Tips and FAQ

[Ziggurat | Alex]

Quick Start Guide

This guide provides tips for getting started with The Legacy: Realm of Terror. We also strongly recommend reading over the game’s excellent original manual[drive.google.com] for in-depth explanations of the game’s controls, mechanics, and narrative.

Getting Started

• The game begins with selection of a character. After scrolling through news stories that show character backstories, you can select “View Character” to see their attributes and skills. The attributes and skills of your chosen character will affect how they handle situations and challenges you’ll face in the game.
  
• The character’s Strength, Knowledge, Dexterity, Stamina and Willpower, as well as Secondary Skills, have preset values that can be adjusted by selecting the Re-Design button in the top-right of the character view screen. Refer to the game’s manual[drive.google.com] for full explanations of all character attributes and skills and their roles in gameplay.
  
• The interface of the game is adjustable. You can resize individual windows to your liking and even save multiple layouts for the windows. Refer to the “Windows Interface” section of the manual[drive.google.com] for an in-depth guide to customizing the game’s view.
  
• Right-clicking in the space outside of the gameplay windows gives access to features like saving and loading.

Gameplay Basics

• You can move with WASD as directional keys plus Q and E to rotate left and right, or by clicking the arrow keys on screen.
  
• Actions available for objects you encounter can be accessed by pointing the mouse at an object and holding right-click. Available actions for items in your inventory can be accessed the same way.
  
• Items you pick up can be equipped to one of your hands. If an item is small enough, it can also be stored in your pocket or a storage container. Storage space is limited, but can be expanded with certain items.
  
• Some items – like weapons and flashlight – must be equipped to the character’s hand for use by the character. Others – like keys to doors – can be dragged from the inventory onto an item in the environment you want to use them on without equipping to a hand.
  
• Attack with any weapon equipped to a hand by clicking "HIT” next to the corresponding hand.
• The "AIM" button is used for selecting specific targets.
  
• The blue meter under your profile is your current accuracy. Every time you attack it is depleted partially, then regenerates over time.
  
• Using magic is key to success in The Legacy. A spell book is required for casting the spells a character can learn from books and scrolls found throughout the game. If you’ve chosen a character that does not come equipped with a spell book, you can find one in the house.
  
• We strongly recommend reviewing the “Casting Spells and Magic” section of the manual[drive.google.com] for a full explanation of how to learn, prepare, and cast spells in the game.
  
• Your character’s Willpower stat is crucial for their ability to learn spells and cast them successfully. Spell points that can be allocated at character creation or after leveling up also help determine spellcasting success.
  
• To restore Magic Points, you’ll need to meditate. A Power Crystal is needed for meditation.
  
• Your character will occasionally need rest and food. Going to long without either can cause attributes and success rates to deplete, and even cause you to pass out. It’s a good idea to have some food on hand when you rest in case you wake up hungry.

Gameplay Tips

• Save often! You never know what’s around the corner…
  
• Avoiding battle is the key to survival. When you must fight, use hit-and-run tactics to dodge enemy attacks and improve your accuracy by allowing your aim meter to recover.
  
• Look for the briefcase in a closet accessed from the starting room. Equipping it to your character’s hand will greatly increase storage space for your inventory.
  
• Health kit usages can fail. Raise the first aid stat to increase chances of success. Consider saving your game before using a health kit if you want to be sure it doesn’t go to waste.
  
• Drag and drop items into containers and keys onto keyrings to consolidate them in your inventory.

DOSBox Tips

To make the game playable on modern systems, this version of The Legacy is played through DOSBox. The game is configured to run at full-screen by default while preserving the original aspect ratio.

Useful DOSBox shortcuts

• Control+F9 can be used to exit the game at any time.
  
• Alt+Enter can be used to switch between windowed and full screen mode.
  
• While in windowed mode, Control+F10 toggles locking the mouse to the window. This can help prevent the mouse from wandering outside the game area onto anything outside of it while playing.

Full screen mode

If you are having trouble running the game at full screen, you may want to change the fullresolution parameter in the dosbox_fs.conf (and any other .conf files you use to launch the game). We found that most systems run best with this parameter set to fullresolution=desktop, so we made this the default value, but we have seen some configurations (like the Surface Pro X) where changing this parameter to fullresolution=original was necessary for the game to run properly.

DOSBox Optimizations (Recommended for advanced users)

You can make adjustments to how the game is emulated via the .conf file in the dosbox_windows folder of the install directory. We recommend backing up any files before changing them, as changes could produce undesired effects.

One adjustment that can be made from this conf file is the size of the game window in windowed mode. Windowed mode resolution can be adjusted with the windowresolution parameter. We recommend windowresolution=2560x1600 for larger than the default view, or windowresolution=640x400 for smaller. The size of the window will also depend on your monitor's current display resolution, which you can adjust from Display Settings in Windows 10 (accessed by right-clicking the desktop or typing Display Settings from the Start menu).