Playing Allure of the Stars =========================== Your party of trusted crew-members is about to test their fortune by exploring an abandoned Solar System passenger cruiser. You are going to set up ambushes for it's feral denizens, hide in shadows, cover tracks, bump into unspeakable horrors, hidden mechanisms and astounding technical treasures and make creative use of it all. The mysterious inhabitants of the gigantic spaceship are bound to welcome intruders with bloody surprises of their own. As soon as you turn your back in fear, expect to be chased tirelessly throughout all the decks, 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 at this stage, but the game is already 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 an old, warped, once luxurious, space liner, battle the horrors within, gather as much gold and precious 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 only one member resides on the currently displayed level) and the shortened name of the team. Then comes the damage of the leader's weapon (but regardless of the figures, each attack inflicts at least 1 damage), 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. The other status line describes the current location in relation to the party. 5 Lofty hall [33% seen] Cursor: 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 'cursor' is the common target of the whole party, directly manipulated with movement keys in the targeting mode. At the end comes the length of the shortest path from the leader to the cursor position and the straight-line distance between the two points. Spaceship --------- The spaceship of the campaign mode game consists of decks on many levels and each deck consists of a large number of tiles. The basic tile kinds are as follows. 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 deck during a single game, its layout is the same. Commands -------- You move throughout the level using the numerical 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 targeting mode the keys above move the targeting cursor. In normal mode, `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', '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 more general commands or 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-?`, `;` and `V`. Below are the remaining keys for terrain exploration and alteration. keys command < ascend a level CTRL-< ascend 10 levels > descend a level CTRL-> descend 10 levels ; make one step towards the target : go to target for 100 steps CTRL-: go to target for 10 steps x explore the closest unknown spot X autoexplore 100 times CTRL-X autoexplore 10 times R rest (wait 100 times) CTRL-R rest (wait 10 times) c close door Item-use related keys are as follows. keys command E describe equipment of the leader P describe backpack inventory of the leader S describe the shared party stash G describe items on the ground A describe all owned items g and , get an item d drop an item e equip an item p pack an item into inventory backpack s stash and share an item a activate applicable item q quaff potion r read scroll f fling projectable item t throw missile z zap wand 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, projectiles 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 KEYPAD_* and \ 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 Here are the commands for automating the actions of one or more members of the team. keys command = select (or deselect) a party member _ deselect (or select) all on the level v voice again the recorded commands V voice the recorded commands 100 times CTRL-v voice the recorded commands 1000 times CTRL-V voice the recorded commands 10 times ' start recording commands CTRL-T cycle tactic of non-leader team members (WIP) CTRL-A automate faction (ESC to retake control) Assorted remaining keys and commands follow. keys command ? display help D display player diary T mark suspect terrain Z mark visible zone C mark smell clues TAB cycle among party members on the level SHIFT-TAB cycle among all party members SPACE clear messages ESC cancel action, open Main Menu RET accept choice 0--6 pick a new hero leader anywhere in the spaceship 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 Duel game mode offers a gentle introduction. The subsequent game modes gradually introduce squad combat, stealth, asymmetric battles and more game elements. keys command CTRL-x save and exit CTRL-u new Duel game CTRL-k new Skirmish game CTRL-m new Ambush game CTRL-b new Battle game CTRL-a new Campaign 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 game modes the least spoilery and the most fun, e.g.: Allure --savePrefix test --newGame --noMore --maxFps 60 --automateAll --gameMode campaign --difficulty 1 The `--automateAll` option strictly corresponds to the `CTRL-A` command, but most of the debug options have no corresponding commands. Monsters -------- Heroes are not alone in the spaceship. Monstrosities, natural and out of this world, 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 equipped weapon or the best fighting organ of each opponent is taken into account for calculating damage. The damage the current hero can potentially inflict is displayed at the bottom of the screen, but the actual damage depends also on the monster's armor. 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. Slinging a missile at a target wounds it, consuming the weapon in the process. You may propel any item in your equipment, inventory and on the ground (press `?` to choose an item and press it again for a non-standard choice). Only items of a few kinds inflict any damage, but some have other effects. Whenever the monster's or hero's hit points reach zero, the combatant dies. When the last hero dies, the game ends in defeat. On Winning and Dying -------------------- You win the game if you escape the spaceship alive or, in game modes with no exit opportunity, if you eliminate all opposition. In the former case, your score is based on the gold and precious gems you've plundered, plus a bonus based on the number of heroes you lost. In the latter case, your score is based on the number of turns you spent overcoming your foes and, as a bonus, the number of enemies you've subdued. If all your heroes fall, you are awarded a score for your valiant deeds, but no winning bonus. When, invariably, a new overconfident party of adventurers storms the spaceship, they start from a new entrance, with no experience and no equipment, and new, undaunted enemies bar their way.