
Chaos Funk - by Richard Phipps, 2003.
-------------------------------------

(A PC remake of the popular spectrum computer game Chaos by Julian
Gollop in 1985).

Chaos Funk requires a PC and a mouse. It's been tested on a 300mhz
Pentium II and a Pentium 4 2.66 machine and is perfectly playable on
both.

Please be aware that this game is currently being developed and as
such is still missing features and may contain bugs and problems.

I TAKE NO LIABILTY FOR ANY EFFECTS THIS GAME HAS, USE IT AT YOUR OWN
RISK.


INTRODUCTION

'Chaos Funk' is a turn based battle between 2 to 8 wizards, and or all of 
which can be computer controlled. Each wizard has different physical
strengths and weaknesses and has a randomly chosen list of spells.
One of these spells can be cast each game turn. Most spells are used 
to summon creatures which are controlled by the casting wizard.

STARTING THE GAME

Upon starting Chaos Funk you will be presented with a title screen.
Clicking the mouse will take you to the wizard selection screen.

This screen displays the graphics for 8 different wizards along with
8 randomly chosen names and the wizards status. By clicking with the 
mouse you can change any of the wizard's status from a human player, 
a computer player or not used in the game. In this way you can select
from 2-8 wizards which can be any combination of human or computer
players. Note: You must select at LEAST 2 wizards before you can start
the game.

To start the main game, click on the DONE text at the bottom of the
screen.

HOW THE GAME IS ORGANISED.

'Chaos' is played in a series of game turns. Each turn is played
in three phases; the spell selection phase, the casting phase and
the movement and combat phase. Each wizard selects a spell, then selects
a location to cast it, then finally gets to move his/her creatures.

SPELL SELECTION

The view will zoom in from an overview of the map onto a close up view
of the player's wizard. His name will also be displayed along with the
Chaos / Law balance (discussed later). Click with the mouse and the view
will zoom out and your spell list will appear on the right of the screen.

By moving the cursor over any object on the map you will see that the
text at the bottom will change to show the object's name and it's
creator. If the creature is not dead then you can gain further
information by right clicking with the mouse which will zoom into the
creature. Clicking again will zoom out.

The wizard's spells are displayed in the form of icons on the right hand
side of the screen. Moving the cursor over any of these icons will display
information of the spell. At the bottom right of the screen in big letters
you will see the percentage chance of the spell succeeding. All spells in
Chaos have a chance of success ranging from 10% to 100%. Thus part of the
strategy is taking a risk of casting a low chance powerful spell or
selecting a weaker spell that has a higher chance of success. The colour of
the percentage chance also denotes the chance, which is a handy visual aid.
to the left of the percentage chance you will see the name of the spell and
below that you will see the allignment of the spell.

At the bottom of the screen you can see the range of the spell as well as
a few visual icons which are described here:

Eye:         This denotes that the spell requires Line of Sight.
Cross:       This denotes that the creature is undead.
Wing Icon:   This denotes that the creature can fly.

Extra gfx icons will be added as the game is developed.

Each spell and creature has an allgnment. These are Chaos, Neutral and Law.
Some creatures such as Goblins and Wraiths and Chaotic and some such as
Elves and Unicorns are Lawful. When you successfully cast a Chaotic spell
the world balance of Chaos / Law is shifted slightly to the Chaos side.
Similarily when you cast a Law based spell you shift it to the Law side.
With repeated casting of the same allignment spells you will shift the
balance more and influence the chances of those allignment spells from
succeeding in the future.

The Chaos / Law world balance (which is shown when the screen zooms onto a
wizard just before he clicks to show his spells), shows the strength of the
Chaos / Law balance in the form of a number below the current balance. So
you could see Chaos -2- or Law -4-. The higher the number the greater the
chance of casting spells of that allignment. More specifically Chaos -2- will
make a spell that normally has only a 60% chance of succeeding now have a
chance of 80%! So the Chaos / Law number x 10 is the extra chance you have
for spells of that allignment.

Even if the world is very Chaotic, Lawful spells are no harder to cast than
normal and the same is true of Chaos spells if the world is very Lawful. 
Neutral spells are unaffected by the world balance and always have the same
chance of success.

Right clicking on a Creature spell will currently change the map view to show
you the creature stat screen which shows you the attributes of each creature.
The meaning of these is discussed later.

Left clicking on a spell icon will select that spell or you can alternatively
click on the NO SPELL icon at the top of the spell list to skip casting a 
spell.

NOTE: A list of creatures and descriptions of the non-creature spells can be
found later in this document.

SPELL CASTING

You get one round where everyone casts a spell then a round to
move/attack in.  If you are player one then you get to cast your
spells and move first. The last player is at a disadvantage that
he can be attacked before he has a chance to move, but has the
advantage that illusion spells can be cast without the risk of
being disbelieved for one turn (useful for dragons).  Some spells
need to be cast at a target - attack spells need an enemy
creature, creation spells need a square adjacent to your wizard.
Click on the desired creature/space to cast the spell. Some spells
which are wizard based spells (such as magic knife, magic shield)
are attempted to be cast automatically. Similarily for Magic Wood,
if the spell succeeds then the computer will select the positions
for each of the 8 trees.

MOVEMENT

To move something, click on the creature and then click on the new position 
to move it as desired. Land based creatures must move one square at a time,
even if they can move more than one square. So click on each adjacent square.
Flying creatures can move to any square within range in one go, just select
the desired location. Some creatures can be ridden by the wizard, to do this
select the wizard and move the cursor over the desired creature. If the
outlined box around the creature turns green then clicking will make the
wizard ride the creature.

When you want to dismount the wizard from a creature, you must select the
creature when it has not moved and then click on the "D" icon on the right of
the screen. Now select the square where you want the wizard to move to and he
will dismount onto that square (or try to attack if it's an enemy).

Certain objects such as Magic Wood trees, or Castles can also be entered by a
wizard. The difference is that ANY wizard can enter a currently unoccupied
tree or castle. But only one wizard can occupy an object at any one time.
Shadow Wood trees CAN NOT be entered and because they can attack any adjacent
creature it is a good idea to avoid them!

ENGAGED TO ENEMY
 
When a creature is moved to a square adjacent to an enemy creature it becomes
instantly ENGAGED to the enemy creature and cannot move onto an empty square.
However it can attack any enemy creatures adjacent (even if the move next to
the enemy creature was technically the last possible movement).

If the creature succeeds in the attack it will automatically move into the
square previously occupied by the enemy creature.

When a creature is only selected and is already next to an adjacent enemy
creature then there is a chance that the creature can break out of being
engaged and move onto an empty square. This chance is dependent upon the
creature's manoeuvre value. The higher the value the greater the chance that 
the creature can 'break' out of being engaged. (see the section later in this
document refering to the creature information screen).



COMBAT

In order to attack an enemy creature you must move into it. If
your selected creature is able to fly then you can do a ranged attack by
clicking on top of the enemy creature (or you can move
into it as before). Success depends on the attackers combat
rating (ATTACK) compared to the defenders defence rating (DEFENCE) with a 
random factor involved. Some creatures have ranged combat* (ie if they
carry weapons - see chart below) which occurs when the creature
has finished moving. 
(*Note: Ranged combat for creatures is not currently implemented)

Real/Illusion*
Creatures can either be created as real creatures or Illusion
creatures. Illusions have 100% chance of working but are
destroyed by the disbelieve spell.  Real creatures have a chance
of failing, but are unaffected by the disbelieve spell. Other
than that the two work the same.
(*Note: Illusion creatures are not yet currently implemented).

Undead creatures* can only be attacked by undead, magic weapons
or attack spells.
(*Note: Undead creatures are for the present exactly the same as
normal creatures and can be attacked and killed.) 

The aim of the game is to be the sole surviving wizard by killing
all the other wizards. This can be accomplished with physical or
magical attacks.


GENERAL NOTES:

Magic Wood is a very useful spell as you can potentially gain an
additional 8 extra spells (if you have room in your spell list).
Because ANY wizard can receive a spell from an unoccupied tree it
is a good idea to cast them.

Magic Wings is useful for defensive and attacking situations while
any of the Magic weapons can be used to boost your wizard's attributes.

CREATURE INFORMATION SCREEN

Right clicking on a creature on the map or a creature spell will change
the view to show the creature information screen. Here is a list of the
names of the creature's attributes and an explanation of what they do.

On the Left of the screen, from Top to Bottom:

ATTACK
Ranges between 0-9. The higher the number the greater the chance the
creature has of killing an enemy. A creature with an attack value of 0
cannot attack an enemy.

DEFENCE
Ranges between 0-9. The higher the number the greater the chance the
creature has of defending against an enemy. A creature with an defence 
value of 0 is a special case (such as a castle/wall) and CANNOT be
killed by a PHYSICAL attack.

MOVEMENT
This is the number of squares the creature can move in one turn. Whether
by flying or by land based movement.

MANOEUVRE
This represents how manoeuvreable a creature is and is used to determine
when a creature is selected whether it is ENGAGED TO ENEMY. (If this is
the case then the creature can only attack adjacent enemies and not move
to an empty square). The higher this manoeuvre value the greater the
chance that the creature can 'break' being engaged when selected and be
moved.

On the Right of the screen, from Top to Bottom:

RANGED COMBAT
This is the attack value of the creatures ranged combat. If the creature
has a ranged combat capability then this value will be between 1-9 else
it will be 0. Ranged combat is currently not implemented.

RANGE
The range of the ranged combat attack in squares.

RESISTANCE
This attribute refers to the MAGIC RESISTANCE of the creature. It can range
between 1-9. The higher the value the higher the creature has of resisting a
magic attack such as dark power or of being subverted by the SUBVERSION spell.
A creature with an defence value of 0 is a special case (such as a castle/wall) 
and CANNOT be killed by a MAGICAL attack.

CHANCE
The chance of the creature spell working (ranges from 10 to 100%).




SPELLS:

CREATURES

               Undead    Flying    Rideable  Armed     Spell
Bat                         X                           Chaos
Bear                                                    Law
Centaur                                X       Bow      Law
Crocodile                                               Neutral
Dire Wolf                                               Chaos
Dragon, Red                 X                  Fire     Chaos
Dragon, Gold                X                  Fire     Law
Dragon, Green               X                  Fire     Chaos
Eagle                       X                           Law
Elf                                            Bow      Law
Faun                                                    Chaos
Ghost             X         X                           Chaos
Giant                                                   Law
Giant Rat                                               Neutral
Goblin                                                  Chaos
Gorilla                                                 Neutral
Gryphon                     X          X                Law
Harpy                       X                           Chaos
Horse                                  X                Law
Hydra                                                   Chaos
King Cobra                                              Law
Lion                                                    Law
Manticorn                   X          X       Bow      Chaos
Ogre                                                    Chaos
Orc                                                     Chaos
Pegasus                     X          X                Law
Skeleton          X                                     Chaos
Spectre           X                                     Chaos
Unicorn                                X                Law
Vampire           X         X                           Chaos
Wraith            X                                     Chaos
Zombie            X                                     Chaos


OBJECT SPELLS

Magic Wood (Law)
Computer places approx 8 magic trees near your wizard. If you put
your wizard in a magic wood tree and leave him there, he gets a
new spell after a few turns.

Shadow Wood (Chaos)
Allows you to manually place approx 8 shadow trees near your
wizard. No two trees can be adjacent, and line of sight is needed
in placing. Shadow wood can attack anything in contact with them
(except undead) - select the tree to attack.

Magic Fire* (Chaos)
Attacks and kills enemy units it covers and randomly spreads
across the map.
(*not yet implemented)

Gooey Blob* (Chaos)
Attacks enemy units it covers and randomly spreads across the
map. Any unit covered up by a gooey blob will be able to carry
on once it is uncovered (except wizards who are killed by gooey
blobs)
(*not yet implemented)

Wall (Neutral)
Allows four wall blocks to be built near the wizard, which blocks
creature's paths, but can be flown over. Requires line of sight.

ATTACKING SPELLS

Magic Bolt (Neutral)
Attacks creature it is cast at. Has a range of 6 squares and
requires line of sight. 
(Can kill an enemy wizard).

Lightning (Neutral)
Attacks creature it is cast at (more powerful than magic bolt).
Has a range of 4 squares and requires line of sight.
(Can kill an enemy wizard).

Vengeance (Chaos,x1)
Allows 1 attack on an enemy creature.
(CANNOT kill an enemy wizard).

Justice (Law, x3)
Allows 3 attacks on enemy creatures.
(CANNOT kill an enemy wizard).

Dark Power(Chaos,x3)
Allows 3 attacks on enemy creatures.
(CANNOT kill an enemy wizard).

Decree (Law, x1)
Allows 1 attack on an enemy creature.
(CANNOT kill an enemy wizard).

WIZARD'S SPELLS

Magic Armour (Law)
Gives wizard increased protection from attack.

Magic Knife (Law)
Gives wizard increase attack power including the ability to attack
undead creatures.

Magic Sword (Law)
Gives wizard increase attack power including the ability to attack 
undead creatures.

Magic Bow* (Law)
Gives wizard ranged weapon including the ability to attack 
undead creatures.
(*Not yet implemented)

Magic Wings(Neutral)
Gives wizard ability to fly long ranges. (6 squares).

Magic Castle (Law)
Gives wizard building to hide in. Cannot be destroyed by normal
attacks or magic, but will disappear at random.

Dark Citadel (Chaos)
Gives wizard building to hide in. Cannot be destroyed by normal
attacks or magic, but will disappear at random.

Shadow Form* (Neutral)
Gives wizard increased protection and allows movement of 3 spaces
per turn.
(*Not yet implemented)

MISCELLANEOUS SPELLS

Law-1 (Law)
Makes the world more lawful. Equivelant to casting two Law 1
creature spells.

Law-2 (Law)
Makes the world more lawful. Equivelant to casting four Law 1
creature spells.

Chaos-1 (Chaos)
Makes the world more chaotic. Equivelant to casting two Chaos 1
creature spells.

Chaos-2 (Chaos)
Makes the world more chaotic. Equivelant to casting four Chaos 1
creature spells.


Raise Dead* (Chaos)
Allows reanimation of dead bodies left on screen. Any creatures
raised from the dead become undead creatures, able to attack
other undeads.
(*Not yet implemented)

Subversion* (Neutral)
Realigns enemy creature to your side.
(*Not yet implemented)

Turmoil* (Chaos)
Randomly moves all objects onscreen to a different location. Only
available from a magic wood.
(*Not yet implemented)

Disbelieve (Neutral)
Allows illusion creatures to be destroyed. This spell has 100%
casting chance, and is always available.
(*Not yet implemented)



























