Games PC DIE BY THE SWORD User Manual
™
DEVELOPED BY
A WORD FROM TANTRUM
Die by the Sword is the beginning of a new generation of games and technology. Once you play and become accustomed to the greater control of your
character, you will never be able to go back to the old technology that limits
your control. The physical based modeling technology created by Treyarch,
called VSIM, is a huge leap forward for games, bringing with it new techniques of gameplay that were never possible before. This technology is just in
its infancy and we haven't begun to scratch the surface of its possibilities.
Imagine someday hooking your whole body up to an input device and having the character in the game react exactly as you do. While it's been
attempted before, it's never really been possible to do it as accurately as we
can with VSIM. And while you may not want to play a game where you
have to hook your whole body up to an input device, VSIM is not bound by
any restrictions that would prevent this.
There is a lot to VSIM. You have never played anything like it before,
so it will take some practice. You should definitely start with the tutorial. As
you play, you will learn new techniques. You will develop your own unique
play style that will be different from all other players. The increased control
requires more practice than other games before it. Take your time. Look
through the manual and try out the different moves that we suggest. Once
you master it, you'll never go back.
The VSIM technology is really the future of animation and character control.
Die by the Sword will become a classic and be forever known as the game
that set the standard.
–Alan Pavlish
Tantrum
DIE BY THE SWORD MANUAL
INDEX
GETTING STARTED 4 SAVE/LOAD 11
STORY 5 GAME CONTROLS 12
MAIN MENU 8 MOVE EDITOR 16
Tutorial 8 CAMERA CONTROL 23
Quest 8 CHARACTER PROFILES 24
Arena 8 ITEM DESCRIPTIONS 33
Tournament 10 STRATEGY GUIDE 34
Options 10 Introduction 34
Sound volume 10 Movement 34
Music volume 10 Arcade Motion Control 34
Control 10 VSIM 37
Video Mode 10 VSIM Techniques 38
Detail Level 10 Tips, Hints and
Gamma Correction 11 General Rubbish 43
Key Layout 11 CREDITS 48
Custom Moves 11 CUSTOMER SUPPORT 50
Credit 11 LIMITED WARRANTY 51
Quit/Back 11 INTERPLAY WEBSITE 54
GETTING STARTED
After inserting the Die By The Sword CD-ROM into your CD-ROM Drive,
follow the on-screen instructions to install the game to your
hard drive. This won’t take long and you will only have to do it this
one time. You will always need to insert the Die By The Sword CD
into your CD-ROM drive for future gameplay.
If your system does not have Autoplay Enabled, please follow these
simple instructions to install Die By The Sword.
1. Double click on ‘My Computer’, and then double-click on the icon
for your CD-ROM drive. (Usually D:) Go to the “Die” directory.
2. Double click on the file named ‘SETUP.EXE’ to begin installation.
3. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the game to your hard drive.
Once the installation is complete, click on the Start Menu Button then go over
to Programs. Move your mouse cursor to
the Tantrum group and you should see Die
By The Sword. Move your mouse cursor
here and then click on Die By The Sword
to start playing.
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THE TALE BEGINS
One rainy morning in a pub overlooking Writhedale, Enric and Maya had
finally lost their last coin in a game of cards to a fat merchant. Enric pounded
his fists on the table in frustration. The game was undoubtedly rigged. City
life had become boring, so the duo took this loss as a sign to seek adventure.
Questioning the barkeep turned up little information. No beasts, no bandits,
and no wars… the city was rife with crime, but to them it was as safe as a newborn’s crib. The barkeep offered up a round of drinks “on-the-house”, and
Enric and Maya eagerly accepted. It was an excellent way to pass the time.
Then it came like wildfire, a rumor blazing through the streets. Always a center for gossip, the pub was engulfed by talk of the treasure to be had and the
horrific creatures to slay. The mountain range nearest Hanithburg on the
fringe of the civilized lands was swarming with fearsome beasts and ghastly
monsters roaming the area attacking travelers. So terrible were the beasts that
they’d tear a person apart just to hear him scream.
With a twinkle in their eyes, Enric and Maya were off on horses recently “liberated” from a deserving fat merchant.
After a rugged journey of many days, they reached the base of the Great
Mountain range. The forest was crawling with hungry creatures that saw them
as lunch. With a knowing grin and wink they charged headlong. The pair
seemed invincible. Enric charged giving Maya enough time to dart behind for a
killing blow. This battle alone was worth the long journey to get here.
When dusk came, not a beast still stood. All were slain or fled; the forest was
silent. Getting away from the stench of the dead, Enric and Maya made their
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5
way closer to the mountain, stopping for a moment to clean themselves in a
deep creek. Coming upon a druid ruin, they made camp. Maya took first
watch as Enric drifted into a deep dreamy slumber.
Drifting into his subconscious, Enric found himself alone in the forest in a
dense, soupy fog. Disoriented, he drew his sword. Sensing something to his
right, he turned just in time to avoid a bolt of lightning that whizzed by his
face and seared his beard. Staggering backwards, he was not prepared for the
dark globe, nearly invisible due to the light, that struck his chest and pinned
him against a tree. It expanded and wrapped around Enric, chaining him to the
tree. His sword arm was useless. He was helpless.
In a blinding flash of light, a man in robes appeared with Maya floating beside
him. She looked dead. Reacting, Enric strained to break free. The black tendrils stretched a bit which surprised his captor for a brief moment, before they
tightened knocking the breath from him.
“Free her and I might let you live,” Enric growled through clenched teeth.
Looking amused, the wizard replied, “And why would I do that? I have what I
need. Her soul is the last. Her strength will turn the Crystal away from Life
and towards Death.” He looked to Enric who stared back with fire in his eyes.
“Bah, ignorant peasant. You haven’t a clue as to what I am saying…”
Anger rising, Enric lashed out, “Take me instead!”
Pausing a moment, the wizard spoke, “True, you both are very strong indeed.
But for my purposes I only need one human soul, and her…attributes are a bit
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more appealing than yours.” Looking into the distance he continued,
“Spending over a year in a volcano’s labyrinth does get one a bit… anxious.”
Looking back to Enric, “Well then, your trivial existence amuses me so I will
not kill you. If you should happen to be still alive when next we meet, I will
be known to all as ‘Master Rastegar’!” In another flash of light, he was gone.
Enric awoke with a start. He was back at the ruins! He turned quickly looking
for Maya. She was looking at him with a slight grin. Maya taunted, “Aww, did
the mighty Enric have a bad dream?”
“This place be cursed Maya. I saw you caught by a damned mage!” Enric
replied intensely.
Softening, Maya pointed out, “Well I’m still here. Don’t worry ya big lug, I can
take care of myself.”
Enric got up and sat with her near the fire. “I would take this mountain down
for you, stone by stone.”
“I know ya would,” Maya said staring into the fire. “Oh, by the way, there be
kobolds about. I saw some tracks by the stones.”
“Kobolds, eh?”
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THE MAIN MENU
The first Die by the Sword screen displays the Main Menu. The Main Menu
allows you to select Tutorial, Quest,
Arena, Tournament, Options or Quit.
The Main Menu
the controls of movement and fighting without the pressure of combat, and
with text and verbal instruction throughout. It is designed to introduce the
player to all the basic control elements. We highly recommend that you complete this before attempting the full game.
Tutorial
This is a tutorial for people to get used to
Quest
Choosing Quest begins the main adventure game. You assume control of
Enric and fight against impossible odds. He wouldn’t have it any other way.
Enric’s quest is to rescue Maya and destroy
the evil wizard.
Arena
The Arena allows you to hone your fighting
skills, since you can choose what opponent,
and how many you want to fight. Just
think of it as another opportunity to hack
on bad guys.
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The Arena
In the Arena, you can experiment and perfect various moves that you
haven’t yet attempted in the Quest game. In addition to fighting as Enric,
you can also choose to fight as one of the enemies that appear throughout the
Quest. This gives you the unique opportunity to better understand the
nature of their movements and attacks, knowledge that will help you when
confronting them.
After clicking on the Arena menu item, the next screen you will see is the
Arena setup screen. On the left side of the screen, your choices are: Choose
Arena, Multiplayer, Enter Arena, and Main Menu. You can change characters by clicking on the character portraits. This will bring up a character
menu. Click on the face you want and you’re set.
CHOOSE ARENA enables you to set your fight
in Lava Pit, Pit of Ennui, Mosh Pit, or Pit of
Love. Make special note of the arrows on the
right side of the menu. These arrows let you
scroll down and choose the last arena.
MULTIPLAYER sets the method in which 2-4
players can participate. Your options here are:
IPX Connection for Directplay, Modem
Choose Arena
Connection for Directplay or Serial Connection
for Directplay.
ENTER ARENA begins an Arena match based on the selections that are currently on screen.
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MAIN MENU returns you to the Main Menu.
Tournament
Battle through an increasingly difficult horde of opponents to become an
arena master. If you need to quit your tourney before completion, and would
like to start it again, simply select the save name you entered when you
began the tourney.
Options
Choosing this from the Main Menu allows you to set game options such as
Sound volume, Music volume, Control, Video Mode, Detail Level, Gamma,
Key Layout, Custom Moves, or Credits.
SOUND/MUSIC VOLUME lets you adjust the volume level to suit your preferences. Press return to move the skull to the volume you want.
CONTROL Gives you the choice of Keyboard Arcade, Keyboard VSIM,
Joystick Arcade, Joystick VSIM, Mouse VSIM, or Gamepad Arcade. It may
take a bit of experimenting to find which one suits you best. (See Game
Controls for more information.)
VIDEO MODE Lets you choose either high or normal resolution. (This option
not applicable if using hardware acceleration since hardware acceleration is
always in max resolution.)
DETAIL LEVEL Lets you control the quality of the graphics displayed. Lower
detail levels will allow you to run at a higher frame rate for faster play.
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RE-ENABLE 3D CHECK Checks if 3D support is installed when you start
the game.
GAMMA CORRECTION lets you adjust the brightness levels of the game.
Press return to move the skull to the gamma level desired.
KEY LAYOUT Customizes the keys to your liking.
CUSTOM MOVES Here is where you can swap
a character’s special moves with ones that you
have created. The column on the left is the currently active special moves, and on the right are
the moves in the character’s library. Use the tiny
skulls to select moves, and the yellow arrows to
actually move them.
CREDIT See the names of those that made this game possible.
BACK exits this menu. (QUIT goes back to the Main Menu and exits the game
you are in.)
Custom Moves Option
SAVE \ LOAD
In both Quest and tournament mode, your game will be auto-saved at specific
points. The save games are attached to character names. For instance if you
name your character Bob, You’ll need to load Bob for the next time you play,
To reload a saved game, go to Either Quest or Tournament and select the
name you had before.
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GAME CONTROLS
Die by the Sword supports game control through Keyboard, Mouse, Joystick or
Gamepad. The Joystick and Keyboard can be used together while the
Gamepad functions independently to control gameplay.
Keyboard Controls
BODY MOVEMENT
W,S Move forward and back (double tap for quick move)
A,D Turn left and right
Q,E Sidestep left and right (double tap for quick move)
Caps Lock Crouch
Spacebar Press and hold to crouch, release to jump/press again in mid-air to flip
C Climb a ledge
Keypad *Action (pick up items, open doors, pull levers, search bodies, etc.)
SWORD MOVEMENT (Arcade Mode)
Keypad 6 High swing
Keypad 5 Middle swing
Keypad 4 Downward bash
Keypad 3 Block high
Keypad 2 Block middle
Keypad 1 Block low
Keypad / Sheath/unsheath sword
Ins Special move
Home Special move
Page up Special move
Delete Special move
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SWORD MOVEMENT (VSIM Mode)
Keypad 1 Sword down and left
Keypad 2 Sword down
Keypad 3 Sword down and right
Keypad 4 Sword left
Keypad 5 Sword down
Keypad 6 Sword right
Keypad 7 Sword up and left
Keypad 8 Sword up
Keypad 9 Sword up and right
Keypad 0 Extends sword arm
Keypad / Sheath/unsheath sword
Keypad Enter Block mode
MISCELLANEOUS
Keypad + Damage sensor (tell relative damage of limbs and shows health bar.
Green means good health, yellow is moderate, red is critical.)
Keypad - Compass
F3 Shows all health bars
F4 Toggles on/off “Damage Sensor”
F5 Toggles on/off “Compass”
Mouse Controls
BODY MOVEMENT
Use standard “Body Movement Keyboard Controls” for movement.
Mouse Buttons
Right Button Sheath/unsheath Sword
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Left Button (When sword is unsheathed) Block mode
Left Button (When sword is sheathed) Performs action
SWORD MOVEMENT
The movement of your sword is controlled by moving the mouse back and forth.
Joystick Controls
ARCADE MODE
Stick Move forward, backward; sidestep left, right
Twist Rotate left, right
Trigger (When sword is unsheathed) Launch arcade attack
Trigger (When sword is sheathed) Action
POV Hat Modifies trigger (i.e. POV forward + trigger creates high attack)
Thumb Button Crouch/jump
Right Top Sheath/unsheath sword
Right Bottom Climb
VSIM MODE
Stick VSIM control of sword
POV Hat Move forward, backward; turn left, right
Trigger Crouch/jump
Thumb button Sheath/unsheath sword
Right Top Action
Right Bottom Climb
Gamepad Controls
Pad Move forward, backward; spin left, right
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Left Trigger Crouch/jump
Right Trigger +Pad Sidestep left, right
WITH SWORD UNSHEATHED:
A, B, C Primary arcade attacks
X, Y, Z Blocks low, mid, high
X, Y, Z (double tap) Special attacks
M Sheath/unsheath sword
WITH SWORD SHEATHED:
B Action
C Climb
Camera Controls
3RD PERSON VIEW
R Raises camera far above you. Lowers when pressed again.
F Toggles between fixed or floating camera. (Fixed camera prevents
auto-switching into combat mode.)
SCOUT CAM
2 First person scout cam A Turns camera Left
1 Gets you out of scout cam D Turns camera Right
W Turns camera up F Zooms in
S Turns camera down R Zooms out
LOOK-AROUND CAM
Keypad (.) Activates Look-Around cam (Holding this down keeps you in
Look-Around mode. Keypad numbers move the camera.)
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MOVE EDITOR
The Move Editor is a companion utility to DBTS which allows the user to create custom moves for any of the Arena-playable characters. These moves can
be imported into the game for use in either Arena or Quest mode. To run the
Move Editor, either select it under Die By The Sword in the Start Menu, or go
to the Die By the Sword directory and double mouse click on the
“Winmedit.exe”.
Moves recording is that moves are recorded in three separate tracks, representing the two arms and the body. The tracks can be recorded separately or
together (though not both arms at once). Once each track is recorded, they
can be individually adjusted to sync all the motions together for a perfectly
timed move.
Moves are saved according to character (not user), into a library of moves for
that character. Four of these moves at a time can be brought into active use
and assigned to keys in the Game. The libraries include four default moves
for each character.
The Move Editor mimics the function and likeness of a tape recorder to
make things as intuitive as possible. Since play control requires much of the
keyboard, the interface is largely based on the mouse.
The Move editor uses the VSIM control system for the motion of the sword
while creating moves. All action takes place on screen which consists of the
Game Window, the Menu, the Track Selectors, the Frame Selectors, and the
Control Buttons. They work as follows:
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MOVE EDITOR MENU
Game Window
Miscellaneous
Control Buttons
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Frame Selectors
Track Selectors
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