Playing Allure of the Stars =========================== Playing Allure of the Stars involves walking around an abandoned Solar System space-ship, alone or in a party of trusted crew-members, setting up ambushes, hiding in shadow, covering tracks, breaking through to deeper spaceship decks, bumping into hostile intruders, doors and walls, gathering technical resources and making creative use of them. The bloodthirsty alien monsters and their horrible minions do the same, intelligence allowing, while tirelessly chasing the stranded heroes by smell and sight. 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 at this stage, but the game is already playable and winnable. The game also features experimental multiplayer cooperative and competitive modes, but they are troublesome to play with the shared-screen and shared-keyboard interface available at this time. Contributions welcome. Terrain ------- The heroes are marked on the map with symbols `@` and `1` through `9`. Their goal is to explore an old, gigantic, once luxurious space liner, battle the horrors within, gather as much gold and precious gems as possible, and escape to tell the tale. The spaceship, in the campaign game mode, consists of many levels covered with varying terrain of the following basic kinds. terrain type on-screen symbol floor . wall # rock or tree O cache & stairs up < stairs down > open door ' closed door + The game world is persistent, i.e., every time the player visits a level during a single game, the level layout is the same. Keys ---- You move throughout the level using the numerical keypad or the vi text editor keys (also known as "Rogue-like keys"). 7 8 9 y k u \|/ \|/ 4-5-6 h-.-l /|\ /|\ 1 2 3 b j n `SHIFT` (or `CTRL`) and a movement key make the current party leader (and currently selected party members, if any) run in the indicated direction, until anything of interest is spotted. The `5` and `.` keys consume a turn and make you brace for combat, which confers a chance to block blows for the remainder of the turn. In targeting mode the same keys move the targeting cursor. Melee, searching for secret doors and opening closed doors can be done by bumping into a monster, a wall and a door, respectively. Few commands other than movement are necessary for casual play. Some are provided only as building blocks for more complex convenience commands, e.g., the autoexplore command (key `X`) could be defined by the player as a macro using `BACKSPACE`, `CTRL-?`, `CTRL-;` and `P`. Below are the remaining keys for movement and terrain alteration. keys command < ascend a level CTRL-< ascend 10 levels > descend a level CTRL-> descend 10 levels CTRL-; make one step towards the target ; go to target for 100 steps x explore the closest unknown spot X autoexplore 100 times R rest (wait 100 times) c close door Inventory and items-related keys are as follows. The `a` and `f` commands are generalized versions the other item manipulation commands, offering a wider default item choice. keys command I display inventory g and , get an object d drop an object q quaff drink r read tablet a apply consumable t throw projectile z zap mechanism f fling missile To make a ranged attack, as in the last few commands above, you need to set your target first (however, initial target is set automatically as soon as a monster comes into view). Once in targeting mode, you can move the targeting cursor with arrow keys and switch focus among enemies with `*` (or among friends and enemies, depending on targeting mode set by `/`). The details of the shared cursor position and of the personal target are described at the bottom of the screen. All targeting keys are listed below. keys command * target enemy / cycle targeting mode + swerve targeting line - unswerve targeting line BACKSPACE clear target/cursor CTRL-? target the closest unknown spot CTRL-I target the closest item CTRL-{ target the closest stairs up CTRL-} target the closest stairs down Assorted remaining keys and commands follow. keys command ? display help D display player diary T mark suspect terrain V mark visible area S mark smell TAB cycle among party members on the level SHIFT-TAB cycle among party members in the dungeon = select (or deselect) a party member _ deselect (or select) all on the level p play back last keys P play back last keys 100 times CTRL-p play back last keys 1000 times ' start recording a macro SPACE clear messages ESC cancel action RET accept choice 0--9 pick a new hero leader anywhere in the dungeon 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. All but the campaign and skirmish game modes are experimental and feature multiple human or computer players (allied or not). Game difficulty setting affects hitpoints at birth for any actors of any UI-using faction. keys command CTRL-x save and exit CTRL-r new campaign game CTRL-k new skirmish game CTRL-v new PvP game CTRL-o new Coop game CTRL-e new defense game CTRL-d cycle next game difficulty There are also some debug, testing and cheat options and game modes that can be specified on the command line when starting the game server. Use at your own peril! :) Of these, you may find the screensaver modes the least spoilery and the most fun, e.g.: Allure --newGame --noMore --maxFps 45 --savePrefix test --gameMode testCampaign --difficulty 1 Monsters -------- Heroes are not alone in the spaceship. Monsters roam the dark halls and crawl from damp air-ducts 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. The best weapon carried by each opponent is taken into account for calculating bonus damage. The total damage the current hero can potentially inflict is displayed at the bottom of the screen. The total damage potential of a monster may change as it finds and picks up new weapons. 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. Throwing weapons at targets wounds them, consuming the weapon in the process. You may throw any object in your possession (press `?` to choose an object and press it again for a non-standard choice) or on the floor (press `-`). Only objects of a few kinds inflict any damage. Whenever the monster's or hero's hit points reach zero, the combatant dies. When the last hero dies, the game ends. On Winning and Dying -------------------- You win the game if you escape the spaceship alive (or eliminate all opposition, in some game modes). Your score is the sum of all gold you've plundered plus 100 gold grains for each gem. Only the loot in possession of the party members on the current level counts (the rest of the party is considered MIA). If all heroes die, your score is halved and only the treasure carried by the last standing hero counts. You are free to start again from a different entrance to the spaceship, but all your previous wealth is gone and fresh, undaunted enemies bar your way.