                    ROGUE - THE QUEST FOR THE AMULET

Typed by ???  Edited by PARASITE.


How  long  has it been?  How many lifetimes have passed  since  I
began my sojourn through this maze of underground passageways, of
damp dimly-lit chambers?   How long have I been alone,  the  only
human  among  a  menacing crew of  hideous  subterranean  beasts,
stumbling over forlorn reminders that others have passed this way
before me....never to return!

Long  before  I  forgot  the warmth of the  noonday  sun  or  the
refreshing  coolness  of the evening breeze,  I forgot  my  name.
Call me what you will.  I am the Rogue.

As  I wander,  I hold fast in my mind the one object that  stands
out  from  all the others:  the sacred  Amulet  of  Yendor.  This
precious  gift  was  left behind by magicians of  old  to  remind
mankind  of its origins.   Stolen by the evil Dungeon  Lord,  who
despised its beauty and purity, the Amulet has remained hidden in
the deepest reaches of this tortuous maze, calling those who seek
it to sure destruction.

Long ago I began my quest for this object,  this prize spoken  of
only in hushed tones by even the bravest Knights and Guildmasters
around the dying embers of evening fires.   Long ago,  the  magic
Amulet  of  Yendor began burning its way  into  my  heart,  began
drawing me here to my uncertain fate.

Through  these unlit corridors I wander,  stumbling in the  dark,
encountering  new ordeals at every turn.   In one  chamber,  heat
causes my suit of armor to burn the very skin it was designed  to
protect.   In another, a chill penetrates to the bone, turning my
limbs to ice.

Everywhere,  I am relentlessly pursued by beasts and  demons.   I
cannot begin to count them.  There are creatures of every low and
mean quality lurking in here.  Formless slimes and aquators, bats
and  goblins,  centaurs,  and that most hideous and unnatural  of
creatures,  the Ur-Vile.   Fortunately, my ever ready mace serves
to  quickly  dispatch many of  my  adversaries.   Against  other,
stronger beasts, I must defend myself with other weapons: arrows,
daggers, magic wands or deadly potions.  I stumble from battle to
battle,  taking care to rest occasionally,  or to partake of  few
morsels of food.

One  gift  the magicians make available to true  seekers  of  the
amulet-and them alone- is the gift of life after life.   Yet even
this  gift  is tainted with a curse by the Lord of  the  Dungeon.
For  each  time I sleep the sleep called  death,  I  find  myself
carried, unknowlingly, back to the very first room of the highest
level  of  the  dungeon,  from  whence I  must  again  begin  the
tortuous, unpredictable journey time and time again.

Why does nothing now look familiar? I this another Dungeon Lord's
tricks - or is it my rapidly eroding memory that makes everything
seem  changed.   I wake from the sleep called death to find  that
nothing  is the same.   Everything is transformed,  familiar  yet
treacherously rearranged.

As  I  plumb  the uncharted depths of this  Dungeon  of  Doom,  I
wonder.  Where am I? Is this a passageway I've trudged before? Is
this  the chamber in which I left my cloak of  chain  mail?  Does
this wall conceal a trap door I found and lost lifetimes ago?

On  my  way  I must aquire the provisions  that  make  themselves
available to me - despite the fact that they were left behind  by
the  miserable victims of this place.   Here a bit of  food,  and
there  a  suit of armor from an unfortunate  owner.   Quivers  of
arrows  for  my  sturdy short  bow...oh  yes,  and  magic  wands,
enchanted staffs,  and potent elixers, some powerfully good, some
horribly evil.   Manuscripts of ancient texts,  meaningless to my
eyes, which vanish in thin air before I can understand them.  And
of  course gold!   A king's ransom of it,  yet useless  unless  I
somehow  make my way to the very bottom of the dungeon  and  back
again.

As  I collect these objects and put them in my knapsack,  I  must
discard others...or use them at once to fend off the  adversaries
that dog my every step.

Still, even my few possessions are affected by the Dungeon Lord's
spells.   Potions which in lifetimes past revitalized me now send
me  sprawling  on the floor,  clutched in  spasms,  burning  with
fever.   Armor  which served me in battle after battle becomes  a
crushing burden, cursed by Dungeon Lord.

Each time I venture into these depths, I am constantly attentive.
Should  my  guard  slip for a moment,  I will fall  prey  to  the
horrors that surround me.

In my mind,  shining like a beacon in the darkness, the Amulet of
Yendor beckons me on, deeper and deeper.  One day I shall hold it
in my hand,  caress it in the void,  then race,  level by  level,
back to the surface.  There I shall hold it high, deliver it once
again  to the light of day,  and reclaim again the name  so  long
forgotten.

YOU ARE THE ROGUE
Your quest through the Dungeons of Doom for the fabled Amulet  of
Yendor will challenge your wits,  courage and prowess.   Monsters
lie waiting for you to falter or act with foolhardy courage.  For
you protection,  you have been given armor, and enchanted mace, a
bow and a quiver of arrows.   At the beginning of your quest  you
have food to last one meal.   But in the dark passages and  rooms
of the Dungeon you will find more food and weapons left behind by
less fortunate seekers of the Amulet.   As you descend,  you must
search  for  these  hidden treasures,  gold  pieces  and  magical
potions to help you achieve the highest of honors.   A triumphant
quest  for the Amulet of Yendor and immortal enshrinement in  the
Guildmaster's Hall of Fame.
Getting Started

Insert the Rogue disk into drive A or B.   At the DESK TOP,  move
the  pointer  to the appropriate drive icon and  double-click  to
open the Rogue disk,  then move the pointer to the ROGUE.PRG icon
and double-click the mouse again.

IMPORTANT  NOTE:  Some early versions of the Atari 520 ST do  not
have  the  operating system built-in (resident  in  ROM).   These
systems require that you first load TOS (Operating system) for  a
disk before you can play Rogue.  Because of the varying file size
of  DESK accessories that are loaded along with  TOS,  Rogue  may
have trouble loading due to memory limitations.   If this  should
occur,  you can prevent a DESK accessory from loading by changing
its  file extension from .ACC to anything else.   To  change  the
file name of a DESK accessory, do the following:
1.  Load TOS in drive A.
2.  Click  on the drive A icon to see the files on  the TOS disk.
3.    Click  on  one  of  the  DESK#.ACC  icons  so  that  it  is
highlighted.
4.  Select the FILE pull-down menu and click on "Show Info."
5.   Use the backspace key to delete the last character of  .ACC.
For example, changing DESK1.ACC to DESK1.AC will prevent the file
from loading when you boot TOS.
6.  Click on "OK" when finished.
7.  Repeat steps 3-6 to remove additional DESK accessories.
8.   Reboot  TOS,  then  follow normal loading  instructions  for
Rogue.

STARTING PLAY
When  the  Rogue  title screen appears you'll see  a  small  menu
screen at the bottom that says: "Rogue's Name" and a blank box to
enter your Rogue character's name.   Here you have a choice:  you
can  give  your character a name or simply press return  and  the
game will name the character "Rodney."

PLAYING ROGUE
The  Rogue  game screen is divided into three  windows.   In  the
title  bar  of  the Rogue window is the name  of  your  character
followed  by  the current dungeon level.   The main body  of  the
window  is divided inth three sections:  On top are four  command
buttons  for  moving your character UP a  level,  DOWN  a  level,
SEARCH a room, and REST.  The main section is the level map which
shows  your Rogue character moving through the dungeon rooms  and
dungeon level you are exploring.  The bottom of the screen is the
status area which provides information on your character's state.

The level map may either be 'zoomed-in', which shows a small area
around the Rogue character in great detail, or 'zoomed-our' which
shows the entire level.   The game may be played wither way,  and
you may wish to zoom-in or our thoughout the game.  To zoom-in or
out,  click the mouse in the small box with the diamond in it  in
the upper right-hand corner of the Rogue window.  If you're using
the keyboard, pressing the <ENTER> key will work also.

MOUSE MOVEMENT
1.  To move your character using the mouse,  just move the  mouse
pointer  over an area a short distance from the  Rogue  character
and  click the mouse.   The Rogue will run toward the area  where
the mouse was clicked.

2.   If you hold down the <ALTERNATE> key and click on  something
on the level map,  you will be given a short description of  what
that object is.

3.   To pick up something in the dungeon,  simply move on top  of
it.   If  you wish to walk over an object without picking it  up,
hold down the <SHIFT> key while you are moving.

4.   To  fight  a monster in the dungeon,  you want to  move  the
character  so  that  it runs into the  monster.   You  might  try
positioning the pointer such that when you click the  mouse,  the
Rogue  character  has  to  run over  the  monster  to  reach  the
pointer's location.

COMMAND BUTTONS
The  four command buttons allow you to go up or down  stairs,  to
rest and to search for secret doors and booby traps. To execute a
command,  simply  point the mouse at the botton and  click.   The
buttons  will  only work if they are not "dimmed."   If  all  the
bottons  are  dimmed,  it  means that one of  the  other  windows
besides  the Rogue window is currently selected.   To select  the
Rogue  window,  just click anywhere inside of  it.   Resting  and
searching will be explained later in greater detail.

STATUS AREA
The bottom of the Rogue window has three bar charts.   The  first
bar  chart shows you how healthy your character  is.   The  green
area  of the chart shows you his current "hi-points."   The  grey
area  shows his potential hit points.   As your  character  gains
experience in the dungeon,  his maximum number of hit points will
increase.   As monsters injure you, the green area will slowly be
replaced  with  red.    Be  careful!   If  the  green  goes  away
completely,  your  character will die and the game will be  over.
When you are not fighting,  the green area will slowly move  back
until you are at full hit points again.   If you are resting, the
hit points will come back faster.

The next bar shows your current strength.   It works the same way
as  the  hit  point chart,  but resting  will  not  restore  your
strength, and you won't die no matter how low your strength gets.
However, the lower your strength is, the less able you will be to
battle monsters.

The  final  bar  chart shows the strength of the  armor  you  are
wearing.   The  stronger your armor,  the harder it will  be  for
enemies to hit you.

In   the are of the right of the last bar chart,  a message  will
appear from time to time telling you that you are hungry.   It is
a wise idea to eat at the earliest opportunity when this  message
appears.

PLAYING WITH THE KEYPAD
An alternate way to move your Rogue character is with the numeric
keypad instead of the mouse.

                      |  | |  | |  | |  |<--FAST PLAY

                      | \| |/\| | /| |  |<--UPSTAIRS

                      |<-| |  | |->| |  |<--DOWNSTAIRS

                      |/ | |\/| | \| |  |
                                     |  |<--ZOOM IN/OUT
                      |       | |  | |  |
                                 ^
                  REST____|       |_____SEARCH

Pressing  the  <*> (asterisk) key turns "fast-play" mode  on  and
off.  When Fast-Play is OFF, the rogue moves one space every time
you press the direction key.   When Fast-Play is turned  ON,  the
character will move in the direction pressed until he comes  upon
something interesting.

PACK WINDOW
The pack window shows you every object you currently have in your
possession.  At the bottom of the window, the amount of gold that
you have accumulated is shown.

FULL BUTTON
If  you  click on the diamond button in the corner  of  the  pack
window,  the window will expand to the width of the screen and  a
very  short description of the objects in your Pack  will  appear
next  to their icons.   To return the window to its small  state,
click on the diamond box again.

"USE" DIALOG BOX
To use any item in the pack,  simply click on the item.  A dialog
box will pop up allowing you to use the item.

NOTES BOX
If the object has not been identified, the next line will contain
a "notes" area.   Here you may type notes to yourself  concerning
the object for later use.

DIALOG BUTTONS
Also  contained  in the dialog box will be a  series  of  buttons
describing  what  you  may do with  the  selected  object.   Your
specific  options  at this point will depend on what  object  has
been selected.   Most objects may be thrown or dropped.   Here is
an explanation of some of the other buttons:

WIELD/UNWIELD
Weilding  an object makes it your current weapon.   Any  creature
you  attack  will be hit with this weapon.   If  you  unwield  an
object  and don't wield another,  you will be fighting with  your
bare hands!

WEAR/REMOVE
You may wear or remove armor or rings with this command.  You may
not  wear  more than two rings at a time.   You must  remove  one
piece of armor before you can put on another.

IDENTIFY
If  a  button appears saying "IDENTIFY." you have  the  power  to
identify  that  object.   Identifying  an object  will  give  you
greater information on its purpose.

MESSAGE WINDOW
The  window  at  the  bottom of  the  screen  contains  important
information  on  your  character's quest  through  the  dungeons.
Three messages appear in the window at one time, but it will keep
track  of  the  last 10 messages you received.   If  you  miss  a
message,  you can click on the message window to make it  active,
then  click  in  the arrows at the right edge of  the  window  to
scroll  to previous messages.   When you find the message(s)  you
missed,  scroll forward again so that new messages will appear in
the window.

MENU COMMANDS
At the very top of the Rogue screen are three menus.   The  first
menu,  "DESK," includes the desk accessories,  if any,  that  you
have  installed,  and a menu entry called "About Rogue."  If  you
choose  this item,  information about the creators of Rogue  will
appear.   The next menu is the "File" menu.  It has the following
entries:

*  QUIT  -  This  will abandon the current  game  and  return  to
            Desktop.
*  SAVE GAME - This will save the current game for later play.
*  RESTORE  GAME - This will  bring back a game  that  was  saved
                   earlier.

The  next  menu  is the "Command" Menu.   It  has  the  following
entries:

* Again(Repeat the last Throw, Shoot or Zap command.)
* Reweild(Wield the previously wielded object.)
* Show Rank(Display your character's current rank.)
* Hall of Fame(Show Guildmasters' Hall of Fame.)
* Change Name(Change the Rogue Characters name.)

FUNCTION KEYS
At the top of the keyboard are ten function keys.  The first four
of these may be used as "short-cuts" in Rogue.

F1 - Repeat the last Throw, Shoot or Zap command.
F2 - Wield the previously wielded object.
F3 - Display your character's current rank.
F4 - Show Hall of Fame.
F5 - Change Rogue characters name.

TAKING ON DUNGEON DWELLERS
If  you  find  yourself suddenly being attacked  by  one  of  the
monsters,  you do battle by moving directly towards it.   Blow by
blow  descriptions  of  the battle will  appear  in  the  Message
window.   Sometimes, a monster will be sleeping and you can sneak
by  or attack it unawares.   But,  remember:  discretion  is  the
better  part  of  valor - it's most discrete to  let  a  sleeping
moster lie.

Every  action in ROGUE,  including fighting,  is a random  event.
Therefore  you  must  devise a play strategy  that  includes  all
possibilities.   If you are defeated in battle,  pull yourself up
by  your  bootstraps  and  fight  again.   If  your  strategy  in
discovering   the  secrets  of  the  dungeon  or  battling   your
adversaries fails you, try another.  Here are some examples:

*   Practice fighting the monsters at easier levels to develop  a
strategy  for  the more difficult  adversaries  you'll  encounter
deeper in the dungeon.

*  Stalk certain foes with your bow and arrow,  remaining  safely
at a distance.

*   Magic  wands  and  staffs are  also  effective  for  fighting
powerful adversaries from a distance.

RESTING
After  a particularly grueling encounter with an  adversary,  you
will  probably find that your Hit Points have diminished  due  to
blows administered by your opponent.   You can regain Hit  Points
while resting.   To rest,  click on the Rest box.   You rest  one
turn with each click.   If you press and hold the <Shift> key  as
you click,  you will rest ten turns with each click.   But be  on
guard,  for even while pausing to catch your breath,  there is no
respite from the denizens of the dungeon.  NOTE: Resting does not
restore you strength.
Searching

Sometimes the forces of the dungeon will prevent you from finding
all the ins and outs of a level.  You may have to search down the
entire length of a wall of several rooms in order to find  hidden
doorways  or passageways.   To search for secret doors or  hidden
traps,  you select and click the "Search" box.   Here's a step by
step outline of the search feature:

1.   Place  the Rogue character at the place or point  where  you
want to search.

2.  Point and Click the Search box.  The eight spaces surrounding
the Rogue character will be searched.

3.   The hidden object may be revealed if it is present.  If not,
nothing will appear.   However,  don't be so easily fooled.   Try
again if you're sure there's something hidden at this  spot,  one
time may not be enough.

4.   You search one time with each click.   If you press and hold
the Shift key as you click, you will search that area 10 times in
one click.

5.   If  you  still  haven't located  anything,  move  the  Rogue
character  further down and search the next spot by clicking  the
Search box.  Continue searching dead-end passages in this manner.

MASTERING YOUR WEAPONS
As mentioned earlier,  you fight monsters by moving directly into
them  and bludgeoning them with your mace - a club with a  spiked
ball on the end.   However,  there may be times when you wish  to
avoid  hand-to-hand combat.   If this is the case,  you can  also
choose to Zap a particularly troublesome monster with Magic Wands
or  Staffs.    Outlined  below  are  step-by-step  commands   for
Throwing, Shooting, and Zapping.

THROW AN OBJECT
Select  the  object  you  want to throw  from  the  Pack  window.
Clicking  on  the object's corresponding letter will bring  up  a
dialog  box  containing options to  Wield,  Throw,  or  Drop  the
object.   Remember, you must first Wield an object before you can
throw it.  When you are ready to shoot, click the Throw box and a
window with direction boxes will appear.   Point to and click  in
the  direction  of your adversary.   If your  aim  is  true,  the
monster  will  be "hit" and the results printed  in  the  Message
window.   If  not,  the weapon will zoom past.   To throw  again,
repeat(or press the <F1> key to repeat previous command).   NOTE:
If  you  first wield the object you wish to throw  (double  click
when selecting) your accuracy will improve.

SHOOTING ARROWS
Arrows and Crossbow Bolts can be "thrown" as described above, but
they  inflict  much more damage if they are shot.   To  shoot  an
arrow, first select and wield the bow, then select the arrow with
one click.   When the dialog box appears,  select "shoot".   When
the direction window appears,  point to and click the appropriate
direction arrow.

ZAPPING
Select  the  item  you want to ZAP with  from  the  Pack  window.
Clicking  on its icon will bring up a dialog box with  ZAP  being
one of the selections.  After selecting ZAP, choose the direction
as you did with Throw and Shoot.

WEAPONS PERFORMANCE
Certain  weapons  and  other objects in  your  Pack  window  have
numbered values beside the icon caption.  Objects such as arrows,
darts  and crossbow bolts have three numbers:  the  first  number
indicates  the quantity,  the second number indicates how  likely
the object is to hit the monster,  and the third number indicates
how  much additional damage it will do.   The higher the  number,
the more effective the object.   Other objects have two  numbers,
the first indicating the probability of hitting,  and the  second
the additional damage.

PICKING UP AND USING OBJECTS
Everything you encounter in your sojourn can be picked up and put
into your Pack - until it's full.   When this happens,  you  will
have to use or drop an object.   To drop an object, refer back to
the Rogue Commands section

To use an object such as a potion, scroll or food, just point and
double-click its icon in the Pack window.   The effect or  double
clicking  will vary depending on the type of object you  clicked.
If  you're  not  "wielding" or "zapping"  the  object,  the  game
assumes you want to drink a potion,  eat food,  read a scroll  or
put a Magic Ring on your finger.

SAVING A GAME
To save a game, select "Save Game" from the pull down File menu.

RESTARTING A GAME
To  restart a saved game from your disk,  select  "Restore  Game"
from the pull-down File menu after starting up Rogue.

End.
