
====== Options ======

Various concepts mentioned below:
  "disturb"    : Cancel any running, resting, or repeated commands
  "flush"      : Forget any keypresses waiting in the keypress queue, including
                 any macros in progress
  "fresh"      : Display any pending output on the screen

Options you may want to change to your preferences include:
- Roguelike commands, if you are used to the commands used in certain other
  roguelike games.
- Checking that the hitpoint warning is non-zero can save your character's life.
- Set the delay factor to two or more if you want to see pretty ball
  explosions and whatnot.
- Playing around with the lighting options in the Visual Interface section
  can be a lot of fun.

Saving options:
     The current options are automatically stored in your savefile when you next
save the game.  You only need to save options explicitly if you want future
characters started 'from scratch' (not from a previous character) to use your
preferred defaults.
- {savefile name}.prf  : affects only that character
- {race name}.prf      : affects all characters of that race
- user.prf               : affects all of your future characters

     The rules on usage do not fully apply to other kinds of preferences because
only options are saved in savefiles, but the same file names work the same way
in all cases.


--- Birth Options ---

     You may only change birth options when starting up a new character.

Allow specification of minimal stats          [birth_autoroll]  (on) :
     Allows you to specify minimum stats when creating a character.  Characters
are randomly generated until one is found to meet your requirements.

Restrict the use of stairs/recall             [birth_ironman]   (off) :
     Can never go up.  Can never use recall until you win the game.  No stairs
are ever placed under you when you change levels.  Adds 40% to score.

Ironman Play:
     "Go down into the dungeon.  Return with Morgoth's Crown or not at all."
In Ironman mode, you can never go up any staircase, and can never return to the
surface by any means, until victorious.  If by accident you do, you must
immediately return to the dungeon.
     Some forms of Ironman play require that you visit no stores before going
into the dungeon, or that you must use a down staircase as soon as you see it
("crash-dive ironman"), but they are variants on the basic theme.

Lock the doors of stores and the home         [birth_no_stores]  (off) :
     Cannot use any stores or your home.  If you are not playing ironman, adds
15% to score.

Do not create artifacts                       [birth_no_artifacts]  (off) :
     No artifacts will appear.  Adds 10% to score.

No stairs back the way you came               [birth_no_return_stair]  (off) :
     Never generate a staircase back to the level you came from, even if you
used a staircase.  If you are not playing ironman, adds 5% to score.

Monsters exploit players weaknesses           [birth_smart_cheat]  (off) :
     Allow monsters to know what spell attacks you are resistant to, without
having to learn them by trial and error, and to use this information to choose
the best attacks.  Adds 7% to score.


--- Option Set #1:  Game Behavior ---

Rogue-like commands                           [rogue_like_commands]  (off) :
     Selects the "roguelike" command set, which uses eight of the letter keys to
move the character about.  This command set can be really useful if you have no
number pad, and some people just naturally prefer it.  However, the original
command set has considerably more unused keys available for macros and keymaps.

Verify destruction of objects                 [verify_destroy]  (on) :
     Gives you an "are you sure" message when you try to destroy an object.

Pick things up by default                     [always_pickup]  (off) :
Display things before picking them up         [query_floor]  (on) :
     When "always_pickup" is on, the game assumes you want to pick up any object
you encounter.  If "query_floor" is off, you pick up objects automatically.
Otherwise, you are shown a list and prompted to pick up.
     When "always_pickup" is off, the game assumes you want to pick things up
selectively.  If "query_floor" is off, you get a one-line description of the
object or pile.  If "query_floor" is on, you see a full list, including weights.
In either case, you can start picking things up by typing "g".

     When standing still, you are never charged extra time for picking up
objects.  When walking, you always take a second partial turn to pick up
objects; each object picked up takes 1/10th of a turn.

Never haggle in stores                        [never_haggle]  (off) :
     You never haggle in stores, regardless of the markup the shopkeeper asks
(which is very little or nothing on inexpensive stuff, but can be as great as
33% on extremely valuable items).

Use old target by default                     [use_old_target]  (off) :
     Forces all commands which normally ask for a direction to use the current
target if there is one.  Use of this option can be dangerous if you target
locations on the ground, unless you clear them when done.

Run past stairs                               [run_ignore_stairs]  (on) :
     Ignore stairs when running.

Run through open doors                        [run_ignore_doors]  (on) :
     Ignore open doors when running.

Run past known corners                        [run_cut_corners]  (off) :
     Cut sharply around known corners when running.  This will result in faster
running (which matters if you are fleeing), but may cause you to run into a
lurking monster.

Merge inscriptions when stacking              [stack_force_notes]  (on) :
     Force otherwise identical objects to merge, even if one has an empty
inscription and the other does not.  The resulting stack keeps the non-empty
inscription.

Merge discounts when stacking                 [stack_force_costs]  (off) :
     Force otherwise identical objects to merge, even if they have different
discounts.  The resulting stack keeps the largest discount.

Allow quantity specification                  [allow_quantity]  (on) :
     Prompt for a quantity when necessary, instead of defaulting to a single
object.  If you prefer to enter command counts before commands instead of typing
quantities when prompted, turn this option off.

Change savefile names                         [change_save_names]  (off) :
     When you start a a new character, a "base name" is created from the full
name.  It is used for the savefile, character-specific preference files, and
character dumps.  The base name normally does not change after birth, but if
this option is on, it will change whenever you rename your character.
     Traditionally, the Macintosh port allowed base names to change after birth
and most other ports did not.

Allow accents in output files                 [xchars_to_file]  (on) :
     Accents in your character name or other text will be preserved in various
output files such as character dumps.  They will be saved using your system's
character encoding.  If this option is off, character dumps will be saved in
plain ASCII; this is recommended for newsgroup posts.


--- Option Set #2:  Disturbance and Warning ---

Disturb whenever any monster moves            [disturb_move]  (on) :
     Disturb the player when any visible monster moves, appears, or disappears,
whether in line of sight or out of it.  This increases safety, but may cause
trouble when you have telepathy and are trying to rest.

Disturb whenever map panel changes            [disturb_panel]  (on) :
     Disturbs you when the map panel shifts.  This slows down your exploration,
but makes it easier to avoid leaving a detected area.

Disturb whenever player state changes         [disturb_state]  (on) :
     This option causes you to be disturbed whenever the player state changes,
including changes in hunger, resistance, confusion, etc.

Disturb whenever boring things happen         [disturb_minor]  (on) :
     This option causes you to be disturbed by various minor things, including
monsters bashing down doors, beginning to run out of fuel, and changes in the
weather.

Alert user to critical hitpoints              [alert_hitpoint]  (on) :
     Make a noise and flush all pending input when your hitpoints reach the
hitpoint warning.  Make certain you also adjust the hitpoint warning.

Ring bell on error                            [ring_bell]       (on) :
     Make a bell sound when errors occur (such as typing an invalid key).

Activate quick messages                       [quick_messages]  (on) :
     Allows the use of any keypress as a response to the "(+)" prompt, except
when you are badly wounded.

Compress messages in savefiles                [compress_messages]  (off) :
     Compress the savefile, saving only the most recent player messages.  This
can cut the size of the savefile substantially, but will result in the loss of
message information.

Flush input on various failures               [flush_failure]  (on) :
     This option forces the game to flush all pending input whenever various
failures occur, such as failure to cast a spell, failure to use a wand, etc.
This is very useful if you use macros, as it will prevent you from walking
towards monsters when your spells fail.

Flush input whenever disturbed                [flush_disturb]  (on) :
     This option forces the game to flush all pending input whenever the
character is disturbed.  This is useful if you use macros that take time, since
it will prevent you from continuing your macro while being attacked by a
monster.

Delay on failure                              [delay_failure]  (on) :
     The game pauses for a fraction of a second whenever various failures occur,
such as failure to cast a spell, failure to use a wand, etc.  This helps prevent
you taking unplanned steps (and thus wasting a turn in the middle of a battle).

Colored messages when hit hard                [colored_hit_msg]  (on) :
     The harder you are hit, the more colorful the damage message will be.

Special colors for hurt character             [colored_hurt_char]  (on) :
     Your character symbol will change color depending on your health.


--- Option Set #3:  Visual Interface ---

Map remembers all seen grids                  [remember_seen_grids]  (on) :
     Memorize all floor grids that have ever been lit up by you.  This gives
you a visual record of which areas you have explored on the current level.

Use special colors for torch-lit grids        [torch_light]  (on) :
     If the option "floor_lighting" is also on, floor grids that are only lit
by your own light source or light sources on the floor will appear yellow.  If
the option "wall_lighting" is on, walls may be colored in the same way (if some
terrain prefs are tweaked).  Turning this option off will slightly increase the
speed of the game.

Use special colors for field of view          [sight_light]  (on) :
     If the option "floor_lighting" is also on, those floor grids that you can
see directly appear bright, and all other known grids appear darkened.  If the
option "wall_lighting" is on, walls will be colored in the same way.  Turning
this option off will slightly increase the speed of the game.

Use special colors for wall grids             [wall_lighting]  (on) :
     If either the option "torch_light" or "sight_light" is on, wall grids will
change color depending on lighting conditions.  Turning this option off will
slightly increase the speed of the game.

Use special colors for floor grids            [floor_lighting]  (on) :
     If either the option "torch_light" or "sight_light" is on, floor grids
will change color depending on lighting conditions.  Turning this option off
will slightly increase the speed of the game.

Highlight the player with the cursor          [highlight_player]  (off) :
     Place the visible cursor on the player.  This looks fine on terminals, but
not on most graphical displays.

Flush output after various things             [fresh_after]  (off) :
     Flush all output not only after every player command, but also after every
round of processing monsters and objects, and after every message.  This
maximizes your information, but may slow down the game (especially on slower
machines) and on faster machines you cannot see the results anyway.

Don't hide traps when objects pile on them    [traps_display_on_top]  (on) :
     Traps display on top of objects, and you need to look at the grid to
determine if any objects are underneath.  If this option is not selected,
objects hide traps.

Show dungeon level in feet (or meters)        [depth_in_feet]  (off) :
     Display dungeon depths in feet (meters if the "use_metric" option is used)
instead of levels.

Show labels in equipment listings             [show_labels]  (on) :
    Display "labels" (what an object is being used for) for objects in all
equipment listings.

Show weights in all object listings           [show_weights]  (on) :
     Display weights (in pounds or kilograms) of objects in all inventory,
equipment, store, and home listings.

Show flavors in object descriptions           [show_flavors]  (on) :
     Display "flavors" (color or variety) in object descriptions and information
screens, even for objects whose type is known.  This does not affect objects in
stores.

Use Metric (SI) measurements                  [use_metric]  (off) :
     Display a variety of measurable quantities using metric measurements.
Conversions are:  3 meters ~ 10 feet, 1.0 kilograms ~ 2.2 pounds.

Menus pop up when selecting various things    [always_show_list]  (on) :
     If selecting anything from a list, that list will automatically pop up.

Move old messages to sub-window automatically [message_to_window]  (off) :
     If this option is on, and a sub-window is set to display messages, messages
will be automatically pushed off the main screen to the sub-window, instead of
manually through keypresses.  However, at present this option will still work if
the sub-window is closed or moved off-screen, so use with caution!


--- Option Set #4:  Screen Display ---

Window Flags:
     Some platforms support multiple windows, which can display all sorts of
useful information.

  inventory:         Display the character's inventory (and equipment when
                     requested).
  equipment:         Display the character's equipment (and inventory when
                     requested).
  character screen:  Display the main character screen.
  equip attributes:  Display the character screen's equipment attributes
                     section.
  visible monsters:  Display visible monsters.  The names of those that have
                     killed at least one of your ancestors are in red, those
                     that have never been seen before by this character are in
                     light blue, uniques are in violet, and other monsters are
                     in white.
  nearby objects:    Display objects in line of sight.
  messages:          Display recent messages and notes.
  overhead view:     Display an overhead view of the dungeon.
  monster recall:    Display a description of the target monster.
  object recall:     Display a description of the most recently selected
                     object.
  list of commands:  Display the most commonly-used commands for quick reference.


Screen Layout:

Show more things (like text) in tall display:  (off) :
     Various interfaces, such as stores, lists, and help, appear in the tall
(46+ row) display.  This option is most helpful to those with large screens.

Show the largest map the screen will allow:  (on) :
     Maximizes dungeon size at the expense of a slightly less "clean"
appearance.

Minimum vertical view distance:    (2) :
     Fully documented on-screen, but note that this allows you to get "center on
player".

Minimum horizontal view distance:  (4) :
     Fully documented on-screen.


Customized left panel rows :
     Below the monster health bar on the left side of the main screen is empty
space suitable for displaying information that's important to you.

  (blank line)   : Useful for spacing out information

  Health         : Shows the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. closest monster.  Very useful
                   to see offscreen breathers!  Uses the same colors and
                   brackets as the main health bar.

  Kill Count     : Number of monsters you've killed

  Score          : Current score

  Fame           : Fame.  Same as that displayed on the character screen

  Time           : How much time your character has spent alive.  Deliberately
                   does not show minutes -- the passage of time is "fuzzy".

  Luck           : How unlucky are you?  Green is normal luck, yellow, orange,
                   and red indicate trouble.

  Regeneration   : How rapidly do you recover hitpoints and mana?
                   red -> orange -> yellow -> white (normal) -> light green ->
                   green -> light blue -> blue -> violet

  Quest Status   : Appearance and number of quest monsters

  Active Target  : Last known direction and distance of your target monster or
                   location.  Especially helpful if you have the option "use
                   old target by default" set.

  Realm-Specific : Temporary conditions gained through magic, such as priestly
                   blessing.  Especially useful for Wizards, Priests and
                   Necromancers.

  Attack Modify  : Elemental and vorpal blows, temporary bonuses to shots, hit
                   and run, etc.

  Oppositions    : What elements (acid, elec, fire, cold, pois) do you tempor-
                   arily oppose (over and above any equipment resistances)?

  Fear/Bold/Hero : Are you afraid, bold (immune to fear), heroic, or berserk?

  Protection & ..: Are you blessed, shielded, protected from evil, resistant
                   to damage, and the like?

  Weather        : What is the weather like?  Extremely useful for Druids.
                   humid:  'D' for dry, 'W' for wet.  Uses the colors yellow ->
                           brown -> white -> grey -> white -> green -> blue
                   wind :  'S' for still, 'B' for blowing.  Uses the colors
                           violet -> blue -> white -> grey, and back again
                   temp :  'C' for cold, 'H' for hot.  Uses the colors blue ->
                           white -> grey -> white -> yellow -> orange -> red

  Noise          : How much noise are you making?  colors are dark grey -> grey
                   white -> yellow -> orange -> red.  Also notes aggravation.

  Invisibility   : Are you invisible (makes you harder to find and to hit), and
                   if so, how strongly are you hidden from normal sight?
                   slate-> white-> light blue-> blue-> violet


--- Option Set #5:  Difficulty and Assistance ---

Allow character to avoid death                [beginner_play]  (off) :
     You can cheat death.  If you do, your score will be placed in "()"s.  This 
is, in truth, a cheat, but many people find it helpful when first learning the 
game.

Know complete monster info                    [cheat_know]  (off) :
     You can know all about monsters.  Score is reduced by 33%.


--- Miscellaneous Options ---

User Interface:
     Some ports of this game allow you to specify various user interface and
multimedia preferences, such as turning on and off graphics and sound.

Hitpoint warning:
     If non-zero, is the percentage of maximal hitpoints (x10) at which you
start to get special warnings and cannot use most keys to clear messages.  It is
also used as the cut-off for using red to display both hitpoints and mana, and
(if the "colored hurt char" option is active) for displaying your character in
red.

Delay Factor:
     The "delay_factor" value, if non-zero, will slow down the visual effects
used for missile, bolt, beam, and ball attacks.  The actual time delay is equal
to "delay_factor" squared, in milliseconds.  A value of five works well on many
machines.

Autosave:
     You may set the game to save your character every so often by using the
autosave option.  Tweak the timer to control the frequency of autosaves.


--- Options Commands ---

Load a user preference file:
     Reads user preferences (including options) from a file you choose.
Normally used when preferences don't load automatically, and you want to rewrite
them to a file that will.

Save options to a file:
     Saves options to file.  See the preferences section for help on what
filename to use (the file "user.prf" usually works).  Because options are
automatically saved when you save the game, you only have to do this if you want
to set up a default set of options for multiple adventurers.















