Brand new to the RoA series, but glad I got it as a freebie. I've been curious to try it out.

I spent a few hours of wandering the first town in RoA1, getting used to the interface & such. Racked up some decent money in the taverns only to have it all taken away when I did something stupid later on...only then did I realize I hadn't saved the game since creating my party. Live & learn.

I find the overall atmosphere very charming, and the grid-based movement very much like the old Bard's Tale and Might & Magic games that I grew up on.

The following are assumptions, based on my limited experience so far (so PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong)...

* No keyboard shortcuts such as "M" for map or "N" for notes
* No detailed explanations of the spells effects
* Can only save my game at Temples(?)
* No (in-game) way to tell object stats such as weapons, armor, or even what a regular item does
* No quest notes that I could find, despite having a diary
* No way to adjust game speed once combat has started
* Line of sight is needed for all attacks, and corner-to-corner melee doesn't work (must be in front, in back, or on left or right of target)

...don't wanna sound like I'm just complaining, I actually think I'm going to really enjoy this game once I can get it figured out. I just see alot of room for improved controls (unless I'm missing things). Hopefully RoA2 is a little more intuitive.

I specifically wanna ask about adjusting game speed. When I first started, messages flashed by too quickly when I clicked on an item & put it over my Eye to identify it. So I changed the game speed to 99, which allowed me to click when I was done reading & it would go away. Much later, I got into my first combat & everything just moved sooooo sloooow, and I couldn't do anything about it.

Forgive me if all this is a little disorganized & rambling...I'm on heavy pain meds for a kidney stone right now. But please, someone give me some guidance here!

You can save everywhere, but that comes with a (laughable) XP fine. In the German version the XP fine is 100 times higher. That is only in RoA 1. There is a spell that will give you weapon/armor stats. As for "mundane" items, it is hardly explained. Just go with what you would pack in real life. Intersting is the crystal ball, which give the character +1 Intuition. There are several quests, but no quest log or anything. Most quest don't even have a quest-giver but are only a dungeon which is contained in itself. Correct. For missile weapons it changed in RoA 2.

That is everything I could just thing of. Somebody else might fill in the missing blanks.

Yeah it sucks that items and things are not presented with detailed stats and stuff, but they do have them, you can look them up here:

http://nlt-hilfe.crystals-dsa-foren.de/page.php?20

Might have to use some translator, not sure if theres an english list somewhere.

@Simon I played german DSA1 a couple of months ago, but the save game penalty was just 1XP per char if you dont save in a temple.

The English version is using XP, which are giving at a rate of AP*50. Everything is scaled, so it doesn't really matter. Except the save cost, which is still 1 XP, essentially just 1/50 of the German cost.

Therefore the "lower costs" of the English version ;-).

Thanks for those clarifications. Another question I came up with...how do I access my "character sheet" for the distinct skills/spells I have? At first, I tried completely customizing each of my party members (so I've seen the skills/spells in creation mode) but I decided it was taking too long & went with just plain basic archetypes instead...and now, in game, I can't find any stats beyond the basic "character screen" for them.

I'm aware I can right-click at any time & be given the option to use an appropriate skill (as well as highlight who would be best at it), but I wanna be able to see it for myself...sometimes the "best choice" still sucks, y'know?

Could it be that you are in beginner mode? I think they are omitted then.

I'm not playing, but I know the German version pretty much at heart. And in this version the skill pages are omitted for beginners. (IIRC, I never used beginners mode).