{"id":16164640,"url":"https://github.com/johnsonjh/mantra","last_synced_at":"2026-01-08T08:14:43.047Z","repository":{"id":248996015,"uuid":"830415736","full_name":"johnsonjh/mantra","owner":"johnsonjh","description":"mantra: https://macintoshgarden.org/games/mantra","archived":false,"fork":false,"pushed_at":"2024-07-18T08:28:06.000Z","size":5357,"stargazers_count":2,"open_issues_count":0,"forks_count":1,"subscribers_count":1,"default_branch":"master","last_synced_at":"2025-03-14T21:22:23.626Z","etag":null,"topics":["crpg","game","mantra"],"latest_commit_sha":null,"homepage":"https://web.archive.org/web/20131206180846/http://www.syzygycult.com/","language":"C","has_issues":true,"has_wiki":null,"has_pages":null,"mirror_url":null,"source_name":null,"license":null,"status":null,"scm":"git","pull_requests_enabled":true,"icon_url":"https://github.com/johnsonjh.png","metadata":{"files":{"readme":"README","changelog":null,"contributing":null,"funding":null,"license":null,"code_of_conduct":null,"threat_model":null,"audit":null,"citation":null,"codeowners":null,"security":null,"support":null,"governance":null,"roadmap":null,"authors":null,"dei":null,"publiccode":null,"codemeta":null}},"created_at":"2024-07-18T08:26:07.000Z","updated_at":"2024-07-27T02:26:49.000Z","dependencies_parsed_at":"2024-07-18T10:56:41.829Z","dependency_job_id":null,"html_url":"https://github.com/johnsonjh/mantra","commit_stats":null,"previous_names":["johnsonjh/mantra"],"tags_count":0,"template":false,"template_full_name":null,"repository_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories/johnsonjh%2Fmantra","tags_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories/johnsonjh%2Fmantra/tags","releases_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories/johnsonjh%2Fmantra/releases","manifests_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories/johnsonjh%2Fmantra/manifests","owner_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/owners/johnsonjh","download_url":"https://codeload.github.com/johnsonjh/mantra/tar.gz/refs/heads/master","host":{"name":"GitHub","url":"https://github.com","kind":"github","repositories_count":246472651,"owners_count":20783226,"icon_url":"https://github.com/github.png","version":null,"created_at":"2022-05-30T11:31:42.601Z","updated_at":"2022-07-04T15:15:14.044Z","host_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub","repositories_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories","repository_names_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repository_names","owners_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/owners"}},"keywords":["crpg","game","mantra"],"created_at":"2024-10-10T02:47:19.468Z","updated_at":"2026-01-08T08:14:43.001Z","avatar_url":"https://github.com/johnsonjh.png","language":"C","funding_links":[],"categories":[],"sub_categories":[],"readme":"Original Release Date: January 14, 1995\n\nStory -----\n\nSaric, a servant of the Ambassador of Kish, had been aboard the ship Seraphim,\nen route to the kingdom of Zarin. A great storm arose, however, blackening the\nsky with great billows. Rain smashed across the decks day and night, as if it\nplanned to torture the ship before smashing it across whatever land was handy.\nSometime near the peak of the storm, Saric ventured out on deck, partly from\ncuriosity, and partly from a need for fresh air. As he was leaning against the\nrail, he and several other crew members were lifted from his feet by a huge\nwave and dashed overboard. Struggling to the surface, Saric saw that the ship\nwas already passing away, too far to reach.\n\nSure that he was doomed, Saric was relieved when he caught sight of one of\nthe sailors, clinging to a piece of flotsam. He and the sailor clung to the\nbarrel, simply drifting with the current, as neither had either knowledge\nof the direction of land, nor the strength to seek it out. As dawn broke,\nSaric could see a most welcome sight ahead: Land! A beach pink on the horizon\nbeckoned to him and the sailor. The two swam with all their might, and now,\non the beach at last, Saric has recovered his wits, but the sailor, fatigued\nand suffering from injuries incurred as he was washed overboard, is dying.\n\nNow Saric wonders where he is, whether this is the land of Zarin, and how\nhe can possibly find his master, the Ambassador, again.\n\nMovement --------\n\nBoth the arrow keys and the keypad can be used to help you move Saric around\nthe screen.\n\nOn Mac OS X, holding the Option key makes Saric run whenever it is held\ndown with one of the movement keys. Holding the Alt key on Windows does\nlikewise. Keep in mind that running for too long will deplete Saric's stamina.\n\nWeapons and Items -----------------\n\nThe Space Bar will make Saric thrust out his sword or dagger, if he has one.\n\nThe Shift Key will make Saric use the selected alternate weapon or item. These\nitems can range from magic spells and wands to keys and healing potions.\n\nYou can select your weapons by pressing \"I\" at any moment during\ngame-play. This will bring up a list of all of the items that you have. You\ncan then select, for example, the sword you want to use by clicking on it\nand then pressing the \"select\" button. (As a short cut you can double-click\non the sword/item in the list to select it.) A check-mark will appear to\nthe left of the icon to show it's your current weapon.\n\nImportant: You must select a weapon before you can use it: nothing is\nautomatically equipped.\n\nTo find out more information about Saric you can press \"S\" at any moment\nduring game-play. This will show a dialog with some statistics concerning\nSaric.\n\nYou can acquire weapons and items from treasure chest, bags left over from\ndead enemies, or from people. To pick up bags and open treasure chests all\nyou have to do is walk over them.\n\nPeople and Signs ----------------\n\nTo see what a person (or a sign) has to say, simply walk up and run into them.\nA box containing the message will appear. Messages tend to vary from useless\nto very important, so talk to\neveryone!\n\nSome people are merchants, and when you talk to them, a store dialog will\nappear. You can then use cash acquired from enemies which you have killed\nto purchase various types of healing potions.\n\nExtra Information -----------------\n\nTo get information on your current status press the \"S\" key at any moment\nduring game-play.\n\nIf you forget what certain controls are you can press the \"H\" key for\nextra help.\n\nProblems: Game Play -------------------\n\nA few things which can be confusing in game play have been brought to the\nattention of the Syzygy Cult, so we are going to document them here:\n\nSaving: In order to save, you must first pause the game, then hit the\nSave button.\n\nGetting in over your head: it is possible to go the wrong direction in Mantra\nand enter an area where the monsters are too difficult for your current\npower or that of your weapons. If this happens, try exploring other areas\nto see if there is an easier route.\n\nTough monsters: some monsters are just nasty! If your sword just stays out\nwhen you hold it against a monster, or if the monster does not yelp when\nyou hit it, it is probably too tough for you. Some monsters cannot be hurt\nwith lesser weapons, so you must wait until you acquire better swords and\nMantras. Some monsters can only be killed with certain types of weapons or\nMantras. There are even a few monsters which are practically immortal...\n\nGetting lost / Getting stuck: Always remember three things when you journey\nin Zarin: One, some boulders can be pushed, some trees conceal secret\npassages. Two, sometimes barriers need magic to demolish them. Three,\nSyzygyCult answers its email.\n\nTownspeople: Yes, they are annoying, and yes, they sometimes got in the way,\nso you can now kill them. Take care when you choose to do this, because some\nof them actually have something important to say.\n\nLeaving rooms: when you leave a room, any items in that room will be gone when\nyou next enter the room. This can, in particular, cause trouble with the keys\nleft behind by many boss monsters. If you do somehow manage to lose a key this\nway, you can send your saved game to SyzygyCult, and we will give you a key.\n\nUsing Keys: Equip the key as an other weapon, walk up to a door, and hit the\n'use' button. Remember, keys can only be used once.\n\nSome people have also experienced general difficulty in finding keys: again,\nwe are able to give assistance here if you get stuck.\n\nProblems: Bugs --------------\nMantra has very few known bugs and should run with no difficulty on any\nsupported platform. That being said, if you discover any, please feel free\nto email us.\n\nAbout the Syzygy Cult (1995) ----------------------------\n\nThe Syzygy Cult was, in 1995, an association of six high school students,\nforming the Syzygy Cult itself, along with Brett Thayer who worked as an\nindependent contractor for the Syzygy Cult. Mostly located in and around\nPortland, Maine, they were shocked to discover that their regionalism was\nshattered by the inclusion of a resident of Utah.\n\nAbout the Individual Members of the Syzygy Cult (bios from 1995): Dustin\nMitchell is one of the main Syzygy Cult programmers. He was drawn into the\nMantra project claiming \"I'll just write the blitters, and you guys can do\nwhat you want,\" but by the time it was all over he had worked on just about\nevery part of Mantra. He realized he was doing too much work on the game when\nhe dreamed repeatedly of a suitcase with its \"isExplosive\" bit set. He has\nan annoying tendency to remain on the phone with Jake for several hours at\na time, sometimes stretching into those wee hours of the morning when the\nreal programming gets done. As a matter of fact, it's 1:16 AM right now,\nand with just a little Pepsi he feels great! Dustin is a Junior at Waynflete\nHigh School by day, taking far too many courses to have a life this year.\n\nJake Beal is another of the programmers for the Syzygy Cult, and holds\nresponsibility for the Mantra MapEditor (\"It work's don't it? At least\nsort of\"). Jake lives in Portland, Maine and also goes to Waynflete High\nSchool, where he is a Junior and a fixture in the computer room. He too has\nhad times when programming overwhelmed him and he sucessfully debugged a\npiece of code in a dream. Unfortunately, by the time he had started up his\ncomputer, he had forgotten. Since we still can't figure out what it was,\nthat bug couldn't have been that bad. His other interests include theater,\npiano, lording his driver's licence over other cult members, and writing.\n\nMacneil Shonle is yet another programmer for the Syzygy Cult. Also a Junior\nat Waynflete High School. He likes: computers, weight lifting, philosophy\nand hanging out. His best advice to someone is: \"Take it easy,\" something\nthat he himself should do more often... Anyway, things are on the up and up\nfor him, and he looks forward to future projects from The Syzygy Cult.\n\nGabe Ganberg is the person most directly responsible for Mantra's plot,\nthe actions of the monsters, and the general game design, and is also a Junior\nat Waynflete High School. He is not a programmer, although he plays one on TV.\n\nBen Cote is the tallest member the Syzygy Cult. His interest including theatre,\nshow tunes, shiny things and twiddling with his fancy hardware. His main\ncontribution to Mantra was hanging around and bothering the programers. Not\nto mention dancing Irish jigs while quoting Andrew Lloyd Webber shows.\n\nBrett Thayer is a 28 year old free-lance Illustrator/Designer living in Salt\nLake City, Utah (no man's land). Graduated with a B.A. in Fine Art from\nthe University of Utah in 1991. Brett created nearly all of the graphics\nfor Mantra, for which the Syzygy Cult is eternally grateful.\n\nBen Birney was born in Washington DC in 1979.  He grew up in North Yarmouth,\nMaine, using Apples and Macintoshes. He attended public school until eighth\ngrade, when he finally became fed up with being taunted as a computer nerd,\nand transferred to Waynflete School, where he is currently a sophomore. He\nlearned to program in C and has used his ten years of piano experience to\nwrite MODs. After finishing the MODs for Mantra, his current projects include\na tactical war game, an arcade style spaceship game, and an in-play aid for\nDungeons and Dragons called DM's Aid.\n\nAbout the Syzygy Cult (2009) ----------------------------\n\nA lot has happened since Mantra was originally released. All of the original\nmembers have now graduated from high school, and went off to pursue their\nlifelong passions. Some of you may be wondering, what brought these great minds\nback together? Here is the story, as best it can be recalled.\n\nSometime in the late 90's or early 2000's (who can keep track of such things),\nthe Syzygy Cult made a website with a forum. In September of 2005, Christopher\nO'Neill, a loyal fan of the original game, found the site, created an account,\nnoticed an overall lack of activity, and continued on his way. However,\nmuch to his surprise, he soon received an email from none other than Ben\nBirney himself! He proposed the idea of collaborating on a sequel, and Chris\njumped at the opportunity. After some discussion with the other members,\nit was decided that there was not enough time or manpower to create a whole\nnew game, but that it might be possible to recode Mantra to work for Mac\nOS X using the old code as a template.  Chris, being the sly programmer he\nwas, rewrote the game using the Allegro Game Programming Library, so that\nWindows users could also enjoy the game. Some 5 years later, and after many\nstarts and stops in progress, the game was finally ready for release. It was\nreleased for beta testing in December 2009, and released soon thereafter. Now,\nlongtime fans and newbies alike could enjoy Mantra once again.\n\nBelow is a list of the updated Bios of the members of the Syzygy Cult,\nboth old and new.\n\nDustin Mitchell: Dustin has had a varied career, teaching, administering\nUNIX systems, and now developing open source software.  He writes at\nhttp://code.v.igoro.us/.\n\nJake Beal: After finishing his PhD at MIT, Jake is now a scientist a BBN\nTechnologies, where his research focuses on engineered emergent behavior,\nspatial computing, and artificial intelligence.  Jake lives in Somerville, MA.\n\nMacneil Shonle: Macneil Shonle is an assistant professor of computer science\nat The University of Texas at San Antonio. He is currently looking for PhD\nstudents to advise.\n\nGabe Ganberg: Gabe Ganberg is software engineer at a research company in\nthe Boston area by day and a martial arts instructor by night.\n\nBen Cote: Ben Cote continues to live in southern, Maine.  He recently\ncompleted a masters degree in history and works at a local high school in\nSpecial Education.\n\nBen Birney: Benjamin Birney works as a software developer, participating\nin teams the develop custom enterprise products on a number of different\nplatforms. He continues to love and create music, singing actively in and\nwriting for his church choir. His musical theatre piece Sophia's Fall was\nan official selection of the 2008 New York Musical Theatre Festival. Ben\nis, through a series of unreasonable coincidences, joyfully married to Hop\nNguyen. He is continually amazed by their daughter Ivy.\n\nThanks ------\n\nThe Syzygy Cult would like to extend its thanks to the following parties:\n\n- Ernest Liu for help with graphics.\n\nThey would also like to thank the hard working developers of the following\npieces of software, without whom this would not have been possible.  -\nAllegro.  After developing entirely on the Mac platform, it took less than\nan hour to get it up and running on Windows. Simply amazing.  - libDumb.\nUsed for sound. Allowed us to use the original music and sound, in its\noriginal format.  - libAlfont.  Used to allow a custom font.  Makes the text\nprettier than block test :).\n\nThanks also to everyone who helped test.\n","project_url":"https://awesome.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/projects/github.com%2Fjohnsonjh%2Fmantra","html_url":"https://awesome.ecosyste.ms/projects/github.com%2Fjohnsonjh%2Fmantra","lists_url":"https://awesome.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/projects/github.com%2Fjohnsonjh%2Fmantra/lists"}