omega(6)omega(6)NAMEomega - a hack-style game with quests.
SYNOPSISomega [save file]
DESCRIPTIONomega 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 ora‐
cle'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 com‐
press 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 rep‐
resented 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 repre‐
sented 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 ALSOcompress(1), gzip(1), nethack(6)AUTHOR
Laurence Brothers
omega(6)
