--- deliantra/Deliantra-Client/resources/pod/intro.pod 2006/05/23 23:14:46 1.1
+++ deliantra/Deliantra-Client/resources/pod/intro.pod 2006/05/25 23:32:01 1.5
@@ -1,102 +1,197 @@
-=head1 Pclient is a Crossfire+ and Crossfire game client.
+=head1 CFPlus - a Crossfire+ and Crossfire game client.
-=head2 Features
+=head2 What's Crossfire+ - Basic Game Concepts
-=over 4
+In the words of Frank Tore Johansen, the author of the original Crossfire
+game:
-=item Fullscreen Map
+"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.
+
+=head1 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 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 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
+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 stat has the highest value, the
+B 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, B, and B 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 or B, or try your hand at playing "spellcaster" characters
+like the B, B, B or B. The "exotic" races
+(e.g. B, B and B) and the B class
+are the hardest classes to master.
+
+One more note: You will probably find any character class that has a low
+natural B (for example, the B 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 Hints for Beginning Players
+
+# TODO: you are in the beginners house
+I'm on the starting map, what do I do now? You should be in a city square
+with a few sign posts in the middle. Move over the signs and apply them
+("A") to read what they say.
+
+For beginners, there are several maps designed for them. Find these areas
+and clear them out. All throughout these levels, a player can find signs
+and books which they can read by stepping onto them and hitting B to apply the book/sign. These messages will help the player to learn
+the system. Probably the first, best area for a beginning player to start
+out in is "Beginners." This area is a small house located southwest of
+your starting location.
+
+=head2 Flailing about with spells
+
+Some items are perishable. If you shoot a fireball into a room full of
+scrolls, you will notice them going up in smoke! So be careful not to
+destroy valuable items.
+
+=head2 Tips on surviving
+
+Crossfire+ is populated with a wealth of different monsters. These monsters
+can have varying immunities and attacktypes. In addition, some of them can
+be quite a bit smarter than others. It will be important for new players
+to learn the abilities of different monsters and learn just how much it
+will take to kill them.
+
+Most monsters in the game are out to mindlessly kill and destroy the
+players. Killing monsters will help boost a player's score. When fighting
+a large amount of monsters in a single room, attempt to find a narrower
+hallway so that you are not being attacked from all sides. Charging into a
+room full of Beholders would not be wise, instead, open the door and fight
+them one at a time.
+
+More advice can be found in the Survival Guide
+L.
+
+=head2 Priorities for low-level characters
+
+The priority for characters below about 5th level is to gain some basic
+items. In this regard, better armour and better spells are best. Look for
+a quest among the various islands that will allow you to obtain mithril
+mail. Whenever you scrape together ~100-200 platinum pieces go shopping
+for armour and weapons (or spells). If you are a fighter type, try to have
+at least a +2 weapon, +2 helmet, +2 suit of armour, and +2 shield before
+you reach 5th level. For wizards, attempt to recover enough treasure to
+be able to buy up good attack spells. For priests, first thing to do is
+worship a god! Try to get the holy word prayer as soon as possible. Make
+sure your current god allows good potential use of this spell.
+
+For all classes, get access to the detect magic incantation as soon as
+possible. This will allow you to sort through the treasure you find while
+you're in the dungeon, and will save you time and money at the shops.
+
+=head2 Diseases
+
+Diseases are, well, diseases. They can be contageous or not, and can be
+contracted in a number of ways, and they vary greatly in their symptoms
+and dangerousness.
+
+Diseases have "levels". If you contract a disease and recover naturally,
+you're immune to that disease forever, provided the instance of the
+disease is of equal or lower level than your immunity.
+
+For example, you get a case of the flu cast by yourself at level 15. When
+you get over it, you're immune to any flu of level less than 16. When you
+become level 16 and cast the flu again, you are I immune.
+
+Spells such as B or B will remove a disease, but
+will not grant immunity.
+
+When cast as a spell, diseases's severity is level dependent. A 30th level
+cold is a I more severe than a level 2 cold.
+
+Undead are I affected by any disease.
+
+Any priest player who isn't denied the path of wounding may learn and B B, B, B, B and B spells.
+
+Any priest with a high enough B and with a religion that is attuned
+to wounding may learn to B B, B and
+B by praying at his altar.
+
+The I caused each round varies between 0 and the maximum listed
+for a disease. So you can inflict a I case of ebola, which would
+I kill a monster, or a severe one capable of killing it.
+
+# TODO: disease table, but needs heavy reformatting
+
+=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.
-PClient can uses a fullscreen map, which greatly enhances how much of the
-game world you can see.
-
-=item Persistent Map Cache (Crossfire+ only)
-
-PClient can persistently cache all map data it received from the
-server. This not only allows it to display an overview map, but also
-ensures that once-explored areas will be available the next time you want
-to explore more.
-
-=item Hardware acceleration
-
-Unlike most Crossfire clients, PClient take advantage of OpenGL hardware
-acceleration. Most modern graphics cards have difficulties with 2D
-acceleration, while 3D graphics is accelerated well.
-
-=item No arbitrary limits
-
-Unlike other Crossfire clients, pclient does not suffer from arbitrary
-limits (like a fixed amount of face numbers). There are still limits, but
-they are not arbitrarily low :)
-
-=back
-
-=head1 Usage
-
-=head2 The Map
-
-The map is always displayed in the background, behind all other windows and UI elements.
-
-#TODO# middle-click scrolls
-#
-# keys:
-#
-# a apply
-# keypad moves, kp_5 applies ranged attack to self
-
-Starting to type enters the I. In that mode, you can type
-abbreviations or commands and have them executed as soon as they match a
-valid command. This is best explained by a few examples:
-
-Typing B will display a list of commands with I in their
-name, such as I and I.
-
-You can abbreviate commands by typing only the first character of every
-word (or even characters within the word - the client will try to make
-a good guess, as long as the characters are in order). For example,
-typing I will likely select I, while I
-will select I. Likewise, I will likely select
-I and I will give you I.
-
-You can enter space and other text as arguemnt to the command. For
-example, C will expand to C.
-
-=head2 The map overview
-
-#TODO#
-
-=head2 The Status area in the lower right corner
-
-#TODO#
-
-=head2 The I/I window
-
-#TODO#
-
-=head1 FAQ
-
-=over 4
-
-=item 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