Playing LambdaHack ================== LambdaHack is a small dungeon crawler illustrating the roguelike game engine of the same name. Playing the game involves exploring spooky dungeons, alone or in a party of fearless adventurers, setting up ambushes for unwary creatures, hiding in shadows, bumping into unspeakable horrors, hidden passages and gorgeous magical treasure and making creative use of it all. The madness-inspiring abominations that multiply in the depths perform the same feats, due to their aberrant, abstract hyper-intelligence, while tirelessly chasing the elusive heroes by sight, sound and smell. Once the few basic command keys and on-screen symbols are learned, mastery and enjoyment of the game is the matter of tactical skill and literary imagination. To be honest, a lot of imagination is required for this rudimentary set of scenarios, even though they are playable and winnable. Contributions are welcome. Heroes ------ The heroes are marked on the map with symbols `@` and `1` through `9`. Their goal is to explore the dungeon, battle the horrors within, gather as much gold and gems as possible, and escape to tell the tale. The currently chosen party leader is highlighted on the screen and his attributes are displayed at the bottommost status line, which in its most complex form may look as follows. *@12 Adventurer 4d1+5% Calm: 20/60 HP: 33/50 Target: basilisk [**__] The line starts with the list of party members (unless there's only one member) and the shortened name of the team. Clicking on the list selects heroes and the selected run together when `:` or `SHIFT`-left mouse button is pressed. Then comes the damage of the highest damage dice weapon the leader can use, then his current and maximum Calm (composure, focus, attentiveness), then his current and maximum HP (hit points, health). At the end, the personal target of the leader is described, in this case a basilisk monster, with hit points drawn as a bar. Weapon damage and other item stats are displayed using the dice notation `XdY`, which means X rolls of Y-sided dice. A variant denoted `XdsY` is additionally scaled by the level depth in proportion to the maximal dungeon depth. You can read more about combat resolution in section Monsters below. The second status line describes the current level in relation to the party. 5 Lofty hall [33% seen] X-hair: exact spot (71,12) p15 l10 First comes the depth of the current level and its name. Then the percentage of its explorable tiles already seen by the heroes. The 'X-hair' (meaning 'crosshair') is the common focus of the whole party, denoted on the map by a white box and manipulated with movement keys in aiming mode. At the end of the status line comes the length of the shortest path from the leader to the crosshair position and the straight-line distance between the two points. Dungeon ------- The dungeon of any particular scenario may consist of one or many levels and each level consists of a large number of tiles. The basic tile kinds are as follows. dungeon terrain type on-screen symbol ground . corridor # wall (horizontal and vertical) - and | rock or tree O cache & stairs up < stairs down > open door | and - closed door + bedrock blank The game world is persistent, i.e., every time the player visits a level during a single game, its layout is the same. Commands -------- You walk throughout a level using the left mouse button or the numeric keypad (left diagram) or its compact laptop replacement (middle) or Vi text editor keys (right, also known as "Rogue-like keys", which have to be enabled in config.ui.ini). 7 8 9 7 8 9 y k u \|/ \|/ \|/ 4-5-6 u-i-o h-.-l /|\ /|\ /|\ 1 2 3 j k l b j n In aiming mode (`KEYPAD_*` or `\`) the same keys (or the middle and right mouse buttons) move the crosshair (the white box). In normal mode, `SHIFT` (or `CTRL`) and a movement key make the current party leader run in the indicated direction, until anything of interest is spotted. The `5` keypad key and the `i` and `.` keys consume a turn and make you brace for combat, which reduces any damage taken for a turn and makes it impossible for foes to displace you. You displace enemies or friends by bumping into them with `SHIFT` (or `CTRL`). Melee, searching for secret doors, looting and opening closed doors can be done by bumping into a monster, a wall and a door, respectively. Few commands other than movement, 'g'etting an item from the floor, 'a'pplying an item and 'f'linging an item are necessary for casual play. Some are provided only as specialized versions of the more general commands or as building blocks for more complex convenience macros. E.g., the autoexplore command (key `X`) could be defined by the player as a macro using `CTRL-?`, `CTRL-.` and `V`. The following minimal command set lets you accomplish almost anything in the game, though not necessarily with the fewest number of keystrokes. The full list of commands can be seen in the in-game help accessible from the Main Menu. keys command < ascend a level > descend a level c close door E manage equipment of the leader g or , get items a apply consumable f fling projectile + swerve the aiming line D display player diary T toggle suspect terrain display SHIFT-TAB cycle among all party members ESC cancel action, open Main Menu The only activity not possible with the commands above is the management of non-leader party members. You don't need it, unless your non-leader actors can move or fire opportunistically (via innate skills or rare equipment). If really needed, you can manually set party tactics with `CTRL-T` and you can assign individual targets to party members using the aiming and targeting commands listed below. keys command KEYPAD_* or \ aim at an enemy KEYPAD_/ or | cycle aiming styles + swerve the aiming line - unswerve the aiming line CTRL-? set crosshair to the closest unknown spot CTRL-I set crosshair to the closest item CTRL-{ set crosshair to the closest stairs up CTRL-} set crosshair to the closest stairs down BACKSPACE reset target/crosshair RET or INSERT accept target/choice For ranged attacks, setting the crosshair or individual targets beforehand is not mandatory, because the crosshair is set automatically as soon as a monster comes into view and can still be adjusted while in the missile choice menu. However, if you want to assign persistent personal targets or just inspect the level map closely, you can enter the detailed aiming mode with the right mouse button or with the `*` keypad key that selects enemies or the `/` keypad key that marks a tile. You can move the aiming crosshair with direction keys and assign a personal target to the leader with `RET`. The details of the shared crosshair position and of the personal target are described in the status lines at the bottom of the screen. Commands for saving and exiting the current game, starting a new game, etc., are listed in the Main Menu, brought up by the `ESC` key. Game difficulty setting affects hitpoints at birth for any actors of any UI-using faction. For a person new to roguelikes, the Raid scenario offers a gentle introduction. The subsequent game modes gradually introduce squad combat, stealth, opportunity fire, asymmetric battles and more. Monsters -------- Heroes are not alone in the dungeon. Monstrosities, natural and out of this world, roam the dark caves and crawl from damp holes day and night. While heroes pay attention to all other party members and take care to move one at a time, monsters don't care about each other and all move at once, sometimes brutally colliding by accident. When the hero bumps into a monster or a monster attacks the hero, melee combat occurs. Heroes and monsters running into one another (with the `SHIFT` key) do not inflict damage, but change places. This gives the opponent a free blow, but can improve the tactical situation or aid escape. In some circumstances actors are immune to the displacing, e.g., when both parties form a continuous front-line. In melee combat, the best equipped weapon (or the best fighting organ) of each opponent is taken into account for determining the damage and any extra effects of the blow. If a recharged weapon with a non-trivial effect is in the equipment, it is preferred for combat. Otherwise combat involves the weapon with the highest raw damage dice (the same as displayed at bottommost status line). To determine the damage dealt, the outcome of the weapon's damage dice roll is multiplied by the melee damage bonus (summed from the equipped items of the attacker) minus the melee armor modifier of the defender. Regardless of the calculation, each attack inflicts at least 1 damage. The current leader's melee bonus, armor modifier and other detailed stats can be viewed via the `!` command. In ranged combat, the missile is assumed to be attacking the defender in melee, using itself as the weapon, but the ranged damage bonus and the ranged armor modifier are taken into account for calculations. You may propel any item in your equipment, inventory pack and on the ground (by default you are offered only the appropriate items; press `?` to cycle item menu modes). Only items of a few kinds inflict any damage, but some have other effects, beneficial, detrimental or mixed. Whenever the monster's or hero's hit points reach zero, the combatant dies. When the last hero dies, the scenario ends in defeat. On Winning and Dying -------------------- You win the scenario if you escape the dungeon alive or, in scenarios with no exit locations, if you eliminate all opposition. In the former case, your score is based on the gold and precious gems you've plundered. In the latter case, your score is based on the number of turns you spent overcoming your foes (the quicker the victory, the better; the slower the demise, the better). Bonus points, based on the number of heroes lost, are awarded if you win. When all your heroes fall, you are going to invariably see a new foolhardy party of adventurers clamoring to be led into the dungeon. They start their conquest from a new entrance, with no experience and no equipment, and new, undaunted enemies bar their way. Lead the new hopeful explorers with wisdom and fortitude!