              ,---           ,          ,    ,           ,
              |-- ,---.,---. . .  ,     |---.|   ---.,-- |,---.   
              |   |---'|   | |  ><      |   ||  ,---||   ||---'   
              `   `--- `   ' ` '  `     `---'`--`---'`---'`---  

          --<  F E N I X    B L A D E    D E M O # 2    V 1 . 0  >--

                      f e n i x b l a d e . c j b . n e t
                          f e n i x b l a d e . c o m 


תתש< CONTENTS >שתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתת

  .- Section 1 - Legal Crap --------.
  |                                 |
  |-- Section 2 - What IS this? ----|
  |                                 |
  |--- Section 3 - Default keys ----|
  |                                 |
  |---- Section 4 - New Features ---|
  |                                 |
  |----- Section 5 - Issues, Bugs --|
  |                                 |
  `------ Section 6 - Helpful tips -'


  .- Section 7 - About RedKarma ----.
  |                                 |
  |-- Section 8 - Contacting Me ----|
  |                                 |
  |--- Section 9 - Greets, Etc. ----|
  |                                 |
  `---- Section 10 - One Last Note -'




תתש< SECTION 1 >שתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתת


The obligatory legal crap :

 By unzipping, coming into possession of, OR using this software in ANY
 format (i.e. exe,sfx,pak,lzh,ice,zoo,com,zip) you agree to the following
 terms and conditions, regardless of whether or not you took the time to read
 about them :

 1. This software is provided AS IS, and you use this at your own risk.
 2. This demo may not be distributed commercially, or included in a bundle or
    software collection, for sale or otherwise, without the permission of
    the author. I'm not making any money off this, and NEITHER WILL YOU.



תתש< SECTION 2 >שתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתת


What exactly IS Fenix Blade?


Well, to put it simply, Fenix Blade is the game I've always wanted to play.
Console style games have always been quite rare on the PC platform, and for
good reason. What I wanted to do was take the general feel and atmosphere of
a console RPG and combine it with the best aspects of the PC platform,
specifically ease of distribution and cross-platform compilation.

So, there you have it -- this project has been my dream for a very substantial
amount of time. Part of the dream was to create a game that pushes the
boundaries of what people expect from an independent rpg. When you play a
game (or demo) like this, you don't expect to be able to examine everything
in a room, receive unique and individual responses and dialogue from every
character, interact with people detailed with over 200 hand drawn frames of
animation, dialogue elements accented by facial gestures, movements and
changes in posture, or even have amenities such as the ability to skip
cut-scenes at will.

Insanity? Perhaps. Unheard of? Certainly. People call me stupid on a daily
basis, but I'm allowed to do as I please :)

What you have here is the final demo for the game -- a test release that will
serve to demonstrate the exact nature of the game itself once it has been
completed. I hope you enjoy playing it as much as I've enjoyed creating it!



תתש< SECTION 3 >שתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתת


The keyboard will be selected by default until you
change it from inside the CONFIG menu.

The default keys for the demo are as follows:

ALT   - Action/Ok
CTRL  - Cancel
SHIFT - Menu
Z     - Quick Stats/Special  (press and HOLD to see stats)
ESC   - Exit/Reset game


NOTE: Unlike previous demos, DASHing has been removed
      from the engine due to the addition of diagonal
      movement, which basically eliminates any need
      for it.

NOTE: Don't forget you can easily remap your keys
      and/or gamepad buttons inside the CONFIG menu.
      They will be saved when you save your game.

NOTE: Press the Quick Stats key to bypass a cut-scene.
      You will be asked to confirm your request.



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NEW FEATURES :


Bloody hell... there's no way I can possibly document all the additions from
the time of Demo 1. Any way, I suppose I should give it the ol' college try
regardless, no?

> Save/Load game support
> Insanely huge texture mapped overworld
> Digital filtering (scanlines + interpolation)
> Real time shadowing
> Combat (duh) and everything that goes along with it :)
> Totally revamped GUI
> Blinking, gestures, and other random behavior among NPCs
> Tons of hidden items (over 60, if memory serves...)
> Massively expanded script interpreter
> Faster rendering system
> Navigation unit for the overworld
> 150+ "rooms" to explore
> All new graphics and scripts
> 8-point movement
> More environment effects
> Seamless environment effects (especially water)






תתש< SECTION 5 >שתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתת


ISSUES / BUGS / NOTES ON...


The Demo itself -

Okay, this is it. I know you've all been waiting quite a while for this, but
please keep a realistic sense of perspective when playing/reviewing this. I
understand that expectations will naturally be rather high, but just keep in
mind that I'm still working on this all by myself, and perfection is NOT
something you should expect. You're not playing Quake 4, or Final Fantasy 15,
or anything else of that calibre. You're playing a demo of a game by your's
truly...and not a finished one at that. You may encounter bugs (just maybe),
and as you might expect the game will not be well balanced since you're
starting the demo in the middle of the game flow.

So if you want to bitch about relatively insignificant things like the demo
being too tough/easy, or technical stuff not being present (like learning
skills, spells, etc, etc) my humble advice is to not even bother. Don't think
for an instant I'm not aware of it. Just trust that it'll all be taken care of
when the final version is released.

If you have a bug to report, or a genuinely useful concern -- I'm all ears --
always have been, always will be.



The Map (Overworld) -

Well, here it is...the "new" map. I know a lot of people liked the voxels, and
to be perfectly honest I thought they were really groovy, but there were the
ever-present problems of detail and speed, neither of which voxels have going
for them. So, here's the compromise -- an extremely fast texture mapper. Now
the map will have a decent level of detail, run fairly fast, and not take up
nearly as much hard drive space. Enjoy. BTW, you can turn the mini map on/off
inside the CONFIG menu. 



Battle -

Okay, you've been griping about not having combat for a long time, so here it
is. I'm not keen on making big changes to this, so don't complain too much
about things you'd like to see changed, especially if they involve an insane
amount of coding. The mechanics have NOT YET BEEN BALANCED, so don't complain
if you think characters aren't leveling up the way they should be, etc etc.
It's relatively fast, relatively familiar, and the GUI is nice and intuitive,
along with the virtue of being able to get through it quickly (a must for
those battles where the margin of victory is razor thin...heh). It might seem
a bit klunky at first, but give it a few battles and you'll be whipping
through it like a pro.



Graphics -

Once again, another part of the game that is constantly changing. World and
character graphics change on a daily basis. Yes, I am well aware of the fact
that the character graphics are still somewhat unshaded. That will eventually
change, but for now it is not a priority. I think you'll agree the character
graphics have sustained considerable improvement since the last demo :)



Multi-Stage shadowing -

You'll note that the engine now supports multi-stage real time shadowing. I'm
extremely pleased with it.



Digital filters -

You can choose to use 25% scanlines or horizontal interpolation, although both
of these options suck away precious CPU cycles. I recommend a 300+ cpu if
you're going to use either of these. Please note that the interpolation
routines are INCOMPLETE, and as such you WILL encounter a multitude of
graphic glitches.



Sound/Music -

Naturally, since time is not on my side, usage of sound samples is a little
sparse. And, as it takes time to get tracks sounding the way they should,
for now all the music in the demo is taken from other RPGs. I won't supply
my own music until it is finished.



Sticky keys -

Allegro's keyboard handler is quite nice, but unfortunately sometimes the
keys will seem to 'stick' under Win9x. This can happens when something
interrupts the game and forces you back to the desktop (temporarily or
otherwise). Sometimes hitting the win key accidentally will do this. This is,
unfortunately, not something I can fix, so don't bitch about it. If a key
gets stuck, hit it a couple of times and it will 'unstick'. No problem, life
goes on. If this becomes problematic, I might suggest moving over to a
gamepad :)



Combat bugs -

The combat sub-engine is terribly complex and quite flexible -- so much
in fact that I cannot possibly demonstrate all of its features in this little
demo :) That, of course, leads to the possibility of obscure bugs, so don't
be overly surprised if you see some weird stuff happen in battle. I've done my
level best to make sure the engine is 100% bug free, but we all know how that
works, don't we?



Active Time Battles -

As of this moment battles are done in real time as opposed to active time.
What this means is time doesn't stop in the midst of player or enemy actions.
This doesn't seem too bad until you realize that running through menus looking
for that perfect spell gives enemies more time to prepare (and attack), and
lengthy spells or techniques can give enemies time to bunch up their attacks
before you get any more of your commands executed. Point is... it isn't
totally fair, and it works both ways. Right now I'm working on a system that
slows time as attacks are executed and commands are being issued. 



Helping me -

I do not require, or want any help. I'm good to go :) If you really want to
help me out, spread the word about FB! I'm counting on word of mouth to get
this project out in the open, and so far it has worked very well. Please
allow me to reiterate -- I DO NOT WANT ANY HELP WITH THIS PROJECT. Sorry, but
answering several emails a day that begin with "Can I offer some graphics
and/or music?" is getting old. I've stated it in the FAQ on the page, and now
I'm stating it here :)



Known Issues -

- The armor shop in the northlands inn has nothing but items for sale at 1
  Maru per item.
- RESET key is disabled due to bad data-corrupting bug discovered in the final
  hours of testing.
- Hidden areas of the map are incomplete and feature old graphics and scripts.
- Interpolation has numerous graphic glitches.
- Sometimes after battle bands of palette rotation are lost.
- Several NPCs have frames of animation with mismatched colors.




תתש< SECTION 6 >שתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתת


HELPFUL TIPS :

- Keep your eyes peeled for unusual objects in the game. Some objects, like
  crates, can be broken open to reveal their contents. 'Breakable' objects
  can often be identified by their appearance. They may look a bit different.

- Without a Buster Knuckle, you'll miss out on some helpful items hidden in
  damaged crates.

- You can often skip past lengthy cut-scenes by hitting the QUICK STATS key.
  A menu will pop up to confirm your request.

- Make sure you have enough free RAM to start the game! It will crash out on
  loading or in play if you have less than 9 megs of free ram!!

- Running the demo under pure DOS is best for speed. If you must run under
  Win95/98/NT, make sure it is the ONLY program running! If there are other
  programs running in the background, it can *severely* drop your frame rate.

- You can skip past the title intro by hitting the action key/button.

- It's best to let characters fight with weapons they're familiar with. When
  selecting a new weapon, you'll notice that weapons a character is familiar
  with will be displayed in WHITE, while all others will appear GREY. 

- KEEP YOUR STAMINA UP! Going into battle wounded will decrease your initial
  stamina, and that leads to poor battle performance.

- Remember that Stamina is replenished between battles, but when a battle
  begins initial stamina levels are dependant on your current health. Keep
  your characters healed, and they will always start with high stamina.
  
- There is a definite end to the demo. If you didn't reach the credits, then
  you DID NOT finish it.

- Text not fast enough for you? Change the TEXT SPEED in the config menu to
  FASTER or FASTEST.

- Combat too difficult? Change the DIFFICULTY in the config menu. You'll see
  quite a difference!

- The .ini file has been removed. To change your options, go to the config
  menu in the GUI and change your settings. Saving your game will make the
  changes permanent.

- If are running SLOWER than a P100, you might want to turn the VSYNC option
  OFF in the CONFIG menu. Leave it ON for smooth scrolling on fast(er) CPUs.

- Want to change your menu/textbox colors? Go into the CONFIG menu and use the
  slide bars at the bottom :)

- There are plenty of hidden things in this demo, so don't be afraid to slow
  down and check things out. You should score around 40-50 points by the end
  of the demo if you're thorough.




תתש< SECTION 7 >שתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתת


ABOUT REDKARMA :

RedKarma is a small, dedicated group of programmers who work on games in their
spare time. With the exception of PoVRAZOR, our members do not code/produce
games for a living. Our goal is to give back to the gaming community a little
of what we've experienced over the years.

From a programming and design standpoint, we're a bit different from most
groups. Our focus has absolutely nothing to do with impressing people or
struggling to make a name for ourselves. We aim to provide fun games, and
that's all. We believe our work speaks for itself. As such, our projects
focus on raw performance, rock-solid gameplay, and most importantly...a fun
experience.

We just want you to have some fun. That's all. Really.



REDKARMA IS :

  .- PoVRAZOR of Sykhronics --------------,
  |                                       |
  |-- Mist, Samiam, Senn of Execute ------|
  |                                       |
  `--- Sirocco ---------------------------'







תתש< SECTION 8 >שתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתת


CONTACTING THE AUTHOR :

Okay, here's the scoop: I work for a living. I have a 40+ hour a week job, I
travel fairly often with little or no warning, and I have a house to pay for
along with 80 zillion other things. I spend all my free time working on this
project, which equates to roughly 4-6 hours each night. I get anywhere from
1-8 emails a day regarding this project, and I read EVERY email I get, but
I don't always find time to respond to my mail. The usual turnaround is about
a week. Please bear with me on this!

If you have a general question, try checking the FAQ page at the home site
(fenixblade.cjb.net) since it answers most peoples' questions. If you ask me
about something that is covered in the FAQ, I'll politely redirect you to the
page at the home site. If you want/need more detail on something in the FAQ,
mention it and I'll gladly fill you in.

I'm NOT trying to separate myself from the outside world, or make you feel
like email is unwelcome; I'm just trying to cut down on my work load a tiny
bit!

If you wish to offer a suggestion or comment, keep in mind that it should be
constructive. Saying something like "I didn't like the menus" doesn't really
tell me anything :)

My email address  :  Sirocco@flashmail.com
Project home page :  fenixblade.cjb.net (or) fenixblade.com
ICQ number        :  no longer available




תתש< SECTION 9 >שתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתת


GREETS, GRIPES, ETC.

PoVRAZOR - Heh, I'm still waiting for Zeb to show up in something. Maybe he'll
           will find his way to the BGC :) Hope you're still having fun at
           Sandbox!
Mist - Are you guys crazy, or just madly brilliant? Project Mercury...hmmm...
       it sounds catchy :)
Scorpion - Glad to finally hear from you!
Beelzebub - I want to see ore wars!
Obyam Ouch - Heh, jolly green has not forgotten you :)




תתש< SECTION 10 >שתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתת


ONE FINAL NOTE...

This project has taken me quite some time, and as such I expect some
professional courtesy (or whatever you choose to call it) at the very least.
Aside from the music (most of which is OBVIOUSLY not mine), everything
present in the demo was produced entirely on my own -- from the graphics to
the characters, engine, etc etc. If you are going to blatantly rip/steal my
work, at least have the courtesy to mention it in your documentation, and
endeavour to replace it as soon as possible. In the past demo(s), I've relied
somewhat on fan art and fan midis, both of which were *clearly* noted in the
release documentation. And, as you can see, the amount of 'borrowed' content
in this demo has been reduced to a couple of midis, and NOTHING else.

The final release of Fenix Blade will have 100% original content: no hacks,
no rips, no borrowing of any sort. As you can see, I'm already there -- the
music that isn't mine is just there as filler to facilitate a more timely
demo release.

You do NOT have permission to modify this release, or use the supplied engine
or data for your own purposes, regardless of that they might be. Obviously the
midis don't apply to this rule because they are not mine.

The Moebius engine, which powers Fenix Blade, is coded in C++ and ASM,
compiled with DJGPP v2.0, and makes use of a heavily modified version of
Allegro v3.12 for timing, digital sound, and user I/O. 

Zeb appears courtesy of Mike Kasprzak.

Don't forget... to salt... the fries.

