[Announce] PosChengband 1.0.0

[chris]

i;m playing an Aphrodite Demigod Beastmaster.

The Kiss skill works great alongside dominate, instead of making a creature your pet and following you around it makes them friendly. So you can use it to cover corridors, or rooms, since they tend to stay in the same area and an added benefit is there's no upkeep cost. I think that Kiss has the potential to work against any creature too so endless fun there.

As a Beastmaster, you may even kiss a unique monster to ride. This is something you would not otherwise be able to do, so it is quite powerful. For instance, you could fight the Serpent while riding the Unicorn of Order!

(BTW, you can kiss friendly monsters to attempt to make them pets).

[UglySquirrell]

As a Beastmaster, you may even kiss a unique monster to ride. This is something you would not otherwise be able to do, so it is quite powerful. For instance, you could fight the Serpent while riding the Unicorn of Order!

(BTW, you can kiss friendly monsters to attempt to make them pets).

Very cool, i think i might rethink my Lazy personality then. That sounds like a much more interesting endgame. No big deal with the trap detection, was just curious. Ill just walk a little more softly.

On second thought, getting others to do my work, sounds like it fits the Lazy personality perfectly.

[chris]

No big deal with the trap detection, was just curious. Ill just walk a little more softly.

If you turn off view_unsafe_grids try turning on both disturb_trap_detect and alert_trap_detect.

For next release, I'll add the DTrap status indicator (green inside detect trap region and yellow on the edge) from Vanilla. You will have a choice of visual indicators on the map (view_unsafe_grids = ON) or the status indicators (view_unsafe_grids = OFF).

[chris]

As a Beastmaster, you may even kiss a unique monster to ride. This is something you would not otherwise be able to do, so it is quite powerful. For instance, you could fight the Serpent while riding the Unicorn of Order!

(BTW, you can kiss friendly monsters to attempt to make them pets).

Oops. That's only in Chengband. Apparently I've made so many nerfs to Chengband powers that I can't remember them all, but Kiss will no longer work on unique monsters.

But, you are playing lazy anyway, and would prefer to kill the Unicorn, no?

[UglySquirrell]

Oops. That's only in Chengband. Apparently I've made so many nerfs to Chengband powers that I can't remember them all, but Kiss will no longer work on unique monsters.

But, you are playing lazy anyway, and would prefer to kill the Unicorn, no?

Ya ill give the Unicorn my best shot , I didn't realize we could ride unique's, my last game, i accidentally charmed one of the unique Great Eagles as a pet In the Mountains with dominate creature. So i know that works. I'll try that again.

I got insanely lucky with a summon pet scroll, at CL 26. Read it in the Dragons Lair and got Kokuo, Raou's Steed. He may not hit really hard, but he hits a lot, is +20 speed, regenerates and hits a lot

Thanks for the detect traps tip, it works perfectly.

[AnonymousHero]

Sorry if this has been reported already, but...

There seems to be a discrepancy in how much knowledge the character has in regard to weapons display: If, say, the character has an Identified (but not *Identified*) Katana (Craft), he/she can wear it, press "C" and "w" to see that it's branded Elec/Fire/Cold, but upon (I)nspecting is told "You have no special knowledge about that item". This seems a bit off.

Maybe the easy (or even right!) solution is to just replace Identify with *Identify* across the board and make normal Identify a bit scarcer/expensive?

[chris]

Sorry if this has been reported already, but...

There seems to be a discrepancy in how much knowledge the character has in regard to weapons display: If, say, the character has an Identified (but not *Identified*) Katana (Craft), he/she can wear it, press "C" and "w" to see that it's branded Elec/Fire/Cold, but upon (I)nspecting is told "You have no special knowledge about that item". This seems a bit off.

Maybe the easy (or even right!) solution is to just replace Identify with *Identify* across the board and make normal Identify a bit scarcer/expensive?

The issue here is that the player is assumed to have knowledge of what ego items do even if the particular item in question has not been *idenitified*. In this case, the player knows that (Craft) weapons are branded with Fire, Cold and Lightning, and that they grant extra light. All of these should be reflected in the character dump in the flags section (I didn't confirm this for your example). Also, the weapon info command ('C' 'w') should likewise show this information.

(BTW, this is handled by the object_flags_known function and is configurable with the compile option: SPOIL_EGO_ITEMS. Personally, I don't think egos should be spoiled this way until the player *identifies* at least one ego item of the corresponding type, but that's something for another day.)

So I'm guessing that the object inspection command needs to also tell the player about these "known flags"? That should not be too hard to implement, I think. I'm not sure when I will get back to coding ... I'll try to remember to address this when I do

[AnonymousHero]

Obviously, it's not a big deal -- just seemed worth reporting as an inconsistency.

There are two things I'd like to introduce to PosCh if I could: Instant pseudo and the elimination of the Id/*Id* dichotomy. It generally speeds up gameplay and eliminates the annoyance of hoarding gold for *Id*.

[Susramanian]

I'd also like to see *Identify* removed. It's a bit silly that even basic descriptions of common items are obscured until you use a rare, expensive scroll. It enhances my enjoyment of the game not at all, and in fact detracts from it quite a bit.

A question while I'm on the subject of PosChengband: what's up with the line of sight rules? Monsters perform all sorts of crazy trick shots around corners-- stuff that goes well beyond the traditional hockey-sticking. I didn't try to duplicate these tricks, since I was a purely melee character, but I have to say that they felt a bit dirty. I'm all for a harder game, but it seemed that the game was throwing out all the work I was doing trying to achieve a smart, tactical position against a superior force. Again, hard is good, but I want to prevail through skilled playing, not potion binge drinking. For the first time in any *band, I found myself having to grind for consumables at shallower levels in order to survive at 3000' and below. Yuck!

Don't get demoralized by my complaints... I played for a great many hours before getting turned off by the potion grinding! More than I can say for most variants. Keep up the good work!

[Derakon]

There are a ton of asymmetries in Angband's LOS rules; the hockey stick is simply the most prominent one.

My general opinion on this is that the right solution is to require both parties to be able to see each other before either party can shoot the other. Thus you can have asymmetric vision but not asymmetric firing lines.

[chris]

I'll consider removing *identify* ...

Chengband does have a symmetric projection code: If you can target a monster then it can target you, and vice versa. Hengband did not have this.

However, Hengband does have a few "enhancements" to make the game more difficult:

[1] Monsters intelligently splash the player with area effects. If the player cannot be targetted but a square adjacent to the player can, then the monster may choose to invoke an area effect spell, albeit at 50% damage since the player is not hit directly.

[2] Splash effects are also extended to cursing the player, and to summoning. I'm OK with the summoning enhancement but am not sure I like the cursing out of direct line of sight. I should probably look into that change someday ...

[3] Monsters with a disintegration breath will use that with very high probability to unearth an entrenched player. This is fantastically effective and a wonderful enhancement, IMO. However, it does need to be limited to a few choice monsters, like the Serpent of Chaos.

[4] Finally, if you damage a monster and are no longer in line of sight, they sometimes get a response anyway on their next action. For example, they might heal themsef if possible, or they might summon. I don't fully understand this mechanic, so I'd need to do some research, but it often happens to players that have hit and away powers, like rogues.

In general, I'd prefer to keep all of these features with the possible exception of the splash curse effect. After all, they are a large part of what makes Hengband Hengband (along with the random speed system!). And I'd rather not water down the Hengband heritage too much.

As for grinding for consumables, I've never really felt I had to do this with any character. At least not for healing (perhaps I have for wands of rockets, but that is an entirely different matter). Most characters can use staves of healing by 3000' and should lean heavily on those, hoarding up more precious potions for the end game charge draining monsters. Staves of healing can be recharged in town and are actually quite common. The only issue is perhaps with a warrior or similar class that lacks the magic skills to use these. In that case, there is the option of using some form of magic mastery (gloves or amulet). Also, there is the fact that warriors (berserkers, maulers, etc) are extremely powerful relative to say, paladins, and this is a means of keeping game balance a bit.

Other ways to conserve healing is to have some form of regeneration and then to teleport away when wounded. But this is a bit risky, so should only be used with caution. Teleport other is safer, but then you don't know where the monster landed whereas you always know where you were previously. Alternatively, you can avoid battles that you know will cost healing to win. For example, that sleeping Great Hell Wyrm can be avoided by all but the noisiest of players.

Its hard to offer more advice without seeing your character. It might be that you are simply too deep for your character's current power.

Edit: Spelling

[AnonymousHero]

I'm just curious: Have you posted the typical starting routine for your characters in any of your ladder dumps?

I've been playing a lot of Demon characters recently and could probably use some hints for quick(ish) leveling and getting a decent set of gear. I'm playing a Servant of Khorne at the moment and while rConf is thankfully innate, I'm currently lacking FA (could easily end up being fatal) and SeeInvis (an annoyance at the moment, but could end up fatal). Is there some good reliable source of these?

[chris]

I'd also like to see *Identify* removed. It's a bit silly that even basic descriptions of common items are obscured until you use a rare, expensive scroll. It enhances my enjoyment of the game not at all, and in fact detracts from it quite a bit.

*Identify* is infinitely available as a town service ... for a price. For items that are cheaper than the cost of this service (usually 1000gp) you can also sell the object to a shop and buy it back. This marks the object as *identified* and this flag is sticky when it comes to stacks of objects.

Keeping *Identify* as is has some merits as many egos and artifacts gain random extra powers and resistances that vary from game to game. And of course, there are random artifacts. And of course there are dragon gloves, boots, helms, shields, etc. So you may always gather these up and return to town to pay for the service (and after a very early point in the game, the cost is negligible IMO especially as anything you are *identifying* can invariably be sold for much more than 1000gp), but sometimes you are in situations where you find *lots* of items that might or might not be interesting to you. This necessitates some strategic decisions on your part as your inventory is limited, so you need to decide what to leave behind and what to carry back to town for *idenitification*. Making Identify into *Identify* will remove this aspect of the game. Of course, everybody will love this, but I am not so sure it would be a wise change now that I have thought about it a bit.

Some magic realms grant *Identify* as a spell, sometimes available early on (Sorcery) and sometimes much later (Craft, Life, Death, Trump?). If lack of infinite *Identify* in the dungeon is a big deal, you can always play a different class.

One thing that might be worth a change is the quantity of *Identify* scrolls available in the town. I would not mind making these a bit more common in the Alchemist shop.

[chris]

I'm just curious: Have you posted the typical starting routine for your characters in any of your ladder dumps?

I have, but I cannot remember where. Of course, it depends a little bit on what you are playing, but I usually play something like:

[1] Camelot DL1 until I'm strong enough for the Thieves' Hideout.

[2] Thieves' Hideout.

[3] Wargs Quest (Camelot DL5).

[4] Buy food and fuel and head to the Orc Caves where I play at a comfortable depth, descending as I am able, until I am strong enough to kill Azog on DL23. Usually I am CL24 or CL25 by this time, and it usually takes about 2 hours to get this far. Be sure to explore all good level feelings.

[4'] While doing [4], you are invariably recalling back and forth, selling goodies and buying consumables. At any time you like, you can probably handle the DL6 quest in Angband and since the reward is an excellent object, you should do this as soon as possible. Wait a bit before the DL12 quest, however. Sometimes this is Q, an invisible ghost, so keep that in mind. Sometimes it is Nar who is rather difficult early on. But usually the DL12 quest is doable before you complete the Orc Caves. Under no circumstances should you descend to the DL24 quest, however

[4''] Also, some of the town quests are doable. You need to walk the wilderness to get to each of the four basic towns, and I like to do this somewhat early in the game. Afterwards, I invariably pay the gold for the town teleportation service to navigate about. Interesting early quests include: The Sewer for a feanorian lamp. The Orc Quest for an elven cloak. Doom Quest I (needs SI and RFire) for a ring of flames. Tengu and Death Swords for a ring of FA. And Mimic's Treasure for a ring of SI. You will need to learn when you are powerful for each of these, so don't just barrel into them immediately. But all of these can be done at about the same time you finish [4]. Sometimes I do them after I kill Azog.

[5] Did you notice anything nice when you killed Azog? If so, then head to the Labyrinth next. This is a very annoying dungeon so be sure to bring rods of door and stair location and dive to the bottom as quickly as possible to defeat The Minotaur. This guy is no longer the joke he was in Hengband, but he is still not too bad. You get a rod of recall for your troubles as well.

[6] At this point there are many options. Consider hanging out at DL30 of The Icky Caves, for instance. Or, if you have levitation, hanging out at DL30 of The Lonely Mountain is even better. There is The Castle at DL30 or The Mountain (requires levitation to get there, but not once you are inside) at DL30. What's special about DL30? Why stat potions, of course. Spend a few hours increasing your stats. Use staves of object location to help you find them. Explore any good level feelings but beware, you are generally extremely outclassed at this depth by many monsters. Lack of speed is especially troublesome, so learn when to run.

[6'] If you spy Gachapin during [6] then you may do the DL24 quest in Angband. If not, then beware that you need resist poison and +10 speed to defeat Gachapin. Better to have at least 300hp as well as ample detection and curing and healing. Also, you might want resist chaos if possible. If all of this seems steep for DL24, it most definitely is. But Gachapin is very hard for that depth ...

[7] Work stat gain until you are strong enough for The Cloning Pits, and then sell out to complete this quest. You can search the ladder for info about when I normally do this quest since I invariably post a character dump immediately afterwards

[8] Sometimes I head to the Dragon's Lair at this point. Sometimes I play conservatively around DL40 in any favorable dungeon. Also, now is a good time to mop up early dungeon guardians if you like that sort of thing: The Giant's Hall, The Lonely Mountain, The Forest, The Icky Caves can all be completed before or at about the time of The Cloning Pits. Perhaps The Mountain as well.

Aside, don't go too deep in Camelot early on. And once you hit DL30 in Camelot, make sure you have resist blindness, resist confusion, good detection for non-evil knights, and some means of haste self. Usually, I wait until I can complete The Lonely Mountain (and Smaug is no joke) before I attempt to complete Camelot. But, by that point, it is not so difficult so I am probably too conservative.

I've been playing a lot of Demon characters recently and could probably use some hints for quick(ish) leveling and getting a decent set of gear. I'm playing a Servant of Khorne at the moment and while rConf is thankfully innate, I'm currently lacking FA (could easily end up being fatal) and SeeInvis (an annoyance at the moment, but could end up fatal). Is there some good reliable source of these?

You will eventually evolve into a form that has both FA and SI, though later than you might like. In the meantime, don't sweat lack of SI but definitely cover up FA. You can get a ring in the BM, or on the ground around DL20 (I think) or as a quest reward (Tengu and Death Swords).

[clouded]

I mostly agree about *identify*, but I do think there could be some changes that would have almost no affect on balance and would add hugely to convenience. Making pseudo-ID happen as you stand on top of an item aswell as when it's in your inventory, scaling pseudo-ID to be instant when the player can be reasonably expected to have infinite ID (stone of lore, rod of perception), and finally making the stone of lore simply ID things when you walk over them. FA has the stone of lore ID and instant pseudo when you pick things up, but I hate the inventory juggling you need to do when you have a full pack.

There are some situations where you need to decide if you want to spend a turn picking something up/IDing it or escaping, I grant you, but are those turns worth all the extra burden?