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=head1 CFPlus - a Crossfire+ and Crossfire game client. |
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=head2 What's Crossfire+ - Basic Game Concepts |
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In the words of Frank Tore Johansen, the author of the original Crossfire |
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game: |
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"Crossfire is a multi-player graphical arcade and adventure game made for |
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the X Windows systems environment. It has certain flavours from other |
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games, especially gauntletand the rogue-like games. Any number of players |
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can move around in their own window, finding and using items and battling |
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monsters. They can choose to cooperate or compete in the same world." |
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In the years of development that have followed, Crossfire has grown to |
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encompass hundreds of monsters, thousands of maps to explore, an elaborate |
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magic system, over 15 character types, a system of skills, and many, many |
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artifacts and treasures. |
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|
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Crossfire+ is freely distributed under the GNU license and the code may be |
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obtained from L<http://crossfire.schmorp.de/>. |
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=head1 Getting Started |
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First of all, don't be daunted by the apparent complexity of Crossfire - |
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in reality, Crossfire is quite easy to play and character generation is |
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simple. Later on, when you have some experience playing the game, you may |
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wish to read the full manual. |
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=head2 User Interface Basics |
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# very short description of all ui elements |
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=head2 How to create a new Character |
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When you start up Crossfire, you will be asked for a character name and a |
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password (you may need to open the B<Server Setup> dialog for this using |
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the button at the top of the screen). If you are playing for the first |
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time, type any name you like; this will be your character name for the |
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rest of the life of that character. Next, type in any password. Remember: |
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you will need to remember the same password again to play that character |
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again! You can use B<Save Config> to save your settings, including name |
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and password, but if it gets lost recovery is difficult, so remember your |
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password or write it down at a safe place. |
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|
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One more note: it's not a good idea to use "real" passwords to your |
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computer accounts! Doing so may make your system vulnerable to |
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unscrupulous Crossfire server administrators. |
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Your next step will be to generate random (primary) stats for your |
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character (to see the stats, you might have to open the B<Stats Window> |
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using the button at the top of the screen). You aren't limited to the |
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number of times you can roll your stats - so have fun. Notice that the |
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stats are always arranged that the B<Str> stat has the highest value, the |
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B<Cha> stat has the lowest. You may rearrange the order of these values |
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when you decide that you have rolled some decent stats. Two points: you |
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can never roll a character with better stats than an average of straight |
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15's, and you can't roll higher than 18 in a stat. |
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When you roll your character, the stats displayed are the stats you will |
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get as a human (which are unmodified). When satisfied, you can step |
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through a number of races, each with special bonuses in stats. |
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The manual shows how your basic stats will be changed by choosing a |
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different race. The difference between the natural stat limit and 20 |
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indicates the bonus/penalty assigned to rolled primary stats. For example, |
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a troll has a maximum strength which is 5 higher than 20-that means he |
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will begin with an additional 5 points added to his strength roll. On the |
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other hand, a troll can never get above 15 in intelligence. This means |
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that your rolled character will have 5 less in intelligence if you choose |
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that race. You should also note that any bonus to an ability can't raise |
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the final number above your racial maximum, and no penalty can give you an |
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ability score less then one; the lowest it can ever get is one. |
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=head3 Selecting a class |
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While each class has its particular strengths and weaknesses, in summary |
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its just a fact that some classes are easier to play than others. |
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For beginning players, the "simple fighter" characters are the easiest |
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to play successfully. The B<Dwarf>, B<Human>, and B<Warrior> are among |
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good earlier choices. As you gain experience with using Crossfire+ you |
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may wish to branch out into other "fighter" characters such as the |
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B<Thief> or B<Elf>, or try your hand at playing "spellcaster" characters |
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like the B<Wizard>, B<Mage>, B<Cleric> or B<Priest>. The "exotic" races |
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(e.g. B<Fireborn>, B<Quetzalcoatl> and B<Wraith>) and the B<Monk> class |
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are the hardest classes to master. |
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One more note: You will probably find any character class that has a low |
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natural B<Int> (for example, the B<Barbarian> class) will have a fairly |
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difficult time at higher levels. Skills, and most importantly, spells, |
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will be more difficult learn. Plan to spend a lot of loot on grimores, |
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prayer books and skill scrolls. |
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=head2 Playing the game |
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#TODO biggers house, binding keys etc. |
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=head1 Hints for Beginning Players |
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# TODO: you are in the beginners house |
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I'm on the starting map, what do I do now? You should be in a city square |
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with a few sign posts in the middle. Move over the signs and apply them |
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("A") to read what they say. |
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For beginners, there are several maps designed for them. Find these areas |
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and clear them out. All throughout these levels, a player can find signs |
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and books which they can read by stepping onto them and hitting B<space |
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bar> to apply the book/sign. These messages will help the player to learn |
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the system. Probably the first, best area for a beginning player to start |
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out in is "Beginners." This area is a small house located southwest of |
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your starting location. |
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=head2 Flailing about with spells |
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Some items are perishable. If you shoot a fireball into a room full of |
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scrolls, you will notice them going up in smoke! So be careful not to |
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destroy valuable items. |
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=head2 Tips on surviving |
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Crossfire+ is populated with a wealth of different monsters. These monsters |
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can have varying immunities and attacktypes. In addition, some of them can |
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be quite a bit smarter than others. It will be important for new players |
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to learn the abilities of different monsters and learn just how much it |
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will take to kill them. |
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Most monsters in the game are out to mindlessly kill and destroy the |
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players. Killing monsters will help boost a player's score. When fighting |
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a large amount of monsters in a single room, attempt to find a narrower |
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hallway so that you are not being attacked from all sides. Charging into a |
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room full of Beholders would not be wise, instead, open the door and fight |
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them one at a time. |
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More advice can be found in the Survival Guide |
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L<http://crossfire.real-time.com/guides/survival_guide/index.html>. |
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=head2 Priorities for low-level characters |
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The priority for characters below about 5th level is to gain some basic |
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items. In this regard, better armour and better spells are best. Look for |
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a quest among the various islands that will allow you to obtain mithril |
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mail. Whenever you scrape together ~100-200 platinum pieces go shopping |
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for armour and weapons (or spells). If you are a fighter type, try to have |
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at least a +2 weapon, +2 helmet, +2 suit of armour, and +2 shield before |
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you reach 5th level. For wizards, attempt to recover enough treasure to |
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be able to buy up good attack spells. For priests, first thing to do is |
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worship a god! Try to get the holy word prayer as soon as possible. Make |
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sure your current god allows good potential use of this spell. |
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For all classes, get access to the detect magic incantation as soon as |
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possible. This will allow you to sort through the treasure you find while |
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you're in the dungeon, and will save you time and money at the shops. |
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=head2 Diseases |
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Diseases are, well, diseases. They can be contageous or not, and can be |
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contracted in a number of ways, and they vary greatly in their symptoms |
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and dangerousness. |
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Diseases have "levels". If you contract a disease and recover naturally, |
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you're immune to that disease forever, provided the instance of the |
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disease is of equal or lower level than your immunity. |
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For example, you get a case of the flu cast by yourself at level 15. When |
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you get over it, you're immune to any flu of level less than 16. When you |
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become level 16 and cast the flu again, you are I<not> immune. |
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Spells such as B<cure disease> or B<restoration> will remove a disease, but |
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will not grant immunity. |
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When cast as a spell, diseases's severity is level dependent. A 30th level |
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cold is a I<lot> more severe than a level 2 cold. |
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Undead are I<never> affected by any disease. |
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Any priest player who isn't denied the path of wounding may learn and B<cast |
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cause> B<cold>, B<flu>, B<typhoid>, B<anthrax> and B<leprosy> spells. |
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Any priest with a high enough B<Wis> and with a religion that is attuned |
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to wounding may learn to B<cast cause> B<smallpox>, B<white death> and |
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B<red death> by praying at his altar. |
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The I<damage> caused each round varies between 0 and the maximum listed |
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for a disease. So you can inflict a I<mild> case of ebola, which would |
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I<not> kill a monster, or a severe one capable of killing it. |
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# TODO: disease table, but needs heavy reformatting |
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=head1 Authors |
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|
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Parts of this document were originally compiled, edited, and written by |
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Brian Thomas, Klaus Elsbernd, and John W. Klar. Additional information |
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compiled by Maciej Kalisiak, Gorlin, Anton Oussik and Gene Alexander. |
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Adapted for use by I<cfplus>, enhanced and corrected by Pippijn van |
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Steenhoven and Marc A. Lehmann. |
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