		     SHADOWCASTER

		     ============


CONTENTS

Installation             

Reference Sheet          

History                  

Starting the Game        

  Option Screen       

Tutorial Walkthrough     

  Main Game Screen, Movement, Combat, Life Bar, Power Bar,

  Picking Things Up, Putting Things Down, Using Things,

  Eating and Drinking, Morphing, Abilities,

  Option Screen, Inventory Overview, Automap Screen,

  View Window Size, Opening and Closing, Cursors, Continuing to Play,

  Death, Your Character

Different Forms

  Kirt, Maorin, Caun, Opsis, Kahpa, Ssair, Grost

Troubleshooting



The forces of Good had won, but at what cost? The People were

virtually destroyed and their great city turned into a haunted

ruin. The gods, appalled by the slaughter, turned their backs on

The People. The gift of morphing was intended to be used for the

benefit of all but The People had instead used it to establish a

class of rulers and servants. In this they had gone against the

will of the gods.


One god, Tovason, did not entirely abandon The People. If they

kept watch against evil he promised they would eventually return

to their former greatness. The People built a village around the

temple and kept guard against Veste's return. Through the years

they mingled with other tribes and the gift of morphing slowly

faded away. Eventually, only two of The People carried this gift.

They were wed and bore a child they named Kirt.


At his birth the old gods gathered. Malkor had been growing in

power and down every path the gods could see lay their ruin and

destruction - Malkor triumphant and all the lands enslaved. But

down the path Kirt would travel the gods could see nothing. It

was as if he cast a shadow over the future of the worlds.


Kirt was given the name Shadowcaster. In him resided the hope of

The People and the ancient gods. But Malkor and his followers

learned of this hope. One moonless night the doors of the temple

flew open and Veste somehow alive centuries after he had fled

raided the village. He attacked the house where Kirt lay sleeping

and slew his mother and father.


But Tovason had been watching the child. Just before Veste and

his beasts entered the child's room. Kirt under the care of the

last Holy One was sent to a far-away land where magic was little

known and less respected. There Kirt grew into maturity under the

guidance of a man he called Grandfather.


Grandfather kept close watch over Kirt for he knew the Evil Ones

were searching everywhere for him. One night a storm arose in

which Grandfather recognized the power of Malkor. On that night

Grandfather told Kirt of his heritage and sent him back to The

People just ahead of the rending claws of Malkor's slaves.


Kirt, with little knowledge of this new world, acquires the power

to change shape by touching an obelisk that puts him in contact

with the gods. He fights his way through the ruined cursed city

of The People to cleanse it of a great evil, and discovers a way

to the temple at the center of The People's village. 


By the time he gets there Veste warned of Kirt's escape from the

world Earth has struck again. He has carried off the last

remaining People and has left Kirt a trail to follow through a

series of dangerous worlds where evil creatures wait to destroy

him.


The trail is clear, but can Kirt defeat the successively more

powerful servants of Malkor - and defeat Veste in a showdown of

Virtue versus Despair to restore The People to the favor of the

gods?



INSTALLATION


If you are running a disk cache such as Smartdrive, you will need

to disable it prior to installing Shadowcaster to insure a clean

installation.  This only affects the installation Smartdrive will

work normally during gameplay.


1.   Insert CD-ROM into CD-ROM drive.

2.   Type the letter of your CD-ROM, a colon then press <Enter>.

3.   Type CD\shadow <Enter> then type install <Enter>.

4.   The Main Menu appears:

     Install Shadowcaster

     Configure sound

     Exit


     To select a menu item use <arrow up> and <arrow down> to

     highlight the option you want. Select "Install Shadowcaster".


     The highlighted option appears as blue text in a gray box.

     Press <Enter> to select a highlighted option.

     Other options on the screen:


     F1    Help

     F2    Visit DOS (for small tasks)

     F3    System summary

     F4    To Quit


5.   You must install Shadowcaster on a hard drive. The

     installation program detects which drives have enough free

     space and lists them. Use the Up arrow key and Down arrow 

     key or type the letter of the drive on which you want to 

     install Shadowcaster.


     Note: DoubleSpace drives will prompt a warning message.

     Select Y and continue. Shadowcaster has been fully tested

     with the DoubleSpace disk compression utility that shipped

     with MS-DOS version 6.0. We cannot guarantee the

     compatibility of our games with other disk compression

     utilities.


6.   Press <Enter> to select the default directory

     or choose another by typing the directory name and pressing

     <Enter>.  The default directory will be SHADOW unless there

     is already a SHADOW directory on your chosen Hard Drive. In

     that case the default will be caster.


7.   Once the program begins installing files on your hard disk

     you may abort installation by pressing any key.


8.   When you return to the Main Menu after installation

     the configure sound option is highlighted. Press <Enter> to

     configure sound. Your options:


     Sound Blaster Plus General Midi Device (Sound Blaster plays

     your Sound Effects and General MIDI plays the music.)


     Sound Blaster only (Sound Blaster plays both your sound

     effects and music.)


     General Midi device only (General MIDI plays music, and you

     will have no sound effects.)


     None (You will have neither sound effects nor music.)


     Once the digitized sound configuration information is 

     available, this next screen appears.


       Shall I perform a sound effects test using Port xxx 

       and IRQ x, and DMA channel x?


     Press Y to hear the sound effects test, press N to skip it,

     or Control X to exit the installation program. If you 

     press Y, you will hear a "shimmery"  sound effect.


     If you chose either option involving General MIDI, you 

     will be presented with screens asking you for the correct 

     port and IRQ for your General MIDI device. Then the following 

     box appears:

       Shall I perform a music test using Port xxx and IRQ x?


     Press Y to hear the music test, press N to return to the Main

     Menu, or press X to exit the installation program. If you 

     press Y, you will hear a brief fanfare. You are then returned

     to the Main Screen.


     If you do not hear either the music or sound effect, consult

     Troubleshooting and/or General MIDI.


9.   When installation is complete, select exit to return to DOS.

     You will be in the directory in which you installed the

     game. To play, type shadow.


10.  If you have never played Shadowcaster before, consult the

     tutorial walkthrough that explains everything you need to

     know to get started. If you encounter any difficulties,

     consult the Troubleshooting section. If problems persist,

     call ORIGIN Product Support.


Changing Your Configuration

If you ever add a sound card (or change from one sound card to

another) you will need to reconfigure your sound system.

Simply return to the drive and directory where you installed the

game and type install. This allows you to change the selections

you made when you originally installed Shadowcaster. Select

configure sound from the menu and follow Step 8 from

Installation.


Optimizing Your System

If you are experiencing problems running Shadowcaster or do not

have the appropriate amount of memory, it might help to create a

separate boot disk or decrease the number of memory-resident

programs (TSRs) you have loaded.


Do not delete your AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS files

completely - without them, your computer will not function.


Creating A Boot Disk

To make a boot disk:

1. Put a blank floppy disk into your "A" drive.

2. From the C:\ prompt, type in FORMAT A:/S <Enter> (SYS A: may be 

   used in place of this command if the disk is pre-formatted). 

3. After the format is complete, type in COPY C:\CONFIG.SYS A:

   <Enter>.

4. Type COPY C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT A: <Enter>.

5. Type EDIT A:\CONFIG.SYS, then edit your file to resemble the

   below configurations as closely as possible.  Put REM in front

   of any line that doesn't seem necessary. Example: 

   REM C:\WINDOWS\FSHLP.SYS".

6. Save the modified file by using the editor's File menu to

   Save, and then Exit.

7. Type EDIT A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and modify this file in the same

   manner as the CONFIG.SYS.

8. Save and exit the AUTOEXEC.BAT

9. Reboot your system with your boot disk in the A: drive, then 

   try to play the game!



Modifying CONFIG.SYS

Determine which memory management system you are using (if any) 

from those listed below, and type the appropriate commands:


CONFIG.SYS using QEMM

     device=c:\qemm\qemm386.sys ram

     files=30

     buffers=30

     dos=high

     devicehigh=c:\sb16\drv\<CD-ROM device driver>

     shell=c:\dos\command.com c:\dos /p


CONFIG.SYS using DOS 5 or DOS 6's EMM386.EXE

     device=c:\dos\himem.sys

     device=c:\dos\emm386.exe noems

     files=30

     buffers=30

     dos=high,umb

     devicehigh=c:\sb16\drv\<CD-ROM device driver>

     shell=c:\dos\command.com c:\dos /p


CONFIG.SYS using DOS 6.x, EMM386.EXE and DBLSPACE or DRVSPACE

     device=c:\dos\himem.sys

     device=c:\dos\emm386.exe 3072 /i=b000-b7ff ram

     files=30

     buffers=30

     dos=umb

     dos=high

     devicehigh=c:\sb16\drv\<CD-ROM device driver>

     (Users with DLBSPACE should include the next line)

     devicehigh=c:\dos\dblspace.sys/move

     (Users with DRVSPACE should include the next line)

     devicehigh=c:\dos\drvspace.sys /move

     shell=c:\dos\command.com c:\dos /p


CONFIG.SYS using XMS

     device=c:\dos\himem.sys

     files=30

     buffers=30

     dos=high

     devicehigh=c:\sb16\drv\<CD-ROM device driver>

     shell=c:\dos\command.com c:\dos /p


* Note: EMS memory is not necessary to play Shadowcaster!


Modify AUTOEXEC.BAT

Your AUTOEXEC.BAT file resemble the following:

     path=c:\dos

     prompt $p$g

     set sound=c:\sb16 (default)

     set blaster=a220 i5 d1 h5 p330 t6 (default settings)

     (Add your mouse driver here)

     set comspec=c:\dos\command.com

     c:


(The AUTOEXEC.BAT file does not vary with different memory drivers.)


"set sound" should be the directory in which you installed the Sound

Blaster software - the default directory is "SB16".


"set blaster" variables will vary if you changed the configuration of 

the Sound Blaster sound card.


You may also add SMARTDRV.EXE to the AUTOEXEC.BAT to improve system

performance. For example, add:

   c:\dos\smartdrv.exe 2048, or

   lh c:\dos\smartdrv.exe 2048


See below for more information on SMARTDRV.EXE



Disk Cache Set-Up

It is recommended that you DO NOT install the game with 

SMARTDRV.EXE active - put it in afterwards or temporarily disable your

disk cache! To disable, type REM <spacebar> before the C:\DOS\SMARTDRV 

line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT FILE.  To enable your disk cache after 

installation, delete the addition.  Users with only 4MB RAM should not 

specify more than 256K on the SMARTDRV.EXE driver line. Bus Master Hard 

Drive Controller users may need to load SMARTDRV.EXE's double buffering

driver in the CONFIG.SYS if they encounter graphic distortion.

   Example: "device=c:\dos\smartdrv.exe double_buffer"


Users that have more than 16MB of RAM mayhave install problems due

to DMA functions only being able to access up to 16MB. If you have a

problem, try using a large SMARTDRV.EXE cache and/or RAMDRIVE.SYS ram

drive to trick the game into thinking that you have less memory.



Mouse Set-Up

Be sure that you are using a 100% Microsoft-compatible mouse driver 

- a Microsoft version 7.0 or higher mouse driver is preferable.  

If you are using a boot disk, this driver must be loaded within 

your boot disk configuration.  Since the command line may differ 

from mouse to mouse, consult your hard drive's AUTOEXEC.BAT or you 

mouse user's guide.

     One example:  C:\MOUSE\MOUSE.COM


Be sure to include your specific mouse driver line in the AUTOEXEC.BAT

file of your boot disk.  When you want to play Shadowcaster, insert

the boot disk in the A: drive and start or restart your computer.


Expanded Memory

Expanded memory is not crucial to play Shadowcaster - once running 

there is no difference between base RAM, EMS and XMS.  But an upper

memory manager such as Quarterdeck's QEMM386.SYS and Microsoft's

HIMEM.SYS is required.  These memory managers are installed by

adding the device line to the CONFIG.SYS file on your computer.


Do not change EMS or XMS configuration once you've started playing

Shadowcaster.  There is a possibility that mid-game reconfiguration

may prevent you from continuing the game.



REFERENCE SHEET


WALKING, RUNNING, SWIMMING. Press and hold left mouse button

while cursor is in View Window. The farther from the center of

the window your cursor is, the faster you move. The shape of the

arrow determines direction.


JUMPING. Press the right mouse button while jump icon is selected

and the cursor is in the View Window. Your speed determines how

far you jump.


COMBAT. Left-click on a hand, foot or other attack icon to

activate it, then right-click on your target.


PICKING UP AND DROPPING OBJECTS. Right-click on object to pick it

up. Right-click near bottom of View Window to drop object.


USING THINGS. Activate icon or hand-with-object by left-clicking,

then right-click cursor over target.


OPENING AND CLOSING. Right-click on object.


CURSORS. White Arrow inside View Window. No option is currently

selected.

     * Black and Red Crosses. Hand/appendage is selected.

     * Orange and Black Circles. Ability is selected.

     * Glowing Blue Cross. Ability is selected.



KEYBOARD CONTOLS

Use of the mouse may be supplemented by the following keyboard 

commands:


Mouse     

Left Click          <Enter>

Right Click         <Spacebar>


Game System    

Toggle between Normal mode

and Mega mode       <Tab>

Options             F1

Sound               F7

Music               F8


Movement  

Fly/Swim Down       -

Fly/Swim Up         +

Move Ahead          <arrow up> 

Turn Left           <arrow left>

Turn Right          <arrow right>

Back Up             <arrow down> 


(Keypad)  

Move Ahead          8

Move Ahead Left     7

Move Ahead Right    9

Turn Left           4

Turn Right          6

Sidestep Left       1

Sidestep Right      3

Back Up             2


Selection

Up                  E

Left                S

Right               D

Down                X

Open/Close          O

Pick Up/Put Down    O

Automap             F2

Left "Hand"         F3

Right "Hand"        F4

First Ability       F5

Second Ability      F6



HISTORY

Kirt is a descendent of a magical race which calls itself The

People. The People enjoyed a special relationship with both the

gods and the dwellers of other planes; they were permitted to

take the shapes of these distant beings for short durations, as

they permitted the others to take on human form.


This exchange worked for the benefit of both The People and the

fantastic creatures from the other planes. The People used it to

accomplish tasks that were otherwise beyond their powers, while

the fantastic creatures used it to do things only the human form

permitted and to use one shape's strengths to compensate for

another's weaknesses.


The gods gave the gift of morphing to the most worthy of The

People. Enjoying as they did the gods' favor and the special

powers this entailed, The People built a magnificent civilization

and enjoyed a great and peaceful time under their rulers.

Trusting the wisdom of the gods to select the most worthy

individuals, those who had the greatest morphing abilities were

chosen to lead The People.


Not all of The People appreciated this arrangement. Most notable

among these were those to whom the gods had declined to give the

gift of morphing in any form. These formed a subcaste and were

generally regarded (and treated) as less than People.


To these, Malkor, the outcast god, appeared and promised power

and riches if they would worship him and follow his ways. Members

of the subcaste eagerly followed Malkor, who provided a different

and evil variation on the gift of morphing.


Followers of Malkor would capture animals, People, and the

fantastic creatures and slay them in horrific, painful rites.

Through these rites, they acquired the power to change into the

shape of those they destroyed.


Flaunting their new powers, the most powerful of Malkor's minions

were given positions of power over The People. The manner of the

gods' choosing had always been a private affair - the fact

someone had been deemed worthy was evidenced by the shapes they

received and not any divine announcement. As the Evil One's

followers grew in number and power, slowly The People came under

the control of their least worthy and most evil members. 


At a great feast to honor the gods, Riodn, the great holy man,

revealed the practice of the evil rites - and named the ones who

were following Malkor. At this feast, Veste, leader of the evil

People, killed Riodn, and the Kin Murders began.


In the course of the civil wars that followed, the morphing

powers were used to destroy The People, their city and the

civilization they had created. In the final battle, the followers

of Good drove Veste and his servants into a temple some distance

from the city. There Veste mocked them and vowed to return to

bring final doom to The People. He then closed the temple doors

so that none could enter.


The forces of Good had won, but at what cost? The People were

virtually destroyed and their great city turned into a haunted

ruin. The gods, appalled by the slaughter, turned their backs on

The People. The gift of morphing was intended to be used for the

benefit of all, but The People had instead used it to establish a

class of rulers and servants. In this, they had gone against the

will of the gods.


One god, Tovason, did not entirely abandon The People. If they

kept watch against evil, he promised, they would eventually

return to their former greatness. The People built a village

around the temple and kept guard against Veste's return. Through

the years they mingled with other tribes and the gift of morphing

slowly faded away. Eventually, only two of The People carried

this gift. They were wed and bore a child they named Kirt.


At his birth, the old gods gathered. Malkor had been growing in

power, and down every path the gods could see lay their ruin and

destruction - Malkor triumphant and all the lands enslaved. But,

down the path Kirt would travel, the gods could see nothing. It

was as if he cast a shadow over the future of the worlds.


Kirt was given the name Shadowcaster. In him resided the hope of

The People and the ancient gods. But Malkor and his followers

learned of this hope. One moonless night the doors of the temple

flew open and Veste, somehow alive centuries after he had fled,

raided the village. He attacked the house where Kirt lay sleeping

and slew his mother and father.


But Tovason had been watching the child. Just before Veste and

his beasts entered the child's room, Kirt, under the care of the

last Holy One, was sent to a far-away land where magic was little

known and less respected. There Kirt grew into maturity under the

guidance of a man he called Grandfather.


Grandfather kept close watch over Kirt, for he knew the Evil Ones

were searching everywhere for him. One night a storm arose in

which Grandfather recognized the power of Malkor. On that night,

Grandfather told Kirt of his heritage and sent him back to The

People, just ahead of the rending claws of Malkor's slaves.


Kirt, with little knowledge of this new world, acquires the power

to change shape by touching an obelisk that puts him in contact

with the gods. He fights his way through the ruined, cursed city

of The People to cleanse it of a great evil, and discovers a way

to the temple at the center of The People's village. 


By the time he gets there, Veste, warned of Kirt's escape from

the world Earth, has struck again. He has carried off the last

remaining People, and has left Kirt a trail to follow through a

series of dangerous worlds where evil creatures wait to destroy

him.


The trail is clear, but can Kirt defeat the successively more

powerful servants of Malkor - and defeat Veste in a showdown of

Virtue versus Despair to restore The People to the favor of the

gods?


STARTING THE GAME

1.   First, install Shadowcaster on your Hard Disk. 

2.   Select the drive on which the game is installed. (For

     example, if you installed the game on your C drive, type C:

     <Enter>.)

3.   Select your Shadowcaster directory. (If you used our default

     directory, type CD\SHADOW <Enter>.)

4.   Start the game by typing SHADOW <Enter>.


An introductory sequence begins with origin presents - Raven

Software Game. If you haven't played the game before (or have

never 'saved' your previous adventures), the game proceeds to the

Introduction. This provides background information you need to

complete your adventure. If you have not already saved a game,

immediately following the Introduction you begin a new game. (If

you have already seen the Introduction, you can press <Spacebar> 

or <Esc> to bring on the following screen.) 


Option Screen

The left side of the screen holds up to four small Saved Game

View Windows for saved games. The middle of the screen holds the

options. The upper right of the screen holds a larger View Window

for the current game or the currently selected saved game. Below

this is a Score Bar that contains your total current score, and

below the Score Bar is the Text Box. The Text Box holds text

showing either the first line for each saved game (when no saved

game has been selected), or the text you entered for the

currently selected saved game when you saved it. The lower right

of the screen contains the Text Bar. When you select options,

prompts may appear here to tell you what to do next.


New. Starts over at the beginning of a game.


Quit. Returns you to DOS without saving your current game.


Return. Sends you back to the game you were playing when you

chose to enter the Option Screen. (This option is grayed out and

cannot be selected when you do not enter the Option Screen from a

game in progress.)


Load. Returns you to a previously saved game.

     Select a saved game by clicking on its Saved Game View

     Window. This causes a larger version of this View Window to

     appear in the top right of the screen and the additional

     information you entered about the game to appear in the Text 

     Box at the bottom right. Once you have selected the game you 

     want to load, click on Load.


Save. Stores the current game. Select Save, choose a Saved Game

View Window by clicking on it, and enter up to eight lines of

text (Save Info Text) about the game being saved. When you have

finished entering this information, press <Esc> to complete the save.

The Save Info Text helps identify the saved game. You may then

click on return to continue.


After saving a game, one of the four boxes on the left of

the screen displays a small View Window for that game, and the

first line of each Save Info Text is shown in the Text Box. (The

save option is grayed out and cannot be selected when you do not

enter the Option Screen from a game in progress.)


Sound. (Speakers Icon) Toggles sound effects off and on. When

sound is on, the icon has a red border.


Music. (Musical Notes Icon) Toggles music off and on. When music

is on, the icon has a red border.


Difficulty. (Weight Lifter Icon) Adjusts the difficulty of the

game. There are five different difficulty levels; the game is

preset to the third level. When you select this option, a screen

appears that allows you to set the difficulty level from wimp

(easiest) to hero (hardest). The amount of points you are awarded

is tied to the difficulty level. The game is much easier to get

through at the wimp level than at the hero level, but if you can

make it through the game at hero, your score is much higher.


You select an option by moving the cursor over it and

left-clicking.



TUTORIAL WALKTHROUGH

NOTE: If you would like to use keyboard commands to supplement

the mouse commands we give here, see the Reference Sheet. The

first time you play the game you are placed in the situation

described below (after the Introduction).


Since the game starts with you being attacked by a slobbering

beast, you may want to read the Main Game Screen, Movement and

Combat sections of this tutorial before you actually begin play.


Main Game Screen

The game begins in Normal Mode - the screen you see most of the

time. In the upper left is the View Window - the world as you see

it. Look below the View Window to see the six icons of the

Selection Bar. To the right of the View Window you find the

Portrait Panel. Your Portrait is at the top of this panel, and to

either side of it are purple Size Gems to control the size of the

View Window. (We'll discuss Size Gems later) 


Look below the Portrait - the horizontal gray bar is the Score

Bar. Eight Inventory Boxes are just below the Score Bar. The

ninth, gold-outlined box is the Inventory Overview Button.

Finally, at the very bottom of the right side are more Ability

Icons. Depending on your current shape, there are up to six of

these.


Now look above the View Window. There is a blue bar on the left,

a small box in the center showing the letter E, and a red bar on

the right. The blue bar is the Power Bar, which shows your

current power reserves. The small box is your Compass, and it now

shows that the direction you're facing is east. The red bar is

the Life Bar, and it shows the life energy of your current shape.

To either side of the View Window are borders with small purple

Altitude Gems in them. These gems show your altitude - an

important feature when you are swimming or flying. Beneath the

Selection Bar is a blank area that displays text throughout the

game - the Text Bar.


Movement

Try moving your mouse around the screen - but don't press any

buttons yet. As you move the mouse in the View Window, the mouse

cursor assumes arrow shapes corresponding to its position in the

window. When you move the cursor outside the View Window, it

becomes gray cross-hairs.


Two rules govern movement:


Rule 1. While your cursor is inside the View Window, its position

determines the direction in which you move if you

left-click-and-hold the mouse button. When the cursor is an

arrow, its shape indicates direction. When it points right, you

travel to the right; when it points upward, you travel forward,

and so forth.


Rule 2. The speed at which you move depends on how far your

cursor is from the center of the View Window. When the cursor is

centered, you don't move at all. As you move the cursor closer to

any edge of the View Window, you move more rapidly.


During the course of the game, you gain the ability to morph into

the forms of other races. You get their abilities and their

weaknesses, as well as their method of movement. Some of your

metaforms can fly, others can swim. To change altitude while

flying, floating or swimming, click on either of the Altitude

Bars - the two thin columns to either side of the View Window

with the purple gems. To dive, click at the very bottom of an

Altitude Bar; to surface, click at the very top. To go higher,

click above one of the small gems. To go lower, click below one.


Combat

You begin the game in human form, locked in an outdoor "room."

Before you can explore, you have to dispose of the monster that

is rapidly approaching. 


In the Selection Bar (below the View Window) are six icons. Two

of these look like hands and one looks like a foot. To hit the

monster, left-click on one of the hand icons. This is now

outlined in white to show that it is active. Move the cursor back

into the View Window until it is over the monster. Now

right-click. Note that the cursor changed to a red cross when you

selected the hand. This red cross appears whenever a hand (or

appropriate appendage) is selected, except when an object is

cursor-grabbed.


When you hit the monster, a small star appears where you hit the

creature and you hear the sound of an impact. When a monster hits

you, you are pushed back (unless you are against a wall), you

make a grunting sound and your Life Bar decreases.


If you are unable to hit the monster, you are probably too far

from it. Place the cursor at the top of the screen above the

monster and hold down the left mouse button while attacking. This

keeps moving you toward the monster and helps to offset changes

in distance caused by you and the monster pushing each other

back. If you have difficulty holding down the left mouse button

while clicking the right mouse button, try holding down the left

mouse button while pressing <spacebar> to attack (instead of

right-clicking).


To use the kick attack, click on the foot icon. The hand icon

loses its white border and the foot icon gets a white border.

(Note that the cursor has changed to an orange circle. This

cursor appears whenever one of the first two Abilities are

chosen.) Attack the same way you did for the hand - place the

cursor on or above the monster, and right-click or press <Spcebar>.


When you defeat the monster, it collapses into a small shape on

the floor. Look at your Score Bar - you see that it is no longer

0. Winning a combat increases your score.



Life Bar

Being hit by a monster decreases your Life Bar. Click on the Life

Bar to find out exactly how much life energy you have left. A

message in the Text Bar appears, giving both your current Life

and potential maximum Life.


Later in the game, when you acquire additional metaforms, notice

that while the amount of current and maximum Life varies from one

metaform to another, the percentage of current Life remains

constant. For example, if the Caun (with a maximum possible Life

of 20) has a current Life of 5, then the Grost (with a maximum 

Life of 200) has a current Life of 50 - Life is at 25% of maximum 

in both instances.


Don't worry too much about losing Life, though. There are three

ways for you to regain Life. Given time, in human form, you

slowly heal on your own. Also, a metaform that you acquire later

in the game - the Caun - heals very rapidly. The Caun also have

an Ability to turn Power into Life. A third way to regain Life is

to drink a healing potion.


Power Bar

Power is tracked across metaforms as a single number. If one form

has a current Power of 30 and a maximum Power of 50, then all

forms have a current Power of 30 and a maximum Power of 50. Only

as a human can you naturally regain Power. If a metaform runs out

of Power you will morph back to human no matter where you are or

what you are doing. The maximum amount of Power that you can

generate depends on your score. In addition to the score you earn

while as a human, your human form gets a percentage of the scores

earned by the non-human forms.


Power is used to morph to metaforms, and also to use certain

metaform Abilities.


Picking Things Up

Now take a stroll around the courtyard, explore a little, and

notice the objects on the ground. One of these is a vial

containing a red-colored liquid. To pick up the vial, approach

until you are close to the vial (the vial is visible at the

bottom of the screen).


Move the cursor over the red vial and right-click (or press 

<Spacebar>). If you are close enough to the vial, you can pick 

it up. See how the cursor becomes the vial. If this does not pick 

up the vial, you are too far away. 


Move closer to the vial until right-clicking picks it up. Note

that you don't have to hold the mouse button down to move the

vial. You can also "grab" items that are in a hand or inventory

box by moving the cursor over them and right-clicking. 


Putting Things Down

Go ahead and right-click again to put the vial down. If you still

have a hand or a foot selected, you might make an attack-like

movement. In that case, left-click on the selected icon (the one

with the white border) to deselect it. If your cursor is near the

ground (at the bottom of the View Window), right-clicking drops

the vial. You could also drop the vial into a hand or an

inventory box by moving it over the hand or inventory box and

right-clicking. If the hand or inventory box already contains an

item, you "cursor-grab" that item when you "cursor-drop" the item

you are currently holding - a simultaneous exchange.


You can only put things down by right-clicking if no other option

is selected (no icon is bordered in white).


Now is a good time to practice. Right-click on the vial to pick

it up. Move it over an empty inventory box and right-click again

to put it in the box.


Using Things

Look around until you find a wand with a green tip. Pick it up

and place it in an inventory box.


To use most things, you need to be actively holding them. In

other words, a "cursor-grab" is not enough - they must be in a

hand (or appropriate appendage) and that hand (or appendage) must

be selected.


Now pick up the wand from the inventory box and move it over a

hand. Right-click to put it in the hand, and then activate it by

left-clicking on that hand. (A quicker method is to left-click on

the object in your inventory - it appears, selected, in the right

hand.) Now move the cursor to a far wall and right-click. You see

a blazing fireball come out of the wand and hit the wall. Don't

do this too often - you have a limited number of fireballs.


Manipulating objects is an important skill to master. Try

right-clicking on an empty inventory box. The wand appears in

that box. The hand which held the wand is now empty, but it is

still active (has a white border). Left-click on the hand to

deselect it (white border goes away). Now left-click on the wand.

The wand appears in the right hand and the hand is selected. Now

left-click on the red vial. The red vial appears in the hand

which remains selected. The wand is now in the inventory box

which had held the vial. Now left-click on an empty inventory

box, and the vial appears in that box. The hand is again empty,

but remains selected. Deselect it (left-click).


There are a number of different items in the game. Things such as

armor provide benefits to your metaforms as soon as they are

placed in your inventory. Some items can only be used by

particular forms. To use a weapon, put it in a selected

hand/appendage, then click on what you want to attack in the View

Window. 


Eating and Drinking

Right-clicking with an item on your Portrait is how you consume

things. The only reason for you to eat or drink is to heal or get

special powers. You don't get hungry or thirsty during this game.


One more thing. Pick up the red vial, move it over your Portrait

and right-click. If you were hit in combat, some or all of your

missing Life is restored.


Morphing

In the center of the room is a green obelisk with a red tip - you

can't have missed it. In the course of the game, when you find an

obelisk like this one and right-click on it, you are granted a

new metaform as the obelisk disappears. Click on it now.


The metaform you have just been granted is for the Maorin - a

six-legged cat. You can now see the icon for the Maorin shape in

the Ability icon area in the lower right of the screen. Select

this icon. The Portrait Panel is briefly taken over by an

animated sequence showing the transformation from human to

Maorin. When the transformation is complete, the side panel goes

back to its original state, with the new Maorin portrait.


Look at your Power Bar, and notice that it has decreased

somewhat. This is because it costs Power to morph into a

non-human form - as well as to maintain that form once you have

assumed it. If you run out of Power while a non-human, you

automatically morph back to human. If you happen to be at the

bottom of a lake or flying over quicksand at the time, this

spells certain death. So be careful with your Power - when you

need it, you don't want to be running low.


Click on the Life and Power Bars and watch the Text Bar. Now

click on the human icon in the lower right of the screen. You see

the animation morph in reverse. When you click on the Life and

Power Bars, you should notice that the Power remains unchanged,

but the Life is different between human and Maorin.


Once again, click on the maorin icon.


Abilities

When you look at the Selection Bar, notice that some of the icons

have changed. The hand icons are now paw icons. (If you select

one of these and right-click in the View Window, you see the

Maorin's double-pawed claw attack.) Also, the foot icon has been

replaced with an eye icon.


Each metaform has at least two abilities (the rightmost icons of

the Selection Bar). For the Maorin these abilities are Jump and

Cat Sight. Selecting an icon turns its border white. Select the

cat sight icon. Right-click in the View Window; a number of

things happen. The border for the icon turns red - telling you

that an Effect has begun. The red border remains around the icon

until the effect goes away. You now have Cat Sight; Maorin can

sometimes see infra-red. When you use Cat Sight, the View Window

takes on a reddish cast and sometimes items which were hidden can

be seen - Cat Sight can be used to find hidden symbols and traps.

It works for a limited amount of time, and then your sight

returns to normal. If you were watching the Power Bar when you

right-clicked, you saw it decrease. This is because Cat Sight

costs Power. 


Other metaforms in the game give you other Abilities, either in

the Selection Bar or under the Inventory Area. Use them the same

as you did Cat Sight - select them and then apply them by

right-clicking in the View Window. Some of these abilities cost

you Power and some do not. If the Ability is an attack, you must

right-click over the target for that attack, the same as you

would if you were using any other weapon.


Select the jump icon and right-click in the View Window. The

screen image dips as you jump up and forward. Now try moving

ahead and simultaneously right-clicking in the View Window to

leap farther.


Because you are in a confined place, it is difficult to use the

Jump Ability now. Later in the game, however, jumping over or on

top of things may be important.


Option Screen

The leftmost icon on the Selection Bar is for the Option Screen.

Select this icon (left-click on it) to bring up the Option

Screen.


Going into the Option Screen pauses the game.


You saw this screen when you started the game. This is where you:

*    save a game, 

*    quit your current game, 

*    return to an existing game, 

*    load a saved game, 

*    toggle sound off or on, 

*    toggle music off or on, and 

*    set your difficulty level.


Refer to Starting the Game for more information on how these

work. Select the return option to continue your game.


Inventory Overview

You can see all your available forms and what they have in their

inventory and hands (etc.) by clicking on the gold-outlined

Inventory Overview Button (at the bottom right of the inventory

boxes). This causes the Inventory Overview Screen to appear. The

red line under the Maorin's icon on this screen shows that he is

the currently active form.


Click anywhere to resume the game.


Automap Screen

Between the option screen icon and the left paw icon there is a

button that looks like a piece of parchment - the automap icon.

When this is selected, the Automap Screen appears. Left-click on

this icon.


The Location Arrow in the Detailed Map shows where you are and

what general direction you are facing. The upper right of the map

shows an Overview Map that represents a larger, less detailed

area. By left-clicking different areas on the Overview Map, you

change what the Detailed Map is showing. The automap only shows

where you have actually been and not necessarily what you have

only seen. At this point, that's not much. You can get an idea of

your relative position in the larger area by looking at the map

in the upper right. The blinking red dot shows where you are

located.


Below the smaller map is the Return Bar. Below this is a small

View Window of what you saw when you entered the map. Still lower

is a Compass that shows the direction you were facing when you

selected the automap - it is more precise than the Location

Arrow. Once you've mapped multiple levels, clicking the Level

Indicator arrows will change maps. Select the Return Bar to

return to your game.


View Window Size

You have a fair amount of control over the View Window. Try

clicking on the Size Gem to the left of the Portrait. The size of

the View Window shrinks. Click on this gem several times until

the View Window reaches its minimum size.


Shrinking the size of the View Window speeds up the frame rate in

the game, making things move more smoothly. This option is

recommended for people who have 386 systems.


Now click on the Size Gem to the right of the Portrait. As you

might have guessed, this causes the View Window to get bigger.

When the View Window has reached its apparent maximum size, click

one more time. This puts the game into Mega Mode. Mega Mode slows

the frame rate and is only recommended for people using 486 (or

faster) systems.


In Mega Mode, the left side of the screen from top to bottom

becomes the View Window and takes up approximately 80 percent of

the screen. The Text Bar only appears when there is a text

message.


Obviously, in Mega Mode there is not room for all icons, etc. to

be on the screen at once, so there are two side panels. To toggle

between the two side panels, left-click on the Portrait. In Mega

Mode, the Life and Power Bar appear to either side of the

Portrait. When you morph, the change is shown in the Portrait

window only. 


There is only one View Window border in Mega Mode - between the

View Window and the side panel. At the top of the border is a

small gem. Click on this gem now to return the game to Normal

mode.


Opening and Closing

When you clicked on the obelisk, you unlocked the door on the

east wall. Save the game and then open the door (right-click on

it) and embark on your adventure. Right-clicking opens and closes

doors and other barriers (if they aren't locked).


Cursors

There are four different types of cursor in the game to help you

remember what is currently selected:

*    White Arrow inside View Window. No icon is currently

     selected and you can pick up/put down items or open/close 

     things by right-clicking.

*    Black and Red Crosses. A hand appendage is selected.

*    Orange and Black Circles. One of your two Abilities from the

     Selection Bar is selected.

*    Glowing Blue Cross. One of your Abilities from under the

     inventory boxes is selected.


Continuing To Play

This walkthrough should have provided enough information to get

you started. At some point you should read the rest of this

document, which includes information about the metaforms you

eventually acquire and other useful information.


Some things to keep in mind:

*    When you see a black sparkling floor, step on it to

     teleport.

*    You are strong enough to take out almost any individual evil

     creature you might encounter (unless you have been damaged

     already).

*    Evil creatures like to attack in groups. Very evil creatures

     like to attack just after some other evil group. 

*    Conserve your Power.


Death

Unfortunately, sometimes the Life Bar decreases to zero. When

your Life is gone, you die and the Option Screen appears. At this

point you can load a saved game or start a new game. You cannot

return to the game you were just playing, since that game ended

with your death. It is a good idea to save whenever you have

acquired something valuable or accomplished something important

(four save game slots are provided for this purpose). Otherwise,

you risk losing all you've achieved in an untimely, unexpected

demise.


Your Character

Your character is either in human form or one of six non-human

forms. Each metaform has different abilities. In some metaforms,

you can select one or more Abilities from the icons under the

inventory area. When an Ability such as the Caun's Light is

selected, the blue cross cursor appears. 


Forms also have different amounts of Life depending on what type

of creature they are and how high their score is. Score is

tracked separately for each. Because of this, it is possible to

concentrate on a metaform and make it disproportionately

powerful.



DIFFERENT FORMS


KIRT

Kirt is a seemingly normal human who was raised in a large,

modern American city. In reality, though, he is one of the few

survivors of a race of shape morphers. Kirt has studied the

martial arts and has recently been sent back to his native world

to save his people.


Kirt has the ability to morph his shape. He gains the power to

assume more metaforms as he progresses through the game. Morphing

costs Power, and so does maintaining a metaform. Also, using most

of the Abilities of different metaforms depletes your Power. When

he runs out of Power, Kirt reverts back to human form. Only in

his human shape can he regain Power. 


Kirt has the Ability to jump, as well as a superior Kick Ability.

Selecting any metaform's icon morphs him to that form.


MAORIN

The Maorin are a six-foot tall, six-limbed cat race. In his

Maorin form, Kirt weighs 400 pounds, runs faster, can stand more

punishment and can deal out much more damage than a human can.


Maorin have the Ability to see things normally hidden to human

sight. They also have the Ability to jump.


Maorin dislike water and drown quickly.


CAUN

Caun are a two-foot tall, approximately 40-pound humanoid race

with pointed ears. As fighters they are fairly ineffective, but

Caun heal much more quickly than a human. 


Caun have the Ability to jump. They also have a Heal Ability, but

this costs Power. Caun can create light, create a special shield

which makes it difficult for enemies to harm them, and can make

it difficult for enemies to locate them. Caun have the Ability to

reach out and grab things that are some distance away. This

includes grabbing things that are on the other side of bars.


Lastly, Caun can cause a number of small creatures to swarm over

their enemies in a stinging cloud.


OPSIS

Opsis are large, floating orbs with tentacles. They are not built

for physical combat, but have a number of other abilities.


Opsis can throw cold blasts, cause their enemies to flee in fear

or make them move in slow motion, plus create missiles and fire

them at enemies. They can also kill foes outright. Moreover,

Opsis can increase the range of the automap. Normally you can

only map where you actually have been, but when a Opsis is using

his automap power, things that were not actually seen in the View

Window are mapped. As you might guess, this often provides very

useful information.


KAHPA

Kahpa look like large, green frog-people. They are surprisingly

tough, can breathe underwater and are good in hand-to-flipper

combat.


Kahpa can create an electrical shock (extra damaging when used in

water) and a sonic attack (also extra damaging in water).


SSAIR

Ssair have no legs and a pointed tail. They can both take and

inflict enormous damage, and look like flying red dragons.


Their tail attack is very powerful. They can also breathe fire,

at the cost of Power.


GROST

Grost look like stone giants. They can punch through some stone

walls, are almost impervious to physical attacks and can survive

in extremely hot environments.


Grost can stamp their feet to cause earthquakes, and can paralyze

with a touch.



TROUBLESHOOTING


Q:   My mouse is not working with Shadowcaster. My mouse works

with all of my other software applications; why not with

Shadowcaster?

A:   If your mouse is not working with Shadowcaster, you should

make sure your mouse has been loaded in DOS (in your AUTOEXEC.BAT

file) or onto the boot disk you are using to play the game.

Windows and many other "multi-tasking" environments load their

own built-in mouse driver. These mouse drivers will not operate 

outside of their shell environment. Loading a mouse driver into 

the DOS environment can be as simple as typing mouse <Enter> at the 

command prompts. For example:

     C:\>mouse <Enter>


This command can differ from mouse driver to mouse driver. Please 

consult your mouse user's guide and Mouse Set-Up for further 

details.


Q:   My game runs slowly and occasionally locks up.

A:   As you may be loading other software that is not compatible

with Shadowcaster. First, try running your game from a system

boot disk. Refer to Optimizing Your System to create a boot disk.

Shadowcaster is only compatible with Microsoft DOS 5.0 or higher.

Also, it is not compatible with 286 PCs. You must use a 386-33,

486 or faster PC.


Q:   Why does my game crash when I try to play Shadowcaster while

I am logged into our LAN (local area network)?

A:   LAN software often tries to take over the same system

resources that Shadowcaster uses. Often the two can coexist, but

occasionally they can't If you have strange problems with

Shadowcaster while your LAN drivers are loaded, try booting from

a clean boot disk that does not load your LAN drivers. Please

refer to Optimizing Your System.


Q:   Why does the game crash when I try to play Shadowcaster

through Microsoft Windows (Windows NT, IBM OS/2, Desqview, etc.)?

A:   "Multi-taking environments" -  Windows, Desqview, IBM OS/2, and

so forth- often conflict in their use of memory and other system

resources with Shadowcaster. We do not recommend playing

Shadowcaster under these circumstance. Even if you do run the

game under a multi-tasker, do not swap to another application

while playing. In general, we recommend that you exit Windows (or

similar applications) and play from the DOS prompt.


Q:   During installation, an error message reported that I have a

"DOS Error - CRC Data Error reading drive x:"

A:   This error message indicates that you have a bad or

corrupted CD. Review the warranty information listed in the back

of the manual and call Creative Labs Customer Service.


Q:   I have a 100% compatible sound card, but I'm not getting any

speech or sound. Why not?

A:   Your sound card may have to be put into "SB" (Sound Blaster)

emulation through its software or a switch setting on the card.

Consult your sound card manual or its manufacturer.

A:   It's also possible that you specified incorrect values

during sound configuration. Please recheck your sound card

documentation for the proper values and try reconfiguring sound.

A:   Your General MIDI soundcard may not support the MPU-401

instruction set. See General MIDI below.


Q:   Shadowcaster still doesn't work after I made a boot disk

and/or modified my CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files.

A:   Copy down the error code and information the computer

displayed when it exited to DOS. Then see ORIGIN Product Support

in the Problems With The Game/Technical Support/Troubleshooting

text file.



COMMON ERROR CODES

Problem #1:

Symptom: Flashing cursor after hitting ESC after or during introduction.

Problem: Usually caused by using a non-Microsoft mosue driver.


Solution: Use a true Microsoft mouse driver version 6.11 or higher.

If you have Windows 3.1 and have the original disks, there is a true

Microsoft driver on those disks. To expand the mouse into your DOS

directory you need to get disk 4 if you have 5.25" disks or disks 1 

and 2 of the 3.5" Windows disks.


Insert the disk into your floppy drive. Log to that drive. At that

prompt, type DIR /ON /P <Enter>. This will give you an alphabetical

directory of the disk and will pause between each page. You want to

look for ONE these 3 drivers: 

  mouse.co_

  mousehp.co_

  Lmouse.co_


Continue through the directory until you find one and you are back

at the prompt. Leave the disk in the drive and at the prompt type:

  Expand a: or b: (letter of the drive disk is in)\mousehp.co_ (or

  the mouse driver you have found) c:\dos\mousehp.com <Enter>.


  Expand a:\mousehp.co_ c:\dos\mousehp.com (whatever mouse line you

  have found on the disk the "_" will be converted to an "m"

  at the end of the command line.


Now you'll need to edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT file on your disk and add

the following line:

  c:\dos\mousehp.com, or


If you found any of the other drivers, you would put them into the 

AUTOEXEC.BAT file as:

  c:\dos\mouse.com, or

  c:\dos\Lmouse.com


Save and exit the AUTOEXEC.BAT.


Problem #2

Symptom: Divide overflow error code when attempting to save a game

or pull up the automap.

Problem: 

a. Usually, you will find that you have a Gateway system with a 

   Phoenix BIOS verion 0.10 GLB01. To find out if this is the BIOS you

   have, boot your machine and when the machine comes up, hit the PAUSE 

   key.


   If you do have a GLB01 version of Phoenix BIOS, you need to

   contact Gateway for a flash BIOS upgrade to version GLB05. Gateway's

   technical support number is 1-800-848-2301.


   If you have this version of the Phoenix BIOS, but do not own a 

   Gateway, you will need to contact the manufacturer of your computer.


b. This problem can sometimes occur from not using the correct boot

   disk configuration to install and run the game from.


* Users of quad-speed CD-ROM drives may encounter a "CDR100" Error due

  to data being read too quickly from the CD. Try setting your drive to

  a lower transfer rate if possible.


* Remember that 90% of all installation problems tend to be configuration

  problems. If you have problems running the game, try making a BOOT disk

  first, then RE-INSTALL the game (no matter how much you know about 

  computers!) Simple works best with our games, so leave those unnecessary

  TSR's out.



General MIDI

Shadowcaster has joined the next generation of sound quality with

its support of the General MIDI standard as defined by the

MPU-401 instruction set. At the time of publishing, only a few

cards support MPU-401. These cards include the Roland SCC-1,

Roland RAP-10, and the Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 with the

attached Wave Blaster daughterboard. Other manufacturers have

already or are planning to release sound cards that utilize the

MPU-401 instruction set. However, sound cards that use a

memory-resident program (TSR) to emulate MPU-401 may not work

with this software.


Note: some General MIDI sound cards offer digitized speech or

sound effect capabilities. However, in the case of sound cards

like the Roland RAP-10, customers will need to use a second sound

card such as a Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster Pro or 100%

compatible sound card for digitized speech and effects. Review

your sound card documentation or contact the manufacturer if you

have any questions.




Copyright 1993, ORIGIN Systems, Inc. Shadowcaster is a trademark

of ORIGIN Systems, Inc. Origin and We create worlds are

registered trademarks of ORIGIN Systems, Inc. Electronic Arts is

a registered trademark of Electronic Arts. 
