Deliantra-Client/pod/tutorial.pod

=head1 Deliantra Client Tutorial - A gentle introduction to the game client

=head2 What's Deliantra - Basic Game Concepts

Deliantra is a 2D MORPG (Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). This means
that you choose a character which will allow you to interact with a fictional
virtual world. In that world you can meet other people, fight monsters,
gain experience and gain treasures.

This Tutorial will guide you through the main interface elements of the
game client for Deliantra.

Later, if you managed to log in, another Tutorial will guide you through
the main game elements. It will teach you how to interact with the world
and other players.

Deliantra is freely distributed under the General (Affero)
Public License (GPL) and the code may be obtained from
L<http://www.deliantra.net/>.

=head1 Getting Started

First of all, don't be daunted by the apparent complexity of Deliantra -
in reality, Deliantra is quite easy to play and character generation is
simple. Later on, when you have some experience playing the game, you may
wish to read the full manual.

=head2 User Interface Basics

=head3 The Button Bar

First start with the button bar on top of the client window:

=for image sc_button_bar.jpg

That button bar consists of following buttons:

=over 4

=item B<Setup>

Opens the client setup window, where you can make all kinds of client
related settings. For example setting your login name and password,
the resolution, whether the client should run in fullscreen or windowed
mode. And lots of other things.

=item B<Playerbook>

This button will open one of the most important windows in the game: The
Playerbook. It will tell you many interesting and important statistics about
your character, for example which stats it got, which magical spells you know
and probably most importantly, whats in your inventory.

=item B<Save Config>

This button will save all settings you made in the B<Setup> window.
Also the positions of the windows will be saved, so that you don't have to
change the layout of the windows everytime you start the client.

=item B<Help!>

The B<Help!> button will open the documentation for the game, where
you will also find this tutorial. If you are stuck a look at the
L<Game FAQ|pod/faq> or the other documentation there.

=item B<Quit>

This button will exit the client. Be careful not to just quit the client
when you are logged in. You should really search for a save bed before
exiting. Because if you logout while being in a dungeon nasty cave-ins will
probably kill you if you are away for too long.

=back

=head3 Tooltips

Another B<very important> source of information for beginners are the
tooltips, which are shown when you hover with the mouse cursor above certain
user interface elements of the client:

=for image sc_tooltips.png

They often reveal very useful information about the user interface elements.
Also they answer many of the frequently asked questions about the usage of the
client.

And before you ask: No you can't disable them.

=head3 Minimap

=for image sc_minimap.png

This minimap can usually be found on the upper left of the client window,
it shows the rough layout of the map you are currently on. It can be helpful
to keep track of already explored areas.

=head3 Message Window

Another very important window is the B<Message Window>:

=for image sc_message_window.png

It shows all the important textual information which occur in the game.
The first tab, the B<Log> tab, usually shows status information about
the server for example the message of the day.

The next tab usually is the B<Map> tab, which shows any chat activity on the
map you are currently on.

The most social tab is the B<Chat> tab, where you can chat with all the to other
players on the server.

=head3 Short Log

The short log, which shows the most recent information which
occur while playing, for example stat changes (which for example happen
when you get poisoned) or activity messages.

This image shows the short log shortly after logging in:

=for image sc_short_log.png

=head3 Floorbox

The floorbox can be found on the bottom of the client window,
right from the middle of the bottom border:

=for image sc_floorbox.png

It shows whats on the floor below your character. With the right click
context menu you can pickup things or open the inventory with the 'More...'
button, which appears if there are too many items on the floor.

=head3 Gauges

The gauges on the bottom right of the client window display probably
the most interesting things while playing:

=for image sc_gauges.png

The blue gauge shows your health. If this gauge hits the bottom you will
die. The next, very shiny gauge, shows the amount of spell points you
can spend for casting magial spells. The bluish green gauge shows how
many grace points you got for using prayers. The last gauge shows
how much food you got in your belly. If your food is low your health
won't automatically improve, and you probably will starve to death.

Also remember to read the tooltips about these gauges.

Below those 4 gauges you find a line like this: "Exp: 928,708,227 (lvl 73)".
It shows how much overall experience your character got. And behind that number
you will find which level your character is. The character level influences
many aspects of your character.

Below the "Exp: ..." line you find another set of gauges: The one
with "90%" on it shows how much experience to the next character level you already
earned. Below that a gauge shows the same information for the level of
a specific skill.

And on the very bottom a line like this: "Range*: comet Combat: karate"
shows which spell or skill you have readied in your "range slot" and
which combat skill you have readied.

=head2 Start Playing

So, that's it for now to the user interface, you should get start playing now.
Open the B<Setup> window:

=for image sc_login.jpg

There are two important input boxes there:

=over 4

=item B<Username>

Here you have to enter the character name you would like to play with.  If you
are playing for the first time, type any name you like; this will be your
character name for the rest of the life of that character.  As you don't have a
character yet you have to create a new character. The tutorial and windows
popping up after you logged in for the first time with that character will
guide you through the character creation. 

=item B<Password>

Next, type in any password. Remember: you will need to remember the same
password again to play that character again! You can use B<Save Config> (see
the buttons on the top of the window) to save your settings, including name and
password, but if it gets lost recovery is difficult, so remember your password
or write it down at a safe place.

One more note: it's not a good idea to use "real" passwords to your
computer accounts! Doing so may make your system vulnerable to
unscrupulous Deliantra server administrators.

=back

Enter the desired I<Username> and I<Password> and click on I<Login / Register> now.

=head1 Authors

Parts of this document were originally compiled, edited, and written by
Brian Thomas, Klaus Elsbernd, and John W. Klar. Additional information
compiled by Maciej Kalisiak, Gorlin, Anton Oussik and Gene Alexander.

Adapted for use by I<Deliantra>, enhanced and corrected by Pippijn van
Steenhoven, Marc A. Lehmann and Robin Redeker.

Revision:	1.13
Committed:	Tue Dec 23 18:52:54 2008 UTC (15 years, 6 months ago) by pippijn
Branch:	MAIN
CVS Tags:	rel-2_03, rel-2_02, rel-2_05, rel-2_04, rel-2_10, rel-2_11
Changes since 1.12:	+1 -1 lines
Log Message:	thats => that's some more typo fixes in maps (i => I, missing commas, bad casing, etc.)
#	User	Rev	Content
1	elmex	1.12	=head1 Deliantra Client Tutorial - A gentle introduction to the game client
2	elmex	1.1
3	root	1.7	=head2 What's Deliantra - Basic Game Concepts
4	elmex	1.1
5	elmex	1.12	Deliantra is a 2D MORPG (Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). This means
6			that you choose a character which will allow you to interact with a fictional
7			virtual world. In that world you can meet other people, fight monsters,
8			gain experience and gain treasures.
9
10			This Tutorial will guide you through the main interface elements of the
11			game client for Deliantra.
12
13			Later, if you managed to log in, another Tutorial will guide you through
14			the main game elements. It will teach you how to interact with the world
15			and other players.
16	elmex	1.1
17	elmex	1.8	Deliantra is freely distributed under the General (Affero)
18	root	1.6	Public License (GPL) and the code may be obtained from
19	elmex	1.8	L<http://www.deliantra.net/>.
20	elmex	1.1
21			=head1 Getting Started
22
23	elmex	1.8	First of all, don't be daunted by the apparent complexity of Deliantra -
24			in reality, Deliantra is quite easy to play and character generation is
25	elmex	1.1	simple. Later on, when you have some experience playing the game, you may
26			wish to read the full manual.
27
28			=head2 User Interface Basics
29
30	elmex	1.12	=head3 The Button Bar
31	elmex	1.1
32	elmex	1.12	First start with the button bar on top of the client window:
33	elmex	1.1
34	elmex	1.12	=for image sc_button_bar.jpg
35	elmex	1.1
36	elmex	1.12	That button bar consists of following buttons:
37	elmex	1.1
38			=over 4
39
40	elmex	1.12	=item B<Setup>
41	elmex	1.1
42	elmex	1.12	Opens the client setup window, where you can make all kinds of client
43			related settings. For example setting your login name and password,
44			the resolution, whether the client should run in fullscreen or windowed
45			mode. And lots of other things.
46	elmex	1.1
47	elmex	1.12	=item B<Playerbook>
48	elmex	1.1
49	elmex	1.12	This button will open one of the most important windows in the game: The
50			Playerbook. It will tell you many interesting and important statistics about
51			your character, for example which stats it got, which magical spells you know
52			and probably most importantly, whats in your inventory.
53	elmex	1.1
54	elmex	1.12	=item B<Save Config>
55	elmex	1.1
56	elmex	1.12	This button will save all settings you made in the B<Setup> window.
57			Also the positions of the windows will be saved, so that you don't have to
58			change the layout of the windows everytime you start the client.
59	elmex	1.1
60	elmex	1.12	=item B<Help!>
61	elmex	1.1
62	elmex	1.12	The B<Help!> button will open the documentation for the game, where
63			you will also find this tutorial. If you are stuck a look at the
64			L<Game FAQ\|pod/faq> or the other documentation there.
65	elmex	1.1
66	elmex	1.12	=item B<Quit>
67	elmex	1.1
68	elmex	1.12	This button will exit the client. Be careful not to just quit the client
69			when you are logged in. You should really search for a save bed before
70			exiting. Because if you logout while being in a dungeon nasty cave-ins will
71			probably kill you if you are away for too long.
72	elmex	1.1
73			=back
74
75	elmex	1.12	=head3 Tooltips
76	elmex	1.1
77	elmex	1.12	Another B<very important> source of information for beginners are the
78			tooltips, which are shown when you hover with the mouse cursor above certain
79			user interface elements of the client:
80	elmex	1.1
81	elmex	1.12	=for image sc_tooltips.png
82	elmex	1.1
83	elmex	1.12	They often reveal very useful information about the user interface elements.
84			Also they answer many of the frequently asked questions about the usage of the
85			client.
86	elmex	1.1
87	elmex	1.12	And before you ask: No you can't disable them.
88	elmex	1.1
89	elmex	1.12	=head3 Minimap
90	elmex	1.1
91	elmex	1.12	=for image sc_minimap.png
92	elmex	1.1
93	elmex	1.12	This minimap can usually be found on the upper left of the client window,
94			it shows the rough layout of the map you are currently on. It can be helpful
95			to keep track of already explored areas.
96	elmex	1.1
97	elmex	1.12	=head3 Message Window
98	elmex	1.1
99	elmex	1.12	Another very important window is the B<Message Window>:
100	elmex	1.1
101	elmex	1.12	=for image sc_message_window.png
102	elmex	1.1
103	elmex	1.12	It shows all the important textual information which occur in the game.
104			The first tab, the B<Log> tab, usually shows status information about
105			the server for example the message of the day.
106	elmex	1.1
107	elmex	1.12	The next tab usually is the B<Map> tab, which shows any chat activity on the
108			map you are currently on.
109	elmex	1.1
110	elmex	1.12	The most social tab is the B<Chat> tab, where you can chat with all the to other
111			players on the server.
112	elmex	1.1
113	elmex	1.12	=head3 Short Log
114	elmex	1.1
115	elmex	1.12	The short log, which shows the most recent information which
116			occur while playing, for example stat changes (which for example happen
117			when you get poisoned) or activity messages.
118	elmex	1.1
119	elmex	1.12	This image shows the short log shortly after logging in:
120	elmex	1.1
121	elmex	1.12	=for image sc_short_log.png
122	elmex	1.1
123	elmex	1.12	=head3 Floorbox
124	elmex	1.1
125	elmex	1.12	The floorbox can be found on the bottom of the client window,
126			right from the middle of the bottom border:
127	elmex	1.1
128	elmex	1.12	=for image sc_floorbox.png
129	elmex	1.1
130	elmex	1.12	It shows whats on the floor below your character. With the right click
131			context menu you can pickup things or open the inventory with the 'More...'
132			button, which appears if there are too many items on the floor.
133	elmex	1.1
134	elmex	1.12	=head3 Gauges
135	elmex	1.1
136	elmex	1.12	The gauges on the bottom right of the client window display probably
137			the most interesting things while playing:
138	elmex	1.1
139	elmex	1.12	=for image sc_gauges.png
140	elmex	1.1
141	elmex	1.12	The blue gauge shows your health. If this gauge hits the bottom you will
142			die. The next, very shiny gauge, shows the amount of spell points you
143			can spend for casting magial spells. The bluish green gauge shows how
144			many grace points you got for using prayers. The last gauge shows
145			how much food you got in your belly. If your food is low your health
146			won't automatically improve, and you probably will starve to death.
147	elmex	1.1
148	elmex	1.12	Also remember to read the tooltips about these gauges.
149	elmex	1.1
150	elmex	1.12	Below those 4 gauges you find a line like this: "Exp: 928,708,227 (lvl 73)".
151			It shows how much overall experience your character got. And behind that number
152			you will find which level your character is. The character level influences
153			many aspects of your character.
154	elmex	1.1
155	elmex	1.12	Below the "Exp: ..." line you find another set of gauges: The one
156			with "90%" on it shows how much experience to the next character level you already
157			earned. Below that a gauge shows the same information for the level of
158			a specific skill.
159	elmex	1.1
160	elmex	1.12	And on the very bottom a line like this: "Range*: comet Combat: karate"
161			shows which spell or skill you have readied in your "range slot" and
162			which combat skill you have readied.
163	elmex	1.1
164	elmex	1.12	=head2 Start Playing
165	elmex	1.1
166	pippijn	1.13	So, that's it for now to the user interface, you should get start playing now.
167	elmex	1.12	Open the B<Setup> window:
168	elmex	1.1
169	elmex	1.12	=for image sc_login.jpg
170	elmex	1.1
171	elmex	1.12	There are two important input boxes there:
172	elmex	1.1
173			=over 4
174
175	elmex	1.12	=item B<Username>
176	elmex	1.1
177	elmex	1.12	Here you have to enter the character name you would like to play with. If you
178			are playing for the first time, type any name you like; this will be your
179			character name for the rest of the life of that character. As you don't have a
180			character yet you have to create a new character. The tutorial and windows
181			popping up after you logged in for the first time with that character will
182			guide you through the character creation.
183	elmex	1.1
184	elmex	1.12	=item B<Password>
185	elmex	1.1
186	elmex	1.12	Next, type in any password. Remember: you will need to remember the same
187			password again to play that character again! You can use B<Save Config> (see
188			the buttons on the top of the window) to save your settings, including name and
189			password, but if it gets lost recovery is difficult, so remember your password
190			or write it down at a safe place.
191	elmex	1.1
192			One more note: it's not a good idea to use "real" passwords to your
193			computer accounts! Doing so may make your system vulnerable to
194	elmex	1.8	unscrupulous Deliantra server administrators.
195	elmex	1.1
196	elmex	1.12	=back
197
198			Enter the desired I<Username> and I<Password> and click on I<Login / Register> now.
199	elmex	1.1
200			=head1 Authors
201
202			Parts of this document were originally compiled, edited, and written by
203			Brian Thomas, Klaus Elsbernd, and John W. Klar. Additional information
204			compiled by Maciej Kalisiak, Gorlin, Anton Oussik and Gene Alexander.
205
206	elmex	1.12	Adapted for use by I<Deliantra>, enhanced and corrected by Pippijn van
207	elmex	1.1	Steenhoven, Marc A. Lehmann and Robin Redeker.
208