You see, that's the problem with going out of your way to point out the grammatical errors of others. Nobody's perfect. And I fully understand that the game isn't working for you yet. You've pointed that out. Multiple times. The dev and coder have stated that they're doing their best to get the game up and running for everybody.
Web Tutorial/FAQ Hello Mr. Developer, Among all the chit-chats you may come across here, this is a genuine question: is there any tutorial or faq for us to reference, the in-game one is good but for a non-native English speaker with poor, aged eyes, like myself, the text is kinda hard to read.
Sorry for contributing to the diversion, but that guy gets my goat. Anyway, the dev posted this website as a tutorial. Hope it helps. http://necronomicon.forum-motion.com/forum.htm
Hi! Good idea, I'll be glad to get a tutorial online with bigger text in a Word document and in a better format to print out as a convenience...I'll be back in town Sunday and let you know where you can get it. Thanks!
...or I can just edit the page out in a Word or HTML. Vim is very handy under such circumstances, right?
Game Tutorial Version 1.1 INTRODUCTION The Necronomicon Horror is an exciting role-playing and card based game based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. Players take on the roles of Investigators abiding at Miskatonic University, set in the fictional town of Arkham, Massachusettes. Cultists have stolen the evil Necronomicon from the Universities library, and have used it to open up gateways to other dimensions. If the Cult is not stopped, hordes of alien creatures and other cosmic horrors will multiply and spawn, overrunning the campus and eventually threatening the entire world. There are (2) versions of the Necronomicon Horror which you can choose from. Before starting the game, you'll be asked which version you'd like to play . . . Base Set - This is the main game featuring role-playing and collectible card based strategy. Base Set + Extended (optional) – The “extended” version of the game includes (2) “lite” mini-games as sneak preview of our future-planned “Miskatonic University Expedition” expansion set, which will be available in the future as part of the games DLC. *Note: Additional card packs will also be available for in-app purchase as DLC in the future. BASIC GAME PLAY (VERSION 1.1) From the main screen cards are drawn from the Spawn Deck and held in The Library until you decide where to place them on the game board. Cards are all scripted to interact with each other in unique ways. If you draw a card which cannot be used, it will either be re-shuffled back into the deck – or you may be able to place it in The Cemetery for later use. The Cemetery may hold more than (1) card, but only the top card may be used. Investigator cards, represented by the Player, are always placed in one of the (5) open slots along the bottom row. Horror cards, representing Monsters, are always placed in one of the (5) open slots along the top row. When you draw a card, the game will highlight any slots on the game screen where the card may be placed (e.g. on a Monster or Investigator – or both). As in role-playing games, most cards require dice rolls before their benefits or consequences are applied. Also note that some cards represent special skills or abilities which may only be used on an Investigator if he or she fulfills a certain requirement (e.g. their Sanity must meet 3 or more to use this card). For example, if you draw the “Lesser Summoning” card, your Investigator must possess a Sanity attribute of 3 or greater to use it. If he or she does not, the card will be voided. Be sure to always examine the reverse sides of all cards to learn what they do before placing them. Cards which have a reverse side are indicated by a card-catalog icon, located in the bottom right-hand corner of the card. Touch it to flip the card over. Touch the back of the card again when you're done reading it, to flip it back around to its front side. When a card requiring a dice-roll is placed on top of your Investigator, a floating dice labeled “SPIN” will appear over their portrait. To spin the dice, flick it with your finger. The number you have to match or beat will appear in the top-right corner, just above the dice. Your result will display directly below the dice. If your dice roll is a success, the card's benefit will be applied with a visual effect. If you fail the dice roll, a red skull will appear, and a negative consequence will be applied. THE DOOMSDAY CALENDAR The Doomsday Calendar (bottom left screen) is a mysterious artifact known as the 'Cthulhu Tzolk'in', created to calculate the time mankind has left on the earth before the Old Ones rise from their slumber. Touching the Doomsday Calendar shows you a full-screen view of its present state. “Back” will return you to the main screen where the card game is played. If the (5) top row slots become filled up with Monsters, then each additional Monster drawn from the deck will damage the calendar by increments of (1). However, if you fill the (5) bottom row slots with Investigators, then each additional Investigator you draw will begin to restore the Doomsday Calendar in increments of (1). Drawing (7) Investigators in total (5 filling and holding the bottom row slots +2 more) turns back the Doomsday Calendar and wins the game. The Doomsday Calendar can take (3) increments of Monster damage before it's shattered, and you lose the game. So if your (5) top row slots is filled with Monsters, and you draw (3) more Monsters, the Doomday Calendar will be destroyed and you'll lose the game. MYTHOS QUOTIENT SCORE Your score is represented by your Mythos Quotient (MQ), which represents how long you've survived and how much forbidden knowledge you've accumulated. Whenever you lose a battle or suffer a negative consequence, your MQ score is penalized representing a loss of Sanity. If you attain high enough MQ scores, there are Secret Cards which will be unlocked and added to your deck. Defeating Monsters in the game boosts your MQ score. When your Investigators are killed, or suffer a negative consequence, you can lose a portion of your MQ score. All cards have an MQ value, shown at the top left-hand side, just below their Class label. Whenever a card is used on your Investigator, its MQ value is added to your Investigators MQ value. The more cards you equip your Investigator with, the more their MQ value increases. However, a single Investigator may only be equipped with (1) card type of each class. So for example, you cannot equip your Investigator with (4) weapons cards – or more than (1) card of any class. Your MQ score tally will update only after battles, or on instant kills, or when you win a game. When you win a game, the sum of all your Investigator's MQ scores (e.g. those filling your 5 bottom-row slots) will be added together, then that sum will be added to the total MQ score which you already earned during the game. If the game ends in a draw, you will earn only the MQ scores of your Investigators left on the bottom row. CARD CHARACTERISTICS All cards display a variety of information describing their purpose and use in the game. Located on the top left-hand side of the cards are shown that card's DEFENSE and SANITY attributes. On the bottom right-hand corner of the card a DICE ICON will appear to show you how much HIT DAMAGE it can inflict during a battle. On Investigator and Monster cards, the Defense and Sanity attributes describe their toughness in relation to each other. On all other cards, Defense and Sanity appear as (+1) or (-1), ect. These kinds of modifier cards will boost or lower an Investigators or Monsters attributes. For example, if you use the card “Mad Monk” on one of your Investigators, and pass the dice-roll check, you will receive a (+1) boost to your Defense, and also a (+1d6, random 1-6) bonus to your Hit Damage dice roll during combat. UNIQUE CARD CLASSES Cards with reverse sides are unique, they are scripted to interact with Investigator and Monster cards – and carry both benefits and consequences. There are (Cool classes of cards in the game: 1.) Investigators – need to be boosted 2.) Monsters – need to be weakened 3.) Weapons – boosts Investigators Hit Damage 4.) Allies – boosts Invesitgators Hit Damage/Defense/Sanity 5.) Relics – variable – boosts/weakens Investigators + Monsters 6.) Potions – variable – boosts/weakens Investigators + Monsters 7.) Abilities – conditional – allows Investigators of use special skills/abilities 8.) Hazard – variable – weakens Investigators + Monsters WEAPONS cards must be placed on a bottom-row Investigator or empty slot. You may only use (1) weapon per Investigator (or slot). There are no dice rolls or restrictions for this class. ALLIES may only be used on an Investigator or empty bottom-row slot. You may only use (1) Ally per Investigator (or slot). All Ally cards have dice rolls which must be met before use. RELIC cards are variable. Some may be used on Investigators, some on Monsters. They may weaken or boost attributes, and also act as multipliers for your MQ score. POTION cards are variable. Some may be used on Investigators, some on Monsters. Some potion cards have random effects which will alter a card's attributes, so use with caution. ABILITY cards (e.g. Lesser summoning) may only be used on Investigators. They have various effects and unusual properties (such as re-animating a dead Investigator). Ability cards require that your Investigators meet certain criteria (e.g. Sanity of 3 or greater) in order to use. Be sure to check the back of the card before placing it, you cannot take it back. HAZARD cards represent various pitfalls and supernatural events, which may harm both Investigators or Monsters. Some Hazard cards (as in Fortean Darkness) must be placed in any open slot of the game board (top or bottom row). Others can only be placed on open Investigator slots (bottom row). Damage to Monsters will be applied automatically. But Investigators will have a chance to avoid damage with a dice-roll before taking a hit.
HINTS: *You can visually track which Investigators are equipped with which cards by a class notation which appears beneath you Investigator's portrait, in its contracted view on the game board. *The game will always highlight the slots on the game board where your current card may be placed. *Some cards (e.g. Insanity, Master of the Seal, Reanimate) have unusual effects and properties. *Check our “Tips and Tricks” category on the forum for new and evolving information about the cards and game play tips. DUELING CARDS A battle is set into motion whenever an Investigator and Monster card are placed opposite each other. Both cards have a Defense and Sanity value, whoever has the highest numbers in both attributes automatically wins with an instant kill. In the event of a TIE or ODDS, a dice-roll will determine who wins the battle. You'll be shown a BATTLE SCREEN which lays out the attributes of the Monster and Investigator for easy scanning and comparison. You may also review any special cards your Investigator is equipped with. The black bar above your Investigator will display his or her Hit Damage dice (e.g. 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d10, 1d12, 1d20), and any accumulative bonus from equipped cards. So for example, if your Investigator is holding an Ally card which gives him a (+1d6) boost to his Hit Damage, the computer calculates the bonus by randomly generating a number (random 1-6), and displays that number on the black bar (e.g. +3 Bonus) above where it says: “Bonus Damage”. When you spin the dice, you are rolling your Investigators Hit Damage dice. This is the die that appears on the front side (bottom right) of their card, and also on the Battle Screen, on the black bar above your Investigators portrait. The result of your roll is displayed beneath the words “Hit Damage Roll” on the battle screen. So your “Bonus Damage” from any special cards you may be holding, is displayed on the black bar above your Investigators portrait. And your dice-roll result + any bonus is displayed under “Hit Damage Roll”. The computer will add both your “Bonus” and “Hit Damage” roll against the Monster after you spin the dice. Whoever has the higher number wins the battle. WINNING THE GAME To win the game, you need to fill the (5) bottom-row slots with Investigators, then draw (2) more from the deck to turn back the state of the Doomdsay Calendar. If the (5) top-row slots become filled with Monsters, however, then each additional Monster card you draw from the deck will damage the Doomsday Calendar in increments of (1) until it's shattered – and you lose the game. MISKATONIC UNIVERSITY EXPEDITION (EXPANSION PREVIEW) In the optional “extended” version of the game players will have an opportunity to preview our first 'expansion set': Miskatonic University Expedition. This version of the game adds (2) additional mini-games which may be played after you win the main card and role-playing game. This part of the game is optional and implemented to give players a sneak preview of our future plans for the title. The expansion set takes off where the card and role-playing game ends. In the first part, you'll explore a top-down game board which represents the campus of Miskatonic University. Your goal is to collect a number of hidden items before you run out of time, in order to stop the Cult of Cthulhu from fulfilling a horrifying plan. TURNS The first phase of the expansion is a turn-based game which plays much like a traditional board game. If you wish to play the expansion, then during the card and role-playing game (Stage 1), you'll accumulate “Turns” for later use in (Stage 2) – Miskatonic University. During (Stage 1) you can track the number of “Turns” you've earned opposite your Mythos score, located at the top-right of the main screen. During the (Stage 1) card game, defeating Monsters and playing special cards will earn you “Turns”. Losing battles and drawing cards that carry negative consequences will lose you “Turns”. While you're playing through the (Stage 1) card and role-playing phase, keep in mind it's to your advantage to earn as many “Turns” as possible for (Stage 2), because if you run out of “Turns” exploring the campus in (Stage 2) then you'll die before you can finish the game, and proceed to (Stage 3) – the Final Battle. EXPLORING MISKATONIC UNIVERSITY During (Stage 2) your goal is to conduct a room-to-room search of the campus, and collect a number of hidden items while avoiding various obstacles. There are (Cool items you need to find in order to move onto (Stage 3): 1.) Necronomicon: Book of Dead Names 2.) Necronomicon: Book of Summonings 3.) Necronomicon: Book of Opening the Gates 4.) Elder Seal 5.) Doctor 6.) Allies 7.) Recruit 8.) Summoner MOVING ON THE GAME BOARD During (Stage 2), you'll be rolling dice and moving around a game board representing Miskatonic University, conducting a room-to-room search. Hidden about random locations on the game board are the (Cool items you'll need to progress to (Stage 3) – the Final Battle. You'll roll the dice from the Player's Menu, and the result displayed will determine how many spaces you can move on the game board. For example, if the result is (5), then you may move up to (5) spaces. Each time you roll the die and move you'll use up (1) “Turn”. When you move your character on the game board, the game will highlight your possible pathways wit 'footprints'. When you arrive in a room that's possible to search, the game will prompt you. Use your finger to clear away the layer of fog, and underneath – if there is something to be found – will be an icon labeled “search”. Touch the “search” button. The first time you 'search' a room you can watch a video, then your results will be displayed. If you found (1) of the (Cool hidden items the game will show you the result, and the inventory on the Player's Menu will update. If the room is empty you'll be notified and returned to the Player's Menus to roll the die again. While moving on the game board, if you run out of moves in between rooms, press “END TURN” (top-left corner of the screen). Every time you end your turn on the game board, you may be challenged by an obstacle: 1.) You may become Lost and forced to start over from the Library. 2.) You may stumble into a lair of Cultists and be forced to retreat (1) space. 3.) You may go Insane and be sent to the Asylum. 4.) You may encounter a horde of Cthulhu Spawn and be forced to retreat (1) space. The Old Ones and their minions will try to make you run out of “Turns” before you can move onto (Stage 3). HINT: *Finding the Doctor, Allies, Recruit, and Summoner will help you move past the obstacles without consequences. *After you've searched a room, a magnifying glass icon will appear there to remind you that you've already searched that location. THE PLAYER'S MENU From the Player's Menu you'll be able to keep track of how many “Turns” you have left, roll the dice, see how many allies and items you've found, and see the result of your last turn in the center window/ To the right and left of the center window are inventory slots. Allies are updated in the left slots. Relics updated in the right. At the left edge of the Player's Menu, you'll notice the dice situated in the skulls eye socket. To spin the dice, touch or flick it with your finger, and it will display a random number which represents how many spaces you can move on the game board. *Note: at any time during the game you can exit to the main menu by pressing the “EXIT” button from both the Player's Menu (bottom-right) and the game board (top-left). Once you have searched all the rooms, and filled up all the inventory slots on the Player's Menu, return to the Library and be prepared to confront Cthulhu's Cultists in the caverns beneath Miskatonic University. If you complete (Stage 2) successfully, as an added bonus, you'll get 1000 points added to your Mythos score for every unused “Turn” you have left. So if you finish (Stage 2) with (4) Turns left, you'll receive 4000 extra points added to your total high score. THE FINAL BATTLE In (Stage 3) of the expansion, your Investigators will confront Cthulhu's Cult in a final battle. As in role-playing games, your Investigators will be assigned HIT POINTS which will display at the top-right corner of their portraits – opposite the Cultists. During (Stage 3), your HIT POINTS are calculated by the total sum of all (5) of your Investigators DEFENSE/SANITY attributes you ended (Stage 1) with – x2. So the more powerful your (5) bottom-row Investigators are at the end of (Stage 1), the more cumulative Hit Points you receive in (Stage 3) – the Final Battle. Here (Stage 3) will be a quick duel to the death. As in most role-playing and board games, you will roll a 20-sided dice against your opponent, trading damage until one of you is defeated. If you win the battle, as an added bonus, you'll get 1000 points added to your Mythos score for every Hit Point you have left after the battle. So if you finish (Stage 3) with 9 Hit Points left, you'll receive 9000 extra points added to your Mythos score.
Re: Game Play Tutorial - New! How exactly do you accumulate turns? Oh, I did think of one more, also. What happens once you go insane and are forced to the Asylum? I'll try to advise a little about that if you don't mind ; ) You're getting turns-amount by playing base card game, each time you're placing a hero-card you will get +3 turns and like +1 turn for luck cards. So you play base game, then go to campus and use turns and then back to card game, but I advise to complete card game first, then go to board-part - then you'll have enough turns to visit all places on the campus. Negatives events push you step back or moving to Asylum - so you're loosing your steps and if you haven't enough turns... you should have some little luck to find doctor first of all - doctor and allies are most important persons there, which will help you to prevent negative events. So in common with this you're loosing your movements and the target of board game is to use all turns and find all items in time - you'll not be able to do that if you'll get negative events all the time : ) also there is great search-video on first location you'll visit.. ; ) How do you rate the cards interplay? Is there a defining reason to how cards play off each other? Combos and counters? Thanks! BTW, the artwork/screens in the actual game look much better, these pictures I posted are heavily compressed and have lost much of their detail for web display. But anyway, if I'm understanding your question correctly, it would probably be more easily answered during the game, whenever you draw card which can interact with another card in a unique way, or has some unique ability, you can flip it over and read its reverse side, which will tell you exactly what that card does. There's really too many to list, but in general here's a list of all the different card classes and what they do: Investigators: these are your characters you need to build up and equip, they each represent different occupations, and have their own strengths and weaknesses which can be adjusted. Monsters: opponents, need to be weakened and killed. Potions: these cards can be used on Monsters or Investigators, and weaken and/or strengthen them. Sometimes results can be unpredictable and random. Relics: these cards represent mysterious artifacts and treasures, some which exhibit supernatural powers and can help you weaken Monsters. Pitfalls: These cards represent various hazards and pitfalls to be avoided, some natural and some unearthly. Chance: These cards mostly represent encounters with potential allies who may be persuaded to help you. Weapons: There's various weapons you can find which will boost your hit damage. Special Abilities: These cards represent unusual skills your Investigator may be capable of pulling off - such as summoning a demon, or re-animating a corpse. But your Investigator usually must meet certain requirements to be able to utilize them. 1. What is hit damage and what does it do? Hit Damage represents how much damage you can inflict on Monsters during a battle, and is based on a variety of dice as in most role-playing game (i.e. 4-sided dice=1D4, 8-sided dice=1D8, ect.) 2. Why can't I put weapons directly on investigators? I seem to have to put the weapons down first and put investigators on top of them. And yeah, the game's designed so you have to place Weapons on empty spaces, then place on Investigator over them to use them. So it's like your Investigator found an impromptu weapon to use and equip during the game On both the Investigator and Monster cards, at the lower right-hand corner will be a dice icon. It can be a 1D4, 1D6, 1D8, 1D10, 1D12, 1D20. That represents how much damage you can do in battle to your opponent when you spin the dice. So when you're fighting a Monster on the battle screen where you spin the dice, both you and the Monster will each have a different Hit Damage dice which represents how strong you are. Your Investigator might have a Hit Damage of 1D6 (6-sided dice) and be fighting a Monster with a Hit Damage of 1D12 (12-sided dice) - and you will both roll those dice against each other, and whoever ends up with the highest roll wins the battle. But also, you may be equipped with a Weapon or Ally who will add to your Hit Damage a certain bonus, which will have been listed on the reverse side of their card. So always read the reverse side of the cards to see how they will benefit you when you use them with your Investigator. And that is also taken into account when you roll the dice against the Monster, and added as a bonus to your roll. ----- The "cypher field" is something I added for future expansions, where you'll be able to enter a code to unlock extra bonus content and material. Right now it's not functional
Ok, I have a bug to report. The game has stored only my first two (in time) scores .... It seems that local scoring does not work. Not a big deal ... But still a bit annoying.
It has saved all of mine so far on a 3GS. When I have got an honour that is ( so not often!) Incidentally, how many honours / new cards are there to unlock right now?
Hello! There's 10 cards which may be unlocked. And you're correct, the game is set up so it only saves your high score locally when you unlock a new card. We'll be integrating with Game Center in the future, so leaderboards and high scores will be back in another update. By the way, here's a card list online you can check out: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AsdcCVCOS5oVdFFpMHdMR3lKMGFxTllhNXJJbURsdWc&hl=en&authkey=CM_azeEO&zx=1289425297905#gid=0 Since update 1.1.1 some of the card's values have changed, so it's not entirely accurate, and we're in the process of compiling a new one. I'll let you know when we get it posted. We're also going to make a "card viewer" as a separate free app, where you can view and study all the cards in the game - and update it as needed so you can always review the entire deck if you need to. Thanks!
Yes we did alter the game play some based on player's feedback to make it a little more challenging. Necronomicon's an "evolving" game so there's always going to be new cards and mechanics introduced with almost every update to add value and re-playability to the game.
I'm working on that, the tutorial I'm writing for the HD version is going to look pretty slick and I'll make it available online as a PDF. @actotron: thanks for posting that in my absence, I owe you one!
This FTW! have wanted a way to check out the cards and also show off the art to my non iPhone using friends. Does it have to be a separate app though? Thanks for th answer, looks like I got two more to get!
