The freedom (and curse) of choice

[SaThaRiel]

Well, i started playing Nethack maybe 15 years ago. Looking around, i quickly stubled across Angband, which i liked more somehow. After playing a bit i looked for something more complex (also i never finished it and i fear i never will - lack of concentration and patience). So i came to Zangband which is my "major" variant since around 10 years. I used to play Eyangband a bit and tested out new versions of Angband - but i am stuck to Zangband, which is really a good variant. But (there are always butts ) it isnt actively developed anymore. The world still turns and new ideas rise, which will never be implemented also if theyre good.
So i tried to change to another variant - playing a bit of mangband (to get the "Penance" feeling - works, but not for everyday usuage), the good old Angband, Eyangband again, trying Hengband (mainly for the contest) im somehow stuck, also the RL games from Chaosforge (great but different - especially AliensRL). UnAngband seems to be really a great variant but somehow a bit too complex.

Well, long story short - im really in trouble finding a new variant for me. Ive read the Scroll of Zangband {cursed} - and need a tip to get rid of the curse.
Z+Angband isnt a good choice since im running on Linux and it wont be officially supported.

Just to point this out: I like Angband and all of its variants. But i want some change. I think (or hope) you will understand me
Sorry for the english, im no native speaker.

[PowerDiver]

Try current V, but only play ironman. That may feel different enough to seem like an interesting variant. You should be able to figure out quickly enough whether you love it or hate it.

[Magnate]

Try Sangband - it's *very* different, yet not too complex. It's my favourite variant. Sadly both its official maintainer (Leon Marrick) and its unofficial one (Joshua Middendorf) are not around at the moment, but they will return eventually. It's in a pretty stable state if you can find Joshua's latest version (try the Furytech mirror).

Z+Angband won't support Linux??? I never heard of a variant maintainer deliberately avoiding Linux - anyone know what's going on here?

[Antoine]

Try current V, but only play ironman. That may feel different enough to seem like an interesting variant. You should be able to figure out quickly enough whether you love it or hate it.

If you don't like ironman V you may still like Ironband.

A.

[Nick]

Z+Angband won't support Linux??? I never heard of a variant maintainer deliberately avoiding Linux - anyone know what's going on here?

It is not unsupported as such, but there has been some weirdness getting it to work properly. There was a thread.

[tigen]

I didn't see you mention Crawl. It is not an Angband variant. But if you want to try something quite different and you haven't tried Crawl (Stone Soup), you should do so (http://crawl-ref.sourceforge.net). The game server mentioned on that page is a cool thing; it tracks/ranks players, you can watch others play, etc.

The game is tough. You are effectively playing Ironman, and with permanent levels you can't scum your way out of a situation. Try the built-in tutorial mode.

[camlost]

Try Sangband - it's *very* different, yet not too complex. It's my favourite variant. Sadly both its official maintainer (Leon Marrick) and its unofficial one (Joshua Middendorf) are not around at the moment, but they will return eventually. It's in a pretty stable state if you can find Joshua's latest version (try the Furytech mirror).

Z+Angband won't support Linux??? I never heard of a variant maintainer deliberately avoiding Linux - anyone know what's going on here?

Hey, I'm around, just not... active. I develop when I play, and I haven't been playing much lately.

S, Un, F, are all pretty good and different choices.

[SaThaRiel]

Thanks for the good advices.
To point this out: Im sure *not* looking for a new, harder challenge in *band - so i think i will avoid Ironband and Ironman modes and also crawl (but may have a look at them anyway). Im having trouble in finishing it in the pudding mode already This maybe different in near future since i really plan to avoid my "hack & try to slay without fear (and idea)" style...play smarter not harder sounds like a good way. I know this since many many years, but somehow im always starting to run through the dungeons and wilderness without thinking

Sangband sounds nice, but i must find out where to download it since the homepage is gone (again). Fangband is also worth a try. So as you see, its really hard to find an alternative.
Z+Angband: Well, a little quote

I am primarily supporting only the Windows version. However, if recent versions of Zangband work for you, this should too, because I only changed the core of the game, not its code for interfacing with the operating system.

So it should run (and does actually) - but if its not running the other day, its not running...im no programmer and my knowledge in C is really poor. So maybe someday a possible bug that occurs only on linux will be fixed by someone or not.

[will_asher]

DaJAngband offers some good variety from vanilla, and it's only very slightly harder than vanilla (it was actually intended to be slightly easier). It adds flavor and makes things less boring while keeping the gameplay pretty similar to vanilla.

EDIT: don't try to get it from the news at the main page of angband.oook, that link is old and broken.

[Nick]

EDIT: don't try to get it from the news at the main page of angband.oook, that link is old and broken.

The one on the variants tab is correct now, though.