[Announce] Poschengband 3.4.0 Released

[chris]

1. how do you 'auto-register' ? I searched the autopickup help and dont see that.

You destroy objects with the 'k' command. It prompts you to confirm destruction with a message like:
Really destroy Potion of Water? [y/n/Auto]

You press 'A'. This autoregisters the item for destruction. If you haven't initialized the auto-destroyer, it tells you to do so by pressing '_' and does nothing.

So, to play a character:
[1] Roll up character normally.
[2] At some point, press '_' to initialize the auto-destroyer if you want to use it.
[3] Destroy junk you see, as you find it, by pressing 'k' and then press 'A' at the prompt if you want the object registered for automatic destruction.

This is the easy way to use the autodestroyer system without having to learn any of the syntax. It should work nicely as a form of "squelch".

If the game is destroying wanted corpses *before* you press '_' then that is a bug I need to fix. (Pressing '_' was mandatory and inherited from Hengband as the first keystroke every new character should press! But I doubt Hengband was autodestroying wanted corpses out of the box if you didn't press '_', so I must have broke something someplace.)

And to clarify what I think you already figured out: there is only a short list of wanted uniques, perhaps 20 or so, that is randomly generated for each character. Only those uniques on the list count as wanted. Other unique corpses are considered junk.

EDIT: I confirmed the game is *not* destroying wanted corpses if you use the default shipped options and don't enable the autodestroyer. In short, there is no bug here and the game is working correctly.

[chris]

is there any reason to explore outside on the main map?

Just to add to what was already said above, the wilderness is how you get to other towns and to other dungeons. Press '<' to enter the wilderness travel mode which basically shows you a top level map of the entire world. You can locate the other towns on this map as well as the various dungeon entrances. Bring food and light when you begin to travel (and probably, you should wait until CL10 to 15 before setting out for the first time). Press '>' once you get to your destination to return to the normal map.

You can wander around to uncharted areas on the map if you like, but as mentioned, they can be deadly. Especially beware of lava, mountains and deep water. There is no obligation to do this, though. But you can find random encounters, random dungeon entrances and even random towns, so it is not completely boring to do so.

[debo]

I am terrified of deep water and will go nowhere near it, because of the possibility of being ambushed by krakens

Don't forget those Fastitiatoatoacolonsonsos things!

[Tilurian]

I was trying out a life monk, and quite enjoyed most of it, but I was unable to endure the agony of identifying armour
It took a long, long term for pseudo-id to kick in, and when it was pseudo-id'd, I only knew if it was enchanted or cursed, which was useless
I was burning through huge amounts of id scrolls and staves and couldn't take it any more
Is there a way out, or has the game mechanics doomed me to never to play a monk again

[HugoVirtuoso]

I was trying out a life monk, and quite enjoyed most of it, but I was unable to endure the agony of identifying armour
It took a long, long term for pseudo-id to kick in, and when it was pseudo-id'd, I only knew if it was enchanted or cursed, which was useless
I was burning through huge amounts of id scrolls and staves and couldn't take it any more
Is there a way out, or has the game mechanics doomed me to never to play a monk again

Spoiler: Look for the Stong of Lore...because it has has auto-ID.

[Tilurian]

Spoiler: Look for the Stong of Lore...because it has has auto-ID.

Sure, when it eventually turns up
Or I could get the Loremaster ability for demigods at level 20
But I find the situation so tedious that I won't be able to stick with it that long

[HugoVirtuoso]

Sure, when it eventually turns up
Or I could get the Loremaster ability for demigods at level 20
But I find the situation so tedious that I won't be able to stick with it that long

In situations like this, it is often routine that you'd recall to town just for the ID service. For me, this is the norm until I get the Stone of Lore.

[chris]

Everybody gets full, instantaneous, under-foot pseudo-id at CL35. You just need to wait it out.

In the mean time, don't pick up stuff unless the level feeling warrants it or it is dropped by a unique. Bring a couple staves of perception as they can be recharged cheaper than scrolls (40gp) and periodically use the * option to mass identify your pack. Finally, if you need to conserve identify, learn how long to wait for your pseudo-id to kick in. Perhaps rest for 300 turns will be enough? Perhaps 600? Then destroy everything that didn't pseudo-id during that time interval and id the rest. (Note: The time to wait is level dependent. It's ridiculously long until you hit CL10 or so but gets much faster at that point.)

One last point: Don't even bother with armor you cannot wear. As a monk, you have severe weight restrictions so just leave the heavy stuff on the ground.

[Arjen]

... and periodically use the * option to mass identify your pack. ...

I didn't know that was possible... Good to know.

[chris]

For the next comp, I decided to squeeze in one final release: 3.4.2.

* Possessors are a bit easier to start (Mercy!). For example, they have better stealth, better device skills and even telepathy! Alas, their stats and hp still suck!

* Possessors can experiment a bit with new forms in the beginning. Normally, leaving your current body destroys the corpse 2 times in 3. But until you reach CL10, your old body will always be preserved. This is a mercy to new players

* Maulers have been redesigned. I've playtested a little with this but not as much as I would like. If you have a mauler running now and are happy with it, I suggest you finish up before upgrading. The purpose of the redesign was to make the various mauler utility attacks attractive. But I've gone farther: They are almost mandatory! (But should be fun, I hope.)

* Minor tweaks were made for centipedes and beholders. For example, centipedes get a little extra melee accuracy with their (pathetic) attacks.

* Some beholder effects were completely rewritten (Confuse, Stun, Sleep). Since the effect code is shared globally, this impacts things like wands of sleep monster. Don't write these off as only being useful in the early game!

* Failing a quest or dying in The Arena no longer super trashes your fame. You won't lose more that 30 fame for any failure.

That's all. I mostly wanted to take a quick look at The Possessor before the comp started. As usual, source code and a diff of changes are available.

[wobbly]

With easy auto-destroyer if I tell it to leave weapons/armour from the '=" menu will it leave ammo? Had an annoying situation where I picked up bolts for my crossbow only to have them destroyed in the middle of battle when pseudo-id kicked in. The damn crappy bolts were doing the job just fine....

Edit: Possessed a berserker & I love the message when beserk wears off "you feel less berserk". So only mildly berserk really.

[chris]

With easy auto-destroyer if I tell it to leave weapons/armour from the '=" menu will it leave ammo? Had an annoying situation where I picked up bolts for my crossbow only to have them destroyed in the middle of battle when pseudo-id kicked in. The damn crappy bolts were doing the job just fine....

It will, but auto-destroyer settings take precendence. Probably, this block is causing the destruction:

?:[GEQ $LEVEL 20]
!average common weapons
!average common armors
?:1

Add a line to the top of your file like:

weapons:bolt

[shadow]

Can cloakers paralyze? I'm not even sure what killed me.

[HugoVirtuoso]

IIRC, Cloakers can paralyze, yes

[debo]

I'm not even sure what killed me.

Welcome...