Magic Carpet A collection of hints, tips, tricks and strategies. By Simon "LuDeCk" Burrows With the arrival of Magic Carpet on budget, together with its successful follow-ups: Magic Carpet II and Magic Carpet Plus, I thought that some in-depth tips may be of use for this great 3D game from Bullfrog. ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ THE BASICS ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ A sign of a well-designed game is one which allows newcomers to learn the skills of the game through the easy early levels, and then puts these skills to the test with more difficult levels later on. Magic Carpet succeeds in this respect with the first 10 levels offering a solid learning curve to base further adventure on. So one of the best ways to become a master of the carpet is to get stuck into the first 10 levels. Repeat the levels again and again if necessary until you build up a repertoire of fighting and flying skills and have become confident in all sorts of situations. It is particularly important to train a fast trigger finger, speed in switching between spells, and good control of your carpet during even the most frantic of action! To help you learn some basic fighting and flying manoeuvres, here are eight top tips: 1) As with similar 3D games such as Descent, the left and right strafe keys are vital to your success in combat situations. They allow you to maintain visual contact with your target whilst dodging left and right. Try different combinations of the strafe keys with the backward/forward keys. Some stunning, and very useful, manoeuvres can be found. 2) When attacking castles it is important not to allow the archers to target you. This can be achieved by continually flying around the perimeter of the castle whilst letting rip with offensive spells until the job is done. 3) There are two ways to fly faster than usual. The obvious is to cast an Accelerate spell, but if you can't do this, try the following tactic: turn so you are facing about 45ø left of the direction you wish to fly in, then hold down the forwards and right-strafe keys. (Or vice-versa.) 4) There is also a way to speed up turning and that is to use the backward key in conjunction with the opposite direction to that which you wish to turn to. For example, for a speed turn to the right, hold down backwards and left. 5) When being chased by an enemy, the best way to deal with them is not to turn around and face them but to suddenly travel backwards. This will take you behind them leaving you an easy shot up their rear-end. For improved success, try casting an Accelerate Backwards spell. 6) Learn to make use of advantageous landscapes such as cliffs and hollows which can be used as shelter. A good example is if an enemy castle is at the foot of a mountain. You can position yourself on the other side of the mountain, sheltered from the enemy archers, and then pop up from over the mountain only to take cheap shots before retiring back to the relative safety of the south side again. 7) To get into a crater that is too steep to dive straight down into, take a gradual downward spiral by flying around the outside walls of the crater in skateboard-esque fashion. 8) Sometimes even the above isn't possible in the narrowest of deep pits. To get into these you will need to fly until you are directly over the pit, then stop dead. You will slowly sink down into the pit, and you can then use gentle movements to position yourself as you sink. ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ ADVANCED TACTICS ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ So you've heeded my advice and mastered the first 10 levels, eh? Now you need more of a challenge, so bring on levels 11 and beyond... Here you will start experiencing more powerful sorcerers and some of the more dangerous enemies listed in the next section of this document. You will find it tough at first, but the following 10 hints, tips and strategies should help you through it: 1) Repossessing buildings is the best way of boosting your mana supply quickly and easily, and it is a method which is overlooked by many of the other wizards. 2) Careful placement of your castle is important, particularly because walls can't really be moved without the crater spell. Never build it near to an enemy castle or close to a wall. In fact, give yourself plenty of surrounding space to leave scope for expansion later on. Taking into account that the first six stages of development must be completed without interruption, ensure you build away from trouble. 3) Don't overlook the offensive power of a castle spell. Not only can it be used to build up your home base, but it can be used to destroy great armies of marauding enemies by building on top of them!! Although it uses up a lot of mana, and the castle will be quickly destroyed, you can keep building it again and again until all of the enemies are gone, then there will be a giant pool of mana which you can quickly pick up. This is even better than normal because all of the mana will be central to your new castle and so it can be picked up by your balloon quickly. Giant bees are probably the best target for this form of attack, but other large groups such as skeleton armies and archers can also be taken care of in this way. 4) In order to quickly switch between spells, you should assign them to the numbers 1 - 0 on the keyboard similar to the way weapons are automatically assigned in games like DOOM. Although it will take some time to get used to the placements, if you use the same numbers for the same spells each time you play, you will soon reap the rewards during intensive situations where fast switching is imperative. You might even find making yourself a crude keyboard overlay to show you which key is for what may be worthwhile. 5) Enemy wizards are, on the whole, pretty stupid, and can be tricked into leaving you a giant pool of mana to lap up yourself. This ploy is particularly effective where there are many wizards fighting over the same mana pool. Simply use Accelerate to get to the nearest creature, then kill it and possess its mana. Now Accelerate back to the main mana pool where the fighting was going on, and you should find that some, if not all, of the wizards will fly off to get the mana which you just possessed, leaving you with the main mana supply. 6) If you come across a rival wizard hovering above a huge pool of mana, it can be difficult to get your hands on this because he will immediately repossess any that you possess and so your balloon will never get near. However, there is a way around this. The trick is to first possess just one mana ball, and then when the wizard comes down to repossess this, quickly fire possess all over the rest of the mana so he then panics and goes to repossess all of this instead. You can then possess the first ball again. Keep repeating this. When your balloon eventually arrives you can then fire possess everywhere to claim enough mana to fill your balloon. In time you will become skilled enough to fend off enemy balloons so that you can have *all* of the mana for yourself. 7) A strong enemy with an advanced castle is bad news, and the only way to deal with them to ruin their castle. However, you can't do this on your own and will, instead, need help from surrounding creatures. I suggest Griffins if they are available. Find some such creatures, preferably a big herd of them, then fire. When they close in to attack, cast a shield spell (if available) for protection, then lead them to the enemy castle. Retreat to the centre of the enemy castle to lead the enemies right in, then Teleport or Accelerate away. The enemies will stay and should soon level the castle. When the deed has been done, wait for the herd to disperse, then move in to take possession of the mana. 8) If you find armies of enemies in woodland, you're in luck! They are far easier to destroy whilst in there because you can set light to the forest by simply firing at the trees. Often whole armies can be destroyed by this method which, incidentally, is particularly effective against skeletal armies and archer groups. 9) Sometimes there's nothing else left but to use the [SHIFT] + [L] keypress to level your own castle in an instant. This is necessary when your castle is being completely torn apart by a great swarm of enemies and it is obvious that there's no other way out. By pressing [SHIFT] + [L] and then immediately building a new castle on the same spot, you can kill most, if not all, of the monsters who were causing you so much trouble. This is better than leaving them to flatten your castle completely because in that case, they would still be alive and ready to cause you more grief later! You should remember, however, that enemy wizards will be out for your mana while you are desperately rebuilding your castle, so keep an eye out. 10) A similar tactic to the above, but one which causes less damage to yourself, is to rebuild your castle *immediately* after the enemies have destroyed a level. Obviously this will only work if you have more than two castle stages. ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ THE ENEMIES ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ Apes and Trolls ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Both of these types of monsters are slow and inaccurate so as long as you keep your distance and do not stay still for too long, you should be okay. Avoid going in close, because then you will sustain substantial damage, and particularly avoid groups of Trolls because they have the ability to regenerate which makes them very dangerous on mass. Vultures ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ These creatures don't pose much of a threat other than the fact that they are quite difficult to hit. You may find that flying straight towards them and letting fly a few fireballs does the trick, but a more effective method is to lead them to your castle, then to back off and pick them off as they circle above. Crabs ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ These critters may seem quite harmless when they are small, but that, combined with the fact that they yield very little mana, doesn't mean you should ignore them. Oh no, because if you do that they will soon grow as they consume stray mana. And when I say grow, I mean GROW - they will get very big and very dangerous very quickly! So take them out when they are small with a few fireballs. If you fail to do this, and you come across a medium-sized crab, take it out with a combination of lightning bolts and fireballs. And in the unfortunate event of finding yourself faced with a fully-grown crab, strongly consider leaving it alone. If you really want to destroy it (or have to!!), do so by attacking from behind with a large amount of mana and use Meteor spells to show it who's boss! Remember that they will regenerate quickly, so you really will need a lot of mana and a lot of fighting prowess. Dragons and Worms ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ These shouldn't cause you too much trouble unless you come across a great army of them. They are also lethal when they get their hands on your castle, so guard against this with your life. The best way to take them out is to aim for their head as this is where the most damage will be caused. Archers and Emu Riders ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ These are very easy to kill and should cause you no problem at all. Just keep back, keep moving and take long range fireball shots at them. Skeletons ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ These are similar in power to archers and therefore should not cause you too much trouble if you keep them under control. Their biggest danger comes with their desire to destroy castles - they will always be marching towards the nearest castle, and if they're not doing this they'll already be there, tearing it down!! This can be used to your benefit if the castle they're heading for is an enemy's, however, so keep an eye on all skeletons and let them march on all castles except your own. If you see them approaching your own construction, you MUST take them out quickly or live to regret it! Genies ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The genies' ability to disappear and then reappear again in a different spot makes them very difficult to kill. There's no point trying to hit them with anything less than a pair of well- aimed Meteor spells because it just won't work. The alternative is to open up a crater below them. Griffins ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ You can live in perfect harmony with these guys so long as you leave them alone. This is the recommended practice. If you hit them, however, you will know about it because they, and any surrounding griffins (didn't you know griffins are very protective of each other?) will come flying at you. They are very dangerous and so you really don't want this to happen. If you have to take out a griffin, do so with Lightning Bolt or Lightning Storm spells - anything else will either be rebounded or will have no effect. Krakens ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ These guys are best dealt with with fireballs, but make sure you stay well back because they can be dangerous. Their Duel spells should be dealt with by aiming and unleashing as many fireballs as possible as quickly as possible, and it should be noted that their Lightning bolt spell will often cancel out any Meteor spells you cast. Wyverns ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Wyverns are the ultimate in bad news and should be avoided at all costs. The only way to destroy them is with no less than 10 Meteor spells in quick succession, or by opening up four or five craters beneath them! Mana alert! ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ THIS DOCUMENT IS COPYRIGHT (c) 1996 SIMON BURROWS, AND HAS BEEN WRITTEN FOR CHEET SHEETS: E-Mail: CHEETS@SV.SPAN.COM BBS: CHEET SHEETS BBS - (01822) 833765 (3pm - 9am) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ