A Few Questions/Observations From an Old Player

[Timo Pietilä]

With the newer version, inscriptions seem to be a bit smarter. Now you only need to inscribe it with @1 and will apply to any command.

...until you use command that could be used with multiple different item types. Like drop. But yes, that works for usual commands.

[academic.sam]

The standard inscription for your books, which you can set with autoinscribe, should be @m1@b1@G1!s!d!k!v

With the newer version, inscriptions seem to be a bit smarter. Now you only need to inscribe it with @1 and will apply to any command.

[fph]

Heh, in my current game my rogue found an early Mordenkainen's, and *three* times during ID frenzies I managed to m-f-c to another level when I meant to m-c-f identify. Once it was from a vault containing nothing but corpses and loot. I don't want to know what I might have missed.

Having played a lot of priests/paladins recently, I think it's down to m-d-c muscle memory rather than getting the c/f in the wrong order.

That's the problem inscriptions are meant to solve. If you inscribe the third spellbook with "@m3", then you can cast its spells with "m3f" rather than "mcf", independently from its position in the inventory (ever had all copies of the second book burned?)

The standard inscription for your books, which you can set with autoinscribe, should be @m1@b1@G1!s!d!k!v for the first book, the same with 2 instead of 1 for the second book, et cetera. Then you can retrain your muscle memory to m1a for magic missile instead of maa, et cetera. This: (1) reduces the impact of typos (2) eliminates the hassle due to missing books that change inventory letters --- this is important; you'll want to get rid of some of the first spellbooks to save an inventory spot eventually, especially as a priest.

[Oramin]

Ok, I just accidentally read a couple Scrolls of Destruction.

So if I hit 'r' instead of 'R' and then hit '*' then that is going to set off the only scroll type that I happen to be carrying without my actually selecting it?

Yeah, I know, I should be more careful about my touch typing but why is there a default key as part of that portion of the interface design?

Correction: It isn't hitting '*' that does it; it is hitting the return key.

[Raajaton]

This kind of thing is one reason why I set up keymaps for "safe" spells. Identify, Magic Missile, Detection, etc. all get keymaps, but Teleport, Word of Destruction, etc. don't. Thus whenever I'm using the 'm' command it's for a spell I don't use very often, and thus I can afford to take it more slowly. It doesn't guarantee that I don't accidentally cast the wrong spell, but it's a big help.

That's a pretty good idea. I generally keymap almost all spells that I commonly use, since I like to play fast. Taking some of the more dangerous-if-fat-fingered abilities off of hotkeys is probably a smart call.

[scud]

Will have a tinker.

When moving from magic to prayer I always create more than a few 'ID earthquakes', too.

[Derakon]

Heh, in my current game my rogue found an early Mordenkainen's, and *three* times during ID frenzies I managed to m-f-c to another level when I meant to m-c-f identify. Once it was from a vault containing nothing but corpses and loot. I don't want to know what I might have missed.

Having played a lot of priests/paladins recently, I think it's down to m-d-c muscle memory rather than getting the c/f in the wrong order.

This kind of thing is one reason why I set up keymaps for "safe" spells. Identify, Magic Missile, Detection, etc. all get keymaps, but Teleport, Word of Destruction, etc. don't. Thus whenever I'm using the 'm' command it's for a spell I don't use very often, and thus I can afford to take it more slowly. It doesn't guarantee that I don't accidentally cast the wrong spell, but it's a big help.

[fizzix]

Heh, in my current game my rogue found an early Mordenkainen's, and *three* times during ID frenzies I managed to m-f-c to another level when I meant to m-c-f identify. Once it was from a vault containing nothing but corpses and loot. I don't want to know what I might have missed.

Having played a lot of priests/paladins recently, I think it's down to m-d-c muscle memory rather than getting the c/f in the wrong order.

Some spells (specifically teleport, teleport level, word of recall and deep descent) should have a prompt before using them. Perhaps an optional prompt, but a prompt nonetheless.

[scud]

Is it possible to inscribe spells in a similar fashion?

Heh, in my current game my rogue found an early Mordenkainen's, and *three* times during ID frenzies I managed to m-f-c to another level when I meant to m-c-f identify. Once it was from a vault containing nothing but corpses and loot. I don't want to know what I might have missed.

Having played a lot of priests/paladins recently, I think it's down to m-d-c muscle memory rather than getting the c/f in the wrong order.

[Derakon]

Alas, no, there isn't. I requested this awhile back and while people generally agreed it was a good idea, I don't think it was considered feasible at the time.

[Raajaton]

Is it possible to inscribe spells in a similar fashion? More specifically, spells that you have assigned to hot keys?

For example last night I was playing my dwarf priest and firing away my OoD's at some unique when I accidentally fat fingered and hit my portal hot key. It wasn't the end of the world, however could I somehow inscribe my portal spell so that if I hit that hot key it will prompt me before casting?

[Derakon]

I wasn't aware of that bit of interface, but anyway I recommend inscribing "!*" (without the quotation marks) on any items that could have dire consequences for misusing. I slap that onto my Teleport, Teleport Level, Word of Recall, and Destruction items. Each instance of "!*" causes the game to give you an additional prompt whenever you interact with that item in any way. Similarly, "!k" means to prompt before destroying, "!w" to prompt before wielding, etc.

[Oramin]

Ok, I just accidentally read a couple Scrolls of Destruction.

So if I hit 'r' instead of 'R' and then hit '*' then that is going to set off the only scroll type that I happen to be carrying without my actually selecting it?

Yeah, I know, I should be more careful about my touch typing but why is there a default key as part of that portion of the interface design?

[Oramin]

Yep, I use them for cash.

[Timo Pietilä]

I don't think that the driving reason for many changes was "making fast diving a viable style", but the following recent changes IMHO favored divers:

2-statgain potions are more spread out

Unless you count in gain-one, lose-one -potions there is no change in these. Divers usually go past gain-one, lose-one phase so fast that they probably don't benefit from them much. Those are more helpful to level clearer.