
WRATH OF THE DEMON Manual

Copyright

"Wrath of the Demon" is a trademark owned by ReadySoft Incorporated.
(C) 1990 ReadySoft Incorporated.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.


Disclaimer

Although ReadySoft Incorporated believes this program performs the
functions described in this guide, the program is provided "as is"
without performance warranties of any kind, either expressed or
implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.  The entire risk
as to the quality and performance of this program is with you.


Limited Warranty

ReadySoft Incorporated warrants the magnetic media from manufacturing
defects for a period of 90 days from the date of purchase.  Should any
disk fail in the course of normal use within this 90 day period,
ReadySoft will replace the disk(s).  It is the responsibility of the
purchaser to bear the cost of shipping these items to ReadySoft and to
provide proof of purchase verifying the purchase is within the 90 day
warranty period.


Items Beyond Warranty

If the disks fail beyond the warranty period, disks will be
recopied/replaced for $13 U.S. (including shipping).  When sending
goods back to ReadySoft for repair from outside Canada, please mark the
outside of the package "Defective Canadian goods being returned for
repair".


Credits

Game design by Abstrax
Amiga programming:  Pierre Proulx
Amiga graphics:  Claude Pelletier
Additional Amiga programming:  Martin Ross
Music:  David Whittaker
Atari ST programming:  Ralf Doewich
Atari ST graphics conversion:  Ulrich Doewich
Commodore 64 programming:  Steven Douglas
Commodore 64 graphics conversion:  Jorge Freitas
Additional programming on all versions:  David Foster
Cover artwork:  Brian Sebern
Introduction:  Jorge Freitas
Manual editing:  Pamela Raynor
Abstrax wish to thank Michel Cadorette


INTRODUCTION

The wizard, Anthrax, lit the last candle completing the circle around
him.  Thirteen flames burning above thirteen waxen heads flickered in
an unfelt wind; a plume of colored smoke rising from each to form a
churning cloud in midair.  Anthrax lifted his arms into the cloud and
began to mutter an ancient spell, causing the smoke to swirl wildly,
spitting forth flashes of light that filled the room with an evil
energy.  As the wizard continued his incantation, an image began to
materialize in the raging storm above, an evil twisted image, not that
of a human but of a Demon long thought dead.

The Demon spoke like thunder booming loudly in the wizard's ears, "Who
disturbs the Demon's sleep?!  What creature thinks himself so powerful
as to risk the Demon's fury?!"

Anthrax tried to scream over the torment building in the room, "It is
I, Anthrax, court wizard to his Majesty the King, who summons you to
perform my bidding!"

The words were almost lost in the rushing wind, "I command you to
destroy the King and make his realm mine!"

The Demon laughed, the sound of thunder exploding over a mountain
range, "Kill the King I shall and capture his domain I will, but not
for you, insignificant worm!"

Lightning erupted from the circling cloud striking the Wizard and
reducing his body to a smouldering pile of ash.  The cloud began to
grow, spilling from the tower's windows, flowing up into the sky.  It
spread its tendrils, blotting out the sun to make the land as dark as
death.  An evil rain pured down upon the earth and set the ground
afire, spreading from dirt to rocks, rocks to trees, trees to man.  The
Demon's minions leapt from each flame, springing forth as hideous
monsters to devastate the inhabitants of the doomed Kingdom.  In an
instant the entire realm, as far as the eye could see, was burning; the
smoke from a hundred thousand dying souls rising up, lost on the
blowing winds.  As quickly as it had begun the deadly storm receded
into the castle that had witnessed its birth.

The once prosperous Kingdom lay ruined, nothing left alive but a single
bird forgotten in the Demon's blind wrath.  Months turned to years,
years to decades and the memory of the ruined Kingdom was lost like
dust on the wind.  All that remained was a lone castle, the seat of
power from where a King once ruled.

After a time, men wandered into the wasteland and a new Kingdom arose
ruled by another King.  All the while the Demon continued his sleep,
waiting as he recovered the energy he had spent.  The land was his now
and the Demon kept a watchful eye on these new inhabitants as they
populated the land.  Within a few generations the Kingdom had grown as
mighty as the one that had stood many years before.  And as it grew, so
did the uneasiness of the Demon's sleep until finally the evil one
sensed the time had come to once again wreak destruction.

In the hollow of a tree, a good faery awoke from a terrible nightmare.
In her dream she had seen a vast horde of pillaging monsters moving
across the land like an unstoppable plague.  The face of a powerful
Demon reached the recesses of her mind, lingering long after the
nightmare was over.  Fearing the dream a premonition of real danger,
the faery began preparing magical potions and spells that might defend
the realm against such an attack.  The King must be warned, she
thought, and someone must find the Demon and destroy it.

Even as the faery worked, the deadly hand of the Demon reached out from
the castle delivering one of its minions to entrap the faery and keep
her captive until the Demon could rise.  As the faery was being
captured she sent out a mental plea for help to the King, that some
brave warrior might be sent to rescue her.  The King received the
message and did as the good faery requested, calling upon his most
trusted messenger to relay a command to the honored knight the King had
selected.

The messenger sped into town with only one thought in mind -- to
deliver the Royal Scroll he carried.  The Demon was watching though,
and again released one of its monsters to kill the messenger before he
could complete his mission.  The flying monster appeared above the
roofs of the town and found the messenger running along a road.

Nearby, a chance visitor strolled along the road in search of lodging
for the night.  Noticing a strange shadow pass along the ground, the
stranger glanced up to see the Demon's minion fly past overhead.

"That thing had blood in its eyes and death in its heart," he thought,
"I must see what evil it might do."

The stranger ran down an alley and stopped in the safety of the shadows
at a corner between two buildings.  He crept back as the messenger came
running, chased by the flying monster.  Too late to intervene, this
would-be hero could only watch as the monster ripped at the other man's
throat leaving him dead in the center of the road.  In the messenger's
hand the stranger found the Royal Scroll depicting the Kingdom's
plight.

Here your quest begins.  After travelling to the palace, the King
instructs you to ride forth and defend the realm.  The King promises
you the hand of the Princess in marriage should you succeed in your
mission.  Even now the evil horde is crossing the land and will try to
end your journey.  The King calls out as you prepare to leave, "Only
you can save my Kingdom from the horde!  Only you can deliver us from
the grasp of the Demon!"  And so you gallop towards the horizon where a
black, evil cloud has begun to spread across the darkening sky...


GAME INSTRUCTIONS

After you have opened the package you should find the game disks, a
registration card and these instructions.


To Load Wrath Of The Demon
--------------------------

Always switch your machine off for at least 300 seconds before loading
the game.  Failure to do so could result in virus contamination of your
Wrath of the Demon disks.  See the Warranty Notice in this manual for
further information.  Always be sure that your Wrath disks are write
protected.

Amiga Owners

Switch the computer on.  If prompted, insert a Kickstart disk.  When
the display prompts for a Workbench disk, insert Disk 1 of Wrath of the
Demon into the internal disk drive.  The game will then load.

Atari ST Owners

Insert the Wrath of the Demon Disk 1 into the disk drive and then turn
on your computer.  The game will then load.  Note that owners of Atari
ST computers with single sided drives are limited in the number of
scenes they will be able to play.

Note for Amiga and Atari ST owners with external drives:  External disk
drives can be used when playing Wrath of the Demon.  Owners of
computers with an external disk drive(s) can insert disks ahead of time
instead of inserting them one at a time when prompted to do so.

IBM PC Owners

Before loading Wrath of the Demon, make a backup copy of each of the
disks and put them aside in case anything should happen to your
original disks.

To install Wrath of the Demon on your hard drive, type in the disk
drive letter followed by a colon (for example A: for the first floppy
drive) then type INSTALL and press RETURN to display the install
options.  To begin the installation procedure, type INSTALL [hard
drive] [floppy drive].  For example INSTALL C A will install from drive
A onto drive C.  Note that colons must not be placed after the drive
letters.

The disks will then be copied onto the hard disk starting with Disk 1.
When Disk 1 is finished copying, Disk 2 will be requested.  Insert Disk
2 and press any key.  This process will repeat until all of the disks
are copied onto the hard disk.  The program will then exit back to DOS.

In future, you will be able to load Wrath of the Demon by doing the
following:  enter your hard disk letter followed by a colon (typically
C:) then press RETURN.  Next, type CD\WRATH, RETURN then type WRATH
and RETURN.

To load Wrath of the Demon from floppy disks, insert Disk 1 into your
computer's disk drive.  Type in the disk drive letter followed by a
colon (for example A: for the first floppy drive) then type WRATH and
press RETURN.  A number of options will be displayed.

First, select the Video Mode (CGA, EGA or VGA).

Next, select the sound output type (No Sound, PC Speaker, AdLib or
Roland LAPC-1).

You will then be asked if you want to use a joystick.  Enter either
Y(Yes) or N(No).  If you select Yes, please refer to the instructions
listed below.

It is important to realize that you can still use the keyboard when you
have selected joystick.  If you are using the joystick and finding it
impossible to make the correct moves (after verifying yoou are making
the correct moves using the keyboard with the joystick not selected),
it is possible that your joystick is improperly adjusted to your game
controller card.  You should adjust the joystick to a point where, when
the joystick option is selected but the joystick is not being touched,
it does not interfere with the moves made by the keyboard.  This will
enable you to use the joystick and make the correct moves.

Commodore 64 Owners

Insert the WRATH OF THE DEMON Disk 1 into your computer's disk drive.
Type LOAD"0:*",8,1 and press RETURN.  The game will then begin loading.

Loading Tips

If the ReadySoft logo does not appear within 15 seconds of inserting
disk 1 of WRATH OF THE DEMON, then there may be a problem with your
computer system.  Check your computer connections and make sure that
the above instructions have been followed correctly.  If you are sure
that your computer is functioning (i.e. other software loads correctly)
and you are still unable to load Wrath of the Demon, then you may have
a faulty disk.  If so, see the Warranty Notice in this manual for more
information.


Starting The Game
-----------------

After the game has loaded, the intro will automatically begin
(Amiga/IBM).  You can skip it (after you've admired it at least
once...) by pressing the FIRE button at any time.  You will then be
returned to the title page.  Pressing the FIRE button again will skip
the scrolling text and start the game right away.


Controlling The Hero
--------------------

Use the joystick to control the Hero's movements.  The controls of the
Hero are divided into two parts:  the Action Scenes and the Fighting
Scenes.  The numbers beside the movement descriptions are the keyboard
controls for PC owners.

CONTROLS FOR THE ACTION SCENES

                   Jump/Enter Door (8)

                            |
                            |
    Move Left (4) ----------+---------- Move Right (6)
                           /|\
                          / | \

     Roll/Duck (1)  Crouch/Pick Up (2)  Roll/Duck (3)

Pressing the FIRE button (SPACE BAR on the IBM keyboard) will PUNCH.
If you have a special weapon in your possession, pressing FIRE will use
the weapon rather than punching.

Moving the joystick up or down will normally cause the hero to jump or
crouch.  If you are standing in front or against a door, however,
moving the joystick up or down will make the hero enter these doors.

CONTROLS FOR THE FIGHTING SCENES

                    Jump/Smash (8)    Hit High (9)

                            | /
                            |/
    Move Left (4) ----------+--------- Move Right/Hit Straight (6)
                            |\
                            | \

                 Crouch/Hit Down (2)  Hit Low (3)

You can use the joystick to jump or move the hero.  Holding the FIRE
button (SPACE on the IBM keyboard) will give you access to the sword
movements.


Keyboard Functions
------------------

Press the F1 key to use a Shield potion; the F2 key to use a Zap
potion; and the F3 key to use a Healing potion.

You can pause the game at any time by pressing the "P" key on the
keyboard.  To continue to play, press the "P" key again and the game
will resume.


Energy Symbol And Potions
-------------------------

During the game you will notice a circular symbol around a face on the
top left of the screen.  This represents the energy of the hero.  When
the twelve circles around the face become empty, the hero will die.

On the bottom right hand side of the screen, there are three different
symbols with numbers under each.  The first one represents your Shield
potions; the second one, your Zap potions; and the third one, your
Healing potions.  The numbers under them represent the number of
potions that you are carrying.  Please note that you can't carry more
than three potions of each kind.

SHIELD POTIONS:  The hero will become immortal for three seconds.

ZAP POTIONS:  Every monster around the hero will die or lose some
energy.  Unfortunately some monsters won't be affected by these potions
due to their constitutions.

HEALING POTIONS:  The healing potions will cure all your wounds and
restore your energy to its maximum.


Keys And Additional Weapons
---------------------------

At some points during the game, you will find keys and additional
weapons.  To use the keys, punch in the locks or push the joystick in
the direction of the door.  The door will automatically swing open.
The additional weapons will become active only when needed.  You can
use them by pressing the FIRE button (SPACE BAR on the IBM keyboard).


Saving Your Position
--------------------

To save your position press CTRL-S when there is scrolling text being
displayed on the pictures between each of the scenes.  You will then be
prompted to insert a Save Disk.

Remove the Wrath Disk from the internal drive, insert the Save Disk and
press RETURN.  A menu will appear asking you to select a letter under
which to save your position.

You can save up to ten different games on your Save Disk.  If a save
location is already used, the position where you saved will be shown,
otherwise 'EMPTY' will be displayed.  If all of your save locations are
used, you can save over an existing one or use another Save Disk.
After selecting your location, press RETURN.  You will then be prompted
to insert a Wrath disk.  Insert any of the Wrath of the Demon disks and
press RETURN.  Pressing ESC when prompted for Save location will cancel
the save process.

NOTE:  Any data on your Save Disk will be ERASED.  Be sure to use a
blank disk or one that you will use only to save your positions onto.
Also it is unnecessary to format the Save disk (Amiga/ST).  For PC
owners, it is necessary for the disks to be previously formatted.  The
save feature is not available on the Commodore 64 version.


Loading A Saved Game
--------------------

To Load your position press CTRL-L while the text is scrolling on the
King picture (the picture following the title screen).

Next, you will be prompted to insert your Save Disk.  Remove the Wrath
Disk from the internal drive, insert the Save Disk and press RETURN.

A menu will then appear showing you the name of your previously saved
positions and asking you to select the letter corresponding to the
position to Load from.  If a save location is already used, the
position from where you saved will be shown, otherwise 'EMPTY' will be
shown.

Select a location and you will be prompted to insert a Wrath disk.
Insert any Wrath of the Demon disk and press RETURN.

Note:  By pressing ESC when prompted for a Load location, the loading
process will be cancelled.  The load feature isnot available on the
Commodore 64.


Restarting The Scene
--------------------

If the hero dies in one of the scenes, you can restart the same scene
by pressing the FIRE button ('0' on the IBM keyboard) when the text is
scrolling on the Death picture.  You will restart the scene with the
same number of potions as you had when you originally began the scene.
If you don't press the FIRE button, you will return to the beginning of
the game.


Ending The Game
---------------

To stop playing the game simply reboot your Amiga by pressing the CTRL
key and the two AMIGA keys (on some machines the COMMODORE key and the
AMIGA key) at the same time.  The screen will go blank and you may now
eject the disk from the drive.

For Atari ST users, you can reset your computer by pressing the button
on the back of the computer.  You can now safely remove the disk from
the drive.

PC owners should press CTRL-ALT-DEL at the same time and when the
screen is blank, remove the disk from the drive.  Alternately press
CTRL-BREAK during an intermediate scene when text is scrolling.

Owners of the Commodore 64 can end the game by simply switching off the
computer.  It is then safe to remove the disk from the drive.


GENERAL HINTS ABOUT THE GAME

1.  Try to keep your potions, you'll probably need them badly as you
progress.

2.  To defeat the various monsters, you will find that you must develop
different strategies for each of them.

3.  Try to stay as far away as possible from the monsters.

4.  Never let a monster push you in a corner.

5.  At certain points during the game, it is recommended that you make
a map of the surroundings.

6.  Some monsters carry potions that can be collected by killing them.

7.  Sometimes it's better to try to avoid a monster rather than trying
to kill it.

8.  Most of the time, switches activate mechanisms.

9.  Save between each of the scenes.

10.  When in the castle, you always view the North and East walls.


About the Development Team

Abstrax if the team who programmed Wrath of the Demon for the Amiga and
made all of the original graphics.  Abstrax are Pierre Proulx, Claude
Pelletier and Martin Ross who live and work in Quebec, Canada.  Wrath
of the Demon is their first game but probably not their last.

Wrath of the Demon is the result of over ten months of non-stop work.
When Wrath was first started, Abstrax was determined to create a game
that pushed the hardware to its limits and in doing so produce a game
that set new standards.  The idea was to create a game that not only
included smooth parallax scrolling with more levels than any previous
game, but also to include fight scenes with large, intelligent monsters
and exploration scenes that require more than just manual dexterity.
Equally important to the game was to produce very smooth animations and
highly detailed graphics.  And finally, the game would not have been
complete without the nine outstanding musical pieces from the reknown
composer David Whittaker.

Since the original version takes advantage of the sophisticated Amiga
hardware features, converting Wrath to the Atari ST, IBM PC and
Commodore 64 was no easy task.  Needless to say, all these versions
push their respective computers to their limits to create a game that
might have previously been thought impossible.

The entire Wrath development team really enjoys writing computer games
and looks forward to producing many more quality games in the future --
let's hope that piracy doesn't change their minds.  Another game is
already on the drawing boards, so look forward to a game that includes
not only the techniques found in Wrath of the Demon but also many new
ones.


FEATURES OF WRATH OF THE DEMON (AMIGA)

Total Size:  600 screens of action

Graphics Data:  3.5 Megabytes

Music & Sound Data:  600 kilobytes

Music Sample Rate:  20 kilohertz

Number of different sound tracks:  9

Screen Update:  60 times a second

No. of different monsters:  120

Maximum Sprite Size:  300 by 144 pixels

Project Duration:  10 months


[Protection codes for Wrath of the Demon PC omitted from etext]
