=== General Information ===

The game of Zangband is a single player dungeon simulation. A player
may choose from a number of races and classes when creating a
character, and then "run" that character over a period of days, weeks,
even months, attempting to win the game by defeating the Great Serpent
of Chaos, who lurks somewhere in the depths of the dungeon.

The player will begin his adventure on the town level where he may
acquire supplies, weapons, armor, and magical devices by bartering with
various shop owners. After preparing for his adventure, the player can
descend into the dungeon where fantastic adventures await his coming!
 
You will probably want to browse through the "help files", especially
the sections on available commands, before beginning any serious
adventuring...


***** <A>
=== The Zangband DevTeam ===

Zangband is currently maintained by a small development team which
includes both Zangband's original creator, Topi Ylinen, and Robert
Ruehlmann who maintained and developed the game from versions 2.01d
through to 2.2.6c. Robert coordinates the efforts of the DevTeam and
is the designated project leader.

Since its inception, Zangband has developed a reputation for being more
difficult than other Angband variants and its maintainers are known for
their devious and contrary natures. The DevTeam neither confirms nor
denies its intention to live up to this perception.


***** <B>
=== Zangband on the Web ===


--- Thangorodrim ---

Robert Ruehlmann maintains the official Zangband website - Thangorodrim
(http://thangorodrim.angband.org/). It includes information on where
to download the Zangband source code and current executables for most
popular operating systems as well as information on current development
issues such as future plans, bug lists, etc. Thangorodrim is also an
excellent site for information on Angband itself and other variants of
Angband. There are also links to many other Angband and Zangband
related sites.


--- Daily Snapshots ---

This website (http://matrix.crosswinds.net/~dailyzangband/) contains
downloads of the current source code the DevTeam is working on. It is
updated daily at approximately 04:00 GMT. The source is untested and it
may not compile. Also available are logs showing what has been changed
in the last 24 hours and in the last month.


--- FTP Sites ---

Zangband sources and executables are uploaded regularly to the official
Angband ftp site (ftp://export.andrew.cmu.edu/angband/). Links to the
files are available at Thangorodrim but you may also wish to visit the
site directly. Various mirror sites exist, the most popular of which is
(ftp://ftp.sunset.se/pub/games/Angband/).


--- The Zangband Development Mailing List ---

The Zangband mailing list is for discussion on Zangband development
issues and is hosted at ONEList's website (http://onelist.com/). The
mailing list probably represents the quickest method of getting the
DevTeam's attention and is an ideal forum for posting your ideas and
bug reports. 

You can send your ideas and bug reports to the mailing list by mailing
to 'zangband@onelist.com'. If you wish to join the mailing list, send
an e-mail to 'zangband-subscribe@onelist.com'.


--- The Zangband Knowledge Base ---

Maintained by John I'anson-Holton, the Zangband Knowledge Base 
(http://home4.pacific.net.sg/~jianson/) is, or will be, the repository
of the official Zangband documentation on the web. Once completed,
downloads of the documents in various formats will be made available
here.


--- ZangbandTk ---

ZangbandTk is a graphical Windows port of Zangband which adds several
new features and a very nice interface to Zangband. If you use Windows,
you may want to take a look at the AngbandTk homepage which can be
found at (http://persweb.direct.ca/dbaker/angbandtk.html/). ZangbandTk
is more properly termed a variant of Zangband but, other than the
graphical interface, the differences are fairly minor. ZangbandTk is
typically only updated for official releases of Zangband and not for
the development releases. ZangbandTk is maintained by Tim Baker.


--- The Newsgroup (rec.games.roguelike.angband) ---

The newsgroup is a forum for the discussion of all things relating to
Angband and its variants (including Zangband) and is a good place to
ask various questions about both game play and game design. Be sure to
include '[Z]' in your subject heading so people know your question is
about Zangband.


--- #Angband IRC Chat ---

Join the #Angband IRC channel located at 'http://www.othernet.org/'.
Most of the DevTeam are regulars and sometimes we're even talking about
Zangband!!


***** <C>
=== Version Numbering System ===

Zangband uses a version numbering system similar to that of Linux. Odd
minor version numbers (for example 2.3.2) denote a development version.
Even minor version numbers (for example 2.2.7 ) denote a stable
release. The development versions are released for beta-testing and are
likely to contain bugs of varying significance.


--
Original   : (??)
Updated    : (??)
Updated    : Zangband DevTeam
Last update: December 3, 1999
