A horrific noob's commentated 'band adventures

[smbhax]

Angband \\ Level 28 human warrior vs confusing key combinations!

Ran into trouble with a few key-combination commands, eventually got them sorted:

- CTRL+H (aka ^h) in Angband's roguelike keyset is "tunnel west"; but I'm playing under Cygwin, and in Cygwin, CTRL+H is a shortcut for Backspace--and it looks like somehow, I'd managed to erase what I think is the default keymap for CTRL+H in Angband, "+4" ("+" is the "alter grid" command, which includes tunneling, and "4" is "west" on the numeric keypad); so the real solution here is keymapping "+4" back onto CTRL+H (in this session I ended up doing the sillier thing of keymapping "+4" onto Backspace, so CTRL+H does Backspace but Backspace does "+4" ; ) : P)

- I found fancy new Bolts of Wounding for my crossbow, but to make them fire with the auto-fire key, I had to set them as the "default" ammo; and to do THAT, you have to inscribe the non-vanilla ammo with "@t0"--for the roguelike keyset--or "@f0"--for the regular keyset

https://youtu.be/FIXaUkS9UGA

0:00 - start
2:10 - L26 - orcs
22:36 - CTRL+H (tunnel west) problem
38:35 - CTRL+H fixed 'p'
39:55 - abyss worm mass creepiness
48:39 - L27 - vampires
1:10:55 - default ammo problem
1:24:46 - default ammo problem fixed 'p'

Oh man that Potion of Dexterity I can't quite afford in the store. : P Think I'm going to buy a pick and do a bit of fund-raising next time...

The description of the abyss worm mass mentions "It is invisible and rarely detected by telepathy" and "It shrouds its surroundings in darkness." A real recipe for creepiness! = oo Plus, SOMETHING in that same area was draining my XP, I suppose that was probably the worms, too. = ooooo

Found a Rod of Disable Traps, keen. : )

Was able to raise the armor bonus of my telepathy-granting, laser-shooting (I'd forgotten about that part) Steel Helm of Helote from +13 to +14 (1:16:05) with a Scroll of Enchant Armor--well, 2: the first attempt failed. Not sure what the max enchant is; this 2010 thread on Angband 3.1.2 says the "theoretical cap" is +15: http://angband.oook.cz/forum/showthread.php?t=3894 .

(In Angband 2.8.2, 1998, the "practical limit" was apparently +10: https://groups.google.com/g/rec.game.../c/8HE2EpXyH3A .)

[Estie]

The practical limit is still +10; you were extremely lucky to get +14 on the 2nd try.

That is true at least for classes without the spell; if you have that, you can make a macro and spam it in town to get +15 - which is hardly worth it for AC but might be considered for + damage on weapons.

[smbhax]

The practical limit is still +10; you were extremely lucky to get +14 on the 2nd try.

That is true at least for classes without the spell; if you have that, you can make a macro and spam it in town to get +15 - which is hardly worth it for AC but might be considered for + damage on weapons.

Ah, so the distinction between "theoretical cap" and "practical limit" is important. Good to know, thanks! ^ _^

[smbhax]

https://youtu.be/VtDbnQ2BxHs

0:00 - buying a pick to get $ for Pot. of Dex
6:34 - L28 - giant tan bats 'pp' in a barrack? prison?
34:48 - Dextrous! Better L28
47:08 - necromancers
57:38 - disenchanted by Mim & Ibun, Son of Mim
1:08:49 - emperor wight & crew
1:29:19 - tossing old junk 'p'

At one point I was complaining that ESC didn't back out from the Quiver to Inventory, when I had switched to Quiver with | from Inventory; but | is the universal command for opening the Quiver, which is a top-level exploration menu, like (I)nventory and (E)quipment, so, I gotta wrap my head around that. ; )

That shardstorm in the wight's crew was kinda ridiculous! All that bleeding. : P

Got a nifty new shield (extra resists and +4 strength!) and one of those "set of Caestus" gloves that gives hit and dam bonuses.

With those and two +10 dam rings, I seem to have pretty good damage output from my 3.7 attacks/turn rapier. A dagger would give me 3.8 attacks per turn, though... Maybe some time I'll have to try enchanting one up and see how it compares.

Too many monster types now to fit in my monster list subwindow, I'm gonna have to reduce the font size. ; )

[smbhax]

https://youtu.be/BFGF4f_-ULA

0:00 - start
1:15 - L29 - ogres & hounds
10:15 - Elfstone?
12:19 - plasma vortex
17:29 - Elfstone stats
26:19 - L28, then new L29
29:26 - oops too close to a vampire
31:29 - wrap!

First time I've seen an Angband level this tiny! So tiny it didn't even have a down staircase! = o And first time I've seen an "Elfstone" (amulet). Quite the stat and armor buffs on it!

Messed around with my customized colors since the previous episode; this medium gray text is definitely working better for my eyeballs than the near-white text was. B)

[backwardsEric]

First time I've seen an Angband level this tiny! So tiny it didn't even have a down staircase! = o

Which version of Angband were you playing? It looked like there was two unexplored ends of corridors (one a little bit below the center of the map and another near the center of the right edge) which may have held down staircases, but there's been previous reports of missing down staircases on this type of level.

[smbhax]

Which version of Angband were you playing? It looked like there was two unexplored ends of corridors (one a little bit below the center of the map and another near the center of the right edge) which may have held down staircases, but there's been previous reports of missing down staircases on this type of level.

Aw drat you're right, I'm used to spotting unexplored areas by missing wall #s rather than missing floor dots, and that doesn't work in these tight grids! = o

Anyway, the extended version number is on the title screen @ 0:10: 4.2.4-63-81ef15325d35c0911eb3d3cc382dc24ac1876228, which means I'd last synced and built from this June 18th commit: https://github.com/angband/angband/c...2dc24ac1876228

[smbhax]

Level 29 human warrior:

https://youtu.be/9i3vVWQF78Y

0:00 - start - L29
30:01 - L30
38:13 - nrulings
46:31 - Ignore shortcut bug

"Etten" is definitely the Tolkien spelling (which confused me as I was more familiar with D&D's "ettin"). I don't think Tolkien ever used "catoblepas" though... ^ _^

"Nrulings" are apparently from Oangband (Nick is a big fan ; ) http://angband.oook.cz/forum/showpos...7&postcount=36 ; not sure what inspired the name itself.

I'd forgotten, you can look around square by square with "x" and then "o"--so those light colored, unmappable walls of the nruling den are described as "a permanent wall"; they look just like the unbreakable wall that surrounds each dungeon floor, but you can't examine that one. You can also find them under the "Walls" group in the Knowledge browser ("~"), which tells me I know of three kinds of wall: the light-colored permanent wall, red "lava," and the usual purple (in my customized color set; the default is gray) "granite wall."

backwardsEric already looked into the item detail window's "Ignore" shortcut bug, and turns out it's specific to the "roguelike" keyset, which I use, and it was indeed a result of the fix made to a minor aesthetic bug I'd reported earlier concerning the display of the results of a keymap query--so yeah the Ignore bug is kind of my fault, in a way. ; D

[smbhax]

Level 30 human warrior:

https://youtu.be/Kd79DJ01ZhI

0:00 - start - L30
6:23 - Beorn, the Shape-changer
21:49 - L31 - ghouls & vibration hounds
31:03 - Main Gauche of *Slay Undead*
38:57 - L32
42:25 - oops it was a Rod of Recall 'p'
43:11 - town
50:31 - Long Bow of Lothlorien

10:09 - Oh I see, Beorn did shape change into a bear, and his title changed

Finally found a melee weapon that should be a little better than my plain rapier, once I get the to-hit enchantment up a bit!

As a noob I'm confused about the difference between bow and crossbows. As far as I can tell (not far), in general crossbows are a lot heavier, but do a little more damage, and have less chance of their missiles breaking? ??

I wish it was easier to see the damage output of a missile weapon; unlike a melee weapon where you can just look at its details, to see a missile weapon's damage you have to equip it, then drill down to a specific piece of ammo for it in your quiver--quite a pain, especially if you're trying to compare it with another missile weapon and can't remember all the numbers and so have to keep equipping and quiver-diving back and forth; and you can't get a damage over time number at all for it if the weapon is in a shop, or you don't have any ammo for it.

Couldn't a missile weapon show damage per turn or round or whatever =p inflicted by its most basic ammo, or something, just to give the player some idea? Missile weapons also seem to have like twice as many numbers on them as melee weapons, and there's shooting power and some kind of multiplier and who knows what else, it's very confusing. = P

And finding that Rod of Recall, at first I was happy thinking oh cool now I don't have to bother with Word of Recall scrolls anymore, but then I remembered that I buy like 4 scrolls at a time because I'm paranoid that some could get stolen and then I'd be stuck having to take the long hike out of the dungeon, and if I just had the Rod well that would maybe be stolen easier.

But does stuff aside from money even get stolen anymore in Angband? Now I can't definitely remember any items being stolen. Maybe some consumables? I know certain things can get damaged in certain ways, like scrolls can be destroyed by fire--but the Rod says it can't be damaged by lightning.

So...would this Rod of Recall be secure if I carried it around? Could it get stolen or destroyed? I would REALLY like to ditch the darn scrolls but I just don't know! = o

[smbhax]

Level 31 human warrior:

https://youtu.be/CtAfypZdlms

0:00 - start - town
7:07 - L32 - mature black dragon
18:08 - (health drained by killer red beetle bite)
22:07 - Draebor, the Imp
27:44 - teleported to L33 by the Imp! 'p'
28:14 - Necklace of Calanc
43:05 - mature red dragon
52:05 - town - potions of Healing, Strength
57:55 - can't shop-recharge Staff of Slow Monsters 'p'
58:52 - potion of dragon breath
1:01:16 - scroll of recharging

Decided to ditch the scrolls for the Staff of Recall, and to go with the crossbow over the bow. : )

D-ohhh that Draebor! Teleported away when I had him on the ropes, then came back and teleported ME away--down a whole floor! = P And had a bit of a time finding a staircase back up--things were kind of getting serious on that L33, I think there was maybe an honest-to-goodness vault down there--but I got back and now I will (I hope! This worked when I had to ditch to town and go back to get Gollum once) hunt him down!

The protections from blindness and confusion on that Necklace of Calanc are really tempting. Its con bonus doesn't match the dex AND con buffs of my Elfstone, though. Dang.

Didn't notice at the time but it was a killer red beetle bite that drained my strength. Didn't know they could do that. = oo And that drop from 18/60 to 18/50 lowered my DPR by 20, man.

Felt like it had been a while since I had found any new scrolls and potions (including a potion of Strength!). And finally realized the "(unseen)" on shop items meant I hadn't learned them yet, so I can see what they are in the shop but not the "color" you'd know them by if they were a new item type you found in the dungeon--interesting how you can see their color title as you buy them, and then the learning kicks in and you see them in your inventory under their actual ID.

[smbhax]

https://youtu.be/uBepmRS_iTw

0:00 - start - town
2:20 - L32
8:20 - an olog and gang
29:21 - L33
31:21 - troll chieftain (L40)

Oh shoot I guess I never did find Draebor the Imp. : P And I forgot to drink that dexterity potion I put in my bag! And I forgot I need to save that Scroll of Enchant Weapon to Hit for my new Main Gauche!

Maybe I was distracted by having to hit "B" (the move-down-left key) with my other hand on this new split keyboard. I sort of got used to that by the end but at the expense of slowing down a bit, and losing the lovely feeling of command you have with a roguelike, where you feel like everything is right at your fingertips.

I think next time I'll go back to my old keyboard for the game; after all, I switched it out because it was too narrow for typing comfortably, but you aren't really typing while playing, so I could move the keyboard slightly to the right so I wouldn't have to stretch my right hand over to reach the keys--that was straining my shoulder while typing, see. I tend to keep my left hovering out wide over the Tab key anyway, so that should be fine.

Oh, I stopped with just 71 XP left for hitting character level 32! ^ _^

[smbhax]

https://youtu.be/ZtBo7GXm-lA

0:00 - L33
10:03 - didn't even notice this L38 "abyss spider" 'p'
18:15 - town
25:05 - I need +$4K for that Potion of Dexterity!
28:15 - lich (on L34)
42:22 - the potion is gone ;_;
45:37 - squint-eyed rogue steals my Rod of Recall 'p'

I looked it up after recording, and it's "litch." : P

Also after recording, I finally realized that I can solve my split keyboard problem simply by using the game's Keymap option menu to move the roguelike keyset's movement key maps to the right by one key each, so the traditional roguelike HJKL becomes JKL: -- and since the diagonal movement keys radiate from the left-most of that set of four, that puts down-left movement on the N key which, unlike the former key, B, IS on the right-hand side of the split keyboard along with all the other movement keys, enabling moving @ around the map with just the right hand, as it should.

It also means my right hand now has the same resting position for playing Angband as it does for typing--so it'll no longer be confused for a while when I try going back to doing other stuff on the computer after I've been playing Angband. ; )

Sweet! Why in heck didn't I think of this like a year ago. : P

When I found the Rod of Recall a few episodes back I'd hemmed and hawed about switching to it from the cumbersome ol' Word of Recall scrolls, concerned that it could be stolen and then I'd be down on the dungeon without a scroll, as it were--but then I couldn't think of any actual incident of someone stealing an item like that in the dungeon, so I went with it. Now it HAS been stolen--in town. And I was able to get it back very quickly. ARE there dungeon monsters who steal such things? There were back in the Moria days (@ROGUElove was always having his paladin's spell book stolen), but I don't know that that happens in modern Angband. Well...possibly some day I'll be in for a long trudge back to town. 'o'

[backwardsEric]

ARE there dungeon monsters who steal such things? There were back in the Moria days (@ROGUElove was always having his paladin's spell book stolen), but I don't know that that happens in modern Angband. Well...possibly some day I'll be in for a long trudge back to town. 'o'

Yes, there are, though there aren't many. Rogues and brigands are the ones that you'll find first. High dexterity reduces the chance of something being stolen (a dexterity of 18 protects against 10% of thefts; 18/150 or above is the cutoff for complete protection).

[smbhax]

Yes, there are, though there aren't many. Rogues and brigands are the ones that you'll find first. High dexterity reduces the chance of something being stolen (a dexterity of 18 protects against 10% of thefts; 18/150 or above is the cutoff for complete protection).

That's good to know. = oo I guess. ;_; Dangit, I guess I have to go back to scrolls. Maybe I'd better keep my eye out for a second rod and just carry two around, and run back to town as soon as one gets swiped.

(Oh hm and googling is telling me the stat max is 18/220, which was something else I'd been wondering about (but stat potions alone only raise it as high as 18/100, which actually is noted in the online manual).)

Thanks for the info! = D

[smbhax]

I finally realized that I can solve my split keyboard problem simply by using the game's Keymap option menu to move the roguelike keyset's movement key maps to the right by one key each, so the traditional roguelike HJKL becomes JKL: -- and since the diagonal movement keys radiate from the left-most of that set of four, that puts down-left movement on the N key which, unlike the former key, B, IS on the right-hand side of the split keyboard along with all the other movement keys, enabling moving @ around the map with just the right hand, as it should.

Still had to set up my Shift and CTRL keymaps for that one-to-the-right change to fit the roguelike movement keys on the right side of the split keyboard (it's a Microsoft "Sculpt" keyboard), and ran into a couple CTRL key conflicts there--and implemented some really hacky keymap workarounds that are probably going to end up messing with me in practice 'p':

- Some CTRL keys functioned like Tab (^i--Angband hard-coded command), Enter (^m--Angband hard-coded command), or Backspace (^h--Cygwin terminal option, needed for Backspace to work correctly in Angband's text fields)
- tunnel up-right should be ^i but ^i is Tab in Angband and if I try keymapping something to ^i it kills my auto-shot key, so I put tunnel up-right on the key next to it instead, ^o; that kills the default "show previous message" button but I don't use that command 'p'
- tunnel right would be ^; but there is no such input, I guess--nothing at all happens when I press that, anyway--so I put it on the other side: ^h 'p'
- Enter is now functioning like tunnel down-right and Backspace like tunnel right but I haven't been using those keys outside of text entry, which still seems to work okay, so I guess it's all right 'p'
- moved I (Inspect) and i (inventory--had managed to forget about that one...) to Y and y
- killed the "Take notes" key (:, now my move east key), but I don't use that one

So yeah kinda messy, eesh. Fortunately--maybe--I don't currently do much tunneling; mostly just clearing the occasional rubble patch.

Why *are* ^i and ^m hard-coded to Tab and Enter, anyway?