A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom
Michael C. Toy
Kenneth C. R. C. Arnold
Computer Systems Research Group
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science University of
California Berkeley, California 94720
ABSTRACT
Rogue is a visual CRT based fantasy game which runs
under the UNIX+ timesharing system. This paper
describes how to play rogue, and gives a few hints
for those who might otherwise get lost in the
Dungeons of Doom.
+UNIX is a trademark of Bell Laboratories
A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom
You have just finished your years as a student at the local
fighter's guild. After much practice and sweat you have finally
completed your training and are ready to embark upon a perilous
adventure. As a test of your skills, the local guildmasters have
sent you into the Dungeons of Doom. Your task is to return with the
Amulet of Yendor. Your reward for the completion of this task will
be a full membership in the local guild. In addition, you are
allowed to keep all the loot you bring back from the dungeons.
In preparation for your journey, you are given an enchanted mace, a
bow, and a quiver of arrows taken from a dragon's hoard in the far
off Dark Mountains. You are also outfitted with elf-crafted armor
and given enough food to reach the dungeons. You say goodbye to
family and friends for what may be the last time and head up the
road.
You set out on your way to the dungeons and after several days of
uneventful travel, you see the ancient ruins that mark the entrance
to the Dungeons of Doom. It is late at night, so you make camp at
the entrance and spend the night sleeping under the open skies. In
the morning you gather your weapons, put on your armor, eat what is
almost your last food, and enter the dungeons.
You have just begun a game of rogue. Your goal is to grab as much
treasure as you can, find the Amulet of Yendor, and get out of the
Dungeons of Doom alive. On the screen, a map of where you have been
and what you have seen on the current dungeon level is kept. As you
explore more of the level, it appears on the screen in front of you.
Rogue differs from most computer fantasy games in that it is screen
oriented. Commands are all one or two keys- trokes\[1\] and the
results of your commands are displayed graphically on the screen
rather than being explained in words.\[2\]
Another major difference between rogue and other com- puter fantasy
games is that once you have solved all the puzzles in a standard
fantasy game, it has lost most of its excitement and it ceases to be
fun. Rogue, on the other \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
\[1\] As opposed to pseudo English sentences. \[2\] A minimum screen
size of 24 lines by 80 columns is required. If the screen is larger,
only the 24x80 section will be used for the map.
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A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom
hand, generates a new dungeon every time you play it and even the author
finds it an entertaining and exciting game.
In order to understand what is going on in rogue you have to first
get some grasp of what rogue is doing with the screen. The rogue
screen is intended to replace the "You can see ..." descriptions of
standard fantasy games. Figure 1 is a sample of what a rogue screen
might look like.
3.1. The bottom line
At the bottom line of the screen are a few pieces of
cryptic information describing your current status. Here is an
explanation of what these things mean:
Level This number indicates how deep you have gone in the dungeon. It
starts at one and goes up as you go deeper into the dungeon.
Gold The number of gold pieces you have managed to find and keep with
you so far.
Hp Your current and maximum health points. Health points indicate how
much damage you can take before you die. The more you get hit in a
fight, the lower they get. You can regain health points by resting. The
number in parentheses is the maximum number your health points can
reach.
Str Your current strength and maximum ever strength. This can be any
integer less than or equal to 31, or
------------
|..........+
|..@....]..|
|....B.....|
|..........|
-----+------
Level: 1 Gold: 0 Hp: 12(12) Str: 16(16) Arm: 4 Exp: 1/0
Figure 1
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A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom
greater than or equal to three. The higher the
number, the stronger you are. The number in the
parentheses is the maximum strength you have attained
so far this game.
Arm Your current armor protection. This number indicates how effective
your armor is in stopping blows from unfriendly creatures. The higher
this number is, the more effective the armor.
Exp These two numbers give your current experience level and experience
points. As you do things, you gain experience points. At certain
experience point totals, you gain an experience level. The more
experienced you are, the better you are able to fight and to withstand
magical attacks.
3.2. The top line
The top line of the screen is reserved for printing
messages that describe things that are impossible to represent visually.
If you see a "--More--" on the top line, this means that rogue wants to
print another message on the screen, but it wants to make certain that
you have read the one that is there first. To read the next message,
just type a space.
3.3. The rest of the screen
The rest of the screen is the map of the level as you
have explored it so far. Each symbol on the screen represents something.
Here is a list of what the various symbols mean:
@ This symbol represents you, the adventurer.
-| These symbols represent the walls of rooms.
. The floor of a room.
) A weapon of some sort.
] A piece of armor.
! A flask containing a magic potion.
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A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom
? A piece of paper, usually a magic scroll.
/ A magical staff or wand
� A trap, watch out for these.
% A staircase to other levels
: A piece of food.
A-Z The uppercase letters represent the various inhabitants of the
Dungeons of Doom. Watch out, they can be nasty and vicious.
Commands are given to rogue by typing one or two char- acters. Most
commands can be preceded by a count to repeat them (e.g. typing
"10s" will do ten searches). Commands for which counts make no sense
have the count ignored. To can- cel a count or a prefix, type
`<ESCAPE>`{=html}. The list of com- mands is rather long, but it can
be read at any time during the game with the "?" command. Here it is
for reference, with a short explanation of each command.
? The help command. Asks for a character to give help on. If you type a
"*", it will list all the commands, otherwise it will explain what the
character you typed does.
/ This is the "What is that on the screen?" command. A "/" followed by
any character that you see on the level, will tell you what that
character is. For instance, typing "/@" will tell you that the "@"
symbol represents you, the player.
h, H, �H Move left. You move one space to the left. If you use upper
case "h", you will continue to move left until you run into something.
This works for all movement commands (e.g. "L" means run in direction
"l") If you use the "control" "h", you will continue moving in the
specified direction until you pass something interest- ing or run into a
wall. You should experiment with this, since it is a very useful
command, but very dif- ficult to describe. This also works for all
movement commands.
j Move down.
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A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom
k Move up.
l Move right.
y Move diagonally up and left.
u Move diagonally up and right.
b Move diagonally down and left.
n Move diagonally down and right.
t Throw an object. This is a prefix command. When fol- lowed with a
direction it throws an object in the specified direction. (e.g. type
"th" to throw some- thing to the left.)
f Fight until someone dies. When followed with a direc- tion this will
force you to fight the creature in that direction until either you or it
bites the big one.
m Move onto something without picking it up. This will move you one
space in the direction you specify and, if there is an object there you
can pick up, it won't do it.
z Zap prefix. Point a staff or wand in a given direction and fire it.
Even non-directional staves must be pointed in some direction to be
used.
� Identify trap command. If a trap is on your map and you can't remember
what type it is, you can get rogue to remind you by getting next to it
and typing "�" fol- lowed by the direction that would move you on top of
it.
s Search for traps and secret doors. Examine each space immediately
adjacent to you for the existence of a trap or secret door. There is a
large chance that even if there is something there, you won't find it,
so you might have to search a while before you find something.
Climb down a staircase to the next level. Not surpris- ingly, this can
only be done if you are standing on staircase.
< Climb up a staircase to the level above. This can't be done without
the Amulet of Yendor in your possession.
. Rest. This is the "do nothing" command. This is good for waiting and
healing.
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A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom
I Selective inventory. Tells you what a single item in your pack is.
q Quaff one of the potions you are carrying.
r Read one of the scrolls in your pack.
e Eat food from your pack.
w Wield a weapon. Take a weapon out of your pack and carry it for use in
combat, replacing the one you are currently using (if any).
W Wear armor. You can only wear one suit of armor at a time. This takes
extra time.
T Take armor off. You can't remove armor that is cursed. This takes
extra time.
P Put on a ring. You can wear only two rings at a time (one on each
hand). If you aren't wearing any rings, this command will ask you which
hand you want to wear it on, otherwise, it will place it on the unused
hand. The program assumes that you wield your sword in your right hand.
R Remove a ring. If you are only wearing one ring, this command takes it
off. If you are wearing two, it will ask you which one you wish to
remove,
d Drop an object. Take something out of your pack and leave it lying on
the floor. Only one object can occupy each space. You cannot drop a
cursed object at all if you are wielding or wearing it.
c Call an object something. If you have a type of object in your pack
which you wish to remember something about, you can use the call command
to give a name to that type of object. This is usually used when you
figure out what a potion, scroll, ring, or staff is after you pick it
up, or when you want to remember which of those swords in your pack you
were wielding.
D Print out which things you've discovered something about. This command
will ask you what type of thing you are interested in. If you type the
character for a given type of object (e.g. "!" for potion) it will tell
you which kinds of that type of object you've discovered (i.e., figured
out what they are). This command works for potions, scrolls, rings, and
staves and wands.
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A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom
o Examine and set options. This command is further explained in the
section on options.
�R Redraws the screen. Useful if spurious messages or transmission
errors have messed up the display.
�P Print last message. Useful when a message disappears before you can
read it. This only repeats the last message that was not a mistyped
command so that you don't loose anything by accidentally typing the
wrong character instead of �P.
! Escape to a shell for some commands.
Q Quit. Leave the game.
S Save the current game in a file. It will ask you whether you wish to
use the default save file. Caveat: Rogue won't let you start up a copy
of a saved game, and it removes the save file as soon as you start up a
restored game. This is to prevent people from saving a game just before
a dangerous position and then restart- ing it if they die. To restore a
saved game, give the file name as an argument to rogue. As in % rogue
save_file
To restart from the default save file (see below), run
% rogue -r
v Prints the program version number.
) Print the weapon you are currently wielding
\] Print the armor you are currently wearing
= Print the rings you are currently wearing
@ Reprint the status line on the message line
5. Rooms
Rooms in the dungeons are either lit or dark. If you walk into a lit
room, the entire room will be drawn on the screen as soon as you
enter. If you walk into a dark room, it will only be displayed as
you explore it. Upon leaving a room, all monsters inside the room
are erased from the screen. In the darkness you can only see one
space in all directions around you. A corridor is always dark.
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A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom
6. Fighting
If you see a monster and you wish to fight it, just attempt to run
into it. Many times a monster you find will mind its own business
unless you attack it. It is often the case that discretion is the
better part of valor.
7. Objects you can find
When you find something in the dungeon, it is common to want to pick
the object up. This is accomplished in rogue by walking over the
object (unless you use the "m" prefix, see above). If you are
carrying too many things, the pro- gram will tell you and it won't
pick up the object, other- wise it will add it to your pack and tell
you what you just picked up.
Many of the commands that operate on objects must prompt you to find
out which object you want to use. If you change your mind and don't
want to do that command after all, just type an ``{=html}
and the command will be aborted.
Some objects, like armor and weapons, are easily dif- ferentiated.
Others, like scrolls and potions, are given labels which vary
according to type. During a game, any two of the same kind of object
with the same label are the same type. However, the labels will vary
from game to game.
When you use one of these labeled objects, if its effect is obvious,
rogue will remember what it is for you. If it's effect isn't
extremely obvious you will be asked what you want to scribble on it
so you will recognize it later, or you can use the "call" command
(see above).
7.1. Weapons
Some weapons, like arrows, come in bunches, but most
come one at a time. In order to use a weapon, you must wield it. To fire
an arrow out of a bow, you must first wield the bow, then throw the
arrow. You can only wield one weapon at a time, but you can't change
weapons if the one you are currently wielding is cursed. The commands to
use weapons are "w" (wield) and "t" (throw).
7.2. Armor
There are various sorts of armor lying around in the
dungeon. Some of it is enchanted, some is cursed, and some is just
normal. Different armor types have different armor protection. The
higher the armor protection, the more pro- tection the armor affords
against the blows of monsters. Here is a list of the various armor types
and their normal armor protection:
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A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom
__________________________________________
Type Protection
None 0
Leather armor 2
Studded leather / Ring mail 3
Scale mail 4
Chain mail 5
Banded mail / Splint mail 6
Plate mail 7
__________________________________________
\|8\|7\|7\|7\|7\|7\|7\|7\|
If a piece of armor is enchanted, its armor protection will be higher
than normal. If a suit of armor is cursed, its armor protection will be
lower, and you will not be able to remove it. However, not all armor
with a protection that is lower than normal is cursed.
The commands to use weapons are "W" (wear) and "T"
(take off).
7.3. Scrolls
Scrolls come with titles in an unknown tongue[3].
After you read a scroll, it disappears from your pack. The command to
use a scroll is "r" (read).
7.4. Potions
Potions are labeled by the color of the liquid inside
the flask. They disappear after being quaffed. The command to use a
scroll is "q" (quaff).
7.5. Staves and Wands
Staves and wands do the same kinds of things. Staves
are identified by a type of wood; wands by a type of metal or bone. They
are generally things you want to do to some- thing over a long distance,
so you must point them at what you wish to affect to use them. Some
staves are not affected by the direction they are pointed, though.
Staves come with multiple magic charges, the number being random, and
when they are used up, the staff is just a piece of wood or metal.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\[3\] Actually, it's a dialect spoken only by the twenty- seven members
of a tribe in Outer Mongolia, but you're not supposed to know that.
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A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom
The command to use a wand or staff is "z" (zap)
7.6. Rings
Rings are very useful items, since they are relatively
permanent magic, unlike the usually fleeting effects of potions,
scrolls, and staves. Of course, the bad rings are also more powerful.
Most rings also cause you to use up food more rapidly, the rate varying
with the type of ring. Rings are differentiated by their stone settings.
The com- mands to use rings are "P" (put on) and "R" (remove).
7.7. Food
Food is necessary to keep you going. If you go too
long without eating you will faint, and eventually die of starvation.
The command to use food is "e" (eat).
8. Options
Due to variations in personal tastes and conceptions of the way
rogue should do things, there are a set of options you can set that
cause rogue to behave in various different ways.
8.1. Setting the options
There are two ways to set the options. The first is
with the "o" command of rogue; the second is with the "ROGUEOPTS"
environment variable\[4\].
8.1.1. Using the \`o' command
When you type "o" in rogue, it clears the screen and
displays the current settings for all the options. It then places the
cursor by the value of the first option and waits for you to type. You
can type a ``{=html} which means to go to the next option, a "-"
which means to go to the previous option, an ``{=html} which
means to return to the game, or you can give the option a value. For
boolean options this merely involves typing "t" for true or "f" for
false. For string options, type the new value followed by a 8.1.2. Using the ROGUEOPTS variable
The ROGUEOPTS variable is a string containing a comma
separated list of initial values for the various options. Boolean
variables can be turned on by listing their name or
____________________ [4] On Version 6 systems,
there is no equivalent of the ROGUEOPTS feature.
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A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom
turned off by putting a "no" in front of the name. Thus to set up an
environment variable so that jump is on, terse is off, and the name is
set to "Blue Meanie", use the command % setenv ROGUEOPTS
"jump,noterse,name=Blue Meanie"[5]
8.2. Option list
Here is a list of the options and an explanation of
what each one is for. The default value for each is enclosed in square
brackets. For character string options, input over fifty characters will
be ignored.
terse [noterse] Useful for those who are tired of the sometimes
lengthy messages of rogue. This is a useful option for playing on slow
terminals, so this option defaults to terse if you are on a slow (1200
baud or under) terminal.
jump [nojump] If this option is set, running moves will not be
displayed until you reach the end of the move. This saves considerable
cpu and display time. This option defaults to jump if you are using a
slow terminal.
flush [noflush] All typeahead is thrown away after each round of bat-
tle. This is useful for those who type far ahead and then watch in
dismay as a Bat kills them.
seefloor [seefloor] Display the floor around you on the screen as you
move through dark rooms. Due to the amount of characters generated, this
option defaults to noseefloor if you are using a slow terminal.
passgo [nopassgo] Follow turnings in passageways. If you run in a pas-
sage and you run into stone or a wall, rogue will see if it can turn to
the right or left. If it can only turn one way, it will turn that way.
If it can turn either or neither, it will stop. This is followed
strictly, which can sometimes lead to slightly confus- ing occurrences
(which is why it defaults to nopassgo).
tombstone [tombstone] Print out the tombstone at the end if you get
killed. ____________________ [5] For those of you
who use the bourne shell, the com- mands would be $
ROGUEOPTS="jump,noterse,name=Blue Meanie" $ export ROGUEOPTS
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A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom
This is nice but slow, so you can turn it off if you
like.
inven [overwrite] Inventory type. This can have one of three values:
overwrite, slow, or clear. With overwrite the top lines of the map are
overwritten with the list when inventory is requested or when "Which
item do you wish to . . .?" questions are answered with a "*". How-
ever, if the list is longer than a screenful, the screen is cleared.
With slow, lists are displayed one item at a time on the top of the
screen, and with clear, the screen is cleared, the list is displayed,
and then the dungeon level is re-displayed. Due to speed considerations,
clear is the default for termi- nals without clear-to-end-of-line
capabilities.
name [account name] This is the name of your character. It is used if
you get on the top ten scorer's list.
fruit [slime-mold] This should hold the name of a fruit that you enjoy
eating. It is basically a whimsey that rogue uses in a couple of places.
file [^/rogue.save] The default file name for saving the game. If
your phone is hung up by accident, rogue will automatically save the
game in this file. The file name may start with the special character
"^" which expands to be your home directory.
Rogue usually maintains a list of the top scoring peo- ple or scores
on your machine. Depending on how it is set up, it can post either
the top scores or the top players. In the latter case, each account
on the machine can post only one non-winning score on this list. If
you score higher than someone else on this list, or better your
previ- ous score on the list, you will be inserted in the proper
place under your current name. How many scores are kept can also be
set up by whoever installs it on your machine.
If you quit the game, you get out with all of your gold intact. If,
however, you get killed in the Dungeons of Doom, your body is
forwarded to your next-of-kin, along with 90% of your gold; ten
percent of your gold is kept by the
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Dungeons' wizard as a fee[6]. This should make you consider whether
you want to take one last hit at that monster and possibly live, or quit
and thus stop with whatever you have. If you quit, you do get all your
gold, but if you swing and live, you might find more.
If you just want to see what the current top
players/games list is, you can type % rogue -s
Rogue was originally conceived of by Glenn Wichman and Michael Toy.
Ken Arnold and Michael Toy then smoothed out the user interface, and
added jillions of new features. We would like to thank Bob Arnold,
Michelle Busch, Andy Hatcher, Kipp Hickman, Mark Horton, Daniel
Jensen, Bill Joy, Joe Kalash, Steve Maurer, Marty McNary, Jan
Miller, and Scott Nelson for their ideas and assistance; and also
the teeming multitudes who graciously ignored work, school, and
social life to play rogue and send us bugs, complaints, suggestions,
and just plain flames. And also Mom.
[6] The Dungeon's wizard is named Wally the Wonder Badg- er.
Invocations should be accompanied by a sizable dona- tive.
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