Be True, Be You, Be Blue!Cerulean Blue Software Home Neldafell Manual Change Log
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Be True, Be You, Be Blue!Cerulean Blue Software Home Neldafell Manual Change Log
Note: This game is a work in progress and is only available in demo mode.
All demo versions expire and become non-functional after 90 days of creation.
Requires windows 10 or later and 200 MB of disk space
Working speakers or headphones.
This game will use self-voicing, but you can also opt to use your preferred TTS engine for speech. We strongly recommend NVDA.
Alongside the audio, Neldafell also displays a full graphical interface -- a top-down map, an illustrated combat screen, and menus -- so a sighted friend or family member can follow along on screen without you needing to turn anything on. It's a companion to the audio, never a requirement: everything you need to play is spoken.
Download the setup.exe file from our downloads page. Navigate to it and click it. Read and if you agree, accept the license terms. Follow the wizard and install the game where you like. Default location is C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Cerulean Blue Software\Neldafell\
The game should launch after installation.
You can download the game in a .zip archive here.
Alternatively, you can download the setup installer here.
In menus: The arrow keys will move you through the selected options. Pressing ENTER, RETURN or SPACE will select the focused item.
When exploring: The arrow keys will move your character in the specified direction.
In Menus: ESC (the escape key) will allow you to excape from said menu.
When exploring: ESC (the escape key) will open the pause menu.
When exploring: ENTER or RETURN will allow you to interact with most items, provided you are next to the object and facing it.
When exploring: SPACE (the spacebar) searches the ground for hidden items.
When exploring: F1 will open help in a web browser. (This document)
When exploring: F2 will allow you to set game options.
When exploring: F3 opens text review mode.
When exploring: F4 will open your party status screen -- your own stats first, then those of every active party member in turn.
When exploring: ALT + f4 closes the game.
In Menus: f4 Closes the game. Careful with this one while browsing your party status screen (F4) or a long menu -- an extra F4 press there will quit the game, not back out a page.
When exploring: F5 decreases music volume
In menus: F5 decreases music volume
When exploring: f6 increases music volume
In menus: F6 increases music volume
When exploring: SHIFT + f5 decreases TTS volume, if using self-voicing.
In menus: F7 decreases TTS volume, if using self-voicing.
When exploring: SHIFT + f6 increases TTS volume, if using self-voicing.
In menus: F8 increases TTS volume, if using self-voicing.
When exploring: F7 toggles the active tts voice, and or enables and disables self-voicing.
In menus: F9 toggles the active tts voice, and or enables and disables self-voicing.
When exploring: F9 allows you to access the cheat system. Naughty naughty!
When exploring: F10 opens change log in your web browser.
When exploring: F11 toggles fullscreen. The same screen sizes (including fullscreen) are also available from the options menu (F2) under "Screen resolution," if you'd rather pick a specific window size than just toggle fullscreen on and off.
When exploring: the numeric keys along the number row and the numeric keys on the numpad will allow you to use an item you have added to your quick items.
When exploring: A opens your party status screen too, starting on your first party member instead of your own stats -- a shortcut for when you specifically want to check on someone traveling with you. Only available once you've recruited at least one companion.
When exploring: K does exactly the same thing as A -- opens your party status screen starting on your first companion. Use whichever one you find easier to remember.
When exploring: B will open the beacon menu, if no beacon is active, or cancel a beacon if one is active.
When exploring: C wil tell you your current coordinates.
When exploring: E opens the equipment menu, for your own gear.
When exploring: G will tell you how much gold coins you carry.
When exploring: H gives you quick status of your character.
When exploring: I opens inventory, including any class-restricted party gear you're holding onto for a companion (see Party gear, below).
When exploring: J allows you to view your adventure journal, get quest info, spell info, kill counts and more.
When exploring: M allows you to view a map of areas, provided you have a map of said area. While viewing the map: the tab key will allow you to set custom beacons to aid in navigation.
When exploring, R will speak your current location.
When exploring: S allows you to cast a spell, provided the conmditions are right for the spell. I.e: you know said spell, have enough mp to cast it and are in or out of combat, as applicable.
When exploring: T will show you the current game time. Note, time only passes while exploring the overworld. Pretty retro huh?
When exploring: W opens wearing menu.
When exploring: X will allow you to examine your surroundings and hear what is nearby.
While viewing a map: TAB (the tab key) will allow you to set a custom map marking. You can use this as an extra navigational beacon.
You don't have to adventure alone. Look for a Recruiter NPC to build a party of up to three companions, plus one special character slot reserved for the rare, named individuals you'll meet along your journey.
Recruiting a companion costs gold out of your own pocket -- 10 gold per level of the recruit you're hiring. From that point on, though, each companion keeps entirely their own gold, gear, and experience, completely separate from your own: their spending doesn't touch yours, and yours doesn't touch theirs. They level up from the same battles you do, buy their own gear upgrades whenever you visit a shop, and top up the party's shared potion supply out of their own pocket.
Five classes are available to hire from the very start: fighter, mage, healer, thief, and archer. Two more, rarer finds, won't appear at the Recruiter until you've proven yourself -- a monster caller won't consider joining you until you reach level 10, and a necromancer not until level 15.
Companions fight entirely on their own initiative in battle -- you never directly control them. Beyond simply landing spells and blows, most classes also pick up a small set of signature moves as they gain experience, some usable in battle, some out of it:
A fighter is your front line. They may intimidate a single foe into fighting worse, and with more experience learn to unsettle a whole group at once. They can also step in to take a hit meant for a wounded companion, rally the whole party's fighting spirit for a few rounds, and eventually deliver one devastating finishing blow against a weakened enemy.
A thief is fast and opportunistic. They may attempt to lift gold off a foe mid-battle, throw an enemy off balance, or slip into the shadows to become harder to hit, and with enough experience can line up a guaranteed, decisive strike against an unsuspecting target. Outside of battle, a thief in your party will automatically turn up bonus gold and hidden treasure as you walk over it -- and if you come across a locked chest or door, they may be able to pick the lock as an alternative to spending an enchanted key, though a failed attempt risks drawing unwanted attention.
A mage is permanently attuned to one of three elements -- fire, ice, or lightning -- decided the moment they join you, and learns steadily more powerful spells of that element as they level up.
A healer looks after the whole party's health during a fight: a basic restorative spell early on, the ability to cure poison not long after, and a much stronger heal later. They also learn a holy strike especially effective against the undead, a prayer that may banish a single foe from the battle entirely (though nothing is gained for a banished foe -- they simply leave the fight), and eventually a blessing that restores the whole party at once rather than a single ally, with an even greater version of that blessing learned later still.
An archer fights at range and favors precision -- a well-placed shot early on, later the ability to cripple a foe's defenses or loose a volley against a whole group at once, and eventually a shot that punches clean through armor. An archer also picks up a faint echo of elemental magic as they grow, though nowhere near a mage's mastery of it.
A monster caller is a wild card. They can call on a creature native to wherever you're currently exploring to fight alongside you for the rest of the battle -- but the call doesn't always go as planned, and there's a real chance the creature turns against you instead. That risk never goes away, no matter how experienced the caller becomes; it's simply the nature of the class. A monster caller will never call anything undead. With more experience, they also learn to calm the wildlife around you, making chance encounters somewhat less frequent while they travel with you, and to charm an enemy you're already fighting into switching sides for the rest of that battle -- easier against a foe that's already been worn down.
A necromancer practices a far more disciplined -- and safer -- kind of summoning: raising the restless dead to fight faithfully at your side, with no risk of betrayal. As they grow in power, a necromancer also learns to curse enemies, drain the life from a foe to heal themselves, and eventually raise two undead allies into a single battle at once.
Every companion speaks with their own distinct voice, and may occasionally comment on their surroundings, call out their own spells or abilities by name mid-battle, react to being given a gift, or share a word or two after being cured or waking up at an inn. If you'd rather not hear this, it can be turned off entirely from the options menu (F2), separately from your other voice settings. For sighted players, a companion's portrait now appears alongside their dialogue whenever they speak, the same portrait shown on their status screen.
Permadeath is real and final for a companion -- there's no reviving a fallen ally. If one falls, whatever gold they were carrying is split among whoever's left in your party, and any gear they'd bought for themselves passes into your own inventory, ready to hand down to whoever eventually takes their place.
Press F4, A, or K to check on your whole party's status, including each companion's class, equipment, and any spells or abilities they currently know. Speaking of gear: if you come across an item that only a specific companion class could use, it can't go in your own equipment slots -- it's held in the Party gear section of your inventory (I) instead, ready for you to give to a matching companion, who's always free to turn it down if it isn't actually an upgrade for them.
Every companion also has their own personality -- polite, bold, timid, secretive, funny, or snarky -- fixed for life from the moment they join you, and a personal backstory to match. From a companion's status screen, choose "Talk to them" to actually ask: who they are, what spells or abilities they know (if any), how they feel about wherever you currently are, and how they're holding up health-wise. They'll answer in their own voice, and their answers change as their circumstances do -- a companion who loved towns will still love towns, but how they say they're feeling depends on how the fight went.
If a companion isn't working out, the Recruiter NPC can dismiss them for you -- this is permanent and cannot be undone, and unlike falling in battle, none of their gear passes on to you when they leave. If you'd simply like to bench a companion without losing them for good, the same Recruiter can retire them instead: a retired companion keeps their level, gear, and gold exactly as they were, sitting safely out of harm's way until you're ready to call them back into the party.
The terms 'right' and 'left' are relative to the direction the player is facing.
Meaning, if the player is facing north, right will be in the easterly direction, left will be in the west.
If the player is facing south, right will be off to the west, left will be off to the east.
If the player is facing east, right will be off to the south, left off to the north.
If facing west, right will be off to the north and left will be off to the south.
Please keep this in mind when relying on navigational tones and other clues.