Feature request for the much maligned short bow

[Mangojuice]

A thought about slings --

I've been replaying Ultima games recently, and in those games a Sling was ammoless, whereas bows and crossbows had expendable ammunition. In 'bands, this doesn't translate because so much of the importance of ammo is its magical enhancements, which basically don't exist in Ultima. But it does bug me somewhat that you can run out of ammo for a sling. Sure, you can't find nice pieces of iron for slinging just anywhere, but little rocks ought to be in abundance *anywhere* in the dungeon.

So to even things out among the launchers, it would be nice if slings would create ordinary pebbles (say 2d6 of them) for you at will, say, as an activation power.

[takkaria]

A thought about slings --

I've been replaying Ultima games recently, and in those games a Sling was ammoless, whereas bows and crossbows had expendable ammunition. In 'bands, this doesn't translate because so much of the importance of ammo is its magical enhancements, which basically don't exist in Ultima. But it does bug me somewhat that you can run out of ammo for a sling. Sure, you can't find nice pieces of iron for slinging just anywhere, but little rocks ought to be in abundance *anywhere* in the dungeon.

So to even things out among the launchers, it would be nice if slings would create ordinary pebbles (say 2d6 of them) for you at will, say, as an activation power.

Surely you can have slings be ammoless and just give them more ego types?

[Nick]

Surely you can have slings be ammoless and just give them more ego types?

How about have them able to chuck any item in the inventory for added damage, with range/to-hit penalties as the object gets heavier.

Damn, I'm going to have to use that now.

[RogerN]

I don't think there's anything wrong with longbows being clearly superior to shortbows. If, however, we want shortbows to see more use then the easy solution is to make longbows more difficult to obtain. You could make longbows appear much more rarely in the town, forcing players to find one in the dungeon. Then it becomes more of a "Eureka!" moment when you come across your first longbow, and players will be forced to use a shortbow in the meantime.

It would also make the early game a wee bit more challenging.

Progression is a normal part of Angband. The only issue with shortbows/longbows is that making the progression is extremely easy (ie longbows frequently available in town for very low cost), and therefore the first level (showbows) is marginalized.

[Donald Jonker]

If, however, we want shortbows to see more use then the easy solution is to make longbows more difficult to obtain. You could make longbows appear much more rarely in the town, forcing players to find one in the dungeon.

It would also make the early game a wee bit more challenging.

So I'm pretty lousy at playing priests, but I can't even fathom how one can survive the early game as a priest without a longbow. Unless one could still get light xbows.. and then light xbows would be the new longbows.

[buzzkill]

Entroband gives different shooting speeds for different launchers.

So does Z+ according to the help files (which I've recently read), though I can't be sure that I've ever observed it during play.

[buzzkill]

-Slings could be low-damage but stealthy, good for drawing out individual members of a group without waking its compatriots.
-Shortbows could be fast but short-ranged, giving more opportunity for damage output, but limiting chances of escape.
-Longbows could be the middle-ground: good range, good damage, good stealth.
-Light xbows could be decently ranged, powerful, but noisy.
-Heavy xbows could be the max range, powerful, and noisy.

This sounds interesting. Is noise currently generated during combat or by combat actions? Are leather sandals quieter than metal shod boots? Does a mace make more noise than a dagger? All too often my opponent "screams in agony", repeatedly, and none of his sleeping buddies seem to notice even though they are right next to him.

[buzzkill]

For variants with considerable wilderness wouldn't it make sense that longbows be more effective in the wilderness, and short bows better suited to the dungeon.