1. The music is the best I can manage I'm afraid :) It's why there is an option to turn it off.
As for the dialogue beeping, that's becoming a common criticism. It really didn't sound that loud or annoying to me, but I suspect it's a difference in hardware and emulation. I'll see if I can address it some time in the future.
2. When in doubt, hit the interact key. Exploration and experimentation are important! Alas, trying to fit everything in 48K means I have little to no space left for additional text.
3. It seems you wandered right into one of the tougher sections of the game first. There is a way to make the ghosts visible if you can find it, but it is possible to solve the area without it. If something seems too tough, it may be best to leave it for later or to find a different way to approach it. It's not the only part of the game that needs to be 'solved'.
4. My previous game was a bit linear with its objectives, so I thought this time I'd let the player discover things on their own.
The village to the west of the starting location is probably the best place to start. The ghosts are only found on the haunted moors to the east and only come out at night.
The pouch of monkshood keeps the werewulf from going wild and attacking the party (the shepherd said it keeps them at bay).
The stone is in the NW corner of the forest inside the old hut, it glows in the dark near ghosts and reveals them. It's not necessary to get but may have helped navigate the haunted moors. A villager should drop a hint about it.
All is not lost though: before talking to Ilmari to begin the finale all the ambushes in the game will reset every night. Since the max level is 8 it’ll be possible to grind Raedwulf up to a level playing field. The mine is probably the best place to grind up levels this way. Good luck!
1) The beast needs to be chased down in a single night. It can't run away the 5th time you fight it in one night.
2) The lamp is in the mine, you have to find your way through the dark to get it.
3) All the items you can get are optional side objectives which may help you. There are 4 main objectives before the finale (which will be near the start). Each person you meet who will join the party has one, and there another given by a shepherd where you must return stolen goods to their graves.
I was worried making a sequel would be seen as too much of the same, but I tried to upgrade and introduce new features to every aspect.
Despite speeding up the graphics code it's still "fillrate" limited: the more pixels I have to update per frame, the slower it takes to draw. I didn't notice the minimap updating a frame earlier than the view, I guess I got used to it :) I'll keep it in mind for future.
Thank you for your contributions to the Spectrum RPG scene too!
Hi and thanks :) I'm not on Reddit so I can't answer directly. Back when I first released it I did a little technical write up on the Spectrum Computing forums which I think will answer them. It can be found here: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10335
That is unexpected behaviour. The ROM routine to load to a memory address should wait for tape input.
The only real hardware I had to test on was a 48k speccy, which was able to load and save fine. The code and save file data are the same in 128k mode and it worked via the Fuse emulator's tape emulation on all the 128k ROM versions. I think I recall other real hardware 128k user's being able to load from tape, so I'm fairly confident it should be working.
Could you try loading the game in 48k mode and see if you can load the save file data? Are you able to save and load other data with your tape drive (like a simple BASIC program)?
Fixed and updated! If you haven't already finished and your emulator allows it, you can POKE 45651,210 for a quick fix. Existing tape save-games will load on the updated version.
48K Spectrum cursor keys (5/6/7/8/0) are one of the alternate direction control key sets, which just so happens to map exactly to the Cursor Joystick standard :) You may just have to set a Next joystick port to be Cursor. However, combat and menus are still completely keyboard driven.
If you don't like W/A/S/D/E, you can also use the "arrow" cursor keys and spacebar on 48K+/128K machines and the Next.
Now return to Forester (the man you first met in the forest). Are you playing the 48K version? There is way less text overall in that version, which does make it a lot more difficult to follow what's going on. With the 128K version your next objective is shown on the map view too.
Hi! If you've just got started and encounter the witch in the north of the forest, and not at her house, then she is strategically blocking you from accessing the whole of the forest. You're not supposed to get around her. Your current objective lies to the east of there. Press M to check the map and see where you haven't been yet. Hope that helps!
