This faq sheet is for the SSI RPG game thunderscape. This game is set
in the new World of Aden, and combines real-time dungeon crawling with
turn-based combat. This FAQ sheet contains some information available
in the manual, lots of info available from the shops in the game, and
a few helpful hints for playing the game (no real answers!).
This FAQ is not yet complete, as I have not yet found the solutions to
all of the side quests and puzzles of the game. Additional items and/or
NPC's may be located in areas not yet reached. Also, I have not
experienced all of the problems that may occur during gameplay.
This was tested on a 486/66 vesa with a SB Pro I sound card, running the
game fully off a HD (100+Mb for the game), using CD version 1.00.
Thanks to everyone both on and off the net who helped with this.
Rev 1.0 jmmeloy@islandnet.com 12/15/95 James Meloy
Rev 1.1 jmmeloy@islandnet.com 01/10/96 James Meloy
NOTE: SSI has a 900- line set up for giving out game hints. As of
Jan 1/96, the numbers were :
USA 1-900-737-HINT
CANADA 1-900-451-6009
The v1.1 upgrade is now available from SSI's BBS. (Jan 10/96)
Table of Contents
Section 1 - Weapons list
Section 2 - Armor list
Section 3 - Magic items - books, rings, amulets, potions, books, misc
Section 4 - Helpful hints
Section 5 - Levels list
Section 6 - Known problems
Section 7 - Misc - shop locations, NPCs, errata, known 'legal' cheats
Section 8 - My dream team
MAX MIN SKILL
** SWORDS HANDS DAM STR BONUS CUT IMPALE BLUNT OTHER
Avenger 1 28 11 --- 6-16
- User gains bonuses to hit every time they take damage
Brede's Katana 1 24 12 +25 5-15 2x vs Demon
Magical Broadsword 1 21 10 +25 9-14
Magical Longsword 1 23 11 +25 7-17
Magical Shortsword 1 17 8 +25 6-11
Ripper 1 30 11 +30 8-18
Sword of Ashes 1 28 11 +10 5-20 1-6 death
- Double Damage vs Skeletal creatures
Thunderclap 2 34 15 +30 4-24 3-13 electr
Venom 1 12 8 +30 1- 6 3-8 poison
Whisper 1 16 8 +10 3- 8
- Increases user's chance of scoring a critical hit
- Can be used as a second weapon, in the left hand
** KNIVES
Death Dealer 1 13 6 +25 4- 9
- Does 5 extra damage to target regardless of armor
Shadowblade 1 18 6 +20 5-10 4-14 poison
- Raises users chance of scoring a critical hit
- +10 stealth
MAX MIN SKILL
** AXES / MACES HANDS DAM STR BONUS CUT IMPALE BLUNT OTHER
Bert's Club 2 90 25 18-48 2x vs skele
Bone Crusher 2 34 15 +25 11-26 2x vs skele
Deathwish 1 32 11 + 5 7-22 5-5 death
Magical 2 Handed Axe 2 27 15 +25 7-22
Magical Battle Axe 1 23 10 +25 7-17
Magical Battle Mace 2 30 15 +25 8-28
Magical Flail 1 25 10 +25 9-24
Magical War Hammer 1 25 10 +25 7-12 7-22
Skull Splitter 1 18 6 +15 4- 9
- Raises users chance of scoring a critical hit
Shatterstorm 1 30 11 +30 6-16
- Grants user extra attacks
MAX MIN SKILL
** POLEARMS HANDS DAM STR BONUS CUT IMPALE BLUNT OTHER
Blood Staff 2 22 8 +25 6-16
- Increased resistance to poison
Demon Slayer 2 26 14 +25 6-21 2x vs demon
Dragon's Talon 2 28 13 +30 6-21 4-14 4-9 fire
Dreamer 2 18 8 +15 6-11
- All hit must resist or be slept
Magical Bardiche 2 19 10 +25 7-17 5-10
Magical Glaive 2 28 14 +25 8-23 5-15
Magical Spear 2 15 10 +25 6-11
Magical Staff 2 17 8 +25 8-18
Reaper 2 22 13 +10 6-16 5-10 death
- Double damage vs skeletal creatures
Trident of the Ages 2 28 14 +25 8-23
** BOWS
Crystal bow 2 20 16 1-16
- Note: Rule book and ident have different damage numbers
Magical heavy crossbow 2 17 9 +25 5-15
Magical light crossbow 2 12 9 +25 5-10
Magical longbow 2 11 11 +25 6-11
Radiant bow 2 14 11 +30 4-14 4-19 electr
AMULETS:
Amulet of the Void : +6 protection vs cold & death
Amulet of Vigor : +5 hp / Increases resistance to poison
Dancer's Amulet : +20 martial arts; +15 acrobat
Demon Amulet : Increases resistance to asleep
Rad Diamond Amulet : Increases resistance to disease
Rad Onyx Amulet : +10 stealth skill
Rad Ruby Amulet : +10 protection vs poison
Rad Sapphire Amulet : +3 willpower
Smithy's Ember : +6 protection vs fire
RINGS:
Breath of Life : +3 protection vs death
Olmar's Ring : +3 Protection vs electricity
Palmea's Ring : +3 Protection vs poison
Pho Hum : +3 protection vs acid
Ring of Protection : +1 protection to everything
Ring of Warmth : +3 Protection vs cold
Klesa's Ring : Increases healing rate
Ring of Reflexes : Increases initiative
Ring of Perception : +20 see secrets; +20 xenology
Ring of the Cat : +25 acrobat; increases initiative
Ring of Thurm : +20 cast spells; increases healing rate
Thief's Ring : +20 lockpicking; +20 knife
Thaumaturge's Ring : +20 cast spells; increases healing rate
Crusader's Ring : +1 Strength
Frivlar's Ring : +1 Health
Ring of Agility : +1 Dexterity
Sage's Ring : +1 Intelligence
POTIONS:
Discipline Elixer : +1 Willpower
Elixir of Fortitude : +1 Health
Elixir of Grace : +1 Dexterity
Elixir of Might : +1 Strength
Enlightenment Elixir : +1 Intelligence
Herbal Remedy : Adds 6 hp to total (permanent)
Mana : Restores mana to full
WANDS:
Lightning Rod : Casts lightning bolt spell
Radiant Sceptre : Casts banish spell
Wand of Ashes : Casts fireball spell
Wand of Magic : Restores mana
Wand of Undoing : Casts dispel spell
Wand of Whispers : Casts charm spell
Wilhelms Wand : Casts mana bolt
BOOKS:
A Master Halberdier : +50 Polearm skill
Acid Rain Spellbook : +10 Cast spell skill OR learn aid spell
Aid Spellbook : +10 Cast spell skill OR learn aid spell
Annals of a Rogue : +25 Pick Pocket / +25 Lock Picking
Archer's Handbook : +50 Bow skill
Disintegrate Spellbook : +10 Cast spell skill OR learn disintegrate spell
Hidden Paths : +50 See secrets skill
Ice Missle Spellbook : +10 Cast spell skill OR learn ice missle spell
Maelstrom Spellbook : +10 Cast spell skill OR learn maelstrom spell
Merchants Handbook : +25 Fast talk skill / +25 Merchant skill
Powder and Shot : +50 Firearms skill
Slow Spell Spellbook : +10 Cast spell skill OR learn slow spell
The Cutters Edge : +50 Knife skill
The Duelists Craft : +50 Fencing skill
The Hammer Stroke : +50 Axe/mace skill
The Hunter's Track : +50 Stealth skill
The Physical Adept : +25 Martial arts / +25 Acrobat
Theurgic Principals : +50 Cast spells skill
Waer's Bestiary : +50 Xenology skill
Whirlwind Spellbook : +10 Cast spell skill OR learn whirlwind spell
Misc Magic:
Faerie Dust Pouch : Casts sleep spell
Magical Healing Stone : Casts the heal spell
Roscoe's Belt : +20 to fencing skill, +5 HP
Talon of Anarch : Casts maelstrom spell
Tear of the Beast : Casts charm spell
When creating characters, and when going up levels, SPECIALIZE!
Well-rounded characters are less effective in this game. Set up each
character with different non-combat skills.
Build up one character's merchant skill early in the game - you will
get a much better price early in the game, when it counts.
Look in bookshelves for hints and special items.
Characters will only go up levels immediately after a battle. They can
only go up one level at a time, even if they have enough EP for more.
The game will catch up by raising the character another level after
each subsequent combat until the characters level matches the EP.
In shops, click on buy and on identify to check out stats for items the
shop has for sale (for free!).
The identify option in shops will not usually give any info on items
that adjust a character's primary statistics. Try equipping these items
and watching to see if any numbers change ...
Start every character with at least a few points in the cast spells skill,
and have them learn the heal spell first. They will begin accumulating
mana points from the start of the game, and you will have lots of points
to burn on heal spells throughout the game.
Characters with the axe/mace skill, using magical warhammers, have an
edge in mighty blow damage vs swords critical hits late in the game.
Characters do not need bow skill or firearm skill to use them as
ranged weapons (long distance, not in combat).
The bow is usable as a melee weapon, and may be used as the primary
weapon for a character.
When creating characters, give all character types a high dex - this is
THE essential stat for upgrading weapons skills when going up levels.
There are a number of actions in the game that reward the characters
with experience points. Characters do not go up levels for these
XP until after the next battle. Watch for this.
Several times in the game, an object needs to be touched by an item in
inventory. Do this by going to the character's inventory, clicking on
the item (making it the mouse pointer), clicking on exit to return to the
game screen, then clicking on the object that needs to be touched.
'Run and jump' is best done using the keyboard movement and jumping
keys, and both hands. Use the numeric keypad 8 to run forward, and the
letter 'j' to jump when the takeoff point is reached.
When walking around, it may help to have the character with the
highest 'see secret' skill highlighted.
Some of the switches and levers in the game are touchy about where the
mouse pointer is located when trying to activate them. Try moving the
mouse pointer to different positions on the switch/button, or moving to
get a different angle on them.
Most switches and buttons can be activated from several feet away.
If a character is not successful in picking a lock or opening a chest
on the first try, try it again. If the character is somewhere close to
the necessary level, a second or third try might work.
Almost every object found in the game has a use, but not all of them are
necessary for completing the game. There are several sideline quests
and puzzles that do not need to be solved to complete the main quest.
There are two methods for 'curing' the acid/burning status of a character.
1. Cast dispel on the character using minimum MP. This may get rid of
the condition, but may also remove other 'good' effects.
2. Cast aid from a high-level character, using minimum MP. If the
character casting has enough int, the aid spell will remove
acid/burning, poison, and disease.
Keyboard Commands not in the Manual:
- F4 key - display current level and position
- Page Up / Page Down (not num. keypad 9/3) - Look up / Look down
- Arrow Up / Arrow Down (not num. keypad 8/2) - Scroll up/down through
text on screen (scrolls, signs, books, etc)
The original CD version of Thunderscape was released with some
"Unstable Code" (their words, not mine). This can create some strange
problems throughout the game.
Corrupted level data in memory - there are a number of symptoms for this
problem. If one or more of these show up, or if a problem is suspected,
the only solution is as follows:
- Retreat to the previous level and save game in slot 1, or identify
a slot with a savegame on the prevous level.
- Exit the game
- In the thunderscape directory, there will be sub-directories named
SAVE0, SAVE1, SAVE2, and SAVE3. These correspond to slots 1 thru 4
respectively.
- Delete the highest-numbered LEVELxx.DAT file in the sub-directory
containing the savegame you will be restoring. This will force the
game to re-initialize the corrupted level.
- Re-start the game, and load the game from the slot you deleted the
corrupted level from. This means restarting the affected level from
the beginning, but this is probably better than starting the game
over from the beginning.
Here is a list of the possible symptoms:
- Missing keys/objects/buttons/switches etc that are supposed to be
there.
- Music or sound effects that 'echo' and repeat without stopping.
- Doors that won't open, platforms that won't move, switches and buttons
that won't work, any of which do work under normal circumstances.
This is hard to identify, because many of these don't work at times
as a normal part of the game.
- Switches or buttons that have disappeared, or are now placed in
'impossible' places, such as in midair.
Possible causes for this problem are as follows:
- Moving through many different levels in one playing session.
(I can re-create this problem moving through more than 4 different
levels in any session).
- Reloading a savegame while the game is actively doing something (like
squishing the characters).
- Having the party die, then reloading a savegame.
If something strange happens, exit the game and restart from the last
savegame. If the game is saved after something funny happens, that
saved level may be 'corrupt', and might not be fully playable.
Game exits to dos/windows with the message 'RAN OUT OF RENDER POSTS'.
This is caused by having too many items of inventory dropped onto one
spot. This can happen if the characters drop many different items
in one place, either by 'cleaning out inventory', or by 'dropping' an
NPC with lots of inventory and replacing it with another one.
The solution is to drop only a few items in any one spot, or to
drop only items of the same type on the same spot (ie all scrolls,
all potions, all armor etc). For the NPC, clean out the NPC's inventory
before replacing it with another NPC.
Running the game on a HD that requires Ontrack's Disk Manager for
access.
There seems to be some sort of interface or disk management
conflict here. The game is playable, but the saved games will be written
out all over the place on the disk surface (only onto unused sectors-
there is NO disk corruption problem!). This fragments the data on the HD,
and gets worse each time a game is saved. If not handled properly, the
game will eventually crash during a save or restore with the error message
'cannot find disk sector', and hang.
The solution to this problem is to 'defragment' the hard drive on a
frequent basis (I needed to do this after every 4 to 5 saves), using
the defrag utility in DOS, Norton Utilities, PC tools, or any of a number
of other disk management systems available.
If you have crashed, you will most likely have 'lost' clusters on your
HD. Run any decent disk utility to fix the problem (DOS 'chkdsk /F' and
scandisk both work fine). The crashed savegame will be completely
unusable. Load from a different savegame, and save over top of the
one that crashed.
1 - Finea's, Valley floor, near starting point
2 - Gnash's, Lower Karegh-Konan, after caverns, before Lord of the Worms
3 - Floyd's, Sewers, near the generator room.
NPC CHARACTERS:
Theros the Ferran St 18 Dx 12 In 11 Wi 14 He 19 Hp 59 Mp 33 Lv 5
Swo 62 Axe 45 Bow 21 Shl 28 Merc 12 Xen 15
Meet on the starting dock - first encounter (L1)
Leaves when L4 complete (capstan level)
Bert the Troll St 30 Dx 7 In 5 Wi 16 He 21 Hp 64 Mp 17 Lv 5
Axe 71 M/A 43 Xen 11
Meet on the bridge, in the valley (L1)
Selene the Elf St 13 Dx 17 In 19 Wi 9 He 14 Hp 96 Mp 123 Lv 12
M/A 73 Knf 160 Ste 100 Secr 19 Xen 24 Cast 117
Meet in secret room on L5 (top level of keep tower)
Leaves when L5 complete
Prototype 17 Golem St 26 Dx 7 In 3 Wi 40 He 26 Hp 210 Mp 0 Lv 15
Axe 180
Built on L7 (Golem level)
Lord Drazul-Rapacian St 20 Dx 16 In 14 Wi 17 He 20 Hp 301 Mp 0 Lv 20
Swo 120 Axe 90 Shi 90 Pol 325 Ste 45 Secr 60
Merc 75
Sacred mines, L10, near bloody trail
Arghaan the Dwarf St 20 Dx 13 In 14 Wi 16 He 22 Hp 289 Mp 0 Lv 20
Swo 100 Axe 350 Gun 100 Secr 90 Merc 35
Ashak the Jurak St 21 Dx 15 In 14 Wi 18 He 19 Hp 506 Mp 385 Lv 35
Swo 286 Axe 585 Shi 189 M/A 291 Cast 367
Tophet - Skeleton St 19 Dx 17 In 19 Wi 22 He 15 Hp 247 Mp 0 Lv 28
Swo 390 Bow 187 Shi 182 Ste 100 Xeno 151
ERRATA:
The manual (P6) states that "NPCs cannot be given items by the characters,
or share equipment". For NPCs who have joined the party, this is
not true.
"When NPCs are replaced, they take all their items in inventory with them."
This is also not true. All of the items they carried are dropped into a
pile on the floor.
KNOWN 'LEGAL' CHEATS (v1.00):
Free HP. After a character gains a level, and before performing any other
actions, go into the character's inventory, and move an item. The game
will give out another increment to the character's HP.
Free XP. Use ranged weapons to kill a monster (at least two bows/guns are
required). If missles are sent in a steady stream and hit the dying
monster, the monster is 'killed' again and again, and the characters are
credited with the XP for the extra 'kills'.
Push one character's merchant skill over 100. (Say, 150 or 200). This
allows the character to sell items in shops for more than the listed
cost! With some quick buying and selling, the characters should be able
to outfit themselves with the best items in the shop, and have lots of
cash available for identifying items.
