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)