Romance of the Forgotten Kingdom

PANTECH is a compound word expressing the importance of spreading the convenience of technology that is the foundation of our modern civilization among all of mankind. We at PANTECH are striving for the best in gaming together with our partner Mirinae.

Mirinae is the indigenous Korean word for our Galaxy.
Like a dream of the stars working together as a group to emit the light we see on the night sky, Mirinae means our wish as computer game lovers to study and work together in ideal unison.
Thus, Mirinae means also you!

Story

System Requirements

Game Features

Installation and Cautionary Notes

Story

Born as the son of a concubine and made a rebel by the circumstances of his time, Hong Gildong finally founded the land of Yuldo on an isolated island in the southern sea. He was urged on the throne by his son Seong Dogun, who later succeeded him as the 2nd king and brought the country to even more prosterity. When Seong Dogun was born a crown prince, the land was filled with an atmosphere of festivity and it's future looked nothing but bright.

Taught by the most reverend priest father Bupjung, the crown prince grew up healthy together with Park Joongmoon, the son of one of the founding ministers, and Han Mihong, daughter of a distinguished family. However, one day Joongmoon went to the central kingdom to study, whereas the prince and Mihong got engaged in the meantime.

Then one day, all of a sudden a mysterious attacker who called himself the Jeokdae Ma'in invaded the royal palace, killed the queen and occupied the country with his men. The crown prince went missing during the turmoil, but the dethroned Seong Dogun and master Beopjeong were exiled to an deserted island.

Few months later, Park Joongmoon returned to Yuldo. Seong Dogun had died in his exile from a severe illness by then. Following on his ruler's last order, master Beopjeong leaves the island and returns to the realm in the Jeokdae Ma'ins grasp to find the lost prince.

Minimum System Requirements

Processor:	IBM-PC 386DX or 100% compatibles
Memory:	4MB
Sound Support:	ADLIB SOUND BLASTER GS-MIDI
CD-ROM	Required for CD-ROM version

Game Features

Fast-paced traditional role playing game with more than 20 story characters
Immersive real-time combat system
Diverse combat commands
Job system featuring 8 different jobs with 5 ranks that influence character stat development
Powerful combination attacks for up to 8 hits
Convenient group commands
A varied story that leads you to over 80 locations and puts you up against 70 enemy types
More than 300 items and pieces of equipment
This game will be available as an online MUG game in the Pantech-Net Edutainment Park from March 1996 on. (After connecting with 01410 type PAN to enter the Pantech-Net Edutainment Part and enjoy the game.)

Installation and Cautionary Notes

Installation

FDD Version

First, inserd Data Disk 1 into the floppy drive.
Change to the drive letter of your floppy drive, type INSTALL and press [Enter].
Chose the path the game will be installed to and then follow the directions. After chosing the settings for music and digital audio.
Change to the directory you installed the game to, type PLAY and press [Enter].

FDD Version

Insert the Disc into your CD-ROM drive
Change to the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive, type INSTALL and press [Enter].
Chose the path the game will be installed to and then follow the directions. After chosing the settings for music and digital audio.
Change to the directory you installed the game to, type PLAY and press [Enter].

Cautionary Notes

Please deactivate the EMM386 memory manager before running the game. This program can cause incompatibilities with the game. For more information please consult the DOS manual.
Please make sure your system has more than 540KB of free conventional memory available before running the game. Deactivate unnecessary services or memory resident programs.
Chose the path the game will be installed to and then follow the directions. After chosing the settings for music and digital audio.
Please consult the manual of your sound card and MIDI module for the correct settings.

Key Configuration

Cursor Keys:	Control the current character in field monde and the cursor in menus and combat.
[Enter]:	Open the menu in field mode, select menu options and combat commands.
[Space]:	Examine items or talk to persons in front of your current character in field mode. No function during combat.
[Alt]	Cancel menu options or combat commands.
[Esc]	Open the menu during field mode, cancel menu options or combat commands.

Game Start

To the left is the screen you see when starting the game.

It gives you the following options:

Start - Play the game from the very beginning. It starts with a short self-running introduction.
Continue - Load a previously saved game. The different saved games are shown after selecting this option.
Quit - Go back to DOS

Basic Gameplay

Romance of the Forgotten Kingdom is a traditional Role Playing Game. Most of the time is spent exploring in field mode, with enemy encounters occuring randomly.
In field mode, only the currently selected party leader will be shown, who can move freely around the map.
When unsure where to go or what to do next, it may be helpful to listen to what the people around you have to say.
In the course of the game, the enemies you'll encounter will change and become stronger with each new location, so it is necessary to gather experience and money through fighting to make the characters grow stronger and buy them better equipment.
Else, it will become subsequently more difficult to defeat the ever stronger new enemies.
Money, experience and possible loot will be distributed after each battle.
It is advisable to stock up on healing items in towns before charging into battle.

Field Mode Menus

The main menu in field mode is opened by pressing Enter or Esc.

Stat

This shows the condition of the characters in the party.

As seen on the left, selecting 'Stat' in the main menu will open this page. The clock below the options shows the overall time spent since the beginning of the game.

Name: The name of the currently selected character.

HP: Shows the current amount of health next to the maximum.

Dao: Shows the amount of magical energy needed for special techniques.

Job: Shows an abbreviation for the current character's job. The techniques and equipment a character can use change depending on the job.

Level: HP and Dao rise with each level. At fixed intervals, characters achieve new job ranks.

EXP: The experience points needed for character level progression. When the limit seen on the right is reached, the character advances to the next level.

Hit: Measures a character's accuracy to hit a target. The higher the value, the lower is the possibility of a miss.

Att: The force of the character's attack. It can be raised by using better weapons.

Speed: The speed with which the vigor bar fills up during combat. Characters with high speed value can use strong attacks more frequently.

Def: The ability to withstand enemy attacks. The higher the value, the lower is the damage gained by enemy attacks.

Agi: Agility influences the ability to evade enemy attacks as well as the speed of the vigor bar. A high agility makes enemies miss more often.

State: Shows the current condition of the character. The possible conditions are as follows:

Normal = No particular adverse effects

Critical = When the HP sink to 0, the character isn't able to participate in battle and cannot be healed with ordinary healing items. When all characters fall to this state, the game ends.

Poison = Unless the poisoning is stopped, the character's health will diminish constantly. Can be cured with Antidote.

Sleep = When fallen asleep, the character can't execute any combat commands. The character will wake up when attacked or by using a stimulant.

Confused = The character will accept combat commands, but attack aimlessly, even when it hits the other party members. Can be cured with incense.

Paralysis = No combat commands can be executed. Can be healed with a golden needle.

Place: Shows the current location. Serves as a means of orientation to tell apart saved games.

Gear

Used to remove or change the equipment worn by the heroes. The character's attack and defense values are also shown on this screen.

To replace any gear, press the [Enter] key with the cursor over the equipment slot. Press [Del] to simply remove equipment.

-- The item slots and their use --

Right hand:	Used for the primary weapon. This influences attack power. Different weapons can be used depending on the character's job class.
Left hand:	Used for the secondary weapon. The attack power of both weapons is added to the overall attack value. Furthermore, the weapon type can be switched during battle. The weapons are divided into melee and throwing weapons. Melee weapons have a stronger impact from the front line, while throwing weapons aren't affected by the positioning. Chain attacks, however, are not possible with throwing weapons.
Body:	Used for armor. This influences defense.
Misc:	Used for accessories. Accessories can affect all kinds of values, or bestow special skills upon the wearer.

Item

Carried items can be checked and used here. In field mode only restorative items can be used.

Dao

This shows the characters' learned special skills. These cannot be used while in field mode.

Job

Used to change a character's job.

A job class can be chosen from 8 possible alternatives, but changing jobs too often will slow down growth in job ranking. Equipment and skills that don't fit the new job will be removed.

-- The characteristics of the job classes --

Soldier:	An average job class with a variety of available weapons and skills. Can use all sword class weapons.
Warrior:	Similar to the soldier, but more limited in their choice of skills. Can use all types of weapons but has slower level growth.
Shaman:	Has high maximum Dao and can use magical accessories as well as the widest range of skills. Base attack and defense values are low, but has fast level growth.
Daoist:	With an even balance between special skills and base attack value, most of the Daoist's stats are average. In the beginning, character level growth is rather slow, though.
Monk:	The monk has a high speed value and can thus move fastest in battle. Uses restorative special skills.
War Monk:	Has a very slow level growth in the beginning, but is the class with the highest base attack and agility values.
Scholar:	Starts with a low HP maximum which grows fast on higher levels. The scholar's special techniques deal with defense and status effects.
Mage:	Can only use certain weapons. With a very low attack value and extraordinarily slow growth it would be the weakest job, but only the magician can use the most powerfull technique, the []

Set

Here the party leader as well as the combat formation can be changed. Settings for the music can also be found here, as well as save and load functions.

-- Formation Change --

During combat, three characters can stand in the front row, and three in the back. This fixes the characters' position at the beginning of each battle, which has the following effects:

Front row:	No penalties.
Back Row:	The attack value is cut to half, while the defense is twice as strong. Therefore' characters with high physical strength should go into the front line, while the back row is best for special skill users.

Combat

▲ Party Commands

Give commands to all characters at once

▲ Single Commands

Let you select a certain character for more detailed actions

Basic Combat Sequence

Combat takes place on a seperate battle screen and can occur randomly while walking around in the field. Combat is divided into party commands and single commands and is running in an exciting active turn system, with no fixed order for the characters and rather demanding the player's ability to respond to the situation, based on characters' vigor bar and skills.

Combat Status Information

Current HP. Are diminished by enemy attacks. When they reach zero, the character enters a critical state. Can be recharged with healing items.
Current Dao. Is diminished by special skill use. If it gets lower than a technique's requirement, then the skill cannot be used until Dao gets refilled.
Character's condition. Symbols for the various states are as listed above.
Character's vigor. After every move this is reset to zero and then starts to refill slowly. All attacks only reach their maximum strength with a filled vigor bar. Therefore it is important to chose the right timing for an attack.

Command Icons

The different commands are represented through icons. The different party and single commands are as follows:

-- Party Commands --

	= Change to single commands Changes to single character commands.
	= Changing formation After chosing a character to move, the new position is selected. If another character is at the target location, the position of both will be swapped.
	= Defensive maneuver Makes characters with more than 70% vigor attack and heals wounded characters.
	= Offensive maneuver Makes characters with more than 50% vigor attack and heals wounded characters.
	= All out attack Makes the three characters with the highest vigor attack.
	= Escape The party tries to flee from the battlefield. The success of this command depends on the heroes' average agility.

-- Single Commands --

	=Attack Attacks a selected enemy. Has the possibility to start a chain attack.
	=Dao Use special skills. The command is ignored when the character doesn't have a skill or not enough Dao. Opens a separate window with a list of available techniques.
	=Item Use of items for HP recovery, healing of status ailments and offensive items. Opens a separate window with a list of items.
	=Block Lowers attack and raises defense. Has the same effect as sending a character to the back row, but only lasts until the character executes another command.
	=Change gear Changes the weapon in either the left or right hand.
	=Exit single commands Goes back to party commands.

Appendix - Item List

Item Name Price Effect
Herb 30 Heals 100HP

Medicine 100 Heals 500HP

Heaven Flower 300 Heals 1000HP

Heaven Fruit 500 Heals 2000HP

Heaven Soul 2000 Heals HP completely

Calm Candle 100 Gathers 100 Dao

Calm Lamp 300 Gathers 400 Dao

Calm Scroll 700 Gathers 1000 Dao

Ascet Candle 1000 Gathers Dao completely

Eye Drops 30 Heals Blindness

Stimulant 30 Wakes up sleeping characters

Incense 30 Heals confusion

Gold Needle 50 Heals paralysis

Antidote 30 Heals poisoning

Life Leaf 500 Recovers from critical state with 10% HP

Life Fruit 2000 Recovers from critical state with 60% HP

Life Soul 5000 Recovers from critical state with full HP

Oxen Gallstone 500 Sets HP to 50% of maximum

Old Ginseng 1000 Sets HP to 70% of maximum

Older Ginseng 2000 Sets HP to 90% of maximum

Pure Water 600 Heals all status ailments

Ancient Ginseng 9999 Recovers from critical state with full HP and Dao.
Can also be used for characters that are not in critical state.

Smoke Bomb 30 Escape from battle. Doesn't work during boss fights.

Flash Bomb 100 Blinds 1 enemy

Chloroform 200 Puts 1 enemy to sleep

Seducing Scent 200 Confuses 1 enemy

Net 70 Lowers 1 enemy's speed

Angel's Net 500 Lowers all enemies' speed

Slowdown 50 Cuts 1 enemy's speed to half

Speedup 150 Doubles 1 party member's speed

Bomb 500 Hits the whole enemy group for 100 HP each

Stun Bomb 200 Paralyzes 1 enemy

Tsunami Bomb 500 A fierce storm hits the enemy group for 100HP each

Thunder Bomb 700 A thunderstorm hits the enemy group for 700HP each

Poison 100 Poisons 1 enemy

Plague Bomb 900 Bacteria poison the enemy and take 500HP

Ban 100 Makes 1 enemy inable to use special skills

Tornado 2000 Lowers the HP of an entire enemy group to 50%

Word of Vigor 1500 Fills a character's vigor

Death Wish 2500 50% chance to kill the entire enemy group instantly

Appendix - Gear

►► Swords

Swords can only used by soldiers, warriors and scholars. This weapon type deals damage most reliably.

Short Sword:	Small blade of less than 30cm length, used for basic self defense.
Long Sword:	Sword with more than 50cm length, the standard weapon any warrior in Yuldo carries with them.
Soldier Sword:	Special blade made for soldiers, far superior to the ordinary long sword.
Sword of Valor:	A sword carried by traders, unleashes a destructive force through the use of a higher weight.
Jamo Sword:	A weapon with one short and one long blade, used to effectively parry the enemy's attacks.
Vermillion Sword:	The power of the divine Vermillion Bird is sealed inside of this sword. Enables to use the skill [Summon Jujak]

►► Simple Weapons

Weapons that can be used by anyone regardless of job class.

Wooden Staff:	In an emergency, even this can become an invaluable weapon to a traveler.
Heavy Club:	When facing a Goblin, the club is just the right weapon.
Nunchuck:	Originally a weapon of martial artists, but anyone in Yuldo can use these.

►► Special Weapons

These can only be used by one particular job class.

Earth Staff:	The weapon of a Shaman enables to attack with the power of the earth.
Blue Whip:	This special kind of whip is the weapon of Shamans or Enchanters.
Spiked Gauntlet:	Used by fistfighters, this greatly enhances the damage dealt by punches.

There are many other weapons to be found in Romance of the Forgotten Kingdom, more than 80 in total.

Some weapons can only be wielded at a high enough job rank. Even after buying new weapons in stores, it is possible that they can't be used because of inappropriate job classes and job ranks.

Staff

Original Scenario	Ryoo JaeYong
Adaption, Game Design	Kim KyongSoo
Main Program	Oh Jung
Battle Program	Park KyungMin
Character Design	Song DongKeun
Map Design	Jang EunSook
Map Design	Park JongSuk
Illustrations	Shin KyeongYeong
Sub Programming	Lee ManChun
Sub Programming	Ahn KyuYong
Composer	Choi JongYeop
FM Music	Jeong YeongDal
Sound Effects	Lee YoungGil
Script	Kim DongHwan
Configuration	Park YoungHwan
Visual Scene Programming	Choe KyungJin
Producer	Jeong JaeSung
Special Thanks	Kim SeongWan Park YoonSung Oh SeungYeon Nam SungMok Park SeungHyun Kim HyunSeok Kang ShinSuk And... all lovers of Korean Games