Do you need a patch to play this game?

Answer: No. This game was pretty well done and never required a patch, so you are not missing anything. If you are having problems with it technically, it is something besides the need for a patch. Try telp's tavern for help if you need it. I can't help you with that sort of thing. That said, there are still some very minor bugs in the game. If you want to know what a couple of them are, highlight the following:

Learning Skill Bug: This bug increases your score if you gain extra experience points because you have the learning skill. This shouldn't happen so that scores between different classes of characters may be comparible. Instead, the score program just looks at the raw experience point number.

Promotion Experience Bug: This bug allows you to receive a higher score if you dismiss all your characters (except your primary character) just before completing a promotion quest. The reason is that for promotion quests, the experience gets divided up between all members of a party (not so for other quests). Since your score is based on the final experience points of your primary character, this can affect the score.

Why does the installation tell me I need an outdated version of DirectX?

Answer: Because the game is not new. The version it is expecting is the version which was current when the game was new. It doesn't recognize the version number of the newer version. But DON'T WORRY!! The game will play just fine with the newest version of DirectX - EVEN THOUGH it will tell you it "fails" because of the wrong version. YOU DO NOT NEED TO INSTALL AN OLD DIRECTX VERSION, NO MATTER WHAT THE INSTALLATION SAYS. If you have problems with the game running, this is not the cause.

Incidentally, in Windows XP, the game will tell you that it is compatible with hardware acceleration even if it is not. If you have problems with the game running (if it just crashes to the desktop when you start it), disable the (video) hardware acceleration (use software 3D instead). You can do this in the "configuration utility" for MMVIII - access it through the "start" menu.

There is also another possible problem having to do with the CD disk driver. The newest models of optical drive drivers do not appear to be compatible with the play disk to MM8. To my knowledge, there isn't yet a fix for this. To keep up with the latest fixes for technical issues (and get fast game help) try telp's tavern. Please don't write me about technical issues; I don't know any more than I just put here.

How do you beat the pirates fighting on Dagger Wound Island?

Answer: You don't. The pirates involved in the coastal fighting cannot be beat because the game keeps regenerating them (in this instance, regenerating means creating new ones, not the meaning as in the regenerate spell). If you kill all of the pirates on either side of the island, they will suddenly reappear again. What you should do instead of fighting them is to go over the top of the hill (between the groups of landing pirates), where only a couple might follow you up. You will be able to come down the other side virtually unmolested - the Lizardmen fighters are keeping the landing pirates busy enough.

If you are just dying to kill some pirates, go kill those at the tip of the island - unlike the others, they will not regenerate (except at the end of the game year, when everything regenerates), so you can do away with them. You will also get a reward of two treasure chests to plunder.

A Note: Although it appears to be possible to prevent the pirates on the sides of the island from regenerating by leaving only one alive (the regeneration does not kick in until they are all dead), eventually a Lizardman will kill that one and the regeneration will occur. The fighting Lizardmen also regenerate.

How do you get into the Vault of Time?

Answer: You have to have the key. There is no other way. Clues on how to find the key are inscribed on the nine obelisks in Jadame. If you want further information, click HERE to go to the obelisk help page.

Why are the shops still flooded after I've drained Balthazar Lair?

Answer: There are two possible reasons for this:

1. You drained the lair before you were given the quest to Form the Alliance. The shops will only become unflooded once you have been given this quest and asked the Minotaurs to join the Alliance.

2. If you've been given that quest and have drained the lair, you must still see Masul and get him to join the Alliance. If he's already agreed and the Minotaurs have joined the Alliance, sometimes you must still leave Ravage Roaming and return before the shops will appear unflooded. In practice, you can usually short cut this procedure by saving after Masul has joined the Alliance and then re-loading the game. If this does not work, you will just have to wait.

If you are wondering where to go to get the Form the Alliance quest, go to the Merchant Guild of Alvar branch in Ravenshore. All the requests you get from them are required quests, and generally must be done in order: in other words, they will not give you the next quest until the first one they gave you is done. Keep doing their quests and you will eventually get to Form the Alliance.

How do you get to Regna Island?

Answer: You must be given the quest to Sink the Regnan Fleet. This will not happen very early in the game (you must first complete the quest to Form the Alliance). Until then, you will not be able to access Regna.

If you are wondering where to go to get these quests, go to the Merchant Guild of Alvar branch in Ravenshore. All the requests you get from them are required quests, and generally must be done in order: in other words, they will not give you the next quest until the first one they gave you is done. Keep doing their quests and you will eventually get to Form the Alliance and then Sink the Regnan Fleet.

How do you get the Pirate Outpost to appear?

Answer: First, you must be given the quest to Sink the Regnan Fleet. If you have already been given this quest and still cannot find the outpost, you need to go back to Ravenshore and see Edgar Fellmoon again (look in your quest log book - it probably is not there). When he first gives the quest to Sink the Regnan Fleet, you should have clicked on "Quest" twice in the dialogue with him. If you failed to click on it the second time, the pirate outpost will not appear. Go back and click on it and you should be able to find it then. It will be on an island between the main island and the volcano.

If you have not yet received this quest (or if you have the problem described above), the island will be there, but there will not be an outpost on it.

How do you get promoted after your promotion person disappears?

Answer: It depends on which promotion you are looking for:

1. For Champion or Great Wyrm, go to Edgar Fellmoon's in Ravenshore. They will promote you from there. (Whichever side you chose has left to join the Alliance as you asked them to do. The side you did NOT choose is still where you left them, and will still promote you, but you'll have to fight your way in to see them.)

2. For Necromancer, go see Lathean, another Necromancer in Shadowspire, after you have given the Lost Book of Khel to Vetrinus Taleshire (if you have asked him to join you or sent him to the Adventurers' Inn after giving him the book).

3. For Dark Elf Patriarch, go see Jeebes at Cauri Blackthorne's home in Alvar (after you have liberated Cauri). However, there is some question as to whether the promotion will be available at all if you didn't click on "Promotion" the first time you had the chance with Cauri. If you did click on it, and you just want to promote another Dark Elf, then this will definitely work.

I finished the game and it was too short. Now what do I do?

Answer: This game actually has quite a bit of replay value. You could, for instance:

• Play and entire party of one class (i.e. all necromancers)
• Play a single character (only hiring the required characters for the minimum duration needed).
• Play a game where you kill only one character (Blackwell Cooper, whom you must kill to get a required key).
• Play a speed game (the record is 24 game days; all game days begin and end at 9 AM). To compare your score to other speed games, you must NOT have your starting character learn Learning, and you must have a full party present for all promotions. Likewise, you may not repeatedly reanimate anything just to kill it again for the experience, etc. (i.e. no bug exploitation). An exception is that you are permitted to reload at shops until one sells what you need. A speed game is also a HIGH SCORE game, since game time is figured into the final score.
• Play a peasant game, where all characters are level 0, and start with no money, no equipment, no spells, no skills, and starting stats of 3 (you will need an editor for this). The exception is that the classes with inherent magic (i.e. dragons, dark elves, vampires) may still begin with their basic spell. You will need an editor for this game, however.
• Play a game where you must reach the highest level of bounty hunter before Jadame can be saved.
• Think up some other variant on your own (I thought up the one-kill game, and played it through to completion; so it is possible - yes, even in Balthazar Lair).

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