(for emacs users, this document is best in the -*- outline -*- mode) last-of-candle --- explore a dungeon with your shadows by Oohara Yuuma $Id: README,v 1.87 2010/03/12 14:07:56 oohara Exp $ * what is last-of-candle last-of-candle is a turn-based dungeon exploring game like rogue. You play an adventurer who wants to reach the bottom of the dungeon, which is full of monsters. You can use your shadow as a friendly creature to deal with them. * system requirement last-of-candle must be run in a terminal. Its size must be 80x24 or larger. * command line options ** --save-dir _directory_ Save and load the game in this directory instead of the current directory. ** --help Print the help message and exit. ** version Print the version information and exit. * premise The Gate of Doom has been opened. You have to close it. Unfortunately the Gate is at the bottom of an unnaturally dark dungeon. You enter the dungeon with a magic candle which is the only way to illuminate it. * victory condition The goal of the game is to close the Gate of Doom by standing on it before the magic candle runs out. The duration of the candle is described as "candle point". You lose 1 candle point each turn. If you lose all the candle points, you lose the game. * 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. You have 2 kinds of powers. The first power is used in the melee attack and the second power is used in the missile attack (see below). * map symbols Alphabets are monsters you can see. Digits are monsters you can't see but you feel they are there. Note that the range of this feeling is longer than that of your sight. & your shadow (friendly) ? healthy scroll (does a good thing) ! harmful scroll (does a bad thing) . floor # wall < up stair > down stair _ the Gate of Doom * command All commands are case-sensitive. a change how shadows move b move down-left c (cancel) h move left i examine your scrolls j move down k move up l move right m full-screen map n move down-right o (confirm) p message log r use a scroll (healthy first) s create a shadow t use a scroll (harmful first) u move up-right x examine surroundings y move up-left Q resign the game without saving S save the game and exit Z destroy all shadows 5 stay during 1/2 time of a normal action . stay during 1/2 time of a normal action < 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 and attack Use the vi key binding, 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. You and monsters can move and attack in one turn. If you move, you attack in that direction after the move is finished before you end your turn. You attack only if you move in one floor by walking; if you move in any other means (by teleporting, for example) or if you move to a different floor (if you climb up/down a stair, for example), you don't attack. You and monsters can attack anything but the attack hits only their enemies; monsters don't kill each other. There are 2 kinds of attack: ** melee attack If you try to walk to a grid and if the grid is occupied, you remain in your current grid and do a melee attack. When you attack in melee, you attack in 3 directions at the same time: the direction you tried to move and 2 side directions (45 degree left and right). ..* .@* attacking in melee to right ..* .** .@* attacking in melee to up-right ... ** missile attack If you try to walk to a grid and if the grid is not occupied, you move to that grid and do a missile attack. The range of a missile attack is 6; the target must be 6 grids away or nearer. A missile attack doesn't penetrate; It hits only the nearest target and it is blocked by a wall. * 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. (To examine scrolls, you have to pick them up first.) 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. * pick up and use a scroll You automatically pick up all scrolls at your feet. Picking up scrolls doesn't take a turn. There is no inventory limit; you can carry all of them. There are 2 kinds of scrolls: healthy and harmful. A healthy scroll does a good thing to the target. A harmful scroll does a bad thing to the target; it is useful if you use it to a monster. A scroll can be used only once; if you use it, it disappears. When the game starts, you don't know what a scroll exactly does; you can only tell whether it is healthy or harmful and whether two scrolls do the same thing or not. If you use a scroll, you know what it is. If a scroll is known, you can examine what it does by pressing the [i] key and choosing the scroll. You can use a scroll you are carrying by pressing the [r] key or the [t] key. Choose which scroll you use, then choose in which direction you use it. The difference between the [r] key and the [t] key is how the list of scrolls is shown. The [r] key shows healthy scrolls first. The [t] key shows harmful scrolls first. If you use a scroll to a monster, you can use it only in one of the 8 directions. To use a scroll to yourself, press the [.] key or the [5] key when you are asked for a direction. Usually a scroll affects only the nearest target and is blocked by a wall. * 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. A down stair is blue. An up stair is green. If you are on a stair, your symbol is shown in the color of the stair instead of usual white. * use a shadow The magic candle allows you to realize your shadow as a friendly creature. The realized shadow can attack monsters on behalf of you. You can create a shadow by pressing the [s] key. A shadow appears in an adjacent grid to you. A shadow can exist only in the light of the candle. If it is not in your current floor or if it is not in your sight, it disappears. A shadow consumes the candle; when you end your turn, you lose additional 3 candle points for each shadow in the game. A shadow moves as an independent creature; it moves in its turn, not in your turn. Its move is determined by your move. If you walk, it also walks. If you do anything else, it stays. You can change how your shadow moves by pressing the [a] key. Look at the 3-letter display in the right side of the map (above information about you): =&> Your shadow moves the same direction when you move. >&< Your shadow moves the opposite direction when you move. .&. Your shadow stays and don't move even if you move. The attack of a shadow hits to only enemies you know. Its attack doesn't hit a monster which is 9 grids away from the player or further. Its attack doesn't hit you or other shadows. You can create any number of shadows during the game, but only 2 shadows can exist at a time; if there is 2 shadows, you can't create more. You can destroy all shadows by pressing the [Z] key. Shadows are disposable; you don't die even if your shadow dies. Creating a shadow or destroying shadows takes 1/2 time of a normal action. Changing how your shadow moves doesn't take a turn. * kill and heal You and monsters don't regenerate; you don't gain hit points just because time passes. When you or your shadow kills an enemy, you and all of your shadows gain hit points to the maximum. Monsters don't gain hit points in this way. Note that you can't gain hit points by killing your shadow; your shadow is not your enemy. * enchantment An enchantment is a temporary magical effect which affect you and monsters. Some kinds of scroll add an enchantment to the target. Every enchantment has a duration. The duration of an enchantment is shown before its name; it continues for that number of turns. You and monsters can have only one enchantment at a time. If a new enchantment is added to you when you have already one, the old enchantment ends immediately and you get the new one unless both enchantments are the same kind. If both enchantments are the same, only the one with longer duration remains. The list of enchantments follows. In this list, "you" means the target the enchantment affects, not the player character. ** regenerate At the end of your turn, if you are not dead, you gain hit points to the maximum. ** poison At the end of your turn, you lose hit points equal to 1/4 of your maximum hit points, rounded up. ** fast Your action takes 1/2 time as usual. ** slow Your action takes twice time as usual. ** might When you attack, you do both a melee attack and a missile attack. You do a melee attack first. ** weak Your attack deals 1/4 of normal damage, rounded down. ** stun Walking doesn't move you to a different location. (You can still attack.) ** fear Your attack doesn't hit if the target is adjacent to you. ** reflect If a missile attack hits you, the attacker takes the damage of the attack instead of you. ** invulnerable All damage dealt to you is reduced to 0. (Effects that don't deal damage still affect you; this enchantment can be overridden by a different enchantment.) ** antimagic You can't get a new enchantment other than antimagic. * last-minute boost When the candle is about to run out, the candle speeds you and your shadows up; their actions take only 1/2 time as usual. The candle point is shown in yellow to indicate this effect. * 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 last-of-candle webpage: http://www.interq.or.jp/libra/oohara/last-of-candle/index.html * history The first version of last-of-candle was released on Sat, 13 Mar 2010. It was written for The 2010 Seven Day Roguelike Challenge (http://roguebasin.roguelikedevelopment.org/index.php?title=7DRL_Contest_2010). which is held on the rec.games.roguelike.development newsgroup. The game was named after a Japanese proverb. Although its original form seen in an ancient Buddhism text is "An oil lamp gets brighter when it is about to run out", since an oil lamp is rarely used in Japan today, it is told in an modified form: "A candle is brightest in its last".