ndsss@ihuxx.UUCP (Al R. Zantow) (10/20/84)
--You suddenly feel in over your head-- --MORE--
Well at long last I will come across with my promised
TON-O-ROGUE. I had a devil of a time getting the 20 rings of
lethergy of my fingers and toes, but now I am wearing my blessed
pair of +17 hip-waders and weilding my +13,+24 chainsaw
I have got PART 1 "The Official Memo" out onto the net. The
rest should follow at one week intervals, and will be broken
into various topics.
PART 1, "The offical Memo" is a cleaned up copy of the version
we have on the machines here at AT&T-Bell Labs in Naperville, Il.,
And is based on SuperRogue 9.0, but should be similar in most
respects to earlier versions. On some systems the names of the
monsters are diffrent, but seem to act like the ones listed below.
It probably will not give hardened Rougers any new info., but
will be of help to new players, and is handy to have around to
look up various things.
Next week I will put out part 2, which will cover in greater detail
RINGS, SCROLLS, POTIONS, WANDS, and ARMOR. Part 3, which I hope
will follow the following week (week of 10-30-84) will go into
more detail on the monsters, and possibly hints and tips I have
collected from the net and/or experience. I might break hints and
tips into a part 4 if it gets to huge.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Super-Rogue Version 9.0
Date: October 18, 1984
Author: Robert D. Kindelberger
ihuxa!rdk
A_Tutorial_on_the_Visual_Game_of_Rogue_-_Version_9.0
Rogue is a visual CRT based fantasy game which runs under the UNIX(1)
timesharing system. This paper describes how to play rogue and
gives a few hints for those who might otherwise get lost (or
killed) in the Dungeons of Doom.
1. INTRODUCTION
You have just finished your years as a student at the local
fighter's guild. After much practice and sweat you have finally
completed your training and are ready to embark upon a perilous
adventure. As a test of your skills, the local guildmasters have
sent you into the Dungeons of Doom. Your task is to return with
the Amulet of Yendor. Your reward for the completion of this task
will be a full membership in the local guild. In addition, you are
allowed to keep all the loot you bring back from the dungeons.
In preparation for your journey, you are given an enchanted weapon,
taken from a dragon's hoard in the far off Dark Mountains. You are
also outfitted with elf-crafted armor and given enough food to
reach the dungeons. You say goodbye to family and friends for what
may be the last time and head up the road.
You set out on your way to the dungeons and after several days of
uneventful travel, you see the ancient ruins that mark the entrance
to the Dungeons of Doom. It is late at night so you make camp at
the entrance and spend the night sleeping under the open skies. In
the morning you gather your weapon, put on your armor, eat what is
almost your last food and enter the dungeons.
(1). UNIX is a trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories.
2. WHAT_IS_GOING_ON_HERE?
You have just begun a game of rogue. Your goal is to grab as much
treasure as you can, find the Amulet of Yendor, and get out of the
Dungeons of Doom alive. On the screen, a map of where you have been
and what you have seen on the current dungeon level is kept. As
you explore more of the level, it appears on the screen in front of
you.
Rogue differs from most computer fantasy games in that it is screen
oriented. Commands are all one or two keystrokes and the results
of your commands are displayed graphically on the screen rather
than being explained in words.
Another major difference between rogue and other computer fantasy
games is that once you have solved all the puzzles in a standard
fantasy game, it has lost most of its excitement and it ceases to
be fun. Rogue on the other hand generates a new dungeon every time
you play it and even the author finds it an entertaining and
exciting game.
3. WHAT_DO_ALL_THOSE_THINGS_ON_THE_SCREEN_MEAN?
In order to understand what is going on in rogue you have to first
get some grasp of what rogue is doing with the screen. The rogue
screen is intended to replace the You can see ... descriptions of
standard fantasy games. Here is a sample of what a rogue screen
might look like:
---------------------
|...................+###########+
|...@...........[...|
|........H..........|
|...................|
--------+------------
####
+
Level: 1 Gold: 0 Hp:12(12) Ac: 6 Exp:1/0 Vol:36%
Str:16(16) Exp:12(12) Dex:11(11) Wis:14(14) Con:18(18) Carry:50/170
4. THE_BOTTOM_LINES
At the bottom line of the screen is a few pieces of cryptic
information, describing your current status. Here is an
explanation of what these things mean:
4.1 LEVEL
This number indicates how deep you have gone in the dungeon. It
starts at one and goes up forever.(3)
4.2 GOLD
The number of gold pieces you have managed to attain.
4.3 HP
Your current and maximum hit points. Hit points indicate how much
damage you can take before you die. The more you get hit in a
fight, the lower they get. You can regain hit points by moving
around. The number in parentheses is the maximum number of hit
points you can regain.
4.4 AC
Your current armor class. This number indicates how effective your
armor is in stopping blows from unfriendly creatures. The lower
this number is, the more effective the armor. Armor class can get
lower than zero.
4.5 EXP
These two numbers give your current experience level and experience
points. As you kill monsters, you gain experience points. At
certain experience point totals, you gain an experience level. The
more experienced you are, the better you are able to fight and to
withstand magical attacks. You must gain 10 experience points to
advance to the 2nd experience level. Now you must double the
previous experience point total to advance to the next experience
level. (i.e. 20 to get to level 3, 40 to 4...) Every time you
advance to a new experience level, your hit points will increase.
This is random, so don't expect a lot every time.
4.6 VOL
This is the percentage of what your pack contains. 100% means that
your pack is full.
4.7 STR
Your current strength. This can be any integer from 0 to 24. The
larger the number, the stronger you are.
(3). Or until you get killed or decide to quit. Level 500 is really
the maximum, but almost impossible.
4.8 DEX
This is your dexterity. Dexterity gives you the ability to dodge
arrow and dart traps more effectively. It also gives you the
ability to dodge attacks from monsters (maximum of 18).
4.9 WIS
This is your wisdom. If you are smarter than the monsters, then
you have a better chance of defeating them (maximum of 18).
4.10 CON
This is your constitution. Constitution makes up your ability to
regain your hit points, once you have been battered. The higher
your constitution (maximum of 18), the faster you will gain back
the hit points you have lost.
4.11 CARRY
This is similar to your volume, but tells you the maximum of what
you can carry and what you are currently carrying in weight.
5. THE_TOP_LINE
The top line of the screen is reserved for printing messages that
describe things that are impossible to represent visually. If you
see a -- More -- on the top line, this means that rogue wants to
print another message on the screen, but it wants to make certain
that you have read the one that is there first. To read the next
message, just press a space.
6. THE_REST_OF_THE_SCREEN
The rest of the screen is the map of the level as you have explored
it so far. Each symbol on the screen represents something. Here
is a list of what the various symbols mean:
@ This symbol represents you, the adventurer.
| A wall running north/south.
- A wall running east/west.
+ A door to/from a room.
. The floor of a room.
# The floor of a passage between rooms.
* A pile or pot of gold.
) A weapon of some sort.
] A suit of armor.
! A flask containing a magic potion.
? A piece of paper, usually a magic scroll.
/ A wand or staff of magic.
= A magical ring. Can be good or bad.
{ An arrow trap. Loss of hit points.
} A bear trap. Holds you for awhile.
~ A teleportation trap. Teleports you to a random room.
` A dart trap. Loss of strength.
$ A sleeping gas trap, watch out for these.
> A trap door leading down to the next level.
^ A flee market to exchange gold for objects, or vice-versa.
\ A trap door that leads down to an invisible maze.
" A magical pool that does strange things to wielded objects.
% The staircase leading down to the next level.
: A piece of food or zany fruit.
, AMULET OF YENDOR.
a-Z There are 52 inhabitants of the Dungeons of Doom.
7. COMMANDS
Commands are given to rogue by pressing single letters. Some
commands can be preceded by a count to repeat them (i.e. typing 10s
will do ten searches) The list of commands is rather long, but it
can be read at any time during the game with the ? command. Here
it is for reference, with a short explanation of each command:
? The help command. Asks for a character to give help on.
If you type a *, it will list all the commands, otherwise
it will explain what the character you type does.
/ This is the What is that on the screen? command.
A / followed by any character that you see on the level,
will tell you what that character is. For instance, typing
/@ will tell you that the @ symbol represents you,
the player.
h, H Move left. You move one space to the left. If you use
upper case, H, you will continue to move left until you
run into something. This works for all movement commands.
(i.e. L means run in direction l)
j, J Move down.
k, K Move up.
l, L Move right.
y, Y Move diagonally up and left.
u, U Move diagonally up and right.
b, B Move diagonally down and left.
n, N Move diagonally down and right.
f Find prefix. When followed by a direction it means to
continue moving in the specified direction until you pass
something interesting or run into a wall.
t Throw an object. This is a prefix command. Follow it
with a direction and you throw an object in the specified
direction. (i.e. type th to throw something left.)
p Zap an object with a staff or wand. This is a prefix
command. Follow it with a direction and you will zap in the
specified direction. (i.e. type ph to zap something left.)
z Zap an object with no direction. This means that you
could be zapped with it as well.
D Dip an object in the magic pool.
> If you are standing over the passage down to the next
level, this command means to climb down.
< If you have found the Amulet of Yendor, then
you have the ability to climb back up a level, hopefully on
your way out.
s Search for traps and secret doors. Examine each space
immediately adjacent to you for the existence of a trap or
secret door. There is a large chance that even if there is
something there, you won't find it so you might have to
search a while before you find something.
. Rest. This is the do nothing command. This is
good for waiting and healing."
i Inventory. List what you are carrying in your pack.
I Selective inventory. Tells you what a single item in
your pack is.
q Quaff. Drink one of the potions you are carrying.
r Read. Read one of the scrolls in your pack.
e Eat food. Take some food out of your pack and eat it.
w Wield a weapon. Take a weapon out of your pack and carry
it. You must be wielding a weapon to use it (except to
throw things). To fire an arrow, you must wield the bow.
You can only wield one weapon at a time.
W Wear armor. Take a piece of armor out of your pack and
put it on. You can only wear one suit of armor at a time.
T Take armor off. You can't remove armor that is cursed.
P Put a ring on your finger. You can only wear two rings
at a time.
R Remove a ring from your finger. Cursed rings are hard
to remove.
d Drop an object. Take something out of your pack and
leave it lying on the floor. Only one object can occupy
each space.
O Examine and set options. This command is further
explained in the section on options.
^l Redraws the screen. Useful if spurious messages or
transmission errors have messed up the display.
^r Repeat last message. Useful when a message disappears
before you can read it.
^[ This is the escape key. This will cancel the last command.
a Reports your encumbrance. This is the weight factor of
your pack. The heavier your pack is weighted down with
objects, the less effective you are in an attack and the
more food you'll eat.
c Call an object. You can call an object anything you like.
v Prints the program version number.
Q Quit. Leave the game. This is the chicken-way out.
! This is the shell escape key. Use this to get back to
shell level. To get back to the game, just hit ^d.
S Save the current game in a file. Rogue won't let
you start up a copy of a saved game, and it removes the
save file as soon as you start up a restored game. This
is to prevent people from saving a game just before a
dangerous position and then restarting it, if they die.
Sorry no linking, copying, moving, or anything.
8. DEALING_WITH_OBJECTS
When you find something in the dungeon, it is common to want to
pick the object up. This is accomplished in rogue by walking over
the object. If you are carrying too many things, you won't be able
to pick the object up. Otherwise, the object will be added to your
pack and you will be notified of what you just picked up.
Many of the commands that operate on objects must prompt you to
find out which object you want to use. If you change your mind and
don't want to do that command after all, just press an escape key
and the command will be aborted.
9. ROOMS
Rooms in the dungeons are either lit or dark. If you walk into a
lit room, the entire room will be drawn on the screen as soon as
you enter. If you walk into a dark room, you will only be able to
see the spaces immediately next to you. Upon leaving a dark room,
all objects inside the room are removed from the screen.
10. FIGHTING
If you see a monster and you wish to fight it, just attempt to run
into it. You also may throw things at it or zap it with a wand or
staff. Many times a monster you find will mind its own business
unless you attack it. It is often the case that discretion is the
better part of valor.
Smart monsters have the ability to run when they realize that their
lives are endangered. This will be denoted that you have wounded
the monster.
Monsters will avoid lit traps. You can use this to your advantage,
if you figure out how. If the traps are not lit, they can fall
through them as you would. The hard part is trying to get them to
fall through a trap that you don't know is there.
11. ARMOR
There are various sorts of armor lying around in the dungeon. Some
of it is enchanted, some is cursed and some is just normal.
Different armor types have different armor classes. The lower the
armor class, the more protection the armor affords against the
blows of monsters. If a piece of armor is enchanted or cursed, its
armor class will be higher or lower than normal. Here is a list of
the various armor types and their normal armor class:
TYPE CLASS
LEATHER ARMOR 8
RING MAIL 7
STUDDED LEATHER ARMOR 7
SCALE MAIL 6
PADDED ARMOR 6
CHAIN MAIL 5
SPLINT MAIL 4
BANDED MAIL 4
PLATE MAIL 3
PLATE ARMOR 2
12. WEAPONS
There may be many different types of weapons lying around in the
dungeon, probably left there when their previous owners ran into a
monster they couldn't handle. In order to fire arrows and crossbow
bolts you must be wielding the bow or the crossbow. Rocks are
effective when thrown but can be even more dangerous when hurled
with a sling. Daggers can be used as stabbing weapons or they can
be thrown. Beware of cursed weapons, they will not work as well as
normal or enchanted weapons and once you wield them, you will be
stuck with them until you can get the curse removed. Staffs and
wands are special weapons. They need not be wielded for you to use
them.
13. POTIONS AND SCROLLS
Left by the wizard Yendor, the potions and scrolls found in the
dungeon constitute a mixed blessing. By drinking or reading these
magical items, the intelligent adventurer can greatly increase his
chances of survival. A few of them can backfire on the unwary
rogue, causing everything from a weakening sickness to the creation
of an angry monster.
14. OPTIONS
Due to variations in personal tastes and conceptions of the way
rogue should do things, there are a set of options you can set that
cause rogue to behave in various different ways.
14.1 SETTING THE OPTIONS
There are basically two ways to set the options. The first is with
the O command of rogue, the second is with the ROGUEOPTS
environment variable.
14.2 USING THE O COMMAND
When you press O in rogue, it clears the screen and displays the
current settings for all the options. It then places the cursor by
the value of the first option and waits for you to type. You can
type a RETURN which means to go to the next option, a - which means
to go to the previous option, an escape which means to return to
the game, or you can give the option a value. For string options,
type the new value followed by a return.
14.3 USING THE ROGUEOPTS VARIABLE
The ROGUEOPTS variable is a string containing a comma separated
list of initial values for the various options. Thus to set up an
environment variable so that the name is set to Rapid Robert, the
fruit is cherry, and your save file is fun, use the command:
ROGUEOPTS="name=Rapid Robert,fruit=cherry,file=fun"
export ROGUEOPTS
14.4 OPTION LIST
Here is a list of the options and an explanation for each one. The
default value for each is enclosed in square brackets:
W NAME [LOGIN NAME] This is the name of your character. It is
used if you get on the top ten scorer's list. It should be
less than eighty characters long.
W FRUIT [JUICY-FRUIT] This should hold the name of a fruit that
you enjoy eating. It is basically a whimsy that the program
uses in a couple of places.
W FILE [.ROGUE.SAVE] The default file name for saving the game.
If your phone is hung up by accident, rogue will automatically
save the game in this file. The file name may contain the
special character ~ which expands to be your home directory.
15. SAVED GAMES
This is how one would restore a saved game:
rogue .rogue.save
This is how one would read the top ten score list of rogue:
rogue -s
16. SYNOPSIS
Rogue is a video oriented game with the object being to survive the
attacks of various monsters and gather a lot of gold. To get
started, you really only need to know two commands. The command ?
will give you a list of the available commands and the command /
will identify the things you see on the screen.
To win the game (as opposed to merely playing to beat other people
high scores) you must locate the Amulet of Yendor which is
somewhere below the 35th level of the dungeon and get it out.
When the game ends, either by your death, when you chicken-out by
quitting, or if you (by some miracle) manage to win, rogue will
give you a list of what was in your pack and will give you a list
of the top ten scorers. The scoring is based upon how much gold
you get. If for some reason you manage to win, then the stuff in
your pack is also worth points. The better the stuff, the more
points you'll get. There is a 10% penalty for getting yourself
killed.
17. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Rogue was originally conceived of by Glenn Wichman and Michael Toy.
The version of Super-Rogue 9.0 has been established through the
persistence of a co-worker, who would like to remain nameless. He
conceived the idea of 52 monsters, magic pools, the Flea Market,
and mazes. Many bug fixes and joys of Super-Rogue 9.0 wouldn't be
here without the savage attack that he has put on this game.
18. FILES
W /usr/games/rogue: Rogue game (object)
W /usr/games/lib/rogue_score: Score file
W rogue.save or .rogue.save: Rogue save file
19. BUGS
As of the release of this memo, there are no known bugs. Going
past level 500 would be suicidal.
20. SHORT REFERENCE OF COMMANDS
? prints help / identify object
h left H run left
j down J run down
k up K run up
l right L run right
y up & left Y run up & left
u up & right U run up & right
b down & left B run down & left
n down & right N run down & right
i inventory pack I one item inventory
w wield a weapon W wear armor
a encumberence O examine/set options
c call object R remove ring
d drop object P put on ring
e eat food T take armor off
q quaff potion Q quit game
r read a scroll S save game
v program version number D dip object in magic pool
z zap a wand or staff s search for traps
t <dir> throw something f <dir> forward until find
p <dir> directional zap . rest for a while
> go down a staircase < go up a staircase
^r repeat last message ^l redraw screen
^[ cancel last command ^d return from shell
! escape to shell
================================================================
ROGUE Reference Sheet
This is a list that describes the chances of finding various
items in the Dungons of Doom.
Potions
8 % Confusion
10 % Paralysis
8 % Poison
15 % Gain Strength
2 % See Invisible
15 % Healing
6 % Monster Detection
6 % Magic Detection
2 % Raise Level
5 % Extra Healing
4 % Haste Self
14 % Restore Strength
4 % Blindness
1 % Thirst Quenching
Scrolls
8 % Monster Confusion
5 % Magic Mapping
3 % Hold Monster
5 % Sleep
8 % Enchant Armor
27 % Identify
4 % Scare Monster
4 % Gold Detection
7 % Teleportation
10 % Enchant Weapon
5 % Create Monster
8 % Remove Curse
4 % Aggravate Monsters
1 % Blank
1 % Genocide
Staffs and Wands
12 % Light
9 % Striking
3 % Lightning
3 % Fire
3 % Cold
15 % Polymorph
10 % Magic Missile
9 % Haste Monster
11 % Slow Monster
9 % Drain Life
1 % Nothing
5 % Teleport Away
5 % Teleport To
5 % Cancellation
Rings
Note: +/- indicates that this ring may be enchanted, normal,
or cursed.
9 % +/-Protection (+1 Hunger)
9 % +/-Add Strength (+1 Hunger)
5 % Sustain Strength (+1 Hunger)
10 % Searching (+ 1/3 Hunger)
10 % See Invisible (+ 1/5 Hunger)
1 % Adornment
10 % Aggravate Monsters
8 % +/-Dexterity (+ 1/3 Hunger)
8 % +/-Increase Damage (+ 1/3 Hunger)
4 % Regeneration (+2 Hunger)
9 % Slow Digestion (- 1/2 Hunger)
5 % Teleport
7 % Stealth (+1 Hunger)
5 % Maintain Armor (+1 Hunger)
Armor
20% leather armor
15% ring mail
15% studded leather armor
13% scail mail
12% chain mail
10% splint mail
10% banded mail
5% plate mail
20% of armor is cursed, 8% is enchanted, and the other 72% is normal.
Enchanted/Cursed armor will be + or - 1,2, or 3 (equal probabilities).
You can enchant armor (with scrolls) beyond the best "found" armor
of +3 "X" mail/armor.
Monsters
Name Damage EP AC EL
Ant 1d6 9 3 2
Bat 1d2 1 3 1
Centaur 1d6/1d6 15 4 4
Dragon 1d8/1d8/3d10 6800 -1 10
Eye 0d0 5 9 1
Fungi var 80 3 8
Gnome 1d6 7 5 1
Hobgoblin 1d8 3 5 1
Invis Stlkr 4d4 120 3 8
Jackal 1d2 2 7 1
Kobold 1d4 1 7 1
Leprechaun 1d1 10 8 3
Mimic 3d4 100 7 7
Nymph 0d0 37 9 3
Orc 1d8 5 6 1
Purple Worm 2d12/2d4 4000 6 15
Quasit 1d2/1d2/1d4 32 2 3
Rust Monster 0d0/0d0 20 2 5
Snake 1d3 2 5 1
Troll 1d8/1d8/2d6 120 4 6
Umber Hulk 3d4/3d4/2d5 200 2 8
Vampire 1d10 350 1 8
Wraith 1d6 55 4 5
Xorn 1d3/1d3/1d3/4d6 190 -2 7
Yeti 1d6/1d6 50 6 4
Zombie 1d8 6 8 2
The following were not in the original memo, I dug them out
of a saved game. The rest of the data will be in a later
posting to the net, if I can get it. (arz)
anhkheg 3d6 ? ? ?
giant beetle 4d4 ? ? ?
cockatrice 1d3 ? ? ?
bone devil 5d4 ? ? ?
elasmosaurus 4d6 ? ? ?
killer frog 2d3/1d4 ? ? ?
green dragon 1d6/1d6/2d10 ? ? ?
hell hound 1d10 ? ? ?
imp 1d4 ? ? ?
jaguar 2d3/2d5 ? ? ?
koppleganger 1d12 ? ? ?
lonchu 1d4/1d4 ? ? ?
minotaur 1d3/2d4 ? ? ?
neotyugh 1d8/1d8/2d3 ? ? ?
ogre 2d6 ? ? ?
pseudo dragon 2d3/1d6 ? ? ?
quellit 2d10/2d6 ? ? ?
rhynosphinx 2d10/2d8 ? ? ?
shadow 1d6 ? ? ?
titanothere 2d8/1d6 ? ? ?
ulodyte 1d3/1d3 ? ? ?
vrock 1d4/1d6 ? ? ?
wuccumbi 1d4/1d10 ? ? ?
xonoclon 3d8 ? ? ?
yeenoghu 3d6 ? ? ?
zemure 1d4 ? ? ?
DEVIL ASMODEUS 4d10/4d10 ? ? ?
The DEVIL ASNODEUS appears if you genocide the majority of the
monsters in the Dungeons of Doom. I hope to be able to fill in
more details on this dude in later postings. (arz)
DAMAGE:
Damage is calculated as XdY, which means that the hit points
the monster will take from you are X multiplied by a random
number from 1 to Y. When the damage list is X1dY1/X2dY2/... the
total damage is X1dY1 + X2dY2 + ...
EP:
This is the Experience points you gain when you defeat the monster.
AC:
This is the efective class of armor the monster is wearing.
EL:
This is the experience level of the monster. You can generaly defeat
it if you have the same or higher EL rating, if you have lower it is
more dificult to stay alive.
REMEMBER: your EL rating goes up as you DOUBLE your EP rating, thus:
EP EL
0 1
10 2
20 3
40 4
80 5
160 6
320 7
640 8
1280 9
2560 10
5120 11
10240 12
...
As you can see, around EL 18 you would need over a million experience
points (1,310,720 to be exact) to get to level 19. Thus defeating 1
Purple Worm will get you the same Experence points as defeating 20
Umber Hulks, making you jumps in Experience level much quicker.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
This completes the "official memo" as we have it here at ihuxx.
Thanks to all the people who have sent me articles and
support for this undertaking. Once again I apologize for the
massive delay in getting this going, but you know those darned
rings of Lethergy -:).
K I C K E R O F B U T T S
!ihuxx!ndsssksl@hou2e.UUCP (K.LIU) (10/21/84)
Please, next time I suggest deletion of percents... the chance of finding a cursed type of armor is different from another (as stated in source) Also, I think the posting was unneccesary. Anyone who has SuperRogue 9.0 will have the instructions in a file /usr/games/lib/rogue_inst or a similar name. Oh, how can ANYONE say "...no bugs found..." about SuperRogue? Gandalf "I can't kill you, Mister Xonoclon, it's against my religion"