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General FAQ

Q: Are you planning to produce Evil Islands II?

A: First we must get some feedback from our users both in Russia and abroad and make sure that we chose the right approach and our game is popular enough. At this stage it's not easy to predict how the users would react to the game. However, the experience gained by our designers, artists, programmers and all other people who participated in the development of Evil Islands will definitely be used in our new projects. Regardless of the nature of the next game's world and plot, our fans will certainly see some familiar features — just like in Evil Islands they saw features of its predecessors, Rage of Mages and Rage of Mages II.

Q: Is Evil Islands a sequel to the Rage of Mages series?

A: It depends on what you call a "sequel". From the point of view of the game world, it is the next step in the direction set by the RoM. The EI plot takes place in a world split into isolated islands floating in the astral halo. Each island is saved from deterioration by a resident Great Mage, while the life there goes on — kingdoms and empires come and go, next to humans live other intelligent beings, many things happen because of active use of magic, and your characters have to deal with their problems and find their way in this world, among good and evil things.... In the new game you'll encounter many of the beasts and monsters who used to live in the world of Allods.

On the other hand, the game is very much different. Apart from the 3D platform, there are such features as non-linear plot and different ways of character development; there are no character classes as in Rage of Mages I and II; the magic schools, groups and types of spells are quite new as well. Each island has its own level of technology development, special materials for weapons and armour, special preferable magic groups. All this is significantly different from the former worlds of Allods. Finally, we must mention differences in the plot. Now the hero's task is not restoring justice on the "world scale", his mission is much less global — all he has to do is to survive and restore his memory, but it's not going to be easy at all. The hero will have very complex relationships with other characters, and he won't be able to achieve anything without their help; he'll be making friends, trying to figure out the reasons of his failures — whether it was just bad luck or somebody's ill will. The plot includes a detective line, romance, loyalty and treachery ... The game world is much more rich and varied than one would normally expect from an ordinary sequel.

All in all, the answer is this: when you immerse in the game and walk along the winding paths of the Evil Islands with your character, you'll be able to decide for yourself how much the new game is in line with the old Allods and how much it is different. But whatever your answer, you will not be disappointed.

Q: How do spells and items constructors work?

A: Constructors allow the player to make weapons, armour, and spells using blueprints and materials available in shops or obtained by the player in the course of missions. You can also disassemble any item (except the few unique ones) into blueprints, materials, and/or runes, and repair worn-out items.

The constructors work like this. First of all, you select a blueprint for an item you want to create (a weapon or a piece of armour), or a keystone for a spell. The blueprint determines the general type and parameters of the item, its class and the materials, which could be used. The keystone determines the type of spell, the runes which can be inserted into it, etc. After that, take the necessary materials of the appropriate class (e.g. leather, metal, stone etc.). If you don't have a sufficient amount of the material, you can buy it in the shop; the price will be included in the total assembly cost. All materials must be of the same type, e.g. you can't make a helmet partly of bronze and partly of steel. No material is needed to make spells; you can make basic spells using a keystone only. When you have all necessary materials in appropriate amounts, the item will be assembled. You can view its properties and the total cost (including things you bought in the shop) before you make the final decision. If you agree to make the item, you confirm it; if not, all components will be returned to their original locations. When making spells, you can insert runes into them (runes work like spell modifiers and can be bought in the magic shop). Items can also be charged with spells, which will work when you use the item or when it is hit (but the spell must have special runes for that).

Any assembled item can be disassembled or repaired; it will cost you some money (e.g. to use a better material or insert another spell). But it would be more sensible to sell the whole item in the shop, not its spare parts. Similarly, if the item you want is available in the shop, it would be cheaper to buy it than buy the parts and assemble the item using the constructor.

Q: Are there any classes of characters in the game? If yes, how many?

A: The EI characters are not divided into classes as it's usually done in "classic" RPGs. Accordingly, there is no "character generation" — the player will have his characters from the beginning, and has to deal with them as they are. However, the development of those characters' abilities totally depends on the player.

Like in "classic" RPGs, characters have several properties (3 basic ones - strength, dexterity and intelligence, and several additional ones). These properties determine characters' abilities to act in different situations and the hero's success in completing missions in the game zones. Properties' values are individual for each character, and they can be increased as experience is gained. Some of the properties can be increased temporarily using magic. Characters can acquire different skills; these can be divided into combat, magic and non-combat ones. Skills determine different abilities, e.g. backstab, stealing etc. Using available spells and his skills in different magic schools, the hero can fight enemies, protect himself from magic impact, become less detectable or detect enemies better.

Apart from skills, characters also have abilities which determine their "qualification" in a particular area; thus the player can "specialise" his characters and develop them into top experts in certain fields. These abilities will only show when characters perform appropriate tasks, e.g. heal (using healing magic) if they have high healing abilities, or when they find themselves in appropriate circumstances (e.g. at night, if they have high night vision abilities). Abilities can be developed by distributing available experience points. Experience points are gained for completing missions (quests) successfully and for victories over the enemies.

Thus you can choose specialisation areas for the main hero and his assistants — in magic or combat — and develop their abilities in these areas.

Apart from the hero's characters there are also many other intelligent beings in the game, belonging to different races. Their properties are set and do not change during the game. Some of them have unique combat and magic abilities.

Q: How many spells are used in the game?

A: All in all, there are 29 spells. However, you can insert several runes in any spells, thus changing its properties significantly: action runes (affecting the spell's range, area and efficiency...), target filtering runes (making the spell affect only friends, or enemies, or beings of a certain race...) and item runes (what should trigger the spell inserted into an item, how often it should act...). Currently there are 20 runes available; depending on the spell's properties it can be charged with 0 to 8 runes.

Q: How does the game camera work?

A: Floating camera is one of the special features of the game. You can change its angle or zoom any way you like. The camera is not "tied" to anything; you can move it freely all around the current game zone or around Base. There is no fog of war in the game, so you can look at any part of the game zone and at anything within it. As to the living beings (both hostile and neutral), you'll only see them if your main hero or his companions can see them. (By the way, there are spells which allow them to see farther or even have a look at quite remote areas.)

Apart from moving freely along the two coordinates like in games with "isometric" landscape, the camera can be rotated (full circle with orientation on the viewing area) and also turned up or down or zoomed in or out to large values. Just imagine a movie camera set on a platform. It goes round the movie set, can be moved up or down, closer or farther.

You'll also be able to set four fixed camera positions (angle and zoom) and use any of them at any time. Camera is controlled by mouse or by keyboard. To make controlling characters more convenient, camera can be set in "automatic tracking" mode, and it will be tracking any of the characters holding him in the centre of the screen. The current geographic orientation of the camera is displayed on the mini-map at the top right-hand screen corner. There's a special command to set the camera quickly to standard position (facing south — north). If you do not control the camera and switch "automatic tracking" off, it will remain in a fixed position in relation to the landscape. That makes easier managing your characters in the current area — sending them to desired destinations, telling them to use objects or attack enemies.

Q: How long should it take to complete the game?

A: If you go along the main line of the plot, it should take about 80 hours of playing. Most of the players would probably spend longer, and we don't think they'd be bored.

Q: Will I be able to listen to the game music any time I want?

A: All music will be available after installation in separate game folder as MP3 files.

Q: My character gets stuck on Gipat in the village screen behind Gort the Skullcrusher, and is unable to proceed. How do I move on?

A: There is currently a known situation where Gort the Skullcrusher can be facing the wrong way, and get Zak stuck behind him when Zak tries to talk to Gort. If this happens, another dialog must be opened in order for Zak to move on. Selecting the pig in the lower portion of the village, and selecting the option to 'Kick the Pig' will knock Zak out of his stuck position. Don't worry, you're not kicking the pig hard.

Q: My problem is still not fixed. What should I do now?

A: If your particular problem is not covered by the FAQ or addressed in the forum, you can e-mail evil-islands@support.fishtankgames.com. Be sure to include detailed information about your system. If you need to speak with someone immediately, you can call (603) 382 - 0572.

General FAQ | Hardware FAQ | Network game FAQ | Settings and performance