Sacred 2: Fallen Angel English Demo Released

Ascaron Entertainment has released a 384MB English language version of the Sacred 2: Fallen Angel demo. You can currently pick it up from FileFront or AtomicGamer. Here's the full readme from the installation (with a FAQ), in case you're interested:
1. Introduction

Welcome to the demo version of Sacred 2: Fallen Angel!

The ancient world of Ancaria had, since the dawn of its birth, earned the attentions of a noble race known as the Seraphim. These angel-like creatures watched over Ancaria, for it was a powerful nexus of a force that granted incredible peace and long life: T-Energy. This energy is the source of life and prosperity; it also powers magic and forms the raw, spiritual material of thought and hope.

As time passed, the Seraphim watched over Ancaria and, determined to share the wisdom of the heavens with those that walk the land, granted the High Elves of Ancaria the ability to guide and create this noble energy.

The High Elves, for all their intelligence and wisdom, prospered greatly at first by controlling the flow of T-Energy, but eventually fell to petty squabbling as one faction vied for control of it over another. Eventually, these arguments boiled forth into all-out civil war.

As the High Elves destroyed themselves, the power vacuum that formed attracted many other races of Ancaria, also seeking power, which only fueled further destruction and vicious warfare. As pain and blood wracked the land, so too did T-Energy begin to warp and change into something dreadful, causing widespread mutations and devastating once-rich regions into wastelands.

The destruction resulted in a shaky peace, one that would not last long; the various groups in power maneuvered to put themselves in a favorable position to control as much T-Energy as they could. After many years of instability, the land once more faces war a war that means to be much larger, with more far-reaching consequences, than all previous wars and battles combined.

Two thousand years before the original Sacred game, the cry for heroes arises to avert this war and to regain control over T-Energy. Will they strive to prevent the world lapsing into a final chaos, or help it to a bloody death?

This demo offers you a first impression of the fantastic world of Ancaria. You will assume the role of the Seraphim fighting for the powers of Light. Will you be able to rise to this challenge?

Please read the following paragraphs carefully as they provide important information about this demo, the controls, and technical notes.

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2. About this Demo

This demo will give you a taste of the full game. As such, not all features are available, but enough are present to give you an excellent idea of how Sacred 2: Fallen Angel works. In the demo version:

- The only playable character is the Seraphim (the full version features five additional characters).

- The maximum character level is 10 (you can go to 200th level in the full version).

- The only difficulty levels available are Bronze and Silver (the full version also features the unlockable difficulty levels of gold, platinum and niob, as well as a hardcore level in which a character killed remains dead and cannot be revived).

- The only playable campaign is the Light Campaign (the full version also features a Shadow Campaign).

- All in-game functionalities except riding mounts and combat from the back of mounts are available in the demo.

- Only the High Elf region is available to explore (the full version has a total of 12 regions).

- The only options available in the menu are starting a single player game. Multi-player has been disabled for this demo.

- 5.1 Dolby®-Surround is not supported in this demo.

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Keyboard and Mouse Configuration

a. Keyboard Configuration

Default Keyboard Configuration:

[Esc] - Main Menu
[F1] - Weapon 1
[F2] - Weapon 2
[F3] - Weapon 3
[F4] - Weapon 4
[F5] - Orb 1
[F6] - Orb 2
[F7] - Orb 3
[F8] - Orb 4
[F9] - Quick Save
[F10] - Save at last Resurrection Monolith

[1] - Combat Art Slot 1
[2] - Combat Art Slot 2
[3] - Combat Art Slot 3
[4] - Combat Art Slot 4
[5] - Buff 1
[6] - Buff 2
[7] - Buff 3
[0] - Call Mount (Full Version only)

[Tab] - Minimap

[Q] - Autocollect
[W] - Forward
[A] - Turn camera left
[S] - Turn camera right
[D] - Back
[E] - Combat Art Screen
[F] - Inventory
[Y] - True North
[C] - Skills / Attribute Screen
[L] - Logbook
[M] - World Map
[G] - Divine Gift
[R] - Potion 1
[T] - Potion 2
[Z] - Potion 3
[U] - Potion 4
[I] - Potion 5
[O] - Potion 6

[SPACE] - Use Health Potion
[SHIFT] - Mouse action / defensive (see description under 3.)
[Ctrl] - Various functions in combination with left mouse button (see description under 3.)
[Alt] - Display world objects
[Enter] / [Return] - Yes / Ok / Open chat in multiplayer mode (full version only)
[Print] - Screenshot

[-] (Num block) - Zoom in
[+] (Num block) - Zoom out

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b. Mouse Configuration

[Shift] Increase your defense: Pressing and holding [Shift] increases your defense against incoming attacks.

[Mouse Wheel] Zoom: Scroll the mouse wheel to change both the angle and the zoom of your character's camera.

[Middle Mouse Button] Adjust the camera position: Hold the [Middle Mouse Button] and move your mouse to change the camera angle.

[Middle Mouse Button] on the large World Map: Click on the large world map to open the minimap from the world map. Hold the button and move your mouse to see details of the areas you have already visited.

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c. Mouse + Key Combinations

[Ctrl] + [Left Mouse Button] on Items: Instant selling or purchasing of items. If you hold [Ctrl] while clicking on an item you want to buy or sell, you will do so instantly without receiving a confirmation query.

[Ctrl] + [Left Mouse Button] on a Character Portrait: Party Teleport. While playing a multiplayer game, you can use this combination to teleport directly to any player of your party.

[Ctrl] + [Left Mouse Button] on another Player Character: Trade. Opens the trade menu with the selected character.

[Shift] + [Left Mouse Button] on an Item in your Inventory: Unstack Items. This combination allows you to seperate stacked items (e.g. potions) in your inventory.

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3. Advantages of the Full Version

Features:

- A huge, seamless and dynamic 22 square-mile fantasy world that allows for free-form exploration

- Two parallel campaigns: play as the (Light) or (Shadow) side, complete with distinct skills, rewards and story-elements tailored to the chosen path

- Six exceptional, playable characters, each with a distinct look, capabilities, and in-game motivation

- Modifiable combat arts: change and upgrade your alter ego's combat skills as you make choices throughout the game

- Fight effectively from the back of a number of mounts under your control

- Deities offer unique combat disciplines to players

- The ultimate multiplayer experience seamless transition between single- and multiplayer gaming modes via LAN or Internet for up to 16 players

- Captivating online modes of play challenge gamers in cooperative and PvP play

- Extraordinary, cutting-edge graphics utilize the latest technologies

- More than 500 quests await you

- Use character specific mounts: Monitor Lizard, Sabertooth Tiger, Wind Serpent, Mobiculum, Hellhound, or Shroud Spider

- Experience entirely immersive sound due to 5.1 Dolby® Surround Sound support

- Access to the Sacred 2 Network at www.sacred2.net! The Sacred 2 Network is the ideal place for Sacred 2 players. It offers many features, including ladders, guilds, and special events.

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4. Known Issues

The development status of the Sacred 2 demo differs from the technical status of the full version of Sacred 2.

Unfortunately, some programming errors are still contained in this demo that have already been eliminated in the full version. These bugs should not have a major impact on the gaming experience of this demo, but they will be noticeable. Here is a list of most of the relevant bugs:

- Some NPCs (citizens) do not say anything even when you click on them.

- Divine Devotion does not work yet.

- Stacked items are reduced to 1 at merchants.

- The tooltip for Exalted Warrior Focus should display a "+" instead of a "-" before the regeneration time.

- The tooltip for Blacksmith Arts displays values of "+%1" instead of explicit bonuses.

- BeeEffGee becomes invisible when you right-click on another weapon in the inventory.

- Hirelings keep warping instead of running with you.

- The tooltip for Tactics Lore mistakenly displays a Chance for Critical +0,0%.

- The tooltip for Armor Lore displays a Regeneration Penalty of "+0,0%".

- While BeeEffGee is activated, items may disappear under certain circumstances.

- Combat arts in combos will only work if the second combat art is from the same aspect as the first one.

- Clipping errors of the Seraphim while praying at statues of gods.

- Occasional flickering textures (Z-Buffer) with certain graphics cards settings.

- Right-clicking in the inventory to change weapons will not work with bows.

- Occasionally, the WASD keys will not work correctly after using "Autocollect" (default key Q). Please use the mouse buttons instead in these cases.

- When the Seraphim uses ranged fighting, she sometimes treats opponents as ranged fighters, even though they are melee fighters.

- NPCs (merchants etc.) tend to stray too far into the world and they are occasionally difficult to find.

- The fight range of wolves/wild boars is not correct.

- Character jumps on chests/world objects between cutscenes and the game.

- On rare occasions, some opponents still have a fight animation even after their death.

- The hero stands up briefly after his death.

- Low-level opponents (white target ring) persistently attack the hero although by default they should not display that behavior.

- Survival bonus does not work as intended yet.

- If you ALT-TAB into the game while standing next to a resurrection monolith, a loud hooting sound will sound from all channels.

- The second potion slot on the right side of the compass does not work properly.

- Names sometimes overlap on the teleport map.

- Removing forged Combat Arts does not work yet and a tooltip for this process is also missing.

- One book (of just under 30 books that can be found) displays errors in the title (overlapping) when it is memorized.

- The message "POI uncovered" is still displayed at certain locations.

- Forgeable items cannot be dropped.

- When opponents sustain damage, their hitpoint display occasionally jumps briefly to 100%.

- On rare occasions, buffs in slots are displayed as active after a teleport despite being inactive.

- Windows 2000/NT/ME/98/95 are NOT supported: These operating systems are outdated. The minimum requirement is Windows XP.

For general troubleshooting concerning this Sacred 2 - Fallen Angel demo, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section (number 6).

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5. System Requirements

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Minimum System Requirements:

- 2.4-GHz-Processor

- 1 GB RAM

- Graphics card with 256 MB RAM, DirectX®-9.0c compatibility, with Pixel-Shader 2.0 support (nVidia® GeForceTM 6800 or ATI® RadeonTMX800 or better)

- DirectX compatible sound card

- DVD ROM drive

- 4 GB free hard drive (HDD) space

- Microsoft® Windows® XP (32 / 64 Bit) with Service Pack 3 / Vista® (32 / 64 Bit) with Service Pack 1 DirectX 9.0c (included with game)

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Recommended System Requirements:

- Dual Core 2.0 GHz Processor

- 2 GB RAM Graphics card with 512 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0c compatible, with Pixel Shader 2.0 support (nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS or ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better)

- DirectX compatible sound card

- Mouse with mouse wheel

- 4 GB free hard drive (HDD) space

- Microsoft Windows XP (32 / 64 Bit) with Service Pack 3 / Vista (32 / 64 Bit) with Service Pack 1 DirectX 9.0c (included with game)

- The latest version of DirectX 9.0c

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6. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: When I run Sacred 2, it shuts down with an error message: "An exception has been thrown! error #: 9 function: cphysics::int"

A: This probably means that your installation of the PhysX drivers is corrupt. Sacred 2 requires version 7.11.13 of the PhysX drivers, which is included in the
installation. Reinstalling your game should solve this problem.

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Q: Sacred 2 installs without any problems but I cannot start it.

A: Please ensure that your system meets the minimum system requirements. Additionally, please refer to the Technical Notes section (number 7).

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Q: I have another problem What can I do?

A: We strongly recommend visiting our Sacred 2 Website and our Sacred 2 Forum. Amongst further information you will also find a more detailed FAQ section there.

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7. Technical Notes

In case of unexpected issues during installation or playing, please ensure that you have no applications running in the background (e.g anti-virus software). These applications should be deactivated.

Please also ensure that you have installed the latest updates and Service Packs for Windows XP / Windows Vista . These are Service Pack 3 for Windows XP and Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista at the time of creation of this Readme file.

In order to install these Service Packs, please run a Windows Update through Internet Explorer by selecting Tools > Windows Update.

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8. Driver Help

Important Notice: Always deactivate all applications (especially anti-virus software) before installing a driver, as these applications might interfere with the self-configuration of the driver that you are installing.

If you are experiencing problems with your game, an outdated (graphics card) driver might well be the cause. Even if you have only recently purchased your graphics card, the drivers might be outdated as the card could have been manufactured several months earlier and only the drivers available at that time will be included with your hardware.

Before installing any drivers, please ensure that you know exactly which type of chip set your graphics card features!

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NVIDIA (e.g. GeForce)

http://www.nvidia.com (International)

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ATI / AMD (e.g.. Radeon)

http://www.ati.com (International)

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Intel

http://www.intel.com (International)

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Sound Card Manufacturers

http://www.creative.com - Creative Labs (Soundblaster)

http://www.terratec.com - Terratec

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9. Customer Support

We have put this product through rigorous tests and you shouldn't experience any problems (except possibly those listed above as bugs). However, it's impossible to test every configuration and should you experience any problems regarding this product, we recommend to have a look on our Sacred 2 website and our Sacred 2 Forum for further information first. There you will also find a (more detailed) FAQ section.

In case that doesn't help, please go to www.cdvus.com and click on the support section. Here you will be able to fill out a support ticket so we can troubleshoot your issue.

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The Ascaron Team hopes you enjoy playing the demo of Sacred 2 - Fallen Angel!