Battlespire:README.TXT

Below are the contents of the README.TXT file that accompanies a Battlespire install. The text is presented as it appears, including any spelling or grammatical errors. 
 

Battlespire Readme
This readme document contains additional information about Battlespire after the manual was printed. This file resides in your game installation directory for viewing at any time.

Installation Problems
If the installer appears to freeze after choosing the "Install Battlespire" option from the main menu, then it is most likely that one of your disk drives is not responding.  Often, this would be a network drive.  If you cannot install the game using the installer, you can perform a forced install following the instructions in the "install.txt" file.

Running under Windows 95
If you are running under Windows 95 and you want to run the game by typing "spire" in a DOS box, make sure that the DOS box has 65535 bytes of DPMI memory set up for it. You can do this by looking under the "Memory" tag when viewing the properties of the DOS box.

Also, on many computers, Battlespire does not respond nicely when one of the windows keys or a windows ALT-key combination is pressed.  It is best to also disable the windows key and any ALT-key combination to prevent accidentally activating them.

New Spells
Surprise, surprise.  There are a few new spells in Battlespire designed to help even out the game play in both single and multiplayer modes.  They are:

Slow
When cast on a player or monster, his legs are put to sleep, slowing him down to a turtle's crawl.  After a while, the spell effect wears off and the victim returns to his normal speed.

Haste
Essentially the opposite of Slow.  The legs enter a hyperactive state which enables the player to move faster than normal.  This spell can be cast multiple times.  Of course, it can get rather painful if you slam into a wall at high speeds.

Strength
When cast, the muscles of the subject takes on the properties of tempered steel.  The damage inflicted in melee combat multiplies giving swords and other wielded melee weapons a decided advantage over bows and arrows.

Multiplayer
There are two ways to play a multiplayer game with Battlespire. The first method uses a local area network with the IPX protocol. The second method uses an internet gaming service provided by Mplayer.

If you are trying to get a DOS machine (NOT a Win95 DOS box) to connect to a Win95 machine and vice versa, make sure that they both are using the same IPX frame type. Windows 95 defaults to an "Auto" frame type which may or may not be the same type the DOS machine is using.

Hints
Monsters can be your friends too, especially on capture the flag levels.  When in need of assistance defending your flag against intruders, fire up a couple of summon monster spells for instant relief.

Of course, you can always drop a few delayed damage mines around your flag.  Remember that they do not last forever.

Reporting Bugs
Before deciding that you have discovered a bug in the game, first make sure that you can reproduce it. If you can do that, then you may call Bethesda Softworks tech support at 301-926-8300. Prepare a list of important information such as the type of computer you have been running the game on, the amount of system memory, the type of video card, and so on.

A Note on View-Based and Cursor-Based Movement Modes
The View-Based Movement Mode is Totally Excellent and  Super-Satisfactory in every way. We Internationally  Celebrated Game Developers at Bethsoft universally adore  and cherish the View-Based Movement Mode, and recommend  it for all our Fine Customers.

However, in deference to fans of some Pretty Decent  Games Published in the Good Old Days, we also provide the  option to use the Venerable and Exceptionally Okay  Cursor-Base Movement Mode. 

We invite you to try both modes, but have no reservations about which is the best.

Hints for Aspiring Heroes
'''1. "Manual? We don't need no stinking manual! HAW-haw- haw-haw-haw!"'''

We're shocked... SHOCKED... to discover some gamers  don't read the manuals. We sheepishly admit that we don't  read manuals, either, and that we usually do just fine...  for about five minutes. Then, after we have been somewhat  hammered or killed or otherwise thoroughly frustrated in  our Pursuit of Happiness, we break down and read the  manual to find out how the interface works, for instance,  or what spells do, or how to put armor on.

We're certain you're far too Wise and Sensible to  ignore the nice manual.

2. "Wow. I am being killed somewhat now. This is...  well... pretty hard."

Well, duh! Your character is a green, though promising,  aspirant in a desperate situation, surrounded by immortal  fiends, in unfamiliar territory, with no line of retreat,  limited intelligence, no allies, and modest resources.  But, as your mom will tell you, if at first you don't  succeed, try, try again. Don't expect to sail through  Battlespire. Efficient operations behind enemy lines  involve three phases: scouting, sniping and bushwhacking,  and frontal assault.

Scouting: Fill in the map. Look for scrolls. Chat and  run. Find the locked doors and figure out what the keys  are. Pick up loose treasure. While scouting, run like a  bunny. Don't fight. Use stealth, or Invisibility, or  Etherialness. Avoid engagement until you know the lay of  the land, the nature of the enemy, and the shape of your  mission. Scout out possible allies and resources, and  plan your operations on their availability. Run around in circles until the bad guys are out of spell points.

Sniping and Bushwhacking: Pick off solitary  individuals. Use missile weapons or spells at range where  efficient. Lead slow-witted, gullible monsters on long  treks into deep pits where you can slaughter them at  leisure. Sucker over-eager monsters without spells or  missiles into quiet, secluded places where you can shoot or bake them from a safe distance.

Frontal Assault: Take on the tough guys toe-to-toe.  Wade into the mobs of fireball-blasting fiends.

'''3. "Gee. A doojigger. Don't see one of THOSE everyday.  Wonder what a little doojigger does."'''

..Now and then in your explorations you'll come across  something cool. It looks interesting. And dangerous. And  you'll wish you knew what it does, and whether it is  safe, or useful.

The technical term for this is "a big mystery." You'll  encounter lots of big mysteries in Battlespire. This is  because the otherworldly fiends who have ravaged the  locations you're traveling through have thoughtlessly  forgotten to leave instructions on how to use their  plunder. 

For instance, you find the Thongs of Baleful Woe. Maybe  you are a little nervous about putting them on. You can  search and search and search through the documentation,  and never find out what the Thongs of Baleful Woe do. So  you will just have to fool around with them to figure  them out, or just leave them alone.

You may be scandalized to discover that there are  cursed and dangerous things scattered throughout  Battlespire. Whenever something bad and mysterious  happens, you might want to take everything you are  carrying, put it in a sack, then amble off a good  distance from the sack and examine your character sheet.  If the bad and mysterious thing stops happening, you will  want to examine everything in your sack very carefully  before putting it on again. 

And you may get a funny message telling you "You are  forbidden from equipping that item." Now, you have never  had any trouble the item in question before. This is  another good time to take off your stuff, put it in a  sack, and amble off a good distance to examine your  character sheet. You may find that something you are  wearing or using is causing a bad and mysterious thing.

You may also come across an occasional mysterious  creature who is AMAZINGLY durable. INCONCEIVABLY durable.  It seems to live a charmed life. This will perhaps drive  you mad, especially if you are one of those efficiency  nuts who want to kill EVERY SINGLE CREATURE in the game.  Well. Go ahead. But don't waste any scarce resources on  these guys, and don't expect a fountain of treasure when  you slaughter them. They DO have a mysterious purpose,  but... it's... well... mysterious. Sorry.

'''4. "I'm glad we had this little chat."'''

You will find gobs and gobs of dialog in Battlespire.  Sure, they're monsters, but they have a lot of really  interesting things to say. So we recommend chatting with  monsters before you murder them. Some monsters will give  you nice presents. Some will give you keys. Some will  give you helpful hints. Some will even join you in your  quest. On the other hand, some will tell you big fat  lies, and summon minions to rend you limb from limb. 

Some epic heroes have a nasty habit of slaughtering  their potential informants. They just can't help  themselves. Fortunately, we usually provide an  Alternative Exhaustive Search Solution to permit such  well-intentioned homicidal maniacs to collect all the  clues and keys they need, even if they have depopulated  the environment. On the other hand, the Alternative  Exhaustive Search Solution is generally far more tedious  and horrible than the Enlightened Meaningful Dialog  Solution. Nuff said.

5. "Riddles? I HATE riddles!"

Simmer down. Riddles make some people's heads explode.  So Battlespire always thoughtfully provides an  alternative method for discovering any passwords or  riddles you need. Of course, we reward clever players who  admire our clever riddles by making their path a little  easier, while other players have to wander around for  hours looking for scrolls and plaques where we coyly  secreted the answers to the riddles. You're welcome.

'''6. "I don't think we're in Tamriel anymore, Toto."'''

Veterans of Arena and Daggerfall! Warning! Battlespire is  Extra Not Like Arena and Daggerfall, for one thing, and  Battlespire takes place in a place Not At All Like  Tamriel.

Arena and Daggerfall are Huge, Sprawling Persistent  Worlds. There are towns with guilds for training and  quests, and places to sell loot and buy equipment. When  you run low on health and spell points, you sleep, and  voila! back to 100%.

In Battlespire, the only ways to increase skills are to  use them, or spend build points between levels. There is  only one quest -- find your companion, and get out alive.  There's no place to sell any loot you can't use, and  there's a limit to what you can carry from level to  level. Use it, or lose it. And you can't sleep to heal.  You CAN often find nice blue gems which restore health  and spell points when you click on them or run into them.  [These blue gems kinda disappear for a while as they  recharge, but they return. Honest.] And you will be Very  Glad to find Cure Health and Restoration potions, or  magic items with Healing or Magica Resartus powers.

Furthermore, your poor character is stranded in the  Daedric Realms. This is not very much like the  comparatively benign and picturesque lands of Tamriel.

The Daedric Realms are populated by immortal Daedra,  not mortal beings. When you destroy their forms, they are  cast into Oblivion for a while. This is No Fun, but it  isn't like dying, and it makes Daedra kinda casual about  wading into a dustup. And the Daedric Realms are weird.  There's plenty of magical energy around, and this makes  for a rather strange geography. Also, Daedric  architecture and workmanship are fairly eccentric, mostly  because Daedra are, by and large, crazy as rats in a  drainpipe. 

So. This is the World of the Elder Scrolls, and much of  what you see will be familiar, but much will be not at  all familiar, and sometimes bewildering. We're sorry. But  it's just those darned Daedra. Really.

'''7. "Good grief, man. It's only a game...."'''

We are Pleased and Gratified to see how seriously some  gamers approach the challenge of preserving the skin of  their lovingly crafted characters. We LOVE to see how  terrified they are of losing them, and how desperately  they experience the dramatic tension of our lovingly  crafted narrative. But...

We also hope gamers will play around with Battlespire  and have all sorts of fun that has nothing to do with the  drama of the Imperiled Hero on a Desperate Quest.

For instance, your character is standing at the edge of  a high cliff staring down at a pool of molten lava. Now,  in real life, you hardly ever want to indulge an impulse  to hurl yourself off a high cliff into a pool of molten  lava. But in Battlespire, well... sometimes it is a lot  of fun to do Totally Stupid and Pointless Things.

Just Save Your Game. Early and Often. With a saved game  safe and secure on your hard disk, you can go ahead and  do silly, senseless things. Like give a sassy answer to  the Lord of Destruction. Or touch something thrumming  with Unholy Power. Or dive off a cliff and swim around in  the lava looking for cool loot. Or double-click on a  magic item named "The Thongs of the Sunken God's  Awakening."

8. "Wow. Wish I could buy a vowel."

Inevitably every gamer gets Stuck. You have done  everything you can think of, and you have no idea how to  get past a blocking challenge.

Here's a list of things to try before you break down and  buy the Hint Book. [By the way, did we tell you we are  selling a Really Cool Hint Book that will instantly solve  every one of your problems? Of course, you should Blush  with Shame for using a hint book, but we won't Blush with  Shame for selling you one.]

A: Review the messages left for you by your companion  and by other allies. These usually help define the  problems that need to be solved on a level, and hint at  the first steps in solving them.

B: Tour the terrain once more looking for things you  missed, like secret doors, or little buttons, or doors  you forgot to open, or locations you neglected because  something distracted you. Review your automap and look  for areas you haven't visited or explored thoroughly.  Look under and on top of stuff. Click on stuff. Look in  dark corners and the bottoms of pools.

C: Talk with everyone one more time. And if you  accidentally murdered everything that talks, look around  for a little scroll or plaque that gives you the password  or hint you need.

D: Search for more resources. Try using those weird and  wacky magical items you sensibly refused to fool with on  the first pass. Drowning a little bit? Hunt Water  Breathing potions or Water Breathing magic items. Getting  killed a little bit? Get some armor, or try some  Resistance or Shield potions. Not making an impression on  daedra with your iron dagger? Find a short sword made of  decent metal. Almost dead and out of spell points? Try  some open field running to the nearest blue gem  restoration station. No idea what that interesting and  dangerous looking widget does? Look for scrolls that  Reveal the Secrets of Arcane Devices.

E: Try a different approach. Never used the  Etherialness spell before? Never used a missile weapon?  Not having a lot of luck with that Three Stooges Concept  character design (all your points in Endurance and Luck)?  Disdaining to learn the Cure Health spell because it  isn't Manly? Refusing to use spells at all because you  hate that silly wizard stuff? Loosen up.

F: Check your assumptions. "Oh. They wouldn't put  anything down THERE." "Naw. They would NEVER let me  wander away and leave something important lying around."  "Nah. Already talked to her before. Don't need to talk to  her again." "Come on. They would never have a monster  that I can't kill." "They wouldn't put a really deep hole  here without a way for me to get out of it."  "No way I could ever jump across THAT!"