Chaos

THIS IS THE CUT-DOWN 1/2 MEG VERSION OF
CHAOS.   There  as over  twice as  many
samples in the 1 meg version.   You can
obtain the 1 meg version from LAPD,  or
if you have access to the internet,from
atari.archive.umich.edu or from any ftp
site which has a mirror of atari.archi-
ve.

The files on the root directory of this
disk should be:

DESKTOP.INF

README.DOC      ASCII instructions
CHAOS.TEX	LaTeX instructions
CHAOS.DVI	Ready to print instruc-
		tions

README.1_2	This file

----

CHAOS

Originally by
JULIAN GOLLOP

Unofficial ST conversion by
MARTIN BROWNLOW

Original code ported by
MARTIN BROWNLOW

Graphics extracted by
ADAM TURNBULL

Graphics recoloured by
MARTIN BROWNLOW
ADAM TURNBULL

Samples selected by
MARTIN BROWNLOW
MICHAEL BROWNLOW
ADAM TURNBULL

     The samples used in this game were
taken from the following films:

WARLOCK
HIGHLANDER
BLADERUNNER
FRIGHT NIGHT
GHOSTBUSTERS
EVIL DEAD II
A FISH CALLED WANDA
MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL

     Extra samples taken from:

Red Dwarf series II  (Queeg)
                     (Stasis Leak)
Red Dwarf series IV  (White Hole)
Red Dwarf series V   (Quarantine)
Blackadder series II (Head)
                     (Money)
Blackadder series IV (General Hospital)
                     (Goodbyeee)
'Gimme The Prize' By Queen

and

Numerous Noisetracker modules
STOS Maestro samples disk


1. Introduction

     Chaos is a game  of magical combat
between  2 to 8  wizards  in an  arena.
Each takes  turns  to  select  and cast
spells and move summoned creatures. The
winner is the last  wizard left  alive,
but there  is a limit to the  number of
game turns in which to acheive victory,
and the contest could be drawn. Playing
time varies from five minutes (with two
wizards) to  half an hour  (with  eight
wizards).

2. Creating your wizards

     Each  wizard  must  be assigned  a
name and a graphic.  The name can be up
to twelve characters long,  but must be
at least one letter long and cannot st-
art with  a space.   Any or  all of the
wizards can be computer controlled, and
each computer can have a seperate level
between 1 and 8 (8 being hardest),which
governs how strong the wizard is.

3. Selecting a spell

     During this phase each wizard must
select  which  spell he will  cast ( if
any).  There are 4 options available to
every wizard. These are:

1. Examine a spell
     Select a  spell from  the list and
     you are given details about it.
2. Select a spell
     Select which spell to cast  during
     the following turn.  If you select
     a monster spell, you will be requ-
     ired to choose if it is an illusi-
     on or not (see below).
3. Examine the board
     Move the cursor  around  the board
     using the standard keys (below)and
     0 to exit.
4. Continue with game

Standard keys for cursor movement:

Q  W  E
  \|/       I : Info on current square
A -*- D
  /|\
Z  X  C
   
4. Placing spells on the board

     At the bottom of the screen is sh-
own the name of a wizard,  the spell to
be cast, and the range  from the wizard
at which it can be cast (going diagona-
lly costs 1.5 movement points).
     Use the cursor movement keys (abo-
ve) to select the  space you want,  and
press S to cast the spell.  Press  K or
0 to abort the spell.

5. Moving creatures

     Press  1  to  8 to  highlight  the
respective wizard's  creations.   Using
the  cursor,  select  the  creature you
wish to move.  Press S to select,  or I
for information.   Once  selected,  the
screen will tell you the creature's mo-
vement points.
     Movement is acheived using the cu-
sor keys.
     For  flying creatures,  place  the
cursor where you would like the creatu-
re to move and press S.
     To attack  another creature,  move
your creature up next to it  and try to
move onto its square.   Some  creatures
have  ranged combat  as well as  direct
combat (e.g. an elf with a bow) and af-
ter moving (or pressing K to  abort its
movement), you can place  the cursor on
an enemy creature  (within  range)  and
fire at it by pressing S.
     Pressing K aborts a creature's mo-
vement, and can be used before or duri-
ng movement. K also aborts ranged fire.
     When you have moved all the creat-
ures you wish to,  press 0 to end  your
turn.

6. More about spells
a. Law and Chaos
  All spells are either lawful, chaotic
or neutral.  This is shown on the spell
menu by the following symbols.
	^ Lawful
	* Chaotic
	- Neutral
  Casting chaos spells makes the unive-
rse more chaotic and the reverse appli-
es for law spells.  Chaos spells become
easier  to cast in a  chaotic universe,
and law spells easier in a lawful univ-
erse.  The state of the universe is sh-
own on the main menu under the wizard's
name e.g. (CHAOS **)

b. Reality and Illusion
  Each spell has only a specific chance
of  being  cast  successfully,  ranging
from 100% for a giant rat to 10%  for a
golden dragon.   The more  powerful the
spell, the lower the chance.   However,
creature  spells can  be  automatically
cast as illusions but may then be disb-
elieved, by use of a Disbelieve spell.

c. Properties of creature spells
  The spells on the menu are printed in
various  colours to  indicate  how easy
they are to cast, the brighter the col-
our,  the easier to cast.   To find out
more about a particular spell press the
letter of the spell  (on  examine spell
mode only) or I in the game  which will
give you the following information:

COMBAT: Offensive power
RANGED COMBAT and RANGE: Some creatures
        have ranged combat
DEFENCE: Defensive power
MOVEMENT ALLOWANCE: Number of spaces it
        can move in one turn.
MANOEUVRE RATING:  Ability to disengage
        from an enemy
MAGIC RESISTANCE:    How good it is at,
        wait for it, resisting magic.
CASTING CHANCE: Guess!

OTHER CHARACTERISTICS:
Some crestures have special characteri-
stics which are printed below its name.
These are:

FLYING The creature can fly
MOUNT  The creature can be ridden
UNDEAD These can  only be  attacked  by
       other undead,  spells or wizards
       with magical weapons.

d. Other spells
(LOS) means the wizards needs to have a
line of sight to the target square.

DISBELIEVE: All wizards have this spell
If you suspect a creature to be an ill-
usion, then this spell will automatica-
lly succeed if  you are right  and fail
if you are wrong.  It always remains in
your spell list.

CHAOS 1&2, LAW 1&2: These spells simply
alter the balance of the universe.

GOOEY BLOB (LOS): The gooey blob cannot
be cast on another creature.  Once cast
it will spread, engulfing enemy creatu-
res but not affecting yours.  Creatures
engulfed do  not die,  but are  trapped
until the blob holding them is killed.

MAGIC FIRE (LOS): The magic fire cannot
be cast on another creature.  Once cast
it will spread, destroying enemy creat-
ures but not affecting yours.

MAGIC WOOD (LOS):  Up to 8  magic woods
will spring up around you.   Any wizard
may enter a tree, and there is a chance
of gaining extra spells from them.

SHADOW WOOD (LOS):  You can place up to
8 trees provided they are placed in em-
pty spaces and are not adjacent to ano-
ther tree.  These trees can be selected
as though a creature.  They cannot move
but can attack creatures next to them.

MAGIC CASTLE / DARK CITADEL (LOS):
These  must be cast  in an empty space.
The casting wizard can enter the castle
or  citadel.   They are impregnable  to
attack, but don't last forever!!

WALL (LOS):  You can place  4 walls  in
empty spaces. Nothing can enter or move
through a wall.

MAGIC SWORD/KNIFE/BOW:  These  affect a
wizard's combat power: the sword adding
4,  the knife 2,  and the  bow giving a
ranged combat option.  You  cannot have
the sword and knife at the same time.

MAGIC ARMOUR/SHIELD:   These  affect  a
wizard's defense rating: the armour ad-
ding 4, the shield 2.  You cannot poss-
ess both at the same time.

SHADOW FORM:  This make the wizard semi
visible and fleet, adding 3 to defence,
increasing  movement to 3  and allowing
the wizard to move freely without beco-
ming engaged, but if the wizard attacks
anything, these effects disappear.

MAGIC WINGS:  This spell transforms the
wizard into a flying creature with ran-
ge 6.

TELEPORT (LOS):   This  spell moves the
wizard across the board, but takes more
time than any other spell,so the wizard
cannot then move.  You can only land in
an empty square or on a corpse.

MAGIC BOLT/LIGHTNING (LOS):   These are
both ranged physical attacks of magical
origin.  Lightning has a  shorter range
but is more powerful.

VENGEANCE/JUSTICE/DARK POWER/DECREE:
For these spells, pinpoint an enemy cr-
eature or wizard  with the  cursor  and
press S.  If  the target is a creature,
it may die, depending on its magic res-
istance; if a wizard, then their creat-
ions may all vanish.  Decree  and  Dark
Power give three attacks,  Justice  and
Vengeance bth give just one.

SUBVERSION (LOS):  This  spell tries to
change a  creature to  your side.   The
lower its magic resistance,  the better
the chance of it defecting.  You cannot
subvert a mount being ridden or an ill-
usion.

RAISE DEAD (LOS):  You must select a c-
rpse for this spell to act on, if succ-
essful, it reanimates as an UNDEAD cre-
ature, behaving as any other UNDEAD,but
retaining its other skills.

MUTATE (LOS):  This spell will mutate a
creation into another form, gaining all
the abilities of this new form and ret-
aining  none of  its old abilities.  If
this spell is cast at an undead,it will
mutate into another undead.This spell's
success depends on the magic resistance
of  the target.   Illusions and  mounts
being ridden are immune to this spell.

TURMOIL: This spell causes huge amounts
of disruption  to the arena by randomly
swapping the positions of creatures and
wizards.  Use carefully.



THIS PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN IN 2 WEEKS,and
was assembled from 149088 bytes of sou-
rce code.  There are 56  samples (incl-
uding the one in the loader) taking  up
about 700K of memory.

I hope you enjoy this game.

Martin Brownlow
(11:54 pm Friday, 11 September 1992)

See you again soon!

Hi! to:

Steve "The BSc" Camber
Daniel Marc "With a C" Littlewood
Duncan "No sharp objects" Robertson
Richard "Ringo" Clements
"Grave" Dave Gymer
"Captain" Kirk Jackson
Adam "Put this spell in" Turnbull

And anyone who's ever played and enjoy-
ed one of my games!


Other games by me for the ST:

ABOMBINABALL (written in STOS)
GRAV
GRAV 2 (Shareware, available from LAPD)
GEMS
TANX
GRAV BATTLES

Games under construction

SPUD (cute platform game)
"ROTO" (one step better than rotoscape)