(for emacs users, this document is best in the -*- outline -*- mode) kusemono --- sneak into a mutant ant hive and stab them by Oohara Yuuma * what is kusemono kusemono is a dungeon exploring game where you rely on stealth and stabbing instead of brute force. You can run so fast that you are blinking in the eye of enemies, you can search for enemies behind a wall and you can kill any unnoticed enemy with one stabbing. You also have some magic devices for emergency need. * system requirement kusemono must be run in a terminal. Its size must be 80x24 or larger. It must support colors. The size of the terminal must not be changed during the game. * command line options ** --save-dir _directory_ Save and load the game in this directory. To see what the default save directory is, use the --help option. ** --help Print the help message and exit. ** -- version Print the version information and exit. * premise You are an assassin sent to the hive of mutant ants. You have to kill the Queen. * victory condition If the Queen dies, you win the game. There is no time limit. * turn-based move All actions are handled one by one. If it is your turn, monsters don't move until you decide your action. A turn refers to the amount of time taken by one action. The length of a turn in the game time depends on what the action is and who do the action. Usually all actions take the same amount of time and you and monsters move at the same speed. All effects of actions happen immediately. For example, if you decide to climb down a stair, you don't stay in the current floor until your next turn; you enter the next floor now and end your turn. This means that monsters in the next floor will move before your first action in that floor. * statistics The ability of you and monsters is described in numbers: ** hit point (HP) If you take damage, you lose your hit points. If you lose all of your hit points, you die. ** power Your power is the amount of damage you deal to a monster in one attack. Note that stabbing is always an instant kill (see below). ** shield When you take damage, if you have shield points, you lose them instead of hit points. You lose hit points only if the damage is greater than your shield points. Shield points are also spent when you use a magic device (see below). Only you have shield points; monsters don't. * monster sight The sight of a monster is shorter than yours: ................. .2......2......2. ..2.....2.....2.. ...31111311113... ...13111311131... ...11322322311... ...11232323211... ...11223332211... .2233333s3333322. ...11223332211... ...11232323211... ...11322322311... ...13111311131... ...31111311113... ..2.....2.....2.. .2......2......2. ................. The numbers above are the sight of the monster at the center. Larger number means more danger. * cardinal directions A direction is cardinal if it is exactly vertical, horizontal or diagonal. To keep stealth, it is important not to be in the cardinal direction of a monster. Floors in the cardinal directions are shown in white instead of usual blue. * attitude An attitude is how a monster thinks about you. The color of the monster symbol is based on its attitude. The attitude of the monster under the cursor is also shown in the right side of the map. There are 4 attitudes: ** uninterested (white) The monster doesn't care about you. It just wanders. Of course, it can be stabbed. ** concerned (blue) The monster thinks something is wrong, but it doesn't know it is you. It may leave its current position to see what is happening. It can be stabbed. ** active (purple) It thinks it knows your current position. It wants to kill you and it runs at full speed. Although it can _NOT_ be stabbed, it can be killed with other methods such as face-to-face combat. ** lost (yellow) It wants to kill you, but it doesn't know where you are. It is very careful but it can still be stabbed. * last known position If monsters are trying to kill you but they don't know your exact position, the position monsters think you are is shown as the ampersand symbol ('&'). This is called the last known position. The last known position is shown in red if it is in your sight, in white if it is out of your sight. If it is white, probably a wall is between it and you; it is less likely that a monster that reaches the last known position finds you. If monsters exactly knows your position, the last known position is not shown; instead, your character is shown in red instead of usual white. * map symbols Your character is shown as an at-sign ('@') when you are searching, as an number when you are running (see below). Alphabets are monsters you can see. Question marks ('?') are monsters you can't see but you feel they are there. & last known position . floor # wall < up stair > down stair * command All commands are case-sensitive. Use the shift key as appropriate. b move down-left c (cancel) h move left j move down k move up l move right m full-screen map n move down-right o (confirm) p message log q quaff from potion bag r read spellbook of swap position (quick) s toggle searching/running mode u move up-right x examine surroundings y move up-left z zap rod of mana ball Q resign the game without saving S save the game and exit 5 stay during 1/2 time of a normal action; stop running . stay during 1/2 time of a normal action; stop running < climb up/down a stair > climb up/down a stair * cancel a command If a command doesn't decide your action, you can cancel the command by pressing the [c] key. Note that the [escape] key is not supported. * save the game You can save the game by pressing the [S] key. You can save any number of times, but each character can have only one save file; if you save, an old save file is always overwritten. The save file is created in the current directory by default. Saving is only for suspending; each save file can be loaded only once. If you want to quit the game without saving, you must resign the game; press the [Q] key, then press the [o] key to confirm. * move or attack Use the vi-like key binding ([hjklyubn]), the number keys or the cursor keys to move. The numpad can also be used as long as it is configured to enter a number. When you try to move to a position a monster is blocking, you attack the monster instead of moving. You remain at the current position this turn even if the target is killed. * stabbing When you attack, if the target is not active, it dies no matter how many hit points it has. Even the Queen is not an exception. Only you can stab; monsters can't. * kill and recharge You and monsters don't regenerate; you don't gain hit points just because time passes. When you kill an enemy, you gain shield points to the maximum. You can gain hit points by quaffing a potion of healing (see below). Monsters have no way to heal themselves. * target a monster with the cursor Information about the monster under the cursor is shown in the right side of the map (below information about you). You can move the cursor to a monster near you by pressing the space key. * examine surroundings You can examine monsters and terrains near you by pressing the [x] key. Use the direction keys to move the cursor to what you want to examine. To read a monster description, press the [.] key or the [5] key while the cursor is on the monster. If a stair is in your sight, you can examine its destination by pressing the [<] key or the [>] key while the cursor is on the stair. * climb up/down a stair If you are on a stair, you can use it by pressing the [<] key or the [>] key. Both keys are accepted; you don't have to choose the same key as the symbol of the stair. If the destination of the stair is blocked by a monster, you attack the monster instead of climbing. You remain on the current floor this turn even if the target is killed. You can stab in this way. Monsters can climb a stair. If you are blocking a stair a monster is climbing, you are attacked and noticed. Using the examine surroundings command ([x]) near a stair will help you (use the [] key). * searching or running You have 2 modes: searching and running. You can toggle them by pressing the [s] key. Toggling your mode doesn't take time. ** searching When you are searching, you can feel monsters behind a wall. They are shown as question marks ('?'). The range of searching expands as you spend turns in the searching mode. The range begins with 0; just entering the searching mode doesn't tell you anything. When you do any action in the running mode, the range is reset to 0. Only you can search; monsters can't find you unless they see you. ** running When you are running, if you are not damaged since your last turn, you can move up to 3 grids in one turn. The number symbol of your character is the number of grids you can move. It is also shown in the right side of the map. You can move 1 or 2 grids and then do any other action such as stabbing in one turn. If you do, your turn is over; you can't move any more. You can deliberately end your turn by pressing the [.] or [5] key. Monsters can run if they are active, but they are not good runners; they can move up to only 2 grids in one turn and their hit points must be full. * magic devices You have magic devices listed below. They can be used any number of times, but you need shield points to use them. Although only 1 shield point is enough, you lose all shield points when you use magic devices. ** potion bag (the [q] key) It can generate a potion. Unfortunately, it loses effects unless it is quaffed immediately. When you use it, you quaff it. You can choose these potions: *** healing You gain hit points to the maximum. *** speed Your actions done in the next 8 turns takes 1/2 of time as usual. Note that this effect is not applied to this turn; quaffing a potion of speed is not faster than quaffing any other potion. ** spellbook of swap position (the [r] key) It teleports the target monster to your position and teleports you to the position of the monster at the same time. You must manually specify where the target monster is (the [space] key is useful here). If nothing is at the specified position, nothing happens and you lose this turn; you lose only 1 shield point in this case. Reading the spellbook takes 1/2 time of a normal action. It is so quick that it temporarily confuses the target monster. ** rod of mana ball (the [z] key) It fires a mana ball which explodes when it hits a monster or a wall. The explosion deals 18 damage to the target and everything that is adjacent to it. The range of the mana ball is 7. The explosion doesn't damage the user even if the user is in it. You can safely fire it at yourself to attack all adjacent monsters. It can not be used for stabbing. You don't gain shield points by killing monsters in this way. The explosion makes a large noise which disturbs monsters. The noise reaches outside of the explosion. * permanent death If your character dies, you can't use that character again; you must start with a new character. * contact information Please send bug reports or comments to Oohara Yuuma . Also check the kusemono webpage: http://www.interq.or.jp/libra/oohara/kusemono/index.html * history The first version of kusemono was released on Sat, 12 Mar 2011. It was written for The 2011 Seven Day Roguelike Challenge (http://roguebasin.roguelikedevelopment.org/index.php?title=7DRL_Contest_2011). which is held on the rec.games.roguelike.development newsgroup. The game was named after an ancient Japanese word. It means "a suspicious person" and usually refers to an intruder.