!Enlightenment....?

[OOD Town drunk]

Can somebody help me out with the reasoning behind the potion of enlightenment? Primarily, why it isn't a scroll?

This isn't anything that matters. Just curiosity

I've just always wondered how a beverage can provide its consumer with knowledge of the nearby layout of its surroundings.

Magic? Oh yeah, duh...

[takkaria]

Can somebody help me out with the reasoning behind the potion of enlightenment? Primarily, why it isn't a scroll?

This isn't anything that matters. Just curiosity

I've just always wondered how a beverage can provide its consumer with knowledge of the nearby layout of its surroundings.

Magic? Oh yeah, duh...

You answered it for yourself! Part of the fun of Angband is that you get to infer your own theories about the world. I suspect the answer is 'because of the taste and intuitions of whoever added it to the game' two decades ago.

[Derakon]

Back in the day, we also had Potions of Self-Knowledge which told you all of your traits°, so Enlightenment and *Enlightenment* weren't the only knowledge-granting potions. Enlightenment is maybe a bit of an oddball, but we also have Potions of Dragon Breath...

° There was no extended 'C'haracter screen, and *Identify* didn't record information on items permanently (just pull up a screen which showed your their abilities until you cancelled that screen), so old-school Angband involved a lot more note-taking. Self-Knowledge was a good way to double-check that e.g. you had FA+SI+basic four resists, and it could also serve as an ad-hoc *Identify* in a pinch.

[Narvius]

Because there also is !*Enlightenment*, which increases your stats, and scrolls don't do that. ;P

[Timo Pietilä]

Back in the day, we also had Potions of Self-Knowledge which told you all of your traits°
...
° There was no extended 'C'haracter screen, and *Identify* didn't record information on items permanently

When did that came into game BTW? It has been there a long time. I remember that *ID* gave you full info of an item and made item memory permanent so that amnesia-attack didn't erase that info, even that it did erase info about normal-ID items (armor of elvenkind became just armor without even pseudo and all that and you needed to ID it again). Normal ID just told generic item type and any non-random values it might have (you didn't get info about random high resist from that said elvenkind armor for example). I can't remember version where you couldn't 'I'nspect items however, so that must have been really long time ago.

Self knowledge was rather common potion back then, and ID subgame included deliberately eating/drinking known bad potions/mushrooms to find out what the special power item might have. Ego-items were rather easy to figure out, but getting a large vault full of artifacts made ID:ing things really difficult (OK I just found Gondricam....what an earth did it do again??? What about these 20 other artifacts I don't remember?)

[DaviddesJ]

I've just always wondered how a beverage can provide its consumer with knowledge of the nearby layout of its surroundings.

It does more than that. The potion also lights up the level, which is probably more important, but even more inexplicable.

[Derakon]

It does more than that. The potion also lights up the level, which is probably more important, but even more inexplicable.

I always figured it was some kind of ongoing effect that bestowed deep understanding on the player for the duration of the level. That is, the level isn't literally lit up; it's just that the player can "see" things anyway. This doesn't exactly jibe with the fact that darkness spells will cancel out the light, but that can just be chalked up to limitations of the game engine.

[AnonymousHero]

It does more than that. The potion also lights up the level, which is probably more important, but even more inexplicable.

Meh. You should see ToME 2.x Enlightenment. It really lights up the level! (Which I like.)

[DaviddesJ]

I always figured it was some kind of ongoing effect that bestowed deep understanding on the player for the duration of the level. That is, the level isn't literally lit up; it's just that the player can "see" things anyway. This doesn't exactly jibe with the fact that darkness spells will cancel out the light, but that can just be chalked up to limitations of the game engine.

Or that the effect allows you to see monsters that weren't even present on the level when you quaffed the potion, but the effect instantly disappears if you change levels? I think this would be a more plausible explanation (as well as a nice limitation on the item) if it lasted for a specified number of turns, regardless of where you go, like the effects of other potions.