Gameplay FAQ

From PSwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

This is the Gameplay FAQ

Navigation

How do I move and look around?

The arrow keys on the keyboard control movement and the direction you are facing. Hold down the forward and backward keys to move at a walking pace. Simultaneously holding down the Shift key and the arrow key will change you to a running pace. If there is an obstacle that you cannot go around, you may try running up to it and then pressing Spacebar to jump. With practice you can vault over obstacles.

How do I change camera angles?

The "Page Up" and "Page Down" keys control the vertical camera angle.

Location Questions

Where are the sewers?

Go left from the blacksmith in Hydlaa and follow the city walls until you find a large hole in the ground. There is also a second entrance behind the tavern.

Where is the tavern?

Starting from Hydlaa Plaza, look to the left of the large red temple for a ramp/street in the direction of the taller brown tower. Take that street and then go up the first staircase on your left. Follow its curve, and you'll see the tavern on your left eventually. Can't miss the sign of mugs above Kada-El's doors.

Where is the town of Ojaveda?

Exit Hydlaa from the east gate, in the same sector as Jayose's library, and follow the road across the Ojaroad Plains. It's a long walk, but eventually you will find the dsar of Akkaio, one of many dsars that make up Ojaveda city. (If you chose an Enki character, you will start here.)

Where is the Magic Shop?

Exit Hydlaa from the north gate - from the centre plaza with the Laanx Statue, look toward a tall brown tower and make your way towards it. After exiting through the gate, continue through the forest path and then take the right fork as soon as you see it.

Where are the Bronze Doors?

Exit Hydlaa the same way, but take the left fork instead of the right. The way is long. Just follow the road.

Death Realm Questions

What happens when I die?

You are whisked away to the Death Realm, where you must escape it to return to the realm of the living. In Crystal Blue the Death Realm is very small, but it will be expanded later.

I can't find the exit from the Death Realm!

Your best bet is to ask for aid from your fellow fallen. If they know of the exit, they will help you - and there is no shame at asking for help in a social game. If you can't seem to type fast enough while they're running by, you may wish to consider following them.

You can always type '/die' to be taken back to the beginning if you get thoroughly lost, or stuck (and the /unstick command doesn't help).

Character Questions

What significance do the the character background options chosen during character creation have?

The background choices that you make will affect starting stats and skills of the character. Also, the text of your selections will appear in your characters description, which you can edit after character creation. The different races' abilities have not yet been implemented. One tip would be to set your background so that it reflects the character's race's background.

What are each of the religions choices about, and do they have any gameplay significance?

Lookouts on this front are unclear. Estimates have been told. Religion will probably have a much bigger impact on gameplay then today.

What is my character's experience level?

PlaneShift does not have an overall experience level of a character, like some other games. However, you can estimate your character's strength by taking into account things like stats, armour skill, and primary weapon skill.

Training Questions

What do I train?

There are two aspects to skills which are theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge. You use progression points to train and obtain theoretical knowledge from a trainer NPC. Once you have obtained the theoretical knowledge to use the skill properly, you can then train your practical knowledge by actually using the skill.

What are progression points, how do I get them and how do I use them?

Progression Points (PPs) are the points you get from using skills (such as fighting, mining, etc.). They are used to train the theoretical part of skills with NPC trainers or to train statistics like Strength, Agility, etc.

Yeah, but HOW do I train?

You must first find a trainer that can train you in the theoretical knowledge of the skill. They may be located in different locations in different cities. A big hint that an NPC has the ability to train you is the presence of the training icon when you click on the NPC to interact with him.

After finding the trainer that can train the skill(s) you wish to gain or improve, select him or her and type "/train". Then select the skill you want to train and click on the "Buy Skill" icon.

You have to train until the yellow bar turns green completely. This part of training uses the progression points. To finish acquiring the skill at that level, you go out and complete the practical training by using the skill. When you have gotten enough additional experience using that skill, the skill will be leveled up.

How do you increase HP or Mana?

Training the physical skills (strength, endurance, and agility) will increase max HP. Training the mental skills (intelligence, will, and charisma) will increase mana.

Inventory Questions

What can I do with animal parts (that aren't used in a quest)?

Animal parts can be sold for tria to specific NPCs ingame. You should ask people (best in RP-manner) where to find them.

Where can I find daggers, maces, hammers, spears, or bows?

Daggers can be collected as loot off of an occasional ruffian, crafted, or acquired from other players. Maces and hammers can be bought from some merchants but are not always easy to find. The remaining weapon types do not yet exist in the game.

How strong do I need to be to use heavier equipment?

The strength requirement depends on the specific piece of equipment.

How do I use an item?

Either type the command, "/use nameofitem", or drag the item onto the doll in the inventory window.

How do I drop or destroy an item?

An item can be dropped by dragging it outside of the inventory window, and clicking. There is no built in functionality to destroy an item at this time, though it can be accomplished by placing the item in a furnace and waiting.

Trading/Working/Crafting Questions

How can I make some money?

Trias are sometimes given through NPC quests, and often from GM (Game Master) quests.

Another source of income is hunting; find yourself some rats (Hydlaa's sewers and the warehouse of Akkaio have plenty) and hunt there for a while and sell the parts you collect to merchants.

Mining is another option, but you will need a pick and some training provided by Harnquist at the blacksmith's to begin - and you will also have to find out where to mine. Other players can be of help in finding mines.

You can also learn how to Craft. You might be lucky to sell your crafted items to other players for more then you can to NPCs.

How do I mine?

Buy a pick, equip it in your right hand, find the right spot to mine and type "/dig <<mineral>>" where <<mineral>> can be gold, silver, iron, coal, tin, zinc, diamond, emerald, or ruby. Ask in-game for help in finding mining spots. If you explore and notice others successfully mining using a pick, make a note of that location for future use.

What do I need in order to train a skill?

First you need some Progression Points and Trias. Second you need to find the trainer that can help you in the skill you want - ask around in-game for further help in finding them.

How many progression points do I need to train 1 point in a certain skill or stat?

Open your "Skills and stats" window and look at the desired skill you want to train. You'll notice there are 3 coloured bars on the right of the skill name. If the blue bar above is longer than the yellow bar, you have enough progression points to train a level. The amount of progression points and Trias required for this action will increase though as you progress, so for a higher level in a certain skill, you will require more progression points and money.

Quest Questions

Why will nobody tell me quest solutions?

The quests are far more rewarding to complete yourself, rather than have people telling you the answers. This applies even more so during the early stages of CB, where there is little content to keep you occupied. The developers wish people to not post quest answers in the forums or on web sites - telling friends or guild-members privately, however, is generally okay. But think again before asking the solution to a quest. The greatest reward you can get from completing the quest is the satisfaction of solving it all by yourself.

There is also one other important benefit for most people - when you learn how to solve quests on your own, you will get better at it. Of course, this is true for many things in real life as well. Do not feel discouraged at having challenges.

Talking to NPCs is confusing. How do I get a quest?

There are several ways to ask NPCs for a quest. "Give me a quest" works when talking to Sharven, for instance. Play around with phrases using the word "quest," "work," or "job" and eventually something will be accepted (that is, of course, unless the NPC you're talking to does not give a quest.) The NPC dialogue system is almost constantly being improved, so while it can be rather frustrating to try to speak to them right now, it won't remain that way forever. There are also certain NPCs that will give you a guest but which don't respond to phrases like "give me a quest". Try asking them "tell me about you" or just "about you" and then work your way from there, asking them others "about..." type questions based on the reply they gave you before.

How do I find out if an NPC is a questgiver?

For most quests and most NPCs, you can find out by talking to the NPC and asking directly, "give me a quest". You won't always know if an NPC is a questgiver, however. Some may respond to different trigger phrases, and some will not give a quest until certain other conditions are met.

How do I complete a quest once I've brought an item to the questgiver?

For the simplest cases, you simply hand the item to the NPC, by right clicking on the NPC, and then clicking on the "Give" button. This will open a window which will allow you to drag the item over and trade it to the NPC. For quests where the NPC expects several different types of items, you will usually need to hand over items one type at a time.

In some cases, you will need to tell the NPC a specific phrase to let them know that you have the item before you can trade it. This varies depending on the quest.

How do I get steel stock?

This question comes up because it is possible to get a quest requiring steel stock as a new player, but a new player is nowhere near ready to make steel stock. The short answer is that you either get steel stock from another player, or you craft it yourself. In order to craft steel stock, you must be able to dig ore (mining skill), and make steel stock from it.

Colors and GUI Questions

What do the label colors mean?

Blue normal players in the same group
Cyan computer controlled characters (NPCs)
Light Green normal players
Green new GMs and certain testing characters
Yellow Game Masters
Light Red Developers
Red items and dead characters

The colours separate different type of characters like NPCs, GMs, Players, ..

What do the yellow, green, red, and blue bars near the skills mean?

Skill Bar
  • Yellow
Amount of theoretical knowledge (training) needed before you start the practical part (working with that skill).
  • Green
Amount of theoretical knowledge achieved (when training) or amount of practical experience (when practising)
  • Red
Amount of practical experience required up to next level
  • Blue
Your current progression points. (If the blue bar is longer than the yellow bar, you can complete the theoretical training for the skill in question.)

What do the coloured bars in my status window represent?

Status Window
HP
150/150
Phys. Stamina
500/500
Mana
10/10
Ment. Stamina
200/200
  • HP (red)
Health Points are associated with blood
This is an indicator of your Health and is a combination of Strength + Agility + Endurance
  • Phys. Stamina (green)
Physical Stamina is associated with walking on earth
This is an indicator of your Endurance walking long distances
  • Mana (violet)
Mana (from Hawaiian word for might) is associated with mysticism
This is the spellpower or amount of magical energy used to cast spells
  • Ment. Stamina (grey)
Mental Stamina is associated with brain
This is an indicator of your Fitness of digging ore or fighting

Targeting/Fighting Questions

There are too few monsters, and other people always kill them too fast!

You'll have to be patient on this one. The developers will add more spawns soon, but for now, please try to not cause tension by stealing other people's kills if they got to it first, unless necessary by RP. If a monster is "camped" by somebody and you can't find any other free monster to kill, you can always approach the person and ask him/her politely to group with you so you can share the loot and progression points. Please use /tell to clear up any misunderstandings.

In which hand should I put my weapon?

It doesn't matter in which hand you are holding the weapons. You will hit with both hands as long as you have fighting items equipped (that includes fists). If you equip a non fighting/defensive item (mug/shield) you will only hit with one hand. The only thing you MUST equip in the proper (Right) hand is the rock pick. Equip it on the Left and you can't mine.

Does having two weapons help?

Yes, you hit with both hands so it helps.

Why am I getting the message "<<NPC name>> is impervious to attack" when I try to attack a monster?

If you are getting this message that means that the program controlling the NPC's behaviour (npcclient) has either crashed or it has been shut down by a developer in order to improve/fix something. Nobody knows when the program will be restarted, so don't ask.

Why isn't my NPC opponent attacking back?

The program controlling NPC behaviour (npcclient) on the server isn't always functioning (see the question above about "impervious to attack"). Without it, NPCs will not fight back. Consider this a freebie, until it comes back on, again.

How do I loot a defeated foe? I can't find the place to click anywhere on the body.

For some of the NPC models, the place to click is a very small spot, usually located around the crotch. In such cases, it is more effective to loot by using the "/loot" command.

Miscellaneous

How do I recognize a GM?

GMs and developers are in the Game Masters Guild. You can use the command "/who game" to list the ones online for you. See also What do the label colours mean?

How can I avoid fall damage?

As a young character, it is all too easy to die through fall damage. The general advice is this: don't jump from objects, don't run down staircases, and take care when travelling across dangerous paths where it may be easy to slip. Sometimes bugs do occur and your character will plummet to his or her doom from a height that looks no more than four feet - unfortunate, but try to be as safe as you can. Also, because of certain graphics bugs, your character can fall through the floor to the end of the world. Try to avoid the spots that can trigger this event and find some alternative routes.

If your camera angle doesn't let you see something clearly such as the edge of a pit or where steps going down or up are, press "Page Up" or "Page Down" keys to adjust the camera angle to your liking.

Y DOES EVRY1 H8TE ME!??

Stop shouting at them! Using capslock and chatspeak all the time makes you sound loud, rude, and immature. It's also an eyesore, and not roleplay-compliant, so please type normally.

How do I open doors?

Most doors that appear shut, cannot be opened.

There are a very few exceptions and these can only be opened when your character has completed a quest or group of quests. You can attempt to open a door by right clicking on it. If you are able to open it, you will see a door handle in the context menu. Click on that and you will be taken to the far side of the door.

My map is too dark! I can't see where I'm going.

If adjusting the brightness/gamma settings of your monitor doesn't work, try running the game with the -fullbright command. It will eliminate lighting completely (and thus be warned: the game won't appear as pretty and you won't be able to tell night from day). Right-click on your PlaneShift shortcut, hit Properties, find the Target line and add a space and -fullbright at the very end.

How do I create a macro?

Right-click on one of the free slots in the macro list (which is found down the left side of your screen by default - it already has buttons like Attack, Sell, Tell, Say, etc.) and click the button. You can then set the name for the macro, and then the chat command you wish it to type when the button is pressed. You can also queue 2 or more commands (i.e for creating an attack shortcut you can use the following combo: /target clear, /target next npc, /attack <<1-5>> placing each command on a new row and without the <<>> signs).

I'm stuck in a place I can't get out from and I can't move!

Type "/unstick" - that will move you to a safe spot.

How do I get magic?

You will need to buy a glyph from the magic shop or get one from a quest, purify it, and learn the spell. You will also need to find a trainer that teaches the magic Way (or school) your spell is in.

Why is it that some characters get spawned in Hydlaa (main city) and others in Ojaveda (Enkidukai city)?

Some spawns take you to your origins. Currently only the Enkidukai have their spawn in a separate city, but once each race has its own towns and settlements, all characters will spawn in their rightful places.

How can I buy a house?

Player-owned buildings are very rare at the moment.

So far only a few houses have been sold as "Guild houses". These sales were by auction and were advertised, in advance, on the main PS web site.

There is no feature that allows a player to simply buy a house from an NPC or a shop yet.

What does "roleplay" mean?

PlaneShift is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (M.M.O.R.P.G). That means that your character lives in a virtual world, has a background story and interacts with other characters. Role playing means that you adjust your chat in concordance with the setting of the game, with your character's background and with the other characters you meet ingame. Talking out of character (ooc) is prohibited in the normal chat but you can act ooc when whispering to another player using the command "/tell". The background story of your character is decided by you and, as long as it fits in the setting of the game, there is no limit to it but your imagination.

I can't see certain players or NPCs

That is caused by the fact that you lagged when entering a sector of the map. Changing sector and returning or reloading the client will help you.

Is there a way to make the client load the new regions faster?

Yes, checking the "Keep maps loaded" option in pssetup will help because if you already loaded a certain map you won't have to load it again when you return there. However, this will take a good amount of memory.

I read the Player Guide and the Gameplay FAQ, but I still need help in-game

Use the help channel (the tab on the right in your communications window). An advisor will answer your question.

I don't like my character creation choices, will you change my gender/race/etc?

The choices you have made for your character during the creation process are final; you can change them only by remaking your entire character. No developer or Game Master will make such changes for you.

How do you play Groffeltoe?

TODO

What are those things that people can summon as pets?

There are two kinds of pets, right now. The one with the tiny wings is called a groffel. The other one, that looks somewhat like a brownish lizard, is called a yulbar.