Diver Down - http://diverdown.grenideer.com
              <delvedeeper@grenideer.com>
[December 6, 2003]
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Controls:

[ENTER]  - accept/examine
[ALT]    - cancel
[SPACE]  - menu
[arrows] - move/navigate menu
[D]      - drop item (inventory only)
 <joypads are supported>

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OverView:

Diver Down isn't like every other indie-rpg you've
played. I tried to give it a feel inspired by the
old Phantasy Star where it wasn't about getting
countless artifacts and levelling in the triple
digits. The item and skill systems are very basic
with an old-school feel. Towns aren't just hubs
for you to buy the next level of gear, and the
overworld doesn't just give you enough freedom
to walk left or right 3 paces before walking into
the next area. Nearly everything in the game is
examinable and while this will often result in
backstory (or nothing), sometimes a secret can
be gained. On that note, there are more than a
couple secrets in the game. Look for them.

Not that there aren't any flaws in the game. I
would have liked to do a lot more in the middle
of the game when the player has the most freedom.
The period of time in the beginning when Drek
is alone drags on way too long considering the
game length. It was good for story but bad for
gameplay. The overworld needs a major overhaul.
And graphics resources got sparse near the end
of development. When you notice things like this,
suck it up and focus on the good things. Ok?

BTW, if you don't get to the end of Act 1 and
see the event sequence, Metro's true pixel art
greatness will be lost on you.

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Play:

PROFILE-
You can view character stats, view/ use skills,
and view/ manage equipment.
strength - damage and base for attack
agility  - base for dodging and initiative
will     - base for skill attack and resist
vigor    - hit points
attack   - accumulated attack rank
defense  - accumulated defense rank
spirit   - skill points

INVENTORY-
A list of up to 30 group items. Press left/ right
to toggle between pages if necessary. All items
can be examined if not usable.

SPLASH UNIT-
This mysterious tech is attached to your arm. Use
it to see what it does!

GAME-
Save/ load from 5 games, or exit to main menu.


COMBAT
Attack   - perform normal attack
Skill    - use a special skill
Item     - use an item from inventory
Defend   - raise your guard and recover spirit
Run      - attempt to outrun the enemy

COMBAT AILMENTS
Combat ailments occur only in battle and only
affect the immediate battle. Characters may
recover from these naturally or through the use
of items/ skills. Higher priority combat ailments
override the lesser ones.
Stun     - character (or monster) loses next turn
Bound    - character may not use skills
Asleep   - character can not perform actions until
           awoken by damage or otherwise
Shock    - character is unconscious and can not
           perform actions

AFFLICTIONS
Afflictions usually occur in combat and mostly
affect combat, but their status remains with a
character out of combat and can continue to
cause ill effects. These can only be removed
items/ skills.
Poison   - character loses vigor equal to poison
           level each combat turn, and level may
           increase by enemies or decrease by
           natural means in combat
Curse    - character may not raise vigor in or
           out of battle until cured
Feeble   - character may not raise spirit in or
           out of battle until cured

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Bugs 
....ie.  "the game's free, so save a lot."

WIN version (Winv2)
-Playing way too many sounds can overload the
memory and crash the game. Staying in menus too
long may crash you, but the Windows version of
DD cleans up a lot better and this will likely
not ever happen.


DOS version (v2)
-Some mods aren't handled by the engine properly.
You'll probably hear some mixing side effects and
there will be the occasional crash when switching
music.
-Always save before equipping items. There are
some funky crashes that occur when nested in all
those menus.
-Playing way too many sounds can overload the
memory and crash the game. The DOS version of v2
can't unload this memory while playing a sound
(without cutting it off) so staying in menus too
long may crash you.
-Before ever selecting New Dive, you should
restart the entire app, or fonts may not load
properly. This means if you watch the Welcome intro
first, kill the program and restart it to play
the first time.


I should note that this game is extremely stable
and I have played for hours without any crashes
at all. But I haven't the resources to test on
different systems, and I am listing some bugs
with very small chances of occuring.

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Copyright

metro's art copyright 1999-2003 Patrick Doan
arias'  art copyright 1999-2003 Hendrick Sukardi
verge framework  copyright 1998 Benjamin Eirich

All other material, including characters,
story, world, code, etc.
            copyright 1998-2003 Brant Bassart

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