Treason is a classic role-playing game (RPG) similar in game-play to the first 5 Ultima games created by Richard Garriott. In Treason, the player takes on the role of an adventurer, discovering the story being told through interactions in the game world.

The player (you) starts out at the site of your decayed home. Having just buried your father, you realize there is nothing left for you at home and you must leave to discover your fate. The world is a harsh place. Your mettle will be tested.

Starting out at the home site.
 
Screen Layout
 

Game screen layout.

The game screen contains a world view, game-play display, dynamic action buttons, player status display, direction buttons and an pull-down action menu.

The world view is simply that. The player is represented as a static figure in the middle of the world view at all times. As the player moves about the world, the view of the world moves behind the player.

The game-play display reflects what ever is happening in the game-world. As the player moves or performs various actions, the game-play display reports these moves and the results of the actions. Pay close attention to this section of the display.

The dynamic action buttons provide the player with various choices of action depending on the circumstances in the game. The text on the buttons will change from time to time, but the basic functions of the buttons will remain the same.

The player status display reports on the status of the player (the player's health) at any given time. This is a complex and very dynamic display which will be discussed in detail further on.

The direction buttons (the eight buttons around the edge of the square) allow the player to move in any of the eight directions (when not limited by terrain, such as walls or mountains) which would block movement. These buttons also allow the player to pick a direction in which he or she may fire a projectile weapon (when such weapon is in the player's possession and is equipped).

Finally, the pull-down action menu (labelled 'Do...') contains various actions the player may choose which either aren't considered to be primary game-play actions or are utilitarian functions (such as saving the game).

Controls

When playing treason on a mobile device (such as an iPhone), the player will press the dynamic action and the direction buttons on the screen. When playing on a PC, certain keys on the keyboard may be used as a substitute for the mouse.

On a keyboard, the keys Q,W,E,R may be used for eash of the dynamic action buttons. On an extended keyboard, the keys on the number pad may be used for the direction buttons. On a standard keyboard (one with no number pad), the keys U,I,O,J,L,M,,,. may be used for the direction buttons.

There is no keyboard shortcut for the pull-down action menu. The player must access this menu with the mouse.

Terrain

Various terrains are represented in the game and may or may not allow the player to pass over or through them.

Some of the terrains in the game are:

Grass

Trees

Big Trees

Sand / Dirt

Shallow Water

Deep Water

Swamp

Hills

Mountains

Cobblestones

Red Brick Walls

Town

Cemetery

Home

There are many other terrains and items in the game besides those mentioned here.

Interfaces

Various functions in the game such as buying/selling or equipping items are accomplished through the use of special interfaces such as the inventory screen.

The inventory interface.

The player can check his or her inventory by pressing the 'Inv' action button. The inventory interface opens and displays whatever items the player possesses at the time. An indicator of four arrows points to the item currently selected (when this interface opens, the upper left item is always the default selected item).

The player may select other items in this interface by using four of the direction buttons (which have now changed their values). Then the player may modify the selected item according to three of the action buttons (Equip/Unequip, Use, Drop). Some items may be equipped or used, all items may be dropped. If the player chooses to drop an item, a confirmation will be required. If an item is dropped, it is lost and cannot be recovered.

Equip is mainly for weapons and armor. Many, but not all, items may be used.

The player may exit the inventory interface by pressing 'Close'.

Player Status Display

The player status display.

'Hit Points' is a measure of a character's immediate endurance. The more hit points a character has, the more physical punishment he or she can endure before collapsing. If the value of 'Hit Points' reaches 0 (zero), the character dies. Maximum hit points are calculated based on the values of the other player attributes (strength, agility, intelligence and force of will) and the maximum number of hit points a character has will rise as the values of the attributes increase.

The horizontal bar beneath the 'Hit Points' value is a visual indicator of a character's relative health. When the player is healthy (has most or all of his or her hit points) the bar will be green and full. If the character takes enough damage, the bar will shrink and turn yellow. When less than one third of a character's hit points remain, the bar will turn red.

A character may 'heal' his or her self by either walking around disarmed (a slow process) or by drinking healing potions (which may be purchased).

'Strength' determines how hard a character can hit (what amount of damage he or she may deal out).

'Agility' determines how often a character can hit a particular monster and how well the character may dodge certain attacks.

'Intelligence' determines how often a character may deal out a critical (high damage) attack and how well the character uses his or her armor to deflect attacks.

'Force Of Will' is a unique and multi-purpose attribute. A character's force of will influences how often a character hits and how well a character may use certain items.

The various attributes will increase depending on a character's activities. If a character uses a heavy weapon, the character's strength will vastly increase. If a character uses a small weapon, the character's agility will increase. If a character deals out a critical hit, the character's intelligence will increase. And if a character successfully attacks while maintaining a reduced hit point value, the character's force of will value will increase.

The blue bars beneath the attributes display how far along a character is to increasing that attribute. When a blue bar reaches the right side of the display, the attribute above the blue bar is incremented by one point and the blue bar returns to zero.

'Food' is a measure of how much food a character is carrying. If the character runs out of food, the character will begin starving and will lose hit points with each move until food is obtained.

'Gold' is a measure of how much gold a character has. Gold may be obtained by killing monsters which carry gold or by completing certain quests. Gold is the currency of the game-world and is pretty helpful when attempting to buy things.

Out In The World

The world at large.

In the image above, we see a female character armed with an axe and a leather shield. The player's home is to the north west and a town is to the south east. The player is standing next to a cemetery.

Encounters / Combat

As stated, the world is a harsh place. At times, it's kill or be killed. You will have to use weapons to attack, armor to defend and your wits to know better.

Most, but not all, of the creatures out in the world are hostile. If a figure approaches you and attacks (signified by you momentarily turning in to a red splotch and reported in the game-play display), you should either attack back or run away. Attacking monsters mean business and will nto stop until you are a lifeless husk.

While adventuring, the left most action button will either read 'Ready For Fight', 'Arm' or 'Disarm'. When you have no weapon equipped and must therefore fight with only your hands the button displays 'Ready For Fight'. Pressing the button causes the character to raise his or her arms in something of a fighting stance. At this point, moving the character against any other figure in the game will result in an attack on that figure. Be careful of walking around armed or ready for a fight when in a town. If you attack a townsperson, town guards make get upset and come after you. Always be aware of whether or not you are armed or ready for a fight.

If you wish to interact with a character without attacking them, make sure you are not armed or ready for a fight. If you are armed, you can click 'Disarm'. Then, when disarmed (your character will display no weapon nor have his or her hands up) walk in to another character. This will begin an interaction. You might do this to buy items, or to get information.

Examples of character status:

Male character, unarmed.

Male character, ready for fight (no weapon).

Female character, armed with axe and leather shield.

Male character, armed with halbard.

World Population

Some of the beings you might encounter:

Beggar. They beg, and they annoy. If a beggar is close to you, you will not be able to use projectile weapons due to his continual begging.

Giant Rat. Escaped directly from the sewers of [insert name of famous megalopolis here], these rats have adapted to life out of doors. And they're hungry.

Kobold. Money-grubbing little pests. Not much more than humanoid vermin.

Goblin. The stuff of young children's nightmares, complete with the long goblin ears. They will eat you, oh yes they will.

Giant Spider. Aren't all spiders GIANT? And who's not afraid of a spider?

Serpent. Big snakes bite hard. Be careful when walking through a lovely grove of trees. These guys are hard to spot.

Wizard. Has there ever really been a good wizard? No - not really. These wizards are no exception.

Commoner. The common man (or person). Non-threatening. The base of the pyramid. This figure deserves an ode.

Merchant. He or she will sell you things and then complain about it. Businesspeople through and through.

Thief. Whispering sweet nothings in you ear, the thief will slide his blade between your ribs before making off with your hard-earned currency.

Druid. It's said the giant trees produce a barely audible energy. Druids are especially linked to this energy.

Priest. Like a druid, but a bit more human-oriented. Talk to them. They can help.

Skeleton. How do they function without muscles or even connecting tissues? Who cares? They're scary and wish to reduce you to the same state.

Carrion Crawler. Like a living pile of thick putrified slime (but with tentacles), crawlers make their way across the land, living off the dead.

Snatch. Nobody is certain exactly what these are or where they came from, but everyone agrees they're dangerous. A giant, living, all-consuming mouth. With bad breath.

Headless. Like the skeleton, missing a key component of it's body, the headless causes wonder at every turn. How does it eat? Some things are better not considered.

Fighter. This person wants to beat you up and make you pay because 'Your face!' Watch out: There's no arguing with such logic.

Soldier. Strong. Stalwart. Solid. [Other descriptive words beginning with 's'.] The backbone of a ruler's heavy hand, the soldier does what he is told.

Orc. Long ago, orcs were the result of evil experiments between pigs, humans and bears. Since then they've mutated and developed their own culture. They're strong, brutal, and they don't want you around.

Tax Man. The backbone of a ruler's financial power. Tax Men are large and tough and want one thing: your money. Just what are you paying for?

Guard. He will protect you from evil and he will punish you for being bad - all in the name of a steady paycheck.

Ettin. Long ago, a crazy "doctor" sewed a freshly-deceased person's head on to the shoulder of a living person. This vile creation escaped, and somehow ... reproduced.

Giant. Big people don't like little people.

Demon. The seargents of the nethworld, demons wield considerable power. They wish only to please their masters, offering up the souls of you and your kind.

Devil. The generals of the netherworld, devils will crush you under their fiery pitchforks. It is said just being near them can cause considerable burn.

Kraken.

Megashark.

Sea Serpent.

Whale.

Balron.

Dragon.