Sangband - questions about latest offical/unofficial version

[NotMorgoth]

I've just got back to playing Sangband after a very long time; the last version I played was 0.9.9 beta 13 and there have been a lot of versions since then. I haven't read through the changelogs for every update, but I'd like to ask some questions about the latest ones.

I have imported a character from the old version; maybe this wasn't such a good idea as a lot of things have changed about the way skills are learned etc and some costs etc and items may have got messed up. However, one of the most noticeable things was that my average damage using Karate (with 100% skill, maxed Dex, near max Str and the Oath of Iron has gone from over 100 to around 35, yet I still only get 2 blows per round despite the note in the latest changelog that the number of blows should increase. I was wondering if this is an intentional change, or if the code to make the number of blows increase has only been partially implemented so damage per blow has been reduced but the number of blows not correctly increased.

I also remember from the old version that the Wizardry skill was meant to give resistance to mana-draining attacks (at least it says in the help files that it should,) but did not actually do so. I always assumed this was a bug, but I have found the same thing seems to happen in the latest version, ie even with fairly high wizardry, monsters that drain mana are always successful. (This is with a new character, not one imported from the old beta)

[camlost]

I'm pretty sure there's an error in that file. I'm working on a new version nowish. You're probably better off with the latefix version. Or a previous beta (look at the bottom of the page)

http://middendorfproject.googlepages.com/sangband

http://middendorfproject.googlepages.com/sang-win-100-unofficial.rar

I anticipate fixing this in the next couple of week, as well as making some other modifications.

[camlost]

Ok, a new version of the unofficial beta 2 without the problems of never-increasing-blows and the debug messages about damage is now uploaded.

http://middendorfproject.googlepages.com/sangband

http://middendorfproject.googlepages.com/sang-win-100-unofficial-b2.zip

http://middendorfproject.googlepages.com/sang-src-100-unofficial-b2.zip

I'm still working on some more comprehensive changes, and I'll see about the resistance to mana-draining attacks issue.

[NotMorgoth]

Ok, I'll give it a try - it's good to see this version is still getting developed as it's always been my favourite.

[NotMorgoth]

I've downloaded the latest version, and karate seems to be working right now with 6 blows - and maybe overall damage a bit better than before? Still not sure if I feel up to trying to kill Morgoth with my bare hands though...

I wonder if it would be possible to have the message line display the actual dice rolls like in the previous version, maybe as an option that was off by default. It would also be nice to see the actual damage from spells (don't know if this is already in as I haven't played a spellcasting character yet). I know its less variable as spells never get criticals, but it might be helpful for druids to have more of a clue to know how the weather is affecting their spells, which has always baffled me.

There does seem to be a new bug, which is that the message 'test1' keeps appearing on the message line when fighting or just moving around the dungeon. I assume this is when some test it carried out to see whether the character notices something, but I'm sure it's not meant to be visible to the player.

[camlost]

The damage output was only for debugging, as I was trying to figure out what damage might be balanced. The same goes for the test1 message. I'll repost it when I pull that out. Sigh. I should spend a tad longer testing these things. Haste makes waste. Or +10 speed.

[camlost]

Ok, I think the Test1s are gone now. If you run across anything else funny (or more Test1s, please let me know).

[NotMorgoth]

Ok, I'll give it a go next time I get a chance - Is it the same download? ie, has the name of the patch/version been changed at all?

One weird thing that I did notice, though I'm not sure which version it was, was that when I had two active (living) characters on the go at the same time, items seemed to sometimes get swapped between the two characters.

I noticed this when dropping items in my home, and they somehow changed into something else when I dropped them. I eventually worked out that they were turning into whatever my other character had in the same slot in his home!

I don't know if this still happens in the latest version, because I have now made 2 separate installs of the game, one for each character and this hasn't happened since I did this.

I have also found that I am unable to use shift + number keys to run.

By the way, both of the above things may not be bugs, but may be caused by the setup I am using - I am running the Windows version of Sangband on a Mac using (dar)Wine.

[camlost]

The items-in-home-transmogrification bug is known. Unfortunately, I haven't figured that one out yet.

Regarding shift-num, is num-lock on? Do you have this problem with other variants?

The download is in the same place. I tend not to make additional patch numbers for my stupidity/lack of testing.

[NotMorgoth]

Ok, well the test1s are gone.

Regarding the running thing: running works OK in other variants, but if I play any others I am playing the Mac port rather than trying to play the Windows version in Wine. Also, running seems to work OK if I use the roguelike keyset rather than the default keys.

[camlost]

I also remember from the old version that the Wizardry skill was meant to give resistance to mana-draining attacks (at least it says in the help files that it should,) but did not actually do so. I always assumed this was a bug, but I have found the same thing seems to happen in the latest version, ie even with fairly high wizardry, monsters that drain mana are always successful. (This is with a new character, not one imported from the old beta)

While the always succeed, they deal significantly less "damage".

[NotMorgoth]

Ok, that makes sense.

I've noticed something else that is not quite right. When you examine a Potion of Resistance, the description says it gives resistance to fire, cold, electricity and acid, but when you quaff it, it also gives resistance to poison.

I'm not sure if this is a bug (ie it gives poison resistance when it shouldn't) or just an error in the description, so it should mention poison as well.