

    Rogue alpha version 1.1.1

    by Arthur O'Dwyer, 2002


    OVERVIEW

    This is a "roguelike" game in the tradition of Rogue and Nethack.
    At the moment, it is very slow and simple, although as noted below
    hacks and comments are welcome.


    TECHNICAL STUFF

    The game needs both prgmROGUE and prgmZROGUE to work.  It uses
    matrices [D] and [E], and lists I, W, X, Y, and Z, as well as all real
    variables, for temporary storage during gameplay.

    The programs are about 4K in size, but the game needs about another 2K
    of RAM to run.

    The game will trash the values of zoom variables ZTMin and ZTMax, as
    well as the window variables (of course), and will turn off all
    functions, stat plots, and graph axes.


    THE DUNGEON

    The Dungeon is where the action takes place.  You (the player) fight
    monsters and collect treasure in the Dungeon.  You can tell what is
    around you by looking at the Dungeon Map in the top half of the game
    screen:

                =  Rock wall            N  Newt       !  Sword or other
                <  Up staircase         J  Jackal        weapon
                >  Down staircase       K  Kobold
                ,  Pile of gold         E  Eye        [  Body armour
               pi  You, the player      H  Harpy      ^  Helm
                .  Empty floor          G  Golem      v  Boots
                                        P  Phantom
                                        L  Lich
                                        D  Dragon

    You can move around with the arrow keys and perform the following
    actions:

               Arrow keys:  move orthogonally or attack monsters
               x^2/sqrt/I:  examine your inventory
                     Mode:  pick up an item from the floor
                      Del:  drop a carried item
            ( open parens:  wear or wield a garment or weapon
           ) close parens:  take off a wielded item
                 Store ->:  go down a down staircase
                    Clear:  quit or pause the game


    MONSTER COMBAT

    When the player "moves into" a monster, he attacks it with whatever
    weapon he is wielding, or with his hands.  Weapons have varying "attack
    damages", from 1d4 for a Dagger to 6d6 for a Sword +3.  The monster
    will in all likelihood fight back, doing damage to the player.

    The noise of combat may in some cases draw other monsters to the scene;
    trying to fight too many opponents simultaneously is a good way to die
    quickly.

    The player may choose to continue battling the monster, or to run
    away.  Eventually, one of the combatants' HP will drop below 0, and he
    will die.

    The player's current HP ("hit points") can be seen on the right of the
    Dungeon Map; it is the first of the three displayed numbers.  (The
    others are the player's AC ("armour class") and the level of the
    Dungeon.)  The player regenerates HP at 1/4 point per game turn.

    When the player's HP drops below 0, he has died and the game is over.

    If the player defeats a monster, he gains Experience points.  After a
    certain number of Experience points have been gained, the player will
    gain a Level.  A higher Level means a higher number of HP and a better
    chance of hitting one's opponent.

    Monsters may drop items when they are slain.  The player can pick up
    items by moving over them and using the Mode (pick up) key.  Monster
    "drops" get better as the player descends into the Dungeon, but beware
    -- the lower you go, the more dangerous the monsters become!


    THE INTERFACE

    The current Dungeon Map is displayed as a 4-by-14 grid of text
    characters.  The player cannot move outside the 4-by-14 box; i.e., the
    dungeon does not scroll.

    Above the Map is a horizontal bar which is filled with dark pixels when
    the game is calculating.  When the bar is clear, the game is waiting
    for the player to press a key.

    There are three numbers down the right side of the Dungeon Map.  These
    are, from top to bottom, the player's current HP, the player's current
    AC, and the current dungeon level (which starts at 1 and gets larger
    as the player descends).

    The inventory is managed through a series of menus.  When you want to
    drop something, page through the menu (selecting "NEXT ITEM") until the
    menu displays the item you want to discard.  Then select "DROP".
    Likewise for wearing and removing items.

    To quit the game without dying, press Clear.  The game will prompt you
    for a letter "Q", "P", or "C": Quit, Pause, or Cancel.  Typing "Q" and
    then [Enter] will quit the game.  "P"ause will put the calculator in
    its low-energy pause mode; press [Enter] again to resume the game.
    "C"ancel will return you to the game without any effect.

    The game will drain your batteries like crazy; if the screen becomes
    too dim, pause the game and use [2nd]-[UP] to increase the contrast.

    CHANGE LOG

    15 October 2002: Version 1.1.1.
                Tweaked the monster distribution code; monster levels
       now increase every 5 dungeon levels, and are normally distributed,
       rather than every 10 levels with a flat distribution.  This is
       a major toughening of the gameplay.
                Added a pause to the "You die..." message.

    11 October 2002: Version 1.1.0.
                Fixed a lot of bugs introduced by the previous release.

    8 October 2002: Version 1.0.1.
                Fixed a missing "You have nothing to remove/drop/wear"
       message by tweaking prgmZROGUE:"ME".
                Fixed a minor bug: Kobolds' and Eyes' names were switched
       with respect to their character representations on the map.
                Added a "Pause" option to the Quit Game dialogue.

    END NOTES

    This game is copyleft 2002 Arthur O'Dwyer, and is in perpetual alpha
    testing.  Yes, I know it's slow and boring.  Don't bother to tell me
    that, unless you have a way to speed it up.

    Comments, hacks welcome.

    -Arthur
    ajo at andrew dot cmu dot edu

