[Announce] PosChengband 1.0.0

[AnonymousHero]

It appears that there's a bug with WEIRD_MIND in 1.0.3. (Compiled on 64-bit Linux from source.)

The description off the old Chengband wiki says it grants RES_CONF, but it doesn't any longer (apparently). However, the character sheet shows a "+" in the "@" column even though the percentage is "0%".

I don't know if the removal of RES_CONF was intentional (it does seem to make the Weird Mind ability pretty useless), but there's some inconsistency here that should probably be fixed.

[emulord]

For races with evolution, it helps to add more intermediate steps.
The joy of evolution is awesome, and its one of my favorite pieces of PosBand.
Aka, Jellies where they only gain like 1 equipment slot per evolution, but more steps.
Or Demons that slowly get worse stealth and better stats/resists over several evolutions. This might make endgame easier, but that is okay because being doublemoved by endgame uniques already makes endgame extremely dangerous.

[chris]

For races with evolution, it helps to add more intermediate steps.
The joy of evolution is awesome, and its one of my favorite pieces of PosBand.
Aka, Jellies where they only gain like 1 equipment slot per evolution, but more steps.
Or Demons that slowly get worse stealth and better stats/resists over several evolutions. This might make endgame easier, but that is okay because being doublemoved by endgame uniques already makes endgame extremely dangerous.

Demons definitely need more steps, but in all cases, I am limited by the content of the bestiary since each form currently requires a corresponding monster to exist. Adding more steps would require adding more monsters as well (Which might be OK). Also, Hengband has the concept of monster evolution (monster pets gain experience and evolve into higher forms) so for the most part, I tried to stay true to what the game already offered. But there is really no strong reason to do this, and I did deviate in several cases (Hounds and Jellies come to mind).

Some monster races already have fairly good evolution. For example, Angels evolve as Angel -> Archangel (L10) -> Cherub (L20) -> Seraph (L30) -> Archon (L40) -> Planetar (L45) -> Solar (L50). Other good examples are elemental dragons that have 5 forms (4 evolutions). But I guess the races with only 1 or 2 evolutions could use some work. I do find that the early evolutions can blur by since leveling to 30 can be done fairly quickly. But early weak racial forms can provide a bit of satisfaction once you overcome them.

I should also point out that for most monster races some things improve gradually with level as well. For example, any race with innate melee attacks will have their attacks improve using a level based formula. Dragon breaths do damage based on level (and hp). Giant boulders do damage based on level. And number of innate blows are calculated based on player stats rather than automatically granted based upon the corresponding monster. Also, demons get speed bonuses as well as some resistance bonuses based on level in addition to evolution in order to compensate for their lack of monster forms.

I'll try to come up with some more intermediate steps for the sparse monster races, but I'd be OK with at least 4 forms apiece. Thoughts?

[chris]

So theres been a change I want to request for every variant with "personality".
Reduce munchkin bonuses by at least half. It doesn't allow newbies to learn how to play the game since the stats are so out of alignment with a regular character's stats. The only way to make it remotely fair is to have a pathetic race/class combination like yeek tourist or such. +2/+3 every stat and more hit dice and good skills is plenty.

Good idea. I went with +3 to all stats and about half the current skills bonus.

It appears that there's a bug with WEIRD_MIND in 1.0.3. (Compiled on 64-bit Linux from source.)

The description off the old Chengband wiki says it grants RES_CONF, but it doesn't any longer (apparently). However, the character sheet shows a "+" in the "@" column even though the percentage is "0%".

I don't know if the removal of RES_CONF was intentional (it does seem to make the Weird Mind ability pretty useless), but there's some inconsistency here that should probably be fixed.

Chengband spoilers will only mislead you for PosChengband as their have been literally hundreds of changes. Personally, I'm not a fan of spoilers and would rather the help files give enough info so that the player can make informed choices without giving everything away. But I'm still working on getting the help files into shape and promise to have that finished by 1.1.0. So my apologies in the meantime!

For Wierd Mind, the confusion resistance still showing up in the player dump is a bug which I fixed for next release (1.0.4). The talent grants immunity to the Eldritch Horror and immunity to hallucination, but no longer grants resistance to confusion or stuns. As for whether that is useful or not, well, it depends how much you hate the Eldritch Horror Also note that immunity to hallucination is rather useful in my opinion. If you only have a single source of chaos resistance you can still be made to hallucinate if you fail a saving throw (about 9%). Hallucination can be quite fatal later on in the game.

Thanks for the feedback!
Chris

[AnonymousHero]

Chengband spoilers will only mislead you for PosChengband as their have been literally hundreds of changes. Personally, I'm not a fan of spoilers and would rather the help files give enough info so that the player can make informed choices without giving everything away. But I'm still working on getting the help files into shape and promise to have that finished by 1.1.0. So my apologies in the meantime!

Fair enough.

For Wierd Mind, the confusion resistance still showing up in the player dump is a bug which I fixed for next release (1.0.4). The talent grants immunity to the Eldritch Horror and immunity to hallucination, but no longer grants resistance to confusion or stuns. As for whether that is useful or not, well, it depends how much you hate the Eldritch Horror Also note that immunity to hallucination is rather useful in my opinion. If you only have a single source of chaos resistance you can still be made to hallucinate if you fail a saving throw (about 9%). Hallucination can be quite fatal later on in the game.

Fair enough about the changes -- it was just the inconsistency that I thought was a bug.

I haven't really played any characters to the end game, so I'll take your word that it might still be useful. Will two sources of RES_CHAOS prevent Hallucination completely?

[Qyx]

Not sure if I missed it, but don't see any way to turn off the buyout button, or force it to prompt. Didn't see anywhere in the options to remap the key either.

Does such an option exist?

[chris]

Not sure if I missed it, but don't see any way to turn off the buyout button, or force it to prompt. Didn't see anywhere in the options to remap the key either.

Does such an option exist?

No, but I can add a prompt for next release if desired. I assume you accidentally pressed 'b' and spent a bunch of gold?

[Qyx]

No, but I can add a prompt for next release if desired. I assume you accidentally pressed 'b' and spent a bunch of gold?

Exactly. A couple of times... (one would think you'd only make that mistake once, but some of us don't really learn from our mistakes! And of course, I only made the mistake when I had huge amounts saved up as well!)

How are the daily wanted monsters generated? I've had the same target ("horse") for several game days now.

[Djabanete]

It's keyed to whatever films Chris has recently watched; in this case, The Godfather.

[chris]

How are the daily wanted monsters generated? I've had the same target ("horse") for several game days now.

Daily wanted monsters are chosen randomly based on the maximum dungeon level you have visited. They are chosen at midnight each day, which is skipped if you rest over night in the Inn, I think. Also, it is possible to choose the same monster as before, though I think this would be unlikely.

[kingvictory2003]

Hey Chris, just reporting a major bug here in my latest character, a club weaponmaster. Every weapon I wield is reported as "Just lifting" on the equipment screen, and as you can see in the dump, I get 1 blow per round with Totila at near-max strength, and max dex. I wonder if it had anything with me using combat expertise briefly or trade blows? Not sure what triggered it.

http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=13972

[chris]

Hey Chris, just reporting a major bug here in my latest character, a club weaponmaster. Every weapon I wield is reported as "Just lifting" on the equipment screen, and as you can see in the dump, I get 1 blow per round with Totila at near-max strength, and max dex. I wonder if it had anything with me using combat expertise briefly or trade blows? Not sure what triggered it.

http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=13972

Yeah, I found that one as well. Restarting the game gives a temporary fix, but I guess I'll just push 1.0.4. I keep telling myself to wait until I clean up the help files ... someday.

So, you can get 1.0.4 here.

Some of the changes include:
* Munchkin personality is less of a munchkin
* Touch of Confusion no longer confuses a dead foe for innate attacks.
* Cunning Strike (Clubmaster) now always has a chance to stun.
* Knockback is now 2 sqaures for each hit (Polearm master).
* Fleet of Foot is marginally improved (Still not as good as Chengband, though).
* Monster races get permanent heroism after slaying their boss.
* Armageddon damage amounts dialed down for Inertia and Disintegration breaths.
* Kamikaze Warrior's weaponmastery now works.
* Invulnerability and Berserk Rage now give total immunity to fear.
* Weird Mind no longer lies in the player dump (i.e., you don't get resist confusion).
* Jellies are now invulnerable to hunger based attacks.
* Player is far less likely to be insta-knocked out by monster criticals (i.e., going from no stun status to knocked out from a single blow).
* New Demigod Talent: Black Marketeer.
* When choosing a demigod talent, there is now a browse feature. The descriptions should be accurate. You won't get any powers that aren't at least hinted at in the descriptions.
* Added a prompt for the store buyout option. You are only prompted if "Disturb Minor" is turned on, though.
* Demigod parentage descriptions should now be accurate. You won't get any powers that aren't at least hinted at in the descriptions.
* Ego items of Power Throwing now enhance Club Toss and Dagger Toss.
* Jellies can now get up to 7 blows. They get a more favorable multiplier for calculating number of blows since they cannot use two "hands" to wield weapons.
* Demigods always get their family artifact from slaying their parent.
* Fixed bug with wielding heavy weapons described above.

[chris]

1.0.5 is available here

* Added new class: The Mystic. (Available under the Martial Arts birth option).
* Monks and Forcetrainers now get their correct number of blows.
* Monks and Forcetrainers now get the two-handed martial arts bonus.
* Maulers should be working now

[Darin]

I just downloaded the source for 1.0.5, and mystic.c seems to be missing.

[chris]

I just downloaded the source for 1.0.5, and mystic.c seems to be missing.

Oops .. I uploaded a new poscheng-105-src.zip file that includes mystic.c. It has the same file name so hopefully your browser cache does not get confused.

I also booted into linux and checked a compile. Seems to work OK.