THE SPECTRUM GAME DATABASE

CHAOS - BATTLE OF THE WIZARDS

PUBLISHER
It was originally published by Games Workshop.

AUTHOR
Julian Gollop

YEAR
1984

DESCRIPTION
Chaos is a 1-8 player strategic fantasy wargame.

CONTROLS:

The keys are:

Q  W  E
A     D - Each of these is a direction, e.g. Q is up-left.
Z  X  C

S - Select
K - Cancel
0 - Finish

There are also various other menus which are selected by pressing
the appropriate number or letter.


INSTRUCTIONS
At the start of the game, you must select the number of wizards
(from 1-8) and the level of the computer wizards (from 1-8),
which is basically their difficulty level.  Not all of the
wizards have to be controlled by human players - any or all can
be controlled by the computer.

The computer will then go through each wizard in order.  For each
wizard you must give them a name, decide who is to control them
(a player or the computer), and then select their colour and
graphic, which AFAIK makes no real difference to the game.

The game is divided into turns, and each turn is divided into 2
parts.  The spells are selected and cast in the first part, and
all movement is made in the second.

A menu is given for the first part, which allows the players to
examine the spells to see what they do and their chance of
success, select a spell, view the map and then finish.  During
the first part, all the human players can select 1 spell to cast
that turn.  The chance is success of each spell is shown by the
colour (the lighter, the greater chance), unless a creature is
cast as an illusion, in which case they are always succesful. 
The chance of success of each spell is determined by how powerful
the spell is, and also the current state-of-the-world, which can
either be law (arrows) or chaos (stars).  The current state is
shown on the menu screen.

When viewing the map, holding down a number from 1-8 will cause
all the objects to flash that are owned by that number wizard.

Once all the players have selected their spells, the wizards take
turns to cast their spells.  This may involve selecting target
squares or creatures, by using the keys above, and pressing S. 
If no such selection has to be made, then just pressing S will
cast the spell.  Any wizard that is computer controlled casts
their spells automatically.

After all the spells have been cast, the computer then checks all
the effects in the game, and things will happen across the map.

Once this has been done, the wizards then take turns to move
their creatures, by selecting them and then moving.  Wizards can
ride certain creatures simply by moving into them (provided they
own them).  To attack another creature, simply move into it. 
Then, at the end of each turn the wizard will be asked if he
wants to dismount.  Any creatures that can shoot can only do so
once they have moved.

One thing to note is that undead creatures can only be attacked
by other undead creatures, or a wizard with a magic weapon.  When
a creature is stood next to an enemy, they cannot move away until
that creature has been killed.

Once all the wizards have moved, then game then loops round to
the menu screen again.


SEQUELS
A sequel to Chaos, called Lords of Chaos, was released by Blade
Software.  It had the same spells and spell system, but the game
format was slightly different.

Chaos has also appeared in a very similar game on the PC, called
Morkin2, and also a virtually identical PD game on the ST.

INLAY CARD TEXT

                                    "CHAOS"
                            By Julian Gollop (1985)

Instructions taken from "The Rebelstar Collection" Players'
Manual by Julian Gollop (1991), with additions by Death and Ian
Coates (OKTUP@MONO.CITY.AC.UK)

     COPYRIGHT

Julian Gollop has kindly agreed to this game being made Public
Domain. Anyone is freely allowed to duplicate and distribute this
game for use in Spectrum emulators. It is requested that the
identification of Julian Gollop as the author of this software
is not removed and the code not altered. E-mail me
(OKTUP@MONO.CITY.AC.UK) for further details.

     INTRODUCTION

'Chaos' is a battle between 2 to 8 wizards, and or all of which
can be computer controlled. Most spells are used to summon
creatures which are controlled by the casting wizard. Other
spells have a variety of different effects. The popularity of
this game resulted in 'Lords of Chaos', which adds many aspects
to the basic concept of magical combat.

     STARTING THE GAME

Select the number of wizards to participate and select the level
of any computer controlled wizards (from 1 to 8). For each wizard
enter a name, computer or human control, a character shape and
a colour.

'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.

KEYS:
       QWE
       A D     All move in the appropriate direction
       ZXC   

       S       Selects an creature/wizard
       K       Cancel movement/ranged combat
       I       Show Information/stats on creature
       1-8     Highlights creations of wizard # (1-8)
       0       End your turn

     MOVEMENT

To move something, select it with <S> and then press the
direction keys to move it as desired.

     COMBAT

In order to attack an enemy creature you must move into it. If
your creature is able to fly then you can do a ranged attack by
placing the cursor on top of the enemy creature (or you can move
into it as before). Success depends on the attackers combat
rating compared to the defenders defence rating 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. Move the cursor to the target and press <S>
to fire. The target must be in line of sight.

MAIN MENU:
1. Examine spell
Tells you creature/attack stats and chance of it working

2. Select spell
Obvious really. On the select spell screen each creature has a
symbol next to it:

  * = Chaos spell
  - = Neutral spell
  ^ = Law spell

As more Law(Chaos) spells are cast, the % chance of a Law(Chaos)
spell working in the future increases.  Neutral spells have no
effect either way. The lighter the colour the name of the spell
is, the higher the chance of it working. The overall state of the
world is indicated by the number of symbols on the main option
menu. The more symbols, the more Chaos/Law the world is (ie if
it was (*****) then the world would be very chaotic and it would
be worth considering trying to cast a real red/green dragon).

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.

3. Look at board
Use it to see what's in range of a spell/what's attacking you.
Press "I" to examine a creature. Press "0" to return to menu.

4. Continue
Goes to next player

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, create spells need a square adjacent to your wizard.
Press "S" to cast the spell.

Undead creatures can only be attacked by undead, magic weapons
or attack spells.

When you've moved all you want to press "0" or "TAB" to end turn.

     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.

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)

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

ATTACKING SPELLS

Magic Bolt (Neutral)
Attacks creature it is cast at.

Lightning (Neutral)
Attacks creature it is cast at (more powerful than magic bolt)

Vengeance (Chaos,x1)
Allows 1 attack on an enemy creature

Justice (Law, x3)
When cast on a wizard it kills all that wizard's creations if
successful. Allows 3 attacks.

Dark Power(Chaos,x3)
Allows 3 attacks on enemy creatures

Decree (Law, x1)
Allows 1 attack on an enemy creature.

WIZARD'S SPELLS

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

Magic Knife (Law)
Gives wizard increase attack power including undead creatures

Magic Sword (Law)
Gives wizard increase attack power including undead creatures

Magic Bow (Law)
Gives wizard ranged weapon including undead creatures

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

Magic Castle (Law)
Gives wizard building to hide in

Dark Citadel (Chaos)
Gives wizard building to hide in

Shadow Form(Neutral)
Gives wizard increased protection and allows movement of 3 spaces
per turn

MISCELLANEOUS SPELLS

Law (Law)
Makes the world more lawful

Chaos (Chaos)
Makes the world more chaotic

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.

Subversion (Neutral)
Realigns enemy creature to your side

Turmoil (Chaos)
Randomly moves all objects onscreen to a different location. Only
available from a magic wood.

Disbelieve (Neutral)
Allows illusion creatures to be destroyed. This spell has 100%
casting chance, and is always available


SCORES RECEIVED
The budget release received 8/10 in SU.

CHEATS
The following cheats will work in Chaos.  Whether these are bugs
or the game was designed that way, we do not know.

- If your wizard is riding an undead steed (by casting Raise Dead
on a corpse) and the steed is killed, the wizard then becomes
undead.
- If you want to move away from an enemy, but keep getting
"Engaged in Combat", try selecting Information, and then pressing
the movement key.  This works only sometimes.
- If you cast an illusion, but it gets covered by a Gooey Blob,
if you then dig it out, it will be a real creature.
- Also, put a weak creature (eg bat) over a dead dragon or other
creatures body, then Justice/Vengeance/Decree/Dark Power it and
it turns into a live version of the corpse.

URL
ftp.dcc.uchile.cl/pub/OS/sinclair/snapshots/c/chaos.zip

GENERAL FACTS
Julian Gollop has also written many other strategy games, in
particular the excellent Rebelstar series.

Chaos is actually an unfinished game.  Games Workshop released
it without Julians knowledge, and as such there is the odd bug
that crops up.  Further clues to this include the fact that if
you hack into the program, there are a few sprites not used in
the game, and the names of a few spells that are never shown.

Apparently Chaos is based on an old Games Workshop boardgame (the
people who created Warhammer).  It was the same sort of game,
with wizards casting spells trying to kill each other.

There is a program available to edit Chaos.  Naturally called The
Chaos Editor, it allows you to change all graphics and statistics
of the game.  Does anybody know the location of this editor?


NOTES
Be advised to save the game before casting a Turmoil spell - it
is renouned for crashing the program.  It can also take a long
time to complete this spell, so you may want to push up the speed
of your emulator while waiting for it.

You may like to look at the Chaos page, located at
http://www.gre.ac.uk/~bm10/chaos.























