Previous Contents Next

5. Controlling your Knight

The knights are controlled with the keyboard. The game uses four directional keys (up, down, left and right) as well as a fifth "Action" key, as follows:

Player 1 Player 2 / Network Games
Up W UP ARROW
Down S DOWN ARROW
Left A LEFT ARROW
Right D RIGHT ARROW
Action Q RIGHT CTRL
Suicide F1 F12

These keys can be re-defined in the Options screen. In split screen mode, the left player will use the Player 1 keys, and the right player the Player 2 keys. In LAN or Internet games, only the right-hand key set is used.

Your knight can perform the following actions:

Moving

To move, simply push one of the direction keys. Your knight will move in that direction. Note that he will keep moving until he reaches the next dungeon square.

Picking Up and Dropping Items

To pick up an item on the ground, stand on top of it and tap the Action key once. If the item is large, your knight will automatically sheathe his sword and carry the item in his hands. Note that only one large item can be carried in this way. If the item is small then your knight will carry it about his person; there is no limit on the number of small objects that may be carried.

To pick up an item on a table or in a chest, you must first push and hold one of the direction keys to make your knight approach the table or chest, and then tap the Action key.

To drop an item that you are carrying in your hands, tap the Action key. Your knight will drop the item and re-draw his sword. The sword cannot be dropped. Smaller items also cannot be dropped (except for gems – see below).

Opening/closing doors and chests

You can attempt to open doors and chests by moving up to them (by holding the appropriate direction key) and then tapping the Action key. If the door is unlocked then it will be opened. Beware that doors and chests can be trapped, so exercise caution. Some may also be locked, in which case you will need the appropriate key to open them.

You can close a chest or door by facing it and tapping the Action key.

Attacking

To attack, hold the Action key, and then immediately press one of the direction keys. Depending on the weapon you are holding, your knight will:

Items other than the above cannot be used for hand-to-hand combat. If you try to attack, your knight will drop the item and draw his sword instead.

Parrying

If you are carrying a sword, axe or staff then your knight will automatically try to parry any attacks coming from the front, assuming that you are not pressing any keys. The staff is the best parrying weapon, followed by the sword, and the axe is the worst. Hammers and crossbows are too clumsy, and wands too fragile, to be used for parrying.

The Action Menu

If you hold down the Action key for a short time then the Action Menu will appear at the bottom right of your screen (where the map normally appears).

The Action Menu
The Action Menu

By pushing one of the four direction keys (while still holding the Action key) you can select one of the four options. The exact options displayed depend on the situation, but will always be one or more of the following:

Open/Close Open/close: Open or close a door or chest.

Lock Picks Lock Picks: Attempt to open a locked door using the lock picks.

Pick Up Pick up: Pick up an item.

Drop Drop item in hand: Drop currently held item.

Drop Gem Drop gem: Drop a gem. This may be useful if you want to hide some of your gems in secret places, so that your opponent cannot get all of your gems simply by killing you once.

Attack Attack: Swing your weapon. Note that attacking can be done more easily without using the Action Menu (see "Attacking" above).

Throw Dagger Throw Dagger: Throws a dagger in the direction you are facing.

Poison Needle
    Trap Poison Needle Trap: Sets a poison needle trap. This is only available while you are approaching a door or chest.

Spring Blade
  Trap Spring Blade Trap: Sets a spring blade trap. This is only available while you are approaching a door or chest.

Bear Trap Bear Trap: Sets a bear trap. The trap will be placed into the square in front of you.

Other Controls

Knights may commit suicide by pressing the suicide key (which is usually F1 for player 1 or F12 for player 2 / network games). This can be useful if you get stuck somehow.

Pressing TAB will bring up a display of the current quest. In the split screen mode this will also pause the game (unfortunately, the pause feature is not available in network games currently).

Pressing ESCAPE will abort the current game and return to the quest selection menu.

Previous Contents Next
Screen Layout Dungeon Features