Magic Carpet Tips

General Tips for the Novice

One of the great features of Magic Carpet is that a million different players can adopt a million different strategies, but it's possible for all to be victorious. Magic Carpet is a game of such freedom that there is no real definite way to finish the game, the method of completion being entirely up to the player. Experimentation with strategies and play methods can pay off in a big way, but there is no substitute for a skilled joypad handler with bloody fast fingers.

In the Beginning...

The first ten levels of Magic Carpet have a solid learning curve that a smart player will take immediate advantage of. The first five levels should be used as a sort of contrived training ground for would-be wizards - after all, that's what they were designed for. These levels are perfect for honing your skills as a master Carpet flyer, and you should remember that being skilled on the Carpet is the most important skill you can have, above even skilled spell casting. Use these easy introductory levels to train yourself in flying, and play them again and again if need be so that you should be able to despatch any of the early nasties with ease. You should also concentrate on learning to switch spells as fast as possible - it may save your life!

Flying tips

In Magic Carpet, learning to use your Carpet well is imperative to a successful game. For this reason you should practice using the following guidelines:

Learn to use the left and right strafing buttons properly, and they can become invaluable assets. They can be used in conjunction with the backward and forward buttons to pull off some amazing moves during play.
When attacking a castle always use the left and right strafe buttons to fly sideways around the castles' archers from targeting you with any accuracy.
Secret tip: If you are in a tight spot and don't have enough mana to cast the Accelerate spell, quickly turn yourself left to a 45 degree, then hold down the forward key and right strafe key and you will actually fly there quicker than if you flew in a straight line! (Note: this also works vice-versa, i.e. turn right and press forward and left strafe.)
For extremely quick turning left, use right strafe and backwards in conjunction. For turning right, press left strafe and backwards. This gives you a big advantage!
If you have someone on your tail shooting you in the back, don't turn around and face him directly. A better idea is to reverse as quickly as possible so you are behind him. If you can quickly use the Accelerate backwards spell, all the better!
Learn to use the landscape to your advantage and you can gain quite a lead over other players. for instance, if a rivals' castle is positioned at the foot of a mountain, hide behind the mountain and take pot-shots at it. His Arches won't be able to hit you with their arrow, and the only way the rival can get rid of you is to leave his castle and fight you in the open, on equal terms.
If ever you find a spell or some mana down a crater that is too steep to fly down, use the carpet like a skateboard and fly in a downward spiral around the walls of the crater and you should get to the bottom of the crater no problem.
sometimes you will come across deep pits in the land that just aren't wide enough to fly down. If you wish to et to the bottom of these pits for a spell (or whatever), just come to a complete stop over the pit. When you are totally motionless you will then begin to sink downwards. use the left/right strafe keys to position yourself properly and you will eventually reach the bottom of the pit and whatever was in it. NOTE: If you are sinking down the pit, be VERY careful moving forwards and backwards, as if you hit any of the pit walls while moving forward or backwards you will shoot up and back out of the pit, wasting all your work!
The game proper...
By the time of, say, level 11, you should have a solid flying ability and a nice base of spells to work with. It is around this level that things start to hot up, with your abilities being tested quite thoroughly, and some new creatures to battle. Here are the main points that Bullfrog players would consider to be the most important to your overall strategy.
If you find yourself short of mana, fly around the level possessing all the buildings you can. This can sometimes yield you huge amounts of mana to play with, as most wizards tend to ignore buildings.
Never build your castle close to a wall or to another player's castle. Ideally your castle should always be built with expansion in mind, so always have enough space around your first-stage castle for the next six stages, regardless of whether you think you will be powerful enough to build it to such a size. Walls are permanent fixtures and cannot e really moved unless you have enough mana for (and have collected) the Crater spell.
You should learn to use the potential of your Castle spell. The spell can be used in ways you might not have thought of, and indeed can become a powerful attack spell in its own right. For instance, if you find yourself in the midst of a full scale Giant Bee attack, a well placed Castle spell in the middle of the group can de devastating and can garner you huge groups of mana. Your castle may well be destroyed in the process, but built it again and again until all the Bees are destroyed, then possess the mana at your leisure. Because the mana is centered around your castle, your balloons can collect it very quickly which can leave you very powerful very quickly! This tactic works with almost all creatures, but works especially well with swarming nasties such as Skeleton Armies, Archers, Vultures, Griffins and Giant Bees.
You may find yourself in what we at Bullfrog call a "click-fest"; this is fighting over a pool of mana with a multitude of other wizards. These "click-fests" only really happen if there is just one pool of mana on the level, but there is a sly tactic that can sometimes work very well. As the other wizards fight over the mana pool, use your Accelerate spell to the nearest creature and destroy it. Then possess its mana and accelerate back to the original mana pool. If the tactic has worked, some of even all of the other wizards will move away to the other newly formed, smaller pool, leaving you to lap up all the mana for yourself!
During the game you will sometimes find a large pool of rival wizards' mana with the enemy wizard hovering above it. On possessing the mana you find that he immediately re-possesses it as his own, with the end result that your balloons are never attracted to the mana. The best way to work around this is to concentrate on one mana ball, and if he possesses it again, fire Possess indiscriminately around the pool and while he moves around repossessing, you once again concentrate on the same mana ball. Repeat the process until your balloon eventually arrives, and then go mad and possess everything in the pool as quickly as possible until your balloon is full, or there is no mana left. If you are a skilled player, you can also try to fend off any enemy balloons that arrive, though this can be difficult.
If you are up against a particularly tough opponent (an you invariably will be!) whose Castle is much more advanced than your own, it is imperative that you reduce his Castle as much as possible. An efficient method to achieve this end is to lure other creatures into his Castle, and have them destroy it. first of all, wait until a particularly dangerous creature, or even better, a group of dangerous creatures such as Griffin, are near his Castle. Hover in and around the enemy fortress and open fire on one of the Griffin, then retreat to the center of the enemy Castle. The Griffin should follow and attack both you and the enemy's Castle, believing it to be yours. If you have the Shield spell, use it and then Accelerate home at top speed. If done correctly the enemy Castle will be levelled in seconds! Wait until the Griffin disperse, and then go back and mop up the mana!
If you are ever attacked by creatures hiding in a forest, instead of attacking them directly just let loose at the trees. This wills tart a forest fire that could wipe them all out without you firing another shot! This is very effective with Skeleton Armies and Archer groups. Effectively, once you start the fire you could fly off to deal with more pressing matters and return to find nothing but mana!
Whenever your Castle is under attack by creatures who seem relentless, use the lower Castle button to reduce your Castle by one level. It may seem stupid by this leaves you free to create another Castle directly underneath them which will, depending on the creature, destroy them utterly. Assuming you have more than two Castle stages built, a more efficient variant of this tactic is to rebuild your Castle just after the creatures have destroyed a stage, which has the same effect but leaves you with an intact Castle! But beware that other wizards don't take advantage of this by possessing your mana while you're desperately trying to rebuild...
When you are attacking a Castle, approach it as stealthily as possible (casting invisible if you have it) and try to land your Carpet in front of the outside wall. This will shield you from the arrows of the archers on the castle stockades, ad hide you from the rival player for a time.
If you have the Teleport To Castle spell a the start of the game don't use it just anywhere. Fly over a rivals' Castle and then use it. This means that whenever you want to attack his Castle, simple use Teleport while in your castle and you'll be instantly transported back to his. Blast away at his Castle, and when you've run out of mana or your health is looking bad, use Teleport to return home. Recharge your health and mana bar and then use Teleport again and blast his Castle once more. Repeat until his castle is destroyed, and then polish 'im off! NOTE: using this tactic can sometimes infuriate another player because just as he's about to kill you, you Teleport back home again, leaving him to pick up the pieces of his severely damaged Castle. This is why it's such fun to use!
When a rival player's Castle has crumbled from a severe battering and his mana is spread around his castle, take advantage of the situation and steal as much mana from him as possible. Most players think that because the mana is right outside his Castle, there isn't much point in possessing it as his balloon will collect it all anyway before your own does. However, this isn't always the case. There is a real tactic to use that makes for extremely successful mana-stealing sweeps. As soon as you've beaten away a stage of his castle, immediately cast Accelerate and fly around at top speed around his Castle, possessing furiously. You may well have possessed most of his mana by the time your balloons get there! The best part is that the other player will know that if he begins to repossess his mana, his castle is left open to attack and also, he HAS to wait until he rebuilds his castle to its original state otherwise his castle will be too small to hold his mana!

These tips were provided by Bullfrog Productions Ltd.

Magic Carpet Tips

General Tips for the Novice

In the Beginning...

Flying tips

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