About Realmz and Divinity
What is Realmz?
Realmz is a fantasy role-playing scenario engine made by Fantasoft. It is distributed as shareware and can be downloaded at Fantasoft's web site. Realmz is made in much the same spirit as Dungeons and Dragons, but Fantasoft has made it so easy to use that the player can play without having to waste time with the myriad of stat and multiplier calculations. The basic concept of Realmz is to assemble a group of adventurers from several different races and castes, each with their own special attributes, advantages, and disadvantages. The player takes this group through an adventure which involves puzzles and battles...LOTS OF BATTLES. The player must utilize his adventures to maximize the damage he causes of his or her enemies and minimize the damage he takes. Through fighting, the adventurers gain valuable experience that leads to leveling-up...gaining hit points and increasing the chance to hit your opponent are examples of the advantages of leveling-up. After winning a battle, you get to search the blood and gore for any treasures you can find. The Realmz (the world in which the scenarios take place) are filled with numerous weapons, armor, and other treasures which will add to your ability to survive battles and gain more treasure.
As mentioned above, Realmz is a scenario engine. The adventures that you will go through are in the form of scenarios, which occur in their own unique lands, with their unique monsters and puzzles. Currently there are seven standard scenarios for Realmz. After completing one scenario you can transport your group to another scenario. They will maintain their same level, weapons, armor, etc. After beating a scenario or two, your adventurers can be pretty badass. The initial Realmz download comes with the City of Bywater (CoB) scenario. Realmz is shareware, however, and in order to explore all parts of the Bywater scenario, you must register Realmz with Fantasoft. Registering Realmz also allows you to play the rest of the standard scenarios about half-way through. In order to complete these scenarios, you must register them individually with Fantasoft. It is WELL WORTH the expense, as each Realmz scenario will give you hours upon hours of gameplaying enjoyment. I know I sound like a commercial, but I am serious. REALMZ IS AWESOME.
The Scenarios
Each scenario has its own story and feel. The City of Bywater scenario is very open, with no distinct goal. It is a beginning scenario which is good for leveling-up your adventurers. The puzzles and battles aren't that difficult. You find yourself in the city of Bywater, which appears like a nice enough place. But disaster is waiting in the wings. You can take your adventurers to rid the land of the waiting danger and gain valuable treasure and experience in the process. There is a rumor of a sunken city named Waterford which could once be reached through Bywater. If you can find it, you are sure to find even greater dangers and greater treasures.
After playing CoB, there is really no scenario that is designated as "next". The six remaining scenarios have specific goals which must be obtained to beat the scenario. In Assault on Giant Mountain, you must stop the races of giants from taking over the Realmz. In Destroy the Necronomicon, you are on a quest to destroy the book that links the Realmz with the dreaded Abyss. Your adventure will bring you into the very depths of the devilish Abyss itself, where the only way to win is through dying. In Castle in the Clouds, you are in search for the hidden Castle in the Clouds to discover why the land has fallen into disarray. The answer will lead you on another quest, which takes place in the scenario Search for the White Dragon. In Prelude to Pestilence, you must face likely the most notorious foe in all of the Realmz, Griloch. You will make numerous friends who will come to your side when you need it most. In the sequel, Griloch's Revenge, you must again search out Griloch, this time even more powerful than before and destroy him. All of the scenarios are fun to play, but Castle in the Clouds is my least favorite. It lacks the spice that makes your blood boil and your veins creap like the other scenarios. White Dragon and Griloch's Revenge are REALLY hard. These are scenarios for groups of adventurers who have gone through all of the other scenarios and built up all of their skills. Destroy the Necronomicon gets my nod for the best of the bunch. It's of medium difficulty in battles and fun throughout to play. It has the best puzzles of all the games. You will need more than your sword or your magic to beat it.
Click HERE to see screenshots of Realmz on Fantasoft's site.
What is Divinity?
Divinity is exactly what the name suggests. It lets you play god in the Realmz world. Divinity is a scenario editor which allows you to create your own scenarios. You have complete control over everything, from the monsters to the treasures, scenery, and everything else. If you have ever dreamed up making your own role-playing game but lacked the programming knowledge or the resources, Divinity gives you that chance. It is not the easiest thing to figure out, so it will take a while before you get the knack for it. There are also a number of things you may have to do outside of the actual editor if you wish to use custom-made icons for example. Everything is explained in detail in the manual, but few people actually ever read a manual before they start doing anything. The best thing to do before you start making your own scenario is to make a test scenario. Practice doing all of the basic things your game will need to be playable. The coding for the City of Bywater scenario is available for you to use for examples. Creating a scenario that people will want to play is tough work and will require many hours of map editing, battle editing, and just plane testing. Scenarios made with Divinity can be played on Divine Right LE. Divine Right LE is free to all registered users of Realmz and can be downloaded from Fantasoft's Divinity site. Fantasoft's site also contains an archive of scenarios made by gamers using Divinity. Divinity can be purchased from Fantasoft and comes on a CD with upgrades downloadable from Fantasoft's site.