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diff --git a/crawl-ref/docs/develop/monster_speech.txt b/crawl-ref/docs/develop/monster_speech.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..d497fd2bbf --- /dev/null +++ b/crawl-ref/docs/develop/monster_speech.txt @@ -0,0 +1,900 @@ +Overview +======== + +As of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup 0.3 the previously hard-coded monster +speech has been outsourced. This makes changing existing messages, +or adding new ones really easy. This file will hopefully help you in +this endeavour. + +The outsourced messages are used to create two databases out of which +Crawl randomly draws the necessary speech text. + +* shout.db (handling speech when monsters first notice you), and +* speak.db (for all other cases). + +Because of the amount of definitions necessary, they have been divided +over a number of different files. + +The shout database is constructed from the following two files: + +* shout.txt handles message output for monsters noticing you +* insult.txt handles insults thrown at you by imps and demons + +The speak database contains messages defined in these files: + +* monspeak.txt handles messages for monsters communicating with you +* wpnnoise.txt handles randart weapons with the noises property +* godspeak.txt handles randomized speech by the gods, as well as + speech used for some divine abilities +* insult.txt Same file as above. + +The messages defined in insult.txt form a part of both databases. +Apart from that, keywords and statements defined for one database +cannot be automatically accessed from the other. Rather, they have to +be defined a second time. + +Whenever Dungeon Crawl is started, the game checks whether any of the +databases needs to be updated. If one of the underlying files has been +changed since the last check, the database is automatically rerolled. +That means that if you'd like to change one of the descriptions or add +some new monster speech all you have to do is modify the file, save, +and restart the game to test your changes. + + +Contents: + A. Monster speech probabilities + B. A simple example + C. Key lookup in detail + D. Values in detail + E. Testing your changes + F. Publishing your changes + APPENDIX: List of monster glyphs + + +A. Monster speech probabilities +================================ + +Not all monsters are equally likely to speak. Rather there are +different chances involved, depending on several attributes, and most +of the time the database lookup stage isn't even reached. + +First, the player will only ever hear monsters speak if they are in +line of sight, and monsters will only ever speak if they are not +asleep, not submerged in water, air or lava, and not wandering around +aimlessly (unless neutral). + +Berserk monsters are too busy killing and maiming to speak. Also, +invisible monsters the player can't see (for lack of see invisible) +will always stay silent, unless confused. + +Monsters capable of speech (i.e. all intelligent humanoid monsters, as +well as all uniques and some non-unique demons) have a base chance of +1/21 of speaking, while humanoid monsters incapable of speech will +never communicate with the player in any form. + +Non-humanoid monsters get a 1/84 probability of "speaking" per turn +(non-verbal actions, more like). This chance is divided by another 10, +if the monster in question was generated as a member of a group. +Chances are again doubled if this non-humanoid monster is fleeing, and +doubled again if confused. + +Neutral monsters only speak half as often, and for charmed monsters +the probability is divided by 3. The same applies to silenced +monsters, i.e. monsters that are not naturally silent will only get to +even attempt to speak in one out of three tries where the above +chances hold. + +Note that the definition of which monsters are capable of speech is +entirely hardcoded. We think we made this apply to all sensible +monsters, i.e. all intelligent humanoid monsters, but of course it is +possible we've overlooked something, so if you find that your +carefully constructed monster speech never gets printed, and this +documentation also doesn't help you solve the problem, you might want +to post a bug report on Dungeon Crawl's SourceForge site [1]. + +The exception to the above is when the monster goes away due to dying, being +banished, or a summoned monster being abjured or having it's time run out. In +that case the monster always speaks if the player can see the grid the monster +is on (assuming that there's a speech entry defined for that occasion, of +course). + +B. A simple example +==================== + +If you have a look at some of the speech files, you'll see that all +entries have basically the same structure: a key, followed by one or +more values. +Here is an example. + + %%%% + # Friendly imps are very common so they speak very rarely + friendly '5' + + w:1 + @The_monster@ laughs. + + w:1 + @_friendly_imp_@ + + __NONE + %%%% + +Let's look at this entry's components in more detail. + + %%%% + +Four percentage signs mark beginning and end of a database entry. If +you forget to place these, you will get buggy monster speech. + + # Friendly imps are very common so they speak very rarely + +A '#' sign at the beginning of a line causes it to be ignored; these +are comment lines. + + friendly '5' + +The first non-comment, non-blank line is interpreted as the key of an +entry. Many keys are hardcoded, but there's place for user defined +ones as well. More on that later, though. +In this case, the key is "friendly '5'". + +'5' refers to the monster glyph, so the speech will not be entirely +restricted to imps, though they are by far the most common type of +minor demons. + + w:1 + @The_monster@ laughs. + +The rest of the entry consists of messages, separated by blank +lines. This is one of them. Each may be prefixed with an optional +weight ("w:1"). A message will be chosen with a probability of its +weight out of the sum of weights for its entry. Weight defaults to 10 +if not specified. In this example, this particular message will be +selected 1 time out of 12. + + @The_monster@ laughs. + +This is the message that will be printed. The '@' markers indicate +variables that will be substituted before printing. This particular +variable "@The_monster@" is treated specially by the game; the +substitution will change based on the monster giving the speech. See +below for more details. + + w:1 + @_friendly_imp_@ + +This is another case of a substitution. Here, "_friendly_imp_" is an +entry in speak.txt. A random line from that entry will be substituted. + + __NONE + +This is a special command; it prints no message. See below for more +details on special commands. + + +C. Key lookup in detail +======================== + +Key lookup is always case-insensitive. The game will make many +different attempts when trying to find monster speech, all of which +are explained in detail below. You'll find some examples at the end of +this section. + +First, a monster may have one or more of a list of attributes that +might influence its speech. We will henceforth refer to these +attributes as prefixes. + +"friendly" is one of a couple of allowed prefixes, distinguishing the +speech from "hostile" or "neutral". All prefixes are optional and +tested in the following order: + + default <attitude> fleeing silenced confused [related] <player god> + +where <attitude> can be any of friendly, neutral or hostile. Note that +the game generally treats neutral monsters like hostiles since they +still pose a danger to players. + +The prefix "related" is added if the player and the monster share the +same genus, e.g. if you're playing a Sludge Elf, and the monster in +question is a deep elf blademaster, you both are elves and the monster +speech may reflect that. It's currently only used for friendly +humanoids who will now sometimes mention that you're family, if you +are. Stupid monsters, i.e. animals, will judge your relatedness status +according to your transformed looks while smart monsters will see +through that magic, so that e.g. vampires will recognise a vampire in +bat form as one of their own but a giant bat would think the player +really is a bat. + +The <player god> prefix is constructed according to the religious +belief of the character. If the monster in question is a member of the +orc species and the character worships Beogh, the prefix "beogh" gets +added to the list, though not for charmed orcs who will simply use the +generic friendly statements instead of the orcish followers' cheers. +If you worship one of the good gods instead (Zin, the Shining One, or +Elyvilon), the prefix "good god" is used. Conversely, worshippers of +one of the evil gods (Yredelemnul, Makhleb, Kikubaaqudgha, Lugonu, or +Beogh) will use the prefix "evil god". + +This allows fine-grained handling of monsters depending on your +character's religion status, e.g. orcs will use special speech for +Beogh worshippers, and neutral holy beings (Angel and Daeva) may +shout messages of encouragement to followers of the good gods, while +demons will attempt to slander the good gods. + +Once the entire set of prefixes has been determined, we only need +to add the monster name and start the database search. + +First we search for the complete prefix string in combination with the +monster name. Then we try omitting some very specific prefixes that +might not be so important, first skipping on "hostile", then also +ignoring religion status, then hostile and "related", then all three +of them, and then finally adding "silenced" to the list of ignored +prefixes, where applicable. + +If all of that didn't yield any results, next we'll take the complete +prefix list again, then, reading from left to right, combinations are +tested, beginning at three prefixes and ending at none. At this stage +the list of prefixes is always prepended with "default". This ensures +that, for example, fleeing uniques won't output their normal menacing +speech but rather the default speech defined for fleeing humanoids in +general. + +In practice this means that database keys starting with "default" are +the fallback solution if the exact look-up has failed. As such, the +messages should be generic enough to allow for all the possibly +skipped prefixes, or else those cases should be caught earlier, e.g. +if you have "default friendly humanoid", you should also define +"default friendly fleeing humanoid" and "default friendly confused +humanoid" (and possibly both combined) even if only with "__NONE" +(stay silent), as the general friendly messages may look odd for a +monster such afflicted. + +Only keys that match a search string perfectly (ignoring case) will +be used. Once all prefixes have been exhausted and still no match has +been found, the database lookup will try for a more general monster +description. There are several possible ways this is attempted, in the +following order: + +1. The actual monster name. + Examples: "crystal golem", "default confused moth of wrath" +2. The monster genus. + Examples: If "friendly ogre-mage" wasn't found, try "friendly ogre" + instead. Same for "dragon" if "swamp drake" was + unsuccessful. +3. Then the monster glyph, with prefix "cap-" for capital letters. + Examples: "default 'cap-J'", "default confused 'k'" +4. A group description (such as 'insect' or 'humanoid') defined by the + monster's body shape (winged, tailed etc). The definition of the + latter is entirely hardcoded, though. + Examples: "default winged insect", "default confused humanoid" + +If you are playing with tiles, you may not know the monster glyphs, +but internally the monsters are still treated the same, and even under +tiles, the glyph keys used for step 3 are entirely valid. In case you +need to know the monster glyphs for your speech definitions you'll +find a list of monster glyphs at the end of this file. Also, for many +monsters you can find out their glyph in-game by searching the +database ('?/') and entering a vague enough monster name. For example, +entering "drac" will tell you that all draconians use the symbol 'd'. + +Note that changing monster glyphs using the mon_glyph option may also +affect speech of this kind. + +For the last round (shape comparison, e.g. "winged humanoid") +occasionally an additional intelligence estimate ("stupid", "smart") +is prefixed to the search string, depending on the monster type, e.g. +a "stupid humanoid" may still be smarter than a "smart arachnid". + +Here's a list of allowed monster shapes that should hopefully be +self-explanatory: + + humanoid, winged humanoid (angels), tailed humanoid (draconians), + winged tailed humanoid (gargoyles), centaur, naga, quadruped, + tailless quadruped (frogs), winged quadruped (hippogriff), bat, + snake (also eels and worms), fish, insect, winged insect, arachnid, + centipede, snail, plant, fungus, orb (eyes), and blob (jellies). + +If no matching keys are found after all of these rounds, the monster +definitely stays silent. + + +Examples +-------- + +Example 1: + The monster we want to make "speak" is a "confused killer bee". + + However, such an entry cannot be found in the database, so the game + tries first for "default confused killer bee", then "default killer + bee", neither of which yields any results. + The monster genus is also plain "killer bee", so that doesn't help + us any. For the next round we try again with "confused 'k'", which, + by itself, also can't be found in the database, but once the prefix + comparison tries it together with "default", we have a match: + +%%%% +default confused 'k' + +SOUND:@The_monster@ buzzes around in tight circles. +%%%% + +Example 2: + This time, we're interested in "friendly fleeing related beogh orc + wizard". + + This obviously made up example also has no direct equivalent in the + database, so first we try to remove the less important prefixes, in + this case "related" and "beogh". Unfortunately, none of "friendly + fleeing related orc wizard", "friendly fleeing beogh orc wizard", or + "friendly fleeing orc wizard" has any corresponding entry in the + database, so that we now check for "default" in combination with, + one after another, all combinations of three or less prefixes. + + Three prefixes: "default friendly fleeing related orc wizard", + "default friendly fleeing beogh orc wizard", "default friendly + related beogh orc wizard", "default fleeing related beogh orc + wizard". + + Two prefixes: "default friendly fleeing orc wizard", "default + friendly related orc wizard", "default friendly beogh orc wizard", + "default fleeing related orc wizard", "default fleeing beogh orc + wizard", "default related beogh orc wizard". + + One prefix: "default friendly orc wizard", "default fleeing orc + wizard", "default related orc wizard", "default beogh orc wizard". + + No prefix: "default orc wizard". + + Sadly, none of these is successful. The genus of orc wizards is + "orc", so we retry the above using "orc" instead of "orc wizard". + The same is repeated for "friendly fleeing beogh 'o'", and we still + haven't found anything. + + This is starting to get ridiculous, so it's time for desperate + measures: + + With the help of some rather complicated functions the game works + out that orcs can be described as humanoids of average intelligence. + Thus, in a final attempt of making this orc wizard speak, we search + the database for "friendly fleeing related beogh humanoid", + something that, not surprisingly (since Beogh and humanoid don't go + well together), doesn't exist. Annoyingly enough, neither do the + variants "friendly fleeing related humanoid", "friendly fleeing + beogh humanoid" or even "friendly fleeing humanoid". + + Still, we haven't yet tried the prefix combinations: "default + friendly fleeing related humanoid" is still unsuccessful, as + are "default friendly fleeing beogh humanoid", "default friendly + related beogh humanoid", and "default fleeing related beogh + humanoid", but with "default friendly fleeing humanoid" we finally + strike gold: + +%%%% +default friendly fleeing humanoid + +w:30 +VISUAL:@The_monster@ tries to hide somewhere. + +@The_monster@ @shouts@, "WAIT FOR ME, @player_name@! Could you help me?" + +... + + We'll leave it at that, even though the database code still has work + to do, namely add up the weights of all the entries (and there are + several more), and randomly choose one of them. + + +Weapon speech +------------- +For obvious reasons, weapon noises get by without any such prefixes, +and the only hardcoded keywords are "noisy weapon" for weapons with +the noises property, and "singing sword" for (who'd have guessed?) the +Singing Sword. + +Death speech +------------ +You can define messages for the monster to give for when it goes away in three +different manners: + +* If it really died, then the game will look up a speech entry with the + same keys as usual, but with " killed" appended to all the keys. + +* If it was banished, then the game will append " banished" to all the + lookup keys. + +* If the monster was summoned and rather than being killed was abjured or + ran out of time, then the game will append " unsummoned" to all of the + lookup keys. + +The game will always do a lookup in these circumstances if the player can see +the square the monster is on, so if you only want a death message to be given +occasionally then make one of the messages "__NONE" and give it a high weight. + +Of course, if no keys with the given suffix are in the database then the +monster will say nothing in that circumstance. + +Special monster speech +---------------------- +Rarely, monster speech will also rely on hard-coded keys. If such a hard-coded +key is changed or removed, the speech in question will simply not be printed. +This may look odd in the game, but will have no other effect. Sometimes, +default messages will be output instead. + +God speech +---------- +The keys used to search for god speech are entirely hard-coded, though +some local synonyms have been defined as well. Hopefully, the comments +will explain what the different speech messages are used for. + + +D. Values in detail +==================== + +Spacing +------- + +There have to be blank lines between the different messages. If +messages are placed directly one after another they will be printed as +a block. This can be useful, e.g. for outputting first a "spell" and +then its (fake) result. + +Note that this does not work for weapon noises. Here only the first +part of a paragraph before a carriage return is parsed. + +The message entries themselves can be longer than a line, though Crawl +will simply truncate it should it exceed the screen width (assuming 80 +columns or less). The actual message length will usually differ from +the one defining an entry as parameters can be stripped from the entry +or replaced by other values, as explained in the following section. + +Variables +--------- + +Values can contain variable references, which look like text +surrounded by @@. These variables may be defined by entries in +shout.txt for the shouting database, or monspeak.txt or one of the +other files for the speech database, in which case they are replaced +with a random value from the entry in question; or they may have +hardcoded expansions defined by the game. + +Note that variable replacement is recursive, so be careful to avoid +infinite loops. Though the game will abort after a number of +replacement attempts, it will still look ugly in the monster speech. + +The following variables are hardcoded: + +@monster@ : Plain monster name, e.g. "rat" or "Sigmund" +@a_monster@ : Indefinite article plus monster name, + or only the name if it is unique ("Sigmund"). +@the_monster@ : Definite article plus monster name ("the rat"), + or a possessive if it is friendly ("your rat"), + or only the name if it is unique ("Sigmund"). +@something@ : Like @monster@, with monster name replaced by + "something" if the monster is invisible and the + player cannot see invisible. +@a_something@ : similar +@the_something@ : similar +@player_name@ : Player name. +@player_species@: Player base species, with Draconian rather than the + actual subtype. +@player_genus@ : Player genus, i.e. "Elf" rather than the exact type, + or "Ogre" instead of "Ogre-Mage". +@player_genus_plural@ : pluralised genus form. +@player_god@ : Player's god name, or "you" if non-religious. +@Player_god@ : Player's god name, or "You" if non-religious. +@god_is@ : replaced with "<god name> is" or "you are", if + non-religious. +@God_is@ : replaced with "<god name> is" or "You are", if + non-religious. +@surface@ : Whatever the monster is standing on. +@feature@ : The monster's square's feature description. +@pronoun@ : it, she, he, as appropriate +@possessive@ : its, her, his, as appropriate +@imp_taunt@ : imp type insults (see insult.txt) +@demon_taunt@ : demon type insults (see insult.txt) +@says@ : synonym of "say" that fits monsters' (hardcoded) + speech pattern and noise level. + +Capitalized forms (@Monster@, @A_something@, @Possessive@, @Pronoun@) +are expanded with capitalized text. + +Also, in insult.txt you'll find the hardcoded variables +@species_insult_adj1@, @species_insult_adj2@, and +@species_insult_noun@. These are sometimes used in the construction of +imps' or demons' generic insults, and allow for species-dependent +handling. If the parser encounters such a variable, it will search the +database for the corresponding specific entry, i.e. "insult <genus> +adj1/adj2/noun" where <genus> is replaced with the actual genus name, +that is "draconian", "elf" or "dwarf" instead of the more specific +species name, "ogre" for "ogre-mage", or the actual species name in all +other cases. + +If this specific search doesn't yield any results, i.e., such an +entry hasn't been defined for the species in question, the general +replacements are used instead. + +Weapon noises are handled differently in that most of the above +replacements don't hold. Instead you can use @The_weapon@, +@the_weapon@, @Your_weapon@, @your_weapon@ and @weapon@ which will get +replaced by "The (weapon name)", "the (weapon name)", "Your (weapon +name)", "your (weapon name)", and the plain weapon name, +respectively. +@player_name@ is expanded as above, as is @player_god@, though for +atheists it returns "atheism". + +Note that the Singing Sword, being unique, cannot be referred to by +the possessive variants, so they will be replaced with the appropriate +definite article ones. + +Examples of pre-defined variables in the database include +_high_priest_, _mercenary_guard_, _wizard_, _hostile_adventurer_, +_friendly_imp_, _hostile_imp_, and _tormentor_, but more get added all +the time. There are also a few synonyms defined at the beginning of +monspeak.txt such as for @ATTACK@, @pointless@, @shouts@, @wails@, and +others. + +Weapon noises also use a number of synonyms which are defined at the +end of wpnnoise.txt. + +The best way to learn about how variables and other concepts can be +used is probably to see how it has been done for existing messages. + +Speaking to the player vs to another monster +-------------------------------------------- + +If a message contains a variable starting with "@player", then that message +will only be used by friendly/good-neutral monsters, or by hostile/neutral +monsters which have the player as their foe (and it will never be used in the +arena). Additionally, any message containing a line starting with "You" or +ending in a bare "you." (but not a quoted "you.") will also be considered +player centric. You can also make a message player-centric by appending +"@player_only@" to the end of any of the lines in the message, which will be +removed before displaying it to the player. + +If you want a message to be able to apply to a foe which is another monster in +*addition* to the player, you can replace "@player" with "@foe" to have the +variable filled out with a string appropriate for the foe being either the +player or another monster. If "@foe_name@" is present then the message will +only be used on monster foes which are named, and if "@foe_god@" or "@god_is@" +is present then it will only be used on priestly monsters or god gift monsters. +"@Foe@" or "@foe@" will be replaced with "You" or "you" if directed at the +player, or if directed at another monster be the same as "@The_monster@" or +"@the_monster@", but with the foe monster's name rather than the speaking +monster's name. "@foe_possessive@" will be replaced with "your" if directed +at the player, or expanded like "@foe@'s" if directed at a monster. + +If you want to indicate which monster a message is directed at, you can put in +"@to_foe@" or "@at_foe@" to fill in the foe name when the message is directed +at a monster; when directed at the player the variable will be removed. For +example, with the message: + + @The_monster@ says @to_foe@, "Defend yourself!" + +If directed at an orc will expand to: + + @The_monster@ says to the orc, "Defend yourself!" + +but if directed at the player will expand to: + + @The_monster@ says, "Defend yourself!" + +You can do something similar with "@foe,@" for asking questions and the like. +For example: + + @The_monster@ asks @foe,@ "Who are you?" + +when directed at an orc will expand to: + + @The_monster@ asks the orc, "Who are you?" + +and when directed at the player will expand to: + + @The_monster@ asks, "Who are you?" + +Channels +-------- + +An optional channel name at the beginning of a string causes messages +to be sent to that channel. For example: + + SPELL:@The_monster@ casts a spell. + WARN:Your equipment suddenly seems to weigh more. + +Spacing after the channel parameter won't get stripped, so it's a good +idea to double check that the speech message directly follows the +colon. + +Here are the defined channels: + + TALK : MSGCH_TALK (Default value.) + DANGER : MSGCH_DANGER + ENCHANT : MSGCH_MONSTER_ENCHANT + PLAIN : MSGCH_PLAIN + SOUND : MSGCH_SOUND + SPELL : MSGCH_MONSTER_SPELL + VISUAL : MSGCH_TALK_VISUAL + WARN : MSGCH_WARN + +The channels have been assigned different colours and are sometimes +treated differently, e.g. any of MSGCH_TALK, MSGCH_SOUND and +MSGCH_TALK_VISUAL will never interrupt resting or travel unless +specifically added in the options file. + +Note that MSGCH_SOUND and MSGCH_TALK get filtered out when you are +silenced. For similar reasons monster speech of channel SPELL is muted +under silence, along with ENCHANT and WARN, both of which currently +only occur in combination with SPELL. To allow for silent spells along +with fake warnings and enchantments, you can combine these with VISUAL +and enforce output even when silenced. + + VISUAL ENCHANT : MSGCH_MONSTER_ENCHANT + VISUAL SPELL : MSGCH_MONSTER_SPELL + VISUAL WARN : MSGCH_WARN + +Note, though, that these only will take effect if a VISUAL message +just happens to be chosen. As stated above, the database search +doesn't really care whether a monster is supposed to be silent, so it +may pick any noisy monster speech, but the message output will care +and refuse to print such nonsense, so that in this case the monster +will actually stay silent after all. + +To summarize, chances of silent "speech" are overall lower (as is +intended) but only VISUAL messages even have a chance to be printed +under these circumstances. + +As explained earlier, "silenced" is one of the prefixes that are +regarded as "less important" and can be ignored in the exact string +search. So that both specially defined silenced messages for a +particular monster and its normal VISUAL messages can sometimes take +effect, chances for actually skipping on silenced in the direct string +matching are 50:50. + +Example 3: + The player has just cast Silence when a Killer Klown wanders into + view. (Uh oh!) This "silenced Killer Klown" is now attempting to say + something. The exact look-up is unsuccessful, but now there's a 50% + chance of skipping on the "silenced" prefix. If this route is chosen + we may get results such as + +%%%% +Killer Klown + +@The_monster@ giggles crazily. + +@The_monster@ laughs merrily. + +... + + none of which, if chosen, would actually be printed, but luckily the + "Killer Klown" entry also contains VISUAL statements like the + following: + +... + +VISUAL:@The_monster@ beckons to you. + +VISUAL:@The_monster@ does a flip. + +... + + If one of these is chosen, we get a non-verbal "speech" statement of + this silenced monster. + + However, what happens if the other 50% take effect and we will *not* + ignore the "silenced" prefix? In this case, we'll simply continue + like in the earlier examples above, get no results for either of + "default silenced Killer Klown" or "default Killer Klown", and try + the genus next: human, which cannot be found in the database, + silenced or no. Neither will we find anything for the monster glyph + '@'. Now all that remains is to check the monster shape, which is + "humanoid" again. "silenced humanoid" won't get us any results, nor + will simply "humanoid", but "default silenced humanoid" has some + statements defined. + +%%%% +default silenced humanoid + +w:30 +VISUAL:@The_monster@ says something but you don't hear anything. + +w:30 +VISUAL:@The_monster@ gestures. + +... + + All of the statements in these predefined "silenced" entries have to + be of the type VISUAL; otherwise they'll never get printed. + + +For shouts the default channel is also MSGCH_TALK, which is +automatically changed to MSGCH_TALK_VISUAL for monsters that can't +speak (animals, usually), and manually set to MSGCH_SOUND for all +those variants of "You hear a shout!" + +Monster spells and enchantments will only interrupt resting/running +if done by a non-friendly creature, and, as stated above, messages +passed through the TALK or SOUND channels never will. + +For weapon noises only a subset of the above is relevant, as anything +including VISUAL and the channel keys SPELL and ENCHANT is considered +invalid and will trigger a default message instead. Again, the default +channel is MSGCH_TALK. + +Special commands and variables +------------------------------ + +Message entries may also be one of several special commands. These +aren't variables, so they aren't surrounded by @@. Accordingly, they +are not expanded, but rather they produce special game behaviour. + + __NONE : no message + __NEXT : try a more general monster description + __MORE : enforce a "--more--" prompt + __YOU_RESIST : print "You resist." + __NOTHING_HAPPENS : print "Nothing appears to happen." + +Some special keys are defined in monspeak.txt and shout.txt, such as +__RESIST_OR_NOTHING and __SHOUT. These are normal variable expansions, +and may be used as such. They are given special-looking names because +Crawl looks up the noises a given monster can produce and looks for +keys that match the string, i.e. __SHOUT, __BARK and so on. + + +E. Testing your changes +======================== + +Get a version of Stone Soup that contains WIZARD mode. You can check +whether this is the case by reading the in-game version information +('?v'). If Wizard mode is not listed among the included features +(likely, since WIZARD builds are generally not distributed), you will +have to compile the game for yourself. + +To build Crawl yourself, download the source code from the Crawl +homepage [1] and read the "INSTALL" file in the main directory for +instructions. Should you still have any questions after reading the +documentation and checking the archives of the Crawl newsgroup [2], +ask away! + +If you have WIZARD mode compiled in, you can access special wizard +commands by pressing '&'. First answer "yes" to the safety question +and then you can test to your heart's content. Pressing '&' followed +by a number of other keys will execute wizard mode commands that are +all listed in the wizard help menu (press '&?'). + +In particular, you can create a monster with '&M', and enforce +behaviour on a monster by examining it (with 'x', as usual). In wizard +mode, examining monsters offers several new sub-commands such as 'F' +(make monster friendly/neutral/hostile) and 's' (make monster shout). +These last two are of particular interest to monster speech designers. + +Also, the Singing Sword and other hardcoded artefacts can be created +with '&o'. To create all artefacts at the same time, use '&|'. The +Elemental Staff and the spear of Voo-Doo are examples of noisy weapons. + +You can also temporarily increase the likelihood of a given message by +adding a high weight value before it, e.g. w:5000, or equally +temporarily push it into another channel (e.g. MSGCH_WARN) to make it +more noticeable. + +If you successfully got Crawl compiled, you can easily enable more +detailed debug information. All you need to do is add + + #define DEBUG_MONSPEAK + +somewhere in AppHdr.h, for example at the beginning of the section +entitled "Debugging Defines", and then compile the game anew, first +using "make clean", then "make wizard". +If you play with DEBUG_MONSPEAK compiled in, whenever the game is +searching the monspeak database you'll get extensive information on +all keys and prefixes tried. Once you're done testing don't forget to +remove (or comment out) the DEBUG_MONSPEAK setting as trying to +actually play that way would sure be annoying. + + +F. Publishing your changes +=========================== + +If you feel that your additions really add something to the game and +would like to make them available to the general public, you can post +them (in the form of a diff file, or in plain text) as a feature +request on sourceforge.net [1] or in the newsgroup [2]. + + +.. [1] http://crawl-ref.sourceforge.net + http://sourceforge.net/projects/crawl-ref + +.. [2] rec.games.roguelike.misc + Since this newsgroup is being shared with a number of other + roguelike games, it is generally considered polite to flag + subjects of posts pertaining only to Crawl with "-crawl-" or + a similar marker. + + +APPENDIX: List of monster glyphs +================================ + +Lowercase letters: +------------------ +a giant cockroach, giant ant, soldier ant +b giant bat, butterfly +c centaur (warrior), yaktaur (captain) +d all draconians +e all elves +f fungus, wandering mushroom +g goblin, hobgoblin, gnoll, boggart +h all hounds (jackal, hound, wolf, warg, war dog, hell hound) + and hogs (hog, hell-hog) +j snails: elephant slug, giant slug, giant snail +k winged insects: killer bee, bumblebee +l lizards (giant newt/gecko/iguana/lizard, gila monster, komodo + dragon), + and drakes (swamp drake, firedrake, death drake, lindwurm) +n ghouls: necrophage, ghoul, rotting hulk +o all orcs +p all ghosts, phantom, and insubstantial wisp +r all rodents (rats of all colours, and quokka) +s arachnides (giant mite, giant centipede, scorpion, wolf spider, + redback) +t minotaur +u (very) ugly thing +v all vortices, and air elemental +w all worms and larvae +x unseen horror, small abomination +y wasps, giant mosquito, giant blowfly, moth of wrath +z small zombie/skeleton/simulacrum, skeletal warrior, flying skull, + curse skull, and curse toe + +Uppercase letters: +------------------ +A Angel, Daeva +B all beetles +C all giants, ettin, cyclops, and titan +D all dragons, wyvern, and hydra +E efreet +F all frogs +G all eyes, giant spore, and giant orange brain +H hippogriff, manticore, griffon, and sphinx +I ice beast +J all jellies, oozes, and slime creature, pulsating lump, + giant amoeba, jellyfish, and acid blob +K all kobolds +L all liches +M all mummies +N all naga +O all ogres +P all plants +Q queen bee, and queen ant +R (fake) rakshasa +S all snakes, and salamander +T all trolls +U all bears +V all vampires +W all wraiths, wight, and spectral warrior/thing +X abomination, tentacled monstrosity, and Orb Guardian +Y all yaks, and sheep +Z large zombie/skeleton/simulacrum + +Numbers: +-------- +1 all Fiends, Executioner, Blue/Green Death, Balrug, Cacodemon +2 sun demon, reaper, soul eater, ice devil, and Lorocyproca +3 hellion, tormentor, blue/iron devil, neqoxec, orange/shadow demon, + hellwing, ynoxinul, and demonic crawler +4 red/rotting/hairy devil, beast, and smoke demon +5 all imps, and other minor demons (quasit, lemure, ufetubus, manes, + midge) +8 all golems, and living statues +9 all gargoyles + +Other symbols: +-------------- +# earth elemental, fire elemental, and vapour +{ water elemental +; all fish, and electric eel +@ all humans, (glowing) shapeshifter, and Killer Klown +& all pandemonium lords +* ball lightning, and orb of fire +% death cob + shadow + +For uniques, see their monster description for their subtype. |