The Way Instruction Manual
Basic Controls
There are only six keys used during gameplay.
Arrow Keys
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Move the hero through the game world
Navigate menu screens
Enter (or Spacebar)
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Talks to other characters
Operates switches
Opens chests
Pushes stones
Jumps gaps
Interacts with the game world in general
Esc
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Calls main menu from the game world
Cancels out of the main menu and returns play to the game world
Steps backwards through menus
Cancels selections
Sword Aura Attributes
Every Sword Aura two Attributes: a Prime Attribute and a Sub Attribute.
1 - Prime Attribute
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Decides which learned abilities
your hero is able to use in battle.
Confers moderate damage bonus
to regular attacks in combat
when used against enemies weak
to the Attribute.
2 - Sub Attribute
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Confers a large damage bonus to regular attacks in combat when used against
enemies weak to the Attribute.
Sword Aura Ability Families
As the hero levels up his Sword Auras and gains abilities you will find that when you
switch Sword Auras your hero sometimes loses certain abilities. That's because skills are
grouped into families by each Sword Aura's Prime Attribute.
For example, you have the Piercer Sword Aura equipped. You level it up and learn "Eye
Strike." The Piercer Sword Aura's Prime Attribute is Weapon. If you switch your Sword
Aura to Fire Edge, which has Elemental as its Prime Attribute, you will not be able to use
"Eye Strike" or any other abilities learned by leveling up Sword Auras with the Prime
Attribute of Weapon.
Now, say you equipped the Slasher Sword Aura. Its Prime Attribute is Weapon, so you
would still be able to use "Eye Strike" and other abilities learned from Sword Aura's with
the Prime Attribute of Weapon.
Auras
Auras enhance the abilities of your hero during combat and grow more powerful with use. Sword
Auras are offensive and pattern auras are defensive. Pattern Auras also make use of flows to give
the hero additional defensive capabilities.
To Call the Aura Menu:
1. Call the Main Menu by pressing ESC.
2. Press the RIGHT ARROW key to select Auras. The Aura Menu
appears.
Aura Menu Overview
A - The top selection area contains three
options: Sword, Pattern, and Flows. When
selected, each allows you to equip or view its
corresponding aura types.
B - Shows the currently equipped Sword Aura.
C - Shows the level of the currently equipped
Sword Aura and gives a rough indication of
how close it is to leveling up by how full the
bar is below.
D - Shows the currently equipped Pattern
Aura (a defensive aura).
E. Shows the level of the currently equipped
Pattern Aura and gives a rough indication of
how close it is to leveling up by how full the
bar below is.
F. Shows the currently equipped Flows.
Main Menu
The main menu gives you access to submenus that will allow you to view, upgrade, and modify
the hero's abilities.
Calling the Main Menu
To call the main menu:
While in the game world, press and hold ESC for a second. The main menu appears.
Selecting a Sub Menu
To select a submenu:
From the main menu, five items are listed in a cross pattern. Press the corresponding key to
access the correct menu.
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UP ARROW - Blade Arts
RIGHT ARROW- Auras
DOWN ARROW - Notches
LEFT ARROW - Stats
ENTER - Links
ESC - Cancels out of menu
Notches Menu
The notches menu is where you can equip notch items you find in the game world to your hero.
After equipping these items, special powers and abilities can be absorbed by battling enemies.
Recognizing Notch Items
Notch items may be hidden in chests, lying on the ground, or given to you by people. Whatever
the case, whenever you receive a notch item a text box will pop up with the name of the notch
item highlighted in green.
Equipping Notch Items
To Equip a Notch Item:
1. Press and hold ESC for a second to call the main menu, then the DOWN ARROW to
select the Notches menu.
2. Press ENTER on an empty notch. A submenu appears.
3. Make sure the cursor is over Set New, then press enter again to access the Notch Item
Selection menu.
4. Look for the Notch Item you want to equip. If you do not see it listed on the screen, press
the LEFT or RIGHT ARROWS to scroll through other pages. Once you see the item,
press the DOWN ARROW to lock the page, then maneuver the cursor over the Notch
Item with the ARROW KEYS.
5. Press ENTER to equip the notch item.
The notch item will now appear on the Notch Menu screen!
Pattern Auras
Every Pattern Aura two Attributes: a Prime Attribute and a Sub Attribute.
Pattern auras do two things:
1. Decrease the damage of certain attacks.
All patterns have a Prime Attribute and a Sub Attribute. If an enemy uses an attack
with the same Attribute as your currently equipped Pattern Aura, your hero will only
take 1/2 the normal damage.
2. Teach flows
Every Pattern Aura teaches three flows. These flows are gained one by one each
time the pattern is levels up.
To Equip a Pattern Aura:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Call the main menu by pressing ESC.
Press the RIGHT ARROW key to select Auras. The Aura Menu appears.
Move the cursor to Pattern and press ENTER. The Pattern Aura Menu appears.
Move the cursor to the Pattern Aura you wish to use and press ENTER.
Pattern Aura Menu Overview
1 - The Pattern Aura selection area.
2 - The name of currently selected Pattern
Aura.
3 - The Prime and Sub Attribute of the
currently selected Pattern Aura.
4 - The level of the currently selected Pattern
Aura.
5 - A list of the Pattern Aura's learnable Flows
and their effects.
Stats Menu
The Stats Menu actually has two menus which contain information about the current abilities of
your character.
To Toggle Between the Stats Menus:
Press ENTER or an ARROW KEY
To Exit the Stats Menus:
Press ESC
Regular Stats Definitions
HP: How much damage your character can
take before being defeated.
XL The max number of points a character can
build up during battle to perform special
attacks.
Focus: Influences the amount of damage done
to enemies by regular and special attacks in
battle.
Will: Influences the amount of damage done to
enemies by special attacks and the heroes defense
against special enemy attacks.
Poise: Influences turn order in combat and the heroes ability to dodge regular attacks by enemy.
Plunge Stats Definitions
Classification: The current title associated
with your heroes level of skill at the plunge.
Plunge: Influences the amount of damage
done to an opponent during a pass.
Damage Threshold: The amount of damage
your hero can take per pass before sustaining
an injury.
Critical Hit%: The chance of inflicting a
critical hit on an opponent per pass. It also influences the success rate of certain Blade Arts.
Critical Strength: If a critical hit is inflicted, this influences the amount of extra damage
inflicted.
Strides: Points that are used to assign Blade Arts.
Sword Auras
Sword Auras enhance your hero's offensive capabilities in battle and teach your hero new
abilities upon leveling up.
To Equip a Sword Aura:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Call the main menu by pressing ESC.
Press the RIGHT ARROW key to select Auras. The Aura Menu appears.
Move the cursor to Sword and press ENTER. The Sword Aura Menu appears.
Move the cursor to the Sword Aura you wish to use and press ENTER.
Sword Aura Menu Overview
By moving the cursor over the graphic
representing a Sword Aura you can view its
characteristics.
1 - The current level of the Sword Aura.
2 - The name of the Sword Aura.
3 - The Prime and Sub Attribute of the Sword
Aura.
4 - A rough indication of how close the Sword Aura is to leveling up. The fuller the bar, the
closer it is.
5 - The name of the ability the hero will learn upon leveling up the Sword Aura.
6 - The Sword Aura's basic attributes
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Attack: Influences the amount of damage done to enemies by regular and special attacks
in battle.
Crit%: The percent chance of causing a critical hit with a normal attack.
Hit%: The percent chance of successfully hitting an enemy with a normal attack.
XL Gain: How much XL is added to the players XL pool every round during combat.
Transferring Save Games
The Way is divided up into six separate episodes. When beginning a new episode, a simple
procedure must be carried out in order to keep your character's abilities the same as they were in
a previous episode. This help file assumes a default installation of the games.
To Transfer Your Saved Game:
1. At the end of the episode, save your game when prompted. (This will happen right before
the credits roll) For the purposes of this file, we will save the game to File 1.
2. Exit out of the game onto your Windows desktop.
3. Click the Start button, then click My Computer.
4. Double-click the icon labeled Local Disk (C:), then Program Files, and then The Way.
A folder for each installed episode should be inside.
5. Double-click the folder of the episode you just finished. Inside a list of many files
appears. Right click the file Save01.lsd and select Copy from the Shortcut Menu.
6. Click the Up button on the toolbar and double-click the episode folder you wish to import
your character's abilities into.
7. Right-click the white space inside the folder and select Paste from the Shortcut Menu.
To Play Using Your Transferred Game:
1. Run the episode you transferred the save file into.
2. When the title screen appears, select Continue Journey and press ENTER.
3. Select File 1 and press ENTER.
Your character will now begin the new episode with all the abilities he acquired in the previous
episode.
About The Way
The Way is a six episode freeware Role-Playing game created by Luke Wacholtz using RPG
Maker 2000.
Since hitting the internet in 2002, the games have garnered an international audience. Episode 1
has been translated by fans into Italian, French, and German.
The Way and other games by Luke Wacholtz are now maintained for free download at
www.crestfallen.us.