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ECSTATICA
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For the love of one
shall briefly disclose the matters of mine
which the Ancients do Alcamye call
or others, Alchemy.
Wherefore, it is here, understand you shall,
this wonderful art and gift of the Almighty
which was never found by labour of man,
but it, by teaching or revelation began.
He, and more surely she, so as I find,
of noble mind, who
searched nature will find this art,
in manner of physik
and magic natural.
But
all these writings are very dark
despise all books and them defy
wherein is nothing but recipe and accipe.
Few learned men within this realm
can tell thee aright what I do mean;
I could never find man but one,
which could teach me the secret of Alcamye
and that was the old man on the close of Tirich,
the guardian of our castle.
This olde philosopher wise
by wey of kind in sundry wise
a deamon made prisoner
of the stone circle.
This devil, one of the worst, so as I finde,
through our craft only could be defeated
the nature of evil
both in substance and figure.
But teacheth the great worke
a foule labour,
not fit for lesser men or women,
in which is found great travail
with many perils and many a faille.
Whomsoever thou art that presumest to dive
into the fountain of work and hopes to obtain
by ambitious enterprise,
the reward of our arte,
I tell thee by the eternal creator
for a truth, for all truth
being small is going far.
If thou keep thy secrets in store unto thy shelve
thou hast conquered the power
and all the devils thou holdyst at will,
maybe
for wise men done say store is no sore,
but women know more...
Ecstatica, 928 AD
A prelude...
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I started out on my journey in good spirits, riding through the
lowlands and enjoying the solitude, as my horses hooves beat out a
relaxing rhythm. Finding a waterfall above a deep pool I swam and
refreshed myself, stretching out in the afternoon sun to dry.
Perhaps we lingered too long though....
Trying to make up time, I pushed my stallion hard....too hard, and the
rough country and burning heat took it's toll on horse and rider.
Travelling through this part of the country is a demanding experience,
treacherous mountain paths criss-cross endlessly, and more experienced
riders than me have become hopelessly lost. The sun was starting its
descent as we rode past a monastery, the twilight engulfing us in
disturbing shadows. In the deepeing gloom we found ourselves
at a cross-roads just outside a small village....
It had seemed the right thing to do at the time. With darkness falling,
water and shelter were needed.
The village was on the far side of a small bridge. A short distance to
travel, for sure, but as I crossed that bridge, the atmosphere seemed
to change, as quickly as a thunderstorm can turn the weather on a
summer's day. On reaching the other side, I could feel that something
was amiss....
Everything was still, and quiet as the grave. There were no children
playing, no women cooking an evening meal, no men joking and laughing
on the way home from the tavern.... what could be wrong?
A shop to my right looks harmless enough, but why is the door hanging
from its hinges and what are those foul scrawls daubed on the walls?
What the... Oh my god........
An objective...
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You have arrived in a village that seems to be deserted. However,
you'll soon discover that first appearences can be very deceptive.
The village of Tirich is under the influence of dark, supernatural
forces that have manifested themselves in a menagerie of ghouls and
demons.
Your survival depends upon your ability to discover why strange
creatures prowl otherwise peaceful streets. You must free Tirich from
this unholy spell, or perish trying. A diary may provide some clues as
to why these fearful events have come to pass, and that's as good a
place as any to begin your quest...
Installation:
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Place disk 1 in your diskdrive. Type the letter of your diskdrive
followed by a colon and press Enter e.g. A: <enter>
Type INSTALL and press ENTER
Follow the on screen instructions.
Select a sound card from the list of supported cards.
Select the directory that you want the game to install to e.g.
default C:\ECSTATIC.
Once installed, the game will be immediately playable.
In order to play the game on future occasions, you must make the
installed directory the current directory e.g. cd C:\ECSTATIC. Then
type ECSTATIC and press ENTER.
In game options:
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At any point in the game you can press escape to access the in game
options. A pop up menu with the following choices will appear on
the screen:
[Start Game (male)] - restarts the game from the beginning
[Start Game (female)] - restarts the game from the beginning
[Save Game] - Gives you ten slots in which you can save a game
[Load Game] - Enables you to select any of the saved game
[Options] - Selecting this will let you access another on screen menu
with the following choices:
Turn [music] on and off
Turn [sound effects] on and off
Turn [subtitles] on and off
If you wish to alter the sound card settings then key in the following
commands:
Make the installed directory the current directory (e.g. cd
C:\ECSTATIC). Type SETUP and press ENTER. You can then choose from the
list of soundcards. The game will then play with the new settings.
Controls:
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Ecstatica's controls, via the numeric keypad on your keyboard, remain
consistent throughout the game.
You can move your character forwards in the direction that he/she is
facing, via the '8' key, regardless of which viewing perspective the
in-game editor editor offers you. (i.e., regardless of whether you are
moving into, or out of, the screen).
The keypad controls via the numeric keypad:
1 - Pick up, or put down, an object with your left hand (note that
your character one object in either hand at any one time)
2 - Walk backwards
3 - Pick up, or put down an object with your right hand
4 - Turn left
5 - Dodge
6 - Turn right
7 - Hit with the left hand (or held object/weapon etc.)
8 - Walk forwards
9 - Hit with the right hand (object/weapon etc.)
Your character's movement modes are...
F1, F2, F3, F4 - Stealth (very useful for sneaking past enemies who
are best not disturbed...)
F5, F6, F7, F8 - Walk (quicker than stealth, but not too fast for
comfort)
F9, F10, F11, F12 - Run (might just get you out of trouble, but be
careful you don't simply run out of the frying pan and into the fire)
Credits:
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Programming Andrew Spencer
Animation & Story Alain Maindron
Producer Greg Duddle
Music & Sound Effects PC Music
Sound Co-ordination Phil Morris
Voice Characterisation Sharon Ashton
Russ Lane
Kevin McMahon
Product Manager Pat Cain
Public Relations Mark Blewitt
Gleon O'Connel
Packaging & Manual Design Keith Hopwood
Mark Day
Packaging & Manial Words Mark Day
Huw Thomas
Playtesters Paul Charsley
Paul Holmes
Jenny Newby
Gary Nichols
System Designed By Andrew Spencer
Directed By Andrew Spencer
Alain Maindron
Illustration By Carl Critchlow
Typed in by PADISHAR CREEL