Heheh, my initial reaction when I saw the formula was that you made it up, but I wasn't sure and it turned out to be somewhat realistic as some here have already mentioned
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About the manual, though, I was very pleased with it overall. It includes much more than many games will give you and the full spell and item reference was a very nice addition. I am used to having to purchase a "clue book" for information like that.
One of the things that would be nice, though, is a brief overview of each nation and its general strengths/weeknesses and unit types. I don't recall reading that, but some of this information is included in game and there is an explanation of each on the nation select screen. This along with some type of tutorial to understand how the game works and get that initial nudge, but the walkthru out now does that very well.
I would also like to comment on how well the in game documentation is done. I really like how you can get information on just about every item/stat in the game. The hotlinks and popups that give detailed information are really nice, especially in the spell research area where you can see the lists of spells and get detailed descriptions of each. Or, if you are on a unit portrait, you can get detailed information on each unit stat (and what is currently affecting it), equipment, and abilities. That in itself really can help the learning curve and makes it so that a manual isn't even necessary for many parts of the game. Of course, it does take some time to get to know your way around and realize all of this information is there
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Granted that not everyone knows about this site and the references created, but those fill out the rest of the information nicely and gives a player just about all one could ask for as documentation for a game.
Oh, and weren't the old Ultima games great, Leif? I remember saving months worth of money as a young teenager so that I could get Ultima III and then IV. Those were great adventures.