Diablo II Character Planner
Current version 2.2.1

This program was originally created by Silver The Paladin(formerly 
White(K)night) and has been re-designed by myself.  The original 
program was created with the intent of helping people to plan out 
their characters and prevent any disappointments like "Damn, wish 
I didn't put that extra point in Multi-Shot!"  Since then, this
program has been rewritten from scratch and had many, many, many
features added to enhance the planning process.

Future updates will be available as information is release and I 
can pull myself away the game.
Since the initial release of this program with the re-design by 
myself, Silver has not had any input on the program itself.  Credit 
must be given to him for starting this program.  Please do not ask 
him for the code since he doesn't have it, or any request to add to 
the program.  Contact me for this.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Contents of readme.txt
1. Characters, Skills, Skill points, Attribute Points
2. Quests
3. Random Character Generator
4. Saving/Restoring Characters
5. Terms
6. Setup
7. DLL
8. Updates and Changes/ Known Bugs
9. Contact
10. Disclaimer/Copyrights

------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Characters

All five characters are included within.  The Expansion characters 
are still in development.  When infomation of the skills is available,
they will be added.  Any Blizzard employee that wants to let me know 
advance, feel free to email me, call me, come over to my house, 
whatever you want!! =] 
Character levels are limited to 99 within the the game even though it
would seem impossible to get this high.  You know there is going to 
be one person out there that has to get that high (Yogi).  Anyway, 
since you can only go to level 99 there, you can only go to 99 here.

Skills

All skill information is subject to change on Blizzard's whim.  Thanks 
to Gaile over at Diabloii.net for getting the information.  For more 
complete game information be sure to visit http://www.diabloii.net.  
Also The Chaos Sanctuary over at http://www.battle.net/diablo2/ has 
complete information on everything set in stone within the game.

Skill Points

Skill points are placed by clicking the icon of the skill you want 
to add.  You may also right click for a pop-up menu for reserving 
skill points and quest points.  Basically, you reserve a point to 
be used later on.  An example of this is, you reserve level 4 and 
5's skill points.  Then when you get to level 6, you may place these 
skill points in the new skills available in the skill tree.  
Place the points by right-clicking and using the reserve point.  
Maximum skill points allowed in one skill is 20.  Although it can go
as high as 30 if, and ONLY if you have an item(s) to take you over
the level 20 restriction.  Note, Shrines can take you over 20, but 
that is only for a brief time.

Note:  In the game you will not be able to over add skills.  This 
means that when you make level 6, all your level 6 skills may only 
have one skill point in them.  When you get to 7, they may have 2 
and so on.  This was done so you can't reserve 10 points and dump 
them in "Chain-Lightning" as soon as it is available.  This is 
checked for here also.  No need to cheat it here, why cheat it 
since you can't cheat it in Diablo II.

Attribute Points

Attribute points may be placed once a character goes up a level.  In
the game, you will receive 5 points per level to place as you want.
There is also a bonus to the life/stamina/mana per level based on the
character class.  Life/Stamina/Mana are calculated using the same
methods as within Diablo II, to include starting stats, bonuses per
level and character class.

------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Quests

Den of Evil
The quest reward for completing the Den of Evil quest is one skill
point.  This is received in all three difficulties.  With that being
said and there being no set level for when you finish each level, I
have ever so generously <grin> handed these out when I am guessing
you will get to each.  You will get them at level 3 for normal, 25
for nightmare, 41 for hell.  
To use these, right click the skill you want to use it on, if you
are the proper level, the option for that quest point will be there
for you to use.

Book of Skill
The quest reward for killing Radament is a Book of Skill that 
allows you to use 1 skill point however you want.  Again, guessing 
on the levels of what I got it on a single player, you will receive 
this at level 15 on normal, 30 on Nightmare, and 45 on Hell.  
To use these, right click the skill you want to use it on, if you
are the proper level, the option for that quest point will be there
for you to use.

The Golden Bird
When you kill your first "Enhanced" monster you kill will drop Jade 
Figurine.  After running is circle for a bit, you will finally give
another statue you get from trades to Alkor.  Alkor will take the 
bird and use its ashes to brew a potion that adds 20 life points to 
your stats, permanently.  The levels you receive this one are 20 on 
normal, 38 for Nightmare, and on Hell it is 48.

Lam Esen's Tome
Uppon completing this quest for Alkor in act III you will recieve
5 attribute points to use as you wish.  The levels I give this are 
22 on Normal, 39 on Nightmare, and 50 for hell.

Death of Izual
The quest reward for killing Izual in act IV is 2 skill points to 
use however you want.  Yet again, guess on the level of what you 
should be when you get this, here it is.  Level 24 on Normal, level 
40 on Nightmare, and level 59 on Hell.

To use these, right click the skill you want to use it on, if you
are the proper level, the option for that quest point will be there
for you to use.


Note:  You must complete each difficulty before moving on to the 
next level.  In other words, if you have not beaten the game on the
normal difficulty setting, you may NOT start a game on nightmare
difficulty.

Note 2:  The level in which you receive the points is not always 
going to be what I have here.  In Multiplayer, it will be much later 
unless you play alot by yourself or rush through the game.

------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Random Character Generator

This is for the people that think the game is to easy or just want
a challenge when playing.  Basically you can choose a character 
and level or let it be chosen randomly and get a character 
generated for you to follow.  You may get a bunch of points 
placed where you would never have before.  Give it a try and see
if you can finish the game that way.

Skill trees may be selected for a less random character by clicking
the "Skill Tree's" button on the random generator.  A minimum of 
one tree must be selected, if you try no trees, then the "All Trees"
option will be automatically chosen for you.

Note:  The skill points that you get when completing quests are 
not included in the generator.  This allows you to have a few
precious points to place.  My suggestion would be to hold those
till higher level since the odds the generator will choose those
are slim.

------------------------------------------------------------------


4. Saving/Restoring Characters

Saving
Characters are saved in a easy to follow format for when you are 
playing Diablo II.  Simply have your copy open in windows or a 
printed copy within reach for guidance when you get that coveted 
skill point.

Note: If you use alt-tab in windows and are playing a realm game,
that game will crash.

Restoring
You can restore a previously made character by clicking the "Open"
button on the main selection screen.  You will see file selection
box where you can choose the character text file you want to open.
The Character Class and Level is displayed for each file before 
opening so you can make sure that is the one you want.  Invalid 
files will list, but not open.  I don't want to try and figure 
what file extension is free in the world, so I will just stick 
with this.  Also, any character made with versions older that 2.0.3
will have attribute points calcutated when opened and then you can 
resave them to have the points saved.

------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Terms
Clvl = Character level, current level of your character.
Slvl = Skill Level, Level of skill, how many points are in that 
skill

------------------------------------------------------------------

6. Setup

Extract all the files to any directory of your choice.  Follow the 
instructions below for the font.  Other than that, just run the exe.
This program is made for Resolutions 800x600 or greater.  It will
not appear correctly in 640x480.

	Font

	The font used for this program is included in a zip called 
	fonts.zip.  Simply extract this to your windows\font 
	directory and all should run fine.

------------------------------------------------------------------

7. DLL

msvbvm60.dll is needed for this program to run.  This is the Visual
Basic 6.0 runtime dll. You can get this file at the following
location:
ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/Softlib/MSLFILES/vbrun60.exe

This is a Microsoft ftp site and I have NO control of the availabilty
of access to it.  If it is unavailable for a period of more than 30
days, a link will be provided via this programs homepage.

------------------------------------------------------------------

8. Updates and Changes/ Known Bugs
Public releases(some versions may be skipped for internal testing)

2.2.1
	- Fixed bug in attributes when loading a old plan file.
	- fixed mix up with multishot and cold arrow images for 
	Amazon.
	- fixed calculation error when selecting the "Attributes"
	button from the right button bar.
	- Added The Golden Bird +20 to life quest reward. (See item 
	2. Quests for details)
	- Added Lam Esen's Tome (+5 attribute points) quest reward.
	(See item 2. Quests for details)
	- Changed levels of when quest rewards are given to make more
	linear (See item 2. Quests for details)
	- Fixed error with Death of Izual hell point was showing as 
	Nightmare.
	- Got rid of Annoying Den of Evil (Hell) message that kept
	coming up even if you used it already.

2.1.0
	- Previously made Character Planner files can now be imported. 
	(See item 4. Saving/Restoring Characters).
	- Attribute points are now planned.  Also they are saved to 
	the character file and restored including any not used.
	(see item 1. Characters, Skills, Skill points, Attribute 
	Points)
	- Reserved Points are now saved/restored also.
	- Fixed error with reserved points when using the "Undo Last"
	command on Necromancer.
	- Added buttons to reserve points and view attributes to side
	panel of each character.
	- Fixed bug when removing quest skill points and not being
	able to get them again.
	- Improved file saving method.
	- Fixed bug with Sorceress class never chosen in random
	generation.
	- Random Generator level no longer restricted to 75, now it
	is up to 99.
	- Beefed up Random Generator with a tree selection tab. Now
	You can have more control of your random character (hehehe).
	(See item 3. Random Character Generator)
	- Minor spelling errors fixed, including the .exe file (Doh!).
	- Fixed error with Smite and Holy bolt stats being mixed.
	- Minor skill stat changes.
	- Added Iron Golem as a prerequisite for Revive.  (oops)
	- Fixed Barbarian - Leap Attack Radius, there is none now.
	- Fixed Barbarian - Taunt Tooltip text.
	- Fixed Radius stats for Necromancer skill - Corpse Explosion.
	- Changed Icon =].
	- Character Selection redone to reduce system load.  No more
	animations, was taking too long to load on slower systems and
	was too choppy.

2.0.0
-----
	- Escape Key now exits the current window to the previous. If
	on the character selection, escape exits the program.
	- All Character Skill information included for all skill
	levels. (Note that this is STILL subject to change)
	- Added Book Of Skill Quest point. (see item 2. Quests).
	- Added Izual Quest points. (see item 2. Quests).
	- All Skill images have been updated to in-game images.
	- Fixed positioning of trees, tree arrows and highlight box.
	- Random Character Generator added (see item 3. Random 
	Character Generator).
	- Updated skill mouse-over information.
	
1.6.3
-----
	- Fireball now available with no points in warmth. (oops)
	- Added line to show Ice blast is prerequisite of shiver 
	armor.
	- Updated skill information for all characters.

1.6.1
-----
	- Limited maximum character level to 99.
	- Limit maximum skill points per skill to 20.
	- Added Den of Evil point rewards (see item 2. Quests).
	- New image for Paladin Vigor skill.
	- Fixed problem with not being able to add points to the
	Increase Speed skill of Barbarian.
	- Zues Bolt now known as Lightning Fury.

1.5.4
-----
	- fixed Ax Mastery skill points not decreasing when using 
	Undo Last.
	- fixed Leap skill points being removed when you use Undo 
	last on Leap Attack.
	- Fixed Power Strike skill points not decreasing when using 
	Undo Last.
	- Dopplezon now known as Duplicate.
	- Reverse Vampire now known as Life Tap.
	- New image for Amazon Valkyrie skill.
	- Added link in readme for required dll.
	- Updated readme with new information.
	- Silver no longer involved in the developement of this.

1.5.3
-----
	- Redesigned Silver's program and in joint effort, released
	this.

For earlier editions, please refer to the original programs readme 
file.

Known Bugs
	
	Currently there are only a few known bugs that are not 
	fixable.
	
	1. Cursor hotspot is in the center of cursor.  This is 
	because Visual Basic has problems with .cur files so .ico
	files have to be used in its place.
	2. Can only be run on a Windows95 and higher based OS.  
	Until VB programs can be exported to Mac, I will not be
	converting it.

------------------------------------------------------------------

9. Contact

Baselisk - 
	baselisk@mail.com
	http://www.planetdiablo.com/barracks
	icq - 66935222 (I'm using it now when I am on b.net =])

Silver The Paladin - (formerly White(K)night)
	silverthepaladin@yahoo.com
	http://aor.westmarch.net
	icq - 21046613
	Note -  Has nothing to do with the development of this 
	program since his original release.

Diabloii.net
	Information only and one of the two best sites out there
	Do NOT request information from them about this program.
	http://www.diabloii.net

PlanetDiablo.com
	Information/web hosting and the other best site out there
	Do NOT request information from them about this program.
	http://www.planetdiablo.com

Blizzard
	http://www.blizzard.com
	(as if you aren't hitting that site at least 2 times a day
	along with diabloii.net and planetdiablo.com)

Chaos Sactuary
	Information only do NOT request information from them 
	about this program.
	http://www.battle.net/diablo2/

------------------------------------------------------------------

10. Disclaimer/Copyrights

This software is provided on an "as is" basis.  Nothing should go 
wrong, but if it does, it is not my fault.  You use this software 
at your own risk.
The creator of this program recognises that Diablo II and many of 
the images contained in this program are trademarks of Blizzard 
Entertainment, and advises others to observe this as well when 
using/distributing this application.

