User Interface

1. Navigation

The user interface to Dragon Bane II is simple and intuitive. There are two types of controls in Dragon Bane II: movement controls, and menu controls.

  • Menu Controls - When inside buildings, viewing or using members of your party, or in combat, the screen is divided into three sections. This mode is hereafter referred to as "Party View". All action in the Party View is menu-driven, so the only thing you need to learn is how to navigate menus in order to play.
    • The menu is always located in the top-right portion of the screen (unless you select "left handed mode" from the game's "Preferences" screen -- see below). You can either tap on menu entries, or highlight them using the up/down keys and then select the highlighted entry by pressing the Notepad key (See diagram). Notice that the currently selected menu entry is highlighted (for grayscale devices, be sure your screen contrast is adjusted properly).
    • Also note that some menus require you to select an item, spell, or character from the bottom half of the screen. In those cases, you can use any combination of the following three choices to navigate down and select something from the bottom half of the screen:
      • You can simply tap on a row on the bottom half of the screen with your stylus .
      • You can press the "Calendar" hardkey to tab between the top and bottom menus. Both top and bottom menus can be navigated with up/down hardkeys and "NotePad" hardkey to select an item.
      • You can simply scroll off the end of one menu and onto the other menu (using the up/down hardkeys)
  • Movement Controls - To walk around in the 3D Dungeon view, use the hard keys, or tap the screen according to the diagram, here. Occasionally, you will find objects of interest in the towns, wilderness, and dungeons. To examine, operate, or pick up something of interest, simply step into it.
  • Overhead Map
    Your party automatically maps its journey and you can review your map at any time by tapping the "Find" silkscreen key to switch to map view. To return to the previous view, you can either tap the "Calendar" or "Notepad" hardkeys, tap the "X" button in the bottom-right corner of the map, or tap the "Find" silkscreen
    key a second time. While in the Map View, your party's current location is represented by a flashing arrow. If you do not see the arrow, you may have scrolled to view a different part of the map. To scroll the map, tap any of the four arrow buttons on the bottom-left portion of the screen or use the Up / Down / AddressBook / TodoList hard keys. The overhead map marks many points of interest such as special buildings, doors, and ladders. To see these details more clearly, you can tap the magnifying glass to zoom in or out. Also note that at the top of the map, the map name, your party's coordinates, and the date and time are displayed. Tapping the date will briefly display the number of days your party has pursued its quest.
  • Switching Between Views - To switch between the 3D View, Party View, or Map View, use the "Menu", "Calculator", and "Find" buttons at any time. For example, when in the 3D View, tapping the "Find" silkscreen key will jump to the overhead map. Tap the "X" button in the bottom-right or tap the "Find" key again to return to the 3D View (or whichever view you came from).
  • Tapwave Zodiac. Dragon Bane V1.2.1 and Dragon Bane II V1.0.6 are both optimized for the Tapwave Zodiac's controls. A description of all the controls is available here.
  • GamePad support. If you have a Palm III, IIIx, IIIe, IIIxe, IIIc, Palm VII, or VIIx, or a PalmV or Vx with the appropriate adapter, we highly recommend that you use the GamePad by WorldWideWidgetWorks. The entire game is playable from the gamepad, the interface is much better with the extra buttons, and using the GamePad preserves your Palm's hard keys. Dragon Bane II supports GamePad natively according to the following design. Note: if you use the GamePad, be sure to install the GamePadDriver.prc (that comes with the GamePad) on your Palm device.
2. Game Menu

Get to the Dragon Bane II Main Menu from any view by tapping the "Menu" silkscreen key.

  • Load - Loads one of 8 previously saved games. Note that saved games are backed up on your computer when you hotsync. Saved games are stored in your "palm\username\Backup" directory on your computer and are named Drg2Save*.pdb where the * is a code for a particular adventure. For your savegames stored for the "Return of Kra'an" adventure that comes with Dragon Bane II, the savegame is called "Drg2SaveMSRK.pdb" (for "MythoLogical Software Return of Kra'an").
  • Save - Saves your current game in one of 8 save game slots. It is recommended that you save your game whenever you make progress in your quest. Note that each adventure you have installed allows you to save it's own separate set of 8 save games.
  • Restart - Resets and re-initializes a new game for your currently selected adventure. Warning: you will lose any unsaved progress you have made if you restart the game.
  • New - Drops out of your current game back to the "Choose an Adventure screen". From there, you will be able to choose another adventure if you have more than one installed on your device. Or, after choosing a new adventure and starting a game, you can load a save game slot for that adventure. Warning: you will lose any unsaved progress you have made if you change to a different adventure and start a new game.
  • Last Message - In 3D View, this option brings up the last popup message you saw. In combat mode, it replays the last round of scrolling combat messages in case you missed something the first time.
  • License - If you obtained a demo evaluation copy of Dragon Bane II, you must purchase an unlock key in order to play past the first three levels. Unlock keys may be purchased from the MythoLogical Software website. After you purchase a key, you must enter it on this license screen to unlock the game. Be sure to give your license code and user name when entering data at PilotGear HQ. After unlocking the game, there is no need to download a new version of the game, start your adventure over, or re-enter the unlock key the next time you play. Simply enter the key once, and continue playing from where you left off. For more information, see the registration section
  • Preferences - Options to disable sound or door animations, adjust the combat scroll speed (note that the up/down keys can also do this during combat), choose "left-handed" mode, and an option to let you choose whether to face buildings upon exiting them. Also, for devices such as the Handspring Visor or other PalmOS 3.1 devices where the display looks choppy during scrolling, you can try disabling the "Smooth combat scroll text" option. Disabling smooth scrolling will make the combat messages scroll one whole line at a time, making it easier to read on those devices.
  • About - Displays version and other information.
  • Help - Displays instructions for using the Dragon Bane II interface.
3. Exit Dragon Bane II

Tapping the "Applications" silkscreen key will exit Dragon Bane II at any time. Well, almost any time. The only circumstance when the application button cannot be used to exit the game is when combat messages are scrolling on the screen.

When you exit Dragon Bane II, a "temporary" savegame is automatically created so that the next time you run the game, you will be able to continue right where you left off.

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