| 1 |
pippijn |
1.1 |
|
| 2 |
|
|
\chapter{Introduction} |
| 3 |
|
|
|
| 4 |
|
|
\section{What is \cf\ ? } |
| 5 |
|
|
|
| 6 |
|
|
In the words of its original author Frank Tore Johansen : |
| 7 |
|
|
\begin{quote} |
| 8 |
|
|
``\cf\ is a multi-player graphical arcade and adventure game made for the |
| 9 |
|
|
X Windows systems environment. It has certain flavours from other games, |
| 10 |
|
|
especially \gauntlet\ and the rogue-like games (mainly \hack , \moria , |
| 11 |
|
|
\angband , and \ragnarok ). Any number of players can move around in their |
| 12 |
|
|
own window, finding and using items and battling monsters. They can |
| 13 |
|
|
choose to cooperate or compete in the same {\em world}.'' |
| 14 |
|
|
\end{quote} |
| 15 |
|
|
In the years of development that have followed, \cf\ has grown to |
| 16 |
|
|
encompass over 150 monsters, $\sim$3000 maps to explore, an elaborate |
| 17 |
|
|
magic system, over 15 character types, a system of skills, and |
| 18 |
|
|
many, many artifacts and treasures. |
| 19 |
|
|
|
| 20 |
|
|
\cf\ is freely distributed under the GNU license and the code may be |
| 21 |
|
|
obtained from a number of FTP sites (see section \ref{sec:obtain}). |
| 22 |
|
|
{\bf Take note:} you will need at least an ANSI C compiler (i.e. {\tt gcc}) |
| 23 |
|
|
to build the game. A screen shot of the \cf\ display appears in Figure \ref{fig:dis}. |
| 24 |
|
|
|
| 25 |
|
|
\begin{figure} |
| 26 |
|
|
\mongovaryboth fig/screen_dia.ps 3.5in 5.5in |
| 27 |
|
|
\caption{Screen shot of the game display which comprises of six |
| 28 |
|
|
different windows. \label{fig:dis}} |
| 29 |
|
|
\end{figure} |
| 30 |
|
|
|
| 31 |
|
|
\cf\ is currently being maintained by Mark Wedel ({\tt mwedel@sonic.net}). |
| 32 |
|
|
Crossfire is uses the client server model - clients for unix (using |
| 33 |
|
|
gtk or straight X11) and windows are readily available. SDL client |
| 34 |
|
|
is being worked on. |
| 35 |
|
|
|
| 36 |
|
|
To be notified of new releases of \cf\ , |
| 37 |
|
|
subscribe to the announcement mailing list |
| 38 |
|
|
(see section \ref{sec:mlist}) to get notified of updates. |
| 39 |
|
|
|
| 40 |
|
|
\subsection{What is included in this document?} |
| 41 |
|
|
|
| 42 |
|
|
This document is a guide intended to focus on the game-play aspects of \cf . |
| 43 |
|
|
The original intention of this text was to |
| 44 |
|
|
help aspiring players create and play a character and more quickly initiate |
| 45 |
|
|
them into the intricacies of \cf . But, as things went along, many of the |
| 46 |
|
|
older docs began to be incorporated and lots of good reference material |
| 47 |
|
|
slipped in; this document may also be a good resource for more experienced |
| 48 |
|
|
players. |
| 49 |
|
|
|
| 50 |
|
|
Having said all of that, lets point out that each release contains |
| 51 |
|
|
a fair amount of documentation and the \playbook\ is definitely not the |
| 52 |
|
|
last word! Certainly, every player will want to obtain the \spoiler , |
| 53 |
|
|
and while this may sound flippant, its still true\emdash a good place to |
| 54 |
|
|
start tracking down much of the information you may want is the |
| 55 |
|
|
README document in the top directory of your release. |
| 56 |
|
|
|
| 57 |
|
|
|
| 58 |
|
|
\subsection{Getting started: beginning players}\index{beginning players} |
| 59 |
|
|
|
| 60 |
|
|
First-time players may want to skim over sections |
| 61 |
|
|
\ref{sec:char_attr}, \ref{sec:char_gen}, \ref{sec:basic}, |
| 62 |
|
|
and \ref{sec:first} before playing the game. Don't be daunted by |
| 63 |
|
|
the apparent complexity of \cf \emdash in reality \cf\ is quite easy |
| 64 |
|
|
to play and character generation |
| 65 |
|
|
is simple. Later on, when you have some experience |
| 66 |
|
|
playing the game, you may wish to go back and re-read skimmed material |
| 67 |
|
|
and expand your knowledge of the unread sections. |
| 68 |
|
|
|
| 69 |
|
|
If you just want to damn the torpedoes and ``roll''\footnote{This archaic |
| 70 |
|
|
term comes from paper and pencil role-playing games which used dice in |
| 71 |
|
|
the character generation process.} up a character quickly then proceed |
| 72 |
|
|
to section \ref{sec:char_gen} in this text. You may {\em still} |
| 73 |
|
|
find section \ref{sec:first} helpful reading. |
| 74 |
|
|
|
| 75 |
|
|
|
| 76 |
|
|
\section{\cf\ Mailing lists}\index{mailing lists}\label{sec:mlist} |
| 77 |
|
|
|
| 78 |
|
|
Two mailing-lists exist; the first is for discussing bugs and |
| 79 |
|
|
development while the second is for just announcing new versions. |
| 80 |
|
|
If you want to join or leave any of the lists, send mail to |
| 81 |
|
|
{\tt crossfire-}{\tt request@}{\tt ifi.uio.no} with the subject ``{\tt subscribe}'', |
| 82 |
|
|
``{\tt unsubscribe}'',``{\tt subscribe announce}'' or ``{\tt unsubscribe |
| 83 |
|
|
announce}''. If you use the subject ``{\tt subscribe}'' or |
| 84 |
|
|
``{\tt unsubscribe}'' you will (un)subscribe to {\em both} lists. |
| 85 |
|
|
|
| 86 |
|
|
To send messages directly to the list, mail {\tt crossfire@ifi.uio.no}. |
| 87 |
|
|
While the development/bug list is not supposed to be used for helping |
| 88 |
|
|
players solve problems, sometimes a knowledgeable reader of the |
| 89 |
|
|
list can be tempted into answering your question. |
| 90 |
|
|
|
| 91 |
|
|
An archive of old messages can be found at {\tt ftp.ifi.uio.no} in the |
| 92 |
|
|
directory {\tt /pub/crossfire/archive}. |
| 93 |
|
|
|
| 94 |
|
|
\section{Obtaining \cf } \label{sec:obtain} |
| 95 |
|
|
|
| 96 |
|
|
FTP sites\index{FTP sites} where you can look for the latest versions are: \\ |
| 97 |
|
|
|
| 98 |
|
|
\noindent{\tt ra.pyramid.com:/pub/crossfire} (129.214.1.102) \\ |
| 99 |
|
|
{\tt ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/crossfire} (129.240.64.44) \\ |
| 100 |
|
|
{\tt ftp.real-time.com/pub/games/crossfire} (206.10.252.12) \\ |
| 101 |
|
|
{\tt ftp.cs.city.ac.uk:/pub/games/crossfire} (138.40.91.9)\\ |
| 102 |
|
|
{\tt ftp.sunet.se:/pub/unix/games/crossfire} (130.238.127.3) \\ |
| 103 |
|
|
{\tt ftp.cs.titech.ac.jp:/pub/games/crossfire} (131.112.90.201) \\ |
| 104 |
|
|
|
| 105 |
|
|
Please use the one nearest to you. ``.se'', ``.no'' or ``.uk'' in Europe, |
| 106 |
|
|
``.au'' in Australia, ``.net'' in North America, and ``.jp'' in Asia. |
| 107 |
|
|
|
| 108 |
|
|
\section{DOCUMENT CREDITS} |
| 109 |
|
|
|
| 110 |
|
|
B.T. provided the bulk of the written material; K.E. and |
| 111 |
|
|
(to a lesser extent) J.K provided expert editing and typesetting advice. |
| 112 |
|
|
The \playbook\ uses material borrowed from older documentation written |
| 113 |
|
|
by the following people (in rough order of borrowing magnitude): |
| 114 |
|
|
\begin{quote} |
| 115 |
|
|
Sam Mackrill (lots of bits from the old FAQ) \\ |
| 116 |
|
|
Laurent Wacrenier \\ |
| 117 |
|
|
Kjetil T. Homme \\ |
| 118 |
|
|
Lars H. B. Olafsen \\ |
| 119 |
|
|
Peter Mardal \\ |
| 120 |
|
|
Rupert G. Goldie \\ |
| 121 |
|
|
Frank T. Johansen |
| 122 |
|
|
\end{quote} |
| 123 |
|
|
If I left anyone out, please send me some email! \\ |
| 124 |
|
|
|
| 125 |
|
|
\noindent{Brian Thomas} \\ {\tt thomas@astro.psu.edu} \\ |
