Rogue (Documentation)
ROGUE
ROGUE (IBM)
1 General Game Information, Setting Your Options
2 Potions, Scrolls, Wands, Staves
3 Rings, Weapons, Armor
4 Strategy
ROGUE: Part 1
The primary goal in ROGUE is to get down to the 26th level, get the Amulet of Yendor and return again to the surface safely. The secondary goal is to accumulate the greatest amount of gold and the most valuable items. When you have successfully returned to the surface, your items are automatically "sold" for you and the gold added to your total gold. Until you have the Amulet of Yendor, you have no choice but to go downward. Only the Amulet will allow you to go back upstairs.
Saving your character is one of the most valuable things you can do. Once you save a character, copy it to another disk so it is safe for future use. ROGUE is copy protected (on the IBM version, at least), but you can copy the disk to and play from your hard disk. The only requirement is that you must have the original ROGUE disk in your floppy disk drive. This requirement is worth it, though, since playing from your hard disk makes the game run faster and speeds up the restoring of saved character files. Always make a duplicate copy of your saved character.
All characters start out with the same Strength, Hit Points, Weapon, Armor and Experience Level. Not every character you play will have a chance of winning. What makes ROGUE so playable is that every time you play, the dungeon levels, treasures, monsters, EVERYTHING is different. Therefore, it may be necessary to start five or more characters before you find one who really has the potential to win; once established, though, much fun lies before you.
It is best to explore all of a level as completely as you can before descending to the next level. This is true up until about the 20th level, at which point the monsters you come across are so deadly that it might be necessary to switch your strategy to getting down to the next level as quickly as possible.
In ROGUE you will find, not only gold, but POTIONS, SCROLLS, WANDS or STAVES, RINGS, WEAPONS, and ARMOR. Some of these are helpful, some are dangerous. I will cover each of these items separately. You will not know what each of these items does until you either use them or can identify them with an Identify Scroll. Some items are so arcane they can only be understood by using an Identify scroll. Once identified, the item will always be known to you.
SETTING YOUR OPTIONS (IBM Version)
A nice feature of ROGUE is the ability to create a customized "reference file" for your character and to change the names the game will call the food items and the "Juice" potion. Also, the Option file allows you to set up one macro on the F9 key. I think the most useful thing you could do with this macro is to set it up to perform ten Searches. When you're searching for a hidden door in a room, using the F9 key will search the wall ten times or until the door is found.
Currently, your food rations are called simply Food or the more descriptive "Slime Mold" (yuck!). Wouldn't you rather find a Pizza lying about? Of course, whatever you choose to call your food ration will also determine what name is given to the See Invisible Potion. For instance, if you call your food ration "Bubble Gum", your See Invisible Potion will taste like "Bubble Gum Juice". As you can see, some interesting things can be done with this.
Also contained in the Options file is a default character name. By all means, unless you don't mind some unknown person copping all your fame and glory in the ROGUE Hall of Fame, change the default character name. When the game starts, you're given the chance to type in your character's name; but if you've got a favorite name and have put it in the Options file, simply hitting a return will use the name from the Options file.
ROGUE: Part 2
POTIONS: Gold value 100 to 200 average
There are many interesting potions, some good, some bad. Among the best of the potions are: Raise Level Potion, Healing Potion, Extra-Healing Potion, Gain Strength Potion, and Detect Magic Potion. If you use either of the Healing Potions when your character doesn't need healing, your Hit Points will be increased by 1 by the Healing Potion and 2 by the Extra-Healing Potion.
Most of the bad potions have only temporary effects. Two big exceptions are the Poison Potion and the Blindness Potion. The Poison Potion affects your character's strength, but it can be counteracted by the Restore Strength Potion. The first time you quaff Restore Strength, it is described as making you feel warm all over. The Blindness potion can be counteracted by either of the Healing Potions or by the "Juice" Potion (see SETTING YOUR OPTIONS in Part 1 of this walkthru). The "Juice" Potion is actually a potion of See Invisible.
Here are some typical Potion descriptions (potions are described by color; the color and the purpose of the potion will change from game to game):
HEALING (You feel better); EXTRA-HEALING (You feel much better); RAISE LEVEL (You feel more skillful); DETECT MAGIC (You sense magic) <$'s and/or +'s will appear on your screen indicating where the magic item is. $'s indicate good magic; +'s indicate bad magic.> -- or DETECT MAGIC (You have a strange feeling) <This means there is no magic on this level.>; WATER (This potion tastes extremely dull); SEE INVISIBLE (This potion tastes like <fruit> Juice); POISON (You feel sick); SPEED (You feel yourself moving much faster) <This potion allows you to either hit a monster twice to their once, or to run away two moves to their one.>.
You can see by the above list that it is not always apparent what the purpose of a potion is.
Although you wouldn't want to keep the bad potions for quaffing, potions can be wielded like weapons. First wield the potion, then throw it in the direction of the monster you're attacking. NOTE: You must be adjacent to the monster in order for the potion to hit. Throwing a Poison Potion at the monster reduces its strength, etc. Just be certain you don't throw a Gain Strength or Raise Level Potion at it!
SCROLLS: Gold value 50 to 150 average
Some scrolls, like the potions, can only be truly identified using an Identify Scroll. Do not waste your time writing down the names of the scrolls before identifying them or trying them. The names will change from game to game and you will be none the wiser for your efforts.
Among the most useful of the scrolls are the Magic Mapping Scroll and the all-important Identify Scroll. The Teleportation Scroll can get you out of a tight spot when your hit points drop too low or too many monsters attack you. It moves you to another location on your current dungeon level, and, consequently, away from the monster(s) attacking you.
Food is a critical necessity in this game and the Food Detection Scroll can save your life. Some scrolls seem to do nothing at all when you read them. To find out what they do, you must use an Identify Scroll.
Here are some typical Scroll descriptions (Scrolls are identified by oddly spelled words; the names will change from one game to the next.):
DETECT FOOD (Your nose tingles at the scent of food) <The symbol for food will appear on the screen.> -- or DETECT FOOD (You hear a growling noise nearby) <There's no food on this level. That was probably your stomach growling.>; REMOVE CURSED ITEMS (You feel someone watching over you); CONFUSE MONSTER (Your hands glow red); ENCHANT WEAPON (Your weapon glows blue); VORPAL WEAPON (Your weapon gives off a flash of white light); ENCHANT ARMOR (Your armor glows blue); CREATE MONSTER <No description here, except you suddenly find a "friend" by your side.>.
Enchant Weapon, Enchant Armor and Vorpal Weapon are extremely helpful in adding to your character's ability to fight monsters. Excessive use of the Vorpal Weapon scroll can cause your weapon to disappear in a puff of smoke.
WANDS and STAVES: Gold value 150 to 500 average
Among the most useful of these are the Wand of Slow Monster (works like the Potion of Haste Self); Staff of Teleport Away (moves the monster to a different area on the current dungeon level); Wand of Polymorph (turns the monster into a different monster <CAUTION: it could turn the monster into something worse!>); Staff of Drain Life (drains the monster's hit points); Staff of Light (illuminates dark rooms); and the Wand of Cancellation (releases you from the grips of the Medusa). To be avoided are the Wand of Haste Monster (works like throwing a Self Haste Potion at the monster) and the Staff of Teleport To (moves you to a monster's side).
Some Staves and Wands can be identified just by trying them once; others must be identified with a scroll. Staves and Wands have a limited number of uses. To find out how many uses they have, you MUST use an Identify Scroll.
ROGUE: Part 3
RINGS: Gold value 25 to 600 average
There are many good and bad rings. It's difficult, though possible, to win the game without the Ring of Slow Digestion. The Ring of Maintain Armor will protect your armor from the ravages of Aquator, which exists between levels 5 and 18. The Ring of Sustain Strength will protect you from the rattlesnakes, which live on the upper levels and from the poison darts that exist on all the lower levels.
There are rings that increase (safe) or decrease (cursed) the damage you inflict on the monsters, decrease (safe) or increase (cursed) the damage you receive from a monster's blows, and rings that add temporary strength (safe) or remove strength (cursed <permanent until you remove the ring>). There are also rings that aggravate monsters or teleport you wildly around the dungeon levels (both cursed).
There is a Ring of Stealth that allows you to sneak around monsters and a Ring of Searching that will help you locate hidden doors and traps. There is also a Ring of Regeneration which will restore hit points at a much greater rate; but wearing this ring also causes your character to consume food much faster. My personal favorite combination of rings to wear are the Ring of Slow Digestion and the Ring of Sustain Strength. Other combinations are also good. The Ring of Searching can help you avoid many traps. Always try to wear a Ring of Slow Digestion before wearing a second ring.
If you inadvertantly put on a Ring of Teleportation, Aggravate Monster, or one of the other cursed rings, you must read a Remove Cursed Items Scroll before you can remove it. Once the "curse" has been removed from the item, you can put it on and take it off at will.
WEAPONS: Gold value 200 to 2000 on improved weapons average
The best of all the weapons is the Two-handed Sword. It's wise to identify a new weapon before you wield it because some weapons are cursed. Using the Enchant Weapon and Vorpal Weapon Scrolls will increase the damage that your weapon inflicts upon the monsters. Vorpal Weapon Scrolls will improve a weapon faster than the Enchant Weapon Scroll; but indiscriminate use of Vorpal Weapon can destroy your weapon altogether. The Enchant Weapon Scroll will never do this as far as I know. Currently my own character has a Two-handed Sword which started out as a +0,+0. It was built up to +17,+27 by using only Enchant Weapon Scrolls.
ARMOR: Gold value 200 to 1000 on improved armor average
The strongest Armor is Plate Mail; but without the Ring of Maintain Armor, the Aquator can easily ruin its protection. The Aquator is unable to harm Leather Armor. With Scrolls of Enchant Armor it is possible to build up the strength of any Armor. The best plan for most games is to find uncursed Leather and Plate Mail Armor and to wear the Leather Armor on the levels with the Aquator. My current character is wearing Class 43 Leather Armor. This was built up with the use of Enchant Armor Scroll from a Class 3 Leather Armor.
My character, which I have mentioned in the section on weapons and armor, is not typical, nor is he the result of luck. He was carefully built with stategic use of the items available to him.
ROGUE: Part 4
STRATEGY
If you want to win this game without sheer luck you will have to establish a means to save your game. A second disk will allow you to safely back up this saved game.
To begin with you will be exploring each level trying to improve your character and finding useful Rings, Wands and Staves, Weapons and Armor. When your character is delevoping well, save the game and back it up. If something terrible should befall your character after you resume play, you have him saved safely and can restore the game.
You should try to explore every level completely as you descend until you come to about the 20th level; then it's a good idea to head for the stairs and avoid as many monsters as possible until you can get to the 26th level and get the Amulet of Yendor. By all means: SAVE your character on the 26th level in case he should accidentally fall through a trapdoor and fall to the 27th level. If this happens, you won't be able to retrieve the Amulet and will be stuck forever in the dungeon!
Once you have the Amulet, you have a choice to make: you can start heading for the surface with whatever you have; or you can decide to build your character's stats and gather more gold.
Whichever you decide, the handiest thing to have at this point is a Scroll of Magic Mapping. If you save your character often you can read the same scroll of Magic Mapping over and over without ever actually using it. For example:
Save your game as "A", copy "A" to "A.SAV"; resume your game (ROGUE A). Now go up or down the stairs, read the Scroll of Magic Mapping, explore the path to the stairs for traps and monsters. Quit the game, copy "A.SAV" to "A", resume your game (ROGUE A), go directly to the stairs and stand on them. Now save your game as "A", copy "A" to "A.SAV". You know what your current level looks like, and you still have your Scroll of Magic Mapping to use on the next level.
Save your game on the stairs BEFORE you go up or down. If you do not like what you find on the next level, you can change the next level simply by moving your character before you go up or down the stairs. It will be necessary for you to remember exactly what you did if you expect to reach the same new level when you restore your game.
I tend to not move my character from the stairs but merely do a search, keeping track of the number of times I use the Search option. By using this technique, I have maximized my character. By taking the time to do a little "dancing" with the save file, I have kept my character safe, built up his Hit Points, Armor Class, and Weapon, and collected more and more gold.
An average score for winning ROGUE is slightly over 13000 gold pieces. It's possible, however, to do much better than this using this strategy system. I have done better than 70000 gold pieces. The only drawback to having such a high score is that it destroyed my Guildmaster's Hall of Fame and my player's results were not recorded. I took the time, though, when bringing him back to the light of day, to print the screen when it listed the value of the items and the gold that my character brought up, so I have a record of my character's achievements.
ROGUE is published by Epyx, Inc.
