The Labyrinth of Reptoran
A roguelike game by Jared Brayshaw
Platform: Windows 2000 or XP
Version 0.4.8
October 2006

Thank you for downloading my game.  This is currently a demo; that is, it gives a basic understanding of game concepts, but has no real content.  Expect more releases as time passes.

The Story:
It's just another normal day for you.  You've downloaded a roguelike demo, and you decide to check it out.  You double-click the icon...and the screen turns black.  "****ing Windows," you say to yourself.  Suddenly, you realize the room around you is turning black as well.  You can't see anything.  Slowly the light comes back...but you're in a completely different world.  You are in a small building, surrounded by weapons and armor.  You leave it there, and go outside to explore.  Suddenly, an orc appears out of nowhere.  What the...? That armor is starting to seem like a very good idea...

The Controls:
1: move SW
2: move S
3: move SE
4: move W
6: move E
7: move NW
8: move N
9: move NE

B: view battle information (armor rating, etc.)
d: drop an item in your inventory
g: get an item on the ground
i: view inventory
P: recall previous messages
R: take off an item
S: save the game
u: use an item
v: view equipment
V: view skills
w: wear an item
W: wield an item
x: exchange your ready weapon and your right hand
X: exchange the items in your left and right hands

SPACE: rest

Combat:
Weapons and armor have an armor rating and a cover rating, as well as hitpoints.  CR represents the chances of your armor protecting you.  AR is the maximum amount of damage the armor can absorb.  Once a piece of armor has absorbed enough damage, it is destroyed.  Other then that, combat is pretty straightforward.  Attack a monster by moving into it.  When a monster has no hitpoints left, it dies.

Skills:
My game is different from traditional roguelikes in that emphasis will be placed on exploration and discovery instead of combat.  Because of this, the game will revolve around the player's skills and his or her use of items and the surrounding terrain.  Currently there are only 3 skills you can use: Mining, Woodcutting, and Carpentry.  Mine by using a pick with nothing else on some ore rocks (*).  Note that you can mine more ores as your skill level increases.  Cut wood by using an axe with nothing else on a tree (T).  Build a fence by using rope on a log (not the other way around).

Data files:
Every bit of game content is defined in external data files.  They will have the extension .dat, but you can open and edit them with Notepad.  Right now there is no guide to editing these files, but it should be somewhat self-explanatory if you choose to do so.  Keep in mind that editing those files will change how the game runs, and possibly cause it to crash.  The file options.dat in the main folder determines game and system options.  Currently there is only one: SCREENHEIGHT.  Its default value is 35, but you can alter that to affect the screen size (keep the value under 100).  Also, the game will run faster if the screen is smaller  If the screen size is larger than 20, you need to maximize the window to see the entire game.

Saving/Loading:
To save, type "S".  To load, start the game and type that character's name in the prompt.  To quit the game without saving, just click the x in the upper right corner.

Known Bugs:
When the game is loaded, some time passes.
If you try to move onto a tile where there is both an item and the monster, it will say "There is a (item) here", even though you don't actually move there.

Disclaimer:
This game was written in C++ and has only been tested on Windows 2000 and Windows XP.  I cannot promise it will function on any other platform.  I don't think there are any major bugs, but if you find some that I didn't mention, email me at gamer2k4@gmail.com.  You can also email me questions or comments.

Copyright Jared Brayshaw 2006