
                    Amulets & Armor Shareware Demo 
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It is STRONGLY SUGGESTED that you print out this file and keep it handy
for reference while exploring our demo.  Amulets & Armor is a vast game,
and there are lots of great tips herein that will make the demo adventure
much more enjoyable.
__________________________________________________________________________

==================================
I. Getting Started - A Walkthrough
==================================

The following 'quick start guide' is designed to make a novice adventurer
more comfortable with the Amulets & Armor interface.  Follow the steps
below to create your first hero and quickly learn the basics.
-----------------------
A. Creating a Character
-----------------------
After starting A&A, you will see a brief intro screen that will tell you
a little about the first adventure.  Read it, and then press a key.

** From the next menu, press the CREATE button to create an adventurer.

You will see that 'CITIZEN' is the current character archetype.  For this
tutorial, you should play the citizen character but later feel free to
try out the other archetypes.

Notice that the archetype's basic statistics are displayed.  See the
STATISTICS section in this file for a better explanation of how these
abilities affect your hero.

** Type a name for your character and press <ENTER>

----------------
B. The Town Hall
----------------
You will now see the town hall.  From here, you can visit:

 - the STORE to buy and sell items
 - the BANK to deposit your gold or buy magical rings and amulets
 - the INN to save your character and leave the game
 - the GUILD to choose and adventure or start a multiplayer game.

Unless you've started a multiplayer game, the GUILD button will be
inactive in this demo.  For more information concerning multiplayer
games, see the GUILD section in this file.

For now, you will not need to visit any of these areas, since the
citizen archetype has a pretty good set of starting equipment.

Notice that your journal is open on the right side of the screen.
There will be some control buttons in this area that will allow you
to view the journal entries that you have collected.  In the demo
version, some pages have been given to you that will describe some
information about A&A.  You might want to go ahead and read these
entries by scrolling through the journal with the < and > buttons.

** Click on QUEST to select this adventure.  There are 7 adventures
   in the final product, but the shareware only lets you play one.
   Read through the text and make sure you understand what your
   mission is.  Click on the ACCEPT button to continue the tutorial.

----------------
C. Castle Arius
----------------
You are now standing outside of Castle Arius, on the path to defeat
the evil necromancer Exiguus.  You are safe where you are standing
but if you move too far you will get assaulted by magicians that are
guarding the keep.  Take a moment to wander around in this area,
but don't stray too far!

-----------
D. Movement
-----------
To move with the keyboard, use the arrow keys.  If you hold down the
<SHIFT> key you will run.  Holding the <ALT> key down will allow you
to walk sideways (good for dodging fireballs and such).  The <X> key
will cause your player to jump up (or fly, if you get a fly spell.)
Holding down the <CTRL> key will cause your hero to activate or use
the item in the READY BOX (bottom center of the display) - in this case
it causes your hero to swing his sword.

To move with the mouse, put the arrow in the center of the 'world
view' area and hold down the left mouse button.  Move the mouse
around a bit and you'll get the hang of it.  Also, while moving,
if you click the left mouse button again you will jump.  To attack or
use the item in the READY BOX, click the right mouse button while
holding down the left one.

-----------
D. The View
-----------
In the upper left hand of the screen will be the 'world view'.
This area obviously shows what your hero happens to be looking at.

If you want more specific information about an item or monster
that you see, hold down the right mouse button.  You will get
a closed eyeball icon.  Move this icon over the object and it
should turn into an open eye.  When you release the mouse button
you will see a brief message describing what that item is.

** Hold down the right mouse button and move the mouse over the
   sword in the 'READY BOX' area until the eye opens up.  Now,
   let go of the mouse.  You should get a message saying 'Iron
   Short Sword [5 dmg]'.

There are a maximum of 4 messages that will 'float' on the view
at any time.  To scroll up or down the list of messages, use the
<PgUp> and <PgDn> keys.

You can change your hero's perspective of the world with the <Insert>
and <Delete> keys.  The <Backspace> key will center the view.

To take an item from the world, click on it with the left mouse button.
NOTE: If you hold down the <SHIFT> key, the item you have grabbed will
automatically be put in your inventory.  Also, if you hold down the
<ALT> key, A&A will attempt to 'auto equip' your item for you.  If it
can't equip it then it will be put in your inventory.

To drop something, just click again in the world view with the left
mouse button.

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E. Menu Control Panel
---------------------

In the lower left hand corner of the screen you will see a set of nine
'display control buttons' that will bring up various menus. Currently,
the JNL button is depressed, showing that your Journal menu is active.

** You can select any one of these menus by holding down the ALT key
and pressing the corresponding keypad number.

----------------------
F. The Statistics Page
----------------------
** To see your character's statistics, select the STS button or hit
   ALT+Keypad 9.

Since this demo actually is a medium-level adventure, we've taken the
liberty of automatically advancing your character to the 8th level. 

You will see a portrait of your character with his vital statistics
appear.  Notice that he is 8th level and will have attributes between
30 and 50.  These attributes are important to how your character acts,
so you might want to read the ATTRIBUTES section later.

---------------------
G. The Equipment Page
---------------------
** To look at your equipment, select the EQP button or hit
   ALT+Keypad 8

You will see a representation of your character at the top of the
equipment page.  Your character is currently wearing iron studded
leather clothing, so his overall color will be gray.  To look at what
he is wearing, hold down the right mouse button and you will get an
eyeball icon.  Move the eyeball over the part of him that you want to
examine and then release the mouse.  You should get a message that
says 'Iron Studded Leather Jerkin (6)' or whatever description is
appropriate.  Below him there will be a list of boxes that represent
his current 'coverage' - i.e. the amount of damage that will be
absorbed by his armor if he takes a hit. It will be 6% on all areas
except his head, giving him an average armor value of 5%.  The SHIELD
entry in this list is special, it denotes magical protection.

To the right of your character is 5 boxes, one large and 4 small.
The large box is for equipping amulets, and the small one is for
magical rings.

---------------------
H. The Inventory Page
---------------------
** To look at your inventory, select the INV button or hit ALT+Keypad 7 

The display that will appear represents the items that your hero is
carrying with him.  You will see an assortment of food items, a few
potions, and some runes.

Go ahead and eat some food (preferably a yummy piece of chicken)

-------------------------
I. Inventory Manipulation
-------------------------
** To use an item in your inventory, hold down the right mouse button
   to get the 'eyeball' icon.  Move the mouse until the eyball opens
   up over the item that you want to use.  Then click the left mouse
   button (while still holding the right mouse button) to use the item.
   Note that you can only use consumables this way (i.e. potions,
   scrolls, and food items). To use other items, see the Ready Box
   section.

If you click on an item with the left mouse button you will 'pick it
up'.   Notice that the mouse icon now represents the item that you
grabbed.  To drop the item, click anywhere in the world view.  Also,
note that you can stack certain 'like' items together in your
inventory by placing them on top of each other.

--------------------
I. The Finances Page
--------------------
** To look at your finances, select the FIN button or hit ALT+Keypad 6

This display will show you how much money you are currently carrying
and how much you have in the bank.  You should currently have 4 gold
pieces.  In A&A, 1000 copper = 100 silver = 10 gold = 1 platinum.
You can grab a coin to give to someone (or drop, if you are a looney) by
clicking on the appropriate button here.

-------------------
J. The Options Page
-------------------
** To see the options page, select the OPT button or hit ALT+Keypad 5

Here you can adjust the sound and music volumes, as well as toggle
them on or off.  Also, if you happen to be interested, you can
peruse the credits.

-----------------------
K. The Communicate Page
-----------------------
** To see the communicate page, select the COM button or hit
   ALT+Keypad 4

With this menu active you can send 'canned sayings' to other players
(in a multiplayer game, of course) or type messages to people.  You
can also quickly type a message off to someone by hitting the </> key
to activate this menu.

-------------------
L. The Journal Page
-------------------
** To see the journal page, select the JNL button or hit ALT+Keypad 3

This area will automatically appear when you grab a 'journal entry'
item in the game.  Your journal contains valuable information and
spell rune combinations necessary to cast magical spells.  To look
through your journal, use the <<, <, >, >> buttons.  You can remove
a journal entry (to throw away or give to someone else) by clicking
anywhere on the journal graphic.  Also, you can remove the introductory
'help' journal pages by hitting ALT-J at any time.

-----------------
M. The Notes Page
-----------------
** To see the notes page, select the NTS button or hit ALT+Keypad 2

This area allows you to jot down things (they will be saved with your
character) - just type what you want on the keyboard.
NOTE:  You cannot move while you have the notes page open.  This is
to keep you from moving all over the place while typing.  If you are
suddenly under attack, just hit ESC to make the notes go away.

----------------------
N. The Ammunition Page
----------------------
** To see the ammo page, select the AMO button or hit ALT+Keypad 1

Here you can see how many of each type of bolt that you are carrying.
Since you probably don't have a crossbow or bolts, you will have to
experiment with this one later.

--------------
O. The Potions
--------------
To the right of the menu control buttons are a series of 4 potions.
These potions represent your relative levels of Health, Mana, Food,
and Water from left to right.

Health - How much damage your character can take before biting it.
Mana   - Used to cast spells and activate wands.
Food   - Directly affects your health regeneration.  Eat well to stay
         healthy!
Water  - Directly affects your mana regeneration.  Drink lots if you
         wish to cast spells!

----------------
P. The Ready Box
----------------
The ready box represents what your character is holding in his right
hand.  This area is generally used to put weapons and wands, but you
can place anything else here to use it.  To use the item here, just
hit the <CTRL> key or click the button beneath it.

----------------------
Q. The Digital Readout
----------------------
Here you can see your character's Health, Mana, Food, Water, and Load
readouts.  These are here for people who don't like the potions.  Load
is important because it represents how much your hero is carrying.  If
you carry too much weight, it will slow you down!

------------------------
R. The Spellcasting Area
------------------------
This funky display will change according to the amount of mana that
your character has in reserve.  Beneath it there is an area that will
show the current 'runes' that your character has selected.  See
Casting Spells for more information about magic in Amulets & Armor.

-----------------------
S. Rune Control Buttons
-----------------------
Here is a set of buttons that select different runes for spellcasting.
A spell is 'incanted' by selecting up to 4 of these runes.

Let's try a spell.


-----------------
T. Casting Spells
-----------------
To cast a spell, you will need to first enter the proper rune
combination.

** Open up your journal page with ALT+Keypad 3
** Scroll through your journal until you find the 'Pull' Spell (it
   should be on page 27)
** Look at the runes listed.
** Either press the appropriate buttons to enter the selected
   combination or type in the 'code' on the keypad - for this spell it
   will be Keypad <7> <8>.
** If you make a mistake, you can clear the entered runes by
   pressing the 'cast' button or pressing <KEYPAD DEL>
** Once the proper runes are entered (they should appear in the
   Spellcasting Area), select the <KEYPAD ENTER> key or press the
   cast button with the mouse to cast your spell!

If the spell was successful, you should see a bolt fly away from you.
You might have gotten a 'YOUR SPELL FIZZLED' message which means that
your character jumbled up when casting the spell.  In this case, you
can just hit the <KEYPAD ENTER> to retry casting the spell.  If you
get a message 'YOU FEEL SOMTHING IS JUST NOT RIGHT' it means that you
goofed while entering the rune code.  In this case you will have to
re-enter the spell.  Don't worry about clearing it first, the spell area
will clear automatically after the next key.  Another message you may
receive is 'YOU ARE TOO EXHAUSTED TO CAST THIS SPELL', meaning you
need to hang out for awhile and let your mana reserve regenerate.

This bolt you fired will pull anything it hits toward it.  Great for
pulling those nasty wizards off the walls later!  If you happened to be
near a wall when you cast it, you will see that it pulled you towards it
when it impacted the wall.  You can continually attempt to cast this
spell by selecting the 'CAST' button or hitting <KEYPAD ENTER>.  The
next time you select a rune, the Spell Area will be cleared for the
next spell.

There are lots and lots of neat spells in A&A, many of which you can
learn from journal notes found in the demo.  Unfortunately, your hero
is a citizen and not much of a spellcaster.

Spells are divided into three categories, MAGE, CLERIC, and ARCANE.
MAGE spells are only useable by Mage, Magician, and Warlock archetypes.
CLERIC spells are only useable by Priests and Paladins.
ARCANE spells are only useable by all the other classes.

The runes that you have in your inventory can be dropped or given to
other players.  You may also occasionally find runes on your quest, but
they might not be useable by your class.  In the demo, arcane magic
using archetypes will have all of the 9 runes available at the
beginning, but clerics and mages will have to find some.  Note that
arcane magic users don't have nearly the potential variety of spells
that the mage and cleric magic systems offer.

------------
R. The Quest
------------
If you follow the castle wall around to the right you will find the
entrance into the main hall.  Be careful, there are lots of enemies
around.  You will probably get killed a few times, but with practice
and patience you will surely prevail.

Make sure that you grab the magic mapping ring located in the throne
chair.  Equip it to get a floating map (see The Equipment Page if you
don't know how).  Red lines on this map generally designate doors,
entrances, or windows, so use the map to locate a secret door in this
room.

--------
S. Death
--------
In A&A, you never really die... well, you may get clobbered but you will
be 'revived' at the beginning of the level.  Unfortunately, you will
lose all your wonderful equipment!  You will have to make your way back
to where you died to pick up your stuff.

If you find that you have gotten stuck, you can hit ESC twice at any
time to abort the mission.  Not only will you go back to town, but your
character will return to the state he or she was when entering the level.
This is very useful if you cannot get past a certain level because you
have lost too many items.  However, if you hit ESC twice, you also lose
all gained items and experience.

-------------
T. Conclusion
-------------
This concludes our walkthrough.  For more information, read the
following reference texts.  If you find some problems or crashes, we
beg you to print out the BUGREPT.TXT form and mail it to us.  Your
help will make a difference!!  Thanks for playing our demo!

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                     II. Statistics Reference
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Here's a list of character statistics and how they affect your hero:

Level (LVL): Every time you do damage with a missile or melee weapon, your
hero will gain experience.  Get enough experience and you will advance
a level.  When this is achieved, you will gain:
  - A higher maximum health, depending on your constitution attribute
  - A higher maximum mana pool, depending on your magic attribute
  - A higher base health and mana regeneration rate
  - Random increases to all attributes, depending on your class archetype
    and lady luck
  - A better chance of casting spells successfully

Strength (STR): Affects how much damage your character can do with a melee
weapon.  Also affects the amount of weight (load) that your character can
carry without slowing down.

Constitution (CON): Affects the amount of health that your character gains
each level.  Also affects your health regeneration rate.

Accuracy (ACC): Affects your 'auto targeting' width, i.e. how far off dead
center you can be when firing a missile for it to aim correctly.  Also,
accuracy affects your chance of making critical hits with melee weapons,
causing double damage.

Stealth (STL): Affects opponents 'auto targeting' width - if you have a
high stealth it becomes hard for them to aim fireballs and such at you.
Also, stealth affects the chance for a monster to notice you.  If you
have a high stealth you can walk right by them and they'd not even know!
Your stealth rating receives a big bonus when you are standing still.

Magic (MAG): Kind of like 'magical constitution' - affects the amount of
mana that your character gains each level, and affects your mana
regeneration rate.  Also, when casting a spell, your magic rating
affects your chance of success (as well as the spell difficulty.)  Magic
also will affect your chance of sucessfully identifying an object when
you use it.

Speed (SPD): Affects the rate at which you swing your weapon and move
about.  Having a high speed is important for running away and making
long leaps.





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                       III. Spells Reference
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The following is a list of spells that you may find in the demo version
of Amulets & Armor.  Please note that this list of spells is only a small
portion of the actual spells that are available!:

-----------
MAGE SPELLS
-----------
Attract         - pulls target creature or player towards you
Blink           - causes caster to teleport forward a short distance
Cloud of Acid   - a missile that inflicts 5 points of acid damage
Deflect         - temporarily imparts a 20% magical shield
Disorient       - causes an enemy to loose his target for a second
Elemental Fire  - gives caster a firey melee attack
Enhance Vision  - gives the player better vision in dark places
Fireball        - a missile that inflicts 10 points of fire damage
Force Door      - attempts to unlock a door.  Note that this spell only
                  works on doors that have been locked with a spell
Magic Dart      - a small missile that inflicts 2 points of damage
Magic Map       - creates a magic map for a short duration
Magic Missile   - same as magic dart, but will 'home' on the target
Poison Arrow    - a missile that inflicts 3 points of poison damage
Repulse         - pushes target creature or player away from you
Shadow Form     - makes player translucent for awhile
Slow            - temporarily slows target creature or player

-------------
CLERIC SPELLS
-------------
Blood Shield    - gives caster immunity to the effects of poison
Earthsmite      - a missile that inflicts 5 points of damage
Glow            - gives caster better night vision
Identify        - caster can identify all currently equipped items
Knock           - attempts to unlock a door
Lava Walk       - caster can ignore the effects of lava
Life Water      - creates a healing potion
Magic Map       - creates a magic map for a time
Pull            - pulls target creature or player towards you
Purify Blood    - halves the amount of poison in the caster's blood
Push            - pushes target creature or player away from you
Rejuvinate      - heals the caster from 5 to 10 health points
Resist Impact   - gives player temporary immunity to falling damage
WaterWalk       - caster can 'walk on water' ignoring the pull of current
Wolf Speed      - speeds the caster up

-------------
ARCANE SPELLS
-------------
Blink           - causes caster to teleport forward a short distance
Cast of Sand    - gives the caster better traction on slippery surfaces
Feather Fall    - slows the rate of descent while falling
Glow            - gives caster better night vision
Knock           - attempts to unlock a magically locked door
Magic Map       - creates a magic map for a time
Pull            - pulls target creature or player towards you
Push            - pushes target creature or player away from you
Regenerate      - causes the caster to heal at an abnormal rate
Shadow Form     - makes player translucent for awhile
Wolf Speed      - speeds the caster up




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                        IV. Types of Damage
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There are several different types of damage you can sustain in A&A.  Note
that enemies are subject to the same effects!

Normal          - Reduces health
Poison          - Reduces health and causes recipient to continually take
                  extra damage over a period of time.
Fire            - Does extra damage
Electricity     - Causes extra damage to targets wearing metal armor
Mana Drain      - Reduces health and mana of recipient
Piercing        - Ignores armor 
Acid            - Recipient's equipment may be destroyed!

Note that some missiles actually do multiple types of damage (for example,
a mage 'Death Ball' does acid+poison+mana drain.  Protection from certain
types of damage can be imparted by amulets, rings, and spells.



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                       V. Multiplayer Games
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To start a multiplayer game, you must first have an IPX network set up.
The final release of A&A will also support serial communications.


Follow this guide to start a multiplayer game:

1. Have all players run the SETUP program.

2. Have all players select NETWORK GAME from the listing.

3. Have all players either create or load a character.

4. When entering the game, the TOWN HALL functions as a 'chat room'.
   People in this area should appear in the textbox on the left side
   of the town hall screen.  Enter messages in the box above
   the chat messages.

5. When everone is connected, have all players select the GUILD button.

6. One player will need to host the game.  He should select the
   'CREATE' button to create a new game.

7. All other players should select the 'JOIN' button.

8. As the players join, the game creator should see their names appear
   in the lower left textbox in the GUILD area.

9. As soon as all players have joined, the game creator should select
   the 'BEGIN' button to start the game.

10. Any player may leave the game in progress by hitting <ESC> twice
    without affecting the other players.

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                      VI. Ordering Information
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The full version of A&A will be available sometime in November or early
December.  The price is $44.95, shipping included.

To order your copy of A&A:

Call 1-800-430-5848 and have your VISA or MASTERCARD available.  Sorry,
we do not accept American Express.

Optionally, print out ORDERFRM.TXT, fill it out, and send a check or
money order for $44.95 to:

United Software Artists
Box 135
Athens, ME 04912

