HOW TO PLAY CADAVER
Cadaver is an isometric 3D arcade adventure, played using a joystick and keys. As Karadoc the dwarf, you explore the murky dungeons and eerie corridors of Castle Wulf, interacting with hundreds of objects, people, monsters and puzzles. The ultimate objective is to kill the necromancer, Dianos; but, as is the tradition with bounty hunters, what you find along the way is yours to keep.
THE MAIN SCREEN
| A - Main playing area | D - Day |
| B - Icon Panel | E - Object Indicator |
| C - Health/Stamina Bar | F - Location |
Most of the action in Cadaver takes place on this screen, which is divided into three areas:
- the main playing area which shows our hero in the current location, with its walls, doors, steps, decorations, objects, etc;
- the icon panel (the left status display), which either shows the icons (see ICONS), or displays the object you are holding (see OBJECT INTERACTION);
- other information (the right status display), which reveals your current health, the time (shown in days), the name of objects you make contact with, and the name of the current location.
CONTROLLING YOUR CHARACTER
Karadoc's basic skills include the ability to walk, jump, climb stairs and fight monsters; by
pressing F4 you can toggle between moving in eight directions and moving in four, according
to your personal preference. There are three major modes of controlling the dwarf and his
actions: basic movement, interacting with objects via icons, and the rucksack.
BASIC MOVEMENT
When exploring a location, Karadoc's movement is controlled entirely with the joystick.
Pressing the fire button when he is holding nothing allows him to jump.
While holding a weapon or spell the fire button fires/casts the item (providing it has some
shots left). Pressing the H key toggles a held object on and off, allowing the Dwarf to jump
without having to return a weapon or spell to the rucksack.
If any other object is being held it is thrown when you press the tire button (be careful not
to accidentally throw items'). The item held is displayed in a large window in the left hand
status panel when no other action is being carried out.
OBJECT INTERACTION
As you explore Castle Wulf you come into contact with the walls, exits and various objects
scattered around the rooms. Walls and floors may contain relevant decorative effects (or they
may not - you'll have to experiment). Exits are the usual mode of travelling from room to
room (though not the only way): they're generally either simple archways or unlocked doors.
However, some doors may be locked, with magic, an obstruction or a simple mechanical lock:
these can be opened with a key (most of which need to be inserted into a keyhole), an object,
or a spell.
Every object has certain characteristics such as weight or a specific use: on touching an object,
the left hand status display reveals a series of icons (see ICONS, below) which represent the
actions that can be executed on that item (for example, searching it, or picking it up). The
name of the object is displayed in the right hand panel
ICONS
Objects are manipulated using the icons available: these vary according to the item (you can't
drink a spell or cast a potion). The joystick cycles through the available icons and the fire
button activates them.
At the beginning of the game, or at any time during it, you can customise the icon interaction
according to taste, simply by pressing F3 or F2. F3 toggles between icons being displayed
as soon as you touch an item or after pressing the fire button: F2 toggles between using the
fire button or the ENTER key to bring up icons. Generally speaking, if you don't want to
do anything with an object you encounter, simpily walk away.
This is a full list of the icons in Cadaver how you use them will determine your success
in the game.
| name | function | |
|---|---|---|
 |
Joystick | Returns your character to movement control |
 |
Search | Provides information about an object - searching a spell, for example, reveals its name (if you're clever enough to know it), the number of charges remaining, and its power |
 |
Take | Grabs an object and puts it in the rucksack |
 |
Drop | Drops an object |
 |
Drink | Allows you to drink from an object, such as water from a barrel - drinking a potion activates it |
 |
Read | Allows you to read an object |
 |
Hold | Allows you to hold an object or return it to the rucksack. Some items (such as weapons) need to be held before you can use them |
 |
Cast Spell | Casts a spell on the item being touched |
 |
Switch | Activates objects that behave like switches |
 |
Press | Activates objects that behave like buttons |
 |
Open | Opens and closes containers, such as chests or caskets. You won't always be able to do it straightaway! |
 |
Insert | Karadoc is able to insert items into other items simply by touching them, entering the rucksack, choosing the object to be inserted and selecting this icon. Only the right item will be accepted |
 |
Pull | Allows you to drag an item |
 |
Eat | Karadoc may eat any food that he finds. Some food can be used to solve puzzles |
 |
Give | When Karadoc touches certain objects or characters, he may be able to give that object/person an item (for example, feeding a dying man). This is done by touching the recipient, entering the rucksack, choosing the item to give and selecting the 'give' icon. |
However, if you give an item to something, it cannot be returned even if it was the wrong object be careful!
THE RUCKSACK
There are two ways of using the rucksack: you can either view individual items or take a look
at the rucksack as a whole.
Pressing the SPACE brings up a large window in the right hand status display, which
shows the last item in your rucksack which you manipulated or picked up. You can cycle
through the icons by moving the joystick. Pushing the highlight off the extreme left or right
of the icon panel allows the player to cycle through the items in the rucksack, pressing fire
selects the item and returns you to the icons. If you want to return to the small rucksack
display again, move the joystick off the left or right hand side of the panel.
Pressing the RETURN key allows you to view the entire contents of your rucksack. Initially,
you can hold up to a maximum of 32 objects, 16 of which are displayed on screen at once
(you can scroll through them all using the joystick). As each object is highlighted, additional
information is given. Pressing fire selects the item, and pressing RETURN a second time
returns you to the 'small' rucksack display. Pressing the SPACE a second time returns
you to the game.
The ability to carry more objects is a distinct possibility the further you progress.
PERSONAL STATUS
The book located in the first room is your personal log book. It reveals the amount of gold
you have collected, your current health, experience points gained and the percentage of
rooms you have visited.
All the money you find (including bags of gold and some gems) is automatically added to your
collection without cluttering up your rucksack - unless it's needed as part of a puzzle. Keys
that are no longer needed are deleted from your inventory. Experience points are gained by
solving puzzles and killing monsters.
THE MAP
A map of your adventure is automatically drawn as you explore the castle and its dungeons
to access it, simply press F1. It shows the room that you arc currently in (box with ligh
outline), and the rooms you have explored (boxes with darker outlines); however, it doesn't
show any rooms that you haven't visited, or the doors leading to them. You can scroll around
the map using the joystick, and zoom in/out of it by pressing the up/down cursor keys. If
you want to centre the map display, just press CLR/HOME (ST) or DEL (Amiga).
If you can find it, there is a more comprehensive way of mapping the levels later in the game.
SPELLS AND POTIONS
Spells are cast with the aid of a variety of items, such as parchment scrolls, wands, runic
stones and orbs. They fall into three main categories:
1. Spells which fire a shot (eg, magic missile, unlock door)
2. Room spells, which affect either
the whole level (eg, freeze), or just the current room
3. Object spells (eg, unlock chest, bless
weapon)
The first two categories are cast by holding the spell and pressing the fire button. The object
spells are cast by touching the object on which the spell is to be cast, then entering the
rucksack and selecting the spell you want to use. A Cast Spell icon then appears (see ICONS)
which, when activated, casts the spell.
Potions can be found throughout the game and provide a wide variety of effects, not all of
which are positive. Most potions and spells are briefly labelled, but some have no
identification tag whatsoever: experimentation establishes the function and name. Alternatively,
there are two spells which reveal unknown information: Read Magic allows you to use an
unknown spell, and tells you its true name and function; Learn Potion allows you to discern
the nature of a potion if its name is unknown (though you can still drink the potion and find
out for yourself). The Read Language spell translates foreign scripts: it's used for learning
information written in runes of another tongue.
SAVING AND LOADING
Saving and loading your position in Cadaver is controlled by pressing the S and
L keys.
Saving your position costs gold: the higher the level, the greater the charge. Loading is free.
You can have a maximum of 10 saved positions, numbered from 0-9. When you press the
"S" key you are told the price of the save and asked if you wish to pay. Pressing "Y" deducts
this value from your current cash and you are asked to press a number from 0-9 on the
numeric keypad: this stores all the data about your game up to that moment. When the "L"
key is pressed the player chooses the number of the saved game, again from 0-9 on the
numeric keypad.
You must insert a blank disk into the drive in order to save and load the information: this
disk is specially formatted, and must only be used for storing Cadaver saved positions.
KEYBOARD
| Amiga/Atari ST | PC DOS | Function |
|---|---|---|
| RETURN | RETURN | Displays the whole rucksack. When pressed a second time, it returns you to the small rucksack display. |
| SPACE | SPACE | Displays a single item from the rucksack When pressed a second time, it returns you to the main game. |
| H | H | Toggles a held object on and off |
| S | F5 | Save the game position (only available if you have enough money) |
| L | F6 | Load a saved game position |
| 1-0 | 1-0 | Save/load a game after the appropriate key has been pressed |
| P | F7 | Toggles Pause/unpause |
| F1 | F1 | Map |
| ↑ ↓ | + - | Zoom In/Out of the map |
| F2 | -- | Toggles between using fire or ENTER to access icons |
| F3 | -- | Toggles between icon displayed as soon as you make contact with |
| F4 | -- | Toggles between moving in 8 directions or moving in 4 directions |
| CLR/HOME DEL | F2 | Center the map display |