The World Window

This guide is your introduction to the Meridian 59 World Window, where all of the action takes place - communication, exploration, combat, and commerce. Understanding the icons, windows, and slider bars is essential knowledge for any citizen of Meridian 59.

The Meridian 59 world window looks like the screen shot below.

The rest of this guide is an item-by-item tour of everything you’ll find on the World Window.

ABOUT WORLD WINDOWS

The World Window is divided into four sub-windows:

Before you can take any action in one of these windows, you must click in it to make it the active sub-window or press the Tab key.

For example, combat takes place in the Action Window. Before you attack a monster, you must first make sure that the Action Window is the “live” or active window. If it’s not (because you’ve most recently been using the Chat Window to send a message, for instance), click once in the Action Window to make it active or press the Escape key.

When you’ve killed the monster, and you want to crow about it to your friends, move the cursor down to the Chat Window and click once. All the features of the Chat Window are now active, and you can go ahead and type your message.

The Action Window

This window is alive with action and adventure: it’s your window on the world of Meridian 59. Here are some of the things you can do in the Action Window:

MOVE AROUND

Use the keys on the number keypad to the right of your keyboard to navigate:

LOOK AROUND

Whatever you’re currently holding — weapons, shields, etc. — appears in your hands. Press the Pg Up and Pg Dn keys to point the view up (so you’re looking overhead) or down (so you’re looking at your feet). Press the Num Pad 5 key to look straight ahead.

PICK THINGS UP, AND PUT THEM DOWN

You can easily drag and drop stuff from the ground into your inventory, and vice-versa. (You can also do this by using the Pick Up and Drop icons on the toolbar, or typing Get and Drop at the text line.)

FIND OUT ABOUT THOSE OTHER PEOPLE

Right-click on any person who appears in the Action Window to view their personal information profile, including:

• Name — If it’s in white, this is one of the good guys. If it’s orange, you’re dealing with an outlaw who has been known to attack innocent people. If it’s red, the person is a murderer. And if it’s blue, use your most civil manners, please: you are in the presence of a Guardian!
• Guild Affiliation - The name of the person’s guild, and his or her rank within the guild. If this person belongs to a secret guild, the name does not appear here.
• Age - In Meridian years, a year is 20 real-time days.
• Description — The person’s autobiographical description: it may tell you something about who they are, what they believe, and what they’re doing here.
• Web page - If the person has a personal web page, the address appears here. Click GO to move directly to this Web site.
• OK - Click OK to leave the description box.

FIND OUT ABOUT OBJECTS

Right-click on any object to find out more about it. This works for monsters, food, weapons, and more.

FIGHT

You get the up-close-and-personal first-person view of your combat moves. For more about combat, turn to the Skills & Spells guide.

SEE WHAT TIME IT IS

Meridian has a two-hour day - one hour of daylight, followed by one hour of night. If you’re going to be out and about in the coun tryside at night, be sure you’re carrying a torch, or have learned the Light spell, before you head out from town.

Use the Map

The Map may be your single most useful piece of equipment. As you explore the world of Meridian 59, the Map automatically keeps track of where you’ve been and what you’ve seen. Here are a few useful things to know about the Map:

• To view the Map at any time, press the Backspace key. The Map now replaces the Action Window. To return to the Action Window, press the Backspace key again.

  It’s wise to make sure you’re reasonably safe from attack before you refer to the Map. Do not, for example, switch to the Map during the middle of a tussle with a mutant ant. While you’re standing there, distractedly pondering your location, you may end up as lunch.

• You appear as a blue line near the center of the Map. As you move, the Map moves, so you will always be near the middle.

  Other people appear as blue dots. The red dots are creatures of assorted species. Keep an eye on their movements, and you’ll be able to see trouble coming.

• The movement commands — the arrow keys, End, and Shift - also work while you’re on the Map. If you want to move quickly through open country, switch to the map, and cruise!

• Press the + key on your keyboard’s numeric keypad to zoom in on a particularly interesting item. Press the - key to 200m back out to a normal view.

• The blue, star-filled squares you see scattered here and there throughout Meridian’s towns are Map annotations. Put your mouse on them, and a tooltip appears telling you what’s there. These annotations were provided to help you find your way around more easily.

You may also add your own annotations to the Map - not just in the towns, but in the countryside as well. To do this:

1. Right-click on the spot you want to annotate.

2. Type your notes about this spot in the description box that appears. These notes will appear whenever you put the cursor on this blue square.

   You can change the annotation’s text - edit it, or add new information - at any time in the future by simply right-clicking the blue square again, and typing the new information here.

   To get rid of a blue square you no longer need, right-click it, then click the Delete button in the description box that appears.

The Chat Window

The Chat Window is where your ongoing dialogue with your fellow Meridian citizens and the Guardians takes place.

To send a message, type the command say, followed by a message, at the text line at the bottom of the Chat Window. For example,

say hello!

When you’re ready, press Enter to send the message. A message can be up to 1000 characters long.

For more information on using the Chat features, please refer to the Real-Time Communication section at the beginning of the Communication guide.

The Game Menu

PREFERENCES

The seven checkboxes at the top of the Preferences window allow you to change the way some of the World Window functions work. An X in a checkbox means that the indicated feature is turned ON; if the box is empty, the feature is turned OFF. Click in the checkboxes to toggle the various features off and on.

• Allowed to attack innocent players - The Gods impose serious penalties for wantonly killing a fellow player. In their mercy, however, they have also provided a safety mechanism that prevents you from accidentally attacking an innocent bystander, or the eager comrade-in-arms who gets a little too close while helping you fend off that vicious fungus beast. Most of this time, you’ll want to keep this safety ON. If you make the conscious choice to murder a non-outlaw Meridian citizen, or to use a spell that creates widespread death and damage, you’ll need to come here and turn it OFF first. (Don’t forget to turn it back ON when you’re done.)

• Show toolbar - All of the commands on the icon toolbar that runs across the top left of the window can also be issued in other ways - by typing at the text line, for example. If you’d rather use the toolbar space for other things (enlarging your Action Window, for example), click the Show Toolbar check box to turn it off.

• Show tooltips - As you move the cursor around the World Window, small one- or two-word flags occasionally appear, telling you what the various icons, menus, and slider bars are for. These are called “tooltips.” If you don’t want to see them, turn this option OFF.

• Draw players’ names over their heads - Sometimes — in a crowd, in a hurry, or in a fit of murderous rage - you don’t really want to know the names of all those people hanging around you. Turn this preference OFF, and you won’t see anyone’s overhead name. The default setting, however, is ON.

• Show amounts for inventory items - The right side of the Inventory Window shows the complete inventory of stuff in your knapsack. The little number next to each item tells you how many of each item you’ve got. Turn this preference OFF to remove these numbers.

• Bounce as you walk — As you stroll the Meridian 59 landscape, your sauntering steps are reflected on screen as a slight bounce when you walk. If you’d rather glide smoothly along without bouncing, turn this off.

• Lock text window in place when scrolling back - Want to go back to that amazing comment someone made a couple of minutes ago? Slide up the scroll bar on the right side of the chat window until you get back to it. Then, your preference setting here determines what happens next.

  If this command is OFF, the text window automatically returns to the bottom each time a new message arrives. This can make tracking a long conversation pretty tricky.

  If this command is ON (the default set-ting), the chat window stays locked on the place where you set the slider bar — the message won’t scroll away.

The Options Menu

The commands on this menu allow you to change the way the Action Window looks and sounds.

The top four commands are toggles. Simply highlight the command to toggle it off or on. A checkmark appears in front of the command when it’s turned on.

LARGE GRAPHICS AREA

Miss the wide-screen action down at your local cineplex? Turn this ON to make the Action Window quite a bit bigger. The downside: you’ll lose some graphics speed, and a good chunk of the Chat Window as well.

MUSIC

Turn this ON to hear the Meridian 59 sound-track. Click again to turn it OFF.

SOUNDS

Turn this ON if you want to hear all the sound effects. Click it again to turn it OFF.

COLORS

This command lets you change the color of almost anything you see on the World Window.

The submenu that appears to the right of this command shows the five general categories of screen items whose color you can change. Under each of these categories is a second submenu, offering specific items that can be changed.

FONTS

This command lets you change the fonts that are used throughout the game. You can take any font currently loaded on your system, and use it in any of the locations listed in the Fonts submenus.

The Spells Menu

This command lists the five magic schools, and the spells within each that you have mastered. To learn more about the Temples and their associated magic schools, turn to the Skills & Spells guide.

The Actions Menu

This menu offers several important game func-tions, including conversation groups, keyboard command aliases, and guilds.

WHO IS LOGGED ON

Select this to see who is currently logged into your server. This is really helpful if you’re trying to find a friend, or avoid an enemy. (You can also get this information by typing Who at the text line, and pressing Enter.)

Ignoring Someone

You can also use this list to ignore people you find annoying. Ignored messages include any messages from the specified person that are sent with the say, tell, broadcast, or emote commands.

• To ignore one person, simply click on the person’s name. The name reverses to black, and you won’t get any more messages from them.

  To reinstate the offender, select the name from the list again. It now appears in white, and you will start receiving his or her messages again.

• If you really want to be alone, click Ignore Everyone!
• Select Ignore Broadcasts if you don’t want to receive any broadcasted messages.

MODIFY GROUPS

This command brings up the Group Configuration window, from which you can create and edit conversational groups. A complete discussion of this window is included in the Real-Time Chat section of the Communication guide.

SET ALIASES

From the Set Alias window, you can assign any of Meridian 59’s text line commands to the function keys (F-keys) on your keyboard. You may use any text command that you’d otherwise type on the text line: - rest, stand, tell, yell, wave, etc. The possibilities are listed in the separate Command Summary card enclosed with the software.

If you click to put an X in the Carriage return after command checkbox that follows each command, the command will be executed the moment you press the designated F-key. If you leave this box empty, the command won’t be executed until you also press Enter.

GUILD CONFIGURATION

The Guild Configuration window is where you conduct most guild-related business. This window — and the guild system - are explained in greater detail in the Guilds guide.

WAVE/POINT/HAPPY/SAD/NEUTRAL/WRY

The remaining six commands are used to convey emotion to your fellow Meridian citizens.

These all take effect the moment you select them from this menu. The last four are facial expressions: notice how they appear on your character’s face near the top of the window.

Wave - When you select this, your onscreen character will be seen waving his or her hand.

• Point - Select this to point your right arm out to the right side.
• Happy - Guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
• Sad - A quick way to display displeasure.
• Neutral — The all-purpose poker face.
• Wry - Makes you look like you know a hilarious joke — or a really juicy secret.

You can also use these six commands by typing them on the text line at the bottom of the window, and pressing Enter.

The Toolbar

Just below the Menu Bar is a set of seven small icons. With just a quick click, these icons allow you to get help; pick up and drop things; cast spells; check the map; rest and get up; and access Meridian Mail.

• Help - Moves you immediately to the Meridian 59 on-line Help area. From here, click any of the hotlinked titles for specific information on your topic of concern.

• Drop - When you click this icon, a window appears listing all the stuff currently in your knapsack. Find the item you want to drop in this window, highlight it, and then click OK. The item is now out of your hands, on the ground at your feet, ready for someone else to pick up.

• Get - Click this to pick up any items lying on the ground near you.

• Rest - Click this to sit down and take a refreshing break. Guaranteed to restore your depleted health and vigor…eventual-ly. You’ll get refreshed twice as fast if you are in an inn or guild hall. You can talk to other players while you’re resting, but don’t try to move around.

  Had enough rest? Ready to get back on your feet and into the fray? Click this icon again to Stand, and you’re on your way.

• Read Mail - This icon gives you access to the Meridian Mail system, through which you can send mail to anyone else on your server, whether or not they’re logged on. For more about Meridian Mail, please turn to the Communication guide.

Your Character

Your own face appears near the top center edge of the World Window. If you right-click on it, you’ll bring up your character window - the window others see when they request your profile. It contains:

• A full-body view of your character, as it appears to others who encounter you. Your appearance changes when you buy clothing, or equip yourself with a new weapon or fresh armor:
• Your name, which will appear in white if you are a good guy, orange if you are an outlaw, and red if you are a murderer.
• Your guild affiliation, if any.
• Your age, in Meridian years.
• Your character description, which you created at the same time you designed your character. You can change this any time by simply typing in the window.
• The address of your Web page, if any. You can change this any time by typing the new address in the Web Page field.

Click OK to save any changes to your profile, and leave the profile window. To read the profile of anyone in the Action Window, put the cursor on them and right-click.

Status Bars

The three slider bars to the right of your character show how well you’re doing in three critical areas: health, mana, and vigor. Keep a close eye on these bars: they change constant-ly, showing you how well you’re taking care of yourself.

Health - The Health slider is the critical measure of your ability to survive. When it goes to zero, you are, quite simply, dead. As you become more proficient in combat, and take on more challenging foes, your maximum health rating will improve.

To restore lost health points, use a Heal spell, and work on your Vigor stats: you’ll heal faster if your Vigor is high.

Mana - Your Mana number indicates your essential spellcasting capacity. As your magical studies progress, and you discover and merge with the Mana Nodes that lie hidden within Meridian 59, your maximum mana rating will improve. Whenever you cast a spell, your mana is temporarily depleted. You also expend your mana when you broadcast mes-sages. To restore it, find yourself a safe place, and rest. Like Health, you’ll recoup faster if your Vigor is high.

Vigor - This slider shows how quickly you can heal from an injury, recover lost health and mana points, or run. To stay vigorous, eat and drink often, and use the Rest icon at the top of the window to kick back and take it easy once in a while.

For each of these three factors, there are two important numbers to watch:

• Maximum Rating. As a new citizen, you may be at your full health capacity with just 20 health points. As you gain experi-ence, your maximum capacity increases. Long-time citizens can have Health and Mana ratings that approach 100 points, and Vigor ratings up to 200. Your maximum rating appears as a dark blue shadow on the three slider bars.

• Actual Rating. This is where you really stand at any given moment. Even if you’re capable of carrying 75 health points and 80 mana points, your actual rating may be far lower if you’ve been running around, fighting, and forgetting to eat and rest. On the slider bars, your actual rating appears as a bright blue bar.

  To learn more about maintaining optimal character health, please turn to the Skills & Spells guide.

Your Worldly Goods

The Inventory Window is reserved for all the stuff you’ll acquire as you navigate Meridian 59 — weapons, armor, reagents, food, drink, useful gear, and so on. (the Skills & Spells guide explains many of the items you’ll typically accrue.)

USING AN ITEM

To use an item, double-left click on it.

LOOKING AT AN ITEM

To get a description of an item, right-click on it. A window appears, offering a description of the item, and a clue as to its purpose.

• Click OK to leave the object description window without taking any action.
• Click Drop to put the item down. Other people can now see the object on the ground beside you, and they are free to pick it up.
• Click Use to use the item. If it’s a food item, you’ll eat one unit. If it’s clothing, armor, or a weapon, you’ll put it on.

Money and reagents are used automatically as you use them in trading or spellcasting.

The Stats, Spells, and Skills Buttons

The Stats/Spells/Skills Window displays three kinds of information: your character’s attributes (stats), your spell knowledge, and your skills. Click one of the three buttons - Stats, Spells, or Skills - to see this information.

Stats

Click this button to view the slider bars showing your character’s prowess in the six major attributes: might, intellect, stamina, agility, mysticism, and aim. These were set in stone when your character was created, but can be enhanced through the use of magical spells and enchanted items.

About Karma - At the bottom of your Stats list is a seventh slider bar: your karma rating.

Good karma is useful for casting the sweet-ness-and-light spells learned in the Temple of Shal’ille; bad karma gives you plenty of clout using the fire-and-brimstone spells of Qor.

When you return from the Underworld with good karma, you will receive a mace upon revival. If your karma was bad when you died, you’ll come back empty-handed. Deal with it.

Spells

Click this button to see a complete list of your current spells. The percentage value next to each spell shows your proficiency — that is, the odds that you’ll be successful with it. The more you use these spells, the better you get with them. Conversely, if you don’t use them for a while, you will get a bit rusty.

With time and experience, this list will grow longer than the window. When this happens, a scroll bar will be added to the right of the list, allowing you to scroll down and view the rest of your spells.

You cannot cast spells from this window. To cast your spells, use the Spells toolbar icon, type the Cast command at the text line, or choose your spell from the Spells Menu at the top of the page.

Skills

Click this button to see a complete list of your current skills. You acquire new skills by training with Rook, the Weapons Master, and hone these skills by practicing them over and over. If you don’t use a skill often, it will atrophy.

The percentage value next to each skill shows your proficiency with that skill. A higher percentage means that you are more adept: for example, your punches or sword slashes land with greater force and accuracy.