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Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic v1.2
October 30th, 2003

NOTES:

-Check out the new 8-player scenario "Rise of Kings", included as a bonus in v1.2!
-Lockups, Random Crashes, or Corrupt Video - Users experiencing any of these issues are urged to try the following:
-Make sure DirectX 9b or later is installed.
-Make sure all drivers (video / sound / motherboard / etc) are up-to-date. In some cases, older video drivers may work better.
-Run the game after a fresh reboot, with all background tasks shut down using the Ctrl-Alt-Del menu.
-Turn off Direct3D in aowSMSetup.exe.
-Turn off DirectSound in aowSMSetup.exe.
-Turn off Resolution Switches in aowSMSetup.exe.
-Switch the desktop to 16-bit color.
-US Manual - Owners of the US version of the game should note that a full appendix containing unit and spell listings is on the game CD in the form of a PDF file.

ADDITIONS in v1.2:

GAMEPLAY:

-Added a new scenario "Rise of Kings".
-Disable Surrender option added for Custom Games.
-AI City Upgading decisions improved.
-King and Emperor AI Mana/Research distribution decisions improved.
-In Random games, King and Emperor AIs now gain additional starting units and city upgrades to increase their challenge level.
-Mines, Watchtowers and Caves now have Steppe variants.

COMBAT:

-The 's' key now selects the selected Unit's next active Ability in TC.

MULTIPLAYER:

-PBEM games now check for edited resources every time they are loaded, to prevent cheating.

EDITOR:

-The Editor can now load maps made with different Custom Resources, and converts them to the current set when saving. Use this feature at your own risk, as converted maps may not always work properly. It is always recommended to save backup copies of your work regularly (the Editor backs up maps to "Map Name.bak" when overwriting them).
-All Wizard and Hero portraits are now selectable for use in Events.

FIXES in v1.2:

GAMEPLAY:

-Cosmos Wizards now properly receive reduced spell picks when researching.
-Using Haste Domain with Transporter units no longer crashes or causes corruption of savegames. Some savegames that would not load under v1.1 may load properly under v1.2.
-Random maps no longer sometimes place players' starting Cities on unfriendly terrain.
-Picking up Production Resources and selecting an item already in the City's Build Queue now properly removes the item from the queue.
-Receiving the Spell you are already researching as a Quest Reward now properly updates your research.
-Selecting Continue from the Main Menu when the last played game was an Internet game, no longer crashes.
-Terrain and some Structures that gave hoverhelp even when unexplored or fogged, no longer do so.
-City Upgrades that give Growth bonuses now work properly.
-Switching Sound & Music off and on repeatedly, no longer crashes.
-Rebuilding a razed City that had a Forcefield now updates the Forcefield correctly.
-Independent armies sometimes attacking enemies they cannot hurt no longer occurs.
-In Random games, there are no longer sometimes Magic Vaults that start out already explored.
-In Random games, Quest Stones are no longer always for the Spirit of War.
-Druids' Circles now display properly when razed and when empty.
-Dragon's Peaks now display properly Underground.
-The Wizard Skills Bureaucrat and Merchant now properly oppose each other.
-The Wizard Skills Survivalist and Decadence now properly oppose each other.
-In Random games, disabling Humans now correctly prevents them from being selected during Wizard customization.
-Swapping an Item from the ground with one in a Hero's Inventory now properly triggers a Pickup Item event.
-Adding Produce Merchandise to a City's Build Queue no longer causes the player's Income to update incorrectly.
-Selecting a map for Custom Games that uses incompatible Custom Resources no longer crashes.
-Selecting a Custom Map, then changing to a Random Map, no longer keeps the old map's disabled options.
-Spawn Unit events now correctly trigger only if the selected player is still alive.
-The Autosave Gameplay setting now works properly.
-Various minor interface glitches, tooltips and descriptions have been corrected.

ABILITIES:

-Steal Enchantment no longer incorrectly allows the unit to gain multiple instances of the same ability.
-A unit that has been Possessed and has Martyr, no longer causes the game to crash when combat ends.
-Casting Martyr on Wizards is no longer allowed.
-Items with certain special abilities (Self Destruct, Shadow Walker, Dominate, etc) no longer work incorrectly or unpredictably.
-Trying to use Shadow Shift when the map has no Shadow World no longer crashes.
-Grasp can no longer throw units into the border area of the combat map.
-Moving a unit with Path of Frost through a Water Cave no longer causes the cave to disappear.
-Path of Death/Life/Snow no longer can remove Shadow Void.terrain on the surface level.
-Using Pioneer and Caravan abilities no longer lets players see where Cities are underneath fogged & unexplored areas.
-Leadership now updates properly when armies containing multiple units with Leadership skills split up.
-Using Self Destruct from an Item, against a Wall, no longer crashes.
-Taunt now correctly obeys it's range limit.
-Area-effect Touch abilities like Round Attack, now correctly show the area they will affect when targetting enemies.

SPELLS:

-Earth Awareness now works properly for allied players.
-If Corpus Furia kills the caster's last unit, combat no longer sometimes crashes.

COMBAT:

-Disjunction no longer charges the wrong amount of mana or allows the player to use it if they do not have enough mana.
-High Prayer effects are now properly ended when combat finishes.
-Automatic Combat no longer attacks too many units when Chain Lightning is cast.
-There is no longer sometimes a small hole in the Enchanted Walls of a city.
-Automatic Combat in walled combats now treats units using Phase or Pass Wall as correctly having breached the walls.
-Shadowland Dense Vegetation and Shadow Weed now have the proper terrain on their combat maps.

MULTIPLAYER:

-The Chat windows in-game and during game setup, no longer sometimes stop scrolling properly.
-Wizards dying during Combat can no longer sometimes still cast spells during that combat.
-In Classic Turns games, selecting Retreat from the combat mode selection options, no longer causes a lockup.
-In PBEM, combat during the Independents' turn with a Human player are now always properly resolved using Automatic Combat.

-EDITOR:

-After closing a map, the Players menu no longer stays visible.
-Explore Structure Trigger now properly triggers only for the intended structure.
-Hero Libraries no longer sometimes fail to save Hero descriptions.

CHANGES in v1.2:

GAMEPLAY:

-Armies now require higher odds against them before they will surrender.
-Armies within your domain are now less likely to surrender.
-Mass Confusion, Double Gravity and Wind Ward can now all be cast by multiple players in the same combat.
-Units possessed by Incarnates now get Drain Will.
-Warmage skill now gives +1 ATT/DAM if the original spell's values are <10, +2 ATT/DAM if the original spell's values are >=10 (was +2 ATT/DAM always).
-Healing now removes Infected.
-Parasites that spring out of dead Infected units now have 0 Movepoints.
-Grasp now loses a Use every time it is used (was only if it did damage).
-Incarnates no longer surrender ever, even when they have possessed units that lack Willpower.
-Changelings and Incarnates now see themselves as the Race of the unit whose body they currently own when making Morale checks.
-Possessed Independent units will now never join any player.
-Ignition and Burning now give immunity to Trap.
-Static Shield now gives Lightning Immunity.
-The Item Forge can no longer create Items with Resurgence on them.
-The Spirit of War no longer gives good or evil units as rewards for completing Quests.

UNITS:

-Archon Saint now has ATT 8 (was 10), DAM 7 (was 8), DEF 9 (was 10), MP 28 (was 36), HP 14 (was 15).
-Archon Titan no longer has Death Weakness.
-Dark Elf Incarnate now has True Seeing, ATT 15 (was 5), DAM 3 (was 2).
-Dark Elf Shade now has Shadow Shift.
-Dark Elf Succubus now has ATT 11 (was 12), DEF 9 (was 12), RES 11 (was 12), Cost 150 (was 120).
-Draconian Crusher now has Cost 70 (was 80).
-Draconian Flyer now has Magic Strike, DAM 9 (was 8), HP 16 (was 15), Cost 150 (was 160).
-Draconian Hatchling now has Poison Protection, no longer has Physical Protection.
-Draconian Hydra now has ATT 11 (was 10), Cost 170 (was 180).
-Draconian Heroes now have Shadow Walker.
-Dwarf Boar Rider now has cost 70 (was 80).
-Dwarf Engineer now has Cost 80 (was 70), Hits 15 (was 16), Markmanship
-Dwarf Gargoyle now has Cost 130 (was 120).
-Dwarf Runemaster now has Cost 190 (was 200), Willpower, Leadership, DEF 13 (was 12), RES 14 (was 12).
-Dwarf Steam Cannon now has Mountaineering, HP 35 (was 32), and no longer has Fire Weakness.
-Elf Iron Maiden now has Cost 170 (was 180).
-Elf Nymph now has Cost 50 (was 60).
-Elf Treeman now has RES 10 (was 8), and now 'bleeds' wood instead of blood. (You can't get blood from a tree... any longer)
-Frostling Doom Wolf now has Forestry.
-Frostling Frost Witch now has Regeneration.
-Frostling Snowscaper now has Cost 20 (was 15).
-Frostling Yeti now has ATT 11 (was 10), Snow Concealment.
-Goblin Butcher now has Cost 80 (was 70).
-Goblin Troll now has Cost 140 (was 130).
-Halfling Centaur nows sounds like a man instead of a horse. (He must have gotten confused as to which end he speaks out of!)
-Halfling Eagle Rider now has Cost 110 (was 100).
-Halfling Leprechaun now has True Seeing.
-Halfling Sheriff now has Cost 120 (was 110), Marksmanship.
-Human Swashbuckler now has Cost 80 (was 90).
-Nomad Chieftain now has Cost 150 (was 140).
-Nomad Pit Guard now has ATT 12 (was 14), Cost 160 (was 120).
-Orc Doom Bats now has Cost 140 (was 120).
-Orc Glutton now has Poison Strike, Taunt.
-Shadow Demon Bombard now has DEF 6 (was 8), HP 9 (was 12).
-Shadow Demon Brain now has Leadership III at silver medal (was gold medal).
-Shadow Demon Spirit now has Cost 130 (was 120), HP 15 (was 14), and is now an 'It' (was Male). (That must have hurt!)
-Syron Astral Sprite now has Cost 130 (was 120), and now is Female (was Male). (That must have REALLY hurt!)
-Syron Forceship now has Cost 280 (was 300), Marksmanship II, Lightning Immunity.
-Syron Lightning Catcher now has HP 7 (was 8).
-Syron Warrior now has Lightning Strike, ATT 12 (was 14), HP 22 (was 25), Cost 190 (was 180).
-Tigran Beholder now has DAM 8 (was 4), HP 18 (was 14).
-Tigran Manticore now has ATT 12 (was 11), Cost 150 (was 160).
-Tigran Mystic now has HP 15 (was 16), Cost 130 (was 100).
-Tigran Sphinx now h:as HP 30 (was 26).
-Tigran Heroes now have Forestry.
-Undead Dread Reaper now has Willpower.
-Undead Necromancer now has DAM 7 (was 5), DEF 9 (was 6), RES 13 (was 12), Cost 140 (was 130), no longer has Fire Weakness.
-Undead Spectre now has Cost 150 (was 140).
-Black, Gold, and Baby Dragons all now have Shadow Walker.
-Efreet now has ATT 11 (was 12).
-The Wizards Yaru and The All-Devourer now have Shadow Walker.
-The Heroes Quall and Rupsta no longer have unused skill points.

ABILITIES:

-Bombard now has ATT 10 (was 12).
-Hurl Lightning now has ATT 9 (was 12).
-Resurrect now works only on friendly dead units.
-Steal Enchantment now has ATT 13 (was 15).
-Strangle now has ATT 12 (was 14).
-Swallow Whole now gives back 1HP + 1HP per Unit Level of the swallowed enemy (was 5HP per enemy).
-Taunt now has ATT 13 (was 15).
-When using the Editor to add abilities to Heroes, Shadow Walker now costs 10 (was 250). (A minor reduction)

SPELLS:

-Banish Summoned now has Cost 30 (was 40), DAM 12 (was 8).
-Earth's Awareness now has Cost 300 (was 50), Upkeep 30 (was 10).
-Healing now has Cost 12 (was 15).
-Wind Ward now reduces the ATT of enemy ranged attacks by 5 (was 10).


FIXES in v1.1:

MULTIPLAYER:

-The "Always Allow TC" option now works properly.
-Combat in PBEM games is no longer unstable.

EDITOR:
-Making "Mods" using Custom Resources can no longer overwrite the default resources. Users who made Custom Resources with v1.0 are encouraged to reinstall the game to prevent compatibility or stability issues.