NAME
omega - a hack-style game with quests.
SYNOPSIS
omega [save file]
DESCRIPTION
omega is a complex rogue-style game of dungeon exploration. Unlike
other such games, there are a number of ways to "win", depending on
various actions taken during play. The ways you can get your name on
the hiscore board include becoming the highest ranked head of a guild,
sect, college, etc., as well as gaining the most points figured from
possessions and experience. The game (via the oracle) may impose some
structure on your exploration, but you need not follow all of the
oracle’s advice. There *is* a "total winner" status, by the way.
If the save file is not specified, omega gives the player the choice of
generating a random character, or playing themselves, doing a short
quiz to determine an approximation of their abilities. If the save
file is given, omega will restore that save file, and if successful,
the save file is deleted. Note that some installations of omega
compress the save file, using either compress(1) or gzip(1) - if this
is the case, and you have a save file that is uncompressed (such files
are generated by omega if it receives a signal during play, for
example), you can compress it (with compress(1) or gzip(1)) and remove
the .Z or .gz extension. Alternatively, you may simply run with the
uncompressed save file - this will not affect the game in any way, but
takes more disk space between games.
omega offers a richness of playing detail that goes beyond a simple
game like rogue. However, the majority of gameplay is very similar to
rogue, hack, ultrarogue, larn, and other such games. The player is
represented by the highlighted "@" symbol, objects and terrain features
are represented by non-alphabetic symbols, monsters are represented by
the various upper and lower case letters, and other humans are
represented by a non-highlighted "@".
omega currently consists of a countryside in which are sited a city,
various villages, several dungeons, and some "special" sites, such as
the temples of the various priesthoods. The game starts in the city of
Rampart, where all the guilds have headquarters. As a dungeon is
explored, all generated levels are saved in memory. However, only one
dungeon is "remembered" at a time, so if you enter two dungeons, the
first will be forgotten (it will be regenerated should you wish to
enter it again). However, if a dungeon is "completed", this fact will
be remembered, basically meaning that the unique monster at the bottom
will not be regenerated if you’ve killed it already.
SEE ALSO
compress(1), gzip(1), nethack(6)
AUTHOR
Laurence Brothers
omega(6)