This is pretty much what is in my head for the next three major versions at the moment. It gets vaguer as the version number increases, and some of these may not happen for various reasons (failure to implement, don't work as expected, player revolt, etc). Anyway, please comment.
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.1
- Traps - basic principle is less traps, less dangerous, harder to avoid. No more specific trap locations in vaults. Magical trap detection and specific searching for traps to be removed. The player will have one chance to detect nearby traps, dependent only on perception/searching skill. The player will also get a saving throw against the effects of traps. Consider allowing objects in trapped grids and/or trapped objects.
- ID - ID for consumables will work as currently. For wearables, each potential property (“rune”) will be immediately recognised once it has been seen once in any game (similar to how flavours are learned). How exactly this works for artifacts, ego items, jewellery, and to-hit/to/dam/to-ac bonuses is still to be fully worked out.
- Player knowledge - split the player’s knowledge of the current level from the game’s knowledge, allowing things like doors opening out of sight, but the player still seeing them as shut.
- Dungeon generation - lots more vaults and room types. New (fairly rare) level types in the same vein as caverns and labyrinths. More use of areas (from rooms to whole levels) containing monsters all fitting some theme. Consider reduction in size of levels, but making them more dense and interesting.
- Monster AI - monster pathfinding will be improved, so they’re not as easy to trick. Maybe some of the stuff under 4.2 gets done here.
- Monster breaths - to become cone shaped spreading out from the monster, as in Oangband. Force will push players and monsters, distinguishing it from plasma.
- Terrain - all rubble to become passable, but blocking line of sight. Lava will probably at some point become passable, but damaging to walk through.
- Calculations - there are lots of individual calculations, particularly related to randarts and object and monster power, which might be adjusted for reasons
- of balance, accuracy or simplicity.
- Theme - look at being a little more thematically consistent (along the lines of Angels -> Ainur).
4.2
- Terrain - consider new types of terrain to allow different combinations of:
- allowing some or all monsters and/or the player;
- allowing line of sight;
- allowing spells and missiles;
- slowing or speeding movement of some or all monsters and/or the player;
- holding objects;
- holding traps;
- adding atmosphere or giving information.
For example passable rubble allows movement but not line of sight, a window might allow line of sight but not movement or projectiles, and a battlement might allow line of sight and projectiles but not movement. - Monster list - Consider how changes to terrain and monster AI have affected existing monsters and see if they need to be adjusted or moved shallower or deeper. See if there are obvious gaps where there is no monster in an interesting “ecological niche”. See if there are too many monsters which are more or less the same.
- Monster AI - No intention at this stage to introduce monster mana, but yes to a thorough examination of spellcasting AI. Possible changes to how stealth works. Possible introduction of monsters being awake but not aware of the player (as in Sil). Think about group behaviour, and potential for (limited) conflict between monsters.
- Classes/Races - Rethink what the aims of all the classes are, especially Rogues which are more interesting in many variants. In particular, rethink current spellcasting, with a view to reducing the number of books for half-casters and allowing variation of the same books for different classes. Look at introducing some new classes, possibly from variants - candidates include Necromancers, Warrior-Mages, Druids, Assassins. Races - consider Tolkienising.
4.3
- Combat system - the current one could be tweaked, or we could introduce O-combat, or v4 combat, or Sil combat, or some combination, or something else altogether. Any change will be disliked by someone, but it’s still worth thinking about.
- Objects - this is very dependent on the combat system, and is impacted by all the previous changes. One obvious thing to consider is the affix system developed by Magnate for v4.
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