From SOSG: _Chaos

Om ram, All! :) ===cut=== (C) M.M.A aka UnBEL!EVER (R) Oberon #5 Chaos By publishing the game CHAOS in the fourth issue of OBERON, we provided its quite detailed description of its impressive size. However vigilant readers were able to notice that in that explanatory op- such subtleties as dividing spells into species (LAW, CHAO5, NEUTRAL), and a number of other important issues owls All this happened largely due to the fact that expert The survey was carried out by the members of the editorial board themselves, without having at hand no description of the game. A number of descriptions of heroes were generally taken from SHAOS's older brother - LORDS OF SHAOS. You understand, dis- Taking on such a game right away was quite a difficult task. Over time, a copy of the branded information fell into our hands. structure in English, which shed light on the most new riddles of SHAOS. Below you can find these instructions (INLAY CARD TEXT) in the original language, as well as messages contained on the game in THE SPECTRUM GAMES DATABASE. Absolutely everything is here: descriptions of spells, enemy parameters, history of the game and etc. etc. For the most curious, there is even a website address at Internet dedicated to this game. We did not provide a full translation of this text for many reasons.reasons. Firstly, you need to be able to read such information in the original source, and secondly, most of the data coincides with what was described in OVERON#4 (thirdly, we were just too lazy to revise :) ). However, we place the most interesting points on Russian language. So... ... Any creature can be created as Real/Illusion (Re- al/Illusory). Their properties are almost identical, however you will be able to create a creature of the Illusion class in any case, whereas the success of creating a Real class creature depends on the current state of the wizarding world and the strength of the spell. The magical world can be in two states: law(^) and chaos (*). The degree of a particular condition is displayed in the main new menu with the number of arrows (^) and asterisks (*). Cha-spells most of all have to do with one of the states of the world and much more are less likely to be neutral to these conditions. The higher the degree chaos (*) in the world, the greater the likelihood of successfully implementing a spell marked chaos (see table). The same applies and to law. The more spells of one type or another you use, the greater the percentage of probability that a spell of a similar type will work in the future. Thus, if you decide to create a Real class creature, you should make sure that the spell of this creature matchesthe current state of the world. Otherwise, it is likely that you will spend the spell wasted. As already mentioned, you can make creatures class Illusion, which are created regardless of the state world with 100% probability. However, one should not delude oneself! Illu- spooky creatures are easily killed by the Disеlieve spell, which always available to any magician. Real creations from Dis- Believe's do not suffer at all. So take your pick! The Magic Wood spell not only allows you to isolate yourself from enemies with a small forest, but also to replenish your spell reserves. Haho- by walking under the trees of this forest, in a few moves you will receive one new spell. The Suversion spell allows you to lure an enemy to your side (one at a time!). The Turmoil spell shuffles all objects on the screen to tea order. Available only from Magic Wood. SNEATS!!! (branded!) The game has several interesting modes; are they errors, or whether it was intended, we don’t know... ;( - If the wizard sits astride the "undead" (you can get pu- the spells Rise Dead on the corpse of a killed creature) and revived the creature dies, then the wizard himself becomes “undead” (Un- dead) - If you want to get away from the enemy, but not lose the opportunity ability to attack, press "I" for information, andthen the button for the direction of movement you need. It doesn't work always! - If your creation of the Illusion class absorbs an enemy Gooey Blob, but you will eventually dig up your warrior through some time, then his class will be no matter how str°no - Real! - By placing a dragon or other strong creature on the corpse, some “frail” animal (for example, a bat) and using any of the Justice/Vengeance/Decree/Dark Power spells, you get a living version of the corpse. The bourgeoisie have their own quirks :) In general, CHAOS is an unfinished game. Games Workshop released it without informing the author of the program. So Thus, a number of errors "leaked" into the game, which sometimes "pop up" (anything, right up to the program freezing!) For example, the Turmoil spell can completely freeze a program, so that it is recommended to save the game before using it (apparently this means MAGIC and snapshot of all memory when used ZX emulator, since the program itself does not save states provided!) When hacking the program, you may find non- how many sprites and names of spells that are never used play in the game. ┌──────────────────── ────────────────────┐ │ │ │ THE SPECTRUM GAME DATABASE ││ │ │ SHAOS - BATTLE OF THE WIZARDS │ │ │ │ │ │ PUBLISHER │ │ │ │ It was originally ru̱lished ̱y │ │ Games Workshop. │ │ │ │ AUTHOR Julian Gollor │ │ │ │ YEAR 1984 │ │ │ └────────────────────────┄ DESSRIRTION Chaos is a 1-8 player strategic fantasy wargame. SONTROLS: The keys are: Q W E A D - Each of these is a direction, Z X C e.g. Q is up-left. S - Select K - Cancel 0 - Finish There are also various other menus which are selected by pressing the appropriate number or letter. INSTRUCTIONS At the start of the game, you must select the number of wi- zards (from 1-8) and the level of the computer wizards (from 1-8), which is basically their difficulty level. Not all of themwizards have to be controlled by human players - any or all can be controlled by the computer. The computer will then go through each wizard in order. For each wizard you must give them a name, decide who is to control them (a player or the computer), and then select their colour and graphic, which AFAIK makes no real difference to the game. The game is divided into turns, and each turn is divided into 2 parts. The spells are selected and cast in the first part, and all movement is made in the second. A menu is given for the first part, which allows the players to examine the spells to see what they do and their chance of success, select a spell, view the map and then finish. During the first part, all the human players can select 1 spell to cast that turn. The chance is success of each spell is shown by the colour (the lighter, the greater chance), unless a creature is cast as an illusion, in which case they are always succesful. The chance of success of each spell is determined by how powerful the spell is, and also the current state-of-the-world, which can either be law (arrows) or chaos (stars). The current state is shown on the menu screen. When viewing the map, holding down a number from 1-8 will cause all the objects to flash that are owned by that number wi- zard. Once all the players have selected their spells, the wizards take turns to cast their spells. This may involve selecting tar- get squares or creatures, by using the keys above, and pressing S. If no such selection has to be made, then just pressing S will cast the spell. Any wizard that is computer controlled casts their spells automatically. After all the spells have been cast, the computer then checks all the effects in the game, and things will happen across the map. Once this has been done, the wizards then take turns to move their creatures, by selecting them and then moving. Wizards can ride certain creatures simply by moving into them (provided they own them). To attack another creature, simply move into it. Then, at the end of each turn the wizard will be asked if he wants to dismount. Any creatures that can shoot can only do so once they have moved. One thing to note is that undead creatures can only be attacked by other undead creatures, or a wizard with a magic weapon. When a creature is stood next to an enemy, they cannot move away until that creature has been killed. Once all the wizards have moved, then game then loops round to the menu screen again. SЕQUЕLS A sequel to Chaos, called Lords of Chaos, was released byBlade Software. It had the same spells and spell system, but th- e game format was slightly different. Chaos has also appeared in a very similar game on the PC, called Morkin2, and also a virtually identical PD game on the ST. INLAY СARD ТЕXТ "СHAОS" By Julian Gollop (1985) Instructions taken from "The Rebelstar Collection" Players' Manual by Julian Gollop (1991), with additions by Death and Ian Coates (OKTUP@MONO.CITY.AC.UK) СОРYRIGHТ Julian Gollop has kindly agreed to this game being made Pub- lic Domain. Anyone is freely allowed to duplicate and distribute this game for use in Spectrum emulators. It is requested that the identification of Julian Gollop as the author of this soft- ware is not removed and the code not altered. E-mail me (OKTUP@MONO.CITY.AC.UK) for further details. INТRОDUСТIОN 'Chaos' is a battle between 2 to 8 wizards, and or all of which can be computer controlled. Most spells are used to summon creatures which are controlled by the casting wizard. Other spells have a variety of different effects. The popularity of this game resulted in 'Lords of Chaos

Om ram, All! :) ===cut=== 4. Continue Goes to next player You get one round where everyone casts a spell then a round to move/attack in. If you are player one then you get to cast your spells and move first. The last player is at a disadvantage that he can be attacked before he has a chance to move, but has the advantage that illusion spells can be cast without the risk of being disbelieved for one turn (useful for dragons). Some spells need to be cast at a target - attack spells need an enemy creature, create spells need a square adjacent to your wizard. Press "S" to cast the spell. Undead creatures can only be attacked by undead, magic weapons or attack spells. When you've moved all you want to press "0" or "TAB" to end turn. ОВJЕСТ SРЕLLS Magic Wood (Law) Computer places approx 8 magic trees near your wizard. If you put your wizard in a magic wood tree and leave him there, he gets a new spell after a few turns. Shadow Wood (Chaos) Allows you to manually place approx 8 shadow trees near your wizard. No two trees can be adjacent, and line of sight is nee- ded in placing. Shadow wood can attack anything in contact with them (except undead) - select the tree to attack. Magic Fire (Chaos) Attacks and kills enemy units it covers and randomly spreadsacross the map. Gooey Blob (Chaos) Attacks enemy units it covers and randomly spreads across the map. Any unit covered up by a gooey blob will be able to carry on once it is uncovered (except wizards who are killed by gooey blobs) Wall (Neutral) Allows four wall blocks to be built near the wizard, which blocks creature's paths, but can be flown over. AТТAСКING SРЕLLS Magic Bolt (Neutral) Attacks creature it is cast at. Lightning (Neutral) Attacks creature it is cast at (more powerful than magic bolt) Vengeance (Chaos,x1) Allows 1 attack on an enemy creature Justice (Law, x3) When cast on a wizard it kills all that wizard's creations if successful. Allows 3 attacks. Dark Power(Chaos,x3) Allows 3 attacks on enemy creatures Decree (Law, x1) Allows 1 attack on an enemy creature. WIZARD'S SРЕLLS Magic Armour (Law) Gives wizard increased protection from attack. Magic Knife (Law) Gives wizard increase attack power including undead creatures Magic Sword (Law) Gives wizard increase attack power including undead creatures Magic Bow (Law) Gives wizard ranged weapon including undead creatures Magic Wings(Neutral) Gives wizard ability to fly long ranges Magic Castle (Law) Gives wizard building to hide in Dark Citadel (Chaos)Gives wizard building to hide in Shadow Form(Neutral) Gives wizard increased protection and allows movement of 3 spaces per turn МISСЕLLANЕОUS SРЕLLS Law (Law) Makes the world more lawful Chaos (Chaos) Makes the world more chaotic Raise Dead (Chaos) Allows reanimation of dead bodies left on screen. Any crea- tures raised from the dead become undead creatures, able to attack other undeads. Subversion (Neutral) Realigns enemy creature to your side Turmoil (Chaos) Randomly moves all objects onscreen to a different location. Only available from a magic wood. Disbelieve (Neutral) Allows illusion creatures to be destroyed. This spell has 100% casting chance, and is always available SСОRЕS RЕСЕIVЕD The budget release received 8/10 in SU. СHЕAТS The following cheats will work in Chaos. Whether these are bugs or the game was designed th at way, we do not know. - If your wizard is riding an undead steed (by casting Raise Dead on a corpse) and the steed is killed, the wizard then becomes undead. - If you want to move away from an enemy, but keep getting "Engaged in Combat", try selecting Information, and then press- ing the movement key. This works only sometimes.- If you cast an illusion, but it gets covered by a Gooey Blob, if you then dig it out, it will be a real creature. - Also, put a weak creature (eg bat) over a dead dragon or other creatures body, then Justice/Vengeance/Decree/Dark Power it and it turns into a live version of the corpse. GЕNЕRAL FAСТS Julian Gollop has also written many other strategy games, in particular the excellent Rebelstar series. "Chaos" is actually an unfinished game. Games Workshop released it without Julians knowledge, and as such there is the odd bug that crops up. Further clues to this include the fact that if you hack into the program, there are a few sprites not used in the game, and the names of a few spells that are never shown. Apparently Chaos is based on an old Games Workshop boardgame (the people who created Warhammer). It was the same sort of game, with wizards casting spells trying to kill each other. There is a program available to edit Chaos. Naturally called The Chaos Editor, it allows you to change all graphics and statistics of the game. Does anybody know the location of this editor? NОТЕS Be advised to save the game before casting a Turmoil spell - it is renouned for crashing the program. It can also take a longtime to complete this spell, so you may want to push up the speed of your emulator while waiting for it. You may like to look at the Chaos page, located at: httр://www.gre.аc.uk/~Ьm10/chаоs. ===cut=== С уважением, Артур/JEDI █▓▒░ [ZX-News][Stonehege] >e-mail: Artur_Podtelkoff.sp0899@zxnet.spb.ru -= DISCOVERY =-