                       ULTIMA ONLINE: Shattered Legacy

WHAT IS A PRE-ALPHA?

Ultima Online, or UO for short, is currently at a very early stage of its
development. According to the definitions used by ORIGIN, a product that
reaches Alpha is one that has the engine for the game complete and working
fully, although not all the scenario and world may be present yet.

What you are going to play is pre-Alpha. That means that there are a very
large number of core features missing from the engine. Normally a product
at this stage of development would not be released to the public in any
form, but there are elements of the engine which we need to test on a
large scale before we proceed.

This means that although we hope that the product is stable and playable,
we cannot offer any guarantees whatsoever that it will even run on your
machine. It is missing many key features we consider integral to the final
version, and will have bugs and design problems.

WHAT IS WORKING NOW

Character Generation: you have the ability to select your hair style and
color from a small list of choices. You can also choose your gender, adjust 
the relative proportions of your primary attributes, and choose a name.

Basic Communication: You can converse with other players who are on the
screen.

Movement: You can walk at two speeds, climb stairs, and move up and down
slopes.

Equipment: You begin the game with clothing. There also exists a basic
set of armor and weapons which can be purchased from shops. There are
also scrolls, potions, food, and a sextant for sale which can be used.

Combat: You can engage in melee combat unarmed or with weapons (we strongly
recommend the latter); or you can use tactics such as fireball spells and 
flasks of oil. Combat with ranged weapons (other than the fireball spell) is
not currently implemented.

NPCs: You can ask NPCs for directions to various businesses and landmarks
in the city, and talk with them about their jobs. They will respond with
a range of intelligence levels and differing degrees of rudeness or
politeness, based partly upon their attitudes and partly on your behavior
in the course of the game.

World: You can explore part of the world, including the large city of Britain, 
the castle of Lord British, a graveyard with a hidden surprise,
a forest, some orc encampments, and a few farms. There will be orcs,
orc captains, skeletons, deer, wolves, rabbits, and a large number of
NPC people of differing professions.

Magic: The following spells are implemented: Quas In Lor (Create Lightsource), 
Quas An Lor (Create Darksource), In Lor (Create Light), In Vas Lor (Create Great 
Light), Mani (Heal), Por Flam (Fireball), and In Mani Ylem (Create Food). 
You will be able to purchase scrolls of these spells and either cast them directly
or copy them into a spellbook for more permanent gain. In addition, there is a
magical potion you can use to help heal your wounds.

Skills: A limited number of basic skills are available, all of which are
improved through use.

Graphics: The game world is a texture-mapped 3D map, with cliffs, rolling 
hills, and multi-story buildings with basements. We have paperdoll
functionality on both your large status window and also on your figure
as you walk around in the world. We have a wide range of architecture,
a more limited range of objects, and literally only three types of trees. 
It is in 16-bit color SVGA. Light levels include settings for day, night,
ambient lighting, and spot lighting.

Sound and Music: At the moment, only basic actions, such as walking and attacking, have 
audible sound effects. However, this pre-Alpha version does include MIDI music, much 
of it context-sensitive, meaning it changes based on the surrounding location and events. 
Please note, though, that the current music files are not the pieces that will go
into the final version, and instead come from previous Ultima games (pulled 
directly from the Ultima Dragons web site, in fact). These filler pieces have
not been rearranged or remixed.

WHAT IS NOT PRESENT

First off--this client has a LOT of optimization that can still be
done on it. The demands on the processor and the video card for
rendering a full 640x480 screen of 16 bit color are very high, and
once you add in details like the texture mapped terrain, the translucent
water, occasional animations, plus smooth scrolling, all over the
Internet, you have a program that has pretty high requirements. The
requirements for the actual product will be much lower, but if you
find that the client right now is too slow to be playable, there is
not much we can do about it. We WOULD be interested in knowing about
your impressions about its performance on non-Pentium based computers,
and with different types of video cards and configurations.

Eventually, the NPCs will have a constant, ever-evolving life of
their own, with changing needs and quests. Eventually everything in the
world will eat its own food and seek its own shelter. It will be a fully
simulated world. Moreover, shopkeepers will only sell what they own, rather
than from a list of pre-selected inventories, and you crafty types will have
the opportunity -- if you're mastery of stealth is good enough -- to make off 
with the goods beneath their very noses. And when they're out of stock, or out
of the materials to make their stock, and especially if their out of whatever
it is they need to survive, they'll tell you about it. You will see some of 
the basics of all of this in the test, in that you will see the wolves 
attacking the deer and the rabbits for food, and you will see the human NPCs 
responding with different attitudes based on how happy they are with their lives. 
But for now, no quests, although in the final product we expect questing to be
one of the central parts of the game.  

There is hardly anything right now that requires or even encourages
multiplayer activity. Eventually, you can expect puzzles and quests
which require multiple players to solve, methods of travel that involve
cooperation, and so on. This will be a major ingredient in the Ultima
Online gaming experience, but is not yet present.

You won't be seeing most of the skills, which will eventually range from 
combat skills to pottery, from magic to mapmaking, that we plan to implement. 
Nor will you see the familiar trappings of complex spells, material reagents,
and various forms of magic. Nor, will you be able to buy a building yet. And, 
you won't be able to hire NPCs as mercenaries yet. You won't be able even to 
sail the seas on the Vesper-Magincia trade route yet. Much of the game system 
is simply not done yet, and elements such as guilds and other social organizations, 
castle building, game economy and trade, full character and paperdoll customization, 
and other such things are not in the test. You can't even move much faster than a 
walk yet, much less swim.

The conversations right now are necessarily very skimpy. There is a
very limited number of NPC types. The interaction between players and
NPCs will therefore be rather limited for the test. And of course, the
map itself is a mere fraction of the eventual world. There are portions
of even the world you can see that will be closed off or inaccessible,
and there will be places where the map does not yet behave as expected
--try walking on the steps up to the stage in the Bardic Conservatory,
for example--and there will not be any way for us to fix problems of
this sort during the test period.

We want you to understand all of the above because this is a pre-Alpha,
and we want it to be clear that we are aware of all these limitations
in the current engine. Eventually Ultima Online will truly blow your
mind--for now, we hope that even this early and drastically incomplete
version will knock your socks off.

And don't forget, UO will eventually contain all-new, all-original music, 
as well as sound effects for every action that can be performed in the game.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
INSTALLATION, TROUBLESHOOTING AND TECHNICAL PROBLEMS

If you are reading this, you already managed to get the UO.ZIP file
containing this readme and the client application and associated
files. In case your zip is corrupt or for some reason you need to
re-download, the sites for the UO.ZIP file are:

ftp.ea.com/pub/demos/uo/uo.zip
ftp.owo.com/uo/uo.zip

If you do not already have a decompression application, you can download
one off of either site. We recommend using Winzip, but pkunzip works
just as well. Just remember to unzip WITH DIRECTORIES, which means
using the /d switch.

Once you have uncompressed the UO.ZIP file into a temporary directory,
run SETUP.EXE to install the game. This will install the game and will
add a command line to your Start menu.

If you have technical problems with installation or running the game,
DO NOT CONTACT ORIGIN CUSTOMER SERVICE. They will be completely unable
to help you. Instead, either call the Ultima Online Hotline at this
number:

(512) 434-6500

Or send email to:

multima@origin.ea.com

but please be aware that there are several thousand of you and only a
few people available to answer questions for a pre-Alpha product.

Remember that this piece of software is a TCP/IP application. This
means that you must have full Internet connectivity either via a direct
connection to the Net, or via SLIP or PPP for it to work.

If you can launch the client without trouble, you will be able to
choose which server to connect to. If you choose a server and then you
see your connection time out, that means that that server is full to
capacity with other testers. Try another server or try again later.
We're sorry if you are unable to log on, but each server has
a definite capacity load, and we only have three servers at this time.

REPORTING BUGS AND OFFERING SUGGESTIONS:

Bug reports: Before you report a bug, think carefully about whether it
is a bug or something mentioned in this document as not yet implemented.
We'll have plenty of legitimate bugs that we don't know about, and you
have better things to do with your time than pointout ones we already
know about! Also consider whether it is a bug or actually a suggestion
or idea for the game. The email address to email bug reports to is:

uo-bugs@owo.com

Suggestions, ideas, and feedback: We love to hear ideas and we love to
get feedback, but please consider that the amount of email we expect to
receive means that we will not be able to respond to what you send in.
Before giving us a suggestion, read the "Not yet in" section above
closely--it doesn't go into much detail, but should be enough to give
you an idea of what we plan to do--and if it's a suggestion or idea
that it seems apparent we have not yet thought of, send it to:

uo-comments@owo.com

We've been thinking hard about features and gameplay for several months
now. Many of the obvious factors, such as player economy, guilds and
social organizations, customization of your character, and so on, have
been covered in our design discussions at great length. Keep this in
mind when you send in suggestions, but don't let that stop you from 
sending in your ideas. After all, even seeing suggestions we've already
thought off helps, because it confirms that we're on the right track.

WHEN IS THIS TEST?

The UO.ZIP file with this readme file in it was made available at 10:00am
Central Standard Time (US), on March 31th. The servers will open for
connections at 10:00am CST (US) on Monday, April 1st. Honest, it's not
an April Fool's joke. The test will run for seven days. We are sorry we
cannot leave the servers up for longer than that, but we cannot
allocate more resources to this test without jeopardizing the timeline
for the project as a whole.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
HOW TO PLAY THE GAME:

Making a character: 
When you first enter Ultima Online, you will have the opportunity to choose some aspects 
about your character. First you may enter a name for your character, as well as choose a 
gender, hair color, and hair style. Through sliders, you will be able to set your three 
primary attributes -- Strength (which affects your chance to hit in melee, damage 
inflicted, maximum hits, and carrying capacity), Dexterity (which affects your chance to 
hit in all combat, your fatigue recovery rate, and most basic skills), and Intelligence 
(which affects your chance to succeed at magic, your mana level, and some basic skills). 
In addition, there are four optional fields that provide you with the opportunity to give 
your email address, a URL address, your real name, and specific details about the PC you're 
using for this test.

Movement: 
There are two ways to move your character around in the world. You 
can either use the mouse, or you can use the numeric keypad. If you use the 
keypad, you must have Num Lock off, or else you will be typing in numbers to 
speak. To walk normally with the keypad, press the key for the direction in which
you wish to go. To use the mouse, move the arrow cursor in the direction you 
wish to walk, then press the right mouse button.

Double clicking on an area with the right button will make your character 
attempt to walk to the location you specified, assuming the way is not blocked.

To run using the mouse, move the cursor farther away from the center of the
screen where your character is standing. You will see the cursor get
slightly longer, which indicates that you will move faster when you
right-click. Note that only your character's speed will change -- there 
is currently no art for running characters. At the moment, there is no way 
to run using the keypad.

A note about movement and client-server relationship: although your local client
will attempt to move you about the world based on your commands, only the OSI 
server stores your true location. Since your client will invariably react to your
commands more quickly than the server, it will sometimes permit movement to a 
particular location that is should not. In such an instance, you will see your
character "snap-back" as the server reminds the client where you really should be. 
This should occur rarely, but is not a cause for alarm when it does occur.

Speech: 
To talk, or bark a message above your head, type the single quote ` 
followed by a space, and then followed by your message. You will remain in 
that speech mode until you type another command. Please note that every 
letter key or number key, all punctuation, and full use of caps and lowercase 
are available in talk text. Another convention is to place gestures 
(also known as emotes, poses, or socials) between asterisks, like *smile*, for 
example.

To get the attention of a specific character in the world, begin the first sentence 
that you say with the name of that character. To learn the name of a character, merely 
single-left click on that character and the name will appear above his or her head.
If you merely wish to get the attention of the character in the world nearest to
you, you need only begin the first sentence with "Hello."

Looking at and using objects: 
You can single left-click on most objects to identify them, or double-left click 
on an object to make it function, called "using" an object. Many objects are not 
usable in the ordinary fashion, but do have other functions. Examples of such are 
clothing, which is worn, and weapons, which are automatically used in combat when 
wielded (see Paperdoll functions).

Paperdoll functions: 
Double-left clicking on yourself will pull up your paperdoll. This is a window 
that shows a picture of yourself along with any equipment you may be wearing, plus has 
a few buttons. You may drag objects such as clothing, weapons, containers, and nearly 
anything else you can move over the paperdoll to equip yourself. To drag an item, simply 
single-click on the item you wish to move, and hold the button.  Then move the mouse to 
the area in which you wish to deposit the item (in the case of your paperdoll, you'll 
want to have already opened this before dragging). In the case of clothing and weapons 
you wish to wear or wield, drag the item over the appropriate area in the paperdoll 
(the doll's right hand in the case of weapons) and release. The item will automatically 
cover the proper area. To put items in your backpack, simply double-click the left 
button to open its window, and drag the desired item to it. 

Paperdoll buttons: 
Clicking on the BACKSCROLL button will pull up a second window that has in it all text 
from your current session. You can use scroll lock and the regular scroll bar in this 
gump in order to read the backscroll.

Clicking on the WAR/PEACE button will toggle you between combat mode and peaceful
mode. When you are in combat mode, you will attack anyone you double-click on.
If you have combat off, it will pull up their paperdoll.

The STATUS button will pull up a gump giving information about your character.
This gump may be minimized to three small status bars (for hit points, mana,
and fatigue) in the bottom left corner of your screen.

The SKILLS button will tell you your current skill level for all of the skills
that can be attempted in the game. Note that your actual chance to successfully
perform an action is actually based on a combination of your attributes and skills, 
so the skill number is more an indication of your ranking in that skill, rather
than the actual chance of success for that skill.

You may exit the paperdoll by clicking on the small X in the lower right corner
of the paperdoll.

Equipment: 
There are several items in the game that your character will find useful. 
clothing helps individualize your character, while armor and weapons will help
when involved in battle. In addition, candles may be used to provide light when 
it is dark, and magic scrolls, spell books, and potions can help in a variety of 
ways.

Purchasing items from shops: 
When you double-click with the left button on any of the many shopkeepers in the game, 
a window that displays the items they sell appears instead of their paperdoll. If you 
wish to purchase an item, select it, and then use the plus + button to add the item to 
your list (or click there several times if you wish to purchase more than one of that item). 
The minus - button will remove the selected item from your list. Once you are finished, you 
may click on the check button to complete the transaction, or the X to cancel it. Use the 
scroll bars to move up and down the shopkeeper's inventory. Once the SELL window is closed, 
the shopkeeper will attempt to see whether you can afford the selected items. If so, 
the requisite amount of gold is removed from your inventory, and the purchased items 
are placed in your packs. If you cannot afford all the items, the SELL window
remains open and you must use the minus - key to make your list of selected items
affordable.

Combat: 
To attack something (or someone), merely open your paperdoll and make sure 
your WAR/PEACE button is set to "war," then double-click on your target. You will
begin to attack them. To change targets, simply double-click on the new target.
It is a good idea to have a lot of armour and a good weapon when fighting. Note
that it is possible to put yourself into combat "mode" by pressing ALT-C. 

During combat, you may wish to see the status of your opponents. Single left-click 
on your target as if you were going to drag him or her, and then pull the mouse 
off the target. The result will be a minimized window that displays your opponents
current level of Hits. You can do the same thing to your character to keep a 
handy view of your Hits, Mana, and Fatigue. Once you have these minimized windows,
you may move them to where they're most convenient for you.

Death: 
When you have been killed, a message saying so will appear in the lower
left corner of the screen, where most other text messages appear. You will be 
teleported to the Temple where the magic of the ankh will have been invoked to 
restore you to life. However, you will be without any possessions. You will want
return to your corpse as quickly as possible, before others come across it and
take what they need. In addition, there is a penalty associated with death that
take the form of lost experience.

Spells: 
The seven spells currently in the game are accessed one of two ways. 
First, you must buy a scroll containing a desired spell from a mage.
At that point, you may double-click on the scroll with the left button to "use" it. 
Doing so makes the spell take affect, but at the expense of the scroll. Another option
is to purchase a spell book (also from a mage). Instead of using scroll, drag it
to the spell book, which will incorporate the spell permanently into the book. At that 
point, using the spell book brings up a window that allows you to select from the spell 
in your book. Successfully casting from your spell book is based on your skill with magic
and your intelligence. However, whether you succeed or fail, the spell will still 
be available the next time you wish to use it. Note that spell casting of any kind,
whether from book or scroll, temporarily reduces your Mana level.

Skills and levels: 
Although the final game will be entirely attribute and skill-based,
the pre-Alpha test has incorporated a mixture of skills and levels to provide 
a basic opportunity for player advancement. The present skills work much like
they will in the future (though there are only about 1/20th of the total, as
well as breakdowns for specializations within skills types, such as individualized
weapon skills), which is to say that you need not activate them manually. Merely attempt
the desired action and the system will handle the details. Attack creatures to 
use your combat skills, cast spells to test your magic skill, look into the 
inventories of others to use your peek skill, and drag their items away to activate 
your steal skill. And, the more you perform these actions, the better you skills 
will become in them.

Levels on the other hand, are the temporary method by which the non-skilled
aspects of your character are improved. Raising levels will increase some or all 
of your three primary attributes (Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence), as 
well as your three second attributes (Hits, Fatigue, and Mana). You increase 
your level by gaining experience, which comes from vanquishing opponents. We
cannot reiterate enough that not only will the final game do without levels, but 
that also means that characters will ultimately advance through a variety of 
means other than monster-slaying. But, for now, experience points and the level
that come from them should serve their purpose to let you see your character's 
rise in power.

Following and grouping: 
It is possible to set your character to follow another 
automatically, to enable you to follow along without manually traversing the 
same area. To do this, press the <ALT> key and single-left-click on the leading
character. You may also group with characters, which enable you to share
experience earned from battles. To group with a character, press the <ALT> key and
double-left-click on the lead character of the group.

Exiting the game: 
You may leave the game by typing ALT-F4. Furthermore, if you 
are not utilizing the full-screen option, you may close the window in the 
usual Windows manner by clicking on the small X in the upper right corner, or 
by choosing Exit from the File menu.

The Attributes and Skills
=========================
Primary Stats:
Strength -- affects damage inflicted with melee weapons and carrying capacity
Dexterity -- affects success of most physical skills
Intelligence -- affects success of most intellectual skills

Secondary Stats:
Hits -- are the number of points of damage that can be sustained before death;
	determined by Strength
Fatigue -- determines how long a character can perform physical actions; initially
	determined by Strength, but further modified by Dexterity
Mana -- is the number of points in a power pool of ether that determines how many 
	spell the character can cast without rest, and how powerful those spells can be;
	determined by Intelligence

Skill -- a measure of the characters expertise in a particular skill; initially 
	determined by the appropriate attribute, but modified by practice
Level -- abstract reference to amount of experience earned while slaying foes; 
	level gains increase the six attributes, but do not directly affect skills.
Experience -- accrued by slaying opponents to gain levels.

A FINAL NOTE
We of the Ultima Online team would like to thank all the many people
who have expressed enthusiasm and support for this project, and who
are devoting a sizable chunk of their time to testing this admittedly
incomplete project. We're doing our best to make this game something
truly special, with features that have never been seen before, and
we owe a debt of gratitude to you, the tester, for helping us make it
happen. We hope you enjoy it--and we'll see you online!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
					ULTIMA ONLINE:  Shattered Legacy
						Reference Card

Hot keys:
ALT-F4                  closes the client and disconnects you from the server
ALT-C					invoke combat mode
ALT-S					open spell book
ALT double-left-click	group with target character
ALT single-left-click	follow target character
ESC						close all windows but the main game
ALT-ENTER               switches between full screen mode and windowed mode
keypad 12346789         movement keys (Num Lock must be off)
arrow keys			    movement keys
` (single quote)        puts you into regular speech mode

Menu Options  - game configuration options

        Change Text Font
				Allows you to set which Windows font you wish to see when
                text is displayed. It also lets you set the point size. Note
                that this only changes YOUR font, not what others see.

        Change Text Foreground Color
                Pulls up a set of sliders to permit you to change your text
                color. Please use a bright color, but don't go with the
                easiest ones to get. This color is seen by other players, so
                you want it to be legible against the background.

        Change Text Background Color
                This feature does not exist.

        Full Screen Mode
                Switches the client into full screen 640x480 mode. In
                this mode the menu bar is generally absent. Use
                ALT-ENTER to toggle full screen mode and windowed mode.

        Music
                Turns the music on and off. Currently there is substitute
                music in place, consisting of MIDI files from the
                older Ultima games.

        Sound
                Turns sound on and off.

        Cache size
                This feature currently does nothing.

Glossary

ambient light   
	the overall brightness of the screen on the client, reflecting how well you can see
attributes      
	a character's statistics
backscroll      
	a log of all text issued by the game; the gump that holds this text
bark            
	barking is placing text up on the screen above the speaker's head
broadcast       
	a game-wide message sent by someone in god mode
client          
	what you use to connect to the game
combat mode        
	a toggle which alters what double clicking on a PC or NPC means, permitting fights
full-screen mode   
	running the client in 640x480 resolution
Internet           
	a worldwide network connecting networks and computers
IP address 
	the network identification number for your computer
lag                
	a slang term for a slowdown in Internet communications
latency            
	a measure of the lag of an Internet connection--high latency means a slower link
owo.com    
	the Internet site where the server runs -- Origin Worlds Online.
packet             
	a single unit of information sent via the network
paperdoll  
	the drawing of individual pieces of equipment on a generalized figure
popping         
	when objects of higher elevation are not drawn so you can see under them
scrollback      
	another term for backscroll
server          
	the main program that runs the game, or the machine that runs the program
stacking                
	where multiples of the same object are represented by one instance plus a number
windowed mode   
	running the client in a window at a resolution higher than 640x480

All materials (c)1996 ORIGIN Systems, Inc.  Origin and We create worlds are 
registered trademarks of ORIGIN Systems, Inc. Electronic Arts is a registered 
trademark of Electronic Arts.

-->Bug reports: uo-bugs@owo.com
-->Suggestions, ideas, and feedback: uo-comments@owo.com
-->Ultima Online hotline:  (512) 434-6500
-->Send email to: multima@origin.ea.com
