Feature request: status column

[Derakon]

Currently the last line in the main window is dedicated to status information, like speed, temporary resistances, hunger level, etc. I've noticed that I have difficulty looking at this line on a regular basis; this probably has something to do with playing with very large main windows so I can see a lot of the dungeon at a glance. My eyes usually don't end up in the vicinity of the status line, so I end up ignoring it; the messages that tell me about changes in my status often get missed in the heat of battle, too.

Then my character starts passing out from hunger...

One place I do check regularly is my hitpoint total, over on the left side of the display. It'd be nice if there were an option to put status information over there as well. It might not be feasible to always put status information there; I don't know how much extra room there is in the default display size. But there's plenty for those of us with larger main windows.

[will_asher]

You can already do it as a subwindow and put it next to your hit points (although it's formatted to display horzontally).

[Derakon]

Hm, if I could shrink a window down to one line's worth, I'd put it right above where the messages go. Unfortunately the minimum window height is six lines (not counting window dressing) which is way too big.

That would be an alternative, though -- instead of putting the status at the bottom, put it at the top. That would require less reformatting of how things are drawn, and it's guaranteed to work just as well regardless of how big your main window is.

[kaypy]

At least on the character-passing-out front, I sometimes hack in a patch to the map display so that the player-color-indicates-hitpoints has a color for "no damage, but hungry", (depending on how purist I am feeling on any given play through)

[buzzkill]

I've actually been thinking about this too. I'd like to see a vertical list on either the left or right side of the screen. I'd also like to see the statuses sorted. Statuses that are going to expire first should be listed first.

Hungry
Bless (13)
Fast (46)
Prot (113)
Conf (117)

Also, I also don't see why the remaining duration needs to be unknown to the player. It's fairly trivial information (and it could be roughly calculated and tracked with pencil and paper, though tedious).

[Magnate]

I've actually been thinking about this too. I'd like to see a vertical list on either the left or right side of the screen. I'd also like to see the statuses sorted. Statuses that are going to expire first should be listed first.

Hungry
Bless (13)
Fast (46)
Prot (113)
Conf (117)

Also, I also don't see why the remaining duration needs to be unknown to the player. It's fairly trivial information (and it could be roughly calculated and tracked with pencil and paper, though tedious).

No point reinventing the wheel - we should borrow/steal this from Sangband. It has a really customisable "left panel", where you can decide what occupies the space underneath your stats/exp/gold - using as many lines as your main window has left. So I usually have:

stealth/noise rating
invisibility rating
bless state
hero/berserk state
prot. from evil
weather (druids only)
quest status
monster health - closest
monster health - next closest

etc. etc.

[Philip]

I've actually been thinking about this too. I'd like to see a vertical list on either the left or right side of the screen. I'd also like to see the statuses sorted. Statuses that are going to expire first should be listed first.

Hungry
Bless (13)
Fast (46)
Prot (113)
Conf (117)

Also, I also don't see why the remaining duration needs to be unknown to the player. It's fairly trivial information (and it could be roughly calculated and tracked with pencil and paper, though tedious).

Yeah, knowing the time remaining would be awesome.

[Zababa]

I like both the idea of customizable panel and duration of effects. This duration could in fact involve satiation states as well. Show me how long are you going to be gorged, full, not hungry, hungry, starving, etc.

[Dean Anderson]

I don't like the idea of telling the player exactly what durations they have left. It seems to be making it easier to plan your moves and re-castings. That kind of loses the point of the durations being randomised...

[Nick]

I don't like the idea of telling the player exactly what durations they have left. It seems to be making it easier to plan your moves and re-castings. That kind of loses the point of the durations being randomised...

Agreed. It's good to have the dilemma of when during the "poisoned and on single-digit HP" scenario you start quaffing un-ID'd potions

[cinereaste]

Agreed. It's good to have the dilemma of when during the "poisoned and on single-digit HP" scenario you start quaffing un-ID'd potions

Excellent point. Perhaps for the effects where the duration is known, we could include a turn count (or a range) and for the unknown durations we could just put in "unknown".

Example, after drinking one potion of heroism while poisoned:

Hero (26 - 50)
Poison (unknown)

30 turns later it could turn into:

Hero (0 - 20)
Poison (unknown)

And if you quaff another !Heroism:

Hero (26 - 69)
Poison (unknown)

This way we provide the player with information that he or she could track with a little effort, but don't give away unknowns.

[Zababa]

... That kind of loses the point of the durations being randomised...

Oh, I did not know that most such things have randomized duration in Angband. That of course is nice and knowing the duration would spoil the fun.

[buzzkill]

I'd also like to see durations not stack for things like bless, and prot for evil, and other similar statuses. There has been a time or two when, faced with an overloaded bank account, I've purchased and read a stack of prot from evil scrolls while waiting for recall to kick in. Then, what must have been 1000's of turns later receiving, "you no longer feel safe from evil" message. Just seems silly to me.

Maybe put a hard limit on stacked duration or have subsequent applications be less effective than the previous.

[pampl]

Excellent point. Perhaps for the effects where the duration is known, we could include a turn count (or a range) and for the unknown durations we could just put in "unknown".

Example, after drinking one potion of heroism while poisoned:

Hero (26 - 50)
Poison (unknown)

30 turns later it could turn into:

Hero (0 - 20)
Poison (unknown)

And if you quaff another !Heroism:

Hero (26 - 69)
Poison (unknown)

This way we provide the player with information that he or she could track with a little effort, but don't give away unknowns.

I really like this way of doing it.

[buzzkill]

Agreed. It's good to have the dilemma of when during the "poisoned and on single-digit HP" scenario you start quaffing un-ID'd potions

Agreed, but a RARE event to be sure, and...

I don't like the idea of telling the player exactly what durations they have left. It seems to be making it easier to plan your moves and re-castings. That kind of loses the point of the durations being randomised...

I really don't see this (perfect duration knowledge) as any different as the player knowing the exact edge of his trap detection area, which I enjoy in practice but don't like thematically.

I guess, either more of the same, or none of the above is what I'm getting at.