        ECSTATICA
        ---------

        For the love of one
        shall briefly disclose the matters of mine
        which the Ancients do Alcamye call
        or others, Alchemy.
        Wherefore, it is here, understand you shall,
        this wonderful art and gift of the Almighty
        which was never found by labour of man,
        but it, by teaching or revelation began.

        He, and more surely she, so as I find,
        of noble mind, who
        searched nature will find this art,
        in manner of physik
        and magic natural.
        But
        all these writings are very dark
        despise all books and them defy
        wherein is nothing but recipe and accipe.
        Few learned men within this realm
        can tell thee aright what I do mean;
        I could never find man but one,
        which could teach me the secret of Alcamye
        and that was the old man on the close of Tirich,
        the guardian of our castle.

        This olde philosopher wise
        by wey of kind in sundry wise
        a deamon made prisoner
        of the stone circle.
        This devil, one of the worst, so as I finde,
        through our craft only could be defeated
        the nature of evil
        both in substance and figure.

        But teacheth the great worke
        a foule labour,
        not fit for lesser men or women,
        in which is found great travail
        with many perils and many a faille.

        Whomsoever thou art that presumest to dive
        into the fountain of work and hopes to obtain
        by ambitious enterprise,
        the reward of our arte,
        I tell thee by the eternal creator
        for a truth, for all truth
        being small is going far.

        If thou keep thy secrets in store unto thy shelve
        thou hast conquered the power
        and all the devils thou holdyst at will,
        maybe
        for wise men done say store is no sore,
        but women know more...




                                                Ecstatica, 928 AD





        A prelude...
        ------------

        I started out on my journey in good spirits, riding through the
        lowlands and enjoying the solitude, as my horses hooves beat out a
        relaxing rhythm. Finding a waterfall above a deep pool I swam and
        refreshed myself, stretching out in the afternoon sun to dry.
        Perhaps we lingered too long though....
        Trying to make up time, I pushed my stallion hard....too hard, and the
        rough country and burning heat took it's toll on horse and rider.
        Travelling through this part of the country is a demanding experience,
        treacherous mountain paths criss-cross endlessly, and more experienced
        riders than me have become hopelessly lost. The sun was starting its
        descent as we rode past a monastery, the twilight engulfing us in
        disturbing shadows. In the deepeing gloom we found ourselves
        at a cross-roads just outside a small village....
        It had seemed the right thing to do at the time. With darkness falling,
        water and shelter were needed.
        The village was on the far side of a small bridge. A short distance to
        travel, for sure, but as I crossed that bridge, the atmosphere seemed
        to change, as quickly as a thunderstorm can turn the weather on a
        summer's day. On reaching the other side, I could feel that something
        was amiss....
        Everything was still, and quiet as the grave. There were no children
        playing, no women cooking an evening meal, no men joking and laughing
        on the way home from the tavern.... what could be wrong?
        A shop to my right looks harmless enough, but why is the door hanging
        from its hinges and what are those foul scrawls daubed on the walls?
        What the... Oh my god........


        An objective...
        ---------------

        You have arrived in a village that seems to be deserted. However,
        you'll soon discover that first appearences can be very deceptive.
        The village of Tirich is under the influence of dark, supernatural
        forces that have manifested themselves in a menagerie of ghouls and
        demons.
        Your survival depends upon your ability to discover why strange
        creatures prowl otherwise peaceful streets. You must free Tirich from
        this unholy spell, or perish trying. A diary may provide some clues as
        to why these fearful events have come to pass, and that's as good a
        place as any to begin your quest...


        Installation:
        -------------

        Place disk 1 in your diskdrive. Type the letter of your diskdrive
        followed by a colon and press Enter e.g. A: <enter>
        Type INSTALL and press ENTER
        Follow the on screen instructions.
        Select a sound card from the list of supported cards.
        Select the directory that you want the game to install to e.g.
        default C:\ECSTATIC.
        Once installed, the game will be immediately playable.
        In order to play the game on future occasions, you must make the
        installed directory the current directory e.g. cd C:\ECSTATIC. Then
        type ECSTATIC and press ENTER.







        In game options:
        ----------------

        At any point in the game you can press escape to access the in game
        options. A pop up menu with the following choices will appear on
        the screen:

        [Start Game (male)] - restarts the game from the beginning
        [Start Game (female)] - restarts the game from the beginning
        [Save Game] - Gives you ten slots in which you can save a game
        [Load Game] - Enables you to select any of the saved game
        [Options] - Selecting this will let you access another on screen menu
        with the following choices:
        Turn [music] on and off
        Turn [sound effects] on and off
        Turn [subtitles] on and off
        If you wish to alter the sound card settings then key in the following
        commands:
        Make the installed directory the current directory (e.g. cd
        C:\ECSTATIC). Type SETUP and press ENTER. You can then choose from the
        list of soundcards. The game will then play with the new settings.


        Controls:
        ---------

        Ecstatica's controls, via the numeric keypad on your keyboard, remain
        consistent throughout the game.
        You can move your character forwards in the direction that he/she is
        facing, via the '8' key, regardless of which viewing perspective the
        in-game editor editor offers you. (i.e., regardless of whether you are
        moving into, or out of, the screen).
        The keypad controls via the numeric keypad:
        1 - Pick up, or put down, an object with your left hand (note that
            your character one object in either hand at any one time)
        2 - Walk backwards
        3 - Pick up, or put down an object with your right hand
        4 - Turn left
        5 - Dodge
        6 - Turn right
        7 - Hit with the left hand (or held object/weapon etc.)
        8 - Walk forwards
        9 - Hit with the right hand (object/weapon etc.)
        Your character's movement modes are...
        F1, F2, F3, F4 - Stealth (very useful for sneaking past enemies who
        are best not disturbed...)
        F5, F6, F7, F8 - Walk (quicker than stealth, but not too fast for
        comfort)
        F9, F10, F11, F12 - Run (might just get you out of trouble, but be
        careful you don't simply run out of the frying pan and into the fire)

















        Credits:
        --------

        Programming                             Andrew Spencer
        Animation & Story                       Alain Maindron
        Producer                                Greg Duddle
        Music & Sound Effects                   PC Music
        Sound Co-ordination                     Phil Morris
        Voice Characterisation                  Sharon Ashton
                                                Russ Lane
                                                Kevin McMahon
        Product Manager                         Pat Cain
        Public Relations                        Mark Blewitt
                                                Gleon O'Connel
        Packaging & Manual Design               Keith Hopwood
                                                Mark Day
        Packaging & Manial Words                Mark Day
                                                Huw Thomas
        Playtesters                             Paul Charsley
                                                Paul Holmes
                                                Jenny Newby
                                                Gary Nichols
        System Designed By                      Andrew Spencer
        Directed By                             Andrew Spencer
                                                Alain Maindron
        Illustration By                         Carl Critchlow


        Typed in by PADISHAR CREEL
