resources/pod/manual.pod

=head1 CFPlus Manual

=head2 Features

=over 4

=item Fullscreen Map

CF+ can uses a fullscreen map, which greatly enhances how much of the
game world you can see.

=item Persistent Map Cache (Crossfire+ only)

CF+ 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, CF+ 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, CF+ does not suffer from arbitrary
limits (like a fixed amount of face numbers). There are still limits, but
they are not arbitrarily low :)

=item High quality text rendering

Although surprising at first, high quality text rendering is a real
must have feature.  For this, CF+ leverages Παν語 (PanGo) to offer
real-world text output quality, so you can chat in 日本語 (japanese),
ﺎﻠﻋﺮﺒﻳﺓ (arabic) or most any other language/script, as long
as suitable fonts are installed.

=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<completion mode>. 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<climb> will display a list of commands with I<climb> in their
name, such as I<ready_skill climbing> and I<use_skill climbing>.

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<iwor> will likely select I<invoke word of recall>, while I<ccfo>
will select I<cast create food>. Likewise, I<rscli> will likely select
I<ready_skill climbing> and I<usl> will give you I<use_skill levitation>.

You can enter space and other text as arguemnt to the command. For
example, C<cfoo waybread> will expand to C<cast create food waybread>.

=head2 The map overview

This is the small mini map in the upper left corner. It displays the areas which
you already visited before.

=head2 The Status area in the lower right corner

The area in the lower right corner displays the most interesting
stats while playing. The 4 gauges: Health, Mana/Spellpoints,
Grace and Food. The top of each gauge shows the current value
and the bottom value is the maximum value.

Going over each gauge with the mouse cursor will show a tooltip
with a detailed explanation of each stat.

Below the gauges there is a line that looks like this:

   Exp: ######## (lvl ####)

The former number are the experience points and the number in the parents
is the level of your character.
The level of the character depends on the experience points you have.
If the experience points reach a certain value your level rises or falls.
This depends on the experience table of the server you are currently playing on.

On the bottom there is a line:

   Rng: xxxxxxxxx

It tells you have you have in your range slot. The range slot is activated
if you "fire" (by pressing ctrl+direction key). For example there could be a spell
in your range slot or a weapon (like a bow) you will fire with.

=head2 The Floorbox

Right to the left of the status area there is the floorbox.
It displays what is on the tile your character stands on. If there are very many
items there will be a "More..." button which will open up the Inventory.

If you opened a container a button "Close container" will show up.

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

=item Enable B<Fast & Ugly> mode

=item Disable B<Fog of War>

=item Increase B<Map Scale>

=back

=back

Revision:	1.7
Committed:	Sun Aug 13 02:43:23 2006 UTC (17 years, 9 months ago) by root
Branch:	MAIN
CVS Tags:	HEAD
Changes since 1.6:	+0 -0 lines
State:	*FILE REMOVED*
Log Message:	* empty log message *
#	Content
1	=head1 CFPlus Manual
2
3	=head2 Features
4
5	=over 4
6
7	=item Fullscreen Map
8
9	CF+ can uses a fullscreen map, which greatly enhances how much of the
10	game world you can see.
11
12	=item Persistent Map Cache (Crossfire+ only)
13
14	CF+ can persistently cache all map data it received from the
15	server. This not only allows it to display an overview map, but also
16	ensures that once-explored areas will be available the next time you want
17	to explore more.
18
19	=item Hardware acceleration
20
21	Unlike most Crossfire clients, CF+ take advantage of OpenGL hardware
22	acceleration. Most modern graphics cards have difficulties with 2D
23	acceleration, while 3D graphics is accelerated well.
24
25	=item No arbitrary limits
26
27	Unlike other Crossfire clients, CF+ does not suffer from arbitrary
28	limits (like a fixed amount of face numbers). There are still limits, but
29	they are not arbitrarily low :)
30
31	=item High quality text rendering
32
33	Although surprising at first, high quality text rendering is a real
34	must have feature. For this, CF+ leverages Παν語 (PanGo) to offer
35	real-world text output quality, so you can chat in 日本語 (japanese),
36	ﺎﻠﻋﺮﺒﻳﺓ (arabic) or most any other language/script, as long
37	as suitable fonts are installed.
38
39	=back
40
41	=head1 Usage
42
43	=head2 The Map
44
45	The map is always displayed in the background, behind all other windows and UI elements.
46
47	#TODO# middle-click scrolls
48	#
49	# keys:
50	#
51	# a apply
52	# keypad moves, kp_5 applies ranged attack to self
53
54	Starting to type enters the I<completion mode>. In that mode, you can type
55	abbreviations or commands and have them executed as soon as they match a
56	valid command. This is best explained by a few examples:
57
58	Typing B<climb> will display a list of commands with I<climb> in their
59	name, such as I<ready_skill climbing> and I<use_skill climbing>.
60
61	You can abbreviate commands by typing only the first character of every
62	word (or even characters within the word - the client will try to make
63	a good guess, as long as the characters are in order). For example,
64	typing I<iwor> will likely select I<invoke word of recall>, while I<ccfo>
65	will select I<cast create food>. Likewise, I<rscli> will likely select
66	I<ready_skill climbing> and I<usl> will give you I<use_skill levitation>.
67
68	You can enter space and other text as arguemnt to the command. For
69	example, C<cfoo waybread> will expand to C<cast create food waybread>.
70
71	=head2 The map overview
72
73	This is the small mini map in the upper left corner. It displays the areas which
74	you already visited before.
75
76	=head2 The Status area in the lower right corner
77
78	The area in the lower right corner displays the most interesting
79	stats while playing. The 4 gauges: Health, Mana/Spellpoints,
80	Grace and Food. The top of each gauge shows the current value
81	and the bottom value is the maximum value.
82
83	Going over each gauge with the mouse cursor will show a tooltip
84	with a detailed explanation of each stat.
85
86	Below the gauges there is a line that looks like this:
87
88	Exp: ######## (lvl ####)
89
90	The former number are the experience points and the number in the parents
91	is the level of your character.
92	The level of the character depends on the experience points you have.
93	If the experience points reach a certain value your level rises or falls.
94	This depends on the experience table of the server you are currently playing on.
95
96	On the bottom there is a line:
97
98	Rng: xxxxxxxxx
99
100	It tells you have you have in your range slot. The range slot is activated
101	if you "fire" (by pressing ctrl+direction key). For example there could be a spell
102	in your range slot or a weapon (like a bow) you will fire with.
103
104	=head2 The Floorbox
105
106	Right to the left of the status area there is the floorbox.
107	It displays what is on the tile your character stands on. If there are very many
108	items there will be a "More..." button which will open up the Inventory.
109
110	If you opened a container a button "Close container" will show up.
111
112	=head1 FAQ
113
114	=over 4
115
116	=item The client is very sluggish and slow, what can I do about this?
117
118	Most likely, you don't have accelerated OpenGL support. Try to find a
119	newer driver, or a driver from your hardware vendor, that features OpenGL
120	support.
121
122	If this is not an option, the following Setup options reduce the load and
123	will likely make the client playable with software rendering (it will
124	still be slow, though):
125
126	=over 4
127
128	=item B<Video Mode> should be set as low as possible (e.g. 640x480)
129
130	=item Enable B<Fast & Ugly> mode
131
132	=item Disable B<Fog of War>
133
134	=item Increase B<Map Scale>
135
136	=back
137
138	=back
139