                   < -- Notes on:  Legend of Lith 2 -- >

 
 Legend of Lith 2  Demo Version 1.0  (c) 1996 Dark Dreams

 E-mail address: Liphilli@Fleming.on.ca/
         
         Hi folks! This is  probably my first  attempt at a  commercial game.
 The  demo was  finished about  six months  ago but I hesitated to release it
 until now.  Why  you ask? Well, as you can probably tell, the coding is kind
 primitive.  Trust  me, my  programming know how has greatly  increased since
 this  attempt.  Another reason for its late release is because I didn't have
 access to the Internet the  way I do now, therefore I wasn't able to  upload
 anywhere.  Anyhow, that's the story of this game so far.

         Below are some  instructions on playing the game.  The in  game help
 file  is much better though so be sure to check  that one out as well.  Some
 final notes: Yes, there is a Legend of Lith 1.  The graphics in it  are only
 16 colour EGA  and it's a bit slower.  If you would like a copy of that game
 then  feel free to E-mail me.  I  can't post it  because it's about 1.5 Megs
 uncompressed.  I have another game  in the final demo  stages right now.  It
 is similar in game play to  Bomberman and the coding is much better.  If you
 would like to  see it posted,  E-mail me and let  me know.  Any  comments on
 this game (bug reports, ideas, etc.) are more than welcome too.

 ****************************************************************************       
 *                                                                          *
 *       ATTENTION PROGRAMMERS: If anyone out there  would like to  help me *
 * out with graphics for future games or you've got programming know-how in *
 * BASIC (QBASIC,  QuickBASIC, VBDOS, PDS, etc.)  or  assembly  then let me *
 * know.  I'm  really interested  in working on a commercial RPG or similar *
 * style game with someone or with a group of people.                       *
 *                                                                          *
 ****************************************************************************
 
        I know that there is so much more I can do  to make this game better.
 Unfortunately,  as of late I have not  had the time.  But  anyway, here is a
 list of things I need to do to make this game better.  If you have something
 that can be added to the list let me know.

 1.) Optimize  the  coding to make game  play faster.  This  would be done by
     reworking  the code into only one or  two files and  making it much more
     compact.

 2.) Get rid of all the GOSUB's and GOTO's.  I know, I know, this  is a  very
     bad  example of programming.  When I made this game, I  didn't know half
     of the things I do now.

 3.) Make the  game speed universal  for all computers.  Sometimes  this game
     runs a bit slow for a 386.  But you can't read some of the messages on a
     Pentium computer.  Again, this is because I  didn't know half the things
     then that I do now.

 4.) Fix the  major (if there are any) and minor (there are some) bugs.  Duh,
     this step is kind of obvious.

 5.) Load the  graphics in  at the  start of the game.  This  would take more
     memory and I might be forced to use EMS  and XMS but  the speed increase
     would be worth it.  Plus that annoying flickering would mostly stop.

 6.) Add some spiffy Soundblaster or Adlib music.  I think an  orchestral and
     haunting sound track would fit. :)

 7.) Animations! Animate the monsters and improve on the  animations that are
     in the game now.

 8.) Finish  the game.  <-- I doubt this step will ever see the light without
     help.  Hint, hint. ;)
 
 That's all of the steps I can think of right now, I'm sure I missed a couple
 but I'll nail them down later.

 Here are some quick instructions:

 While  playing the game, hit 'F1'  for help.  Below is a  listing of all the
 keys.  For a complete (and better)  reference manual, hit 'F1'  at the title
 screen.

 During the Game:  
  
 F1  - call up help menu
 F2  - use healing potion
 F3  - call up menu (use items, equip, see stats, etc.)
 F4  - save game
 Esc - quit current game

 Up arrow key    - move forward
 Left arrow key  - turn left
 Right arrow key - turn right

 That's it.  Have fun and enjoy the program!

                                               DarkDread (aka Matt Zuchowski)
