Diablo 1 MPQ Extractor and Manual anyone?

[Canis Lupus]

Got a couple requests :D

Anyone still have their Diablo 1 Manual handy? Would it be possible for that person to mail me that manual? Or at least, scan the sections where it tells the story of the game (The Prime Evils, The Black King, etc) ... I need it to create a story for my NWN module, and I can't find my Diablo 1 manual anywhere :(

If someone has it, please PM me so that I can provide you with an address to send it to ... don't worry, I'll pay for postage if you want :D

ALSO, anyone know the link to the MPQ extractor for Diablo 1? Everytime I search Google for an MPQ extractor for Diablo, it gives me results for Diablo 2 ...

Any help would be appreciated, thanks :)

[Wacheif]

AGH!!! lol i have my manual but dont wanna mail it away :( and dont got a scanner!! gah!!! , hmm wonder how log itd take to type it up? lol

[jimbo]

ive got mine

librarius ex horadrim
-------book one------
of heaven and hell

the great conflict

sinse the beggining, the forces of light and darkness have engaged in an eternal war: the great conflict, whose victor will rise from the apocalyptic ashes to hold sway over all creation. to this end, the angles of the high heavens adhere to strict militaristic disciplines. seraphim warriors strike at the enimies of light with swords imbued with righteous wrath and justice. the angles belive that only absolute discipline can proporly restore order to the myriad realms, while the demonic denezens of the burning hells hold that absolute chaos is the true nature of all things.

the battles of the great conflict rage across both time and space, often infringing upon the very fabric of reality itself. from the crystal arch at the very heart of the high heavens to the arcane hellforge of the underworld, the warriors of these eternal realms journey to whatever their timeless conflict carries them. the legendary deeds of the heroes of the realms beyond elict both veneration and insight.

the greatest of these heroes was izual, lieutenant to the arch-angel tyrael and the bearer of the angelic runeblade azurewrath. he once led a fierce attack upon the hellforge as the creation of the dark demonblade shadowfang was nearing completion. his quest was to destroy both wielder and weapon-a charge that he was never destined to complete. izual was overcome by the leigons of chaosand, tragically, was lost to the darkness. his fate stands as a testament to the fact that angles and demons alike shall fearlessly enter into any domain- so long as their hated enemies dwell within.

although the great conflict burned hotter and longer that any of the stars in the sky, neither side could gain dominion over the other for long. both factions sought some way to turn the tides of the war to their favor. with the ascension of man and his mortal realm, the great conflict ground to a mysterious halt. both armies paused in a breathless stalemate, waiting to see to whose side man would eventually turn.

mortals had the unique ability to choose between darkness and light, and it was held that this would be the deciding factor in the outcome of the great conflict. thus, the agents of the nether-realms descended to the mortal realm to vie for the favor of man...

i'll post the rest tomorrow

[Canis Lupus]

Thanks much jimbo! Keep em coming :D

[fibbi]

i can't find mine at the moment, and i need to finish prepping for fullerton (a debate tournament) which i'm leaving for tommorow. When i get back though, i'll look some more and send it if you still need it.

[Outlaw]

I found a D1 mpq extractor about a year ago, when I had that butcher avatar. I bet I can find it again. Finding my D1 disk (again) is gonna be harder though. :p

[Outlaw]

http://www.makaveli.nl/mpq_editors.rar

Unpack (you probably need winrar 3.xx) into a dir of choice, make sure you preserve the dir structure cause a bunch of loose files isn't gonna work. :)

Start with MpqEd13b1. This program is about as buggy as it gets, but it should allow you to unpack the entire mpq file.
Start the program. Go to "Options" > "Configuration...", and change the "Default list" to the diablo.txt file that's in the program's dir. Then press OK and use File > Open to open diabdat.mpq (better copy it to your hd first, probably alot faster that way). You should see a long list of files now. At this point, don't press any of the buttons to sort the files or it'll kick you out. :p Click on one of the files, press CTRL-A, right click, and do "Extract with path...". The thing unpacks pretty fast, but I don't think it has any progress bar or whatever, so just wait until your hd stops making sounds. :p You should now have the mpq unpacked on your hd.

The other program (cv5) is to save the character animation files to animated gifs, or to a bunch of loose bmp/jpg/tga/gif files. If you're gonna do this, first press the Palette button and load the Diablo.pal file that's in the cv5 dir, and uncheck the Diablo 2 palette box.

Good luck. :)

[jimbo]

the sin war

the coming of the creat conflict to the mortal realm is known as the sin war. angels and demons, disguising themselves while travelling amongst men, attempted to secretly lure mortals to their respective causes. over time, the forces of darkness discovered that mortals responded much more to brute force than to subtle coercion, and so began to terrorize man into sumission. the angels fought to defend humanity against this demonic oppression, but all too often their austere methods and severe punishments succeeded only in alienating those whom they sought to protect.

the violent battles of the sin war occured often, but they were seldom witnessed by the prying eyes of man. only a few "enlightened" souls were aware of the supernatural beings that walked amongst the huddled masses of humanity. powerful mortals arose and accepted the challenge of the sin war, allying themselves with both sides in the great conflict. the legendary deeds of these great mortal warriors sreved to earn both the respect and hatred of the nether-worlds. although lesser demons kneeled before those possessing power and strenght, they also cursed the very existance of mortal man. many of these fiends belived that the deadlock brought about by the emergance of man was a perverse offense to their "higher" role in the great scheme of things.

this jealousy of man led to harsh, atrocious acts of violence by the demons against the mortal realm. some men learned of this deep hatred and used it against the denezens of the underworld. one such mortal, horazon the summoner, delighted in summoning demons and then breaking them to his will. horazon, along with his brother bartuc, were were members of the eastern mage-clan known as the vizjerei. this wystic clan studied the ways of demons and had catalogued their lore for generations. empowered by this knowledge, horazon was able to take the work of the vizjerei and pervert it for his demented purposes. the denizens of hell sought revenge against this bold mortal, but horazon maneged to keep himself well protected within his arcane sanctuary.

bartuc, the brother of horazon, was eventually lured to the side of darkness. he as granted exceptional strenght and longevity, and fought alongside the leigons of hell against the cursed vizjerei, and eventually his own brother during the sin war. although bartuc was renowned amongst the warriors of many realms, his dominence in battle came with a terrible price. an insatiable lust for mortal blood pervaded his every thought and deed. bartuc soon became as fond of bathing in the blood of his enemies as he did of shedding it, and in time he came to be known only as the warlord of blood.

[Canis Lupus]

Thanks for the link Outlaw ... I am mostly concerned of ripping the wav files anyway, so the tool is sufficient for my needs :)

Thanks for the update, jimbo ... keep em coming :)

[jimbo]

the dark exile

"seven is the number of the powers of hell, and seven is the number of the great evils."
duriel, the lord of pain
andariel, the maiden of anguish
belial, the lord of lies
azmodan, the lord of sin

these are the true names of the lesser of the great evils. for ages uncounted each have ruled over their own domains within the burning hells, seeking absolute dominion over their infernal brethren. as the lesser four continuously vied for the control of those forces that dwelled within their realms, the greater three held absolute power over the whole of hell. the lesser four used dark and evil measures in their quest for power, and herein begins the legend of the dark exile.

mephisto, the lord of hatred
baal, the lord of destruction
diablo, the lord of terror

these are the prime evils of hell that wielded thier power as a dark, sovereign triumvirate. the three brothers ruled over the lesser four by brutal force and malicious cunning. being the eldest and strongest of the evils, the three brothers were responsible for countless victories against the armies of the light. although they never held sway over the high heavens for long, the three were justly feared by enemies and subjects alike.

with the ascension of man and the subsequent standstill of the great conflict, the three brothers began to devote their energies to the perversion of mortal souls. the three realized that man was the key to victory in the war against heaven, and thus altered their rigid agendum that they had propagated since the beginning. this change caused many of the lesser evils to question the authority of the three, and so brought about a great rift between the prime evils and their servitors.

in their ignorance, the lesser evils began to belive that the three were afraid to continue the war with heaven. frustrated by the cessation of the war, azmodan and belial saw the situation as their chance to overthrow the prime evils and take control of hell for themselves. the two demon lords made a pact with their minor brethren, assuring them that the wretched plague of humanity would not deter the ultimate victory of the sons of hell. azmodan and belial devised a plan to end the stalemate, achive victory in the sin war and ultimately ride the bloody crest of the great conflict straight into the very arms of amageddon.thus, a great revolution was set in motion as all of hell went to war against the three brothers...

the brothers fought with all the savegry of the underworld, and to their credit, annihilated a third of hells treacherous leigons. in the end, however, they were overcome by the horned death lead by the traitors azmodan and belial. the prime evils, weakened and bodiless, were banished to the mortal realm where azmodan hoped that they would remain trapped forever. azmodan belived that with the three set loose upon humanity, the angels would be forced to turn their focus upon the mortal plane-thus leaving the gates of heaven abandoned and defenseless. those few demons who still pledged alligiance to the three brothers fled the wrath of azmodan and belial, escaping to the realm of man to seek out their lost masters.

as the warfires died out upon the battlefields of hell, azmodan and belial began to argue over whivh of them held the higher authority, the pact that they had made quickly fell to ashes as the two demon lords took up arms against each other. the leigons of hell that remained were polarized behind either warlord, launching themselves into a bloody civil war that has lasted to this day...

[jimbo]

the binding of the three

in the ancient days, before the rise of the western empires, the dark and terrible entities known as the three evils were exiled to the world of man. these eternal entities wandered throughout the waking world and fed upon the lusts of men, leaving caos and attrition in their wake. the evils turned father against son and prompted many great nations into brutal and petty wars. their exile from hell left them with an insatiable hunger to bring suffering and pain to all who would now kneel before them, and so the three brothers ravaged the lands of the far east for countless centuries.

eventually, a secretive order of mortal magi was gathered together by the enigmatic arch-angel tyrael. these sorcerers were to hunt the three evils and put an end to their vicious rampage. the order, known as the horardrim, consisted of wizards from the diverse and numerous mage-clans of the east. employing disparate magical pactices and disciplines, this unlikely brotherhood succeeded in capturing two of the brothers within powerful artifacts called soulstones. mephisto and baal, trapped within the swirling, spiritual costraints of the soulstones, were then buried beneath the dunes of the desolate eastern sands.

the powers of hatred and wanton destruction seemed to diminish in the east as a nervous peace began to settle over the land. yet, for many decades the horadrim continued their grim search for the third brother, diablo. they knew that if the lord of terror was left untamed there could never be any lasting peace within the realm of humanity.

the horadrim followed in the wake of terror and anarchy that spread throughout the western lands. after a great battle which claimed the lives of many brave souls, the lord of terror was captured and imprisoned within the last of the soulstones by a group of horadrim monks led by the initiate jered cain. these monks carried the cursed stone to the land of khanduras and buried it within a secluded cave near the river talsnade. above this cave the horadrim constructed a great monastary from which thay could continue to safegaurd the soulstone. as the ages passed, the horadrim constructed a network of catacombs beneath the monastary to house the earthly remains of the martyrs of their order.

generations passed in khanduras, and the numbers of the horadrim slowly dwidled. with no quests left to undertake, and too few sons to sustain their gaurdianship, the once powerful order faded into obscurity. eventually, the great monastary that they had butli fell to ruins as well. although villages grew and thrived around the shell of the old monatary, no one knew of the dark, secret passageways that stretched into the cold earth beneath it. none could have dreamed of the burning red gem that pulsed within the labrinths hearl...

[jimbo]

-------book two--------
the return of terror

the lands of khanduras

years after the last of the horadrim had died, a great and prosperous society grew in the lands of the west. as time wore on, many eastern pilgrims settled in the lands surrounding khanduras and soon established small, self contained kingdoms. a few of these kingdoms bickered with khanduras over holdings of proporty or rutes of trade. these squabbles did little to upset the lasting peace of the west,a dn the great northern kingdom of westmarch proved to be a strong ally of khanduras as the two lands steadily engaged in ventures of barter and commerce.

during this time, a bold, new religion of the light known as the zakarum began to spread throughout the kingdom of westmarch and into many of its northern principalities. zakarum, founded in the far east, implored followers to enter into the light and forsake the darkness that lurked within their souls. the people of westmarch adopted the statues of zakarum as their sacred mission in the world. westmarch began to turn towards its nieghbors, expecting them to embrace this "new beginning" as well. tensions rose between the kingdoms of westmarch and khanduras as the priests of zakarum began to preach their foreign dogma whether they were welcomed or not.

it was then that the great northern lord leoric came unto the lands of khanduras and, in the name of zakarum, declared himself king. leoric was a deeply religious man and had brought many knights and priests with him that comprised his order of the light. leoric and his trusted advisor, the arch bishop lazaus, made their way to the city of tristram. leoricappropriated the ancient, decrepit monastary on the outskirts of the town for his seat of power and renovated it to match its long-lost glory. although the free people of khanduras were not pleased with being placed under the sudden rule of a foreign king, leorinc served them with justice and might. eventually, the people of khanduras grew to resect the kind leoric, sensing that he sought only to guide and protect them against the oppression of darkness.

[jimbo]

the awakening

not long after leoric took possession of khanduras, a power long asleep awakened within the dark recesses beneath the monastary. sensing that freedom was within his grasp, diablo entered the nightmares of the arch-bishop and lured him into the dark, suterranean labyrinth. in his terror, lazarus raced throughout the abandoned hallways until he at last came to the chamber of the burning soulstone. no longer in command of his body or spirit, he raised the stone above his head and uttered words long forgotten in the realm of mortals. his will destroyed, lazarus shattered the soulstone upon the ground. diablo once again came into the world of man. although he was released from his imprisonment within the soulstone, the lord of terror was still greatly weakened from his long sleep and required and anchor to the world. once he had found a mortal form to wear, he could begin to reclaim his vastly depleted power. the great demon weighed the souls residing in the town above,a dn chose to take the strongest of them- that of king leoric.

for many months king leoric secretely fought the evil presence that twisted his thoughts and emotions. sensing that he had been possessed by some unknown evil, leoric hid his dark secret from his priests, hoping that somehow his own devout righteousness would be enough to exorcise the corruption growing inside him- he was sorely mistaken. diablo stripped away the core of leoric's being, burning wawy all honer and virtue from his soul. lazarus too, had fallen under the sway of the demon, keeping close to leoric at all times. lazarus worked to conceal the plans of his new master from the order of the light, hoping that the demons power would grow, well concealed amongst the servents of zakarum.

the priests of zakarum and the citizenry of khanduras recognized the disturbing change within their liege. his once proud and rugged form became distorted and deformed. king leoric became increasingly deranged and ordered immediate excecutions of any who dared to question his methods or authority. leoric began to send his knights to other villages to bully their townspeople into submission. the people of khanduras who had once grown to see great honor in their ruler began to call leoric the black king.

driven to thr brink of madness by the lord of terror, king leoric slowly alienated hie closest friends and advisors. lachdanan, captain of the knights of the order of the light and honored champion of zakarum, tried to discern the nature of his kings deteriorating sprit. yet at every turn the arch-bishop lazarus would waylay lachdanan and adomish him for questioning the actions of the king. as tensions grew between the two, lazarus charged lachdanan with treason against the kingdom. to the priests and knights of leorics court, the prospect of lachdanan committing treason was ridiculous. lachdanans motives were honorable and just, and soon many began questioning the reason of their once beloved king.

leorics madness was growing more obvious with each passing day. sensing that the advisors of the court were becoming increasingly suspicious of foul treachery, lazarus desperately sought to contain the eroding situation. the arch-bishop masterfully convinced the delusional leoric, that the kingdom of westmarch was plotting against him, secretly planning to dethrone him and annex khanduras into its own lands. leoric flew into a rage and summoned his advisors to his side. manipulated by the arch-bishop, the paranoid king declared a state of war between the kingdoms of khanduras and westmarch.

leoric ignored the warnings and admonishments of his advisors and the royal army of khanduras was ordered to the north to engage in a war that many did not belive in. lachdanan was appointed by lazarus to lead the armies of khanduras into westmarch. although lachdanan argued against the necessity of the oncomung conflict, he was honor-bound to uphold the will of his king. many of the high-priests and officials were forced to travel to the north as emissaries on errends of diplomatic urgency, as well. the desprate ploy of lazarus had succeeded in sending many of the kings more 'troublesome' advisors to their certain deaths...

[jimbo]

the darkening of tristram

the absence of prying advisors and inqusitive priests left diablo free to assume total control of the kings battered soul. as the lord of terror attempted to strengthen his hold upon the maddening king, he found that the lingering spirit of leoric fought with him still. although the control over leoric that diablo held was formidable, the demon knew that in his weakened state he could never take complete possession of his soul as long as a glimmer of his will remained. the demonlord sought a fresh and innocent host upon which to build his terror.

the demon reliquished his hold over leoric, but the kings soul was left corrupt and his mind crazed. diablo began to search throughout khanduras for the perfect vessel to act as his focus, and found such a soul easily within his reach. enjoined by his dark master, lazarus kidnapped albrecht- the only son of leoric- and dragged the terrified youth down into the blackness of the labyrinth. flooding the boys defeseless mind with the essesce of pure terror, diablo easily took possession of the young albrecht.

pain and fire raced through the childs soul. hideous laughter filled his head and clouded his thoughts. paralyzed with fear, albrecht felt the presence of diablo within his mind as it seemed to push him down, deeper and deeper into darkness and oblivion. dialbo gazed upon his new surroundings through the eyes of the young prince. a lustful hunger still tortured the demon after his frustrating bout for control over leoric, but the nightmares of the boy provided ample substance to sate him. reaching deep into albrechts subconscious, diablo ripped the greatest fears of the child from their hiding places and gave them breath.

albrecht watched, as if out of a dream, twisted and disfigured forms appeared all around him. unholy, writhering visages of terror danced about him chanting choruses of obcenities. all of the monsters that he had ever imagined or believed that he had seen in his life became flesh and were give life before him. large bodies comprised of living rock erupted from the walls and bowed to their darkmaster. the ancient, skeletal corpses of the horadrim arose from archaic crypts and lumbered off into the red washed corridors beyond. as the cacophany of madness and nightmares hammered its final blow against albrechts shattered spirit, the bloodlust ghouls and demons of his mind scattered and scrambled maniacally into the lengthening passegways of his waking nightmare.

the ancient catacombs of the horadrim had become a twisted labyrinth of raw, focused terror. empowered by diablos possession of young albrecht, the creatures of the boys own imagination had gained corporeal form. so strong was the terror that grew inside of albrecht, that the borders of the mortal realm began to warp and tear. the burning hell began to seep into the world of man and take root within the labyrinth. beings and occurrences displaced by time and space, and long lost to the history of man were pulled screaming into the ever-expanding domain.

the body of albrecht, fully possessed by diablo, began to distort and change. the small boy grew and his eyes blazed as tendril-like spines ripped through his flesh. great, arched horns erupted from albrechts skull as diablo altered the form of the child to match that of his demonic body. deep within the recesses of the labyrinth, a growing power was being harnessed. when the moment was right, diablo would venture once more into the mortal world and free his captive brothers mephisto and baal. the prime evils would be reunited, and together they would reclaim their rightful place in hell.

[jimbo]

the fall of the black king

the war against the zealous armies of westmarch ended with a horrible slaughter. with the army of khanduras ripped to shreds by the superior numbers and defensive positions of westmarch, lachdanan quickly gathered those who were not captured of killed and ordered a retreat back to the safety of khanduras. they returned to find the town of tristram in shambles

king leoric, deep within the throes of madness, went into a rage when he learned that his son was missing. after scouring the village with the few guards that remained with him at the monastary, leoric had decided that the townsfolk had abducted his son and hidden him somewhere. although the townsfolk denied any knowledge of prince albrechts whereabouts, leoric insisted that they had crafted a consiracy against him, and that they would pay the price for such treachery.

the mysterious disappearence of the arch-bishop lazarus left no one in tristram with whom the king would take council. overcome by grief and dementia, leoric had many of the townsfolk executed for the crime of high treason.

as lachdanan and his fellow survivors returned to confront their king, leoric sent his few remaining guards against them. believing that lachdanan was somehow part of the townsfolks consiracy. leoric decreed that he and his party were to die. lachdanan, finally realizing that leoric was beyond salvation, ordered his men to defend themselves. the ensuing battle carried them down into the darkened halls of the monastary, bringing a final desecration to the once holy sanctum of the horadrim. lachdanan won a bittersweet victory as his men were forced to kill all of leorics decieved protectors. they cornered the ravanous king within his own sanctuary and begged him to explain the atrocities he had commited. leoric only spat at them and cursed them for traitors against both his crown and the light.

lachdanan walked slowly towards his king ad sorrowfully drew his sword. full of grief and rage, all honor having been cast to the winds, lachdanan ran his blade through leorics shrivled, blackened heart. the once noble king screamed and unearthly death-cry, and as his madness finally overtook him, he brought down a curse upon those who had so betrayed him. calling upon the forces of darkness that he had spent his entire life combating, leoric condemned lachdanan and the others to eternal damnation. in that last, fleeting moment within the heart of the monastary, all that was ever virtuous or honorable about the stewards of khanduras was shattered forever.

[jimbo]

the reign of diablo

the black king lay dead, slain at the hands of his own priests and knights. the young prince albrecht was still missing, and the proud defenders of khanduras were no more. the people of tristram looked about their lifeless town and were greatly dismayed. awash in feelings of both grief and remorse, they soon realized that their troubles had mearly begun. strange eerie lights appeared in the darkened windows of the monastary. misshapen, leathery-skinned creatures were seen venturing forth from the shadowsf the church. horrible, wounded cries seemed to linger on the wind, emenating from deep underground. it became apparent that something quite unnatural had infested the once holy sight...

travelers on the roads surrounding tristram were accosted by cloaked riders that seemed to now constantly roam the deserted countryside. many villagers fled tristram, making their way to other towns or kingdoms, fearing some unnamed evil that seemed to eait in the shadows all around them. those few who chose to remain seldom ventured out at night, and never tread foot upon the grounds of the cursed monastary. whispered rumors of poor, innocent people being abducted in the night by wicked, nightmarish creatures filled the halls of the local inn. with no king, no law, and no army left to defend them, many of the townsfolk began to fear an attack from the things that now dwelt beneath their town.

the arch-bishop lazarus, frayed and disheveled, returned from his absence and assured the townsfolk that he too had been ravaged by the growing evil of the monastary. with their desperate need for reassurence clouding their good gudgment, lazarus whipped the townsfolk into a frenzied mob. reminding them that prince albrecht was still unaccounted for, he persuaded many of the men to follow him into the depths of the monastary to search for the boy. they gathered torches and soon the night air glowed with the filckering light of hope. they armed themselves with shovels, picks and scyths and so prepared, they boldlt followed the treacherous arch-bishop straight into the fiery maw of hell itself...

the few who survived the horrible fate that wawited them returned to tristram and recounted what they could of the ordeal. their wounds were terrible, and even the skills of the healer could not save some of them. as the stories of demons and devils spread, a stifling, primal terror began to consume the hearts of all of the towns inhabitants. ti was a terror that none of them had ever known...

deep beneath the foundations of the ruined monastary, diablo gorged himself upon the fears of the mortals above him. he slowly sank back into the welcoming shadows and began to harness his depleted power.

he smiled to himself in the sheltering darkness, for he knew that the time of his final victory was fast approaching...

[Canis Lupus]

Thanks for the posts jimbo! Greatly appreciated :)

[jimbo]

all in a days work