DGN_COMP(6)                                           DGN_COMP(6)



NAME
       dgn_comp - NetHack dungeon compiler

SYNOPSIS
       dgn_comp [ file ]

       If no arguments are given, it reads standard input.

DESCRIPTION
       Dgn_comp is a dungeon compiler for NetHack version 3.2 and
       higher.  It takes a description file as  an  argument  and
       produces  a  dungeon  "script"  that  is  to  be loaded by
       NetHack at runtime.

       The purpose of this tool is to provide NetHack administra­
       tors  and  implementors  with a convenient way to create a
       custom dungeon for the game, without having  to  recompile
       the entire world.

GRAMMAR
       DUNGEON: name bonesmarker ( base , rand ) [ %age ]

       where  name  is  the dungeon name, bonesmarker is a letter
       for marking bones files, ( base , rand ) is the number  of
       levels,  and %age is its percentage chance of being gener­
       ated (if absent, 100% chance).

       DESCRIPTION: tag

       where tag is currently one of HELLISH, MAZELIKE, or ROGUE­
       LIKE.

       ALIGNMENT  |  LEVALIGN:  [  lawful  |  neutral | chaotic |
       unaligned ]

       gives the  alignment  of  the  dungeon/level  (default  is
       unaligned).

       ENTRY: level

       the  dungeon entry point.  The dungeon connection attaches
       at this level of the given dungeon.  If the value of level
       is negative, the entry level is calculated from the bottom
       of the dungeon, with -1 being the  last  level.   If  this
       line  is  not  present in a dungeon description, the entry
       level defaults to 1.

       PROTOFILE: name

       the prototypical name for dungeon level files in this dun­
       geon.   For  example,  the  PROTOFILE name for the dungeon
       Vlad's Tower is tower.

       LEVEL: name bonesmarker @ ( base , rand ) [ %age ]

       where name is the level name, bonesmarker is a letter  for
       marking  bones  files, ( base , rand ) is the location and
       %age is the generation percentage, as above.

       RNDLEVEL: name bonesmarker @ ( base ,  rand  )  [  %age  ]
       rndlevs

       where  name is the level name, bonesmarker is a letter for
       marking bones files, ( base , rand ) is the location, %age
       is the generation percentage, as above, and rndlevs is the
       number of similar levels available to choose from.

       CHAINLEVEL: name bonesmarker prev_name + ( base , rand ) [
       %age ]

       where  name is the level name, bonesmarker is a letter for
       marking bones files, prev_name is  the  name  of  a  level
       defined previously, ( base , rand ) is the offset from the
       level being chained from, and %age is the generation  per­
       centage.

       RNDCHAINLEVEL:  name bonesmarker prev_name + ( base , rand
       ) [ %age ] rndlevs

       where name is the level name, bonesmarker is a letter  for
       marking  bones  files,  prev_name  is  the name of a level
       defined previously, ( base , rand ) is the offset from the
       level  being chained from, %age is the generation percent­
       age, and rndlevs is the number of similar levels available
       to choose from.

       LEVELDESC: type

       where  type  is  the level type, (see DESCRIPTION, above).
       The type is used to override any  pre-set  value  used  to
       describe the entire dungeon, for this level only.

       BRANCH: name @ ( base , rand ) [ stair | no_up | no_down |
       portal ] [ up | down ]

       where name is the name of the dungeon to branch to, and  (
       base , rand ) is the location of the branch.  The last two
       optional arguments are the branch type and  branch  direc­
       tion.  The type of a branch can be a two-way stair connec­
       tion, a one-way stair connection, or a  magic  portal.   A
       one-way  stair is described by the types no_up and no_down
       which specify  which  stair  direction  is  missing.   The
       default  branch  type is stair.  The direction for a stair
       can be either up or down; direction is not  applicable  to
       portals.  The default direction is down.

       CHAINBRANCH:  name  prev_name  + ( base , rand ) [ stair |
       no_up | no_down | portal ] [ up | down ]

       where name is the  name  of  the  dungeon  to  branch  to,
       prev_name  is the name of a previously defined level and (
       base , rand ) is the offset from the level  being  chained
       from.  The optional branch type and direction are the same
       as described above.

GENERIC RULES
       Each dungeon must have a unique  bonesmarker  ,  and  each
       special  level  must  have a bonesmarker unique within its
       dungeon (letters may be reused in different dungeons).  If
       the  bonesmarker  has  the  special value "none", no bones
       files will be created for that level or dungeon.

       The value base may be in the range of 1  to  MAXLEVEL  (as
       defined in global.h ).

       The value rand may be in the range of -1 to MAXLEVEL.

       If  rand  is  -1  it  will  be  replaced  with  the  value
       (num_dunlevs(dungeon) - base) during the load process (ie.
       from here to the end of the dungeon).

       If rand is 0 the level is located absolutely at base.

       Branches  don't  have  a  probability.  Dungeons do.  If a
       dungeon fails to be generated during load, all its  levels
       and branches are skipped.

       No level or branch may be chained from a level with a per­
       centage generation probability.  This is to  prevent  non-
       resolution during the load.  In addition, no branch may be
       made from a dungeon with a percentage generation probabil­
       ity for the same reason.

       As a general rule using the dungeon compiler:

       If  a dungeon has a protofile name associated with it (eg.
       tower) that file will be used.

       If a special level is present, it will override the  above
       rule and the appropriate file will be loaded.

       If  neither of the above are present, the standard genera­
       tor will take over and make a "normal" level.

       A level alignment, if present, will override the alignment
       of the dungeon that it exists within.

EXAMPLE
       Here is the current syntax of the dungeon compiler's "lan­
       guage":


       #
       #       The dungeon description file for the "standard" original
       #       3.0 NetHack.
       #
       DUNGEON:        "The Dungeons of Doom" "D" (25, 5)
       LEVEL:          "rogue" "none" @ (15, 4)
       LEVEL:          "oracle" "none" @ (5, 7)
       LEVEL:          "bigroom" "B" @ (12, 3) 15
       LEVEL:          "medusa" "none" @ (20, 5)
       CHAINLEVEL:     "castle" "medusa" + (1, 4)
       CHAINBRANCH:    "Hell" "castle" + (0, 0) no_down
       BRANCH:         "The Astral Plane" @ (1, 0) no_down up

       DUNGEON:        "Hell" "H" (25, 5)
       DESCRIPTION:    mazelike
       DESCRIPTION:    hellish
       BRANCH:         "Vlad's Tower" @ (13, 5) up
       LEVEL:          "wizard" "none" @ (15, 10)
       LEVEL:          "fakewiz" "A" @ (5, 5)
       LEVEL:          "fakewiz" "B" @ (10, 5)
       LEVEL:          "fakewiz" "C" @ (15, 5)
       LEVEL:          "fakewiz" "D" @ (20, 5)
       LEVEL:          "fakewiz" "E" @ (25, 5)

       DUNGEON:        "Vlad's Tower" "T" (3, 0)
       PROTOFILE:      "tower"
       DESCRIPTION:    mazelike
       ENTRY:          -1

       DUNGEON:        "The Astral Plane" "A" (1, 0)
       DESCRIPTION:    mazelike
       PROTOFILE:      "endgame"

       NOTES:
       Lines beginning with '#' are considered comments.
       A special level must be explicitly aligned.  The alignment
       of the dungeon it is in only applies to non-special levels
       within that dungeon.

AUTHOR
       M. Stephenson (from the level compiler by  Jean-Christophe
       Collet).

SEE ALSO
       lev_comp(6), nethack(6)

BUGS
       Probably infinite.



                           12 Dec 1995                DGN_COMP(6)
