Gripes -- equipment optimizing program

[juggle5]

We've made a new release of Gripes, v1.0.1, available at sourceforge.

The main difference of this version is a bugfix that was preventing Gripes from working properly in Windows. Thanks to jevansau for helping us test this.

[d_m]

Minor gripe (get it)... no plaintext README.

I'm attaching one I made from README.html with "elinks -dump 1 README.html > README"... might be nice to include in the zip file.

Thanks for writing this program!

EDIT: huh... Angband's upload interface doesn't seem to work with Google Chrome, and thus my README.txt is not showing up... strange.

[pav]

Can you add Rings of elemental branding to the parser?

[fph]

Can you add Rings of elemental branding to the parser?

Sure. Can you provide us a character dump to use as test case?

By the way: recently Jonathan has done some code cleanup and implemented HTML output, and I have changed the configuration file format; those were the two big "blockers" towards a web-based version.

[pav]

Try this one http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=9638

[Netbrian]

Hi!

I really enjoy what you've done here, but it's a bit tricky for Windows users not used to Perl.

One thing I had a problem with is specifying the directory that GLPSol was in. When I typed this --

perl gripes.pl -glpsol C:\Program Files (x86)\GnuWin3
2\bin\glpsol.exe brian.txt

It just gave me the standard help message. I eventually got it to work by resorting to just copying the GLPSol executable to the gripes directory. (You may want to include a list of downloads and links for us muggles -- noting that you want GLPSol, Strawberry Perl, etc.)

Thanks again!

[stalza]

I'll use my first post here to say that I think this is an excellent idea and that I'm looking forward to a browser-based or easy-to-use windows version.

Thanks and good luck with the project.

[juggle5]

To Netbrain:

Thanks for your feedback. Sorry you had problems getting this to work. Our main problem is that neither fph nor I have windows boxes to test this, so we have to debug everything second-hand.

One thing that comes to mind is to put the executable name in quotes; because of the spaces, "C:\Program", "Files", and "(x86)\GnuWin32\bin\glpsol.exe" might be interpreted as separate command line arguments. So try this:

perl gripes.pl -glpsol "C:\Program Files (x86)\GnuWin32\bin\glpsol.exe" brian.txt

If you do get it to work, let us know the commands and we will update the readme to be more helpful to future users. The readme currently has a link to download Strawberry perl and Gnu GLPK; if you didn't use these, let us know where (and what) you did download. Also if you had to do anything fancy on the installation let us know.

To stalza:

Thanks for your support and encouragement! fph and I are pretty busy, but we'll try to get a working release as soon as we can.

[Netbrian]

To Netbrain:

Thanks for your feedback. Sorry you had problems getting this to work. Our main problem is that neither fph nor I have windows boxes to test this, so we have to debug everything second-hand.

One thing that comes to mind is to put the executable name in quotes; because of the spaces, "C:\Program", "Files", and "(x86)\GnuWin32\bin\glpsol.exe" might be interpreted as separate command line arguments. So try this:

Thank you for the suggestion -- it didn't quite work. Do you think it'd be possible to change the glpsol directory from a command line option to something hived off in a config file somewhere? That may be our best bet.

[fph]

A minor issue that I have encountered while writing the character dump parser.

A character dump is made of several different sections, each one introduced by a header in brackets, such as [Character Inventory] (on a row of its own).
However, there is an exception: the "character history" (the log of achieved levels, killed uniques and found artifact) has no section header, and it is only introduced by a row of "=" symbols.

This is a bit inconsistent, since this separator is never used elsewhere in the dump. It is trivial to modify the regexp to parse this, but I think this minor inconsistency could be fixed directly in the Angband source.

EDIT: while we are at inconsistencies, why do I have "a small metal shield" but "metal scale mail" (without the "a" article)? I am not a mother-tongue English speaker, but I think armours should be prefixed by an article, too.

[d_m]

EDIT: while we are at inconsistencies, why do I have "a small metal shield" but "metal scale mail" (without the "a" article)? I am not a mother-tongue English speaker, but I think armours should be prefixed by an article, too.

This is because "mail" and "armor" are nouns that are always plural--they are considered uncountable. So you can't have "a mail" or "an armor" although you could have "some armor" or "a suit of armor." This is a feature of English. Other examples of this include pants, water, and scissors.

You could fix this by saying "a suit of metal scale mail" but my guess is it would just create more clutter.

EDIT: Here's a link explaining this: http://www.grammaring.com/the-differ...ountable-nouns

[PowerDiver]

I don't know if work is ongoing, but this might be a good test example. I had an incredibly hard time choosing what to wield for my final trip.

[juggle5]

Unfortunately, I haven't had any time to work on Gripes recently; I've been finishing my PhD, starting a new job, and buying a house.. We did start to get a web version going, but my student web page has been turned off at this point.

Here's the result for your character. It looks like there's some tweaking that should be done: Gripes prefers to give you lots of stealth and speed at the expense of damage. If you are planning on fighting Sauron, then I could re-run this with the ring of acid forced to be worn.

==== General Information ===========================================

 chardump file:    Happy.txt
 parser:           parsers::Fallback
 config file:      default.yaml (chosen by parser)
 variant:          Angband 3.1.2
 character name:   Happy
 character race:   Dwarf
 character class:  Rogue
 character level:  46


==== Current equipment combination =================================

 The Mace of Disruption of Felchalin (10d8) (+9,+14) (+2) {!k} 
 The Long Bow 'Hadir' (x3) (+5,+10) (+3) {con rSound} 
 a Ring of Damage (+0,+14) 
 a Ring of Acid [+18] 
 an Amulet of Trickery (+4) 
 The Star of Pelkas (+2) {dex rAcid} 
 The Cloak of Faukas (+1,+2) [1,+28] (+5) 
 The Large Metal Shield of Sarme [12,+10] (+4) {int rConf} 
 Bronze Dragon Scale Mail of Permanence [18,+31] {rNether !k} 
 The Steel Helm of Gliondil [9,+10] (+1) {ESP SI regen} 
 The Set of Leather Gloves 'Drethurth' [1,+15] (+2) {con rDis} 
 The Pair of Leather Sandals 'Coiome' [1,+12] (+3) {int/con/speed} 

==== Suggested equipment combination ===============================

 The Mace of Disruption of Felchalin (10d8) (+9,+14) (+2) {!k} 
 The Sling of Mortar (x4) (+17,+19) (+2) 
 a Ring of Constitution (+6) 
 2 Rings of Speed (+9) 
 an Amulet of Trickery (+4) 
 The Star of Pelkas (+2) {dex rAcid} 
 The Elven Cloak of Angirion [6,+20] (+4) {int rDis rBase} 
 The Large Metal Shield of Sarme [12,+10] (+4) {int rConf} 
 The Metal Scale Mail of Mirien (-2) [38,+10] (+2) {dex iAcid rConfSound} 
 The Steel Helm of Gliondil [9,+10] (+1) {ESP SI regen} 
 The Set of Gauntlets of Asaladon [3,+14] (+3) {str/int/dex rChaos} 
 The Pair of Leather Boots of Dirdagor [2,+13] (+3) {speed regen rChaos} 

==== Score breakdown ============================================

                     optimal equipment              current equipment
               ------------------------------------------------------------
  attribute    value    benefit      score  |   value    benefit      score
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            |
Basic Stats                                 |
  Str             35      35.00     315.00  |      37      37.00     333.00
  Int             37      37.00     185.00  |      38      38.00     190.00
  Wis             35      35.00     175.00  |      31      31.00     155.00
  Dex             40      40.00     240.00  |      35      35.00     210.00
  Con             37      37.00     444.00  |      39      38.00     456.00
  Chr             29      28.70      57.40  |      30      29.70      59.40
                                            |
Resists                                     |
  rAcid            3       1.00      18.00  |       4       1.00      18.00
  rElec            3       1.00      20.00  |       5       1.00      20.00
  rFire            1       1.00      20.00  |       5       1.00      20.00
  rCold            2       1.00      20.00  |       4       1.00      20.00
  rPois            1       1.00      28.00  |       1       1.00      28.00
  rFear            2       1.00       6.00  |       2       1.00       6.00
  rLite            1       1.00       6.00  |       1       1.00       6.00
  rDark            1       1.00      16.00  |       1       1.00      16.00
  rBlnd            1       1.00      16.00  |       1       1.00      16.00
  rConf            2       1.00      24.00  |       2       1.00      24.00
  Sound            1       1.00      14.00  |       1       1.00      14.00
  Shard            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  Nexus            1       1.00      15.00  |       1       1.00      15.00
  Nethr            0       0.00       0.00  |       1       1.00      20.00
  Chaos            3       1.00      20.00  |       1       1.00      20.00
  Disen            2       1.00      20.00  |       1       1.00      20.00
                                            |
Abilities                                   |
  SlDig            1       1.00       2.00  |       2       1.00       2.00
  Feath            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  PLite            7       1.00       3.00  |       4       1.00       3.00
  Regen            2       1.00       9.00  |       1       1.00       9.00
  ESP              1       1.00      70.00  |       1       1.00      70.00
  SInv             1       1.00      10.00  |       1       1.00      10.00
  HLife            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  FrAct            2       1.00      14.00  |       2       1.00      14.00
                                            |
More Abilities                              |
  Stea            11      11.00      88.00  |       4       4.00      32.00
  Sear             4       1.60       3.20  |       4       1.60       3.20
  Infra            4       4.00      16.00  |       4       4.00      16.00
  Tunn             2       2.00       4.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  Speed           18      14.00     140.00  |       9       9.00      90.00
                                            |
Immunities                                  |
  iAcid            1       1.00      38.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  iCold            1       1.00      37.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  iElec            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  iFire            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
                                            |
Sustains                                    |
  sStr             0       0.00       0.00  |       1       1.00       9.00
  sInt             0       0.00       0.00  |       1       1.00       4.00
  sWis             0       0.00       0.00  |       2       1.00       4.00
  sDex             1       1.00       7.00  |       2       1.00       7.00
  sCon             1       1.00       8.00  |       1       1.00       8.00
  sChr             0       0.00       0.00  |       1       1.00       1.00
                                            |
Armor and Damage                            |
  AC             147     147.00     220.50  |     166     153.20     229.80
  Bless            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  Blows            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  Might            2       2.00      20.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  Shots            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  bDam            45      45.00      90.00  |      45      45.00      90.00
  avDam          103     103.40     206.80  |     103     103.40     206.80
  toHit           26      26.00      26.00  |      15      15.00      15.00
  toDam           33      33.00      66.00  |      40      40.00      80.00
                                            |
Brands                                      |
  bAcid            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  bCold            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  bElec            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  bFire            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  bPois            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
                                            |
Slays                                       |
  slAni            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  slDem            1       1.00       1.00  |       1       1.00       1.00
  slDrg            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  slEvi            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  slGia            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  slOrc            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  slTrl            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  slUnd            1       1.00       1.00  |       1       1.00       1.00
                                            |
*Slays*                                     |
  ssAni            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  ssDem            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  ssDrg            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  ssEvi            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  ssGia            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  ssOrc            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  ssTrl            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
  ssUnd            0       0.00       0.00  |       0       0.00       0.00
                                            |
Bad Flags                                   |
  Aggrv            0      -0.00      -0.00  |       0      -0.00      -0.00
  ImpHP            0      -0.00      -0.00  |       0      -0.00      -0.00
  ImpSP            0      -0.00      -0.00  |       0      -0.00      -0.00
  pFear            0      -0.00      -0.00  |       0      -0.00      -0.00
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total score:                       2739.90  |                       2572.20

[Derakon]

I know you aren't actively developing this right now, but here's my feedback based on that output:

* CHA should have no value whatsoever, IMO. Or if it does have value, that value should be inversely correlated with character level.
* Weights for resistance to sound/shard/nether/nexus/chaos are too high (or alternately, weights for basic four, poison, and blindness are too low).
* I don't know how you're assigning values to stat boosts, but ideally it would take into account practical results. For example, the only reason to boost CON is to boost hitpoints, so the weighting assigned to a given CON boost should depend on how much extra hitpoints it gets you. The original equipment loadout has a CON of 39 (a.k.a. 18/210), which is enough to make it to the final CON breakpoint, for some significant HP gains.
* I think I'd give a slightly higher weight to permanent light sources. Having a radius-5 light is often handy. Free Action should also have a significantly higher weight.
* Infravision should have a zero weight so long as the player has See Invisible and a light radius at least as large as their infravision range.
* Sustain weights should probably depend on class. Warriors don't give two hoots about INT/WIS, but a priest would be very worried if his WIS started dropping...
* Might should, like CON, be dependent on the actual multiplier of the bow being used. A Sling of Might (+2) is only better than a Heavy Crossbow in that it's lighter...

[camlost]

Not to mention double counting immunities and resistances.

I'm wondering if there is an obvious tie-in with the randart code that could be used to ballpark importance of stuff. Though that wouldn't properly take into account cutoffs.