Version 1.05 just released! The community forums are open! Come comment the game, ask for help or help others…

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How to play Underworld.

It isn’t as simplistic as you may think!

The game can be played with the keyboard or mouse (see video). Keyboard hotkeys are in parenthesis.

Other commands:

F1: Enable / Disable mouse.
F4: Windowed mode (1024×768). Careful, the windowed mode stresses the processor more.
F5: Save – opens a menu with 5 save slots.
F6: Load – available saves made at the inn, using F10 or F5.
F8: Cheat codes (I sent these to players of version 1.0 as the save files were not reusable. Now that upgrades are compatible with previous saves I no longer make them available.)
F10: Bailout. Ends combat (if needed), saves the game where you are and shuts it down. This is in case your boss barges in the office or dinner is ready NOW or other such stressful situations.

Important things to remember:

Characters that run out of hp do not die (yet). They are knocked unconscious. But the next blow they take, however small, kills them. In short, they can (and should) be healed ASAP.

There are 3 ways to move your party.
1. The keyboard arrow keys.
2. The directional pad at the bottom right (using the mouse).
3. The mouse wheel (forward and backward), left / right click on the WORLD VIEW to turn left or right.

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Creating your party.

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The second exception is the spell book (more on that below).

Once you have selected the creation of your first (N)ew character, you  (R)oll the dice to generate a value for each attribute. If you are satisfied with the result, you may then select one of the available classes, a race, a gender and validate. At this point, all that remains is picking a name for your character. You are all set to create the next one.

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Once you have enough characters, you constitute your party by selecting a character’s letter and then (A)dding him or her to your party. The order in which you add characters determines the order they will be aligned in, but that (O)rder can be changed anytime while adventuring. Characters can also be selected and (R)emoved from party.

You have complete freedom to constitute your party as you please, but it is recommended to have representation of  the 6 classes and 4 races on board, as they each bring one or several useful and complementary attributes.

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Classes

Knights

Paladins

Archers

They compensate these shortcomings with extreme reliability with missile weapons. While their blade wielding counterparts will withtake and inflict more damage, archers never miss with their bows or slings.

Shooting can furthermore inflict critical damage (while melee attacks cannot).

In many close combat situations, they will prove themselves capable of making the difference.

Note that archers are the only class that is capable of using a missile weapon against an opponent that is within hand-to-hand combat range.

Rogues

This allows the rogue to circumvent the opponent’s armor.

This isn’t always necessary, as some foes have little or no armor. But against some that others seem unable to inflict substantial damage to, rogues may be the only class capable of ensuring victory.

Note that rogues must have all their health points to be able to enter stealth mode. If you’re bleedin’, ya can’t hide.

Rogues are also very proficient lock pickers, which in the towns as well as the Underworld will prove more than useful.

Priests

Their ability to understand and manipulate the essence of life also makes them formidable foes to the undead.

The priest is, however, a weak combattant, and a fragile one. They
are to be located near the back of the party, where they are least likely to be targetted by enemy blows.

Sorcerers

They are, by far, the most powerful asset to deal damage against enemy targets. But they can crumble like a deck of cards at the slightest blow.

Races

Human

Elf

Dwarf

Gnome

Gnomes, being the shy creatures that they are, are most prone to dissimulation and thievery.

There is also gender, but that has no incidence on character statistics.

Entering the Underworld.

Once you have gained some strength and are comfortable in Highnest, you can fulfill the first quests, and thus take your first steps that will ultimately take you to legendary fame and fortune… Or an untimely demise.

Quests can be viewed in the (Q)uest log. If you have trouble remembering where you got a quest, you will be able to find it on your (M)aps as important places and characters you run into are automatically flagged there and added to a legend on the right. The map that is opened by default is the one representing the area you are in. To view another map, (Z)oom out and select another with the arrow keys, then press Enter. Note that only maps representing areas that you have previously visited are available.

Combat

Combat options appear below the list of foes. Note that the first foe in line is illustrated to the right. Discovering each of the 90 illustrations (as  well as many monster special attributes) is part of the fun of seeing the game through.

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- Some combat options depend on the character’s class. Ste(a)lth and (A)ssassinate are only available to rogues (but only if they have full HP). (M)agic is only available to sorcerers and priests, as well as paladins but only when they reach lvl 5.

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- other combat options only appear when the situation requires it. Awa(k)en is only available if one or more characters are asleep (due to an enemy spell  / effect or an encounter that occured while your party was resting).

- other options still will appear but not be available (they appear in gray) if the required equipment or components aren’t available. (B)lock requires that a shield be equiped (blocking increases protection and passes a turn). (S)hoot requires that a missile weapon be equiped. (M)agic requires at least 1 SP. Although 1SP is enough to have access to the spell book, each spell has its own requirements and will be grayed if they aren’t met.

- Autofight (CTRL-A or click on the skull, HOLD DOWN spacebar to stop): once activated, all party members fight the first monster in line.  Archers will shoot if a distance weapon is equiped. Useful when encountering lower level foes, or to finish off the last few remaining in a larger battle. Note: The skull gets red-eyed when autofight is active.

Characters with a dangerous or disabling condition are marked with a  (*). More details are available if you (V)iew character when their turn comes. But if they are completely disabled, their turn never comes until the condition is cured. Viewing the (C)haracter list may be necessary if you missed what the character was affected by.

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Spell Points, Runes and Holy Water

Spell requirements will generally be a combination of spell points and either runes (for sorcerers) or holy water (for priests).

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Spell casters have a maximum number of spell points (SP), which are entirely replenished during (R)est, given the caster has one food and one water unit available, and that they are healthy (the same goes for HP). Maximum SP is increased with each new level and depends on spirit points for priests and intelligence points for sorcerers.

Runes are required by many sorcerer spells. Sorcerers will find them on mystical creatures that the party has defeated. They are not physical items that can be stored, but rather mystical patterns that can be memorized. Sorcerers can memorize one rune per intelligence point. They therefore have limited storage capacity. Sorcerers should consider the cost of a spell before casting.

Holy water is to priests what runes are to sorcerers. Priests create holy water themselves, out of regular water, using the level 1 spell Holy Water (which costs 1 SP and 1water unit per holy water created). Like runes for sorcerers, there is a limit to how many units of holy water a priest can carry. All party members are limited to 40 units of food and water. Priests are no exception, and a unit of holy water counts as a unit of water.

Spell requirements can be checked by opening the spell book (M) and choosing (S)pell description.

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Casting spells

The spell book is accessible to spell casters during combat, given they have at least 1 SP, or outside of combat through the character status screen. If your priest is 5th in line, pressing 5 while adventuring will open his / her inventory, and the (M)agic command will open the spell book.

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The next step is to choose the spell level (1-5). If the character’s level is sufficient, the spells for the selected level will appear. If they are grayed (unavailable), this can be due to a lack of available spell points, runes or holy water. It can also be because a combat spell is only available during combat, or because a non-combat spell is not available during combat. Some spells can be cast in both situations.

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The first step once the spell book is open is to select the spell level (this is the second exception mentioned above – spell levels that aren’t selected are grayed but active whereas the selected spell level is white). You may either c ast a spell by clicking on the name or pressing the keyboard hotkey (A-D),  or choose (S)pell description, which provides a short description of what each spell does, as well as what it costs.

The above screenshot shows the final stage when casting a level 1 healing spell, where you are asked to select the character you wish to cast it on.

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Experience and levelling

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Once you have reached a certain level of experience, you can visit a training facility to obtain the next level given you can afford the cost. Note that spell casters learn new spells every other level (1,3,5…) until they have learned level 5 spells.

Inventory management

Characters can (S)hare food, water and gold. Sharing distributes evenly (or as close to evenly as possible). Food and water are dispatched much like a deck of cards – one by one until all is distributed. Gold is split instantly. Sharing is a good way to ensure that no one exceeds the 40 food or water limit and enable the party to start moving again.

Characters can (T)rade food, water, gold or items. Trade is misleading in the sense that it is actually giving (the G was taken by (G)ather), and an actual trade is not required.

If an item is available in the character’s pack, the (E)quip, (D)iscard and (U)se options are enabled. Likewise, if an item is equiped, (P)ack, (D)iscard and    (U)se are enabled.

Injury and Death

Characters that run out of HP will be knocked out. If any further damage is done onto them beyond this point, it will kill them. Death being much more difficult to cure than unconsciousness, be sure that you do not let your characters remain unconscious too long. Most foes will happily deal the killing blow if they are given the opportunity.

Poison and disease affect a character’s abilities. Strength, accuracy, spirit and intelligence are reduced by 25% by poison and 50% by disease.

Also keep in mind that those same conditions will harm your character during rest. If a character is unconscious and poisoned, he or she may not make it past the night.

If a condition is beyond your priest / paladin’s skill to heal, temples in towns will offer treatment for a price.

The Challenges You Will Face

Travelling

(M)ap: A map of the current area you are visiting. Only squares you have seen will be visible. When viewing the map, you may (Z)oom out and then select another map of an area you have previously visited.

(S)earch: A thorough search of the area.

(U)nlock: This option only appears if you have tried to go through a locked door. Rogues are best qualified to open locked doors.

(R)est: Characters with at least one unit of food and one unit of water will use them to recover all HP and SP, given their condition allows it (poison and disease will considerably harm characters during rest). Some conditions (both harmful and positive) will disappear during rest.

(C)haracters: an overview of your party and each character’s condition(s), as well as a list of spells affecting the party as a whole.

(O)rder: Use this to have two characters switch places. Remember that position 1 is most exposed to attacks, and that position 6 is least exposed.

(1-6): You can select a specific character to view attributes and values, how many food, water, runes or holy water the character has available, the inventory and its options, the spell book (if applicable) and the character’s primary and secondary conditions.

(ESC) starts closing the game (after confirmation). You will be able to come back to the point where you last saved the game by signing into an inn in one of the three towns , using F5 or F10 (bailout).

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Interaction

Comment, ask for help, discuss classic gaming memories, discuss the sequel!

You can also download a demo. I would love to make it free, but that would make future projects virtually impossible to complete!