Re: Fara, a new browser or downloadable roguelike
Okay, I'll try and explain a few things to help people getting used to the game and perhaps make the learning curve a bit easier.
The game works by both clicking on things, hitting letters directly and and by inputting commands in the bottom edit area, I've found all are necessary at different points.
There are several parts to the interface you need to worry about, the quick action box, the inventory, the log, the current target, and the nearby list, with the edit area for inputting commands at the bottom.
First thing, I would strongly recommend typing ?togglemap, that is toggle map as one word with a slash in front, since otherwise the map will take up a lot of space and give you a ridiculous amount of blank lines to go through, or at least it does with NVdA.
Now how the game works. Since this is a roguelike, your character is able to move around in 8 directions, you can use the arrows or numbpad to move (if using NVdA you'll be toggling between browse and focus mode a lot here), so think of your character moving around on a grid like a chessboard.
You can interact with things next to you, and, say if you have a range weapon, with some things further away.
At the bottom, in the "nearby" section just above the edit area, are the things your character is aware of and their immediate direction, EG roll of burlap nw, campfire e etc.
If you type l, the log will directly tell you what is around you with some information, EG there is an appletree far to the southeast.
Just above
All of these things around you, plus items in your inventory can be targeted. to perform actions on (you can hit tab to cycle through targets or click on things).
This lets you do things like inspect, take, etc.
Note though, that only those items immediately next to your character will be able to be interacted with, EG you can't harvest from a tree that is a ways away, or take something that isn't at your feet.
To make interacting with things easier, at the top of the screen in that first tab is the "quick actions list, this lets you do some of the most common things to whatever your targeted on, EG harvest from a tree or climb it, take an item, attack a monster, light a torch etc.
This is one reason I'd like headings for some parts of the screen, since I find myself going between the nearby list and quickactions box a lot.
You can however speed matters up in several ways, for example I recommend turning on autoloot which automatically picks up something you walk across.
other quick commands include t to take an object, and shift T to take all at a given location.
A to attack a targeted monster, and shift A to perform a heavy or fierce attack, which takes more time and stamina, but usually does more damage.
Also bare in mind the parser is mostly fairly straight forward, EG to chop down a tree to get logs, just go up to it and attack it with the axe you begin with, and to cook something, just select the campfire and then give it a food item, also don't forget the initial slash for commands.
The world map is a bit of a pain at the moment.
The game is divided into roughly 10 x 10 areas like the forest you start in. You can leave one of those areas by either typing exit, or by moving to the edge and keeping going, remember the exit command if you get ambushed as it can save your bacon).
The map is incredibly inaccessible, however most information is available anyway. Once on the map, you can move in the initial directions (note that hitting two arrows to move diagonally doesn't work on the map, only the numbpad moves diagonals).
In the quick action box you will be asked if you want to explore the current location your on, EG explore farmland, explore ocean or explore jungle, and can just click or press e to do so.
If you choose not to go to that location, a log message will note you moving through it and a few salient details like animal tracks or monster tracks, though I'm not entirely sure of the relevance of these as yet.
At the bottom of the log is an area which says "landmarks"
This works like the nearby list and will tell you about any close special locations such as dens of monsters, towns or temples, though these are quite rare I think. To enter one just move across the map squares to it and you'll be given the option to explore.
Sometimes you'll get ambushed and be forced to go to an area, usually one with monsters.
When you hit w for waypoints, a window will appear with the relevant details (this happens in a few other places throughout the game, such as when viewing the recipes list or character stats).
You'll need to click somewhere else, press escape or type close in the box to close this window.
Though the waypoints are numbered, you cannot interact with them, and though they say "tracked on map" for access purposes they aren't.
Every step you move on the map is I believe 0.1 Kilometers, though it's possible your movement speed may vary.
If the waypoint is a town you'll see it under landmarks, however if it's a quest location, the map just says "somewhere here" and I have no idea how to find which square it's actually talking about, hence the need for an access fix with this.
I haven't experimented enough yet with different quests to see which ones are doable, if any, though if Arnald 18 is correct about delivery quests to other settlements, they would probably be possible since I assume settlements would appear on your map under landmarks, and thus be trackable when you get close.
As far as items go, from what I've seen thus far, most things you eat give your character buffs, including flowers and seeds. Buffs and satisfying hunger give changes in your character's mood which make them do a lot better in combat. My best char (the one I got part of the key with), ate quite regularly, ditto with resting.
I also believe you can cook different things and maybe make potions too, though I've not survived long enough to try those out as yet, neither have I found stoe or clay or ways to mine, though smithing is definitely in the game.
Indeed, one piece of advice I will give, is that crafting stuff is the main way to get starting level gear, and even with wood, burlap and fruit gathered from trees you can raise your survival odds.
Hth.
Also, really hoping this one gets some fixes since it definitely foots the bill for a really complex, single player game with exceptionally interesting crafting, and where the crafting matters.
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