You should get the circle of eight mod, like someone else said it's unplayable without it. I would do the town quests until you get a couple of levels, yes they are painful to accomplish but it's better if you are at least 2nd or 3rd level before you go to the moathouse. Here is step by step instructions. More information can be found here (Circle of Eight) I never read the manual but I highly recommend it for this game, also leave the tips on until you have the hang of the game. This game is much deeper than it appears on the surface.
STEP 1
Install Microsoft .NET 2.0.
If you are using Windows XP with Service Pack 2, you will probably already have Microsoft .NET installed on your system. To find out for certain if you already have .NET installed, go to Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel. If .NET is installed, it will be listed there.
STEP 2
Install the game.
STEP 3 - THIS IS ONLY NECESSARY FOR SOME PEOPLEl
This is not always necessary but some people just cannot install patch 2 without installing patch 1 first. If you are one of those people, like me, install patch 1. If your version of the game is prepatched to version 3, DO NOT use this patch - forget you ever saw this step.
STEP 4
Install Atari patch 2.
STEP 5
Install Co8 v5. During the installation there are options on which parts of Co8 v5 you wish to install. If this is your first time playing using Co8 v5, please do not deselect any installation options which are chosen for you by default unless you are positive you know what you are doing. By all means choose more options if you want to though
Thanks for posting that, but I already read carefully the install instructions.
The first thing I noticed is "Woah, there're everywhere kids around!". AT any rate, I think I should do fine once I reach at least lvl2. So far, I really like the game.