Veil of Darkness - Gameplay

Gameplay

Veil of Darkness features an isometric point of view, and an inventory system. The player moves around in a dark valley, solving puzzles and occasionally killing monsters like werewolves, vampires and skeletons. Although VoD lacked a skill system, it can be regarded as one of the spiritual ancestors of popular action RPGs like Diablo or Sacred.

The screen is divided into a playing area on the top portion and a control panel at the bottom. The control panel is customizable in size. The playing area is viewed from an isometric angle.

All actions were controlled by the mouse and by areas / items within the control panel. A player can use either arrow keys for guiding movement or the mouse.

The game is non-linear: (it could be considered a precursor to the open environment games prevalent in the new century) the player can wander about and explore freely within an area, but certain places or actions cannot progress until the Player has done certain actions and/or found certain items.

In conversations, the Player can click on a certain underlined word to pursue that topic, or the Player can type a word when the input cursor appears. If the typed word is appropriate, the Player will receive a response. To end a conversation, the Player would click 'Bye' or type 'Bye'.

The inventory can hold several items, and the Player can also find bags and pouches that enable the Player to carry more items.

There is an indication in the control panel for weight (the knapsack bulges when inventory is too heavy), and for health (the Player character in a coffin becomes a skeleton progressively from the feet upwards).

There is a 'mirror' that will indicate if the Player have an ailment (aged, cursed, etc.), and also certain ailments show on the Player’s face in the Player portrait in the control panel.

The puzzles are typical of a point-and-click adventure game. Some of them require very good reasoning. The puzzles consist mainly of:

• Piecing together what the Player learns from conversations.
• Finding and using objects.
• Finding ways to get into locked areas or past a guardian.

Different weapons work with different enemies, so the Player needs to find the right weapon for each battle. Also, one needs to find different plants (and sometimes other items) to cure different ailments.