Halls of Mist is here!

[ekolis]

Haven't played Vicious Orcs - is the system sort of like Sil, where the HP damage is displayed on top of the target for a moment, a la Final Fantasy?

[buzzkill]

Does either of these features (dumb AI, no messages for failed monster jumps) bother anyone a lot?

The dumb AI is exploitable. If it's not super hard to fix, it probably should be. I imagine some monsters have almost no jumping skill, so they'll just stand there forever, even in a situation like this (x= poor jumping enemy, #=table, not wall).

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    x

[buzzkill]

Just wondering, what if I have but one scroll of phase door and I use it and land in a small room with only one exit, a locked door that I'm unable master. Can that happen? Does that mean game over (assuming no other means of teleportation)?

Also, what's the deal with rubble? Is there a way to clear it or pass it (be as non-spoilery as you can)?

[ekolis]

Rubble can be tunneled through...

[Mikko Lehtinen]

Just wondering, what if I have but one scroll of phase door and I use it and land in a small room with only one exit, a locked door that I'm unable master. Can that happen? Does that mean game over (assuming no other means of teleportation)?

The small treasure rooms are teleport-proof. All other locked doors open to "extra" tunnels that are generated after all the rooms are already connected to each other. Useful shortcuts and escape routes, but never necessary.

Yeah, rubble and also trees can be tunneled through. (At least if you're not playing the buggy 1.2.0 version where the 'T' command didn't work.)

[Mikko Lehtinen]

The dumb AI is exploitable. If it's not super hard to fix, it probably should be. I imagine some monsters have almost no jumping skill, so they'll just stand there forever, even in a situation like this (x= poor jumping enemy, #=table, not wall).

 ####
 #@##
    x

Bad jumpers have 20% at jumping, and that's the lowest possible. Normally monsters have 40% at jumping. Flyers pass all obstacles without problems, and some monsters (like snakes) aren't bothered by vegetation.

I want players with good Jumping to be able to escape from dangerous situations and to gain advantages in combat.

The bad AI sucks from a simulation and realism point of view. But from a purely tactical gameplay point of view it's working just fine.

Besides, in the exact situation you described, the dumb AI is doing the optimal thing (at least for melee monsters). If the monster moved one step west, the player would just move one step north.

[Starhawk]

Just found an amusing bug (unless it's actually a feature): templars can still choose Alertness even though it's not displayed in the proficiency listing.

[Mikko Lehtinen]

Just found an amusing bug (unless it's actually a feature): templars can still choose Alertness even though it's not displayed in the proficiency listing.

Thanks!

Speaking of Alertness... I tried to make Identify and Alertness compete with each other, so that the player would have to make a hard choice every dungeon level. Is it working for you?

[HallucinationMushroom]

I'm having an identi'f'y crisis.

Could there be a way to complete circles in town? Perhaps a garden grove or sanctuary or something where there are unbroken circles and you can try your luck restoring/id'ing/etc... Or maybe places that confer the +3 bookshelf bonus, but at town, in like, areas of contemplation or something... I'm thinking a Barnes and Noble with coffee shop will do nicely.

I realize mem+wis @ 30 does the pack-thing, but I'm lucky to have mem+wis @ 20, and 23+circle of knowledge never seems to work out for me since I either cannot complete the circle, don't have right powder, I get the wrong circle, the circle doesn't occur at a convenient place or time, etc...

An uglier option I put forth is... would you be open to the possibly of letting my characters simply donate items to the shops so that the shopkeepers would identify them for me? It's not so much the gold I miss, but being able to identify the masses of early potions/scrolls/shrooms/rings/amulets easily and safely.

[Mikko Lehtinen]

Some tips for identification:

• Buy one of each non-expensive potion and scroll in town.
• Identify all staves, wands, and powder vials by use.
• Concentrate on identifying scrolls first. Once you've managed to identify Curse Equipment, you can start identifying scrolls by reading them.
• Eating mushrooms and drinking potions isn't really so bad. I start doing that once my inventory gets full.

I don't want to make identifying items any easier. Characters with lower than 23 MEM+WIS are supposed to Id by use and sometimes suffer.

What's the point of having bad potions, scrolls, and jewelry if no-one ever uses them?

[Mikko Lehtinen]

I forgot one thing. In Fay I had real problems with identification. Identification was hard, and there were lots and lots of basic items that you had to identify. It got boring fast.

In Halls of Mist I removed tons of low-level potions, scrolls, and devices. All the remaining items are quite powerful and interesting. You have to do much less identification.

There weren't Circles of Knowledge in Fay, and you needed MEM+WIS 22 to get the basic Identify. Life is easier in Mist.

[HallucinationMushroom]

Well, I guess that's fair. At least the weapons and armor auto-id, so that's nice. I just hate leaving all this junk behind but I'll try some of your id tips.

Sometimes I play without a torch just to trip balls. Would a chaos-warrior, or some kind of class that infuses themselves within the crazy of the world, interest you? As a player, you lose the ability to discern what the hell is going on, but get bonuses in the hallucinatory state, and penalties when you use a torch? Sort of an inverse character, trying to replace the Thin White Duke with themselves? Anyway, sorry to throw out random nonsense at you from nowhere, but I have little impulse control.

[Mikko Lehtinen]

I think a class based on the idea is a bit much but I'd like to have an item or two that get benefits from hallucinating.

How about a Staff of Chaos that causes hallucinations, but if you already are hallucinating when you use it, it shoots Wonder into eight directions?

[HallucinationMushroom]

I would never use that, but thanks for considering! I'm just looking to game the system, obviously.

[Starhawk]

Thanks!

Speaking of Alertness... I tried to make Identify and Alertness compete with each other, so that the player would have to make a hard choice every dungeon level. Is it working for you?

Not really, but then again I'm stuck under CL15. I end up needing Alertness as my first move in most levels just to stay alive -- especially since I'm under pressure to make every level count, clear everything, and go ever deeper whether I find useful gear or not. (Generally, not.)

Meanwhile I find myself wishing for identification, because pulling a potion of disease or a mushroom of hallucination by random tasting sucks a LOT worse than in vanilla. But I've never had a character with more than one Lore point and have never been able to afford an Identify scroll (too busy buying Remove Curse, Cure Disease, etc, etc).

I very much like the auto-identify on weapons and armor. That makes up for it a bit. At least consumables are a little more of a fun choice. Do I risk it, or do I carry this crap around for a while longer?