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                                                     *                
  2005 - 2006, Version 0.99 manual
  By Mikko "Glowie" Karttunen

***************************************************************************
*** What is it? ***********************************************************
***************************************************************************

Frozen depths is a pretty traditional roguelike game with a cold theme.

The background story goes like this:

The world of Glacia has started to freeze all over. The surface people will perish,
should the temperature drop much lower. The high council of Glacia has selected you to go to 
the Frozen Depths of Glacia, find out the source of coldness and get rid of it. If you 
return to the surface, you'll be executed as a coward, if you die on the way, another 
poor one will be sent down, but if you succeed in your quest, you'll become a 
hero. Many have failed and many will fail... Now you're all alone in the Frozen 
Depths, will you make it?

For more information about the game (and roguelikes), search the web and
http://koti.mbnet.fi/frozend


***************************************************************************
*** How to start **********************************************************
***************************************************************************

If you are new to roguelikes and your mind isn't open for new things, you
should try another roguelike game with a longer manual first. This game
should be easy for new roguelikers but it requires a bit of patience and
willpower. But here are the basics of the game:

First you'll have to choose a race and a starting training. They are very
traditional, but I'll explain them nonetheless. The trainings and races
affect your stats and a little your hp/sp increase per level. Dwarves are
tough, but they don't have much stamina to perform special strikes. They
prefer melee weapons. Elves are the opposite. They have more energy, but
less health and they like ranged ways of killing. The humans are between
those two. Warriors start with melee proficiency, archers with a ranged
one. The rangers are a bit more flexible, they start with a bow and a
melee weapon. If I created a dual wielder, it would be a ranger.

To attack a monster with a melee attack just try to walk to its tile.
If you want to shoot, find a bow and some arrows and press s. The shooting
is very simple, you can target anything within your sight range. Other
monsters can't block your arrows. Throwing is similar, but you'll have to
equip a thrown weapon and then press t.

Try to stay alive. Explore every level completely before moving on if you
don't have a really good reason to leave (you'll find good reasons to leave
before exploring some levels completely, too!)

Collect all items that you find useful. Equip new items and watch their
durability. Don't let the monsters surround you - and watch your warmth
status. If you start to freeze, go up, eat something warm or find a sage.
If your health is low and you're alone in a "warm" level, regenerate before
continuing.

You can equip items by pressing e and use or drop items by pressing
i.

Note that weapons and pieces of armor have a durability. You might
want to have an extra weapon if your current one is about to break.

The sages offer various useful services to you, they are extremely
useful. The altars can be useful, but not necessary. If you sacrifice
enough, the Goddess will help you when you're having problems.

Check the commands carefully so you don't miss anything important.

This should keep you alive long enough for you to learn everything you
need.


***************************************************************************
*** Commands **************************************************************
***************************************************************************

Press ? in-game to check commands quickly.


Movement: Numpad (NUMLOCK MUST BE ON!) or if you really have to, you can use
arrow keys too.

> Descend stairs when you are on them
< Ascend stairs when you are on them
Q Quits the game. Notice that you won't see the post-mortem if you use this
, Pick up something from the ground
i Opens the inventory, from which you can drop and use various items
e Opens the equipment screen, where you can naturally equip things
s Shoots with an equipped bow. You need arrows to use this
c Chats with a sage when one is next to you
S Swaps main hand weapon quickly
w Run to a direction or wait 50 turns if you press 5 afterwards. Press space while moving to stop
O Switches the warning sound when hp is low on/off. It is on by default
l Look around you. You can see trap names, monster's health and everything on a tile
t Throws something if you have equipped a thrown weapon
_ Pray. Don't bother if you haven't sacrificed anything. This doesn't do anything bad, though
L Opens the skill menu, where you can learn new skills when you have enough stats
u Uses a dungeon feature. Check below for the dungeon feature symbols
k Opens the skill menu, where you can use skills that you know
G Saves the game. The name will be the characters name
m Opens the message buffer where you can read the previous messages
@ Opens an info screen about the player and his stats
T Changes fighting styles


***************************************************************************
*** Definitions ***********************************************************
***************************************************************************

Status ailments (shown on the bottom line of stats bar)
    Par = Paralyze (You can't do anything)
    Sle = Sleep    (You'll wake up when something hits you)
    Con = Confused (You'll wander around aimlessly)
    Sic = Sickness (Damage over time)
    Fev = Fever    (Decreases carry capacity and shows warmth always as 'Warm')
    Ble = Bleeding (Damage over time)
    Poi = Poisoned (Damage over time)
    Burd = Burdened (Decreases speed)


Body temperatures (shown on the bottom line of stats bar)
     Freezing
     Cold
     Cool
     -
     Warm
     Hot
     Boiling


Strength:
    Affects your melee damage and carry capacity
Vitality:
    Affects your hit point increase per level and hp regeneration rate
Dexterity:
    Affects your ranged damage and miss rate
Agility:
    Affects your dodge, speed, natural armor and critical strike chance
Stamina:
    Affects your energy (special) point increase per level and sp regeneration rate


Dungeon symbols
    . = Open space
    # = Wall
    > = Stairs down
    < = Stairs up
    ' = Iceblock, you have to kick these down
    ^ = Trap

    ~ = Abandoned campfire
    - = Shrine
    _ = Altar
    Yen symbol = Snowman
    Strange "cube" = Icemirror
    ? = Scroll
    Strange o with _ under it = A lootable corpse

    Yellow @ = Sage
    A-Z, a-z = monsters

    ! = Potion
    % = Warm food
    / = Ammunition
    " = Amulet
    = = Ring
    ] = Piece of armor
    [ = Piece of cloth
    ( = Melee weapon
    ) = Ranged weapon
    * = Something valuable
    \ = Wand


The game screen
	It should be pretty easy to understand. HP is your health, SP represents
	your energy and then there are the stats. Next you can see how many turns you
	have played, DL is dungeon level and CL is character level and the $ is of course
	your money. Above these you can read the important messages that your actions
	will generate. The dungeon uses up the rest of the screen. Status ailments and
	the body temperature is shown on the bottom line.


***************************************************************************
*** Special skills ********************************************************
***************************************************************************

You can learn new special skills when you meet all the requirements. Those
consist of stat requirements, a level requirement, plus you need a skill point.
You can check the requirements for each skill in the skill menu (L).


Multistrike
	Hits all monsters around you. (Range: one tile)

Multishot
	Shoots all monsters that you can see.

Aimed strike and aimed shot
	Your next swing has an increased critical hit chance.

Double strike and double shot
	You'll hit your next target twice.

Brutal strike and brutal shot
	Increases the damage of your next normal attack.

Crimson strike and crimson shot
	You'll lose 1/3 of your current hit points and that will be added
	to the damage of your next swing.

Accurate strike and accurate shot
	Your next swing has an increased chance to hit.

Penetrating strike and penetrating shot
	Damages all monsters in one direction. (Range: 4 tiles)

Piercing strike and piercing shot
	Your next target's armor is reduced. (Duration: one turn)

Vampiric strike and vampiric shot
	Your next hit leeches some life from the victim.

Dash
	You can move two tiles in one turn if there's nothing blocking your
	movement.

Yell
	Your yell releases frozen stalactites from the ceiling which can block
	corridors. Cannot hit monsters or you. Also wakes up the monsters.

Knockback
	Knocks the enemy back three tiles from your direction if there's nothing
	blocking the space behind it. Note that the monster rushes back to you quickly.

Create snowballs
	Creates snowballs, which you can use as a throwing weapon. It reduces
	your warmth a bit. Only usable in the snowy levels.

Wild regeneration
	Heals over time using your SP. It is cancelled when your SP hits 0 or
	you use another skill.

Listen
	You might catch some monstrous sounds and locate them in the dungeon,
	but this skill isn't 100% accurate.

Destroy walls
	You are able to destroy walls and thus explore some levels faster.

Inhuman reflexes
	You have an increased chance to dodge the next harmful attack.



***************************************************************************
*** Other useful info *****************************************************
***************************************************************************

-Missiles don't weigh.

-The Goddess requires more gifts deeper in the dungeon if you want to pray.

-If you wield two weapons, your miss rate will increase.

-Blessed items are better than uncursed ones (rings and amulets are an exception).

-If you have fever, you can carry less weight than normally.

-Space quits the run mode during the movement (command w).

-You can only have one special skill coming up.

-The skills advance as you advance.

-Ice is slippery.

-You can identify potions and wands by using them, but that doesn't work with accessories.

-Do not wear two similar rings, the effects won't stack.

-Burdened state slows your movement and decreases your dodge.

-The right resolution for the game is 80x25 tiles.

-You need special points to learn skills. You gain one point per 3 character levels.

-If you use Linux, you can try this with Wine. If you are a bit crazy.

-ESC and z commands are usually the same in menus.

-If your body temperature drops a lot, your movements and regeneration rate will
 get slower.

-Wands and potions draw the base power from the character and are thus useful
 in all dungeon levels.

-I DEEPLY recommend you to play in large window (bigger font) with adjusted colors.
 800x600 resolution makes the window look larger, which is a nice thing too if you
 look for perfection.

-You can use the adjusted shortcut (and change the path) to use pretty colors
 or you can do it manually. Windows' default colors suck. Check the READ_THIS_FIRST
 for more info.

-The fighting styles can save your life when used properly in a tough situation.
 Aggressive increases your damage, but lowers a bit your armor. Defensive does the
 exact opposite. Accurate style increases your chance to hit, but lowers your dodge
 and you can guess the function of evasive style. Sharp style increases your critical
 strike chance, but lowers your speed, which can be increased by the fast style.
 Normal style doesn't lower anything, but doesn't grant bonuses.

***************************************************************************
*** The end ***************************************************************
***************************************************************************

Feedback:

Please send me feedback. If you don't like the game, you can also tell me why that is.
Feedback is a very important thing for a roguelike developer, because it's the
only thing he gets after the job.

drizzt_888@hotmail.com is my e-mail address, which can be used with
MSN Messenger too. You can find me on IRC, QuakeNet, the name is Glowie.
And you can use the contact page on the website.


Credits:

I created this game alone, but I thank all those who have helped me in any way.
I won't list every single one of them, because that would eat your poor computer's
HDD.


Disclaimer

This game is a freeware game, blah blah blah, and I won't give you any money if it eats
your computer. Though you can report it as a bug.































The end.