) and the first thing we decided was that we should draft up a manual for the new client while we wait for the official one. This is what I've just put together this morning, sitting at work. It is by no means finished, complete, or even close to such, but it is a beginning outline of the basic controls for new players:MANUAL
Basic Advice: Please, read the Game rules and Name rules before beginning.
THE SCEEN:
When you open your client, you will see three main parts to the screen: The large part that takes up most of the screen is the display field. This shows you the area of the map you are standing in, and all items, people, buildings, objects, that occupy that area as well. Directly beneath that there is a small black box that displays text. This will display any help or advice the game has, for example it will tell you when you are too tired or hungry to work, or if an item breaks. It will also display ‘broadcasts’ which are messages sent to every player by GM characters, and it will display the emotes and text of other players within your range. If you begin typing something, it will appear in this box. Taking up the right side of the screen is a sketch of a person. This is part of your inventory: It shows anything you are carrying on your body, or holding. This area can also display your skills. Click “Show Skills” or “Show Inventory” just below this person to toggle between the two displays. When viewing your skills you can also use the gray arrows to cycle through different categories of skills, such as craftsman or fighting skills.
At the bottom of the screen there is a space with a small counter, which is explained a little further on. In this space you can also view additional inventories:
INVENTORIES:
There are six inventory spots displayed just below the text field. These spots are your “belt”. You can put items here for quick and easy access to them.
Aside from what you carry on your person and in your belt, you can open bags, chests, and depots. Every character starts our carrying a leather bag, and you can also buy one from a certain NPC in game. Your bag when you begin will be occupying the inventory spot just above where your shirt is displayed just above your right shoulder on your person. To open your bag, right-click on it. A number of black inventory squares will open up at the bottom of the screen. You can now drag things into and out of your bag. Chests and depots work in the same way; you open them by right-clicking on them. Chests are graphics in game that look like large wooden boxes, while depots are the smaller, yellow wooden boxes. To use a chest or depot, you MUST be within one tile of it. Putting items in chests for a long time is not a good idea. If an item is in a chest other players have access to it and it will also disappear after a certain amount of time has elapsed. Depots are for long-term storage. Any items you place here will stay there until you remove them, and only your character will have access to them. You cannot place something in a depot with one of your characters and take it out with another character.
THE COUNTER:
The counter in the center of the bottom part of the screen serves multiple purposes: Firstly, it is used to deal with multiple items at a time. If you want to move 5 apples from your bag to the ground, use the arrows to raise the number in the counter to 5, then select a stack of 5 or more apples and drag it onto the space on the ground you wish to deposit it. 5 apples will move from your bag to the ground. Moving items within a bag or between bag and depot works the same way.
The counter is also used when reading books, where the number displayed in the counter field is the page number you are trying to read.
BASIC CONTROLS
Help Keys: Press F1-F5 for brief help reminders in game.
Movement: You may move one of two ways; By double-clicking a spot on the map, your character will walk to that place until they reach an obstacle, such as a tree or a water tile. You can also use the arrow keys to move one tile at a time.
Color Bar Toggle: Press F11 to toggle the colored bars underneath characters on or off. The bar serves no purpose save to help you identify different characters on the screen. It is not indicative of any skills, levels, weapons, etc.
Show names: To see the identity of all characters on screen, press F12. Any characters you have been introduced to will display their name, while all others will only display their character number.
BASIC ROLEPLAY FUNCTIONS:
Introduce: To introduce yourself to another character, stand within 2 tiles of them in any direction and type “#i” by itself on a line, minus the quotes, then press enter. Do not capitalize the i, and do not type anything before or after the command. This will allow other players to see your name instead of just your character number.
Whisper: Typing #w before a line of text will cause you to whisper it. If you are whispering, only characters that stand within two tiles of you will be able to see that text.
Shout: Typing #s before a line of text will cause you to shout it. This means that players outside of the screen you are viewing will be able to see this text. Its range is limited to the surrounding screens.
Emotes: As the graphical representations of actions in Illarion is limited pretty much just to walking, you will need to use emotes, or written lines of text, to describe what your character looks like, is wearing, is doing, etc. To do this, type #me before what you wish to say about your character; For example, “#me sits down” minus the quotes, will display <Character name/number> sits down. The client automatically adds a period (.) to the end of every emote.
Language: Your character starts off knowing two languages: The common language, that everyone can speak, and a racial language that is exclusive to other members of your race. To switch languages, type “!l” (Lowercase L, not uppercase i), followed by the language you want to switch to. The languages are: common, human, elf, halfling, orc, dwarf, lizard. This means that typing “!l human” (minus the quotes) will cause it so that your text is only viewable by other humans. All other players will see your text displayed as a series of asterisks. Remember to change your language back to common if you want to speak to characters of other races.
Naming unkown characters: If a character refuses to Introduce to you, or if you simply have not spoken to a character yet, but want to remember who they are, there is a command you can use. Typing “!name” minus the quotes, followed by a space and then a character number and then another space and then whatever name you wish to give this character to remember him by, will result in you seeing the text you chose as the character’s name to appear as his name until he #i’s you or you !name him something else. For example, If there is a character whose number is 0054321, typing “!name 0054321 Mysterious Figure” minus the quotes will allow you to see this character’s name as ! Mysterious Figure.
Titles: Titles are not allowed as part of your character name, but you may add prefixes or suffixes once you are in-game. The command to do this is “!prefix” or “!suffix” minus the quotes, followed by the text you wish to appear before or after your name. Examples: If your name is Frederick, typing “!prefix Princess” will cause you to be known as Princess Frederick to players that you introduce yourself to, and typing “!suffix The Great” will cause you to be known as “Frederick the Great”. You may add once prefix and one suffix to your name if you wish. Typing both of those commands will cause you to be known as “Princess Frederick The Great”. To change a prefix or suffix, simply type the command again, followed by whatever you want to change the text to. To completely clear a prefix or suffix, simply type the command “!prefix” or “!suffix” without any text after it and press enter.
OTHER BASICS:
NPC’s: NPC’s (non-player characters) are controlled by AI, and can be distinguished from Player Characters in two ways: NPC”s in general do not move, and they also do not have character names or numbers, so when you press F12, nothing will happen above that character’s head.
Interacting with an NPC: To interact with an NPC, stand within 2 tiles of them and speak to them. There is a set list of commands that NPC’s will respond to. To access this list, simply type “Help”, minus the quotes, while standing near any NPC. They will respond with a list of commands they understand. A good one to start with, for good roleplay as well as for functionality, is “Hello, can you please help me?” The NPC will respond with their name and a list of other commands they will respond to.
Picking Items up: To pick up an item, stand on the tile it is on or on a tile directly surrounding the one it is on, and use your mouse to drag and drop it into a space in your inventory.
Using Items: To use items, hold down the shift key and click on them. To use multiple items in conjunction with each other, hold down the shift key and click on the first item you wish to use then the second, and up to the third, while still holding down the shift key. Some items cannot be used with each other, and some items must be used in a certain order. Some items must also be in your hands or in your belt to use them.
Attacking: To attack a monster or player hold down the CTRL key and click the space that creature or player is on. To end your attack, you may either repeat this action on the space they are on, or you may run away until they are no longer in your field of vision. This will automatically end your attack.
Pushing: To push someone out of your way, hold down CTRL and drag them. You may push a person only if you are within one tile of them, and you may only push them to within one tile of where they are already standing. You may also push yourself in the same fashion, which is useful because it allows you to move diagonally if someone or something is blocking your path.
KNOWN BUGS AND WORKAROUNDS:
The NPC that sells bags currently does not respond to the word “bag”. You must ask for a “leather bag”. The merchant that sells bottles also only lists “empty bottle” but you must specify “small” or “large” empty bottle. Currently there seems to be a problem with selling hats as well. Also, merchants that buy clothes may only buy one color clothing though they won’t always tell you so.
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