resources/pod/intro.pod

=head1 CFPlus - a Crossfire+ and Crossfire game client.

=head2 What's Crossfire+ - Basic Game Concepts

In the words of Frank Tore Johansen, the author of the original Crossfire
game:

"Crossfire is a multi-player graphical arcade and adventure game made for
the X Windows systems environment. It has certain flavours from other
games, especially gauntletand the rogue-like games. Any number of players
can move around in their own window, finding and using items and battling
monsters. They can choose to cooperate or compete in the same world."

In the years of development that have followed, Crossfire has grown to
encompass hundreds of monsters, thousands of maps to explore, an elaborate
magic system, over 15 character types, a system of skills, and many, many
artifacts and treasures.

Crossfire+ is freely distributed under the GNU license and the code may be
obtained from L<http://crossfire.schmorp.de/>.

=head2 Getting Started

First of all, don't be daunted by the apparent complexity of Crossfire -
in reality, Crossfire 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

# very short description of all ui elements

=head2 How to create a new Character

When you start up Crossfire, you will be asked for a character name and a
password (you may need to open the B<Server Setup> dialog for this using
the button at the top of the screen). 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. 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> 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 Crossfire server administrators.

Your next step will be to generate random (primary) stats for your
character (to see the stats, you might have to open the B<Stats Window>
using the button at the top of the screen). You aren't limited to the
number of times you can roll your stats - so have fun. Notice that the
stats are always arranged that the B<Str> stat has the highest value, the
B<Cha> stat has the lowest. You may rearrange the order of these values
when you decide that you have rolled some decent stats. Two points: you
can never roll a character with better stats than an average of straight
15's, and you can't roll higher than 18 in a stat.

When you roll your character, the stats displayed are the stats you will
get as a human (which are unmodified). When satisfied, you can step
through a number of races, each with special bonuses in stats.

The manual shows how your basic stats will be changed by choosing a
different race. The difference between the natural stat limit and 20
indicates the bonus/penalty assigned to rolled primary stats. For example,
a troll has a maximum strength which is 5 higher than 20-that means he
will begin with an additional 5 points added to his strength roll. On the
other hand, a troll can never get above 15 in intelligence. This means
that your rolled character will have 5 less in intelligence if you choose
that race. You should also note that any bonus to an ability can't raise
the final number above your racial maximum, and no penalty can give you an
ability score less then one; the lowest it can ever get is one.

=head3 Selecting a class

While each class has its particular strengths and weaknesses, in summary
its just a fact that some classes are easier to play than others.

For beginning players, the "simple fighter" characters are the easiest
to play successfully. The B<Dwarf>, B<Human>, and B<Warrior> are among
good earlier choices. As you gain experience with using Crossfire+ you
may wish to branch out into other "fighter" characters such as the
B<Thief> or B<Elf>, or try your hand at playing "spellcaster" characters
like the B<Wizard>, B<Mage>, B<Cleric> or B<Priest>. The "exotic" races
(e.g. B<Fireborn>, B<Quetzalcoatl> and B<Wraith>) and the B<Monk> class
are the hardest classes to master.

One more note: You will probably find any character class that has a low
natural B<Int> (for example, the B<Barbarian> class) will have a fairly
difficult time at higher levels. Skills, and most importantly, spells,
will be more difficult learn. Plan to spend a lot of loot on grimores,
prayer books and skill scrolls.

=head2 Playing the game

#TODO biggers house, binding keys etc.

=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<cfplus>, enhanced and corrected by Pippijn van
Steenhoven and Marc A. Lehmann.

Revision:	1.3
Committed:	Thu May 25 23:22:22 2006 UTC (18 years, 1 month ago) by root
Branch:	MAIN
Changes since 1.2:	+96 -4 lines
Log Message:	improved docs
#	User	Rev	Content
1	root	1.3	=head1 CFPlus - a Crossfire+ and Crossfire game client.
2	root	1.1
3	root	1.2	=head2 What's Crossfire+ - Basic Game Concepts
4	root	1.1
5	root	1.3	In the words of Frank Tore Johansen, the author of the original Crossfire
6			game:
7
8			"Crossfire is a multi-player graphical arcade and adventure game made for
9			the X Windows systems environment. It has certain flavours from other
10			games, especially gauntletand the rogue-like games. Any number of players
11			can move around in their own window, finding and using items and battling
12			monsters. They can choose to cooperate or compete in the same world."
13
14			In the years of development that have followed, Crossfire has grown to
15			encompass hundreds of monsters, thousands of maps to explore, an elaborate
16			magic system, over 15 character types, a system of skills, and many, many
17			artifacts and treasures.
18
19			Crossfire+ is freely distributed under the GNU license and the code may be
20			obtained from L<http://crossfire.schmorp.de/>.
21
22			=head2 Getting Started
23
24			First of all, don't be daunted by the apparent complexity of Crossfire -
25			in reality, Crossfire is quite easy to play and character generation is
26			simple. Later on, when you have some experience playing the game, you may
27			wish to read the full manual.
28	root	1.1
29	root	1.2	=head2 User Interface Basics
30	root	1.1
31	root	1.2	# very short description of all ui elements
32	root	1.1
33	root	1.3	=head2 How to create a new Character
34
35			When you start up Crossfire, you will be asked for a character name and a
36			password (you may need to open the B<Server Setup> dialog for this using
37			the button at the top of the screen). If you are playing for the first
38			time, type any name you like; this will be your character name for the
39			rest of the life of that character. Next, type in any password. Remember:
40			you will need to remember the same password again to play that character
41			again! You can use B<Save Config> to save your settings, including name
42			and password, but if it gets lost recovery is difficult, so remember your
43			password or write it down at a safe place.
44
45			One more note: it's not a good idea to use "real" passwords to your
46			computer accounts! Doing so may make your system vulnerable to
47			unscrupulous Crossfire server administrators.
48
49			Your next step will be to generate random (primary) stats for your
50			character (to see the stats, you might have to open the B<Stats Window>
51			using the button at the top of the screen). You aren't limited to the
52			number of times you can roll your stats - so have fun. Notice that the
53			stats are always arranged that the B<Str> stat has the highest value, the
54			B<Cha> stat has the lowest. You may rearrange the order of these values
55			when you decide that you have rolled some decent stats. Two points: you
56			can never roll a character with better stats than an average of straight
57			15's, and you can't roll higher than 18 in a stat.
58
59			When you roll your character, the stats displayed are the stats you will
60			get as a human (which are unmodified). When satisfied, you can step
61			through a number of races, each with special bonuses in stats.
62
63			The manual shows how your basic stats will be changed by choosing a
64			different race. The difference between the natural stat limit and 20
65			indicates the bonus/penalty assigned to rolled primary stats. For example,
66			a troll has a maximum strength which is 5 higher than 20-that means he
67			will begin with an additional 5 points added to his strength roll. On the
68			other hand, a troll can never get above 15 in intelligence. This means
69			that your rolled character will have 5 less in intelligence if you choose
70			that race. You should also note that any bonus to an ability can't raise
71			the final number above your racial maximum, and no penalty can give you an
72			ability score less then one; the lowest it can ever get is one.
73
74			=head3 Selecting a class
75
76			While each class has its particular strengths and weaknesses, in summary
77			its just a fact that some classes are easier to play than others.
78
79			For beginning players, the "simple fighter" characters are the easiest
80			to play successfully. The B<Dwarf>, B<Human>, and B<Warrior> are among
81			good earlier choices. As you gain experience with using Crossfire+ you
82			may wish to branch out into other "fighter" characters such as the
83			B<Thief> or B<Elf>, or try your hand at playing "spellcaster" characters
84			like the B<Wizard>, B<Mage>, B<Cleric> or B<Priest>. The "exotic" races
85			(e.g. B<Fireborn>, B<Quetzalcoatl> and B<Wraith>) and the B<Monk> class
86			are the hardest classes to master.
87
88			One more note: You will probably find any character class that has a low
89			natural B<Int> (for example, the B<Barbarian> class) will have a fairly
90			difficult time at higher levels. Skills, and most importantly, spells,
91			will be more difficult learn. Plan to spend a lot of loot on grimores,
92			prayer books and skill scrolls.
93
94			=head2 Playing the game
95
96			#TODO biggers house, binding keys etc.
97
98			=head1 Authors
99
100			Parts of this document were originally compiled, edited, and written by
101			Brian Thomas, Klaus Elsbernd, and John W. Klar. Additional information
102			compiled by Maciej Kalisiak, Gorlin, Anton Oussik and Gene Alexander.
103	root	1.1
104	root	1.3	Adapted for use by I<cfplus>, enhanced and corrected by Pippijn van
105			Steenhoven and Marc A. Lehmann.
106	root	1.1