate of your grandfather.
The Townspeople were loyal to your father, and so they arranged you to
'disappear'. In truth you were sent to an old man, elementalist himself
by some claims. To avoid suspicion, he lived far distant from any larger
settlement. He was forgotten by the cult.
Your father hoped you would be forgotten as well.
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GETTING STARTED
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2.1 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Aleshar - world of ice requires the following:
- 80386 processor
- VGA compatible display adapter and monitor
- 380 kb of conventional memory
- 4 megabytes of memory
- 4 megabytes of hard disk space
- MS-DOS 3.0 or higher
Recommended:
- 80486/66MHz
- EMM386 or compatible EMS manager
- 512k SVGA adapter capable of 640x400 256c mode
- 8 megabytes of memory (so you can load a disk cache program)
- 512k Gravis Ultrasound or compatible
2.2 SETTING UP THE GAME
Before you begin to play the game, you must configure the game to match
your system. Execute the configuration-program in your Aleshar directory.
CD \GAMES\ALESHAR
INSTALL.EXE
Because you have already installed the game, select setup. Your current
setup is shown on the last row of the screen. The default options are
VGA resolution for graphics and No Sound. You can select a sound card
for music and sound effects and a higher resolution. We recommend the
SVGA resolution 640x400, if your display is capable of it. 640x480
resolution is basically the same, but it has a different aspect ratio
and will not use the whole screen.
In order to use high resolutions, you need a high performance video
adapter. We recommend boosting your graphics capabilities with a driver
called UniVBE(tm). It is created by SciTech and it will provide extensive
VESA 2.0 compatible services for your card. You can find a demo version
of the UniVBE(tm) drivers from almost any FTP site or BBS. You are given
21 days free testing period, and after that you must register the UniVBE.
Visit Scitech soft in the WWW: www.scitechsoft.com
If you own a sound card, select Audio Options. Aleshar: the World of
Ice supports four sound cards. SoundBlaster, SoundBlaster 16, Pro Audio
Spectrum 16 and Gravis Ultrasound.
If you choose SoundBlaster, SoundBlaster 16 or PAS you must select the
mixing quality. Higher quality requires more CPU horsepower, but also
sounds better. On SoundBlaster, only rates 11kHz, 16kHz and 22kHz are
available. On Gravis Ultrasound, only 44kHz is available. Gravis
Ultrasound, SB16 and PAS16 produce 16-bit stereo sound, while SB
produces 8-bit mono sound. Gravis Ultrasound sound driver doesn't slow
your computer down, unlike SB, SB16 and PAS16 drivers.
Next, you will have to select the sound volumes. Soft music, loud SFXs
is probably the best option.
NOTE!
Memory requirements will vary according to your soundcard:
Board Conventional EMS XMS
No Sound 340kB 2.5MB 2.6MB
SB (Pro) 600kB 3.2MB n/a
SB 16 550kB 3.2MB n/a
PAS16 550kB 3.2MB n/a
GUS 410kB 2.5MB 2.6MB
You can use EMS with all configurations, and XMS with GUS or
No Sound. Using EMS will give much better performance than
XMS!
If you are out of memory, check the troubleshooting section.
2.3 LOADING THE GAME
The game can be started by typing the following:
CD GAMES\ALESHAR (or whatever your Aleshar-directory is)
ALESHAR.EXE
If you know your system doesn't have Upper Memory, or you don't
want to use it, use the following syntax:
ALESHAR.EXE /NOUMB
If you have problems and are using 4DOS(tm) or NDOS(tm), use
ALESHAR.EXE [/NOUMB] /4DOS
This switch doesn't use shelling since 4DOS/NDOS shelling seems to
be unstable in all programs, not only Aleshar. You must execute
SOUNDDRV.EXE before launching ALESHAR with the /4DOS switch.
2.4 TROUBLESHOOTING
You should ALWAYS be able to run Aleshar: the World of Ice with
sounds off and the standard VGA resolution! Try them before
deleting the game!
2.41 The game just hangs!
There are more than a few possible explanations.
- Video
If you do not have VGA display, I don't know how the game
behaves. Certainly not right.
If you have selected SVGA modes, you should use the UniVBE(tm)
driver if your VESA is older than 2.0. You can download the
UniVBE shareware demo from almost any BBS. It gives you 21
days free trial.
Hypothermia VESA drivers were developed under UniVBE(tm) 5.1 and
5.2, so use them or later for optimum performance. They mostly
function with my Cirrus Logic v1.2 VESA, but not quite with
the older VESA drivers of the other Hypothermia Members.
- Audio
Selecting a wrong soundcard may cause the game to hang.
As stated earlier, Silvio Turello's SoundSystem seems to be
unable to report an out of memory -error. This is very trouble-
some since with software mixing cards (SB, SB16 and PAS) require
quite much memory. If the game crashes with a black screen after
the loading screen, the crash might be caused by the sound system.
- Memory
If you use a software mixing card, be certain you have much memory.
Check whether you have upper memory with the MEM command. If it
reports 0k, try to install a device driver called EMM386. To do
this, simply do the following:
NOTE! Always back up your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files before
modifying them!!!
- Open your CONFIG.SYS file with some text editor like DOS's EDIT.
- Search for a line with something like
DEVICE = C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
- Install a line after that one with the following:
DEVICE = C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM
or DEVICE = C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE RAM
- Save the file and reboot your computer.
Now you have upper memory in your system. Aleshar should be able
to run with some 500-odd kilobytes of base memory, if there is
more than 100 kilobytes of upper memory free. For No Sound or
Gravis Ultrasound, the requirement is about 200 kilobytes less.
One fault in the otherwise brilliant SoundSystem we use is that it
can't play sound effects on SB, PAS or SB16 unless EMS is enabled.
Check if you have EMS memory by typing MEM to the command prompt.
If it reports only XMS memory status, you do not have EMS enabled.
Open your CONFIG.SYS file with some text editor.
- Search for a line with something like:
DEVICE = C:\DOS\EMM386 ...
- If there is no such a line, add the following somewhere,
preferably right after the HIMEM.SYS:
DEVICE = C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM
or DEVICE = C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE RAM
- If there already is a line with something about EMM386, take
a look at it. If you find the word "NOEMS" from somewhere along
the line, replace it with the word "RAM".
If this seems too complicated, select NO SOUND, or upgrade your
soundcard to a real wavetable card - Gravis Ultrasound. It will
require about 200 kilobytes less memory and will produce superior
sound. (No, they didn't pay us anything).
For additional information, you can consult DOS help with the
keyword EMM386.EXE, UMB and upper memory.
2.42 The Game exits to DOS with an error message
The messages are most often self-explanatory. Here are some of
the more confusing ones:
VESA function 01h (GetModeInfo) returned a bad status
Your drivers or video card do not support the video mode you
selected. Reselect the mode, or pick 320x200 to be sure.
VESA function x (...) returned a bad status.
VESA function x (...) not supported ...
These error messages occur when your SVGA drivers are too old for
Aleshar: the World of Ice. To get perfect performance, you should
upgrade your drivers to VESA 2.0 compliant ones. There are more
than one ways of doing this. You can either contact the vendor of
your video card for new drivers, or search new drivers from the
internet or some large BBSes. Hypothermia recommends using the
UniVBE(tm) drivers by SciTech software. They are universal, so they
work with almost any SVGA adapter. In addition, Aleshar is developed
under UniVBE(tm) 5.1 and 5.2.
SVGA hardware unable to...
This means that your video drivers can do what Aleshar wants, but
your video card is too old. You have no choice but to select different
video mode.
SVGA display couldn't be centered. This is not a serious error.
Some VESA 1.2 or 1.3 drivers just can't seem to center the display in
640x400 mode. The active portion of the screen will be in the upper
part of the screen.
VESA driver not present
Likely you do not have a SVGA card, or your card doesn't support VESA.
Select the 320x200 mode.
2.43 Strange behavior
You might want to check with the above sections that you have all
the settings right.
EMM386 related errors
- If your DMA buffer size is too small and you use SB, SB16
or PAS, EMM386 crashes the machine. It gives you detailed
instructions on how to fix the situation, however.
- Error #12 means you are out of stack space. See DOS readme
for more information and instructions on how to fix the
problem.
MEGAEM related errors
With Gravis Ultrasound SoundBlaster emulator, Aleshar can't
produce correct sound. This is not a problem, since Aleshar
has a built-in support for Gravis Ultrasound. Unload the
MEGAEM before starting Aleshar by typing MEGAEM -f
Disk full
If your hard drive is full, there might be trouble with
temporary files. Check that you have some 500 kilobytes
of HD space before launching Aleshar: the World of Ice.
2.44 Optimum performance
Aleshar: the World of Ice was tested on many machines from
a 386/16 to P200. Even 386/16 managed playable speed without
sound and with the standard VGA resolution. If you think
Aleshar: the World of Ice works too slowly, read this section
carefully.
Reasons for slowdown:
XMS. XMS-support was built after the initial release of
Aleshar. Our XMS driver actually emulates EMS, so the block-
maps might be dreadfully slow without EMS. The above sections
concentrate on installing and setting up EMM386.
Software mixing. Using Sound Blaster slows Aleshar: the World
of Ice down about 15%. SB16 and PAS are even slower, but sound
much better. If you want to sacrifice sound quality for speed,
select regular Sound Blaster in stead of SB16 or PAS, since
these cards are compatible with the 8-bit Blaster.
SVGA modes. 320x200 is more than 4 times faster than the
640x400 mode.
16-bit Windows. If you manage to run Aleshar: the World
of Ice under Windows 3.1, we congratulate you. Our programmer
managed this with Gravis Ultrasound sounds on and Windows
GUS drivers installed! Anyway, running games under 16-bit
Windows is a hobby of enginerds and a total waste of time.
We don't recommend using Windows 3.1 as a platform for Aleshar.
Windows 95. It is better than the 16-bit version, but we
recommend using DOS 7, via restarting the computer in MS-DOS
mode. With low resolution and no sounds we managed to run
Aleshar in a window, but kids, do not try this at home.
You really need to know many things on Windows 95 to run
Aleshar in a window. In a DOS box, you should succeed without
sounds. Sound support under W95 is another matter altogether.
Usually W95 doesn't leave enough conventional memory for this
and occasionally even the W95 drivers conflict with the running
application. Note that Windows 95 functions as EMM386, so you
don't have to worry about EMS memory.
Cache. You should load SMARTDRIVE if you have enough memory.
With 4 megabytes we do not advise this but if you have more,
then absolutely load this wonderful driver by typing SMARTDRV.
486/25 should be easily enough. But if you do not have a
Pentium, we recommend upgrading your computer. You won't
probably need a PPro 200 to run Aleshar, but most of the
future games (from Hypothermia also) will require more and
more horsepower.
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3. PLAYING THE GAME
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3.1 OUTDOORS
When the game begins, you see a snow-covered landscape with a lonely
adventurer standing in the middle of nowhere. You are that lonely
adventurer. You can move around the landscape by pressing the arrows
on your keyboard. Your movement speed is determined by your Skiing-skill
(good skiers move faster). When moving up slopes, your speed will be
determined by your Climbing-skill (better climber, faster movement).
You will notice that the viewpoint is a bit tilted. When you press up,
your character moves towards the upper-left hand corner of your screen.
Pressing up goes north, down goes south, right goes east and left goes
west.
Everything in the outside world happens 'real-time'. The timescale is not
the same as in real life, but time still goes on. If you wait long enough,
you will die of starvation. Monsters can ambush you, so when you leave an
outpost, move fast.
You can pause the game by pressing the ESC-key. Continue the game by
selecting the CONTINUE-item. Other selections of this menu will be
discussed later.
Heavy loads, bleeding and wounds will slow you down, so keep an eye on
your encumbrance and health levels.
You can see the inventory by pressing the I-key. (see 'the inventory' later)
By pressing the Z-key you can view your stats, skills, health, money, food
and fatigue levels. You can select the screen (general, health, skills)
you want by arrow keys. When you are through checking your status, press
the space bar or the enter-key.
You can hunt (or at least try hunting) by pressing the H-key. Your
Hunting-skill will affect the result. If succesful, you will receive some
food. This can be really important on long journeys. Notice that some
food is used during the hunting, too. If you are out of food and trying
to hunt for long periods, you may die of starvation.
Note! The game may report that you catch game, but still there is no
more food in your inventory. Notice that your character uses food while
hunting.
An experienced traveller will survive long times with just the minimum
amount of rations. The amount of rations you will consume in a certain
time will be determined by your Survival-skill. If your Survival-skill
is high, you can travel long distances with small amounts of food.
When exploring the continent, you can find many places of intrest. Cities,
dungeons and other interesting places can be found scattered all over the
continent. As you move away from a city, the houses will disappear. That is
because you can't see them anymore. Your visual range is determined by your
Tracking-skill. A character with a high tracking skill can notice items,
cities and dungeons from far away.
You can enter cities and dungeons by walking "on top of them" and pressing
the E-key. (see the Cities and dungeons section later).
Defeated enemies (and you) will usually leave a pile of items behind. You
can collect the items from the outdoors terrain by moving on the item and
pressing the G-key.
If you own a map, you can view it with the M-key.
Magic can be used outside, with some exceptions. Only spells that heal or
remove hunger can be used. Spells like speed can be used, but they will
expire almost immediately (this is because of the larger timescale) and
are therefor useless.
Casting spells is easy when you can concentrate on the casting process.
Therefor all spells cast in the outside terrain are automatic successes.
3.2 Cities and dungeons
Moving around in the cities and dungeons is easy. You will advance to the
direction you are facing by pressing the up arrow. You can turn around by
pressing the left and right arrows. (Just like in Quake(tm) :) Pressing the
down arrow will make you turn 180 degrees.
You can open doors by facing them and pressing the O-key. If the door is
locked and you do not have a key, you can press the P-key to pick the
lock (or at least try to). Closed doors can be attacked. If you are strong
enough, you can bash them open. You can also use keys to unlock doors.
If you try to pick locks or to bash doors, friendly people may turn
hostile.
You can talk to people by pressing the T-key. Move the cursor on the
top of the person you wish to talk to and press enter. You must be
near enough to the person to talk to him/her. You can end the
conversation by pressing entering a blank line or saying 'BYE'.
You can type in sentences or words. The parser will detect certain
words from your text and use them as keywords. The green words in
the person's answers are keywords. Typing in these keywords will
give more information. Note that as the story proceeds, some persons
will say different things about different subjects.
In cities you can buy weapons, armor, lodging, food and healing services.
You must find the supplier (i.e merchant, smith, innkeeper, healer) and
talk to him/her by pressing the T-key. Say 'BUY' or 'SELL' and a menu will
appear. Weaponsmiths and traders, unlike innkeepers and healers, do not
trade when they are off duty.
In cities and dungeons, time doesn't go on if you do nothing. You can
'wait' by pressing the space bar.
Spells can be cast by pressing the C-key. Notice that people are not
used to magic, and therefor they will consider you a threat. See
section 3.5, Magic.
3.3 The inventory
You can access the inventory at any time by pressing the I-key. A listing
of your belongings will appear along with some commands. After selecting
the command you must select the item you wish to use/equip/drop.
EQUIP will ready (or unready) an item. Only weapons and armor can
be readied. You can ready two weapons at a time, a melee and
a ranged weapon.
USE will use an item. If items such as keys, maps or sextant are
used, they will function in some way.
DROP will drop an item. It will be left where you stand.
INFO will display text describing an item, if applicable.
DONE will return from the inventory menu.
3.4 Combat
You can encounter hostile creatures during your travels. When you do,
the game will enter the combat mode. This is much like the city/dungeon
mode. Your objective is to evade or destroy your enemies. You can use
either melee weapons or long range weapons. Pressing the R-key will
select the ranged weapon, if you have one readied. Pressing the M-key
will ready your melee weapon, or prepare for barehanded combat. Your
character will use a melee weapon by default.
When you are using a melee weapon, you can attack enemies by just
trying to walk over them. You can also attack an enemy by pressing
the A-key and selecting the opponent you wish to hit.
If you use a ranged weapon, press the A-key and select the opponent
you wish to hit. You must be able to see your opponent. Your chances
of hitting are the smaller the further the enemy is from you.
3.41 Damage
When hit by weapons or magic, different body parts might get damaged.
If a body part reaches critical damage state, it will cease to function.
Enough damage will kill your enemy (or you). You can see your own
condition by pressing the Z-key and selecting the wounds screen.
Damaged legs will slow you down, damaged hands will make fighting
difficult and damaged head and torso will affect everything you do.
Your (or your enemies') wounds will bleed. Loss of blood will make you
feel weaker and thus add to fatigue. If character bleeds, he/she/it will
leave bloody trails. You can check your own bleeding status by pressing
the Z-key.
Bleeding can be stopped with bandages. You can bandage yourself by using
a bandage. This can be done from the inventory.
Herbs can be used to speed up healing.
You can buy both herbs and bandages from the local healer.
3.42 Weapons
Aleshar - the world of ice offers a wide variety of weapons. Swords,
clubs, maces, axes, spears, bows and others can be bought from the
local smith.
There is no such thing as "the best weapon". The accuracy of a weapon
depends on the character's skills and condition. Lighter weapons are
easier to use, but heavier weapons will inflict more damage.
Magic weapons look like ordinary weapons. They will work in the same
way as any other weapon, but their accuracy and damage might be greater
than that of the normal weapons.
3.43 Armor
As there is no "best weapon", there is no "best armor" either. Light
armor won't slow you down, but on the other hand, it won't protect you
that much. Armor can be bought from the local smith.
If you want to know precisely how the combat works, see section 3.7.
3.5 Magic
Magic is an important element in Aleshar - the World of Ice. In the
beginning you will not be able to use magic, but don't worry, you will
learn soon.
Casting spells is easy. Press the C-key anywhere in the cities, dungeons,
combat or outside. You will see a screen with runes. Each rune represents
an element. The elements and corresponding runes are:
Fire (a pyramid)
Water (an ellipse with a horizontal line)
Air (a three-pointed "star")
Earth (a hemisphere)
Spirit (a circle and a dot)
You can move the selector (blue glow) with the left and right arrow keys.
Pressing SPACE will activate or deactivate the currently highlighted rune.
Active runes will begin rotating. Pressing the up and down keys will
increase or decrease the power of the spell. The more power you direct to
the spell, the faster the runes will rotate. At extremely high power,
runes may begin to glow.
The spells are made up from elements, or flows. Spells are formed by
combinations of one, two or three runes. If three runes are used, one of
them must be the spirit rune.
There is one exception to this rule, but you must find it out by yourself.
The effect of a spell depends on the selected combination of runes and the
alignment of the target. When the flows of water and air are focused on
a friendly unit, he/she/it will move faster for a period of time depending
on the power of the spell. When the same flows are targeted on an enemy,
he/she/it will freeze (for a while).
Magic is a powerful weapon, but the power must come from somewhere. As you
cast spells, be aware of your exhaustion levels. If you push yourself too
far, you will eventually die of overexhaustion.
Some combinations are harder and thus more fatiguing to do than others.
Usually these combinations will result more powerful effects, too.
Here are a few general rules:
- The more runes you use, the more powerful the spell will be
- The more power you select, the more powerful the spell will be
- Spells directed against opponents will generally be more exhausting
Note that the spells have two modes: Hostile and friendly. When you aim
the spell against an enemy, it will be harmful. When you cast the same
combination over an ally or yourself, it will be helpful.
We encourage you to experiment with magic. ANY combination cast against
your enemies will harm them in some way. You will encounter some
situations that are very difficult to handle without magic, so it is
good to know how different combinations work.
Here are some combinations to get you started:
Flow(s) Effect on enemies Effect on friends
Fire Causes burning damage Boosts combat skills
Earth Causes physical damage Gives protection
Earth+Water Degeneration Regeneration
3.6 Enemies & other hazards
There are many creatures on Aleshar that will be glad to eat you for their
supper. Trolls, thieves and bloodthirsty snowgiants will try to kill you
whenever there's a chance. By knowing your enemies you can survive longer.
Thieves and raiding parties
These greedy people will try to kill you and take all of your money.
They are found everywhere on Aleshar. Thieves usually band up with
bountyhunters and warriors. Be very careful when you fight thieves!
They often have quite good equipment and even ranged weapons.
Trolls
These large humanoids have been trouble as long as there has been
life on Aleshar. Taller and stronger than any human, they should
be considered a threat. Trolls are very slow, though, and can be
easily avoided. Ranged weapons are good against trolls, but don't
let them get too near you!
Goblins
As the trolls are huge, muscular, ugly and green, the goblins are
short, skinny, ugly and green. They are usually found in dungeons
and caves, but some raiding parties will attack traders and
travellers in hope of finding food. Goblins are not much of a
threat by themselves, but they try to come at you in numbers.
Try to slay enough of them until they surround you.
Snowgiants
There are three words describing the snowgiants: big, deadly,
unfriendly. They are even larger than trolls, towering up to 3 meters
(10 ft.). They are hostile towards all other species. Deadly.
Undead
There are some stories about undead creatures guarding the greatest
secrets of Aleshar. Stories about guardian spirits may be stories,
but then, maybe not. If the legends and stories are true, one should
be really careful with these hostile spirits. But even spirits are
not immune to your magical powers.
3.7 The combat rules
This section tells you the consequences of your actions and will
give you a better chance to beat your opponents.
There are three important factors which affect your combat performance:
Speed
- Determined by the character's dexterity attribute
- Modified by weapon and armour encumbrance attributes
- Modified by inventory weight
- Modified by fatigue
- Modified by damage
- Modified by magical effects
Skill
- Determined by the character's dexterity and combat skills
- Modified by weapon accuracy attributes
- Modified by fatigue
- Modified by damage
- Modified by magical effects
Strength
- Determined by the character's strength attribute
- Modified by weapon weight
- Modified by fatigue
- Modified by damage
- Modified by magical effects
When attacking, the most important factors are in order: skill, speed
and strength.
Your fatigue increases whenever you do something like running or
fighting or casting spells. The armor you wear and the weapon you
wield will affect your fatigue along with the inventory weight.
Fatigue saps your strength and speed. You can rest by pressing the
space bar. The higher your constitution attribute is, the faster
you recover your stamina. Fighting constantly without resting will
eventually cause your defeat.
There are two kinds of damage modifications:
Overrall damage
Sum of all your wounds. It slightly affects all your actions.
Disabling damage
This kind of damage gives you heavy penalties in certain actions.
When your legs are broken, movement speed is affected by disabling
damage. When your arms are broken, attacking strength and speed
are dramatically reduced. You are assumed to use your right arm.
If it is broken, you will use your left arm with some penalty on
skill, speed and strength. If you use two-handed weapons and have
only one functional hand, your attributes are reduced further.
You have better chances of blocking your opponent's attacks if you
are engaged with him. You are engaged with someone if you attacked
him the last turn. Moving or doing something else than attacking
clears your engaged status. However, when you are engaged, you are
more vulnerable to ranged attacks.
When a hit is scored, there is a chance of wounding the target.
There are six different body parts that can be hit.
Body part Hits %
Head 10
Torso 40
Hands 10 each
Legs 15 each
Hits to head and torso can be deadly. Hits to limbs can be disabling.
Your head is the most vulnerable part.
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4. REGISTERING
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Actually, you don't need to register, since you already have the
full registered version. But if you have obtained it via illegal
means, and wish to legalize it, order the full version from us and
be freed from guilt. Aleshar really doesn't cost much. If you can't
part with 15 bucks then you'd better quit living - it's too expensive.
Why should I register? 4.1
When you register Aleshar - the World of Ice, you will:
- Aleshar is VERY cheap. Nowadays games like Aleshar cost
often more than 2-3 times the price of Aleshar!
- Receive the full version of the game. You have only visited
about a tenth of Aleshar dungeons! The full version is three
times as long as the shareware version. It includes many
dangerous and deadly monsters, lots of graphics and music
and legendary artifacts of stunning magical power!
- The complete index of spell combinations. Over 40 spells!
How to register? 4.2
There are two ways to register.
You may use cash or international money orders. Fill in the
form below, and include either enough cash or a copy of the
receipt you got from the money order. Always save the original
receipt!
Money orders should be directed to:
Hypothermia
513205-444765
Kansallisosakepankki, Kerava
Consult your local bank.
Prices in different currencies including shipping and handling:
FIM 50 mk
USD $15
GBP �8
Note!
We will not answer to invalid orders. We will not return any
money to you!
- If your order doesn't include any money or doesn't include
enough money, we will notify you by Email (if address given).
We will not return the money.
- If you include money in another currency than FIM, USD or GBP,
include a currency exchange fee of 4 USD (or equal amount in
the currency you sent).
- If you give wrong or missing information on your address, we
are not responsible for any lost property. (Money or data)
If you have anything to ask, please contact us:
Via EMail:
hypothermia@usa.net
or vnorilo@netti.fi, janne.pulkkinen@dlc.fi or ossih@hotmail.com
Via Mail:
Hypothermia C/O Honkanen
Korpinkatu 17
04230 Kerava
Finland
Europe
4.3 Order form
Fill all these fields:
-- 8< ------------------------- CUT HERE -------------------------------
Name :__________________________________________
Address:__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
Method of payment: [ ] Cash
[ ] Money order
Amount of payment:______________
Currency used : [ ] FIM
[ ] GBP
[ ] USD
[ ] Other ________
(Remember the USD 4 additional
currency exchange payment)
Optional:
You don't have to fill in these, but it will help us to
develope games as YOU like them!
Rate Aleshar. 0-10:
Graphics:__ Music:__ Gameplay:__ Overrall:__
Comments:
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Your EMail address:______________________________________
[ ] Add my address to the Aleshar mailing list
-- 8< ------------------------- CUT HERE -------------------------------
Print the form above, fill in the necessary information, and send
the envelope including the order form and the cash or the copy of
the receipt.
If you don't have a printer, you can write by hand. Write at least
your name and address. Please try to write clearly.
Hypothermia C/O Honkanen
Korpinkatu 17
04230 Kerava
Finland
Europe
Please allow up to 4 weeks for handling and delivery!
If you don't receive your registration, please contact us.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Send your questions to us. They will be added here in the future
releases!
hypothermia@usa.net
vnorilo@netti.fi (Warder)
janne.pulkkinen@dlc.fi (Wisp)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. HINTS AND TIPS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By following these hints you will survive longer:
- Always run if you are outnumbered or overpowered.
- If your character is too weak, go off adventuring.
There are many 'unnecessary' dungeons in the full
version. There are no time-critical missions in
Aleshar.
- Visit all the shrines between different missions.
You are going to be in a serious trouble without
decent magical skills!
- If you are faster than your opponent, hit and run is
a good tactic.
- Always equip yourself properly before setting off.
Unless you are a good hunter you can die when your
food runs out. Take sufficient amount of bandages
and herbs with you.
- When you loot, take only as much items as you can
carry without penalty. Weapons are good plunder -
the are quite light and fetch a good price.
- Use two-handed weapons only when your strenght is
good. High strenght allows you to don heavy armor
without penalty, which is necessary with 2h-weapons,
since it is relatively difficult to parry with them.
- If you are fast but not very strong, avoid heavy
armor. Encumbrancing armor can actually make
you more vulnerable!
- Do not fight many opponents at once if you can
avoid it. Parrying penalty occurs when you fight
more than one opponent at a time!
- Move fast. You will likely encounter fewer monsters
that way. This is true for both outdoors and indoors
movement.
- If you have low magical skills, cast only minimum-power
spells with one or two runes. Use magic only when your
fatigue level is not high. Using too much magic can result
in a heart attack.
- Experiment with the magic. Try out different combinations.
Remember that ANY combination aimed on an opponent is harmful -
and that ANY combination over yourself is helpful!
- Choose your weapons carefully. Use heavy weapons when you face
slow and tough opponents like trolls, and light weapons when
you face agile and weak opponents like goblins.
- If the townspeople turn hostile and attack you, try to escape
the town without killing people. People will forgive you sooner,
and you do not eliminate anyone who might have critical information
about the later stages of the game.
- Never kill anybody in a city or a town, unless you are absolutely
certain you won't be caught. If you kill someone and are detected,
the people won't forgive you even if you wait a lifetime! If you kill
someone in a honest combat (ie. you stole something and they attacked
you) townspeople will eventually forgive you. Just wait!
- When you wander the outdoors, know where you are going. Always write
down the sextant coordinates of the town where you left from, so
you know where to return. Also write down all the coordinates you
learn.
- Learn to use the sextant!
- Pay attention to what is being said. Never miss anything!
Write down all the keywords and ask about them from everyone.
- If you think you are stuck and can't proceed, you must be doing
something wrong. Try to think of something other than the obvious
solution (which usually is the brute force).
Also check these:
- Have you killed any characters? Some of them
are vital to the continuity of the game.
- Have you visited all of the towns you know?
- Have you talked to everyone?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. QUICK START
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.1 Summary of all the keys
7.11 Outdoors
Arrow keys will move your character.
Up North
Left West
Down South
Right East
Note that north is towars the upper-left hand corner
of your screen, not straight upwards!
Additional action keys:
Esc Menu/Pause
C Cast Spell
E Enter City/Dungeon
H Hunt for food
I Inventory
M View the Map.
Z View the status of your character.
Press right and left in the status
screen to select the page.
7.12 Cities and Dungeons
Arrow keys will function as follows:
Up Walk forwards
Left Turn left
Down Turn around
Right Turn right
North is upwards.
Additional keys:
Esc Menu, abort aiming
F1 Display the key list
A Attack
C Cast Spell
E Enter stairs
G Get Items
I Inventory
L Look at
M Select the melee weapon
O Open a door or a chest
R Select the ranged weapon
Z View the status
You can also attack enemies by facing them and pressing forwards.
This applies only to melee weapons.
7.13 The Beginning of an Adventure
You will start the game outdoors. You are a short way northeast
from your destination, the town of Cyan Bay. Press down and left
to reach the cluster of houses. The lone hut you left behind is
the burned hut of your trainer.
Press the E-key to enter the town of Cyan Bay once you stand in
it. The screen will change, and you are in a town.
In the intro sequence, your trainer told you to find out Master
Greymire, who is the innkeeper. The inn is straight to north
from you. Open the door with the O-key and walk into the inn.
There are usually more or less people in the Inn. One of them is
Master Greymire. You can use the L-key to look at different persons.
Once you have located Master Greymire, walk next to him. He is
usually in the common room, but when he is not, you will find him
in his study adjacent to the common room.
Press the T-key to begin conversation with Erik Greymire. Type in
the hotword 'trainer' to tell Erik all that has happened. Erik
will tell you about the resistance and will give you a key. He
also gives you the coordinates of a city called Snowhold. Write
them down!
Go to Erik's study and press the I-key to bring up the inventory.
Select the USE-item and move the highlight on the PLAIN KEY. Press
ENTER and move the cursor on the locked door. It will be unlocked.
Go down in Erik's basement and take some weapons, armor and food
he has stored there. Also pick up the sextant!
You can now leave the town. You might want to buy some additional
supplies from Master Greymire. Talk to him and type in 'buy' or
'sell'.
Once you are outdoors, experiment with the sextant until you know
how it works. Then set out for the Snowhold. Good luck!
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A. WEAPON STATISTICS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
��������������������������������������������������������
Small slashing Type Wgt Pow Par % Acc %
��������������������������������������������������������
Knife Cutting 1 * 20 20
Dagger Cutting 1 * 35 40
Shortsword Cutting 4 ** 60 50
Main Gauche Cutting 2 * 70 15
Dirk Cutting 1 * 5 15
Jagged Dagger Cutting 2 * 40 40
Fist Dagger Cutting 0 * 0 20
Handaxe Cutting 4 ** 45 50
Small Spear Cutting 5 ** 50 40
��������������������������������������������������������
Big slashing Type Wgt Pow Par % Acc %
��������������������������������������������������������
Broadsword Cutting 6 *** 70 60
Longsword Cutting 6 *** 75 66
Falchion Cutting 5 ** 80 66
Greataxe Two-handed 7 *** 50 60
Jagged Sword Two-handed 7 **** 55 55
2-H Sword Two-handed 10 **** 40 45
Claymore Two-handed 11 ***** 33 40
2-H Axe Two-handed 10 **** 33 30
Battleaxe Two-handed 11 **** 40 35
Pike Two-handed 11 *** 66 40
Halberd Two-handed 10 *** 60 50
Naginata Two-handed 9 *** 86 50
��������������������������������������������������������
Small crushing Type Wgt Pow Par % Acc %
��������������������������������������������������������
Small Club Crushing 5 ** 35 40
Mace Crushing 5 ** 40 40
Spiked Mace Crushing 5 ** 40 45
Hammer Crushing 4 * 30 35
Small Morningstar Crushing 9 **** 5 5
Club Crushing 8 *** 45 40
��������������������������������������������������������
Big crushing Type Wgt Pow Par % Acc %
��������������������������������������������������������
Flail Two-handed 10 ***** 25 33
Morning Star Two-handed 18 ******15 22
Great Mace Two-handed 9 **** 30 40
Warhammer Two-handed 9 **** 30 35
��������������������������������������������������������
Bow Type Wgt Pow Par % Acc %
��������������������������������������������������������
Horn Bow Bow 5 ** - 50
Longbow Bow 8 **** - 60
Ash Bow Bow 9 **** - 80
��������������������������������������������������������
Throwing Type Wgt Pow Par % Acc %
��������������������������������������������������������
Throwing Dagger Throwing 1 * - 40
Dirk Throwing 1 * - 50
Javelin Throwing 1 ** - 50
Wgt = Weight
Pow = Power
Par % = Parrying
Acc % = Accuracy
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. ARMOR STATISTICS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
��������������������������������������������������������
Armor Weight Con Pen Enc
��������������������������������������������������������
Padded Cloth 5 ** * *
Banded Mail 7 ** ** *
Leather Vest 10 ** *** **
Tanned Leather 12 ** *** **
Chain Shirt 30 ** **** ***
Chain Hauberk 40 *** **** ****
Plate Mail 50 **** **** *****
Scale Plate 50 ***** **** ****
Con = Protection against concussion
Pen = Protection against penetration
Enc = Encumbrance
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALESHAR: THE WORLD OF ICE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spell List
(C) 1997, Hypothermia
Hostile spells
Spell name Elements Misc.
Compulsion W F S
Sleep W E S
Chill Storm W A S
Melt F E S
Preterstorm F A S
Chasm E A S
Balefire F S
Slow W S
Paralyze E S
Entangle A S
Firebeam F W
Degenerate E W
Freeze A W
Stun W
Curse E F
Lightning A F
Burn F
Tornado A E
Damage E
Wind A
Friendly Spells
Spell name Elements Misc.
Shrinegate S F E W A
Major Attack boost W F S
Complete Heal W E S
Stay Hand W A S
Wardfire F E S
Acid Touch F A S
Remove Fatigue W S
Major Heal E S
Invisibility A S
Attack boost F W
Regenerate E W
Quick A W
Refresh W
Major Protection E F
Missile Protection A F
Courage F
Major Deflect A E
Protection E
Deflect A
S = Spirit
F = Fire
E = Earth
W = Water
A = Air
Back to the game