Deliantra-Client/pod/faq.pod

=head1 FAQ, Tips and Tricks

Here are some questions you might asked yourself over time.
Also some nice Tips and Tricks are listed here, which you may find informative.

=head2 Meta - About the Game and the Client

=head3 What is the relation between Deliantra and Crossfire?

Deliantra was originally a Crossfire server, but by now most of the code
has been rewritten. Still most maps are very similar or identical to
Crossfire maps, so the games share a lot.

The major differences are a better client, better graphics, a stable
server (i.e. no crashes every few hours with players and maps getting
reset) and the ability to let more players play, by using less resources
and having a fully asynchronous design, and full support for sound effects
and background music.

=head3 The client is very sluggish and slow, what can I do about this?

Most likely, you don't have accelerated OpenGL support. Try to find a
newer driver, or a driver from your hardware vendor, that features OpenGL
support.

If this is not an option, the following Setup options reduce the load and
will likely make the client playable with software rendering (it will
still be slow, though):

=over 4

=item * B<Video Mode> should be set as low as possible (e.g. 640x480)

=item * Enable B<Fast & Ugly> mode

=item * Disable B<Fog of War> and C<Map Smoothing>

=item * Increase B<Map Scale>

=back

=head3 My client doesn't start anymore/graphics are corrupted!

Sometimes you hit a bug in the client. To reset the state of your client
you can delete your client database directory (your client will have to
re-download music and images and you will lose your minimap contents).

=over 4

To do that, on Unix:

   rm -rf ~/.deliantra/client-*

On windows:

Do C<< Start => Run >>, enter F<%APPDATA%>, press return, and in the
window that will open, first open F<deliantra>, then delete the directory
starting with F<client->.

=back

Alternatively you can delete the F<.deliantra> or F<deliantra> directory
itself, but this will also delete your settings and keybindings.


=head2 Generic how do I...

=head3 X<faq_igniteandthaw>How do I thaw icecubes? Or: How do I ignite a torch?

The right-click context menu in the playerbook inventory has an entry
B<ignite/thaw>, which will ignite something or thaw icecubes.  You will
need a B<flint & steel> L<$ARCH/flint_and_steel.x11> for
this to work!

An alternative would be to use the L<mark|command/mark> and
L<apply|command/apply> commands like this:

   mark icecube
   apply flint and steel

You can bind these commands to a key and invoke them repeatedly.

=head3 How do I cast a cone spell all around me (burning hands, holy word etc.)?

Use the C<5>-key on your keypad. This will cats spells "onto yourself"
which has the desired effect with cone spells.


=head2 Playing Together

=head3 How can I communicate with other players?

There are five commands you can use to talk to others. All of them can
be entered by just typing them in, followed by the message, followed by
C<Return>, e.g. C<chat hey guys, what's up?>. If you have a I<tab> open
in your message window you can also just type a text in there followed
by C<Return> (this is especially handy as C<Return> also activates the
current chat tab as well).

=over 4

=item chat <message> (short: C<c>)

The most-used communications command. Whatever you I<chat> will end up
in the I<Chat> tab of everybody else who is currently logged in.

Example:

   c uh, that anchovis almost killed me

=item shout <message>

This is like C<chat>, but "louder". Everybody will get your message in red
in their C<Chat> tabs.  You should not use C<shout> unless you are in an
emergency or there is something really important to be said, otherwise you
risk being ignored by people.

Example:

   sh I am stuck! can anybody let me out?

=item say <message> (short: C<s>)

This command can be used to talk to NPCs (without going through the NPC
dialogue window), but all players anywhere on the same map can hear you as
well.

Example:

   s good that schmorp cnanot hera us here!

=item tell <playername> <message> (short: C<te>)

This is your prototypical two-way, private, chat channel. You can talk to
any other player that is currently logged in, and only he can hear you.

=item gsay <message> (short: C<gs>)

The group say command sends a message to every member of the party/group
you are in. This is useful when playing in a team, to avoid cluttering the
chat channel.

=back

=head3 Can I form parties? Which benefits does party-play have?

You can form I<new> parties using the C<< party form <name> >> name
command, and you can join I<existing> parties using the C<< party join
<name> >> command. There are other party commands, use C<help party> to
find out more.

The main benefit of party-play is sharing experience: All experience you
gain is distributed to all party members accoridng to their level (people
with twice the level as you gain twice as much experience).

This is great for training skills you are bad in, but somebody else is
good in, and of course vice versa!


=head2 Magic

=head3 How can I summon a specific monster with C<summon pet monster>?

Higher levels of L<skill_description/summoning> give you access to higher
level monsters, but not all monsters have equal abilities. Instead of
summoning the highest level monster allowed by your level you can also
summon any other monster you had before by adding its I<archetype name>
after the command, i.e. to summon bees you would use the C<cast summon pet
monster bee> (short: C<cspm bee>) command.

   Level  Monster
       1  bat
       3  bird
       4  spider
       6  killer_bee
       7  pixie
       8  skeleton
       9  stalker
      11  devil
      13  beholder
      15  dark_elf
      17  skull
      20  angel
      25  vampire
      30  spectre
      35  lich
      40  demilich
      50  hellhound
      60  unusual_kobold
      70  chicken
      80  gr_hellhound
      90  dave
     100  laoch
     105  snitchangel

=head2 Praying, Gods and Cults

=head3 X<how_tp_pray>How do I pray?

First enter the "praying mode" by readying your L<skill_description/praying> skill
(by default bound to C<Alt-P>, or by typing C<rspraying>), then hold and keep holding
C<Shift> and a direction key (e.g. C<Shift-Up>).

You will now pray as long as you keep pressing the keys.

=head3 How can I summon a specific monster with C<summon cult monster>?

You can't, your god selects the monsters for you.

=head3 How do I join a cult/become a follower of a god?

That is simple, just find an altar of a god of your choice and start
L<skill_description/praying>. Eventually, the god will recognize
you.

=head3 How do I change gods?

That is far more difficult: gods really hate it when you defect
them. Expect to lose a lot of L<skill_description/praying> experience in
the process.

First you should pray long enough to your god, until you gain 95%
resistancy to god power. Then quickly go to the altar of your newly-chosen
god and pray on her/his altar. Your old god won't make it easy, but if you
are persistent your old god will let you go at one point.

=head2 Exploring

=head3 What areas are there to explore?

First, you should explore Scorn and find the port pass (and maybe also the
gate pass). Make sure you don't miss out the old city of scorn, many
a dangers, but also many treasures, cna be found there.

When you finished most of the quests in Scorn you should investigate how
the pirates escape from the prison. This will lead to a number of nice
quests in and around Port Joseph.

Another nice series of quests, from low to medium level, can be found in
the King's Palace in Scorn. Who wouldn't want to meet the princess in
person?

The areas you can reach through the various transportation modes in Scorn
are Pupland (which has a lot of puzzles and quests from very low to very
high level), Stoneville and Santo Dominion (low and medium level quests,
also nice shops), and the Aldwulf Archipelago (which is more dangerous).

Through the gate you can reach Euthville and Santo Dominion to the north,
Brest (medium level) and Lake Country (medium to high leve) to the south,
and Navar (medium level quests) in the east (a long travel).

From Navar you can travel to Darcap in the far north (medium level
quests), near the mystical country of Azumauindo, to Wolfsburg somewhere
on the ocean, a rather dangerous area with many thieves and pirates
(medium level quests) and Valleynoy to the south, with medium and high
level quests (did you find the southpole yet?).

Also, it is said that Navar somehow has access to the mystical City
de Clouds, the biggest city ever seen (high level and very high level
quests). There are rumors about lands beyond (St. Bartholemew and other
cities) and other even more mystical places, but little is known about
that.

Revision:	1.13
Committed:	Sat Apr 5 16:25:42 2008 UTC (16 years, 3 months ago) by root
Branch:	MAIN
Changes since 1.12:	+13 -2 lines
Log Message:	* empty log message *
#	User	Rev	Content
1	root	1.5	=head1 FAQ, Tips and Tricks
2	elmex	1.1
3			Here are some questions you might asked yourself over time.
4			Also some nice Tips and Tricks are listed here, which you may find informative.
5
6	root	1.6	=head2 Meta - About the Game and the Client
7	elmex	1.1
8	root	1.6	=head3 What is the relation between Deliantra and Crossfire?
9	elmex	1.1
10	root	1.6	Deliantra was originally a Crossfire server, but by now most of the code
11			has been rewritten. Still most maps are very similar or identical to
12			Crossfire maps, so the games share a lot.
13	elmex	1.1
14	root	1.6	The major differences are a better client, better graphics, a stable
15			server (i.e. no crashes every few hours with players and maps getting
16			reset) and the ability to let more players play, by using less resources
17	root	1.8	and having a fully asynchronous design, and full support for sound effects
18			and background music.
19	elmex	1.1
20	root	1.6	=head3 The client is very sluggish and slow, what can I do about this?
21	root	1.3
22			Most likely, you don't have accelerated OpenGL support. Try to find a
23			newer driver, or a driver from your hardware vendor, that features OpenGL
24			support.
25
26			If this is not an option, the following Setup options reduce the load and
27			will likely make the client playable with software rendering (it will
28			still be slow, though):
29
30			=over 4
31
32			=item * B<Video Mode> should be set as low as possible (e.g. 640x480)
33
34			=item * Enable B<Fast & Ugly> mode
35
36	root	1.6	=item * Disable B<Fog of War> and C<Map Smoothing>
37	root	1.3
38			=item * Increase B<Map Scale>
39
40			=back
41
42	root	1.8	=head3 My client doesn't start anymore/graphics are corrupted!
43
44			Sometimes you hit a bug in the client. To reset the state of your client
45			you can delete your client database directory (your client will have to
46			re-download music and images and you will lose your minimap contents).
47
48			=over 4
49
50			To do that, on Unix:
51
52			rm -rf ~/.deliantra/client-*
53
54			On windows:
55
56			Do C<< Start => Run >>, enter F<%APPDATA%>, press return, and in the
57			window that will open, first open F<deliantra>, then delete the directory
58			starting with F<client->.
59
60			=back
61
62			Alternatively you can delete the F<.deliantra> or F<deliantra> directory
63			itself, but this will also delete your settings and keybindings.
64
65
66	root	1.6	=head2 Generic how do I...
67
68			=head3 X<faq_igniteandthaw>How do I thaw icecubes? Or: How do I ignite a torch?
69
70			The right-click context menu in the playerbook inventory has an entry
71			B<ignite/thaw>, which will ignite something or thaw icecubes. You will
72	root	1.11	need a B<flint & steel> L<$ARCH/flint_and_steel.x11> for
73	root	1.6	this to work!
74
75			An alternative would be to use the L<mark\|command/mark> and
76			L<apply\|command/apply> commands like this:
77
78			mark icecube
79			apply flint and steel
80
81			You can bind these commands to a key and invoke them repeatedly.
82
83			=head3 How do I cast a cone spell all around me (burning hands, holy word etc.)?
84
85			Use the C<5>-key on your keypad. This will cats spells "onto yourself"
86			which has the desired effect with cone spells.
87
88	root	1.8
89	root	1.12	=head2 Playing Together
90
91			=head3 How can I communicate with other players?
92
93	root	1.13	There are five commands you can use to talk to others. All of them can
94	root	1.12	be entered by just typing them in, followed by the message, followed by
95			C<Return>, e.g. C<chat hey guys, what's up?>. If you have a I<tab> open
96			in your message window you can also just type a text in there followed
97			by C<Return> (this is especially handy as C<Return> also activates the
98			current chat tab as well).
99
100			=over 4
101
102			=item chat <message> (short: C<c>)
103
104			The most-used communications command. Whatever you I<chat> will end up
105			in the I<Chat> tab of everybody else who is currently logged in.
106
107			Example:
108
109	root	1.13	c uh, that anchovis almost killed me
110
111			=item shout <message>
112
113			This is like C<chat>, but "louder". Everybody will get your message in red
114			in their C<Chat> tabs. You should not use C<shout> unless you are in an
115			emergency or there is something really important to be said, otherwise you
116			risk being ignored by people.
117
118			Example:
119
120			sh I am stuck! can anybody let me out?
121	root	1.12
122			=item say <message> (short: C<s>)
123
124			This command can be used to talk to NPCs (without going through the NPC
125			dialogue window), but all players anywhere on the same map can hear you as
126			well.
127
128			Example:
129
130			s good that schmorp cnanot hera us here!
131
132			=item tell <playername> <message> (short: C<te>)
133
134			This is your prototypical two-way, private, chat channel. You can talk to
135			any other player that is currently logged in, and only he can hear you.
136
137			=item gsay <message> (short: C<gs>)
138
139			The group say command sends a message to every member of the party/group
140			you are in. This is useful when playing in a team, to avoid cluttering the
141			chat channel.
142
143			=back
144
145			=head3 Can I form parties? Which benefits does party-play have?
146
147			You can form I<new> parties using the C<< party form <name> >> name
148			command, and you can join I<existing> parties using the C<< party join
149			<name> >> command. There are other party commands, use C<help party> to
150			find out more.
151
152			The main benefit of party-play is sharing experience: All experience you
153			gain is distributed to all party members accoridng to their level (people
154			with twice the level as you gain twice as much experience).
155
156			This is great for training skills you are bad in, but somebody else is
157			good in, and of course vice versa!
158
159
160	root	1.6	=head2 Magic
161
162			=head3 How can I summon a specific monster with C<summon pet monster>?
163
164			Higher levels of L<skill_description/summoning> give you access to higher
165			level monsters, but not all monsters have equal abilities. Instead of
166			summoning the highest level monster allowed by your level you can also
167			summon any other monster you had before by adding its I<archetype name>
168			after the command, i.e. to summon bees you would use the C<cast summon pet
169			monster bee> (short: C<cspm bee>) command.
170
171			Level Monster
172			1 bat
173			3 bird
174			4 spider
175			6 killer_bee
176			7 pixie
177			8 skeleton
178			9 stalker
179			11 devil
180			13 beholder
181			15 dark_elf
182			17 skull
183			20 angel
184			25 vampire
185			30 spectre
186			35 lich
187			40 demilich
188			50 hellhound
189			60 unusual_kobold
190			70 chicken
191			80 gr_hellhound
192			90 dave
193			100 laoch
194			105 snitchangel
195
196			=head2 Praying, Gods and Cults
197
198	root	1.10	=head3 X<how_tp_pray>How do I pray?
199	root	1.6
200			First enter the "praying mode" by readying your L<skill_description/praying> skill
201			(by default bound to C<Alt-P>, or by typing C<rspraying>), then hold and keep holding
202			C<Shift> and a direction key (e.g. C<Shift-Up>).
203
204			You will now pray as long as you keep pressing the keys.
205
206	root	1.7	=head3 How can I summon a specific monster with C<summon cult monster>?
207	root	1.6
208			You can't, your god selects the monsters for you.
209
210	root	1.7	=head3 How do I join a cult/become a follower of a god?
211	root	1.6
212			That is simple, just find an altar of a god of your choice and start
213			L<skill_description/praying>. Eventually, the god will recognize
214			you.
215
216			=head3 How do I change gods?
217
218			That is far more difficult: gods really hate it when you defect
219			them. Expect to lose a lot of L<skill_description/praying> experience in
220			the process.
221
222			First you should pray long enough to your god, until you gain 95%
223			resistancy to god power. Then quickly go to the altar of your newly-chosen
224			god and pray on her/his altar. Your old god won't make it easy, but if you
225			are persistent your old god will let you go at one point.
226
227	root	1.8	=head2 Exploring
228
229			=head3 What areas are there to explore?
230
231			First, you should explore Scorn and find the port pass (and maybe also the
232	root	1.9	gate pass). Make sure you don't miss out the old city of scorn, many
233			a dangers, but also many treasures, cna be found there.
234	root	1.8
235			When you finished most of the quests in Scorn you should investigate how
236			the pirates escape from the prison. This will lead to a number of nice
237			quests in and around Port Joseph.
238
239			Another nice series of quests, from low to medium level, can be found in
240			the King's Palace in Scorn. Who wouldn't want to meet the princess in
241			person?
242
243			The areas you can reach through the various transportation modes in Scorn
244			are Pupland (which has a lot of puzzles and quests from very low to very
245			high level), Stoneville and Santo Dominion (low and medium level quests,
246			also nice shops), and the Aldwulf Archipelago (which is more dangerous).
247
248			Through the gate you can reach Euthville and Santo Dominion to the north,
249			Brest (medium level) and Lake Country (medium to high leve) to the south,
250			and Navar (medium level quests) in the east (a long travel).
251
252			From Navar you can travel to Darcap in the far north (medium level
253			quests), near the mystical country of Azumauindo, to Wolfsburg somewhere
254			on the ocean, a rather dangerous area with many thieves and pirates
255			(medium level quests) and Valleynoy to the south, with medium and high
256			level quests (did you find the southpole yet?).
257
258			Also, it is said that Navar somehow has access to the mystical City
259			de Clouds, the biggest city ever seen (high level and very high level
260			quests). There are rumors about lands beyond (St. Bartholemew and other
261			cities) and other even more mystical places, but little is known about
262			that.
263