Beta version of PWMAngband 1.2.0 released

[tangar]

/bug

town.txt

# Starting town should ALWAYS be the first entry in the list.
# Base town should ALWAYS be the second entry in the list.

# Bree
name:Bree
wpos:-15:20

# Base town containing the main Angband dungeon
name:Carn DŃ‹m
wpos:-9:37

Starting town should ALWAYS be the first entry in the list.

this doesn't work, game always generate Hobbiton as starting town even if you would put other town at 1st (starting) place

Please could you take a look into this bug asap - without it I can not continue work at new custom world map

[tangar]

"One of our players just rolled power dr
agon"
The lucky bastard. It's like 1/1000 chance.

So there is 1/1000 (pretty high chance for roguelike game, compare to some top items' drop chance) - that player would cheat and faceroll the game

"Please could you explain idea of dragon race. Maybe I miss something"

It's PWMAngband. Of course there are gonna be dragons...

I like dragons. And this idea - transformation from one creaature to another - is a good foundation to add more monster-races, spiders, for example.

1) The breed is random. Base ones are the most common. Chance of getting the best ones is VERY low.

It would make people 'reroll' characters. It's online game, MMORPG.. People scumm in such games in all their strenght

2) When in walls, you're NOT immune to other's attacks.

One player reported it for Ethereal dragon. Then it should be a bug?

3) IM_xxx only translates as resistance. Having IM_COLD | IM_FIRE | IM_DISEN just means you are resistant to those 3. Go face the Tarrasque as Balance Drake without being prepared, I can ensure you that you will not win the fight.

Erm, so if a playier is a red dragon and got :
flags:IM_FIRE | NO_CONF | NO_SLEEP

.. he won't have fire immunity? It makes gap between power dragon and simple one even bigger.

4) spells:BR_CHAO actually polymorphs mobs when it's selected, meaning that Chaos/Balance/Power dragons breath is pretty much useless and you only benefit from the resistances.

Ok, chaos drag breaths suxx (1/2 CHAO), balance got 1/4 (manageable), power got 1/20 chance to breath chaos.

5) The xp penalty is so high you will curse the day you started to play as a dragon. Low level versions are so weak you will struggle until level 45 with low hps, speed, armor, damage. It's basically the counterpart to half-troll warrior.

The problem is: dragon race now consist of dozen of races.
a) weak basic dragons
b) mediate dragons
c) power dragon

All this groups should have different XP rate or should be heavely rebalanced. For example, powerdragon with 800% XP penalty, basic dragons as 350%, Mediate 600%.

But actually I think that you could just copy-paste TomeNET dragonian balance (https://www.tomenet.eu/guide.php?cha...%20traits#r215) - it's quite perfect; and rework it a bit. There are nothing bad about taking good stuff from other games - it's the best way actually.

As I said, Balance dragon is the second worse choice as a dragon just after Chaos. I'd rather get Blue (lightning) or Black (acid) which give full elemental breath which are rarely resisted. There's absolutely no need to nerf them.

The problem: there shouldn't be WORSE CHOICE. The 'good' balance of the game is to make everything useful under certain circumstances. So if chaos dragon is the worst one atm - it should be buffed. Others should be nerfed. And not a one time. It's constant check balance from players - if they took certain breed more ofter then another - it should be nerfed. If they do not take certain breed (or do not like it) - buffed. Rebalancing is constant eternal thing.

Ethereal is problematic though. Wraithform + invisibility is way too powerful, especially since those are PERMANENT. I'll do something about this.

Ethereal dragon:
- remove dragon breath
- make wraithform activated ability (instead dragon breath)
- remove invisibility

I'll add a file with basic stuff for customization. Some things are currently hardcoded and I want to remove that and put it into a file.

Thanks, it would help a lot. Also maybe it's possible to implement a framework for adding more monster-like races within gamedata customization? Spiders, beholders (start as a floating eye yay)... Also undead races could use the same principles (evolving in time).

[tangar]

Downstairs bug fix http://angband.online/downstairs-bug-fix/

[tangar]

dammm.. Dear Sherlock Holmes! You did it at last!! *crossing fingers*

[PowerWyrm]

"110219 082710 Darkfold V: You enter a maze of down staircases.
110219 082710 BEGIN pre_turn_game_loop()
110219 082710 Handle any network stuff
110219 082710 Process monsters with even more energy first
110219 082710 END pre_turn_game_loop()
110219 082710 BEGIN process_player(Mako)
110219 082710 process_player_cleanup()
110219 082710 Shutting down (panic save)."

Very helpful. Now we know the crash is in process_player() and happens because of not the player going downstairs, but another player!

DRUMROLL... I THINK I FOUND IT!!!

110219 082710 Darkfold V: You enter a maze of down staircases.
110219 082710 BEGIN process_player(Mako)

So for player "Mako", EVERY 5 GAME TURNS, there's a test if we should "flicker" him or not. This means, the bug can happen very rarely: another player must enter the same level exactly on a turn "0" or a turn "5" from 0 to 9. This also means it can only happen if the player that changes level (Darkfold) has the "animate_flicker" option set and doesn't use a tileset (ASCII mode). And this also means it can only happen if the player (Mako) is either a dragon or shapechanger with a multihued form, the leader of a party, or an Elementalist. That's a TON of circumstances!!!

Now the bug: if we try to "flicker" the player, we "lighten" the square where the player is. Problem: at this point, we didn't spawn the other player yet, so we access an invalid location and BAM the game crashes!

Since this is a critical bug, I'll release a quick fix tonight (ninja fix on beta 5).

[PowerWyrm]

"110219 082710 Darkfold V: You enter a maze of down staircases.
110219 082710 BEGIN pre_turn_game_loop()
110219 082710 Handle any network stuff
110219 082710 Process monsters with even more energy first
110219 082710 END pre_turn_game_loop()
110219 082710 BEGIN process_player(Mako)
110219 082710 process_player_cleanup()
110219 082710 Shutting down (panic save)."

Very helpful. Now we know the crash is in process_player() and happens because of not the player going downstairs, but another player!

"Mako: There is a wall in the way!"

Wasn't that the case last time the server crashed? Would it be because player bumping something while someone else takes stairs?

[PowerWyrm]

About dragons:

1) The breed is random. Base ones are the most common. Chance of getting the best ones is VERY low.

2) When in walls, you're NOT immune to other's attacks.

3) IM_xxx only translates as resistance. Having IM_COLD | IM_FIRE | IM_DISEN just means you are resistant to those 3. Go face the Tarrasque as Balance Drake without being prepared, I can ensure you that you will not win the fight.

4) spells:BR_CHAO actually polymorphs mobs when it's selected, meaning that Chaos/Balance/Power dragons breath is pretty much useless and you only benefit from the resistances.

5) The xp penalty is so high you will curse the day you started to play as a dragon. Low level versions are so weak you will struggle until level 45 with low hps, speed, armor, damage. It's basically the counterpart to half-troll warrior.

6) They have 2 less equipment slots. Imagine the amount of stats, resists and speed you can get from weapon/launcher slots.

"imba breeds dragons (balance, ethernal)"

As I said, Balance dragon is the second worse choice as a dragon just after Chaos. I'd rather get Blue (lightning) or Black (acid) which give full elemental breath which are rarely resisted. There's absolutely no need to nerf them.

Ethereal is problematic though. Wraithform + invisibility is way too powerful, especially since those are PERMANENT. I'll do something about this.

"One of our players just rolled power dragon"

1/1000 chance. Lucky guy.

"please could you move this race customization to the gamedata so it would be possible to balance it at server side"

I'll add a file with basic stuff for customization. Some things are currently hardcoded and I want to remove that and put it into a file.

[PowerWyrm]

3) /rfe: Fire-till-kill - add possibility resuming shooting after disturbance

You can always phase and resume. Fire-till-kill is not made to be used in melee.

4) /rfe make polymorph (from fountain, ring etc) - temporary effect

If you get polymorphed by a fountain, just drink again. Chance of getting polymorphed is really low, but if you're already polymorphed it's really high. Ring will always be permanent, otherwise there's no point in them. The penalty of using a ring is so high you really need to consider whether you want the form or not before activating them. And be happy, in previous version you had to activate the ring to get the flavor...

6) /bug when you do not have mana but cast spell - you see on the screen 'line' of this spell targeting

Yes it's like this in Angband. Mana is the last check that is made. I can check if it's possible to switch, but I'm not sure (targeting check is made on client, mana check on server).

7) /rfe add possibility to check spells from the book at magic stores

Good idea. I'll expand store commands to add "browse".

8) report from players: nerf shapechanger

No and for a good reason: shapechangers get a 40% penalty on their HP. So everything they gain from their form is more than welcome. The only thing I need to check is that I don't give immunities instead of resistances.

9) /rfe add possibility to add several dungeons staircases to one location

Impossible without recoding the whole dungeon system. Won't happen. If you want multiple dungeons in an area, put them on adjacent areas.

"One of our players just rolled power dragon"

The lucky bastard. It's like 1/1000 chance.

"Please could you explain idea of dragon race. Maybe I miss something"

It's PWMAngband. Of course there are gonna be dragons...

[tangar]

crush this morning:

110219 082521 Mako: You have slain the newt.
110219 082529 Mako: The newt misses you.
110219 082529 Mako: The newt bites you (2).
110219 082529 Mako: You claw the newt (6).
110219 082529 Mako: You miss the newt.
110219 082529 Mako: The newt flees in terror!
110219 082530 Mako: You claw the newt (8).
110219 082530 Mako: You have slain the newt.
110219 082549 Mako: There is a wall blocking your way.
110219 082556 Mako: There is a wall in the way!
110219 082559 Mako: The small kobold wakes up.
110219 082600 Mako: You claw the small kobold (7).
110219 082600 Mako: You claw the small kobold (7).
110219 082600 Mako: You have slain the small kobold.
110219 082601 Mako: You have found 6 gold pieces worth of copper.
110219 082605 Mako: You feel the Cloak on the ground is average...
110219 082605 Mako: You have a Cloak [1,+0] (p).
110219 082606 Darkfold V: You bought a Ring of Protection [+16] for 500 gold.
110219 082606 Darkfold V: You have a Ring of Protection [+16] (v).
110219 082608 Mako: There is a wall in the way!
110219 082608 Mako: There is a wall in the way!
110219 082608 Mako: There is a wall in the way!
110219 082608 Mako: There is a wall in the way!
110219 082608 Mako: There is a wall in the way!
110219 082608 Mako: There is a wall in the way!
110219 082608 Mako: There is a wall in the way!
110219 082610 Darkfold V: You were wearing a Ring of Protection [+12] (c).
110219 082610 Darkfold V: You are wearing a Ring of Protection [+16] (c).
110219 082611 Mako: You have 2 Pints of Fine Ale (b).
110219 082616 Mako: The white worm mass wakes up.
110219 082616 Mako: You feel the Set of Leather Gloves on the ground is good...
110219 082616 Mako: You see a Set of Leather Gloves [1,+4].
110219 082617 Darkfold V: There is a tree in the way!
110219 082622 Mako: You claw the white worm mass (6).
110219 082622 Mako: You claw the white worm mass (8).
110219 082622 Mako: You have destroyed the white worm mass.
110219 082623 Mako: You claw the white worm mass (5).
110219 082623 Mako: You claw the white worm mass (5).
110219 082624 Mako: You claw the white worm mass (7).
110219 082624 Mako: You have destroyed the white worm mass.
110219 082630 Mako: You have a Set of Leather Gloves [1,+4] (q).
110219 082658 Mako: There is a wall blocking your way.
110219 082709 Mako: There is a wall in the way!
110219 082710 Darkfold V: You enter a maze of down staircases.
110219 082710 BEGIN pre_turn_game_loop()
110219 082710 Handle any network stuff
110219 082710 Process monsters with even more energy first
110219 082710 END pre_turn_game_loop()
110219 082710 BEGIN process_player(Mako)
110219 082710 process_player_cleanup()
110219 082710 Shutting down (panic save).
110219 082711 Server panic info save succeeded!

Also this crush didn't appear @ mangband.RPT (no entry at all; debug updated from beta 5 package)

[tangar]

Booze for rest http://angband.online/booze-for-rest/

I've disabled dragon race till Etherial dragon would be nerfed. Atm it could:

- always in wraithform mode; no activation to become ethereal needed; it's passive ability.
- could kill anything while in wraithform form (eg in TomeNET in wraithform you could _only_ attack ghosts)
- invisible (also passive)
- could breath nether
- immune to other breaths attacks when stay in walls, but could breath nether to enemies while in walls

So far the only con is high damage from holy magic (patriarchs)

Maybe ethereal should get wraithform only at 45+ lvl? and have less damage in melee (50%). Also remove it's breath.

Also balance drakes:
flags:IM_COLD | IM_FIRE | IM_DISEN | NO_STUN | NO_CUT
spells:BLIND | CONF | SCARE
spells:BR_CHAO | BR_DISE | BR_SHAR | BR_SOUN

Oo

base dragons is alright; all dragons should be ~ equal if it's the same race with the same exp debuff.. if there are pros - there should be cons. if pros are big - cons should be the same

good example of dragon-like balance in TomeNET: https://www.tomenet.eu/guide.php?cha...%20traits#r215


---

Update: dragons are enabled again. For now they would be much more clumsy in terms of searching, disarming etc; it's temporary measure till exploit would be fixed.

I see this options:

1) just to disable certain imba breeds dragons (balance, ethernal). They could come back later, when more customization would be possible.

OR

2) duplicate all dragons in monster.txt as separate 'base' monsters, eg

name:baby balance drake
base:dragon

new 'race' copy would become

name:baby balance drake
base:dragon_p

and eg

name:great ethereal drake
base:ancient dragon

new 'race' copy would become

name:great ethereal drake
base:ancient dragon_p

then in would be possible to rebalance all dragons for p_race in proper way without affecting dragon-monsters.

OR

3) the best solution imho:

please could you move this race customization to the gamedata so it would be possible to balance it at server side (now dragon takes stuff @ monster.txt; maybe there should be separate file with dragon race properties for proper rebalancing without ruining monsters)

OR

4) leave just base types of dragons: red, blue, green etc and reduce exp penalty

p.s.
One of our players just rolled power dragon. I've just looked into Power dragon:
flags:NO_STUN | IM_NEXUS | IM_PLASMA | IM_DISEN | IM_NETHER
flags:IM_ACID | IM_COLD | IM_ELEC | IM_FIRE | IM_POIS | IM_WATER | NO_SLOW

(no comment)

Hm.. Please could you explain idea of dragon race. Maybe I miss something. So sometimes player are playing as a red dragon and has only fire immunity, but sometimes he plays as ethereal/balance/power dragon - and in both cases this race got the same exp penalties..

[tangar]

Yay! Server updated

1) /rfe
add a delay before rogue could go to stealth mode (atm rogue do it at once)

2) /bug it's strange but 'text' entry in chat (after you push : ) become very short. I mean the field. It's like half of normal size. Even 1/4

3) /rfe: Fire-till-kill - add possibility resuming shooting after disturbance

4) /rfe make polymorph (from fountain, ring etc) - temporary effect. So it would be possible to change it's duration in gamedata .txt (now newbies are too much straggling cause of it, as rod/wand are quite rare... if it's not possible to make it temp eff, than I'll just add new item which would cure polymorph somehow (like morph restoration 'service' in tomenet)

5) /rfe do not change window headers for mangclient.exe with new versions: eg right now it's: PWMAngband 1.2.0 (Beta 5)
It would be fun to have it just: PWMAngband
because either way players who use addon which hides headers has to edit it after each update

6) /bug when you do not have mana but cast spell - you see on the screen 'line' of this spell targeting. I've noticed it in my Russian stream today https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t_N9lcFuco

7) /rfe add possibility to check spells from the book at magic stores. now players have to buy spellbooks without knowing - could they use it or no (for now I'll add such 'spoilers' at the website)

8) report from players: nerf shapechanger. he could polymorph while wearing items (so you could become a spider with +10 speed and have warriors equip). debuff for stats is low. take a ringil and polymorph to balance drake

9) /rfe add possibility to add several dungeons staircases to one location.

I wanna create more then one dungeon entrance in Carn Dum or eg to hold newbie tower and old forest in Hobbiton (or even 3-4 different dungeon entrance at one location). Atm when I assign several dungeons in dungeon.txt to one location, there is only one entrance.

I've found this tiny places in gen-cave.c

regular generation (I suppose, in dungeon):

/* Place 3 or 4 down stairs near some walls */
alloc_stairs(c, FEAT_MORE, rand_range(3, 4));

Carn Dum

/* Place the stairs in the north wall */
x = rand_spread(c->width / 2, town_wid / 3);
y = 2;
while (square_isperm(c, y, x) || square_isfiery(c, y, x)) y++;
y--;

..so maybe it's possible to tweak it in some way? the problem is #R-... inscription though.


==

I've added concept's draft: http://angband.online/about/ and converting guide to web version http://angband.online/guide/creating-character/

[PowerWyrm]

New PWMAngband 1.2.0 beta 5 released!

Autoinscription framework + some fixes + other stuff

- Add a basic framework for autoinscriptions
- Change inscription for player to '#P'
- Change inscription for recall to '#R'
- Fix Dungeon Master not having full ESP on LIMITED_ESP servers
- Make disturb_faint false by default
- Make wraithed players also get the IMPAIR_HP flag
- Remove all trading restrictions between players when no_selling is set
- Allow the console to run from PuTTY via Telnet
- Add [Escape] by default at the beginning of the keymap when creating a new keymap

Client has been updated. Players must get the new client to play on beta 5 servers.

Files are available for download at the usual location: http://powerwyrm.monsite-orange.fr

[tangar]

Golden start http://angband.online/golden-start/

[tangar]

1) Cool that you figured out source of player-stores issue Yep, second options is good.

2) considering WRAITHFORM. I suppose IMPAIR_HP is too small penalty:

desc:makes you slow to recover hitpoints

You won't even notice it at mid-high lvls. And at low lvls it also meh. At the same time WRAITHFORM is one of the most desirable thing in the game.

I suppose even

name:slowness
type:boots
values:SPEED[-5]
desc:drags at your feet

and

name:weakness
type:gloves
values:STR[-10]
desc:weakens your grasp

...while in eth form, could not be enough to make it fair. Players would still prefer this breed.

3) /rfe
add a delay before rogue could go to stealth mode (atm rogue do it at once)

4) /bug it's strange but 'text' entry in chat (after you push : ) become very short. I mean the field. It's like half of normal size. Even 1/4

5)

Fire till kill only works until you get disturbed

Is it possible to add resuming shooting after disturbance? like it's in TomeNET (I suppose they used not simple loop, but 'while' condition)

[PowerWyrm]

Yeah it was a bug. Now admin char gets full ESP even on LIMITED_ESP servers.

To nerf WRAITHFORM on players a bit, I added IMPAIR_HP to compensate when a player is wraithed. I won't remove ethereal drake as it is fully part of the dragon world, and except wraithform it is pretty bad.

And by the way...

When the server is NO_SELLING, you sell items for 0 gold in shops. But this also includes player shops! Remember when players complained they didn't get gold when they sold items in player shops... well it's because of NO_SELLING. At the moment, player shops function exactly like normal shops, so you can put items on sale, the buyer will have to pay the normal amount but the seller will get nothing.

I'm annoyed by this because I have to tag objets with a '*' in their inscriptions when NO_SELLING is on and this messes up with the autoinscription process. So what should I do?

1) Leave as it is now: you can put items for sale in your house, buyer has to pay, seller gets nothing. This will require more development, as autoinscriptions can't handle the '*' and nothing prevents players from doing trade by hand (player 1 drops item, player 2 drops gold, player 1 picks gold up, player 2 picks item up).

2) Enable selling in player shops even on NO_SELLING servers. This will be done by removing the restriction on "for sale" inscription, so players will be able to trade freely by either putting items on sale in player shops, on the floor or simply trade freely.

3) Disable selling in player shops on NO_SELLING servers. Simply prevent people from inscribing "for sale" on items. Nothing can still prevent players from trading freely.

If nobody objects, I'm gonna implement the second method. It's simpler and more logical: you cannot sell to shops which buy anything but you can sell to players which buy only special items.