Welcome Piltima 1, Quest of the Avatar.

RELEASE NOTES:

1. This is a 'quick and dirty' doc file.  I'll put something better together at a later time. Right now 100% of my resources have gone into getting the level done for contest closing.
2. This game has NOT been play-tested.  I tested a version with no monsters or items (the last 2 things i added to the game), just to make sure the game mechanics work and it is possible to complete the game.  But the last monsters were added to this game literally a few hours before contest closing, it took THAT long to do this game.  So i may release a few updates to adjust monster strengths and stuff as i play the full version the same time you do.

GAME INTRO:

    You play the 'hero' in the game.  You have come to a land to help become an icon of virtue to the people.  Along the way you will discover a political structure, meet a whole lot of people (aprox 32), explore 7 large cities, 2 villages and 4 special places.  You will explore 7 intricate dungeons, 7 shrines, 7 islands, MAYBE 2 hidden caves that randomly appear/disappear and the Great Abyss. You will   travel across water, through mountains, forest, grass, swamp, lava, rocks, desert (maybe more, can't remember).  Some 44 different monsters and 2 classes of trianers will test your skills of combat and give you rewards on performance.

    This is a full blown PC style RPG game that has taken some 2 1/2 months to design.  The initial time was spent researching, brainstorming and getting all the graphics drawn/converted.  The last 3 weeks have been spent in the editor itself, at least 5 hours a night monday to friday and 8 on the weekends (aprox 100 hours over the last 3 weeks alone, yes i have no live :>) have gone into the making of this game.  I hope that time and effort is reflected in the quality and detail of the game. And if you're a true RPG'er you've no doubt played the PC game that Piltima 1 is loosely based on but i've made some story changes and added my own twists.

QUICK Q&A'S

• Q-Why do i start the game with no gold (if you elect to choose a character class)
• A-You're from earth going to a foreign world, why would your earth currency be valid there?  Get money from slaying monsters.
• Q-Why are there signs all over the world but only the one near Palm works?
• A- Due to size restrictions of the current Quest engine, i had to use those 'events' for more important game functions. Hopefully i'll be able to add them back in with the new Quest engine.  These signs were placed in the game so you could easily tell where you are.  For now i'm going to release a map until i can get about 26 extra events out of Quest for the signs.

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GAME DESIGN:

        AN OPEN GAME CONCEPT

    I wanted to create a game so you can go anywhere and do anything whenever you want.  I hate 'adventure' style games where you can't go somewhere becuase you havn't gotten a Freeze at the 7/11 store.  In Piltima you can pretty much explore everything from the beginning.  If you want to go sailing on the seas, go to minock and get a ships deed (which is free by the way, you just have to get there), if you want to explore the dungeons right off the bat, go ahead.  You'll get your butt kicked pretty quickly but hey, if you want to do that, the go ahead. You can visit the temples which you don't need to go to until almost the very end, although there won't be a lot of value in going there right away.  The only restriction is that you can't go into the shrines until you've gotten the mystical runes from the dungeons and know the mantras of meditation.  The story will explain why the runes were removed from the shrines to being with and stuff, it's actually an integral part of the story.

        LOTS OF ITEMS

    I've tried to make the game make you go through items pretty quickly.  I spent quite a bit of time entering 140+ items into the game, i'd like to have some of them be used haha.  Yes there is a 'super' weapon setup and it's totally free. You have to just be in the right place at the right time to find where they are.   The game story line will help you out.  There are lots of character enhancement items as well and the Guilds will carry the most powerful things (at a price of course).  Beware of what you buy from pirates, remember you get what you pay for!

CHARACTER CLASSES

    I took a unique approach to classes and guilds.  When you start the game you will be in a "Class Building", you can only come here on the start of a new game.  A guy will tell you which direction to go for which class and you will reach an altar.  At the altar you spend your 10 credits i give you on the items that class gets to start out with.  One item will be a weapon and one item will be a character attribute changer.  Each class has it's own benifits and downfalls so choose your character with some thought.  And yes i've given though to people running around to different class altars, so i've made all the  items cost different amounts.

    Below is a list of the 3 classes and what you will end up with should you choose to choose a class (you don't have you, you can just start the game without doing this if you want)

1. Warrior - STATS: Strength-16, Agility-14, Health-10 WEAPON-Axe- Strength - 5   Durability - 12
2. Rogue - STATS: Strength-13, Agility-10, Health-18 WEAPON-Bow- Strength-2 Durability - 11
3. Mage - STATS: Strength-10, Agility-16, Health-20 WEAPON-Staff- Strength-4 Durability 9

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QUICK START:

    What do you do when you begin after you choose your class?   Head south to Palm, go into the castle and follow the 'red carpet' to the throne room and talk to King Rameous, Blachthorp and Nicodemus.  That will get your adventure on the way.  Other than that, you can do whatever you want when you want.   I would suggest roaming around around the city of Palm (outside the walls) to build up some cash.  Then buy yourself a better weapon and some armor in the shops in Palm.   Then head East over the bridge to the village of Cove.

ITEM LIST:

    This is a 'construction' list and is not 100% accurate to whats in the game but its the closes i have right now.  Pretty much everything is right except for which FOOD items are in which stores in which cities.  But thats not a really big deal.

MONSTERS

    This is a list of all the monsters you will encounter that are associated with a terrain tile.  You will encounter 'special monsters' other places and those will not be included in this list.  Have to leave something as a surprise :> In general the special monsters will be stronger and more agile than the trrain   monsters listed here.  Monsters will not attack with in the walls of a city except if you're in Pirates Den.  The people there don't follow any rules.

TIPS FROM THE AUTHOR (me, Ram)

1. The creature of the upper land won't give you much financial satisfaction for your efforts.  If you want real riches, you need to go underground.  I have set up one dugneon with ONLY level 1 dungeon creatures.  They're fairly easy kills with bigger riches than above ground creatures, you just need to find the dungeon Wrong (it's close to Palm, a little north).
2. When going to a dungeon, there is usually a secret 'neutral' path to it, unfortuniatly you will only figure out where that path is with experiance.  Otherwise you will get attached on approach to a dungeon. More specifically any dungeon through trees or grass have a neutral approach if you can find it.
3. There are areas where levels of creatures are stronger than others.  On grass, level 1 creatures the Palm side of Dragons Spine, from Paws to Cove.  South of Paws and East & North of Cove are level 2 creatures. South of the Swamp Lands and East of the high stepps, and north of Dragon Spine (and all islands) are level 3 with a mixture of level 2 and 1 creatures.
4. Try and build up enough money to get enhancer items to boost your skills quickly.   You'll need them !
5. The most powerful weapon is the spellbook of SuperNova in the Mage's Guild.  But if you're looking for swords, the most powerful hardware you can't buy, you have to find it, the Sword of Palm along with the Ring of Palm and Armor of Palm.  These 3 items have as much durability as the game will allow and the Ring of Palm, well, lets just say HE-MAN!  Super stat enhancer!
6. If you don't have a registered version of Quest, GET IT!  There is no way you will be able to finish this RPG in a reasonable amount of time to prevent swapping out to another applcation causing you to start right back at the beginning choosing you class.   It's not that expensive, REGISTER!
7. When the water if you stick close to the shores of the main continent, you won't get attacked.  But if you venture out, you become prime bait for pirates!  And if you get too close to Power Isle or Fire Isle, you'll know it because you'll come face to face with fierce Pixies.
8. Get a cannon for your ship from the shipbuilder near Minock. And although you can use it on land, i would highly recommend saving it for water battles, you'll NEED its power! These may be expensive, and not have many uses (Cannons and Cannon Balls aren't very portable), they will get you out of an emergency jam against some Pixies.
9. Water 'space' around islands extends 3 tiles out from the island.  So if you're not prepared to deal with huge Pirate ships or Pixie's, stay well away from Pirates Den, Power and Fire Isles.
10. Whenever you get a symbol of some kind, write it down and its meaning somewhere (probably a doodle pad in the pilot will be a good thing to have).  You will be 'tested' later and the penalty for the wrong answer will most likely be death unless your character is totally pumped!

BUGS/SUGGESTIONS/IDEAS

Found a bug (i'm not surprised), want to rant and raive or send messages of praise, got an idea?  Write to me at pilotentertainment@mailcity.com with "Piltima" as the subject line.

Piltima 1 by Ram of PalmPilot Entertainment Zone since 1996