Play - Selecting the Play button will send you into the world. This button will be darkened until you have created a character in the highlighted slot.
Quit - Select Quit to disconnect from the game and return to the desktop. You will be asked to confirm this choice.
Options - The Options button allows you to configure some aspects of how the game looks and operates. When you click on the Options button, you will see the Options Menu. Your Options Menu will look different in clients other then the Trials of Atlantis client, but will offer most of the same functionality.
Delete - Selecting this option will delete the currently selected character. Be very careful when doing so, because there's no guarantee at all that a deleted character will be recoverable. When you select Delete, you'll be given a popup confirmation box which you'll need to type Y E S into, then accept. Once you've done so, your character is deleted and the character slot it occupied is available for another character.
Graphics Options
Resolution - This option will cycle through the available resolutions, starting at 800x600. Note that in Windowed Mode, this will change the size of the game window. You should adjust the resolution to a size that you find comfortable, yet still displays the entire game screen.
Clip Plane Distance - This option will adjust how far away you see game geometry. Obviously, the Far range setting will show you the most, but it it also uses the most system resources.
Precache Options - This option will allow you to adjust how much data is loaded into system memory. The more you load into system memory, the more system memory is used, but if your computer can handle it, you'll have the smoothest video possible when new players, creatures or structures approach your clipping plane.
Enable Windowed Mode - This option allows you to switch between Full-Screen and Windowed modes. Windowed Mode tends to use more system resources, but gives you a lot more versatility when you're multi-tasking.
Use Atlantis Trees - This options allows you to toggle between the more advanced Atlantis trees, and the older Classic trees. The Atlantis trees require more system resources, but are slimmer and more attractive then the Classic trees.Use Atlantis Terrain - This option allows you to toggle between Atlantis and Classic terrain, in much the same way the Use Atlantis Trees option does. Note that if you deselect this option, you will still use Atlantis Terrain in the Trials of Atlantis zones, but will use Classic terrain in the Classic and Shrouded Isles zones.
Dynamic Shadows - Toggling Dynamic Shadows gives you the option to use much more advanced and realistic-looking shadows in the game, again at the cost of a bit more system resources. You can further modify the Shadow Quality from Low to High, and the Shadow Figures between none and all.
Water Options - These options allow you to choose between Classic, Shrouded Isles and Reflective water. It also allows you to further modify the look of your water with the Reflection Quality and Reflection Update options. Each more advanced option will use more system resources.
Sleep Mode - This option allows you to choose between never entering Sleep Mode, entering Sleep Mode when the game window is minimized, or entering Sleep Mode when the game is not the active window (Background). When the client is in Sleep Mode, it does not attempt to draw changes to your screen, which allows it to save a large part of your computer's system resources.
Graphics Options Presets - This allows you to choose between Default, Best Visual Quality and Highest Framerates pre-set options. If you're not comfortable modifying the above settings yourself, you can choose one of these three options to have the settings modified for you.
Controls
Configure Keyboard - This screen allows you to change your key bindings. You can customize what keys perform what actions. There are defaults for RPG and FPS (Role Playing Games and First Person Shooters). You can choose one of these defaults, or customize your keyboard so that you are the most comfortable with it. The major difference between RPG and FPS is that RPG uses arrow-key movement, while FPS uses WASD movement.
To change a key binding, simply select the action you want to change. It will highlight in blue. You can then press any key or mouse button that is functional, and the game will bind it to that key. If another action is already bound to that key, the new binding will take precedence, and the old action will change to Unset.
If you want to unbind an action entirely, you can select [Clear Key] in the lower left hand corner while the action is highlighted in blue. If you accidentally highlight an action, you can press ESC on your keyboard to deselect it without changing it.
Mouse Mode - This option allows you to change between Mouselook On, Mouselook Off, and Mouselook Reverse. When Mouselook is on, the key or mouse button bound to Mouselook in the Configure Keyboard window will allow you to move and adjust your camera angle by holding down that key. Mouselook off will disable that option. Mouselook Reverse will perform the same was that Mouselook on does, but your vertical axis will be reversed.
Interface
Font Size - Font Size allows you to toggle between Small and Normal Fonts. Smaller fonts are generally preferable when you are using lower resolutions, but may become hard to read in higher resolutions.
Skin Choice - This allows you to change between a custom .xml skin (developed by someone outside of Mythic Entertainment), or one several skins designed and supported by Mythic. These include the Classic, Transparent, Shrouded Isles, Hibernia, Midgard, Albion and Atlantis skins. Note that Mythic cannot guarantee the stability or accuracy of any custom skin. If you experience problems with your interface, and you are using a custom skin, your first troubleshooting step should be to go back to a Mythic skin.
Sound Options
Music Volume - An option to choose between no music, full volume music, or reduced volume music from 1 to 9.
Sound Volume - An option to choose between no sound, full volume sound, or a reduced volume sound from 1 to 9.
Ambient Music/Ambient Sound - These options allow you to modify the volume of (or turn off completely) ambient music and sound in the game. While these are definitely worth listening to, they can be disabled to save system resources.
Description - This area provides a brief summary of what many of the above options do.
Once you've made all the changes you want, you can decide to Cancel those changes or Accept them.