manual.txt

                      /-/\-----------\
                     <  |astlevaniaRL >
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                           Serenade of Chaos


                           by: Santiago Zapata, 2005-2010



 Contents
---------
1. Story
2. Introduction
3. The Hero
 Description of all player classes and their skills
4. Character Attributes
5. The art of combat - Weapons and Shields
6. The day and the night
7. Shopkeepers
8. Commands and Actions
9. Credits and Acknowledgments

1. Story
--------
The struggle between the Belmonts and Dracula comes from distant times; time
after time the count of darkness rises from the shadows, and a Belmont hero
responds to the call of fate to confront him.

Years ago, it was the turn of Christopher Belmont to take his place in the
history of his bloodline, and meet his fate on the castle of chaos. He emerged
victorious, and the land was saved.

However, not much after his victory over Castlevania, when his son Soleiyu was
ready to rise as the new vampire killer, the forces of darkness struck again and
his son was abducted... Again, Christopher had to fight through castles of
different nature, and finally found his child transformed into a vicious demon;
He had to fight Dracula, whom still without his full power, died to the sacred
whip.

He came back with his son on his hands. The townspeople had his wounds attended,
but there are wounds human medicine cannot cure... three days after returning
safe and regaining his human shape, Soleiyu fled to the mountains and forests,
and never again came back.

Not much happened for the next years, until one night, the moon turned blood,
and the castle raised from the ashes, much before the time it was fated to; one
by one the towns of the region fell to the wrath of the dark armies, as no one
seemed to assume the fate of facing the count in his own castle. Christopher
Belmont, who had become a renowned trainer, was feeling the weight of the years
coming over him; still, he joined the most brave and skilled warriors he could
and headed to Castlevania, the dwelling of chaos.

One by one, his companions fell to the atrocities of the castle, their sacrifice
being the only way to aid their master unto the only chance at sight to save
mankind, finally, wounded and tired, he was for the third time in the same place
he had been fifteen years ago; the vampire killer whip, which should have been
in the hands of his son, gave him the last strengths to face Dracula again, and
so, the final face-off began.

The events that followed marked the start of a new age... Darkness swept the
world, as all hopes seemed to be lost, and long forgotten Belmont bloodlines had
to rise again and take their paths again to the cursed castle, the time has come
for the future of mankind to be decided; the threads of fate are in your hands
and in your heart.

2. Introduction
---------------
CastlevaniaRL is a roguelike game in which you play the role of a character
granted special powers to fight Count Dracula on his stronghold, the
Castlevania. On your quest you will face horrible monsters and find sacred
relics and artifacts. Your special abilities and long years of training, are
your only advantage against the evil army of the count that protects the castle
and threatens the land.

3. The Hero
-----------
Hunters of the night... their fate is to cleanse the world from the dark
influence of the count, who rises again from age to age; there are different
kinds of vampire hunters, all of them with a common objective and different
means to achieve it which can be resumed into 6 different character fates, which
determine the abilities, initial equipment and training of the character.

As they get closer to their final fate by slaying the evil inhabitants of the
castle, they will unlock additional powers which will allow them to face the
ever-growing dangers inside the castle.

 Vampire Killer
--------------
Skilled using the sacred Vampire killer whip and the only able to use the mystic
weapons. This character grows strong as he finds powerups for his whip and
mystics; its main ability is the use of the sacred weapons, which he may find
after killing enemies or breaking things inside the castle. He must make good
use of support and upgrade items, as he can't equip conventional weapons or
armor. He can find stronger mystical weapons as he grows stronger.


                                     /-- Warp Dash
                  /---- Slide Kick --|-- BackFlip
                 /                   \-- Air Dash
                /
Holy Water --\ /-- StopWatch --\ /-- Fist
              X                 X
Holy Bible --/ \-- Cross ------/ \-- Crystal
                \
                 \                  /-- Soul Wind ---\
                  \-- Item Break --<                  >---(a)
                                    \-- Soul Flame --/

        /-- Soul Ice ----\
(a) ---<                  >-- Soul Blast
        \-- Soul Saint --/


The following are the basic sacred weapons and their effects:

Dagger (1)
  A weak weapon that has a long straight flight.
Axe (1)
  Strong weapon that flies on an arc for a short range
Holy Water (1)
  Magic water that explodes on flames once it hits ground, the
  flames stay for a short time before extinction
Holy Bible (2)
  Throws slicing holy sheets on a spiral path
Stopwatch (3)
  A relic that once opened stops time flow for a short instant.
Cross (3)
  A magical weapon that slices through the enemies and returns
Sacred Fist (5)
  Punches enemies in a direction
Blast Crystal (5)
  Releases a hovering crystal that explodes three times damaging surrounding
  enemies
Item Break (?)
  Executes a powerful move depending on the current mystic weapon
Soul Wind (10)
  Stops Time
Soul Flame (10)
  Damages nearby enemies with blast of fire
Soul Ice (20)
  Recovers some health
Soul Saint (15)
  Enchants the whip to shoot fireballs
Soul Blast (20)
  Creates a powerful holy blast around the player
Slide Kick (2)
  Slides on the floor kicking weak enemies
Warp Dash (3)
  Blinks in a direction for a short distance
BackFlip (Passive)
  Higher attack increases change to perform a double evade check
Air Dash (5)
  Flies through the air attacking enemies


Vanquisher Wizard
-----------------
A master of the arcane arts trained to defeat Vampires and other evil creatures,
the vampire vanquisher handles strong magical attacks which can be improved by
finding spell books and scrolls. He is mediocre at weapons with the exception of
the ring blades and the magic rods, which he is able to enchant turning them
into deadly weapons.

           /-- Teleport-------\
Recover --<                    >-- Light-------\
           \-- Cure ----------/                 \
                                                 >-- Major Jinx
           /-- Energy Shield--\                 /
Enchant --<                    >-- Mindblast --/
           \-- Mindlock ------/

             /-- Flame
Spellbook --<--- Ice Ray
             \-- Lighting Bolt

Homing Ball (2)
  Throws a magic missile directly to an enemy
Charge Ball (6)
  Launches a devastating energy ball
Flame (8) Needs the Book of Fire
  Summons a strong flame
Ice Ray (7) Needs the Book of Ice
  Projects a cold icy wind that may freeze enemies
Lighting Bolt (10) Needs the Book of Lighting
  Shoots a poweful thunderbolt
Recover (15)
  Recovers Health
Enchant (5)
  Increases a weapon attack by 2 for a short time
Teleport (5)
  Transports over a short distance
Cure (5)
  Removes poison and other maladies
Energy Shield (15)
  Reduces taken damage by 2/3 for a short time
MindLock (7)
  Paralizes an enemy
Light (15)
  Creates a magical source of light that follows its caster
MindBlast (15)
  Disrupts the mind of nearby enemies
Major Jinx (0)
  Exchanges hearts for 5 hits, cancels recover


Darkness Renegade
-----------------
A vampire who discovered mankind was worth to protect and not to destroy; he
abandoned the shadows to fight on the light side, still retaining most of his
dark powers. The renegade has a wide array of skills that allow him to
manipulate energies in chaotic places, especially Dracula's castle. He prefers
light weapons and armor, although he can handle some of the most devastating
magical weapons.

Summon Soul ---------\ /-- Shade Teleport --\
                      X                      >-- Flames Shoot -- Hellfire
Dark Metamorphosis --/ \-- Souls Strike ----/

                       /-- Bat Morph ---- Adv. Bat Morph
Morph ----------------<--- Wolf Morph --- Adv. Wolf Morph
                       \-- Myst Morph --- Adv. Myst Morph

The following are the basic dark powers of the renegade

Fireball (2)
  Projects a weak flame missile that flies on a straight line
Soul Steal (5)
  Steal part of the enemy soul, thus regaining health and damaging him
Minor Jinx (0)
  Exchanges 5 hits for hearts
Summon Soul (4)
  Summons a fierce soul that breaks through the enemy
Dark Metamorphosis (10)
  Regains health by drinking blood from the enemies
Shade Teleport (5)
  Dematerializes and travel as a shade
Souls' Strike (8)
  Summons three souls that attack the nearest enemy
Flames Shoot (10)
  Shoots three fireballs in a direction
Hellfire (15)
  Shoots three lava balls in a direction
Chiropteran Metamorphosis (10)
  Turn into a bat with the ability of flying for a short time
Lupine Metamorphosis (10)
  Turn into a quick and fierce wolf for a short time
Ethereal Metamorphosis (20)
  Turn into thin myst for a short time

Souls' Master
-------------
The souls masters have destructive supernatural powers based on the manipulation
of spirits from former powerful creatures that have surrendered to the light.
Using these he may cause either destruction to his enemies or relievement over
his allies.

                            /-- Confidence
Cat Soul ---- DragonFire --<
                            \-- Kind Soul ----- Soul Forge


                                              /-- Invoke Eagle ---------\
                            /- Invoke Bird ---\                          \
Bird's Egg -- Manipulate --<                   >- Invoke Cat-Invoke Tiger >-(a)
                            \- Invoke Turtle -/                          /
                                              \-- Invoke Tortoise ------/

       /-- Invoke Dragon
(a) --<
       \-- Tame


Turtle Soul (5)
  Calls a turtle shell which increases the defense for a short time
Bird Soul (2)
  Calls two birds whom scratch the enemies
Cat Soul (3)
  Calls a quick running kitten that scratches through the enemies
Birds' Egg (1)
  Throws a dove egg which explodes upon impacting the floor
DragonFire (8)
  Summons a small drake spirit which burns through the enemies
Manipulate (5)
  Tries to manipulate an enemy and turn it against other monsters
Confidence (Passive)
  Greatly increases the chance of manipulating an enemy
Soul Forge (Passive)
  Greatly increases the chance of taming an enemy
Invoke Bird (5)
  Invokes a quick flying bird servant
Invoke Turtle (5)
  Invokes a small enduring turtle servant
Invoke Cat (5)
  Invokes a quick wild TomCat
Invoke Eagle (5)
  Invokes a quick and fierce flying eagle servant
Invoke Tortoise (5)
  Invokes a massive enduring tortoise servant
Invoke Tiger (5)
  Invokes a quick Slashing Tiger
Invoke Dragon (8)
  Invokes a powerful Dragon
Tame (5)
  Permanently turn a monster to your side

Man-Beast
---------
In the far mountains of Transylvania, where only the Belmont's have dared to
travel, there are small communities of beings which are neither human nor
monsters; they have managed to live along after being shunned by the humans as
monstrosities. When Dracula awoke and sent messengers asking them to join his
legions of darkness, they refused. Their settlements were burned and leveled,
and most of them were horribly massacred. The few survivors ran away, promising
to seek revenge against the dark lord using all of their power and might.

The manbeast fight better unarmed, and their martial training allows them to use
deadly combat skills, as well as regenerate their health while fighting

              /-- Power Strike -- Power Crash
Power Blow --<
              \-- Bear Morph -- Beast Morph -- Demon Morph

                                 /-- Self Control -- Complete Control
Energy Scythe -- Claw Assault --<
                                 \-- Regeneration

Claw Swipe (3)
  Sweeps the enemies in front of you with a strong claw blow.
Power Blow, Strike and Crash (3)
  Builds up power for a strong blow that bounces back enemies
Bear Morph (15)
  Turns into a wild bear, has a medium chance of losing mind
Beast Morph (15)
  Turns into a powerful beast, has an high chance of losing mind
Demon Morph (15)
  Turns into a strong demon, has a low chance of losing mind
Energy Scythe (5)
  Damages enemies in front of you projecting the energy of a blow
Claw Assault (5)
  Jumps and slashes through enemies
Self Control (passive)
  Reduces chance of losing mind while morphing
Complete Control (passive)
  Prevents losing mind while morphing
Regeneration (passive)
  Recovers health while fighting

Knight
------
Agents to the church trained to defend the world from chaos and armed with the
most advanced human weaponry, the knight of light are a group of individuals
which devote their lives to defend the interests of the church. They were the
same that once raided Wallachia to dethrone the count, and now they seek to aid
mankind again. A Knight of light must strive to strengthen himself, both in the
physical and spiritual path, before daring to challenge the horrors of the dark
castle.

Knights are skilled with different kinds of weapons and their training makes
them good in combat and resistant; they have the disadvantage of not counting
with mystic skills, but their will and courage gives them a chance to challenge
the castle.

Shield Guard Skill (1)
 The knight have an special skill available since their arrival to the castle;
 they can cover themselves toward a direction using their shield.
 Shield guard protects the player from attacks from 3 positions, according to
 the direction chosen for defending.

  .....
  .**..    When the player uses shield guard to the north west, attacks
  .*@..    from three positions are blocked (marked with '*')
  .....
  .....


 If the attack is blocked, the defense is boosted in the following way:
  * Shield coverage is ensured (100% chance), thus the attack is reduced by its
  defense value
  * Shield block chance is multiplied by 3 (This is the chance for completely
  blocking the attack)

4. Character Attributes
-----------------------

The abilities of the character in the world are resumed in a series of
attributes, which are modified along the game as the player levels up, performs
spirital fusion or gets access to mystic relics.

* Hits: Determines how much damage the character may take before dying
* Hearts: Obtained by killing enemies or destroying furniture, they power up
skills and magic abilities.
* Gold: Enables the character to buy stuff from merchants.
* Keys: Needed to advance through the castle
* Carrying: Number of carried items

* MaxHits: Upper limit for hits
* Max Hearts: Upper limit for hearts
* Carry Max: Maximum number of items that can be carried

* Attack: Bonus to damage enemies when performing physical attacks
* Soul Power: Bonus to the effect of mystic skills
* Evade: Chance to jump or evade a monster attack
* Combat: Quickness on combat, reduces the cost of your attack moves
* Invokation: Prowess on mysticism and magic, reduces the cost of your mystic
skill moves
* Movement: Movement speed, reduces the cost of your displacement moves
* Experience: Determines your player level, obtained by killing enemies.

* Weapon proficiencies: Bonus to damage and cost reduction to attacks with an
specific weapon. Increases with training

 Leveling up
------------
When enough monsters have been taken down, your character will level up and may
be able to pick and advancement, which can be either a skill depending on his
class or a spirit to enhance his attributes. The frequency with which you obtain
advancements depends on your player class

5. The art of combat - Weapons and Shields
------------------------------------------

 Weapons
--------
Each weapon has the following attributes
* Attack Value: The base value used to calculate the damage caused.
* Range: The extent to which the attacks affect enemies
* Vertical Range: Vertical reach of the weapon (to hit enemies above or below)
* Defense: The weapon may add to the player defense
* Coverage: Chance of the weapon being used to block an attack
* Attack Cost: How much does it take to use the weapon (quick weapons have a low
attack cost)
* Two Handed: Defines if both hands are needed to use the weapon (dismissing a
shield or secondary weapon)
* Single Use: Some weapons can only be used once

* Damage Modifiers:
 * Harms Undead
 * Slices Through: The weapon can pierce through enemies

Additionally, ranged weapons have the following attributes
* Reload Turns: How many times the weapon can be used until it has to be
reloaded
* Reload Cost: How much does it take to reload the weapon (quick weapons have a
low cost)

 Shields
--------
Shields are items you can equip in your Shield slot; they are ineffective if you
are wielding a two handed weapon

If you are attacked while wearing a shield, three things may happen
* Blocking: The attack is completely absorbed by the shield
* Covering: The shield reduces the strength of the attack
* Failure: The shield fails to stop the attack

If you are a knight your chances of blocking an attack are doubled and you
always have a covering chance of 70%

 Dodging
--------
When fighting, you have a chance to completely dodge your opponent attack, this
chance is based in your "Evade" attribute, which you can increase using level up
spirits.

You can also increase your dodging chances with the following skills, available
to the Vampire Killer, Vampire Vanquisher and Invoker classes:

Dodge (passive)
  Adds 10% to chance of evading attack
Mirror Dodge (passive)
  Adds another 10% to chance of evading attack

 Underwater Combat
------------------
While swimming, you can only attack with the following categories of weapons:
* Unarmed (No weapon equipped)
* Gauntlets
* Daggers
* Spears
* Combat Rings

Also, have in mind your attack will be halved.

6. The day and the night
------------------------
Your journey through the lands of Transylvannia and the cursed castle, will span
multiple days; you will see the sun rise and fall, with heavy fog, rain and
thunderstorms being unleashed into the land.

The following are the different environments you will find:
* Day: In the gray transylvannian day, you have the maximum possible sight value
for your character.
* Night: Your sight depth is reduced by 3, enemies are stronger (+1 Damage)
* Heavy Fog: Can happen during night and day. Your sight depth is reduced by 2
* Rain: Can happen during night and day. Your sight depth is reduced by 1
* Thunderstorm: Can happen during night and day. enemies are stronger (+2
Damage). Your sight depth is reduced by 1
* Sunny Day: Can happen during day. Enemies are weaker (-2 Damage)

7. Shopkeepers
--------------
You may find shopkeepers in the town of Petra, right to the west of Castlevania.
It is rumored that some merchants have ventured inside the castle, looking for
powerful artifacts.

The merchandise available on each store is replenished daily.

The following are the shops in Petra
* Weapons Shop
Sells all kind of weapons, from daggers to crossbows
Vampire Killers can't buy items here, because of their equipment restrictions
* Armor Shop
Sells all kind of armor
Vampire Killers can't buy items here, because of their equipment restrictions
* Crafts Shop
Sells all kinds of usable items such as healing herbs and orbs of recall.
* Magic Shop
Sell magic artifacts such as medallions and spellbooks

8. Commands and Actions
-----------------------
These keybindings correspond to the default definitions. You can change them by
modifying the 'keys.cgf' file.

  SpaceBar: Uses a mystic weapon
a Attack: Uses a weapon in a given direction
c Character info: Shows your skills and attributes
d Drop: Drops an item
D Dive: Dives into the water
e Equip: Wears a weapon, armor or accesory
f Fire: Aims a weapon at a position
F Fusion: Fusion spirits to increase skills
g Get: Picks up an item
i Inventory: Shows the inventory
j Jump: Jumps in a direction, or dives to the surface or flies.
l Look: Identifies map symbols and monsters
m Messages: Shows the latest messages
M Map: Shows the castle map
Q Quit: Exits game
r Reload: Reloads a given weapon
s Skills: Allows to use your character skills
S Save: Saves game
t Throw: Throws an Item
u Use: Uses an Item
U Unequip: Take off an item
T Switch Music: Turns on/off the music
x Switch weapons: Changes primary for secondary weapon


9. Credits and Acknowledgments
------------------------------

 Thank yous
-----------
* DraconusZero, Adral, ABCGi, WonderLlama, StarSlayer, Jered Cain, jrr7,
Valkeera: 1.26 Testers
* James & Ian Badcoe, ABCGi, Icey, Jered Cain: 1.25 Testers
* Tunginobi, ECNM, Daiyu, Christopher Barrett, Karri Kanapee, Glowie, Crypt,
Mario Donick: 1.2* Testers
* Jonathan Ramirez, Korey Pelton, Kaleth, Inventor: 1.1* Testers
* ABCGi: Saved the game from going into the trash bin
* Mr. P Castlevania Realm [http://www.vgmuseum.com/mrp/] Provided a lot of data
and inspiration for the game
* Anapan's CV Files [http://www.geocities.com/anapan8/cv/] Had ripped wav files
used on the game

 Credits
--------
* Christopher Barrett: Project artist, graphic design, tiles
* Jorge D. Fuentes, Nicholas, RPGFan, Tom Kim, JiLost: Castlevania Midis
* Björn Bergström: Recursive Shadowcasting LOS algorithm

 Acknowledgements
-----------------
* MinML: Minimalist XML parser by The Wilson Partnership
* JCurses: JavaCurses library
* JLayer: JavaLayer MP3
* YGuard: Java Obfuscator


 Contact me
-----------
All your suggestions and bug reports are welcome via the official website (
http://slashie.net )


0.7 Manual Version 1.6 - Feb 22/10

----------------------------------

Long time ago, there was a noble man born from the house of Tepes. As a Knight
of the Dragon, he swore to protect the people of Wallachia from the perils that
flooded a world full of ambition and bloodlust. Hailed by the priests as the
very messiah who would take the land into prosperity, he ruled with strong hand
for six years, stablishing his land as a respected neighbour power.

One day however, he was taken captive by invaders from the east. Tortured and
humiliated, he was able to escape and return to his land, only to find his
father buried alive by the very same persons who once promised to protect him
with their lives; armed with courage and full of thirst for revenge, he joined a
group of raiders and attacked the castle on a dark night, massacring all the
people he found and impaling them, for them to serve as a warning to anyone
daring to rebel. All the people who had accepted the death of the former king
where hunted and tortured to the death, and a reign of blood came over
Wallachia.

Everything seemed to be over one night, when crusaders from the north came, send
by the church to excommunicate Vladimir and execute him for his own soul sake.
The castle was soon overrun, and there was nothing the count could do to protect
his own self. The dwelling was burnt to the ashes and the city was relocated,
the land was declared cursed and unwanted, and people stood unto a seemingly new
era of light.

The few followers of Vlad that survived the inquisitors took his body to a tomb
under a small church, located far from the cities. What happened after that in
the very soul of the count is unknown, but 70 years later, when the tomb was
finally found, the explorers found no remains of his body. Rumors filled the
land, concerning his escape from the death, and people felt uneasy, knowing
something was just not right... and they were right.