AGE OF HEROES 1.0 DOCUMENTATION by Richard Webb Copyright (C) Yggdrisil Software 1996 3/1/96 Introduction Ancient Greece was an age of heroes. Those who possessed extraordinary abilities, and were favored by the goddess of fortune, were able to perform deeds that the bards have sung of ever since. You now have the opportunity to join the ranks of the heroes of old. Age of Heroes is a simple "traveling hero" type game for those who like mythological worlds. AOH is shareware. To find out what that means, look at the end of this document, under "Registration information, lack of warranty, etc.". Table of Contents 1.0 Starting the game 2.0 Object of the game 3.0 Playing the game 4.0 Commands 5.0 Hints 6.0 Registration information, lack of warranty, etc. 1.0 Starting the game To start playing, change to the appropriate directory and type HEROES. Once the introduction has finished, press any key to continue. You will then see a list of names. Use the arrow keys to scroll through the list until you find the hero you want and then press enter. 2.0 Object of the game The object of the game is to accumulate as many legends as possible. You acquire legends by vanquishing monsters, conquering cities, and making geographic discoveries. The more legends you acquire, the greater the honors the gods will bestow on you. 3.0 Playing the game 3.1 Movement and Time Your hero will move across six basic types of terrain: plain, desert, forest, mountains, sea, and cities. Each type of terrain requires a certain amount of time for your hero to move across. You should try to avoid terrain types that take a long time to move through. This is because, unfortunately, you are (and will remain?) mortal. Since you have a limited amount of time to become famous, you must achieve your destiny before you become weak and frail. Terrain Type Weeks to Cross Plain 4 Desert 4 Forest 6 Mountains 8 Sea 2 City 4 Special 2 Use the numeric pad arrow keys to move from place to place. Moving diagonally takes 50% longer than moving horizontally and vertically. Moving with an army takes twice as long as moving without one, so moving diagonally with an army takes three times as long as the base movement shown above. Some squares are marked with special terrain symbols. These squares are treated as sea squares for the purpose of movement. However, you need an oracle to enter special terrain. Be careful not to fall off the edge of the world! 3.2 Oracles and geographic discoveries Whenever you enter an special terrain area you receive a legend, but you must have an oracle with you to so enter. You receive an oracle whenever you enter Delphi. Delphi is represented by a white symbol, which is placed at a random location at the beginning of the game. You may have no more than one oracle at a time. 3.3 Cities and Armies You begin the game accompanied by an army, symbolized by a flag located in the square you occupy. Armies will also appear in your square whenever you enter a friendly city. You can only have one army with you at a time. Armies have several uses. Cities can be conquered only if an army is with you. Some monsters can be defeated only with the aid of an army. Armies can also cover your retreat if you decide you are overmatched by an opponent, though using an army in this way is not very heroic. Your army will stay with you unless you abandon it in combat, move through a desert, suffer a natural disaster, or order the army disbanded. 3.4 Natural disasters. Your armies and ships can be destroyed by natural disasters. Whenever an army moves through a mountain area, there is a random chance that it will be eliminated by the unfavorable conditions. Whenever you move by sea during the winter, there is also a random chance that your ships will be destroyed by a storm. If you want to know what season it is, look on the screen, just below the place where the name of your hero is printed. There you will see a colored block, which is green during spring, yellow during summer, red during autumn, and white during winter. 3.5 Interactions When you encounter another hero or a monster, you must choose between fighting, outwitting, using magic, and running. The results of an interaction are determined by evaluating your capabilities in strength, endurance, intelligence, and speed versus those of your opponent. Fighting depends primarily on strength, and secondarily on endurance. Either you will die, your opponent will die, or the fight will end in a draw, in which case you will have to retreat out of the area. Outwitting depends on intelligence. If you outwit your opponent, you will be allowed to enter your opponent's square. Otherwise, your opponent will select a course of action that hurts you to the greatest extent he/she/it/they can. Running depends upon speed. If successful, you must retreat out of the square. If you have an army with you and you run away, the army will be destroyed and you will lose one legend as a result of your cowardice. On the other hand, running away when an army is covering your retreat is always successful. Using magic. If you have a magic item (see below) you use it. If you have an inherent magical capability, you can use that. 4.0 Commands 4.1 B)uild The build command is used to build ships in your square. Building ships takes one year. You cannot build ships in desert or mountain squares. You will automatically receive ships, at no cost in time, whenever you enter a friendly city. Only if you have ships may you move across sea squares. 4.2 (P)ray The prayer command allows you to seek the aid of the gods. The gods will support you, by providing you with a magic item, which you may choose from the menu displayed. Prayer takes a minimum of three years. The more powerful the item, the longer the time needed to pray for it. Magic items can only be used during interactions. After one use, they are lost. Generally magic items aid you in one or more categories of strength, speed, intelligence, and endurance, though some magic items have other effects. Item Years Effect Apples of Love 3 Charms a hero or monster of opposite sex The Myrmidons 5 Creates army Hephaestus' armor 5 Temporarily increases strength Sirius the dog 5 Decreases opponent's speed and endurance Apollo's Arrows 5 Reduces opponent's effective speed to zero Anti-magic Shield 3 Neutralizes opponent's magic Advice of the Gods 5 Temporarily increases intelligence Zeus' Thunderbolts 8+2 Badly damages opponent If you do not use a magic item within ten years it disappears. 4.4 D)isband The disband command eliminates any friendly army that may be with you. The main reason for disbanding an army is to save time when traveling. Disbanding an army takes no time. 4.5 J)unk The junk command gets rid of any magic item you currently own. As you may only have one magic item at a time, it may be to your advantage to get rid of the one you are carrying. Junking an item takes no time. 4.6 W)ait The wait command causes four weeks to pass while nothing happens. A good reason for waiting is if winter has arrived and you want to wait for better weather before sailing. 4.5 escape The escape key is used to retire from the game. Escaping allows you to avoid the humiliation of being killed in your old age. 5.0 Hints 5.1 As you move around the world, look for those area that are rich in potential legends. Not all areas will be equally useful or accessible to you. Be especially aware of Delphi's location. 5.2 Conquer at least one city in an area where you are planning to operate. 5.3 Every hero has his own strengths and weaknesses. Try to take advantage of your particular talents. For example, Hector makes a good empire builder, while The Sibyl is better used as an explorer. 5.4 Don't haul armies around with you everywhere. Disband a army if you are not planning to use it. But remember that armies can be used to cover your retreat. 5.5 If you are planning a long sea voyage, start in the spring or early summer. If you do move by sea during the winter, travel along coasts where a friendly city is nearby. 6.0 Registration, lack of warranty, etc. 6.1 Shareware This program is shareware. Shareware has a specific meaning; you can use this software, but for evaluation purposes only. You can copy this software and give it to anyone you choose so long as the program is distributed in its original form with all files intact. If you want to keep and use this software after 30 days of its original use you must make a registration payment of $3.00 per installation to the author or the license to use this software is revoked. 6.2 Registration While AGE OF HEROES is complete, you still must register after the 30 day trial period is over. If you register you can also send away for, and receive for no additional charge, the extra scenarios: AMERICAN INDIAN HEROES; NORDIC HEROES. You will also receive a scenario generator that will allow you to create you own maps, monsters and heroes so that you can simulate any mythology you like. This program may be registered by sending a check or money order for $3.00 to: RICHARD WEBB Yggdrisil Software 2308 Freetown Court # 12-c Reston VA, 22091-1765 Please include your name, address, telephone number. Only 3 1/2 disks are available. If you want the disk to be sent in a cardboard container, include another 50 cents for shipping- $3.50 total. I would also appreciate any comments or ideas you have about Age of Heroes. 6.3 Lack of Warranty YGGDRISIL SOFTWARE gives no warranty of any kind for this program. YGGDRISIL SOFTWARE will not be liable for any damages for any reason, even if YGGDRISIL SOFTWARE has been advised of the possibility of such damages. The person using this software bears all resulting risks.