3.1+ no item stacking and auto-squelch broken

[skydyr]

I like to play with no_item_stack on to make the game more challenging by requiring that I fight summoners in open spaces if I want to get all their drops, and also because I don't like having to look through lists of what is on the floor.

However, since auto-squelch was created, I can't destroy items to free up space on the floor. When an item is squelched, it stays on the floor and causes new items to disappear, meaning that I can't squelch items if I want to keep getting drops. If a monster is on one space with a squelched item, and all the spaces around are free, any drops the monster creates STILL disappear, even though there is ample space around to drop them. This is a huge hassle when clearing dragon pits, etc.

Is it possible to add some sort of fix for the no stacking option without removing it?

[Derakon]

Seems to me like the simplest solution would be, when dropping an item, if the target tile has a squelched item in it and no-stacking is on, destroy the squelched item.

[fizzix]

Seems to me like the simplest solution would be, when dropping an item, if the target tile has a squelched item in it and no-stacking is on, destroy the squelched item.

Actually the simplest solution would be to allow players to actually destroy items again instead of just hiding them.

[Derakon]

Actually the simplest solution would be to allow players to actually destroy items again instead of just hiding them.

No, because that would require the player to never use squelch, lest he lose loot he actually cares about due to squelched items taking up floor space.

I suppose there's some minor balance issue with my proposed solution -- because squelching happens automatically, the player doesn't have to deal with finding a clear bit of floor to fight in because the area they had been in earlier is now full of junk. In the pre-squelch days that was sometimes a problem. But given that the no-stacking game hasn't been considered at all when making balance-affecting decisions in the past, and also given that any other solution would render squelch functionally useless in a no-stacking game, I'm personally willing to accept that tradeoff.

[fizzix]

No, because that would require the player to never use squelch, lest he lose loot he actually cares about due to squelched items taking up floor space.

No-stacking and squelch do not really coexist. Squelch should never affect gameplay.

[PowerWyrm]

Seems to me like the simplest solution would be, when dropping an item, if the target tile has a squelched item in it and no-stacking is on, destroy the squelched item.

This is strange... I was looking at some squelching/drop code recently and I'm sure that if an item drops on the floor and there's no room for it (that is: the number of items on the square tile is equal to the max number allowed), the oldest squelch item gets destroyed and replaced by the new item (see floor_get_idx_oldest_squelched).

Maybe the no-stacking option doesn't reduce MAX_FLOOR_STACK to 1, leading to the problem.

[Timo Pietilä]

If a monster is on one space with a squelched item, and all the spaces around are free, any drops the monster creates STILL disappear, even though there is ample space around to drop them.

This sounds like a genuine bug, squelch or not, because even with stacking on if the stack size is large enough items spread if there is space. Squelch just hides the item, it is still there, so squelching should not affect that. If items don't spread at all with no-stacking then item spread code is broken with no-stacking.