Have you played Final Fantasy VII? That is a good example of figuring out a magic system inside the game, though it is not a puzzle. Another place you might want to look at is Mage:The Ascension by White Wolf. There roleplaying system does not have specific spells but spheres that you use to create the effect you want. It''s a table-top RPG, but definetly worth the look.

- oni316

The magic system of the old Ultima Underworld series the magic system was mysterious, fun, and very playable. The player had to actually learn the spells in order to cast them, and in the heat of battle, this led to a scrambling to remember your spells and get the combination off in time without getting hurt. Along the right side of the screen (when the user commanded it to appear, of course) was a list of Runes that the player selected. The player could select up to three of the symbols which would then appear in the casting box then hit a cast button. The player was given an elementary list of spells in the beginning to get the player started. There were then hints on scrolls throughout the game about how one could modify spells to make them more powerful with a slight variation of the symbols or about totally new spells that they could cast. The player also had magic points that the spells used up to regulate how often a spell could be cast and what level of spell could be cast. With proper spell balance of costs, strength, and player knowledge and a logical language of Runes that a player slowly has to discover, I believe that an alternate spell system such as this could really provide a fun spell system for a game.

You may want to try LOOM by Lucasarts. The magic in this game is composed of musical notes, which you must find out throughout the game.

Although it''s graphics supports just 16 color modes (I heard there''s 256 color version, though), the graphic is stunning!

It was made for MS-DOS for IBM-PC compatibles, but I''m sure you can run it under windows systems.


Cheers,

Pion the windsurfer