Soft Leather Boots

[Spacebux]

Hello Happy Forum People,

My friend and I have been playing the new 3.2.0 version recently released to see how the new system felt / played.

One thing that kept popping up in our minds was how often Soft Leather Boots would appear in drops. It wasn't until after a few rounds that my friend consciously looked at the objects.txt edit file. There he noticed something of a surprise.

N:131:& Pair~ of Leather Boots
G:]:U
I:30:2:0
W:3:0:20:7
A:110:3 to 100
P:2:1d1:0:0:0

Now, to the layman of this forum - "A" refers to the frequency (like a percentage, though not some % out of 100) that an item will drop. Normally, for most items, that value is generally set to 20. However, for whatever reason, the current vanilla package has that value set to 110! I.e., one is VERY LIKELY to see Soft Leather Boots drop. Whether this actually makes it 5 times as likely, I cannot comment as I have not perused the code to see how it generates objects in a drop.

Whatever the case, my friend and I finally understood WHY we were finding Wormtongue's Boots, Dal-i-thalion, and even Faenor boots with surprising ease in the current version. The more drops of Soft Leather Boots one has, the more likely one will eventually pop an artifact version of Soft Leather Boots.

I contend this seems to be a typo. Though, the authors of the current version have tuned the drops of seeker arrows & bolts to appear more often than regular and mithril bolts by design.

As I am quite tired of seeing Soft Leather Boots, I am going to reduce that value... though, I wouldn't mind seeing what the authors have to say about this.

--Spacebux--

[Xaxyx]

While not direct evidence admittedly, I must confess that I did feel like I'd noticed in 3.2.0 an inordinate number of boots dropping. I'd originally chalked it up to confirmational bias; I do, after all, seek boots quite often, hoping for Boots of Speed. Assuming your findings are accurate, however, I for one find them unsurprising.

[d_m]

Whatever the case, my friend and I finally understood WHY we were finding Wormtongue's Boots, Dal-i-thalion, and even Faenor boots with surprising ease in the current version. The more drops of Soft Leather Boots one has, the more likely one will eventually pop an artifact version of Soft Leather Boots.

I contend this seems to be a typo. Though, the authors of the current version have tuned the drops of seeker arrows & bolts to appear more often than regular and mithril bolts by design.

As I am quite tired of seeing Soft Leather Boots, I am going to reduce that value... though, I wouldn't mind seeing what the authors have to say about this.

That is a great observation!

I will try to check when this changed... it could easily be a typo or just a misunderstanding when object rarities were modified.

It would also explain how often people are finding boots of speed, etc., like you say.

[relic]

I checked the A-values in object.txt for different boots and shoes, for version 3.1.2, and Leather Sandals has a value of 100, and Leather Boots, Iron Shod Boots and Steel Shod Boots all have a value 110, just as in 3.2.0.
This seems to be just as it should. (Unless this phenomenon goes back to the 3.1.2 version also)

[d_m]

I checked the A-values in object.txt for different boots and shoes, for version 3.1.2, and Leather Sandals has a value of 100, and Leather Boots, Iron Shod Boots and Steel Shod Boots all have a value 110, just as in 3.2.0.
This seems to be just as it should. (Unless this phenomenon goes back to the 3.1.2 version also)

Object rarities were reduced by ewert for 3.2. It wouldn't surprise me if he just missed soft leather booths.

[Spacebux]

Ok, so everything was reduced BUT the boots?

[d_m]

Ok, so everything was reduced BUT the boots?

I think that's what happened. I can't check now but I will later.

[CunningGabe]

I think that's what happened. I can't check now but I will later.

I just checked the history on git, and the leather boots were indeed missed.

[Spacebux]

I just checked the history on git, and the leather boots were indeed missed.

Ok - so A:20 it is.

[scud]

Heh, when 3.20 was first released I posted that it was like walking around a bloody shoe shop.

[Starhawk]

That might explain why I found 3 pairs of Boots of Speed in my most recent game, before CL30.

[fyonn]

That might explain why I found 3 pairs of Boots of Speed in my most recent game, before CL30.

I've got a paladin on level 79 in 3.2.0 and I haven't found a single pair of boots of speed yet...

the ring of speed +13 is making up for it though

[Roch]

Great catch.

[Spacebux]

You might not generate Leather Boots of Speed, per se, but you will see an unusual amount of ']' Leather Boots being generated in drops, vaults, etc.

After toning down the value in object.txt, the current game I am seeing a better balance in the drops. Arrows & Bolts are still abundant, but, I'll live with it.

--Spacebux--

[diabloblanco]

Heh, when 3.20 was first released I posted that it was like walking around a bloody shoe shop.

In a related story, Imelda Marcos tweeted recently that Angband 3.2.0 was her favorite game.