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Beginner's Guide to Free Realms  

Free Realms
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Contents [hide]

Overview

Free Realms is a kid-friendly MMO that allows you to be an adventurer, archer, blacksmith, brawler, card duelist, chef, demo derby driver, kart driver, medic, miner, ninja, pet trainer, postman, warrior, or wizard any time you want! All you need to do is click the jobs button, select a new job and tada, you are set and ready to go.

Just a few of the things you can do in Free Realms while you adventure include picking various flowers or collecting rare tokens hidden throughout the land while adventuring. The chef and mining jobs allow you to play mini games that are addictive and net you goods for your craft. And last but not least you can pretend to be a type of race car driver with the kart or demo derby jobs or be a ninja and beat your foe with a shuriken!

So you think you want to play Free Realms huh? Great, let's get started.

Getting Started

ZAM Free Realms header
Free Realms initial screen
This guide was developed to help you get into the game quickly and easily. The first image, at left, shows our header, click the Play Now button located on the upper left hand corner of this page.

You should now be on Free Realms main page, click the Play Now! button in the center of the page.

You will have the option to select New Players or Existing Players.

New Players

New or Existing Player?
You will need a Sony Online Entertainment Station.com account to play the game, the following walk through will show you step by step how to create one.

You will need to enter your country and birth date, then click Next.

You should now be viewing the FREE REALMS END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT. If you are under the age of 18, please ask a parent or guardian to read and agree to this license.

Downloading the Game

PICTURE

All done? Okay! When you're ready, click on the Log In button in the upper right corner of the page. On the new page that appears, enter your Username and Password. Check the "Remember Me" box only if you don't use a shared computer (safety reasons). This will take you to the next page where you can download the game.

PICTURE

Click the green Download button to begin downloading the game.

A few things to note here:

  • Though this runs in your browser, it still needs to download files. Currently the size is 58MB.
  • You cannot change the location of the directory. It is defaulted to C:\ProgramFiles\Sony Online Entertainment
  • The game cannot be from anywhere but the browser in game.

MOVE NOTE Note: Here is a small guide to help make a short cut on your desktop to take you directly to the homepage (though still cannot run it directly on desktop) http://111singingfish.com/random/how%20to/freerealms.html

Creating Your Character:

Once your game is downloading and the screen is up, you can start to make your character.

You have a choice between a Pixie and Human, either Male or Female. Click on the avatar (character) you wish to make. Your options are as follows:

  • Face / Skin Tone
  • Hair / Hair Color
  • Eye Color
  • Wings (Pixies)
  • Beard (Human Males)
  • Clothes
  • Facepaint (Makeup for Females, Tattoos for Both)

Once you have your looks settled, it's time for a name! Press the Next button to take you to the Name Generator:

PICTURE

Now you have a few choices:

  • Create your own custom name by typing it into the text box. If you do so, you'll need to choose a temporary name until your custom one is approved or denied. You will know through an e-mail at your registered address.
  • Use the spinners to make a First and Last Name

Server Selection:

Once you have made your choice, press the Next button then press the green Go! Button.

This will bring you to the Server Selection screen:

PICTURE

A few things to note on this screen:

  • At the bottom is the selection of servers available and their status. You are not stuck on one server like other MMOs, so choose which one you want.
  • You can skip the Tutorial after you made a character already (if this is your first character you cannot skip it)

Entering the Game:

Press the Play Now! Button to enter the game. A new window will appear, letting you know the game will run in a new window (make sure pop ups are allowed for the game or it won't open).

If at any time you cannot download or enter Free Realms, stop by the main Forums and the Technical areas http://forums.station.sony.com/freerealms/forums/list.m

Game Commands

Here is a better explanation for many of the controls for the game, expanding more on what the Tutorial spoke about.

Camera and Movement

To move the Camera in game, hold down the right mouse button and drag your mouse in the direction you want to look.

To move your character you have a few choices:

1. Left click on the ground.
2. Hold down both mouse buttons
3. Use the W,A,S, & D keys
4. Use the arrow keys

Find the way which is most comfortable to you.

Combat

While in a combat encounter or instance, you can move exactly as if in the open world. But there are a few more commands to know.

1. Left clicking on a target selects it as well as makes your character run up and attack it.
2. Pressing TAB targets the nearest enemy.
3. The numbers 1 (Attack) and 2-5 (Abilities) can also be pressed to be used or clicked on.
4. The numbers 6-9 are used for items in your Item Belt. So far you need to click on them to use and pressing the number does not work.
5. You can both walk over or click on gold and items left on the ground.

More information about Combat can be found in the Mini Games section.

Game & UI Settings

Here is a better explanation for many of the parts of your character "User Interface" and Settings you can fiddle with:

PICTURE

This is your basic UI. Let's go through the areas, going clockwise:

1. In the upper left corner, where you see your name and portrait, is your Character's Job level and icon.
2. In the upper right hand corner is your mini map. See below for a more in depth explanation.
3. Below that is the Pet Icon if you had one out.
4. Below the mini map is your button for your Friends List.
5. Next comes your Quest Helper/Journal
6. At the bottom of the UI is your Toolbar. Here you can choose starting at rightmost, your:

  • Inventory
  • Jobs and Equipment
  • Pets
  • The Card Game (TCG)
  • Station Cash (SC)
  • Quests and Collections
  • Item Belt
7. At the bottom left is your Chat bar. See below for more in depth explanation of the settings you have there.

Your Quest Helper

The Quest Helper (or sometimes referred to as Journal) is the place where you will find all the quests you have received and are working on in the game. Here are some things to know about the Helper:

1. Non members can only hold 10 quests before it is full.
2. Pressing the gray button of an arrow pointing to a dot will minimize the helper.
3. Moving your cursor towards the quest name in the helper will make arrows appear, allowing you to scroll through the quests you have.

Your Mini-map

Your mini-map is where you find many useful ways to display what you need in order to quest in Free Realms. Here are some things you should know about it. 1. You can press the Atlas button to reveal a large map of Free Realms. Here you can take Warpstones you have visited before and directly travel to them.
2. The Direction Indicator button toggles the arrows to different points (quest, mini game, merchant) on or off on your UI.
3. The Configuration button allows you to decide what dots on your mini map you want to be visible, and if you want to have pointers for those particular dots as well. The colors of the mini map dots are as follows:

  • Green - Quests
  • Purple - Mini games
  • Red - Battles
  • Lt. Blue - Merchants
  • Orange - Friends
  • Yellow - Group members
  • Blue - Trainers

Your current quest objective will be a dot that is blinking on your mini map.

NPCs and Quests

NPCs (non player characters) who have quests for you are designated with a green (!) above their heads. If an NPC is part of a quest (as an objective) you will see a green (?) above their head. If an NPC has a quest that you are not high enough to receive, a gray (!) will be above their heads.

Pet Window

This window will give you some basic options for your pet in one place.

1. Clicking on the red X will dismiss your pet back into "storage".
2. The gray arrow button in the corner will minimize the pet window.
3. The paw print button will bring up all the tricks you can teach your pet and have them do.
4. Click on the pet portrait will bring up another window with other pet options such as to clean or feed them.

Friends Window

This is where you can Add your friends and even teleport to them! Clicking the button expands it to show these options.

1. Typing in a player's name in the small text area and pressing the + button will allow you to Add a friend (the friend must be online for this to work). You can also left click on another player to open up a radial menu. Choose to Add them as a friend and if they accept they will be on your list.
2. Acquaintances (new section to me)
3. You can also put names of players that you wish to ignore in the ignore list.
4. Choosing a player name allows you to teleport to them, the green arrow button (kind of like the recycling symbol). Hold down the button to be whisked away!

Tutorial

After the game loads and a brief 360 spin around your character, the Tutorial begins. I will be as thorough as I can, extending a few points as I go along. Anything I touch on can be found in Part II and III of this walk through, so look for a * symbol in the text if I explain it more.

The first thing you will see is an NPC, Michael Tallstrider, run up to you. He's glad you made it through the Warpstone before it was destroyed by the robgoblins (noticed that ruined device near you?) and needs your help chasing the creatures off.

Click the gray Goodbye button to continue. This will begin your Tutorial about the Camera* and Movement*.

Moving down the path, you'll see Michael stop and you will learn about NPCs and receiving quests*.

Now, run down the path, scaring off the robgoblins as you go until your next Tutorial pops up about the Quest Helper, or Journal*. Click on Michael and learn that the robgoblins chased a pig from Farmer Chug's pen. Click on the green "Yes, I accept!" button to receive the "Wilbur's Trouble" quest. Continue down the path towards the pig that is surrounded by robgoblins (it has a light shining on it) and chase of the robgoblins.

Talk to Michael once again, and he asks you to take Wilbur the pig back to Farmer Chug further down the path. Congratulations! Your Adventurer job is now unlocked!

Moving towards Farmer Chug brings you to another tutorial, this time about your mini-map*.

Continue on and speak to Farmer Chug. He thanks you for returning Wilbur. Click the green "Thanks!" button to turn in the quest and receive your reward of 31 coins.

Now, Farmer Chug wants to put a spell on you to turn you into a scary monster and chase those robgoblins out of his pig pen! Accept the new quest, and after the illusion spell is cast, make your way into the pig pen to your right and start chasing those robgoblins. When all of them are gone, talk to Farmer Chug again to accept his thanks and to receive your reward of 31 coins.

Uh oh, seems those robgoblins are now ruining Ashley's birthday party! Accept the new quest from Farmer Chug and head over to Ashley at the party pavilion. Talk to Ashley and hear her troubles and get your reward - 6 coins and one Mystical Sanctuary Potion (forgot to write down stats of this doi!)

Now comes a choice (you can still do the other job quest if you decide to only do one and leave the tutorial) - Do you want to cook and make a stew to give to Ashley, or do you want to learn to fight the robgoblins?

Cooking: Ashley tells you to meet Cookie down by her wagon. Accept the quest and head east around the party pavilion and talk to Cookie who is chasing a robgoblin around with her frying pan.

She will give you a reward of 2 coins and a new quest to become a Chef! Accept the quest to do the Harvest mini game. I'll explain those in more detail in the next section. For now, click on the pile of hay with a food symbol above it. This will bring up the harvesting mini game. Press the green Go! button to start harvesting, a mini game where you match 3 or more of the same item to fill up your baskets.

When you get the amount of ingredients needed, the mini game will stop. Talk to Cookie who then directs you to the cooking table behind her to make the stew. This is another mini game as well. Click on the cooking table and choose the Strong Arm Stew. you have the right about on ingredients so click on the arrow button to take you to the cooking mini game window. Press the go button to start.

Follow the directions for each part of making the stew. When you are finished, return to Cookie to receive your reward for the stew - 31 coins. Now it's time to take what you made and give it to Ashley!

Accept the new quest and head back to Ashley. Talk to her and she'll take the stew from you. Now watch as she takes out those pesky robgoblins! Afterward, receive your reward of 6 coins and one Mystical Sanctuary potion.

Brawler: Ashley sends you to Flanders to learn how to be a Brawler. Accept the quest and head west around the party pavilion to the man beating up some robgoblins ... and listening to a rendition of Eye of the Tiger.

Talk to Flanders to get your reward of 8 coins and a Mystical Sanctuary Potion as well as unlocking your Brawler job. He now has you go back to the party pavilion area to get rid of those robgoblins.

Accept the new quest and return to Ashley, but this time, do you notice the gate of the pavilion has crossed swords over it? This lets you know that clicking there will bring you into a battle instance. I'll talk more about those in the next section. For now, click on the gate and press the go button.

Go through the Combat tutorial (I described this is more detail in the Game Commands section) and when finished talk to Flanders outside to receive your reward of 31 coins.

Talk to Ashley one more time to learn about radial menus (here you can choose the other job quest or the quest to be teleported to the mainland). Make sure you are finished here as you cannot come back!

Ashley sends to you the main Free Realms world now in one of three areas: Highroad Junction, Crossroads, or Stillwater Crossing. A new "Welcome to Free Realms!" window will greet you. Look it over and press the X at the bottom to close it.

Now the real fun begins!

ZAM would like to thank Theresa Truelight of The Black Forest for some of the information in this article.

This page last modified 2009-05-06 13:30:56.