Correlation between dungeon monster/object ratings

[khyung]

Because V has too many dungeon levels, I prefer to deep descent or dive immediately after entering a dungeon with low monster rating. Will this strategy result missing out certain types of dungeons, such as caverns or mazes with valuable objects?

In V 3.4 and higher, each dungeon level has monster/object ratings as two numerical scores from 1 up to 9, for highest danger and valuable goods. Because vaults with valuables are usually protected by dangerous uniques, higher monster rating generally suggests higher object rating for a dungeon.

On the other hand, low monster rating may still result in high object rating. A small cavern dungeon with one exceptional out-of-depth artifact can produce high object rating, even though low monster rating may be low. Caverns and mazes cannot host vaults but are easy to traverse and may still hold many artifacts.

The correlation between monster and object rating is useful for scoping out a dungeon level because monster rating is available immediately but object rating is delayed.

1) Does V ladder provide enough information to calculate the correlation between monster and object ratings of dungeons? Is V code simple enough for Monte-Carlo simulations by third-party?

2) Cavern and maze dungeons are much smaller than standard dungeons. Are the monster and objection generation procedures different for each dungeon type?

Because object rating is determined on generating the dungeon level, the objects dropped by uniques and out-of-depth monsters are not included in object rating. So a dangerous dungeon with low object rating may still be worthwhile exploring for potential drops.

So dangerous dungeons are generally worthwhile exploring. On occasion though, tame dungeons may also be worthwhile, particularly for consumables.

3) Are consumables and gold included in object ratings of dungeon levels?

4) Are objecting rating determined only by objects at dungeon generation, not including gold or monster drops?

[Derakon]

I'll give my standard advice on this subject: turn level feelings off (in the birth options, by hitting = during chargen). All they do is lure you into sticking around on levels and make you worry about what you're "missing" on a given dungeon level. But you are always "missing" something -- if not on the level you are currently on, then on the level you could have been on if you left the current one.

Base your "explore / don't explore" decisions on your depth and how powerful you feel your character is. If you think you're ready, dive. Otherwise stick around. This strategy will create far more interesting gameplay than combing over a dungeon level trying to figure out what was on it that warranted a 7 treasure rating.

[Pete Mack]

I dunno. An early good feeling is almost certainly an artifact, and 9/9 means GV. It's useful so long as you don't overdo it.

[Nomad]

I find playing with level feelings more fun than the alternative because the randomness inherent in both the strength of the feeling and how long it takes to arrive encourages me to mix it up and spend different amounts of time exploring different levels instead of sticking to a rigid "always dive at the first set of stairs" or "always clear every room" rule for every level. Plus a good treasure feeling can encourage me to take on nasty situations that I'd otherwise play it safe and run from, which also makes the game more interesting. (It doesn't bother me if there turns out to be no obvious reward to explain the feeling at the end of it; the 'against the odds' survival challenge is fun in itself.)

That said, level feelings are far too inexact to use as anything but that kind of "make your own fun" metric where you decide what's interesting enough to pursue vs. what's a "might as well just dive right now" level. So if exploring tame levels long enough to get the treasure feeling is boring for you, then there's no point doing it "just in case". There's no reliable way to predict the treasure rating from the danger rating, since monsters and floor objects are generated independently - the only time there's any sort of relationship between the two is when there's a special room like a vault or a pit on the level, which will lead to higher levels of both. Hence, you can go by the rule of thumb that a high danger rating on a standard-layout level (i.e. not a cavern or labyrinth) generally means a special room and therefore better treasure, but the converse doesn't hold true; if there's no special room on the level, the value of the floor treasure is completely unrelated to the danger rating.

[calris]

I explore every inch of every level unless I need to flee in a hurry - that's just me, I'm OCD

But, I do turn on level feelings, primarily for the monster rating - I like to know when I need to tread carefully.

To answer a couple of OP's questions (based on my interpretation of the code) - Level feeling is generated based on the total value (in gold) of the objects created in the level. So any currency items (copper, silver, gold, etc) are included in the level feeling. Items carried by monsters are not included.