Connected stairs - something to consider

[PowerDiver]

Not always giving the player the first turn on a new level means that they can get insta-killed upon entering a level through no fault of their own (e.g. Time Hounds). That's a bad thing. Much better to solve the real problem: completely fresh levels on every up/down.

If you want to be consistent, if the player gets the first move, summonses should get the first move. That would probably increase instakills more than are saved on level change. Of course, most don't care about the consistency issue.

This is a roguelike. It is not necessary that every game be winnable even with perfect play. It may not even be desirable.

I'd vote for guaranteed *last* move, against equal speed monsters, by summonses or player when newly placed on a level.

[will_asher]

Dying through no fault is of your own is bad, but would occur rarely (assuming a sane playstyle), and there are better ways to handle it (I'd prefer 1 HP survival, though far from perfect).

DaJ doesn't guarantee first move (I'm pretty sure), and it's NEVER killed me. I'm not saying it couldn't happen, just that it NEVER has.

DAJ does the same thing in that situation as Angband 3.0.9, which (IIRC) tried to give the PC the first move on a new level but wasn't a complete guarantee. In fact, DAJ tries harder to give the PC the first move by making taking the stairs take only 10 units of energy.

[Antoine]

V Devs might like to consider the following change:

With "connected stairs" on, when a character takes the stairs up after making less than (say) 100 moves on a level, there is a small chance (10-20%?) that they get the message "The stairwell caves in behind you" and they do not appear on a down staircase.

This gives the player most of the tactical benefits of "connected stairs", while making intense stair scumming harder.

Just a thought
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I'm going to try this in Quickband (or rather, one of the improved versions suggested further down the thread).

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