RoguePC

Original DOS Epyx Rogue (1985) ported to modern PCs!

^{(Yes, these are actual in-game screenshots using xterm with the custom font)}

• Uses original source code from 1985, adapted to compile in modern PCs.
  • All comments from original authors preserved.
  • All changes needed for portability from 16-bit DOS fully marked and explained.
  • Extensive documentation on original code inner mechanics: hardware access, BIOS and DOS INT calls, clock and timers, CGA/EGA graphics usage, piracy copy protection, splash image, assembly routines, builtin curses, etc.
  • Great care taken to preserve as much as possible from original. More than 85% still intact!
• Strictly adheres to C standards to be fully portable to any modern platform.
  • ISO/IEC 9899:2018 (C17/C18), latest ISO C.
  • POSIX.1-2017, latest revision of POSIX 2008.
  • X/Open Curses, Issue 7, latest Curses specification.
  • Single UNIX Specification, Version 4 (SUSv4), includes POSIX and Curses.
• Runs in any terminal, text-only, using nothing but curses, just like the original.
• Colors and gameplay intact.
• Non-ASCII characters updaded from DOS CP437 to suitable Unicode codepoints.

^{(Better get used to, you'll see this... a lot)}

For latest Debian / Ubuntu systems:

sudo apt install make pkg-config libncurses-dev
cd src
make
./rogue

To enable the original splash screen in graphics mode (requires SDL2):

sudo apt install libsdl2-dev  # plus above requirements (make, ncurses, etc)
cd src
make all
./rogue-sdl

For ASCII mode (like UNIX Rogue, but with colors):

cd src
make ROGUE_CHARSET=1
./rogue

For Ubuntu 18.04, use libncursesw5-dev instead of libncurses-dev, or libncurses5-dev for ASCII mode.

Strongly suggested:

• Install the custom PerfectDOSVGA437Unicode.ttf font. See tools
• Launch the game using ./roguepc. It will auto-select either rogue-sdl or rogue, and also choose roguepc-xterm, roguepc-gnome-terminal or none depending on what is available in your system.
• If your desktop is 1920x1200 or larger, try ./roguepc --fullscreen -fs 36 for the ultimate rogue experience!

^{(Yes, it will display the original splash if you compile with SDL2! \o/)}

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Command-line and enviroment variables

Compile/Build time

All original compile-time environment vars and -Defines used as #ifdefs in code are preserved! However, some of them were aready non-functional and only partially implemented in the original code. They are still untested and for now unsupported in this modern port, so many will not work. Hightlights include: (not a comprehensive list)

• DEMO: Demonstration mode, with gameplay restrictions.
• DEBUG: Debug mode, for testing.
• WIZARD: "God" mode, with extra commands.
• INTL: International release, with different credits.
• ME: Be the author!
• LUXURY: In 1985, this meant a UNIX machine with an extended C library.
• MINROG: Set by default in the original Makefile, enables the winning message.

The new definitions are all prefixed with ROGUE_:

In the Makefile, in rough order or importance:

• ROGUE_CHARSET: The character set / encoding used by the game. Valid values are:
  • 1: Plain ASCII. Looks like Rogue UNIX, but with color. Only requires ncurses.
  • 2: Original CP437, as used in DOS. Requires ncurses, a terminal capable of handling it, and preferably a CP437 font. Good luck!
  • 3: Unicode/UTF8, the default. Requires ncursesw and a Unicode font.
• ROGUE_NO_X11: If set, do not use X11/XLib to query the keyboard for NumLock status. Unset by default, so x11 libs are required to compile. Only used at run-time if actually running in an X11 terminal emulator. If on a TTY such as getty / linux console, it tries to query /dev/tty
• ROGUE_RELEASE: Just sets the additional CFLAGS -s and -O2, otherwise it sets -Og and -g3. No in-game effect.
• ROGUE_DEBUG: Enable some in-game debugging messages. It disrupts the curses display, so the game become somewhat unplayable.
• ROGUE_DEMO: Sets DEMO for the original Demo mode.

Only in code, most for internal use and to control the emulated hardware reported to the game:

• ROGUE_DOS_CURSES: Use the original curses implementation instead of the system ncurses. As the 1985 curses rely heavily on DOS interrupts, this is unplayable and only for historical / testing purposes.
• ROGUE_WIDECHAR: Set if using Unicode charset to invoke the wide char functions in ncursesw.
• ROGUE_SCR_TYPE: The screen type, or more accurately the mode of the graphics adapter. 3 by default, meaning Text, 80x25, color. Untested with any other value, but the game did adjuste itself for monochrome and other modes.
• ROGUE_DOS_SCREEN: If set, uses a DOS interrupt at run-time to determine the above, as done by the original in 1985. As DOS interrupts were stubbed, will result in an untested value.
• ROGUE_COLUMNS: Columns of the video adapter. Should be tied with the above ROGUE_SCR_TYPE. Defaults to 80 and untested with any other value, but the original game did have some special handling and adjustments for 40-columns TVs.
• ROGUE_DOS_CLOCK: Use DOS interrupts to access the RTC clock and other time-related events, as the original game did. By default uses ISO C functions to for time.
• ROGUE_DOS_DRIVE: If set, uses a DOS interrupt to find out the current drive letter. As all DOS interrupts are dummy stubs in this modern port, it will result in drive A:. Mostly used for cosmetic purposes, in the "Fake DOS" in-game feature launched with F10. Does not affect actual paths such as the score file, which always uses the current directory.
• ROGUE_CURRENT_DRIVE: The current drive used if the above is unset. 0 for A:, 1 for B:, etc. Defaults to 3 (C:).
• ROGUE_LAST_DRIVE: The last drive available in the system, 6 by default (F:). Also purely cosmetic.
• ROGUE_NOGOOD: If set, do not circumvent the original anti-piracy, copy-protection routines. As this heavily relies on DOS interrupts, assembly code and other direct hardware access only available in 1985, this will result in the game acting as if it was illegally copied.

Run-time settings

Files: all preserved from the original! By default all read from and created at the current currectory.

• rogue.opt: Game options, such as the default player and fruit name, current drive letter, etc.
• rogue.scr: High scores, fully working! Path and name can be set in the options above.
• rogue.sav: Save state file. Saving and restoring is currently not implemented.
• rogue.pic: Splash image. Original game switched to CGA graphics to display, this port uses SDL2. See rogue-sdl.

Command-line options, all preserved from the original:

• -s: Only show the high-scores and exit. Fully working!
• -r: Restore a previously-saved game state. Currently a no-op.
• -l, -k: Only enabled if original LOGFILE compile option is set. Unknown effect, if any.

Note: options are all case-insensitive, and can use either - or /, as the original. So -r, -R, /r and /R are all equivalent.

Enviroment variables:

• ROGUE_PIC: full path to the splash image, by default rogue.pic in the current directory. Only displayed if using rogue-sdl under an SDL2-capable environment such as X11.