3.0.9b initial questions

[chem]

Hello. I decided to try out 3.0.9b and see if I could construct a keymap set that worked well for me on my laptop (see other thread). I haven't played in a while, so I had some dev questions about the following:

In the About Angband screen, the copyright is 2003 by RR. (This is the Mac OS X version). Of course that is out of date. Fixed in 3.1.0?

The randarts option is listed as "alpha". It's been this way pretty much as long as I can remember. Are the randarts really only alpha test quality? Would it be easy to port in the randart code from other variants such as recent [Z] or [NPP]? The dev trac doesn't talk much about randarts (that I saw...).

Similarly, ai_smart is listed as "broken". If broken, why distribute a release with the option? What is broken? Is this fixed in 3.1.0?

The default wall or store character is a "#". Some variants default the wall to a full, uniform solid character. How can I change the wall character from "#" to that character (which I think is ascii character 219 or 254)? I am using courier or monaco fixed-width fonts.

The application icon for Angband is a red square background with a white circle overlay, which contains a black script character in some unknown language. What is this character, and how does it represent Angband? Would perhaps something else be more appropriate, such as a "@", a picture of a sword, elf, entrance to Angband, or Morgoth himself?

I know some of those are nit-picks, but these are the things that made an impression on me after not playing for a while.

[Nick]

The application icon for Angband is a red square background with a white circle overlay, which contains a black script character in some unknown language. What is this character, and how does it represent Angband? Would perhaps something else be more appropriate, such as a "@", a picture of a sword, elf, entrance to Angband, or Morgoth himself?

This is a JRRT monogram. Personally, I like the "@ in the hat" from rephial.

[takkaria]

Questions answered in order.

Hello. I decided to try out 3.0.9b and see if I could construct a keymap set that worked well for me on my laptop (see other thread). I haven't played in a while, so I had some dev questions about the following:

In the About Angband screen, the copyright is 2003 by RR. (This is the Mac OS X version). Of course that is out of date. Fixed in 3.1.0?

Not yet, but thanks for the report.

The randarts option is listed as "alpha". It's been this way pretty much as long as I can remember. Are the randarts really only alpha test quality? Would it be easy to port in the randart code from other variants such as recent [Z] or [NPP]? The dev trac doesn't talk much about randarts (that I saw...).

Sort-of, yes. No, or it would have been done already. It's on the agenda, at some point.

Similarly, ai_smart is listed as "broken". If broken, why distribute a release with the option? What is broken? Is this fixed in 3.1.0?

Because every previous release has had it, 3.0.9 makes no significant changes to it, and if you're after a serious challenge game, you might want to use it. It's too clever some times, not clever enough others, and it is generally considered to be an unbalanced option. No (3.1.0 is in all respects a work-in-progress, as will 3.1.x until 3.2.)

The default wall or store character is a "#". Some variants default the wall to a full, uniform solid character. How can I change the wall character from "#" to that character (which I think is ascii character 219 or 254)? I am using courier or monaco fixed-width fonts.

Try using the terrain editor on the '~' screen, assuming your fonts have the character.

The application icon for Angband is a red square background with a white circle overlay, which contains a black script character in some unknown language. What is this character, and how does it represent Angband? Would perhaps something else be more appropriate, such as a "@", a picture of a sword, elf, entrance to Angband, or Morgoth himself?

See Nick's response. Yes. I would love to have Mr. Att, the character at rephial.org, there. I will poke the current OS X port maintainer to see what we can do about this.

[roustk]

The default wall or store character is a "#". Some variants default the wall to a full, uniform solid character. How can I change the wall character from "#" to that character (which I think is ascii character 219 or 254)? I am using courier or monaco fixed-width fonts.

Note also that using '#' is probably the right choice for the distribution, until someone can fix Vista.

Kevin

[chem]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

Another couple small notes: I can't seem to sell anything in the general store. Rincewind is the shopkeep, if that helps at all. I can sell in other stores just fine. The items in my inventory were pebbles and torches, which should have been valid.

Also, the help file at '?' has the 308 readme as the first option, not 309 or 309b.

[zaimoni]

Similarly, ai_smart is listed as "broken". If broken, why distribute a release with the option? What is broken?

All releases since at least late 2.7.x series have had it.

The only thing broken about it is self-healers, and that is because the monster magic system isn't even vaguely symmetric to the player. There's a lot of broken AI that's fixed by turning on ai_smart, so I recommend at least trying playing with it on.

[roustk]

I would love to have Mr. Att, the character at rephial.org, there. I will poke the current OS X port maintainer to see what we can do about this.

This is a matter of replacing src/osx/Angband.icns with a new version. If you have a high-resolution Mr. Att, this is easy enough to do (use /Developer/Applications/Utilities/Icon Composer.app to create the new Angband.icns file).

A preliminary version (with just 32x32 and 16x16 versions) is attached (zipped, to get around attachment restrictions). 16x16 is just attico.png and 32x32 is a reduced and cropped version of angband-logo.png (both from dev.rephial.org).

Kevin

[takkaria]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

Another couple small notes: I can't seem to sell anything in the general store. Rincewind is the shopkeep, if that helps at all. I can sell in other stores just fine. The items in my inventory were pebbles and torches, which should have been valid.

No-one ever reads the changelists. This is intentional. I'm undecided whether this should be changed or not in the 3.1.x branch; it just means you have to sell some things to the black market instead of the GS.

Also, the help file at '?' has the 308 readme as the first option, not 309 or 309b.

Should have noticed that, really. The 3.1.x releases will at some point bring in a new set of documentation in some format or another, so this'll be gone when the rest of the docs change.

[takkaria]

This is a matter of replacing src/osx/Angband.icns with a new version. If you have a high-resolution Mr. Att, this is easy enough to do (use /Developer/Applications/Utilities/Icon Composer.app to create the new Angband.icns file).

A preliminary version (with just 32x32 and 16x16 versions) is attached (zipped, to get around attachment restrictions). 16x16 is just attico.png and 32x32 is a reduced and cropped version of angband-logo.png (both from dev.rephial.org).

Kevin

What other sizes should be available?

EDIT: I assume 16×16, 32×32, 48×48, 128×128, 256×256 and 512×512 are all there are?

[roustk]

I can't seem to sell anything in the general store.

The general store does not buy anything in 3.0.9. This was done in changeset 301.

Kevin

[roustk]

EDIT: I assume 16×16, 32×32, 48×48, 128×128, 256×256 and 512×512 are all there are?

48x48 isn't one of them, but the other five are. Note that the current file only includes 16x16, 32x32, and 128x128 (leaving the OS to approximate the bigger versions).

Kevin

[takkaria]

48x48 isn't one of them, but the other five are. Note that the current file only includes 16x16, 32x32, and 128x128 (leaving the OS to approximate the bigger versions).

Here's an archive of those five, then: http://rephial.org/research/att.zip

EDIT: they're also in the repository now, too.

[roustk]

48x48 isn't one of them, but the other five are.

Hmm -- I assumed that based on the Icon Composer application, which had spaces for 16, 32, 128, 256, and 512 squares. Reading Wikipedia, it appears that 48x48 is a valid size in the format.

Kevin

[roustk]

Here's an archive of those five, then: http://rephial.org/research/att.zip

I've created an Angband.icns file containing all of these and attached it to ticket 567. The full Mr. Att appears for sizes above 32 pixels, but just his head for 32 and below.

Kevin

[takkaria]

I've created an Angband.icns file containing all of these and attached it to ticket 567. The full Mr. Att appears for sizes above 32 pixels, but just his head for 32 and below.

Just as it should be. Committed and bug closed. Thanks very much!