Experimental webserver

[HugoVirtuoso]

Hengband 1.6.2 is up. Couldn't get hold of the source for any newer releases.

if anyone can explain to me how to get a download from here:

https://osdn.net/projects/hengband/scm/git/hengband/commits/6363bd3ae38352bcb579cc62bbbd9bd148123d52

I'll give 2.2.0 a try

Nice to see Hengband 2.3.0 in development. Chris should have tag-teamed with them!

[Estie]

I play on a Finnish keyboard and I'm coping, but I understand the pain. By doing what you did (repeatedly switching between a Finnish layout and an English layout) I managed to create keymaps and keymap my way around keys that didn't work or produced unexpected results; I have Y keymapped to \[, O keymapped to ], Z keymapped to \{ and non-numpad keys 1 through 9 keymapped to +1 through +9, so I don't have to toggle layouts while I play.

It's not quite the perfect solution - there's still some combo of keys that makes everything go wrong really spectacularly, and I haven't actually figured out yet what that key combo is, I've just pressed it by accident - but I can now play my normal game on a Finnish layout, just with some extra keymaps; and while the keymapping was certainly annoying, at least I only had to do it once. (Gwarl kindly copied my keymaps from 4.1.0 to nightly.)

I can see it being much more annoying if you needed different keymaps for different characters or regularly wanted to update your keymaps mid-game, which I didn't; but even then, after the extra annoyance and extra painful keymapping, you should eventually be able to play on a German layout without losing games to keys not doing what you think they should.

Yes, I am in the habit of constantly changing my keymaps; for example, haste self is always F9, but my recent rogue first mapped rods of speed to it (which also requires engraving, another activity requiring layout change) and later the spell when he was able to cast it. Its a simple matter to do at home but a nightmarish procedure on the server.

[Sideways]

(which also requires engraving, another activity requiring layout change)

You could keymap that, so you'd only need to change layouts for that the one time; but yeah, even then, I can see play being too painful if you regularly update keymaps mid-game. I didn't want to go anywhere near the nightly before Gwarl moved my keymaps, because the prospect of doing it all over again was less than inviting; having to go through that every game = not good.

[wobbly]

Yes, I am in the habit of constantly changing my keymaps; for example, haste self is always F9, but my recent rogue firist mapped rods of speed to it (which also requires engraving, another activity requiring layout change) and later the spell when he was able to cast it. Its a simple matter to do at home but a nightmarish procedure on the server.

Not sure how convenient it is on a non-english keyboard but I've got in to the habit of using device inscriptions instead of key maps online. z? Isn't much less inconvienent then F9.

Oddly enough temporary screwed myself when my normal macro turned out to be a key I needed to remove macros....

[Sideways]

What's the precise key that makes keymapping impossible on a German layout? If it's the dollar sign, the same as on a Finnish layout, it would solve most of our problems if Gwarl edited the code to replace '$' with 'S' as the key that confirms a keymap; S should work on the vast majority of keyboards, and now that Nick has removed active searching S is not used for anything in either the standard keyset or the roguelike keyset.

(A key other than S might be desirable in some variants, though it's not a huge issue if someone can't include searching in their keymap.)

It would be some extra work for Gwarl, but hey, rather him than us!

--

(Keymapping would still be somewhat painful when setting keymaps to bypass other problem keys, like my Y, O, and Z; those would still require a layout change. But you'd only have to set those once; and most keymaps - probably including all keymaps that would differ from game to game or might need updating mid-game - would be no more problematic than they are offline.)

[Estie]

Not sure how convenient it is on a non-english keyboard but I've got in to the habit of using device inscriptions instead of key maps online. z? Isn't much less inconvienent then F9.

Oddly enough temporary screwed myself when my normal macro turned out to be a key I needed to remove macros....

Not sure what you mean; I inscribe my rods with something like @z8 and map z8 to F9. When I discard the rods for the spell, F9 becomes m4c. Its the same with most commonly used spell effects; F6 detects treasure, either with rod or on a rogue with the spell or a mage will first use rods and later switch to the spell.

Of course I could skip the mapping part with the rods and just type z8, but when its time for the spell I have to go there anyway.

[Sideways]

There's another code change that would also help many players on non-English keyboards; replacing { and } with... about any two letters in the auto-inscription menu.

[Estie]

I dont know much about coding, but I dont get why the right side chat window on the server displays the key I press, { or whatever, according to my keyboard setting, but the left side of the screen cannot recognize it. Whats going on there, why is it so hard to make the left side understand the same thing the right side does that you want to resort to crutches like changing command keys ? Would that really be easier to do ?

[Gwarl]

Added RePosband.

Estie, your concerns are noted, but it may be some time before I'm able to address them. Left side is a terminal emulator, which are dark arcane things I do not fully comprehend

[HugoVirtuoso]

Gwarl - I see somewhere (probably on Angband.live) that you might incorporate Portralis someday. It would be nice one as this was a variant with Angband-like interface with a completely revamped storyline that became known by 2010(?), but completely lost popularity. It would be cool to get a revival of interest in this one, especially for competitions since this variant doesn't even have a ladder!

[Gwarl]

Some new bands to try:
Kangband
Multiband
Rocketband

[HugoVirtuoso]

More variants to check out:

http://www.zaimoni.com/zaiband/Angband.ref/

http://angband.oook.cz/forum/showthread.php?t=5497

[Gwarl]

Thanks. I'm aware where do you think I'm getting all these variants?

[HugoVirtuoso]

My future webserver request:
When PCB 7.0.1 gets implemented, keep PCB 7.0.0 around for difficulty sakes (i.e. it's already the most difficulty PCB version to date)!

[debo]

Some new bands to try:
Kangband
Multiband
Rocketband

Awesome!!!!!! Never tried Kangband, curious to take a look.