Idea: no_traps option

[Therem Harth]

Not quite what it sounds like - instead of just removing the traps, this option would make the game place a depth-appropriate monster where a floor trap would normally show up.

(Or, to prevent overstuffing of vaults, maybe have a 50% chance of placing a monster, and otherwise do nothing. Or maybe check to see if there's a vault, and place an OoD monster with a lower probability if so.)

How does this sound? An improvement, or would the extra monsters add too much slog factor?

[Max Stats]

Sounds like a Warrior's dream to me.

[Therem Harth]

Oh right... There'd still be trap detection spells and items, which would just be useless with that option.

Needs some more thought, I guess.

Edit: err, maybe just make the trap detection spells unintelligible with this option enabled?

[d_m]

Oh right... There'd still be trap detection spells and items, which would just be useless with that option.

Needs some more thought, I guess.

Edit: err, maybe just make the trap detection spells unintelligible with this option enabled?

I have thought about a variant without any traps, or at least without hidden traps and trap detection. I think it would actually be a great way to remove some annoying mechanics and streamline the game, particularly if traps got more dangerous and disarming got riskier/harder.

Probably not for V though, at least anytime soon. But you never know.

[Therem Harth]

I decided to try something like this in V (3.3.0 git), just invoking

place_monster(c, y, x, c->depth, TRUE, TRUE, ORIGIN_DROP)

instead of the trap code. Currently playing it with a High-Elf Warrior, and for that character at least I find it a more interesting and less annoying game; there are more monsters floating around and I don't have to worry about trap annoyances.

The main problem with this is that vaults are absolutely killer, since there are monsters on just about every square.

Using a warrior might actually not help, due to the class's limited ability to control combat against groups (even with the ability to spread blows around). Then again, mages and priests don't have much area attack ability either; in general it seems that no cover = dead character. Which is surprisingly realistic for a fantasy RPG.

(Mind, I'm used to ToME, where you have line-of-sight spells that can do ~200 damage per casting, and large area ball/cloud spells that do even more. Pretty unbalancing now that I think about it. In ToME I can just crisp that pack of hounds in one go; in V I may actually have to weigh my choices, because they can all breath on me at once and I can't do the same to them.)

[buzzkill]

How about making traps visible when within LOS, or at least very easily detectable when within LOS and in exchange make them much more dangerous and much harder to disarm.

[Therem Harth]

Maybe. That has the potential to make trap-dense environements (like vaults) even more difficult to tackle.

I do like the idea of traps being visible and actually impeding progress. On the other hand, I don't like the idea of them becoming a total blocker for characters who don't have reliable disarming for whatever reason.

One idea that I think might work: ranged effect traps like in Un, but with hitpoints. They would create a line or area of effect that would damage you (or drain a stat, or something), but could be damaged by melee, spells, and ranged weapons. The challenge, especially in vaults, would be to destroy the trap before it exacted too much of a toll. Additionally traps could have resistances or armor depending on type.

Introducing that in V might be a bit of a problem though.

[Zyphyr]

One idea that I think might work: ranged effect traps like in Un, but with hitpoints. They would create a line or area of effect that would damage you (or drain a stat, or something), but could be damaged by melee, spells, and ranged weapons. The challenge, especially in vaults, would be to destroy the trap before it exacted too much of a toll. Additionally traps could have resistances or armor depending on type.

That would essentially be stationary monsters.

[Therem Harth]

Exactly. Only they would not have to move in order to hurt you.

[CJNyfalt]

I would rather have traps tweaked and the most annoying ones (trap doors) removed, than adding another option.

[jens]

I would rather have traps tweaked and the most annoying ones (trap doors) removed, than adding another option.

'trap door' is the only trap I always avoid disarming manually. To me, that is a good trap, because it makes me think. Strange runes (teleport/summon) depend on the situation if I avoid or not, the others I always disarm for their xp. I used to avoid the stat drainers, but now that stat restoration is trivial I go for them as well.

[Raggy]

'trap door' is the only trap I always avoid disarming manually. To me, that is a good trap, because it makes me think. Strange runes (teleport/summon) depend on the situation if I avoid or not, the others I always disarm for their xp. I used to avoid the stat drainers, but now that stat restoration is trivial I go for them as well.

Is it ? Latest nightly there are no stat restoration potions.

[buzzkill]

Is it ? Latest nightly there are no stat restoration potions.

Because restoration is now soooo trivial they are no longer required.

[Raggy]

Because restoration is now soooo trivial they are no longer required.

Then Im missing something. How is it trivial?

[buzzkill]

Then Im missing something. How is it trivial?

I don't play much V anymore, but I believe you get stat restoration upon every level-up.