Welcome to Pointless!

===========================
  ABOUT
===========================

Pointless was written in seven days, as part of
the Seven Day Roguelike Challenge.

    You have spent thousands of lives repeating the same life.  Dying
    isn't an end; nor is it the next step in the journey.  It is just
    a restart to the beginning.

    But you can't just memorize lottery numbers, however, as each
    world is unique and different.  You instead learned the actual rules
    of the world.  Hundreds of lives were spent struggling to invent
    novel uses of the materials scattered in this island.

    For many turns you were driven by the desire to win.  There must
    be a victory condition, some key, that would unlock you from the
    wheel and let you move on.  Or just end.

    You have long since given up on that belief.  You have done all
    that can be done.  And yet the prospect of another world still
    faces you.


===========================
  HOW TO START
===========================

If you are a windows user, run it from windows/pointless.exe.

If you are a linux user, run it from linux/pointless.sh.
You may need to install SDL2.

If you are a source diver, go into the src directory.
Look for BUILD.TXT files to try and guide you, there is one 
for linux at least.

===========================
  HOW TO PLAY
===========================

Pointless is at its core a very traditional roguelike.  Players of Nethack 
will find themselves at home.

In game help provides key lists and some generic roguelike guidance,
hit [F1] to access this.

The [Esc] option menu has some configurations; such as using pop-up 
menus, that might appeal to more modern aesthetics.

While the keys are available in the game, perchance you want
to view it on a separate monitor or, in old school fashion,
print onto dead trees:

                     - Using Items -
       - [e] Eat                - [q] Quaff, or Drink
       - [r] Read               - Shift [F] Forget a Spell
       - [z] Zap a Spell        - [t] Throw     
       - [a] Apply Tool 	- [m] Make Things
                     - Interacting -
       - [o] Open               - [c] Close
       - Shift [K] Kick         - Shift [S] Search
       - [s] Shovel Snow
                     - Information -
       - [x] Look at Square     - Shift [X] Report Visible
       - [i] Inspect Inventory  - Shift [I] Intrinsics
       - [@!$%*+?=[]()/\] List Inventory of Type (US Keyboard :<)
       - Shift [Z] Status       
                       - Lenses -
       - [F2] Elevation Display  - [F3] Snow Depth Display
       - [F4] Harvestable Display
                 - Inventory Management -
       - [g] [,] Pickup/Harvest - [d] Drop
       - Shift [G] Pickup Item  - Shift [D] Drop All
       - [w] Wield              - Shift [W] Wear
       - [f] Fire               - Shift [R] Ready Ranged
       - Shift [T] Take Off
                      - Movement -
       - [.] Wait One Turn      - [<] [>] Climb
       - Shift [M] Meditate     - Shift [A] Auto Pilot   
                      - System -
       - Shift [Q] Quit & Save  - [~] Unalive Yourself
       - [Esc] Shift [O] Options- [F1] This Help

Wizards will be happy vi-keys are supported:
        7 8 9  y k u
         \|/    \|/
        4-5-6  h-.-l
         /|\    /|\
        1 2 3  b j n



===========================
  CUSTOMIZING 
===========================

If you don't like the default font, you can change it!  This is a bit
tricky as the font file has two copies in the high-ascii positions,
if you use another TCOD font you'll have to likely edit it.

Go to the windows directory and replace chimera.png with another font
compatible with The Doryen Library.  There is a large_chimera.png
you can try for a larger font.

===========================
  GAME DESIGN MESSAGE
===========================

What is the point of game mechanics if they do not provide a way
to win more efficiently?  Surely all things below peak-meta are
useless baubles that should be shorn off and discarded as we seek
the perfectly formed "gameplay loops" our dopamine receptors
crave?

As game criticism has developed, it seems to have latched onto these
concepts.  Similar to a literary review that cares only for narrative,
and any exegesis unrelated to the plot is seen as irrelevant, game
players have become focused on the "winning" condition.

Pointless has no win condition.  So, thus, there are no
unnecessary game mechanics; as there are no necessary ones.  Live
a long time, or live a short one, you are dead at the end either
way, and the world has been re-built afresh.

Does this then classify it as a toy?  Maybe, but unlike a toy, there
*is* the elements of a game here.  It is merely the designer has
abdicated responsibility of picking a win condition for the player.
The player is free to pick a win condition: find the deepest depths;
sail off the island; lose all their toes; or any other task they pick.
At this point it becomes a game, but with the player becoming
part-designer.

This, I believe, is how all games should be played.  The dialog of
game design does not end with the publication of a game; but the
players of the game have their own duty to adjust the rules to suite
their needs.  Which is why multi-player games in the real world
inevitably start by rule-synchronization; as it is established Mahjong
can only be a cloud of games and not refer to a specific thing.

The trickle-on effects of players choosing agency on the game design
are significant.  For example, if there is a dominant strategy that
renders the game boring; this does not mean the game can't be fun.  It
merely means the players should prohibit that strategy in their own
play throughs.  Likewise, if there is an interesting mechanic that
intrigues the player; they should explore it.  They shouldn't avoid it
if it is "non-optimal".  Winning solitaire is a pointless
achievement - winning is never the objective of the play; enjoyably
passing the time was.

===========================
  CREDITS
===========================

This is a Seven Day Roguelike.  It was written in a 168 hour time
frame.  Hopefully it doesn't feel like that was the case, however.

Pointless is written by Jeff Lait and uses The
Doryen Library for graphical output.  

You can contact Jeff Lait at: jmlait [snail] gmail [dot] com.

===========================
  FINAL IMPORTANT NOTE
===========================

Have fun!
