Announce: FayAngband 1.0

[artes]

Yay! I just figured out how to compile Fay on Linux. This game is super cool.

[soyaki]

Blindness

I don't remember all effects off-hand. It makes the monster move somewhat randomly, depending on your stealth (it tries to listen to your steps). The effect is similar to player invisibility.

Seemed like they had trouble hitting me when I tried this on a few orcs.

[Matthias]

All the levels are now small

This is still optional, and at least for the competition it is disabled. I just started a bard with small levels which makes it a very different game. If very small is the intended way for this to be played, maybe the option should be removed

[Mikko Lehtinen]

This is still optional, and at least for the competition it is disabled. I just started a bard with small levels which makes it a very different game. If very small is the intended way for this to be played, maybe the option should be removed

I didn't realize it was disabled for the competition.

There are two reasons for small levels. I didn't like how the Fay stair system forced me to clear huge levels. I couldn't just dive when I got bored like in other variants. I also thought that characters gained experience too quickly.

Maybe I should remove the option. After all, there's still the Easy option for the players who find Fay too hard.

Or, alternatively, I could leave the option, but raise the experience point requirements for huge levels. I'm sure some people like the huge levels. After all that's one of the things that Angband is famous for.

[Matthias]

Another typo in the edit files: The artifact spellbooks are index 22-24 while their base items are index 23-25, so the first one uses the last regular book as a base item instead

[buzzkill]

Is there macro/keymap support in Fay, if so where?
It's hard to believe I played six competition characters before asking this.

... and is there any chance that our beloved maintainer would add 32x32 tile support?
... ooohh, and a turn counter for 1.1.

[Matthias]

macro/keymap menu is accessed by the '@' key

[Mikko Lehtinen]

Another typo in the edit files: The artifact spellbooks are index 22-24 while their base items are index 23-25, so the first one uses the last regular book as a base item instead

Yep. I've already fixed this in 1.0.1.

[Mikko Lehtinen]

... and is there any chance that our beloved maintainer would add 32x32 tile support?

I have no idea how to do this. I've no previous experience in C, and I'm doing my changes by copying & pasting.

Ey is based on Angband 2.9.3 so it is probably badly behind the times in tile support. This could be very difficult.

... ooohh, and a turn counter for 1.1.

The next version will be 1.0.1. The turn counter shows 6 days.

The version numbering scheme X.Y.Z will work like this:

Z is for bugfixes, balancing and polishing only. Always savefile-compatible.

Y brings at least one major new feature, and will likely break game balance. It's possible that the changes are a step backwards gameplay-wise, so I always want to have a stable version around, too.

Fay 1.0 is already a complete and quite enjoyable game, so in the near future it seems wise to concentrate on polishing and balancing only. I have a roadmap for 1.1 and 1.2 but you'll have to wait for them.

[Matthias]

I didn't realize it was disabled for the competition.

I'm not so sure they actually are disabled any more. At least OAngband levels seem a lot larger than what Star has to deal with.

The option that I was wondering about is this one: All levels will be generated as small : yes (birth_force_small_lev). Is this one supposed to be on in your standart settings?

[Mikko Lehtinen]

I'm not so sure they actually are disabled any more. At least OAngband levels seem a lot larger than what Star has to deal with.

The option that I was wondering about is this one: All levels will be generated as small : yes (birth_force_small_lev). Is this one supposed to be on in your standart settings?

Yes! And it is, try starting a game without a savefile.

[Matthias]

Then you should really think twice about any nerf you do. I don't think anyone would have gotten far with star with every level having like 5 rooms maximum

[Mikko Lehtinen]

Then you should really think twice about any nerf you do. I don't think anyone would have gotten far with star with every level having like 5 rooms maximum

"Small levels only" sometimes generates huge levels. I'd say five-room levels are quite rare. Usually the levels are somewhere between these two ends.

Happily, most of the changes I have in mind will make the game easier for the player. And Star in version 1.0 is clearly a sub-optimal character. Normally starting Shamans have twice the melee damage.

For me, the early game works very well with small levels. It's very quick to descend, and not too hard. My characters tend to survive quite easily to dungeon level 20, always diving two levels at time. After that it gets more difficult.

I haven't done much playtesting at deeper levels, but it's very possible that Fay gets impossibly hard. (Jevansau reported earlier in this thread that he got a mage below level 50. He got annoyed with traps in vaults, not the general difficulty level.)

If the game gets too hard in the depths, one solution would be to slowly increase the level size as you get deeper.

[Mikko Lehtinen]

I actually enjoy the increased risk level and the constant threat of dying in Fay. But constantly starting again may grow old.

I had an idea about a new skill, Divine Favor, based on race, class, level, Wisdom, and Charisma.

It would function as the one last saving throw upon dying. If you succeed, a holy presence saves you and lifts you up to the town. For each save, your Divine Favor skill would get reduced permanently.