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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. 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.

New Players

Getting Started

The easiest and quickest way to get to the Free Realms site is to click the Play Now button located on the upper left hand corner of this page.

Free Realms initial screen
New or Existing Player?

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


Select New Players or Existing Players to take you to the appropriate page to continue on your new journey.

Creating Your Character

Choose character
Personalization
Once your game is downloading and the screen is up, you can begin to create your character. You have a choice between a Pixie and Human, either Male or Female. Click on the avatar (character) you wish to create and it will take you to the personalization page.

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)

Selecting a Name

After you have your looks settled, it's time for a name! Press the Next button to take you to the Name Creation Page

Choosing a name

Choose a name
Create a name
Use the spinners to choose a first and last name, the last name will be made of two words. Your friend's will need to use the first and the last name to contact you in game.

Creating a Name

Need approval
Temporary name
Create your own custom name by typing it into the text box. If you do choose to create a custom name, you will need to choose a temporary name. You will contacted by e-mail at your registered address is notifying you if it was approved or denied.
Once you have made your choice, press the Next button which is your last chance to go back and make changes to your character. Press the green Go! Button.

End User License Agreement
Time to create an account


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. You will need to click the check box to

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.

Creating an Account

Country and age
User name, password, & email address input

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

Then you will need to create a user name, don't make this the same as your character name, make it something only you or your parents will know. Also when adding your password, make it something that isn't easy to guess like your favorite color or your pet's name. The password will need to be entered twice, so be careful when inputting it. Lastly, add your email address. If you do not have one, ask your Mom or Dad for theirs.

Account creation verification

Account creation verification
Account creation verification

Downloading the Game

Download Page
Save Installer
All done? Okay! When you're ready, click on the green Download button This will take you to the next page where you can download the game.

When the pop up window appears that allow you to download the very small installation program, click Save File. This file will be saved to your hard drive where saved files are usually stored.

  • Although Free Realms in your browser, you still need to download files. Currently the size is 59MB. This size may change depending on additional content that may be added.
  • You cannot change the directory of the installation. It is defaulted to C:\Program Files\Sony Online Entertainment
  • The game cannot be from anywhere but the browser in game.

Installing the Game

Install icon
Run file



Double click the icon to open the installation program. (image is just an example of where your download may be located, and what the icon looks like)


A pop up box with a security warning will allow you to Run the application.
Installer progress
Download progress


The installation program doesn't take very long and there's a status bar showing you it's progress.

When that is finished, it will tell you to go back to the Free Realms page to finish your install.

Once you are back to the Free Realms page, it will automatically begin downloading the program files required to run Free Realms in your browser. This, also, doesn't take very long.

Server Selection

Server Selection
New window


Next to the Play Now! button Chadty the squirrel will let you know which server you will be on. Or below him is the listing of each server available and it's status and population. This game differs in that you can choose a different server every time and your character will still be the same.



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.)

Learning the Game

Tutorial

After the game loads and a brief 360 spin around your character, the Tutorial begins. 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!

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.

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.

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:

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.

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!

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

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

  • You cannot skip the Tutorial if this is your first character, any time after this you can skip it.

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

This page last modified 2009-05-13 16:10:07.