tiles_help.txt

Note: If you are experiencing significant slowdown and lags with the Tiles
version of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, scroll down to the end of this file.


Tiles specific commands
-----------------------

There are several different ways to interact with your environment, both
by typing the command keys, and by using the mouse.

Of notable interest is the clickable tab area to the right of the screen
that allows easy access to e.g. inventory, spells, or common commands.

Depending on your screen resolution, one of more of these panels may be
open at any time, though you can temporarily exchange the inventory view
with another type of tiled panel by clicking on the tab icons.

You can customize the priority of the control panels by modifying the
tile_layout_priority option in init.txt in the settings directory.


Movement
--------

You can move by using the arrow keys, the vi-keys, or the number pad.
(For the latter try both Numlock on and off.)

Numpad:   7 8 9     vi-keys:   y k u
           \|/                  \|/
          4-.-6                h-.-l
           /|\                  /|\
          1 2 3                b j n


To run several steps into the same direction, press Shift along with these
keys.

You can also move by clicking somewhere on the map or minimap with your
mouse. If the square is reachable from your current position and there are
no hostile monsters in sight, you will automatically travel there. If there
are hostile monsters in sight, you will only take a single step at a time.

For automatic exploration, you can either type the 'o' command or you can
click on the corresponding tile in the command panel to the right of your
screen. Like mouseclick travel, these will refuse to work if there are
hostile monsters in sight.


Getting information
-------------------

Doing a right-click with your mouse on any feature, monster or item on the
main map or in the tiled control panels will display the description of
said feature, monster or item on a separate screen.

A simple mouseover will usually display the same description, or as much of
it as can fit, in the message area.

Similarly, letting your mouse rest for a while on a feature, monster or
item will usually display a "tool tip" of applicable commands.


Attacking monsters
------------------

You can attack a monster in melee by moving into it with the movement keys
or by clicking on it with your mouse.

For ranged attacks (including spells and wands), mouse over the monsters
and wait for the tool tip to appear. Alternatively, you can cast spells by
clicking on the spell tiles in the spell panel, or fire ammunition or
evoke wands by clicking on them in the inventory panel.

In the command panel, you'll also find a tile described as "Autofight",
which, if clicked, will attack an adjacent monster in melee, or if there is
no adjacent monster, take one step in the direction of the closest monster.


Item usage
----------

The easiest way to use items is by clicking on them in the inventory panel.
The mouseover tool tip will tell you what a mouseclick will do, and also
the corresponding command key to execute the same action.
As an alternative, you can also use an item by selecting it in the inventory
('i' command) and then pressing the appropriate key in the action prompt.

To pick up items on the ground, you can either click on them one by one in
the floor section of the inventory panel, or you can click on the player
tile and pull up a menu of selectable items instead. In the latter case,
'Enter' will confirm your selection and start pick up.

Dropping items works similarly, either by clicking on single items in the
inventory panel, or by typing the 'd' command and then selecting items
from a menu.


Interacting with the dungeon
----------------------------

Again, doing a mouseover on features (such as staircases or doors) in the
main map will tell you how to interact with them.


Character status
----------------

Doing a right-click on the player tile will display a character overview
screen listing equipment, resistances and stats.

More detailed screens on specific aspects of your characters can be
accessed by clicking on the corresponding tiles in the command panel.



If you are experiencing significant slowdown and lags...
--------------------------------------------------------

Crawl renders its graphics using OpenGL and SDL. However, it needs hardware
acceleration to not run slowly. If you are on Windows, make sure to update
your graphics card driver. If you are on Linux, be sure that you are using
DRI.

It has been tested successfully with cards as old as the i865. Unfortunately,
it has been known to be slow on the i810 and there is little to be done in
that case but to run the console version instead or switch to a different
machine.

You can try tweaking a number of options in init.txt in the settings
directory to see whether performance improves:

travel_delay = -1
    This setting suppresses redrawing until travelling is finished or
    interrupted.

tile_update_rate = 1000
    By default, the screen gets redrawn at least every 1000 milliseconds,
    more often if you take actions that change the display. You could try
    cranking up this value, though this may lead to updating taking too long.

tile_runrest_rate = 100
    While running and resting the screen is redraw every 100 milliseconds.
    If Crawl is slow while running or resting, increase this number.

tile_tooltip_ms = 0
    Deactivating the tooltips means there's less stuff to draw every time.

clear_map = false
    Not having to redraw remembered monsters outside your line of sight
    takes some load off the redrawing routines.

tile_window_width   = 1024
tile_window_height  = 768
    The larger the map area the more cells there are to redraw each turn.
    If you've got a large display showing way more than the necessary 17x17
    grids of the map, you could try specifying a lower resolution.