MANUAL
ROGUE SURVIVOR
Game Manual
by roguedjack
0. CONTENTS
1. THE GAME
2. THE CITY
3. THE PLAYER SHEET
4. ACTIONS & INTERACTIONS
5. SKILLS
6. ITEMS
7. FOLLOWERS
8. FRIENDS & FOES
9. OPTIONS
<SECTION>
1. THE GAME
-----------
On the stroke of midnight you suddenly wake up and find someone in the corner of your bedroom staring at you.
What was THAT noise?
“Hey! What are you doing in...
-Brains!
-What?
-Brrrrrr!
-What the hell dude? Get out of my bedroom!
-Mmmh?
-Plus you stink! Why do you... ZOMG YOU ARE A ZOMBIE!
-Mhhgmgg
Yes. It was a Zombie and it wanted your brain. Just like in those movies. So you kicked and punched till it did not move anymore. That's how a Zombie dies.
Then another came through the window.
And another through the door.
And another.
And then it never ended.
SETTING & OBJECTIVE
-------------------
You must survive an urban Zombie apocalypse.
You start in your bed. You have to find ways to survive : food, shelter, weapons and companions.
Your home town is known for being the headquarters of the world famous C.H.A.R. Corporation. Recently you've heard strange rumors about them...
CHARACTER CREATION
------------------
You choose a gender and a starting skill, or you can let the game make random choices for you.
See the Skills section for mode details about skills.
PROGRESSION
-----------
Eeach time the sun rise and you're still alive you gain a level.
You can upgrade a skill from a set of skills chosen at random.
SURVIVING
---------
You need to eat and sleep.
If you ignore your basic needs your unhappy body will make your life much more difficult.
You can die if you become starved.
BASIC GAMEPLAY
--------------
Rogue Survivor handles combat and progression differently than most roguelikes.
You're just an average human and you have to be cautious.
Don't expect to be able to bash zombies left and right recklessly, even at high levels.
Don't hesitate to FLEE and HIDE, you don't HAVE to kill every baddie in sight. The game is about SURVIVING not killing.
The game doesn't change the difficulty depending on your level and there is no obvious difficulty progression.
The game can be harsh on you, that's part of the fun.
If some places or foes are too hard for you, just don't stay there and flee.
You should FEAR for your life and use the Run action a lot.
EVENTS
------
From time to time something special will happen. The game will inform you.
You will learn them as you play.
<SECTION>
2. THE CITY
-----------
> DISTRICTS
The City is divided into Districts. Districts are numbered by their coordinates on the city map starting at 0-0 for the northwest district.
Each District is a different map. You can move in the city by exiting a district on the borders.
When entering a district the game will simulate the district if you have the option enabled. See Options for more details.
There are different kind of districts, each being likely to have different types of buildings.
- District : generic district, a bit of everything.
- Business Districts : mostly CHAR Corp offices and houses.
- Green District : mostly parks and houses.
- Residential District : mostly houses.
- Shopping District : mostly shops and houses.
> SHOPS
Shops provide different items.
Business and deliveries doesn't work well during apocalypses. First arrived, first served. Sooner or later there will be nothing left.
- Construction : tools and construction material.
- General Store : a bit of everything.
- Grocery : food.
- Gunshop : guns, the shopkeeper barricaded the doors but that shouldn't stop you.
- Pharmacy : medecine.
- Sportswear : bats, clubs and if you are lucky hunting rifles.
<SECTION>
3. PLAYER SHEET
---------------
> NAME
Your name and occupation.
Your name and appearance are generated when you start a new game.
> HIT POINTS (HP)
How many damage you can take.
At zero or less HP you die.
Damage dealt to your HP is also dealt to your STA.
Sleeping on a couch can slowly heal you.
Use of some Medecine items heals you.
> STAMINA (STA)
Some actions tires you and cost STA.
To perform certain actions you need enough stamina.
You automatically recover a small amount of STA each turn.
Below a certain level you become Tired and your Speed decrease.
Waiting recovers more STA.
Use of some Medecine items recovers STA.
Performing tiring actions during the night cost more than during the day.
> FOOD (FOO)
You need to eat food to survive.
Food points slowly decrease each turn.
Below a certain level you become Hungry and at zero points you are Starved.
Hungry : you cannot sleep.
Starved : in addition you have a chance to die of starvation each turn.
Use Food items to recover FOO.
> SLEEP (SLP)
To stay in shape you have to sleep.
Sleep points slowly decrease each turn, and decrease more rapidly at night.
Below a certain level you become Sleepy and at zero points you are Exhausted.
Sleepy : your Speed, Attack, Defence and FOV decrease.
Exhausted : the penalties are much worse.
Use of some Medecine items recovers SLP.
Sleeping recovers SLP. See the Sleeping action for more details.
> MELEE STATS (Atk, Dmg)
You have natural base values for Melee Attack (Atk) and Melee Damage (Dmg).
Atk : influence how likely you are to score a hit vs an enemy defence value.
Dmg : maximum damage you can do in a hit.
Attacking is a tiring action and cost STA.
Use of Melee Weapons increase your Melee Atk and Melee Dmg, but might cost additional STA.
> RANGED STATS (Atk, Dmg, Rng, Amo)
You have no natural ranged attack. Atk and Dmg values works the same as Melee.
Ranged attacks have an additional Range (Rng) value.
Rng : how far the weapon can fire.
Amo : how many ammunitions left in the weapon.
Attacking with a ranged weapon usually cost no STA.
See the Firing action description for more details.
> DEFENCE (Def)
You have a natural base value for Defence (Def).
Used when defending from all kinds of attacks.
> PROTECTION (Pro)
Reduces amount of damage dealt to you when hit.
You have no natural protection.
Equiping some items improves your Pro.
> SPEED (Spd)
How fast you are. The higher the better.
You start with a base value of 1.0, meaning you can perform one standard action per turn.
Undeads are generally slower.
In certain circumstances your Spd will temporary increase or decrease.
Under the hood the game use an Action Points (AP) system : every action cost a number of AP and Spd measure how much AP you recover each turn.
> FIELD OF VIEW (FOV)
How far you can see.
During the night your FoV will progressively diminish.
During the day your FoV will progressively increase back to its maximum value.
> FOLLOWERS
How many followers are in your party.
See the Followers section for more details.
> INVENTORY
The items you are carrying.
Items highlighted in green are currently equiped.
Ranged weapons are shown with an ammo gauge.
You have a limited number of slots in your inventory but you can stack some items together.
Stackable items are shown with a quantity number.
Manage your items with enabling the Inventory mode, or use/equip one item by using the item slot shortcut.
> ITEMS ON GROUND
List the items on the tile you are currently standing.
They are displayed in the same way as your items.
Manage items on the ground in the Inventory mode.
> SKILLS
List your current skills, their level and their name.
See the Skills section for more details.
<SECTION>
4. ACTIONS & INTERACTIONS
-------------------------
This section describes the actions you can perform in the game and the interactions with other actors and objects.
You can redefine the keys in game (default Shift-K).
> LOOKING (default L)
Examine your surroundings with the mouse. Gives you usefull descriptions for learning the game or analyzing the tactical situation.
> MOVING (default Numpad)
Walk or run around.
If you try to move where you cannot you might "bump" into something.
"Bumping" allows you to perform some actions.
> "BUMPING"
"Bumping" is trying to move into a tile occupied by someone or something.
Some interactions are triggered by bumping into various things :
Jumping on or over an obstacle.
Opening doors.
Taking items from shelves and containers.
Chatting or trading with an actor.
Attacking an actor.
Attacking a barricade.
> RUNNING (default R)
You can start and stop running. When running you move 2x faster but it cost you STA.
You need to be not tired to start or continue running. If you are tired while running you automatically stop.
> WAITING/RESTING (default NumPad5)
Do nothing. You recover STA faster this way.
> SLEEPING (default Z)
Sleeping recovers SLP points. You can sleep anywhere but sleeping on a couch recovers your points faster and can slowly heal you. You cannot sleep while Hungry, apart from that you can sleep anytime you wish.
While sleeping you cannot see, hear or do anything and are entirely vulnerable to attacks. An attack will wake you up immediately.
You will randomly wake up at some point and have more chance to wake up when not Sleepy anymore.
You should be carefull where and when you sleep. It is safer and healthier to find a bed and barricade the room for the night.
> (Bumping) JUMPING
Jump or climb on something that is marked as jumpable.
Jumping is a tiring action and cost some STA.
> (Bumping) TRADING
The actor must be willing to trade and have an item to offer. Look for the "can trade" icon on the map.
He will offer you an exhange of items and you can accept or decline the deal.
You can try trading as many times as you want.
Before trading you should use the Look command to see what items the actor is carrying.
> (Bumping) ATTACKING AN ACTOR
Perform a melee attack on an enemy. This is a quite tiring action and cost STA.
Melee weapons increase your Atk and Dmg. Most weapons cost additional STA to handle, those are usually larger or heavier weapons.
> (Bumping) ATTACKING A BARRICADE
Perform a sure-to-hit full damage melee attack on a barricade to eventually break it.
The material used to build the barricade is lost because of the destruction.
> FIRING (default F)
Use the fire mode. You need to have an available ranged attack, such as a ranged weapon.
You must have a clear line of fire to your target. You cannot shoot through actors and only shoot through some objects.
The closer your target is to you the more chance you have to score a hit (your ranged Atk value increase as your target distance decrease).
> TAKING AND DROPING ITEMS (default I)
To take items from a shelf or container bump into it.
To take items from the ground or drop items on a tile, move on the tile and use the inventory mode.
> EQUIPING/UNEQUIPING AND USING ITEMS (default I, shortcuts Control-<number>)
Use the inventor mode to manage items in your inventory.
Equiping/unequiping an item does not end your turn, but using an item does.
Using items usually consumes them.
> BARRICADING OBJECTS (default B)
Use the barricade mode. You can barricade doors and windows. You need to have barricading material such as wooden planks and barricading consumes one quantity of such an item. You can barricade up to a maximum limit.
> BREAKING OBJECTS (default K)
You can break or dismantle some map objects. You can get barricading material from some of them.
You need to have a melee weapon equiped, you're not insane enough yet to break stuff barehanded.
> PUSHING OBJECTS (default P)
Push an object in a direction. Only movable objects can be pushed.
Pushing is a tiring action, it costs as much STA as the object weight.
If you push the object away from you, you will move with it. You cannot pull the object to your position.
Usefull to block paths and make mobile barricades.
> LEADING (default T)
Take or leave a follower. See the Followers section for more details.
> SWITCHING PLACE (default S)
You can switch place with one of your follower.
Usefull when he is blocking your way or you want to use him as meatshield.
> TAGGING (default A)
Tag a symbol on a wall or a floor.
If the option is enabled, the tag will also appear on your minimap as a yellow spot.
You need to have some spraint paint equiped. Tagging use one quantity of paint.
Usefull to mark places or paths you want to remember.
> (System) SAVING & LOADING (default Shift-S, Shift-L)
You have only one save slot.
The game doesn't enforce permadeath, after your death you can reload your last save, but a true rogue survivor never reloads.
Saving and especially loading can take some time, please be patient or consider lowering some game options.
> (System) OPTIONS & KEYBINDINGS (default Shift-O, Shift-K)
You can set some game options and redefine the keys.
Your options and keys preferences are automatically saved between games.
Options are applied immediatly but some take effect only when starting a new game.
See the Options sections for more information.
<SECTION>
5. SKILLS
---------
All skills are automatically used when appropriate, they add bonuses to actions and abilities.
Skill levels range from 0 to 3.
Skills are helpful but contrary to traditional roguelikes you will never become extremely powerful.
When leveling up you get to choose one skill to learn or improve.
> AGILE
Helps you fight better.
Increases your Melee Atk and your Def.
> AWAKE
Helps you staying awake longer.
Increases your maximum SLP points.
> CARPENTRY
Helps you build stronger barricades.
Increases the barricading value of barricading items you use.
> FIREARMS
Improves your efficiency with firearms.
Increases the Atk and Dmg value when shooting firearms.
> HAULER
Helps your carrying more items.
Increases your inventory slots.
> HIGH STAMINA
Helps you running and fighting longer.
Increases your maximum STA.
> LEADERSHIP
Allows you to get more followers.
Increases your maximum followers.
> LIGHT EATER
Helps you ignore your stomach.
Increases the nutrition value of food items you use.
> MEDIC
Improves the benefits of medecine.
Increases the values of medecine items you use.
> STRONG
Helps you kick ass.
Increases your Dmg for Melee attacks.
> TOUGH
Helps you stay alive a bit longer.
Increases the maximum value of your HP.
<SECTION>
6. ITEMS
--------
You can find various items in the city. Some are necessary to survive, others improve your chances of dying tomorrow rather than today.
- Barricade Material : reinforce doors and windows.
- Body Armor : reduce damage when hit; has a chance to break.
- Food : you must eat.
- Medecine : heal yourself or get energized.
- Melee Weapon : just beat it; has a chance to break.
- Ranged Weapon : beat it from afar; but ammunition is spent fast.
- Spray Paint : tag places you want to remember or just fulfill your fantasy of vandalizing your neighbours house.
- Tracker : keep contact with your other people.
<SECTION>
7. FOLLOWERS
------------
This section describes what are followers and what you can expect from them.
> GETTING FOLLOWERS
With no Leadership skill you cannot have followers.
You can ask other people to join you and stay in a group with you. Those are your followers.
The number of followers you can have at anytime is limited by your Leadership skill level.
> LEAVING FOLLOWERS
You can tell a follower to leave at anytime. Well not if he is sleeping, that would be harsh.
> LEVELING UP
Followers level up with you. Nice.
> EXITING MAPS WITH YOU
When you leave a map your followers will try to follow you into the new map.
To travel with you a follower must be adjacent to you when you leave the map and he must have a walkable spot next to you on the new map.
If he can't follow you he will leave you.
> TRACKING FOLLOWERS
You can known where a follower is with cell phones.
If you and your follower have a cell phone equiped you will see his position on the mini map as a blue dot.
Useful when you get separated and want to find him.
> FOLLOWER BEHAVIOR
Your followers will most of the time stick with you, but those guys have their own mind too. They are not your servile and obedient slaves and will from time to time behave as an independent citizen would.
Sometimes they will help you fight, other times they will attempt to flee from danger.
If they see an interesting item they might go and pick it up.
If they need to eat or sleep they will do so.
There are pattern to their behaviors which you can use to your benefit.
Remember you can trade with them too, its a simple way to give them specific items. Or you can drop an item and he will probably pick it up.
From time to time you will see other people hanging with followers too.
You're not the only wanna be hero in town you know.
> LEADER STRATEGY
As a Leader you can use followers to your advantage.
Three typical uses for followers.
* MEATSHIELDS
They are here to do the dirty jobs and help you escape.
You have to care about them too much. Find ways to make them fight in your place or distract your enemies.
But remember they might haunt you back as zombies and you don't have an unlimited amount of "slaves".
* COMPANIONS
You want to keep the same guys around and make them powerful.
To keep them alive longer you should give them precious items they are lacking -such as fireweapons, medecine and food- and avoid exposing them to unnecessary dangers. If they are in trouble seriously consider helping them rather than selfishly fleeing.
If they lag behind wait for them. If they are sleeping cover them.
It might be a tedious and challenging task but potentially very rewarding.
* FARMING
The idea here is to train a lot of civilians to make them stronger, which will indirectly make your survival easier.
Take followers for a short time, care for them like you would do for Companions and when strong enough release them.
Having a bunch of strong gun-toting civilians running around is bad news for Zombies and good news for you.
<SECTION>
8. FRIENDS & FOES
-----------------
There are two kinds of people in this world : those who are dead, and those who are not dead yet.
UNDEADS
-------
They want to eat brains.
They fumble around chasing anything that is alive.
Slower that living humans, but they never tire and are quite resistant to damage, because you know, they are already dead.
Some of them are dumb. Some of them can follow tracks or remember where they last saw that tasy meatbag.
Some of them can break doors, windows and furnitures to get to you.
Some of them attract other undeads.
Some of them can turn your dead friends into zombies.
Some of them are ex-friends.
Experience and the clever use of the Look command will help you recognize the different threats they pose.
LIVINGS
-------
> CIVILIANS
Civilians want one thing : survive.
They mind their own business and see you as just another regular joe so don't expect them to treat you differently than that other dude over there. They are quite independent.
They can be fun to watch in a headless chicken kind of way. Or frustrate your great escape/barricading/fight plan.
Unless lead by a hero they are easily scared and try to avoid danger.
They have different names and different looks. And a brain.
> CHAR EMPLOYEES
They appear to be very agressive and don't hesistate to shoot anyone near their offices.
You shouldn't get near them unless prepared.
> NATIONAL GUARDS
They are doing their duty to clean this mess and don't have time for your requests.
<SECTION>
9. OPTIONS
----------
> "Music"
Enable or disable game musics.
Musics are not essential for gameplay.
> "City Size"
Size of the city map. The city is a square grid of districts.
Larger city is more fun but it rapidly increases game saves size and loading time.
> "District Map Size"
How large are the District maps.
Larger maps means more buildings and more items, but it increase game saves size and loading time.
> "Max Civilians"
Maximum number of civilians on a map.
More civilians makes the game easier, but slows the game down.
> "Max Undeads"
Maximum number of undeads on a map.
More undeads makes the game more challenging, but slows the game down.
> "Simulate Districts"
Simulate what happened in the district you are entering while you were not there, but at the cost of a long processing time.
The game tells you it is simulating the district and you have to wait until the simulation is completed.
You can disable this option if you don't care about this feature and want to change district without having to wait.
It's an important part of the gameplay and you should keep it enabled if possible, though it is not necessary.
<end of manual>
Author
Topic: Rogue survivor: Roguelike Sandbox Zombie Game! Alpha 7, be human, become zombie (Read 126878 times)