an action game with RPG elements

The Swordsman is the typical close combat fighter type, endemic to RPG's since the dawn of 1974.
The Swordsman eschews ranged weapons in favour of bladed weapons and, in desperate straits, clubs. This is the only character who may use shields and twohanded weapons.

The thief is a skulker in shadows and a stabber of backs (sometimes). It is important to check in your thief's Inventory to see which skills he has. Abilities like Pick Locks and Backstab are not automatically granted.
The thief may use daggers, singlehanded swords, and crossbows.

The least interesting character profession, the Archer, may use bows and daggers only, but also may wear any kind of armour or helmet.

The Mystic is the beneficiary of arcane magikal abilities, granted to him as an adherent of Ormene. In Hidden Evil, the Mystic is the sole beneficiary of spells of all kinds, from healing and defensive varients to those of fiery destruction. Mystics are the only class with the stat Magika instead of Stamina.
A Mystic does not resort to physical violence except in extraordinary circumstances. If such circumstances do arise, he may use daggers and staves.

Strength determines a character's life points, part of his Stamina and Stamina Regeneration, as well as Weapon Skill with all Swordsman weapons. No minimum Strength is required to equip items and there is no Strength-related carrying limit.

Dexterity directly impacts a character's Speed (when he gets to move) in combat, as well as all Thief and Archer Weapon Skills and the Dagger Skill.

Will determine's part of a character's Stamina, and all of his Magika and Magika regeneration (Mystics only). Will also slightly affects a few Weapon Skills.

Intelligence directly determines a Mystic's base spellcasting ability and Lore, as well as partly affecting skill with Staves.

LIFE

Life is like hit points. Zero equals death, and in Hidden Evil death is final.

STAMina

Regular movement and actions do not cost Stamina. Stamina is used to fuel Skills used in and out of combat. During combat, Stamina partly regenerates every turn. Your character will not lose consciousness or suffer any ill effects from Stamina being reduced to zero.

MAGIka

Magika is spent to cast spells. Outside of combat, Magika does not regenerate unless the party rests. There is more information on spells in the Inventory section and under combat. And yes, I'm deliberately spelling Magika, magik and magikal with a 'k'. If you don't like it, go play NWN2.

LORE

Lore reflects the ability to decipher ancient runes, foreign languages, and in certain cases to figure out strange magikal items or machines. Only Mystics can have points in this statistic. Thieves can gain a Lore rating, and the ability to cast spells from scrolls, by gaining the Decipher Skill. A Lore check in the game takes into account the party's cumulative rating.

ARMour

You know what this is. A higher rating means a lower chance of being hit in combat. Armour, like weapons, shield and some helmets, weighs on your character and reduces Speed.

SPEED

Speed reflects the cumulative drag of equipment on your character. Each piece of equipment (usually excluding jewelry) has a Speed rating which is added when worn. Movement points are derived from Speed (see below). The order in which friendly and unfriendly units moves is also determined by Speed, units with the lowest ratings going first. A character with nothing equipped has a speed equivalent to 10 minus his Dexterity.

MOVEment

Movement is the number of squares one can move during one round of combat. Taking an action requires only 1available Movement point, but will also end your turn.
Your Movement rating is directly related to your Speed. A Speed rating of less than 6 will grant a Movement of 5, the fastest available without magikal enhancement. Movement points are decremented thereafter according to the amount of stuff you have equipped.

Resistances

Main Interface
This map screen is where you start the combat demo, roaming around a small dungeon. This is where the player encounters traps, doors, containers and the like. When you stumble upon a hostile creature, a prompt will open which may or may not allow you to parley or retreat. If you attack, the combat screen will take the place of the map screen.

1. Your Player Character. As you navigate with the arrow keys on the keyboard, this character will always be centered. You do not navigate with the white arrows on the screen.

2. Screen Controls. The top button zooms out to maximum distance, and centres the map around your character. The second button zooms the map screen in to 2x and 4x resolution. During combat, the combat popup buttons appear below these two. Recently added, the third button opens the party Spellbook.

3. Pan View . These buttons move the map screen independent of your PC.

4. Text Box. Descriptions of discoveries, newly entered areas, containers and combat actions appear here. If you're confused about what's going on, reading the Text Box might help.

5. Shortcuts. These 8 parchment-coloured slots at the bottom of the screen are able to hold Spell or Skill shortcuts for easy access. To enable a shortcut, click the steely mini-button with a '1' in it. Then select from the Inventory a skill belonging to a particular character or a spell from the party spellbook and it will appear in the slot.
Spell shortcuts will display the multiplier (by default 1) in the mini-button. Skills do not have multipliers. To cancel picking a shortcut, click the mini-button again. Once the shortcut appears in the parchment-coloured slot, click on the name to use it.

The grey-blue button to the left of the shortcuts displays the most recently cast spell and will identify container buttons when they appear.

Important: Opening your Inventory to create shortcuts during combat will use up movement points. Choose your shortcuts on the map screen, or during unit placement, immediately before combat.

6. Clock. The flag shows the number of game days your party has been exploring Hidden Evil. The sky shows what time it is. The Clock is irrelevant to the combat demo.

7. Main Menu Buttons.
Pray: each unit may pray to the goddess Ormene once per day. Mystics will have all their magika replenished and others will recover all Life. A unit may pray in or out of combat.
Inventory: opens currently selected unit's inventory. The Inventory also contains all unit statistics, skills, known spells, and keys. Opening the Inventory during combat uses all of that unit's remaining movement points.
Save and Load: These are not correctly implemented and will do nothing.
Several more buttons appear during combat.

8. Unit Profile. These rectangles contain the most important information about your party members. The background colour represents the unit's profession, blue for Swordsmen, brown for Thieves, coward yellow for Archers and purple for Mystics. In addition to what's displayed, if the party member has an affliction, like poisoning, or a magikal bonus or penalty, you can hover over his Profile to check. The exception is Armour bonuses or penalties, for which the displayed armour rating will change. This is for temporary conditions only and doesn't display bonuses derived from equipped items.

A white star in the bottom left corner denotes the currently active unit.

The topmost profile is the leader. These profiles appear in the order in which members are recruited and cannot be moved. The order is not relevant to placement during combat.

Inventory
The inventory screen has all the information you will ever need regarding your units and party, including statistics, equipment, known spells and skills, and keys carried. Statistics are displayed at all times. Hovering over items, spells or skills in any Inventory list will give you a brief description. Hidden Evil’s inventory system differs from what you might expect in two ways:

> T here is no weight limit so there is no real reason not to collect everything you find. Except that you may not need another worthless Battered Sword.
> The party’s inventory is accessible to every unit, all the time. Although each unit has its own equipment slots, there are no individual inventories for unequpped items. Any known spells are also known to all Mystics in the party, and do not vanish should you lose your last Mystic. Unlike spells, Skills are only known to individuals and cannot be shared.

1. The Paper Doll. Here the selected unit's equipment is displayed for your perusal, and can be swapped with items appearing in the Equipment section of your Inventory. Click on the picture of an item to unequip, and on its name in the list to equip. If the item cannot be equipped, the reason will appear in a red text prompt at the bottom of the Inventory Description Box.

2. Main Statistics. All your primary and your main derived statistics appear here and update immediately should they be affected by combat, spells, potions or equipment changes.

3. Resistances. Resistances start at zero, or "no", but can be altered by magik, equipped items or potions.

4. Weapon Skills and Learned Skills. All usable weapons for the selected character's profession are listed here. Base Weapon Skills are derived from character stats, and increase through making successful hits with that weapon in combat and through allocating extra points when leveling up. Certain items will give a bonus to a Weapon Skill, but will do nothing for a character who cannot equip that weapon.

Some Learned Skills, like Woodcraft I which prevents the party from getting lost in forested areas, are automatic and required no activation. Others, like Shield Bash, cost Stamina to use and must be clicked, either in the Inventory or from a shortcut on the main screen. The third kind, like Backstab, are automatically used, and also cost Stamina. A Thief with the Backstab skill will always attempt it if the opportunity is there, and will accordingly pay the Stamina cost.

Learned Skills can also be acquired by spending points when leveling up, some through the character's guild, some elsewhere. No new Skills will be learned in the combat demo.

5. Inventory Window. This list, which opens at first to the party's Equipment Inventory, can be swapped out with 3 other lists using the buttons at the bottom.

6. Inventory Buttons. These buttons change up the list displaying your party's stuff. The buttons display (from left to right): equippable items, all other items, spells and keys. An example of the spellbook menu can be found at the bottom of this section.

7. Player Stats and Party Stats. The top selection of Player Stats shows temporary bonuses or penalties only, not those derived from equipped items. Regen Life, Stamina and Magika shows how much of each is granted at the beginning of the unit's turn. Regen Life is zero unless increased by magikal means.

Party Stats shows the party's renown, how well you are known in the land for your exploits, and your reputation for good or evil deeds. Experience refers to total experience points accumulated since the party last visited town. Experience is not divided among party members, and no one can level up, until the party returns to town. Lore is the party's cumulative ability to decipher strange writings.

8. Inventory Description Box. Hovering over any equipped or listed items or spells in the Inventory will prompt a description here. If an item which cannot be used, or a spell which cannot be cast, is selected, a red text prompt at the bottom will explain why.

The Spellbook menu, at right, works as follows: the number at the very bottom represents the level of spells displayed. Flip back and forward between spell levels using the white arrows. The roman numerals represent the multiplier currently applied to the chosen spell (1 by default). Multipliers are explained under spellcasting.

Hovering over a spell displays it's cost in Magika on the left of the spell name for the currently chosen multiplier. To the right is the percentage chance to successfully cast against an opponent of the same level as the caster. The base chance to cast a spell against an opponent of equal level is (10 x current INT)%. This can be improved through allocating points when leveling up or through magikal items.

Casting spells against inferior opponents grants a bonus of 10% per level of difference, but casting against superior opponents means a penalty of 25% per level of difference. These numbers do not include the possibility of enemy spell resistance.

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This catapult does not appear in Hidden Evil.

An alternate version of the Spellbook is available as a popup menu, so the player can cast spells without exiting the map or combat screen. That version has no descriptions available, so it's a good idea to be familiar with your spells.

The Encounter Prompt
This is the encounter prompt. It will appear if you wander into an area occupied by creatures, hostile or otherwise. These creatures may not always be visible to the player.

Although the [A]ttack option will always be available, the others may not be, depending on the situation. Click the appropriate letter on the keyboard to choose a course of action.

This prompt may lead to dialogue instead of combat. The dialogue interface should be self-explanatory.

 

Movement

Units cannot move through walls, furniture, enemies or friendly units during combat. Sometimes environmental hazards, like water, may be moved through, but usually at a penalty in the form of additional lost movement points, damage or other negative conditions. These hazards will not apply to your enemies who are assumed to be either immune or familiar enough with their environment to move through them without harm.

If the terrain looks suspicious, click on it. Hazards which will damage or hinder your units have descriptions. Mere obstacles, like a table or wall, will have no description.

Moving directly adjacent to an enemy will reduce your remaining movement points to 1.

Movement Points are reduced to zero by taking any action, such as attacking an enemy, accessing the Inventory, casting a spell or using a skill. At the beginning of the unit's turn, Movement Points are reduced to zero when the unit is stunned, and to 1 when the unit is slowed.

Inventory

Accessing the Inventory during combat costs all remaining Movement Points. You may need to do this to swap out a weapon, take a potion or use a skill, but spells may not be cast from the Inventory. Use the small but silvery buttons arrayed vertically on the lower lefthand side of the main screen to open the Spellbook popup, from which spells may be cast. Opening this popup will cost you nothing, but add immeasurable peace of mind. You may find its brother buttons useful as well, again at no cost to you! You don't have to thank me.

Melee

To engage melee combat, simply attempt to move into an enemy’s square. If you have a melee weapon equipped, you will attack. If you don't have a melee weapon equipped you will be in a very embarrassing position and it would be advisable to go to your Inventory and equip one for the following round.

The act of attacking another unit will always end your turn.

Ranged

At the beginning of a unit's turn, if she has a ranged weapon equipped a white targeting sight will take the place of the usual cursor. You cannot shoot through any obstacle that blocks movement, or through your own units.

There is no stock of arrows or quarrels in the Inventory. It is assumed the archer will fletch his own arrows and always have an adequate supply.

Enemy unit shots will likewise be block by obstacles in the play area. Enemy archers will also be blocked by their own units, although some crack shots may shoot through their own ranks without penalty.

The act of attacking another unit will always end your turn.

Spellcasting

Important: To cast spells in combat, the spellbook popup must be open.

Remember that your chance to hit as shown to the right of the selected spell in the spellbook menu or popup is for an enemy of similar level only.

If you choose a spell which cannot be cast because you don't have enough magika or a legitimate a target, you will get a prompt, but not lose your turn.

Multipliers: Most but not all spells can be cast using multipliers. The current multiplier is represented by the buttons with roman numerals on the spell menu. The effect which is multiplied (or not multiplied) is spelled out in the description. The cost of the spell increases in direct relation to the multiplier, so a spell costing 5 magika at multiper 1would cost 20 magika to cast at multiplier 4.

Spells which increase or decrease resistances or conditions do not have a cumulative effect. For example, the spell Ormene's Favour grants another character +10% melee to hit for 5 rounds. Casting it twice will refresh the duration of the spell, but not grant +20% to hit. If the spell's multiplier is 2 the target will get +20% melee to hit, still for 5 rounds. If a character were suffering the effects of the spell Clumsy, which gives him -10% melee to hit, Ormene's Favour with a multiplier of 1would BOTH cancel the negative effect AND give him +10% melee to hit.

Casting a spell will always reduce your movement points to zero, but not "officially" end your turn. Click EndTurn to continue.