Angband 4.2.5

[bio_hazard]

Perfect, thanks!

[sffp]

Congrats on the new version.
I do see some improvements.

But did you buff the illusionist?
It looks like not only does it haste self, slow you and paralyze you, but it starts off quick now.
I've had a couple of @'s die at ~500' bc of illusionist paralysis.

[Nick]

But did you buff the illusionist?
It looks like not only does it haste self, slow you and paralyze you, but it starts off quick now.
I've had a couple of @'s die at ~500' bc of illusionist paralysis.

Nope, unchanged.

[mrfy]

Minor typo probably, but when battling a silent watcher (from afar) I got this message a few times:

"The baleful presence of $the silent watcher inspires your enemies."

I'm assuming this is from it shrieking for help? Anyway, the $ probably shouldn't be there.

[Nick]

Minor typo probably, but when battling a silent watcher (from afar) I got this message a few times:

"The baleful presence of $the silent watcher inspires your enemies."

I'm assuming this is from it shrieking for help? Anyway, the $ probably shouldn't be there.

Thanks, fixed.

[PowerDiver]

I've noticed a bug in 4.2.5 I never noticed in previous versions. I had 2 unided scrolls of enchant to hit in my pack, read and escaped out without using it, my pack reshuffled and then I had only one. When I rewound and read off the floor and escaped, both remained. Contact me if you want a savefile.

P.S. The reason I automatically exit out when I learn the flavor is that to-hit and to-dam give the same message, and often I want to use to-hit on one weapon and to-dam on another. A different message would be nice.

[Grotug]

My amulet showed up as having poison resistance even though my character sheet didn't, and even though the amulet did not, in fact, impart poison resistance.

In other news, what happened to the Lurker?!?!? Seems it's been nerfed. It showed up as an x in the dungeon, instead of a .

This change makes me very sad.

[backwardsEric]

My amulet showed up as having poison resistance even though my character sheet didn't, and even though the amulet did not, in fact, impart poison resistance.

If you have a savefile with that amulet, posting a zipped copy of it here would help identify what went wrong.

In other news, what happened to the Lurker?!?!? Seems it's been nerfed. It showed up as an x in the dungeon, instead of a .

This change makes me very sad.

That was an intentional change to resolve https://github.com/angband/angband/issues/3691 . In ASCII lurkers now should behave similarly to mimics (showing up as '.' until the player knows it is there).

[Grotug]

I loved the befuddlement and bafflement of lurkers remaining a . on the dungeon floor. Eventually I figured out what was going on when using detection, which would show it's location. I think making it show up as an x takes away the whole fun and novelty of this creature. :-/

[PowerDiver]

[*]torch random artifacts can drop deeper in the dungeon

Why "deeper" rather than "anywhere"? Why even have torch artifacts if they are hard to control?

I just played a game with substantial killing and vault looting, and I found the Star artifacts but did not see the base item lights. Checking the randart log, there were 2 Stars and a torch and a lantern. I tracked down torches and lanterns throughout the game, but I found neither the torch nor lantern artifacts. Covering rNexus and rDark were major annoyances all game, so the base item light artifacts would have been very helpful this game. None of the alloc lines even reached 70. Pretty much any artifact light would be more interesting at DL90+ than the last hundred *Slay Evil* weapons with hit dice less than a lochaber axe. Junk litters the dungeon. Why restrict the few items that might be useful?

# Random light of power 116
namef Laquen
base-object:light:Star
graphics:~:Yellow
level:20
weight:5
cost:15000
alloc:14:22 to 69
attack:0d0:0:0
armor:0:0
flags:FREE_ACT | NO_FUEL
values:CON[4] | LIGHT[3]
act:MAPPING
time:50+1d50
desc:Random light of power 116

# Random light of power 108
namef Anruth
base-object:light:Wooden Torch
level:40
weight:22
cost:100000
alloc:4:21 to 64
attack:1d1:0:0
armor:0:0
flags:FREE_ACT | NO_FUEL | LIGHT_2
values:STR[4] | INT[3]
values:RES_NEXUS[1]
desc:Random light of power 108

# Random light of power 86
namef Luing
base-object:light:Star
graphics:~:Yellow
level:15
weight:5
cost:30000
alloc:27:19 to 51
attack:0d0:0:0
armor:0:0
flags:FREE_ACT | NO_FUEL
values:INT[1] | LIGHT[3]
values:RES_ACID[1] | RES_COLD[1]
act:MAPPING
time:50+1d50
desc:Random light of power 86

# Random light of power 95
name:'Giond'
base-object:light:Lantern
level:80
weight:50
cost:200000
alloc:6:20 to 57
attack:1d1:0:0
armor:0:0
flags:NO_FUEL | LIGHT_3
valuesEX[3] | CON[2]
values:RES_DARK[1]
desc:Random light of power 95

[backwardsEric]

Why "deeper" rather than "anywhere"? Why even have torch artifacts if they are hard to control?

I just played a game with substantial killing and vault looting, and I found the Star artifacts but did not see the base item lights. Checking the randart log, there were 2 Stars and a torch and a lantern. I tracked down torches and lanterns throughout the game, but I found neither the torch nor lantern artifacts. Covering rNexus and rDark were major annoyances all game, so the base item light artifacts would have been very helpful this game. None of the alloc lines even reached 70. Pretty much any artifact light would be more interesting at DL90+ than the last hundred *Slay Evil* weapons with hit dice less than a lochaber axe. Junk litters the dungeon. Why restrict the few items that might be useful?

The torch base item now appears everywhere which avoids one depth limit for any artifacts based on it. The minimum and maximum level calculations that the randart code applies to an artifact based on its "power" (obj-randart.c:2867-2880) did not change. It sounds like you want no maximum level limit, which is what it was prior to Angband 4 (at least as far back as Angband 3.1.2).

[backwardsEric]

I loved the befuddlement and bafflement of lurkers remaining a . on the dungeon floor. Eventually I figured out what was going on when using detection, which would show it's location. I think making it show up as an x takes away the whole fun and novelty of this creature. :-/

If others feel the same, lurkers (and trappers) could always appear like floors. That would free up space in the tile sets to use for something else.

For ASCII and the Windows front end, the mod to restore the pre 4.2.5 behavior is relatively simple. Copy font-win.prf from lib/customize to lib/user. Edit lib/user/font-win.prf to add this line to the end of the file:

monster-base:lurker:1:8

[PowerDiver]

If others feel the same, lurkers (and trappers) could always appear like floors.

If we are voting, I vote that See Invisible allows you to see things that are invisible.

[Grotug]

But exceptions to rules add depth and mystery! Which is sooo fitting for a game with this much depth and complexity. Lurkers and Trappers are another great addition to the "wtf is happening?" in Angband. Time attacks are another good example of this, as they override sustains and Hold Life. Rare exceptions to rules give a feeling of an expanded universe that isn't fully knowable and mysterious. They have to be rare enough to hold that place of exception and in order to have the shock factor, though, and I think Angband has struck this balance well. It's not like Angband has tons of nonsensical exceptions to the rules it sets forth. Anyway, aren't lurkers and trappers blended into their surroundings like how octopi have insane camouflage abilities? Lurkers and trappers aren't really invisible, they're just super camouflaged (is how I remember their description). I dunno, I think they're a cool novelty that shouldn't be nerfed for the sake of logic and order. And the fact that they don't move makes them not *totally* unfair. Chaos is a major theme in Angband, and time attacks and hard to pin down monsters fit this theme well in my mind.

Thanks for the fix, backwarsEric.

[PowerDiver]

Lurkers and trappers aren't really invisible, they're just super camouflaged (is how I remember their description).

You can be camouflaged while you wait. Once you attack, you are obvious. I might not notice a gray rug on the floor. When it stands up and moves 10 feet to attack me, I think I notice.

I've probably seen dozens of examples in anime where a baddie is camouflaged as the surface of the floor. But before the fight starts in earnest, there is a pretty sequence where the villain coalesces so it can fight.

I also have a problem with "true seeing". Camouflage, illusion, invisibility are all in the eyes of the physicist. In fantasy, true seeing almost always means the ability to see through illusions. IMO magical seeing should let you see the camouflaged *before* they attack, but I figure I'm alone on this point and won't press the argument.