Dungeon Magic: Sword of the Elements/Controls

Controlling your character in the game can take some getting used to. Until you pause the game, you are limited to moving your character around in the world, and using one action. The actions you can choose from are to attack, to use an item, to cast a spell, to open a door or a chest, or to eat food. Pressing activates whichever command is currently active. In order to change which command is active, you must pause the game with and then press  or  to change which command tab is highlighted in the lower left window of the screen. Then you must unpause the game with and press  to execute the command. Sometimes, in the case of Items and Magic, you must do work to prepare which item or spell is utilized when is pressed. To do this, you must press while the game is paused and you have the command tab of interest highlighted in order to go into selection mode and make your choice using. This process takes getting used to, and may result in some premature deaths as you get more familiar with it.

In summary, the process to change commands is as follows:
 * 1) Press  to pause.
 * 2) Press  or  to switch commands.
 * 3) If necessary, press  to enter the command menu and press  to make selections.
 * 4) Press  to unpause.
 * 5) Press  to execute the command.

Command menu
As indicated above, there are five commands that you can choose from. The following will explain how to interact with the command menu to achieve the desired effect.


 * Attack:You must be on this command in order to swing your weapon at enemies. If you are on any other command, you cannot attack with your weapon. However, this command serves one other purpose. It is where you go to change equipment. If you pause the game, you can press  to begin highlighting equipment, and pressing  to switch one piece of equipment with a similar piece that you are already using. The piece you selected will be equipped, and the gear you were using previously will take it's place in the equipment selection window.
 * Item:This can be one of the more confusing command menus. The item menu can display three rows of items. As you collect items, they will fill up the bottom two rows, but never the top row. In order to use an item, you must be on this window, but you must also have the desired item present in the left spot of the top row. In order to move an item into the top row, you must pause the game, press  to begin highlighting items, and press  to toggle between the top row and the bottom two. If you press B on an item in the bottom two rows, it will take the left-most available slot in the top row (until the row is full). If you press B on the top row, you will return the item to the bottom two rows to any available space.  Note that if you have a full 15 items, you will not be able to move items around until you use or sell one so that you have an empty space. When you use an item, the item in that left spot will be consumed, and all remaining items in the top row will shift one spot to the left.
 * Magic:As you apprentice under different schools of magic, you get a set of runes to cast spells with. On the magic command menu, you can select one rune, or make any combination of runes up to a maximum of three, to cast spells with. To do this, you must pause the game and press . Pressing Select will erase any previous set of selected runes so that you will start over, selecting the left most rune first. The order of runes matters. Highlight each rune you want, and choose it with to build your spell from left to right.  When you are done, press  to return to the game, and press  to cast the spell. To learn more about this game's magic system, see Magic.
 * Open:This is one of the simpler commands since it does not have a command menu. In order to open any door or chest, you must be on this command, and press.
 * Weight/Food:This menu normally shows you your current weight and how much food and water you are holding. Too much weight can burden your character and make it difficult for them to fight. Pressing on this command is an instruction to consume food and water. If you are holding any food and water, you will consume one unit of each and restore some lost health.