The user interface for Mythos is comprised of five main sections: Play Field, Menus, Stats, Buttons, and Messages, each of which is described below:
Play Field
The Play Field is where all the action takes place, and uses the majority of the screen. During game play, a 5x7 sector 3/4 overhead view is shown of the current floor. As you move, your Avatar remains centered in the Play Field, with the scenery moving around him/her. The exception to this convention is when you move to the "edge" of the Floor, in which case your Avatar moves towards the sides of the Play Field. Use the arrow keys or the 4, 8, 6, and 2 keys on the numeric keypad for all movement.
Menus
Menus are used to initiate an action. Most menu items have command-key equivalents. All items under the Action menu do not require the cmd-key to be pressed to activate the action. Keyboard equivalents of the Action menu items are all user-configurable. In addition to the reserved keys for Save, Quit and other functions, there are several reserved Cheat keys as well.
Apple
About Box: Puts the About Mythos info box into the Play Field and displays the credits. Click anywhere in the Play Field to close it.
Unlock...: Displays your unique Serial Number and information for obtaining the Unlocked version of Mythos (enabled in Locked versions only).
Other Stuff: Whatever else you have installed in your Apple Menu Items folder...
File
New Avatar: Presents the New Avatar dialog box to initiate a new adventure.
Restore Avatar: Restores a previously saved game. If you're not in an adventure, a standard "Open..." dialog is presented for saved-file selection. If you're in an adventure that's previously been saved, your current Avatar file will be reopened If you're in an adventure that's hasn't been saved, this option is dimmed and you'll need to abort the adventure before you can restore an Avatar Note: If you've renamed a .Saved file, your Avatar's name remains the same; only the file name is changed.
Resurrect Avatar: Brings the last Avatar back to life & removes all monsters from your immediate vicinity...but this is considered cheating, so you won't be able to get into the High Scores...
Save Avatar: Saves the current game exactly where your Avatar is, under the file name "[AvatarName].Saved," overwriting any existing file with that name. Your saved file can be manually renamed for backup and a new file named [AvatarName].Saved will be created the next time you Save your adventure.
Abort Adventure: Not suprisingly, this command aborts your current adventure.
Print Avatar's Record: Sends your Avatar Stats info to your printer.
Quit Mythos: Quits the Mythos gaming system.
Options
AutoPickup: Allows you to pick up items just by passing over them. On by default. When this is selected, (manual) Pickup Item (under the Actions menu) is dimmed.
AutoSearch: Automatically search before you move. Off by default. When selected, Actions: Search Area is dimmed. This option helps you find hidden objects, but slows you down by 50%. It's particularly handy on the deeper floors of the Worlds.
Pause: Pauses the game (checked) when selected. You can not pause a game while in Oracles or certain other areas.
Offscreen Messages: This option displays the results of creatures battling other creatures on your current Floor, though not neccessarily in view. On by default.
Sound: A toggle switch for sound. The default is on (checked). If the optional sound file is missing, this is permanently dimmed.
Creature Specs: Toggles the display of Creature Specifications on the playfield. When selected (the default), creatures show their Occupation (color-coded circle) and Allegience (faction number) at the upper left of their board graphic. See Monsters for more information.
Speed: This submenu allows you to adjust the relative speed of the Mythos system, slowing it down (on fast machines) or speeding it up (for older systems).
Controls...: Allows you to set the key (Action menu) settings for the system.
Clear High Scores: Used to reset the top-10 high scores. A dialog confirms the reset before carrying out the command.
Actions
These menu options list your possible actions. You can invoke any of these commands through the menu, a cmd-key combination, or by simply pressing the key set to an action. You can change the key settings by selecting Controls... from the Game menu.
Attack: Attack the monster in front of you. Different weapons have different ranges (as a morning star can hit further than a dirk), so you may be able to hit creatures from some distance.
Jump Forward: Jump over the space you are facing, onto the next further space; this helps you get across pits, deep water, etc. If you jump onto an item (with AutoPickup), it won't be picked up on landing.
Search Area: Searches the areas directly in front of and the front-left and front-right of you for anything hidden (traps, secret doors, hidden items, etc.)
Talk: Talk to the creature immediately in front of you (see Monsters for more info).
Drop Item: Select an item to drop. Only one item may be on any given space. Any subsequent action other than selecting an item will cancel the drop.
Pickup Item: Picks up the Item you are on
Throw Item: Attack a monster by throwing an item at it. Weapons and armor will hurt the critter (if you hit it) and magickal items will (when implemented) impart their powers to the creature they hit (See Combat).
Activate: Generally, you activate something you are standing on. You can activate a Gate, an Up or Down Portal, or a Campaign you are on top of.
Operate: Generally, you operate something you are standing in front of. You can open the door the Player is facing, move slider walls, push buttons, pull levers, or whatever.
Use Pause: Temporarily pauses the game to allow the player time to access item button menus (see below). Your very next action (item access or not) cancels the pause. This action places you outside of the normal temporal bounds of Mythos, and while the rest of the game "freezes", your health and time-based spells-in-effect still run down.
Stats
This area, to the right of the play field, contains real-time information (status) about your Avatar and the game. Unlike Buttons (see next section), this information cannot be directly accessed by you, but reflects changes based on your actions.
Hit Points/Level (Hp/Lvl): This shows the"Hit Points" of your Avatar (how much damage he/she can take before dying). As you progress and gain Experience, you gain levels, each of which has a higher hit point maximum than the previous level. Each time you take damage (by a monster or trap), your hit points drop. Reach zero and you die. Certain magickal items will help restore your hit points (usually at a cost to your Health rating), as well as just staying alive and resting.
Health(Hlth): The top indicator shows how hungry you are. The bar runs down slowly as the adventure progresses, with periodic messages for you to eat. Eating (as well as certain Magick) will replenish the Health level. Certain Magick will also accelerate the depletion, requiring more frequent meals. If your Health reaches zero, you die of starvation.
Power (Pwr): The Power bar below the Health indicator is used only for Relics and Disciplines. Most of the time when you use a Relic or perform an action where you utilize a Discipline, a chunk of your Power is used; make sure you've got a bunch of it before engaging in any serious operations. Unlike your Health, your Power automatically replenishes itself.
Gold: Gold in Mythos, as in our world, is fairly important. You acquire gold by selling items or by finding it. Certain monsters, when killed, may drop whatever gold they have, and the Oracles will bestow some from time to time. Gold is also important in determining your final score.
Experience: Experience helps determine your Level, and is generally acquired by killing monsters, picking up Runes, as well as by magical means. Experience figures heavily in determining your final score.
World/Floor (Wld/Flr): Displays your current World and Floor. An asterisk next to the display indicates that you are in a Campaign, and displays your current Floor in that Campaign, not the World's Floor the Campaign is found on.
Runes: Runes are collected to open the portal to the next Floor in the current World. Each Floor has a random number of Runes (except the top Floor of each World, which has none). Runes are displayed in a ##/ ## format, indicating the number of Runes the Player has collected (for that Floor) and the total number of Runes for the current Floor. When all Runes for a Floor have been acquired, 'Portal Open' is displayed.
Buttons
These 6 icon buttons in the lower section of the screen (Scrolls, Potions, Rings, Wands, Supplies, Relics) are pop-up menus that display your inventory of the selected button. Clicking and holding the mouse button over an item button displays the menu choices; selecting from the menu list invokes or uses the selected item. When in the appropriate Mode, selecting an item will also drop or throw it.
The Factions button displays information about the different forces vying for title of Lord of All Worlds. There are four listings: one for your Avatar, one for the Factions of your current World, and one for the Factions of all of the Worlds (also there's an unimplemented option for network factions). Toggle between the display using the radio buttons.
Information for each Faction is given as:
Forces: the number of known units for that Faction
Assets: the known wealth of that Faction
Influence: Call it the "balance of power." Obviously, the higher percentage, the better!
Note that these numbers are extremely relative to the given moment, and do not accurately reflect the situation until well into the adventure...
The Avatar Stats button which, when pressed, displays the Avatar Attributes in the Play Field, as well as acquired Artifacts, current score, number/percentage of correct Oracles answered, spells in effect, rings currently worn, number-of-kills and a bunch of related info. The appearence of this button depends on the sex and race of your Avatar.
The Armor and Weapon icon buttons in the lower right corner are pop-up menus displaying the inventory of the types of eachyou possess. Use these buttons exactly as you do the other item buttons (see above). Below each of these buttons is the current armor or weapon selection in use. In parentheses is the displayed the Armor Class (and AC bonus), and the ToHit and Damage modifiers for the selected armor or weapon. You must take off your armor and put away your weapon before using different ones (or selling or dropping current selections). The currently used item is bulleted in the pop-up lists. Selecting the "in-use" item puts it away. Then select the item you wish to use. This 2-step method prevents "instantaneous" armor and weapon changes. If magick is in effect that alters the armor or weapon type , a '+' or '-' is displayed next to the current armor or weapon display, indicating that a modifier is in effect, essentially 'blessing' or 'cursing' the item. If your current weapon uses ammo, the number of shots left is displayed in parentheses after the Weapon name.
Message Box
The Message Box relays textual game information to you, as well as displays certain dialogs during the course of your adventure. The time-of-day indicator is displayed in the upper-left corner of the Message Box title.
