WIZ - MELBOURNE HOUSE

On the Magical Isle, there are cracks in reality.

Almost hourly, evil is oozing in from the other side, as the worlds of
light and dark, of Midgard and Niflheim, move inexorably towards
fusion.

Bravely clutching his empty Spell Book, a noviatiate wizard resolves
to take on the powers of Good and Evil in a foolhardy attempt to
prevent the inevitable. Obstructed by the antiquated Council of
Wizards, he desperately seeks to learn the incantations wich will
break forever the ancient links that bind the two worlds.

But some of the runes, essential for spell-casting, can only be found
in the depths of Niflheim. And the creatures of the night are already
closing in...

A potent mix of spell-binding strategy, diabolic action and bewitching
graphics, WIZ will test your powers of dexterity and instant recall to
the limit and beyond.

INSTRUCTIONS

As every day passes, more and more evil bursts through from the dark
side. It seems obvious to you, a mere 1st Level wizard, that the long
forewarned meeting of worlds is imminent. Here on the Magical Isle,
where in places the worlds of light and dark touch, the manifestations
of evil are reaching epidemic proportions.

The Council of Wizards are reluctant to act. They see no way of
preventing the disaster other than destroying the ancient links
between worlds. In doing so they would lose much of their magic as two
of the four runes from which spells are prepared can only be found in
the world of darkness. For the Council, time is running out and soon
the may no longer be able to close the ancient ways even if they chose
to.

Seeing the Council's folly for what it is and despairing at their
greed of magic, you resolved to act alone. You must become a powerful
5th Level wizard, acquire the spell you need to break the links, and
separate the two worlds forever.

The Council have already learned of your quest and seek to prevent you
completing it. By their own rules they are barred from interfering
with the magical advancement of a wizard. Consequently, no wizard can
refuse to teach you spells of your magical level unless you have been
openly hostile towards him.

Despite this, they have other means of obstructing you. Your shields
against attack, normally maintained for lower level wizards by the 5th
Level masters, has been removed. As a result of this, you are now
vulnerable to the power draining attacks of evil beings. As if this
were not enough, it is rumoured that a Tracer has been summoned and,
should you stay in one place for long, it will find you and come
through from the dark side. Once in this world, it will pursue you
relentlessly. There is no way to destroy a Tracer, you can only blast
it back into its own world for the time being. Good luck brave novice
take heed - the warnings.

SETTING UP

Type LOAD "" and press ENTER then PLAY the tape.

Spectrum 128 and Plus 2 users may use the 'Tape Loader' option.

The program is compatible with Kempston joysticks and with other
joysticks, which may be set up using the "define keys" program option
and moving the joystick in each direction in turn.

HOW TO PLAY WIZ

Press SPACE to start the game and you will see your wizard in the
centre of the left hand playing area. All the creatures wandering
around this area are shown viewed from the front, whereas the scenery
is viewed from above.

At the top right of the screen there is a scroll containing your
current score (0000), magical power (30) and wizard level (1). At the
bottom right of the screen there is a spell book open at the "Zap 1"
spell description. Between the scroll and the book there is a
medallion containing the letters N, E, S, W. These indicate that Wiz
is in "MOVE AND CAST" mode and that the consequences of moving the
joystick are to move your wizard either north, east, south or west. In
total Wiz operates in four modes:-

(1) MOVE AND CAST
(2) PREPARE SPELL
(3) READ SPELL BOOK
(4) BUY SPELL

To step through these, press SPACE and then repeatedly press either
SPACE or FIRE. As with "MOVE AND CAST" mode, for each mode the
medallion shows consequences of moving the joystick up, down, left or
right. An explanation of each mode is given below. Not moving the
joystick in any direction and pressing fire will automatically take
you into the next mode.

(1) "MOVING AND CAST" MODE

This is represented by a Red Medallion. The direction you travel in
corresponds with the joystick e. g. left = east, as you travel in that
direction an arrow will show you your direction on the medallion.

By pressing fire you cast the last selected spell.

Beware though, as colliding with evil beings drains your power. The
ammount you lose depends on the danger of the being. Every time you
cast a spell you use up 1 unit of magical power. If you run out of
power you die!

Fortunately, power is gradually regained with time. It can also be
raised quickly by using the "Zap" spell to absorb the energy of evil
beings. Of course, the more dangerous beings provide more power. As
you advance to higher levels of magic you will discover another way to
increase magic power in an emergency. The maximum magical power
depends on your wizard level. For a 1st Level wizard it is just 30.

(2) "PREPARE SPELL" MODE

To move into this mode from "MOVE AND CAST" press the SPACE bar. You
will now notice that the medallion has changed. It is now yellow and
has runes in place of directions.

To select a rune move the joystick towards the desired rune. Spells
are prepared by selecting the runes in the correct sequence and then
pressing fire.

As you select each rune it appears in the scroll above the medallion
and the appropriate rune level goes down.

When you press FIRE the spell book will display the details of the
spell you just prepared and you go back to "MOVE AND CAST" mode.
Remember that preparing a spell does not cast it; spells can only be
cast by pressing FIRE when in "MOVE AND CAST" mode.

Preparing spells at speed is an acquired skill and it is safer to do
it slowly when you are new to the game. If you get the sequence wrong
or run out of runes mid-preparation, watch out for unexpected spells
or side effects!

To regain runes used up in preparing spells you will need to learn and
use the "Rune" spell. By shooting this at an evil being, you destroy
it leaving behind a rune which you must collect, before that too
disappears. Only two of the four types of rune exist in the world of
light; you must venture into the dark side to get the others.

If you wish to go into "READ SPELL BOOK" mode or "BUY SPELL" mode do
not move the joystick when you come into this mode from "MOVE AND
CAST" mode. Just press the fire button and this will take you into
"READ SPELL BOOK" mode.

(3) "READ SPELL BOOK" MODE

Once entering this mode from "PREPARE SPELL" mode you will notice that
the medallion has again changed. It is now blue with only 3 directions
marked. By moving the joystick left and right you can read through the
spell book.

The spell book contains all the spells you have learnt so far this
game, plus the ones you start off with. Wiz only lets you prepare
spells currently in the book.

Don't buy every spell wizards offer you, as your spell book can only
hold 20 spells and will rapidly fill up.

The book shows the name of a spell, its symbol and the runes needed to
prepare it. The symbol is just there to help you recognise the spell
when searching the book for it. When you have found the spell you
want, you can get back into "PREPARE SPELL" mode by selecting the "R"
(for Rune). Alternatively, you may press FIRE or SPACE to continue
into "BUY SPELL" mode.

(4) "BUY SPELL" MODE

On entering this mode from "READ SPELL BOOK" mode you will notice that
the medallion has again changed. It is now green with four different
symbols.

If a wizard is on the screen when you enter this mode, the medallion
shows the symbols of the spells he is qualified to teach.

There may be up to three. You can preview these spells by selecting
the appropriate direction. When you press FIRE you will have tried to
buy the highlighted spell. Note that the "up" option means "buy no
spell" and will take you back into "MOVE AND CAST".

A preview appears in the spell book and normally shows the name of the
spell; the symbol for the spell; the amount of magical power you will
use up learning the spell; and the wizard level you must attain before
trying. Attempting to buy a spell for which you do not have enough
power will kill you! Or failure to buy the spell is indicated by the
spell book page becoming blank.

For some spells the preview will show "Q" followed by a number in
place of power. This means that the spell will not cost any power to
learn. Instead you must complete a Quest which will be shown on the
left side of the screen after the spell has been bought. The quests
are numbered 1 to 5. If you agree to do a quest, by selecting as
normal, then you must complete it before any wizard will teach you
another spell. You complete a quest and gain the spell by finding and
touching the quest object.

SCORING

The score in Wiz is a measure of how much experience you have gained
as a wizard. Points are awarded for successful use of magic spells.
Keep an eye on your score every time you try something new and you
will soon learn the best way to achieve a high score. However, getting
a high score isn't just a matter of personal pride, it is the way to
higher wizard Levels. The scores at which you attain each new wizard
Level are listed below:-

LEVEL II - 500
LEVEL III - 1500
LEVEL IV - 3000
LEVEL V - 7500

Credits

Program Copyright (c) 1987 Silhouette Software Systems
Designed by Simon Price
Programmed by John Cain
Character Graphics by Antony Scott
Cover artwork by Words & Pictures Limited
Music and Sound effects by Consult Computer Systems

Published by

Melbourne House, 6-10 Paul Street, London EC2A 4JH

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