THUNDERSCAPE FAQ SHEET This faq sheet is for the SSI RPG game thunderscape. This game is set in the new World of Aden, and combines real-time dungeon crawling with turn-based combat. This FAQ sheet contains some information available in the manual, lots of info available from the shops in the game, and a few helpful hints for playing the game (no real answers!). This FAQ is not yet complete, as I have not yet found the solutions to all of the side quests and puzzles of the game. Additional items and/or NPC's may be located in areas not yet reached. Also, I have not experienced all of the problems that may occur during gameplay. This was tested on a 486/66 vesa with a SB Pro I sound card, running the game fully off a HD (100+Mb for the game), using CD version 1.00. Thanks to everyone both on and off the net who helped with this. Rev 1.0 jmmeloy@islandnet.com 12/15/95 James Meloy Rev 1.1 jmmeloy@islandnet.com 01/10/96 James Meloy NOTE: SSI has a 900- line set up for giving out game hints. As of Jan 1/96, the numbers were : USA 1-900-737-HINT CANADA 1-900-451-6009 The v1.1 upgrade is now available from SSI's BBS. (Jan 10/96) Table of Contents Section 1 - Weapons list Section 2 - Armor list Section 3 - Magic items - books, rings, amulets, potions, books, misc Section 4 - Helpful hints Section 5 - Levels list Section 6 - Known problems Section 7 - Misc - shop locations, NPCs, errata, known 'legal' cheats Section 8 - My dream team --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION 1 - WEAPONS LIST MAX MIN SKILL ** SWORDS HANDS DAM STR BONUS CUT IMPALE BLUNT OTHER Avenger 1 28 11 --- 6-16 - User gains bonuses to hit every time they take damage Brede's Katana 1 24 12 +25 5-15 2x vs Demon Magical Broadsword 1 21 10 +25 9-14 Magical Longsword 1 23 11 +25 7-17 Magical Shortsword 1 17 8 +25 6-11 Ripper 1 30 11 +30 8-18 Sword of Ashes 1 28 11 +10 5-20 1-6 death - Double Damage vs Skeletal creatures Thunderclap 2 34 15 +30 4-24 3-13 electr Venom 1 12 8 +30 1- 6 3-8 poison Whisper 1 16 8 +10 3- 8 - Increases user's chance of scoring a critical hit - Can be used as a second weapon, in the left hand ** FENCING Fang 1 18 6 +30 7-12 5-10 - Increases user's initiative Magical Rapier 1 19 8 +25 5-10 4-9 ** KNIVES Death Dealer 1 13 6 +25 4- 9 - Does 5 extra damage to target regardless of armor Shadowblade 1 18 6 +20 5-10 4-14 poison - Raises users chance of scoring a critical hit - +10 stealth MAX MIN SKILL ** AXES / MACES HANDS DAM STR BONUS CUT IMPALE BLUNT OTHER Bert's Club 2 90 25 18-48 2x vs skele Bone Crusher 2 34 15 +25 11-26 2x vs skele Deathwish 1 32 11 + 5 7-22 5-5 death Magical 2 Handed Axe 2 27 15 +25 7-22 Magical Battle Axe 1 23 10 +25 7-17 Magical Battle Mace 2 30 15 +25 8-28 Magical Flail 1 25 10 +25 9-24 Magical War Hammer 1 25 10 +25 7-12 7-22 Skull Splitter 1 18 6 +15 4- 9 - Raises users chance of scoring a critical hit Shatterstorm 1 30 11 +30 6-16 - Grants user extra attacks MAX MIN SKILL ** POLEARMS HANDS DAM STR BONUS CUT IMPALE BLUNT OTHER Blood Staff 2 22 8 +25 6-16 - Increased resistance to poison Demon Slayer 2 26 14 +25 6-21 2x vs demon Dragon's Talon 2 28 13 +30 6-21 4-14 4-9 fire Dreamer 2 18 8 +15 6-11 - All hit must resist or be slept Magical Bardiche 2 19 10 +25 7-17 5-10 Magical Glaive 2 28 14 +25 8-23 5-15 Magical Spear 2 15 10 +25 6-11 Magical Staff 2 17 8 +25 8-18 Reaper 2 22 13 +10 6-16 5-10 death - Double damage vs skeletal creatures Trident of the Ages 2 28 14 +25 8-23 ** BOWS Crystal bow 2 20 16 1-16 - Note: Rule book and ident have different damage numbers Magical heavy crossbow 2 17 9 +25 5-15 Magical light crossbow 2 12 9 +25 5-10 Magical longbow 2 11 11 +25 6-11 Radiant bow 2 14 11 +30 4-14 4-19 electr ** GUNS Magical Handgun 2 12 10 +25 5-10 Magical Musket 2 17 12 +25 5-15 ** STEAM POWER (None found) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION TWO - ARMOR LIST ARMOR TYPE IMPALE BLUNT CUT FIRE COLD DEATH ELECT ACID POISON ----------------- ------ ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ------ Fur (all) 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 Leather (all) 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 Ring Mail (all) 1 2 4 0 0 0 0 2 4 Chain Mail (all) 3 2 4 0 0 0 0 2 4 Gold Chain (all) 3 2 4 3 3 3 3 2 4 Mithril Chain (all) 4 3 5 0 0 0 0 2 5 Manite Chain (all) 8 7 9 0 0 0 0 4 9 Plate Armor (all) 6 6 6 0 0 0 0 3 6 Great Helm 7 7 7 0 0 0 0 3 7 Mithril Plate (all) 7 7 7 0 0 0 0 3 7 Ruck's Cuirass 3 4 6 3 4 0 0 2 4 Casque 3 4 6 3 4 0 0 2 4 Greaves 3 4 3 4 0 0 0 2 4 Founders' Armor Chest 6 6 6 0 5 0 0 5 6 Legs 6 6 6 0 5 0 0 8 6 Boots 6 6 6 0 5 0 0 8 6 Helm 6 6 6 0 5 0 0 8 6 Manite Plate All 10 10 10 0 0 0 0 5 10 Great Helm 11 11 11 0 0 0 0 5 11 Radiant Plate All 10 10 10 5 5 3 5 5 10 Helm 11 11 11 5 5 3 5 5 11 MISC ARMOR Boots of Balance 5 5 5 3 4 2 2 4 6 - +20 to acrobatic skill Drythen's Shield - +25 shield skill Shadow Boots 4 4 4 0 0 0 0 2 4 - +25 to stealth, +15 knife --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION 3 - MAGIC ITEMS AMULETS: Amulet of the Void : +6 protection vs cold & death Amulet of Vigor : +5 hp / Increases resistance to poison Dancer's Amulet : +20 martial arts; +15 acrobat Demon Amulet : Increases resistance to asleep Rad Diamond Amulet : Increases resistance to disease Rad Onyx Amulet : +10 stealth skill Rad Ruby Amulet : +10 protection vs poison Rad Sapphire Amulet : +3 willpower Smithy's Ember : +6 protection vs fire RINGS: Breath of Life : +3 protection vs death Olmar's Ring : +3 Protection vs electricity Palmea's Ring : +3 Protection vs poison Pho Hum : +3 protection vs acid Ring of Protection : +1 protection to everything Ring of Warmth : +3 Protection vs cold Klesa's Ring : Increases healing rate Ring of Reflexes : Increases initiative Ring of Perception : +20 see secrets; +20 xenology Ring of the Cat : +25 acrobat; increases initiative Ring of Thurm : +20 cast spells; increases healing rate Thief's Ring : +20 lockpicking; +20 knife Thaumaturge's Ring : +20 cast spells; increases healing rate Crusader's Ring : +1 Strength Frivlar's Ring : +1 Health Ring of Agility : +1 Dexterity Sage's Ring : +1 Intelligence POTIONS: Discipline Elixer : +1 Willpower Elixir of Fortitude : +1 Health Elixir of Grace : +1 Dexterity Elixir of Might : +1 Strength Enlightenment Elixir : +1 Intelligence Herbal Remedy : Adds 6 hp to total (permanent) Mana : Restores mana to full WANDS: Lightning Rod : Casts lightning bolt spell Radiant Sceptre : Casts banish spell Wand of Ashes : Casts fireball spell Wand of Magic : Restores mana Wand of Undoing : Casts dispel spell Wand of Whispers : Casts charm spell Wilhelms Wand : Casts mana bolt BOOKS: A Master Halberdier : +50 Polearm skill Acid Rain Spellbook : +10 Cast spell skill OR learn aid spell Aid Spellbook : +10 Cast spell skill OR learn aid spell Annals of a Rogue : +25 Pick Pocket / +25 Lock Picking Archer's Handbook : +50 Bow skill Disintegrate Spellbook : +10 Cast spell skill OR learn disintegrate spell Hidden Paths : +50 See secrets skill Ice Missle Spellbook : +10 Cast spell skill OR learn ice missle spell Maelstrom Spellbook : +10 Cast spell skill OR learn maelstrom spell Merchants Handbook : +25 Fast talk skill / +25 Merchant skill Powder and Shot : +50 Firearms skill Slow Spell Spellbook : +10 Cast spell skill OR learn slow spell The Cutters Edge : +50 Knife skill The Duelists Craft : +50 Fencing skill The Hammer Stroke : +50 Axe/mace skill The Hunter's Track : +50 Stealth skill The Physical Adept : +25 Martial arts / +25 Acrobat Theurgic Principals : +50 Cast spells skill Waer's Bestiary : +50 Xenology skill Whirlwind Spellbook : +10 Cast spell skill OR learn whirlwind spell Misc Magic: Faerie Dust Pouch : Casts sleep spell Magical Healing Stone : Casts the heal spell Roscoe's Belt : +20 to fencing skill, +5 HP Talon of Anarch : Casts maelstrom spell Tear of the Beast : Casts charm spell --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION 4 - HELPFUL HINTS A separate journal is kept for each level. When creating characters, and when going up levels, SPECIALIZE! Well-rounded characters are less effective in this game. Set up each character with different non-combat skills. Build up one character's merchant skill early in the game - you will get a much better price early in the game, when it counts. Look in bookshelves for hints and special items. Characters will only go up levels immediately after a battle. They can only go up one level at a time, even if they have enough EP for more. The game will catch up by raising the character another level after each subsequent combat until the characters level matches the EP. In shops, click on buy and on identify to check out stats for items the shop has for sale (for free!). The identify option in shops will not usually give any info on items that adjust a character's primary statistics. Try equipping these items and watching to see if any numbers change ... Start every character with at least a few points in the cast spells skill, and have them learn the heal spell first. They will begin accumulating mana points from the start of the game, and you will have lots of points to burn on heal spells throughout the game. Characters with the axe/mace skill, using magical warhammers, have an edge in mighty blow damage vs swords critical hits late in the game. Characters do not need bow skill or firearm skill to use them as ranged weapons (long distance, not in combat). The bow is usable as a melee weapon, and may be used as the primary weapon for a character. When creating characters, give all character types a high dex - this is THE essential stat for upgrading weapons skills when going up levels. There are a number of actions in the game that reward the characters with experience points. Characters do not go up levels for these XP until after the next battle. Watch for this. Several times in the game, an object needs to be touched by an item in inventory. Do this by going to the character's inventory, clicking on the item (making it the mouse pointer), clicking on exit to return to the game screen, then clicking on the object that needs to be touched. 'Run and jump' is best done using the keyboard movement and jumping keys, and both hands. Use the numeric keypad 8 to run forward, and the letter 'j' to jump when the takeoff point is reached. When walking around, it may help to have the character with the highest 'see secret' skill highlighted. Some of the switches and levers in the game are touchy about where the mouse pointer is located when trying to activate them. Try moving the mouse pointer to different positions on the switch/button, or moving to get a different angle on them. Most switches and buttons can be activated from several feet away. If a character is not successful in picking a lock or opening a chest on the first try, try it again. If the character is somewhere close to the necessary level, a second or third try might work. Almost every object found in the game has a use, but not all of them are necessary for completing the game. There are several sideline quests and puzzles that do not need to be solved to complete the main quest. There are two methods for 'curing' the acid/burning status of a character. 1. Cast dispel on the character using minimum MP. This may get rid of the condition, but may also remove other 'good' effects. 2. Cast aid from a high-level character, using minimum MP. If the character casting has enough int, the aid spell will remove acid/burning, poison, and disease. Keyboard Commands not in the Manual: - F4 key - display current level and position - Page Up / Page Down (not num. keypad 9/3) - Look up / Look down - Arrow Up / Arrow Down (not num. keypad 8/2) - Scroll up/down through text on screen (scrolls, signs, books, etc) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION 5 - LEVELS LIST 1. Valley floor 2. Troll caves (keep side) 3. Keep dungeons 4. Keep main level 5. Keep tower (top level) 6. Troll caves (citadel side) 7. Golem level 8. Western Dwarf mines (sacred mines 1) 9. Lower mine level (sacred mines 2) 10. Eastern dwarf mines (sacred mines 3) 11. Karegh-Konan - upper level 12. Karegh-Konan - lower level 13. Founder's caves 14. Mantis caves / Dragonette entrance 15. Collapsed caverns 16. Catacombs 17. Sewers 18. Citadel lower level / entrance 19. Citadel main level / dungeons 20. Citadel upper level / shield generator 21. Citadel roof 22. Secret level --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION 6 - KNOWN PROBLEMS The original CD version of Thunderscape was released with some "Unstable Code" (their words, not mine). This can create some strange problems throughout the game. Corrupted level data in memory - there are a number of symptoms for this problem. If one or more of these show up, or if a problem is suspected, the only solution is as follows: - Retreat to the previous level and save game in slot 1, or identify a slot with a savegame on the prevous level. - Exit the game - In the thunderscape directory, there will be sub-directories named SAVE0, SAVE1, SAVE2, and SAVE3. These correspond to slots 1 thru 4 respectively. - Delete the highest-numbered LEVELxx.DAT file in the sub-directory containing the savegame you will be restoring. This will force the game to re-initialize the corrupted level. - Re-start the game, and load the game from the slot you deleted the corrupted level from. This means restarting the affected level from the beginning, but this is probably better than starting the game over from the beginning. Here is a list of the possible symptoms: - Missing keys/objects/buttons/switches etc that are supposed to be there. - Music or sound effects that 'echo' and repeat without stopping. - Doors that won't open, platforms that won't move, switches and buttons that won't work, any of which do work under normal circumstances. This is hard to identify, because many of these don't work at times as a normal part of the game. - Switches or buttons that have disappeared, or are now placed in 'impossible' places, such as in midair. Possible causes for this problem are as follows: - Moving through many different levels in one playing session. (I can re-create this problem moving through more than 4 different levels in any session). - Reloading a savegame while the game is actively doing something (like squishing the characters). - Having the party die, then reloading a savegame. If something strange happens, exit the game and restart from the last savegame. If the game is saved after something funny happens, that saved level may be 'corrupt', and might not be fully playable. Game exits to dos/windows with the message 'RAN OUT OF RENDER POSTS'. This is caused by having too many items of inventory dropped onto one spot. This can happen if the characters drop many different items in one place, either by 'cleaning out inventory', or by 'dropping' an NPC with lots of inventory and replacing it with another one. The solution is to drop only a few items in any one spot, or to drop only items of the same type on the same spot (ie all scrolls, all potions, all armor etc). For the NPC, clean out the NPC's inventory before replacing it with another NPC. Running the game on a HD that requires Ontrack's Disk Manager for access. There seems to be some sort of interface or disk management conflict here. The game is playable, but the saved games will be written out all over the place on the disk surface (only onto unused sectors- there is NO disk corruption problem!). This fragments the data on the HD, and gets worse each time a game is saved. If not handled properly, the game will eventually crash during a save or restore with the error message 'cannot find disk sector', and hang. The solution to this problem is to 'defragment' the hard drive on a frequent basis (I needed to do this after every 4 to 5 saves), using the defrag utility in DOS, Norton Utilities, PC tools, or any of a number of other disk management systems available. If you have crashed, you will most likely have 'lost' clusters on your HD. Run any decent disk utility to fix the problem (DOS 'chkdsk /F' and scandisk both work fine). The crashed savegame will be completely unusable. Load from a different savegame, and save over top of the one that crashed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION 7 - MISC SHOP LOCATIONS: 1 - Finea's, Valley floor, near starting point 2 - Gnash's, Lower Karegh-Konan, after caverns, before Lord of the Worms 3 - Floyd's, Sewers, near the generator room. NPC CHARACTERS: Theros the Ferran St 18 Dx 12 In 11 Wi 14 He 19 Hp 59 Mp 33 Lv 5 Swo 62 Axe 45 Bow 21 Shl 28 Merc 12 Xen 15 Meet on the starting dock - first encounter (L1) Leaves when L4 complete (capstan level) Bert the Troll St 30 Dx 7 In 5 Wi 16 He 21 Hp 64 Mp 17 Lv 5 Axe 71 M/A 43 Xen 11 Meet on the bridge, in the valley (L1) Selene the Elf St 13 Dx 17 In 19 Wi 9 He 14 Hp 96 Mp 123 Lv 12 M/A 73 Knf 160 Ste 100 Secr 19 Xen 24 Cast 117 Meet in secret room on L5 (top level of keep tower) Leaves when L5 complete Prototype 17 Golem St 26 Dx 7 In 3 Wi 40 He 26 Hp 210 Mp 0 Lv 15 Axe 180 Built on L7 (Golem level) Lord Drazul-Rapacian St 20 Dx 16 In 14 Wi 17 He 20 Hp 301 Mp 0 Lv 20 Swo 120 Axe 90 Shi 90 Pol 325 Ste 45 Secr 60 Merc 75 Sacred mines, L10, near bloody trail Arghaan the Dwarf St 20 Dx 13 In 14 Wi 16 He 22 Hp 289 Mp 0 Lv 20 Swo 100 Axe 350 Gun 100 Secr 90 Merc 35 Ashak the Jurak St 21 Dx 15 In 14 Wi 18 He 19 Hp 506 Mp 385 Lv 35 Swo 286 Axe 585 Shi 189 M/A 291 Cast 367 Tophet - Skeleton St 19 Dx 17 In 19 Wi 22 He 15 Hp 247 Mp 0 Lv 28 Swo 390 Bow 187 Shi 182 Ste 100 Xeno 151 ERRATA: The manual (P6) states that "NPCs cannot be given items by the characters, or share equipment". For NPCs who have joined the party, this is not true. "When NPCs are replaced, they take all their items in inventory with them." This is also not true. All of the items they carried are dropped into a pile on the floor. KNOWN 'LEGAL' CHEATS (v1.00): Free HP. After a character gains a level, and before performing any other actions, go into the character's inventory, and move an item. The game will give out another increment to the character's HP. Free XP. Use ranged weapons to kill a monster (at least two bows/guns are required). If missles are sent in a steady stream and hit the dying monster, the monster is 'killed' again and again, and the characters are credited with the XP for the extra 'kills'. Push one character's merchant skill over 100. (Say, 150 or 200). This allows the character to sell items in shops for more than the listed cost! With some quick buying and selling, the characters should be able to outfit themselves with the best items in the shop, and have lots of cash available for identifying items. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION 8 - My Dream Team They took care of Anthrax in 2 rounds! Brunhilde - Female Dwarf Blondie - Male Jurak Howler - Male Ferran Sheela - Female Rapacian Game Start Game End Brunh Blond Howler Sheela Brunh Blond Howler Sheela Strength 20 21 20 19 25 30 23 31 Dexterity 17 17 19 20 18 18 22 21 Intelligence 16 15 15 18 17 15 16 18 Will 9 10 10 8 10 10 10 9 Health 12 11 10 9 12 12 10 11 Hit Points 12 11 10 9 1341 1155 1211 1236 Magic Points 16 15 15 18 751 668 738 770 Level 1 1 1 1 81 81 81 82 Fencing 50 20 Axe/mace 75 75 75 50 901 901 901 901 Bow 451 301 451 Shield 25 Martial arts 20 91 93 182 Knife 70 Firearms 451 Stealth 70 Acrobatics 40 Pick Pocket 25 Lockpick 20 303 201 101 173 Fast talking 130 101 101 See secret 20 101 301 201 101 Merchant 20 211 62 6 301 Xenology 20 101 101 301 101 Cast spells 5 5 5 30 301 301 301 511 End of FAQ sheet.