Why is the hunger clock so lenient?

[Kooltone]

I'm not opposed to food playing a minor role in Angband. In fact, I kind of like it compared to Nethack. I'm just curious why this is the design. Typically food clocks are in place to incentivise the player to keep moving. Why is Angband different?

[Estie]

Because theres the town with its shops. If @ would stay nourished for a shorter time, it wouldnt encourage moving on, it would encourage going back and restocking.

[NotMorgoth]

Maybe a better question would be "why does food exist at all in Angband?"

[Estie]

You can play iron man or some other mode with restrictions. Food matters there.

[bughunter]

IMO, food is one of the things that distinguish traditional roguelikes from RPGs and clickfest games like Diablo. I like the tradition.

It's not too much of a hassle in Angband, usually just something to not forget about. The only times I've ever had a problem with hunger in Angband have been when I play ironman, or when I (stupidly) lost all my ?Recall and couldn't find another, or a =SDigest.

You want @ starvation to be a real threat? Play ADOM.

Nethack provides a smorgasbord in comparison.

[Sky]

do you guys remember spikes?

[Estie]

Spikes, broken daggers and swords, rusty chainmails. I miss them.

I remember finding a rusty chainmail randart with stats and ESP. I used it till the end.

[Kooltone]

I have more thoughts after playing a Half-troll Paladin. Food does have a place. It doesn't really matter for most races, but it does for Half-trolls because of how hungry they are. I like this. Depending on the class/race you play, many items will not matter to you. For example, I ignore scrolls of mapping when playing ranger because of their sense spell. But I think most items have a place for different race/class combos.

Now excuse me, I'll go back to playing Hungry Hungry Half-trolls. ;-)