Realmz
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| Developer(s) | Fantasoft |
| Publisher(s) | Fantasoft |
| Designer(s) | Tim Phillips |
| Latest version | 8.0.7 |
| Release date(s) | 1994 |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Platform(s) | Mac OS, Windows |
| Media | CD-ROM |
| Input | Keyboard, mouse |
Realmz is a fantasy adventure and role-playing computer game first developed and published by Fantasoft in 1994 for the Apple Macintosh as shareware. A Microsoft Windows-compatible version was also developed, and a sequel, titled New Centurions, was released. Realmz was written by Tim Phillips on a Macintosh IIsi; he also wrote four game scenarios, including the introductory scenario "City of Bywater". Other original scenario contributors were Jim Foley (who wrote two scenarios, namely "Castle in the Clouds" and "White Dragon") and Sean Sayrs (who wrote three, including "Prelude to Pestilence" and "Griloch's Revenge").
A similar game is the Exile series by Spiderweb Software which features similar gameplay and graphics to Realmz, and which was originally published by Fantasoft.
Custom Realmz game scenarios can be created with a tool called Divinity - also produced by Fantasoft, LLC. A special version of Realmz - Divine Right - is useful in conjunction with Divinity. It is the debugger software for user-created scenarios.
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[edit] Story
In the City of Bywater scenario included with the game, the player takes control of a group of adventurers who have arrived in the city of Bywater with a small amount of money and a great desire for adventure. Bywater is apparently a quiet city, but there is more going on than meets the eye at first glance.
One of the major plotlines involves a tower that has been constructed by a spider-worshipping cult just east of the city. Though the king of Bywater admits they've done nothing overtly illegal, it is widely suspected that the cultists perform evil ceremonies and rumored that they plan to overthrow the king, who secretly enlists your party's aid in wiping out the cult. Outside the city, you can encounter groups of goblins, orcs, and hill giants, and even make peaceful agreements with some of the groups, as well as discover the lost subterranean city of Waterford.
[edit] Gameplay
Realmz is a role-playing game (RPG), loosely based on Dungeons & Dragons, where players role-play by assuming the role of several different characters in a fictional story. The game has rules for individual combat and the use of magic spells in fighting while focusing on the medieval-period fantasy genre. The player plays as a party of several different characters chosen at the start of the game.
The user interface consists of a character status bar which includes the character portrait, combat status, the character name, current stamina/maximum stamina, attacks/round or spell points/max spell points and the characters armor rating. Players can select from a range of different actions including toggle camp/adventure mode, items screen, cast a spell, display current spells affecting a party, use a scroll, trade items between characters, exchange money between characters, rest and create scrolls. The action panel also displays the current time and day in the game and the current source of light. Special actions include area search, enter a temple, enter a shop or warehouse and attempt to perform a special action.
Realmz includes several types of terrain which all take different lengths of time to travel. Mountains are impassable, roads take 5 minutes, cave entrances take 25 minutes, open ground takes 10 minutes, wooded area takes 25 minutes, rocky ground takes 25 minutes, shoreline takes 30 minutes, buildings/tunnels take 15 minutes and indoor areas take 1 minute. All areas take longer when search mode is on.
Combat gameplay involves the basic movement of characters around the combat screen which costs movement points. The amount of movement points can be effected by how much weight the character is carrying. Each character has a maximum movement allowance that is determined when they are created at the beginning of the game. A character will always have at least 3 movement points per round, even if that character is carrying the maximum load. Rougher terrain takes longer to cross and can affect combat gameplay. Open areas cost 1 movement point to cross while obstacles and muddy or rocky areas cost more movement points. Some objects, such as trees or giant fungi, are solid barriers to small creatures, while larger creatures are able to step over or move through these objects. Characters can also swap positions with other characters, or they can attack a friend. Characters on auto mode or that are animated will never attack an ally and will always try to swap positions.
[edit] Scenarios
The unregistered version of Realmz includes a basic scenario called City of Bywater which demos the Realmz game engine. The registered version of Realmz offers more scenarios including Assault on Giant Mountain, Castle in the Clouds, Destroy the Necronomicon, Griloch's Revenge, Mithril Vault, Prelude to Prestilence, Trouble in the Sword Lands, Twin Sands of Time and White Dragon. Many third party scenarios have been developed by fans and game developers by using Divinity, a scenario development kit (SDK). This allows players who have no knowledge of programming to create scenarios with their own monsters, items, graphics and storyline.
[edit] Character editor
A character editor program was created and packaged with the Realmz game. The editor enables players to change existing characters and generate new characters with their own skills, portraits and other settings such as strength. However, not every aspect of a character can be edited. The fact sheet for characters are displayed on the screen, and is similar to the fact sheet in the Realmz game. An edit bar at the top of the screen allow players to edit a character's spells, conditions, and abilities. Characters can be given any items, however they are still be subject to the restrictions of that item; as an example a Priest is still only be able to use blunt weapons.
[edit] Future of Realmz
Tim Phillips is no longer developing Realmz, and the game has not been updated in several years. It can only be run on Macintosh systems able to run in Classic mode, excluding newer Intel-based Macintosh systems. Also, bugs on the PC version exist, and it is not up to version parity with the Macintosh release. Because of the game's aging and lack of support for OS X, the small yet loyal Realmz community has begun a project in 2005 to update and actually rewrite Realmz for today's modern operating systems.
[edit] Reviews
Realmz received positive reviews from magazines and websites in the Macintosh community shortly after its initial release. Some of the more notable reviews are from MacUser, MacCentral and cnet. Many users were pleased with the game's good customer support, "intuitive user interface" and the continuous release of improved versions. Realmz game was voted "Best Shareware Game" by MacUser magazine in 1995 and awarded the Golden Mouse for best shareware adventure game in the Swedish edition of MacWorld.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Flabio's Place - Realmz Scenario downloads and Flabio's Place - Divinity
- ^ Realmz Wiki
- ^ Ivan Chou's Realmz page
[edit] References
- Ivan Chou's Realmz FAQ 4.3.2
- Tim Phillips, Realmz Manual 7.1, 1994-99 (web archive)
- Tim Phillips, Divinity DEMO Manual, Version 6.2
- Tim Phillips, Character Editor Manual
- Brian Rumsey, Realmz review (Low End Mac Gaming), July 11, 2000
- An Interview with Tim Phillips
- An Interview with Jim Foley
