[Announce] Poschengband 3.1.0 Released

[debo]

I'm guessing that "use randarts" birth option in PosChengband means that all randarts are generated as you play? i.e. I can't play multiple games in a row with the same set of randarts like you can in Vanilla, right?

[chris]

I'm guessing that "use randarts" birth option in PosChengband means that all randarts are generated as you play? i.e. I can't play multiple games in a row with the same set of randarts like you can in Vanilla, right?

Correct. Each time the game would generate a standard art, it rolls a "replacement art" instead using the same object kind while attempting to roughly achieve the same power as the original. It does not roll all replacements up front (Note: Some replacements take a long time to generate since you need to roll many thousands of times to get appropriate power. Think about Feanor with +15 speed which is just not possible out of the rand art code).

[debo]

Yes, I've noticed the little delay blip on certain drops. clouded pointed it out, actually. It's always fun to see the game grind and realize "hey i just found a randart!"

"the other pseudo-id"

[Arjen]

Just found a bug.

Went to clear the arena and accidentally entered the fight with the GWoP (you can't win without a lot of healing). I was defeated and when I got kicked out, the GWoP was standing next to me!! Me with 7 hp left.... Luckily I failed my teleport, just to see the GWoP miss 4x! so I could teleport again.

[chris]

Just found a bug.

Went to clear the arena and accidentally entered the fight with the GWoP (you can't win without a lot of healing). I was defeated and when I got kicked out, the GWoP was standing next to me!! Me with 7 hp left.... Luckily I failed my teleport, just to see the GWoP miss 4x! so I could teleport again.

Ouch ... I swear I fixed that exact same bug before!

[HugoVirtuoso]

Ouch ... I swear I fixed that exact same bug before!

I remember finding this during the old-Chengband days...and it resurfaced, I guess.

"Burning Questions":
1) Whatever happened to the Water Cave quest in Outpost? This quest was part of Hengband...the quest after the Haunted House, but before the Royal Crypt. There was no mention of why it was removed in Chengband/PosChengband...Just curious.

Spoiler reference from Hengband 1.6.0:

http://www.kmc.gr.jp/~henkma/heng-e/quest/

2) If I reforge artifacts onto Dragongear, WHAT exactly happens to the Dragongear resistances?!

For example:
For my Hugo$oul 1036 dude, I'm thinking of reforging an artifact onto my Pair of Dragon Wings [4,+10] {ElDkShBlSoCaFe, Arena}...Upon reforge, do I lose these resistances or what?

3) My Hugo$oul 1036 dude is possessing Nidhogg, but the To-hit accuracy seems "capped" at 37-38, regardless of high-level kills. What's up with this?!

[chris]

A new release (3.1.1) is available for download here. This release features the new ring player monster race which is hopefully stable, but not yet fully balanced.

Changes:
* Added new player monster race: The Ring. A start guide pops up automatically upon player birth which is hopefully detailed enough to get the player going. This race is the magical version of the death-sword, absorbing rings and jewelry for power and spells. Also, this race must 'ride' a suitable ring bearer in order to get about.
* Various *Slay Foo* weapons now no longer automatically get the KILL_FOO brand. Warning: If you update a Death-sword, all of your KILL_FOO essences will get changed into SLAY_FOO essences!
* Various ego changes, especially with regard to more flavorful activations.
* Death-swords may no longer use town enchantment/reforging services.
* Resists are a little harder to come by for Death-swords.

A full diff of changes is available here. Source code for this release is available here.

Apologies: I meant to look into the Arena bug before pushing this release but forgot. I'll get it for next release, I promise

EDIT: BTW, the idea for a ring monster race is not mine. I try to give acknowledgements for good game ideas that I add/implement but please forgive me if I forget where the idea came from! (Arjen, was it you that suggested Death-swords?)

[chris]

Just found a bug.

Went to clear the arena and accidentally entered the fight with the GWoP (you can't win without a lot of healing). I was defeated and when I got kicked out, the GWoP was standing next to me!! Me with 7 hp left.... Luckily I failed my teleport, just to see the GWoP miss 4x! so I could teleport again.

The only way I could reproduce this was to enter the arena, save and restart the game, and then die to a non-unique foe. Can you recall if you restarted the game while in the arena?

Anyway, this should be permanently fixed for 3.1.2 now.

[chris]

"Burning Questions":
1) Whatever happened to the Water Cave quest in Outpost? This quest was part of Hengband...the quest after the Haunted House, but before the Royal Crypt. There was no mention of why it was removed in Chengband/PosChengband...Just curious.

I'm not sure why it was removed. It was a pretty lame quest so perhaps that is the reason?

2) If I reforge artifacts onto Dragongear, WHAT exactly happens to the Dragongear resistances?!

You keep the resistances, but remember, it is the score of the final object that is used during the reforge, and this score *includes* all the starting resistances. In other words, you probably won't gain many additional powers! It's a far better idea to use ?Artifact instead of Reforging for these types of scenarios.

3) My Hugo$oul 1036 dude is possessing Nidhogg, but the To-hit accuracy seems "capped" at 37-38, regardless of high-level kills. What's up with this?!

I'm not sure what you mean referring to high-level kills.

Plusses to hit for possessors are determined by your dexterity, your strength, your equipment and lastly by the type of attack on the monster. Your dex is low, your equipment unhelpful, and Nidhogg's attacks have a low power rating since they have extra effects, though perhaps the LOSE_CON effect is cheating you a bit.

It might be that the possessor accuracy needs some tweaking but Arjen just won with a GWoP which is similar to Nidhogg. Try looking for combat rings that boost accuracy as well as damage and try getting your Dex up as well.

[HugoVirtuoso]

I'm not sure what you mean referring to high-level kills.
.... though perhaps the LOSE_CON effect is cheating you a bit.

When I mention high-level kills, I'm referring to killing of monsters like a Great Venom Wyrm, native to dlvl 55, for example.

I thought my accuracy was supposed to increase because I killed a monster whose level (55) is higher than my To-Hit accuracy (37-38).

What is the LOSE_CON effect?

P.S. *AWESOME* work on the inclusion of the Ring and its documentation in 3.1.1.

[krazyhades]

It have to imagine that LOSE_CON is that it drains player con on hitting the player.

[Arjen]

Omg, awesome story at the start of Ring monster. *Like*.

The Hobo says, 'This better be a Ring of Speed!'

... maybe not

[HugoVirtuoso]

My Mean looking mercenary said, "My precious!" before picking me off the ground!

[chris]

When I mention high-level kills, I'm referring to killing of monsters like a Great Venom Wyrm, native to dlvl 55, for example.

I thought my accuracy was supposed to increase because I killed a monster whose level (55) is higher than my To-Hit accuracy (37-38).

Oh, I think I see what you mean now. What you are referring to is weapon proficiency that normal characters have and which is especially noticeable when the player is Unskilled at their current weapon. However, for characters with innate attacks there is no concept of weapon proficiency and no benefit accrues to "training" your attacks. Having proficiency for innate attacks might be a nice addition for possessors and monster races, but I don't have a good idea how to implement this.

On a similar note are spell proficiencies that normal characters have, but that "bookless casters" lack. Again, I don't have a good implementation strategy for this.

[Arjen]

Oh, I think I see what you mean now. What you are referring to is weapon proficiency that normal characters have and which is especially noticeable when the player is Unskilled at their current weapon. However, for characters with innate attacks there is no concept of weapon proficiency and no benefit accrues to "training" your attacks. Having proficiency for innate attacks might be a nice addition for possessors and monster races, but I don't have a good idea how to implement this.

On a similar note are spell proficiencies that normal characters have, but that "bookless casters" lack. Again, I don't have a good implementation strategy for this.

I don't think they need trainable skills, you can always boost it with combat rings/gear or temp. items like !oHeroism. But if you want a skills, just create a innate skill for, let's say, hand/claw/feet/mouth/tail.

And spells... I don't even think the spellsbooks need a trainingskill.