Exile III: Ruined World for Macintosh FAQ v1.0

Table of Contents:

Section 1: Basic Fact

• 1.0 What is Exile III: Ruined World?
• 1.1 What is Shareware?
• 1.2 Where can I find Exile III: Ruined World?
• 1.3 What do I get for registering? How do I register?
• 1.4 Do you have a web page?
• 1.5 I can't get it to run! What do I do? (both Mac and Windows versions)
• 1.6 I got myself trapped in a dungeon! How do I fix the problem?
• 1.7 A town is mad at me. How can I get them to stop hating me?
• 1.8 Are there any Easter Eggs?
• 1.9 The game is slow. Can I speed it up?

Section 2: Hints most often requested

• 2.0 I have a question in Upper Exile or Krizsan Province.
• 2.1 I can't find the fifth pool in the slime pit. There's this hall of statues I can't do anything in.
• 2.2 How do I destroy the northern golem tower?
• 2.3 The quickfire in the basement of the Filth Factory keeps killing me. How do I escape it?
• 2.4 The Tower of Zkal is ridiculous. How do I get through it?
• 2.5 I killed a vampire, and his spirit keeps tormenting me. How do I get it to stop?
• 2.6 How do I stop being addicted to Skribbane Herb?
• 2.7 I did missions, but 'X' and Solberg don't give me spells. Why?
• 2.8 How does time passing work? If I'm too slow, will I not be able to finish the game?

Section 3: Evil bugs

• 3.0 The out of control quickfire in the Filth Factory
• 3.1 The disappearing doomguard in the Guarded Tunnel
• 3.2 The avoidable climactic battle under the Keep of Tinraya
• 3.3 The multiple monitor blackout bug (v1.0)

Section 4: Miscellaneous

• 4.0 What is Exile III written in/on?
• 4.1 What about Exile IV?
• 4.2 Can I use characters from Exile: Escape from the Pit or Exile II: Ruined World?

Section 1: Basic Facts

1.0 What is Exile III: Ruined World?

(Here is the brief ad copy)

Exile III: Ruined World is a massive, fascinating role-playing game for the Macintosh. It has gorgeous, professionally done graphics, an elegant one-click interface, and a fascinating, twisting plot. Your people are trapped in a cavern nation far below the surface of the earth. Your mission: find a way for them to escape. It's from Spiderweb Software, Inc. $25 shareware. Requires 256 colors, 13" screen, System 7. Contact: Spidweb@aol.com. http://www.spidweb.com

1.2 Where do I get Exile III?

Click here. Also, people on AOL can go to Keyword: Mac games, and CompuServe members can jump to MACFUN.

1.3 What do I get for registering? How do I register?

When you register, you get the password to play the entire game. In addition, you get full documentation. Finally, for $35, you get the full Exile III bundle, which also includes a hint book and character editor.

When you get the game, click on How To Order on the title screen for full registration instructions. You can also find out how to order by setting your browser to http://www.spidweb.com/ordering.html (online registration form now available). Finally, you can call Spiderweb Software, Inc. directly at (206) 789-4438. We're open M-F, noon-6, Pacific time. We take VISA, MasterCard, and American Express.

1.4 Do you have a web page?

There are several web pages for the Exile games. The main one is http://www.spidweb.com. From there, there are a plethora of independent Exile III sites. For a list of them, set your browser to http://www.spidweb.com/otherpg.html.

1.5 I can't get it to run or the graphics are screwed up! What do I do?

Several steps to try, which will eliminate practically all problems.

1. Turn off background music.

2. Give Exile III more memory. From the Finder, click on the Exile III application, and hit command-I. Increase the two numbers in the fields at the bottom of the information window.

3. Run Exile III without extensions: Reboot your Macintosh while holding down the shift key. Then run Exile. This should fix most of your problems.

4. Hold the space bar down while launching Exile III. This speeds you through the intro, and has been found to make Exile III play faster as well.

1.6 I got myself trapped in a dungeon! How do I fix the problem?

Simple - use the character editor. It comes with the game. The unregistered version of the character editor can take your party out of town if you get stuck.

1.7 A town is mad at me. How can I get them to stop hating me?

Spend time exploring other towns for a while. Return, and they'll have forgotten they're mad at you. The exception to this is the city of Shayder, should you have looted the Anama treasury. Do this, and they hate you forever.

1.8 Are there any Easter Eggs?

Yes.

1.9 The game is slow. Can I speed it up?

Yes. On some older machines, in huge combats, the game can get clunky. To help things along ...

i. Quit and restart, holding the space bar down while launching the game. This loads a stripped down version of the graphics, which picks things up.

ii. Go into the Preferences window, and turn off graphics frills, terrain frills, and sound.

Section 2: Hints most often requested

2.0 I have a question in the first 2 chapters.

Run the file "Exile III Docs/Order Form." In the back is a mini-hint book for the first two chapters. This should answer most of your questions.

2.1 I can't find the fifth pool in the slime pit. There's this hall of statues I can't do anything in.

Do a very thorough search of the east wall of the hall of statues for secret passages.

2.2 How do I destroy the northern golem spire?

This spire can only be reached from inside the Tower of Shifting Floors. First, get to the control panel on the second floor, and press the Belt Alpha and Belt Beta buttons (and ONLY these buttons). Go down to the basement. Climb up to the main floor, and climb down the stairway again (back into the basement). Leave the basement to the north, and you'll be by the northern golem spire.

2.3 The quickfire in the basement of the Filth Factory keeps killing me. How do I escape it?

This is a bug in early versions. Read section 3, below.

2.4 The Tower of Zkal is ridiculous. How do I get through it?

This was designed to be a very obnoxious, and completely optional dungeon. Feel free to leave.

2.5 I killed a vampire, and his spirit keeps tormenting me. How do I get it to stop?

Go back to the tower where you found him, and get to the crystal hidden at the west end of the dungeon. Destroy it. If you can't reach the crystal, because you attacked the vampire before accepting his challenge, you're out of luck.

2.6 How do I stop being addicted to Skribbane Herb?

Just wait, and don't take any more. The symptoms fade eventually.

2.7 I did missions, but 'X' and Solberg don't give me spells. Why?

Only one of the two gives you spells for any one act. Solberg gives you spells for wiping out the Slimes or Roaches, and X gives you spells for taking out the troglodytes and golems. Also, if you've already obtained the spells they give you, they give you nothing.

2.8 How does time passing work? If I'm too slow, will I not be able to finish the game?

As time passes, towns crumble. People become refugees. Others die. However, it never becomes impossible to finish the game. You never stop being able to buy food, or identification. The important NPCs never die.

However, I suggest having a pretty strong party by around Day 170 or so. Why? Well, I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise. :-)

Section 3: Evil bugs

There are four nasty bugs in certain of the early versions of Exile III. All of them are fixed by obtaining the latest version, here.

3.0 The out of control quickfire in the Filth Factory

(For Macintosh v1.0, v1.0.1, v1.0.2): When you lay the Phoenix Egg in the Filth Factory, sometimes the quickfire can move through the trash walls, baking you. To work around, go to the stairway at (5,39), climb it, immediately go back down it, and then go place the Phoenix Egg.

3.1 The disappearing doomguard in the Guarded Tunnel

(For Macintosh v1.0, v1.0.1): When in the Guarded Tunnel (near Blackcrag Fortress), if the doomguard appears and you leave the dungeon without killing it, you can get permanently stuck. If it appears, either be sure to kill it (so that the portcullis opens) or go back to an older saved game.

3.2 The avoidable climactic battle under the Keep of Tinraya

(For Macintosh v1.0, v1.0.1): Under the Keep of Tinraya, when you escape from the cell, sometimes you can flee to the east instead of fighting the big combat to the west. DO NOT DO THIS! Always do the combat to the west first.

3.3 The terrain in the small towns is screwed up bug.

(For Macintosh v1.0.3. not 1.0.3b): On 68K machines, the terrain in all of the small towns is messed up. This odd file corruption can be fixed using the 1.0.3b upgrade at www.spidweb.com.

3.4 The multiple monitor blackout bug (v1.0)

(For Macintosh v1.0): When v1.0 was run on a machine with multiple monitors, some monitors would be permanently blacked out. To fix this, upgrade to a newer version, and throw away your Display Preferences file. Fortunately, v1.0 is now very hard to find.

Section 4: Miscellaneous

4.0 What is Exile III written in/on?

I do all my development in C, using CodeWarrior Gold, on a PowerMac 7200 DOS.

4.1 What about Exile IV?

It's never going to happen. As good as the Exile series has been to me, it's time to move on to something new.

4.2 Can I use characters from Exile: Escape from the pit or Exile II: Crystal Souls?

No. Exile III takes place several years after the earlier games. Also, if you could bring in your earlier characters, they'd be WAY too powerful. Fortunately, there's nothing stopping you from creating a party like the one you played in the first game.

- Jeff Vogel, Keeper of Exile

Back to FAQs Page