[Un] Unangband 0.6.2-wip7e has been released

[Bandobras]

This is a work in progress (and moreover interim, by Bandobras) release, so please save often and report bugs. Savefiles are compatible, unless the level you are on has fallen out of the levels range of the current dungeon, so it's safest to upgrade when in Rivendell, Bree, Hobbiton or Bucklebury (their depths are unchanged).

To play the freshly downloaded competition savefile, load the character, quit, start again, answer 'y' to quickstart question and you'll have no problems with some dungeon guardians prematurely dead (those not in the game when the competition savefile was created). Doing quickstart every time you die you'll also get more monster memory, which is OK in this competition (since code-diving is allowed, anyway). Social-status scumming to become a king's only child is not OK.

The source code is available at
http://prdownload.berlios.de/unangba...-wip7e-src.zip

A precompiled Linux executable is available at
http://prdownload.berlios.de/unangba...2-wip7e.tar.gz

A precompiled Windows executable is available at
http://prdownload.berlios.de/unangba...-wip7e-win.zip


Changelog from wip7c to wip7e is below (don't ask me about wip7d, OK? I'm still a greenhorn sidekick ). Some changes are listed as tentative, please test and provide feedback. Thank you all good people for help, tests, interest.


### Gameplay ###

- If the player is blocking, he gets a +20 to hit in melee and +15 to hit with bows/throwing. This allows bad melee practitioners to increase their odds of hitting by blocking.

- If the weapon you are attacking with or the ammo you are firing / item you are throwing is not an ego item, artifact, coated weapon or magic item, it will inherit brands/slays from your equipment as follows:

* In melee, your gloves/gauntlets are checked first.
* If you have no gauntlets, instead, your right hand ring.
* Except for blows with your secondary weapon, which use your left-hand ring.
* For throws and ammunition, only your left hand ring is checked.

- Rings of ice/acid/fire/electricity now have the appropriate brand. This makes them highly useful for archers/throwing specialists as well as mage-type spell casters which do not use gloves/gauntlets.

- Modified low-level bard spells, replacing Holy Water with a more bard specific spell.

- Added spells that modify a single round of blows, shooting or throwing.

- Scale down upper end of monster drop sizes.

- Minimise number of townsfolk who drop gold.

- various changes and additions to the wilderness map, guardians, depths; in particular, added the Great Grey Wolf and a slight upgrade to Boldog, the Orc Captain, to have missile attack.

- substituted guardians (e.g. Black Riders) now guard only the first zone and are described as such

- recycled some guardians so that changes to the world, as the game progresses, do not make uniques undefeatable, except a few plot-motivated cases

- ad hoc tweaks to pseudo-id (until this is rethought and rewritten more systematically), in particular, broken items are no longer reported {average} for mages;

- on shallow levels, OOD monster rarer and not so OOD

- moved multiplying monsters (especially shallow but high HP ones) much deeper by increasing their hp rating in the power calculations; giant black louse is thus level 6, not 3 as before (is 7 in monster.txt)

- removed restore potions, made stat potions much more common and cheaper, tweaked prices of starting magic devices

- made traps, potions, etc. that do more than p_ptr->mph/2 damage leave player at 1HP instead of killing him; please revert if this is too munchkinish, but note that it only affects early game, when detect traps and ID are scarce; with this also later in the game test-id and no-trap-detection become viable; tentative

- made apple and berries a bit lighter and berries somewhat nourishing

- you can now die from starvation second turn after travel, beware

- other minor tweaks and additions


### User Interface ###

- Pval modifier is now included in the description of an item.

- added dungeon level names (only about half of dungeons, please contribute)

- more information in the dungeon knowledge menu; the location blocked by a guardian revealed

- some info about dungeons reachable via one step of travel, in particular, warning if no way back or if no escape via maps

- overhauled and sorted visited dungeons listing in the character dump; tentative

- added link to map and to dungeon knowledge from the travel menu

- overhaul of the main screen UI, especially of the no-sideboard mode; the town level is now one line lower, I hope this does not break anything; tentative

- corrected layout of the top line inside shops

- warn about starvation, especially after travel

- changed default wrap column to 80 now that we have long texts to print, e.g. dungeon descriptions; some are still 75 column, e.g. ego powers, because they are subordinate to their main item descriptions; tentative


### Bug fixes ###

- Fix for Bug #12538 Chain-summoning Termite Mounds.

- This also modifies the 'power curve' of monster ecologies so may have far-reaching effects.

- Fix for Bug #12570 bards "Find Hidden Traps/Doors" =|= "Find Traps".

- Fix bug Bug #12569 browsing spellbooks "prerequsite" => "prerequisite"

- Fixed by Bug #12568 Priest Cure Moderate Wounds required mage Cure Light Wounds as a pre-requisite.

- Fix for Bug #12457 Rings of tele not activable when identified via ring spec

- rings of teleportations should now be always found cursed

- Fix for Bug #12567 Potion of Detonations .. broken ?

- Prevent loading a character from marking worthless items as broken.

- corrected the destinations of maps (the ones bought, sold, etc.)

- fixed a bug that made all MFLAG_STRONG monsters twice as strong as intended (I think); these included (some?) low level uniques

- as a temporary fix to the problem of empty Nature book and others, I've removed the books of Negations, Nature, Space, Annihilation, the Void, Immolation and Gambits; please report if any of the books worked for you in earlier versions

- some code cleanups, minor fixes and changes to the engine under the hood

- crashes when inspecting bags, etc. fixed, I hope

- fixed another crash with bags and lack of equip term refresh when canceling item selection from a bag

- gmake from Vanilla that allows both native- and cross-compiling using mingw (by takkaria)

- Windows build packaging script for use on Unix, to complement build_win.bat (by takkaria)

[andrewdoull]

Mac OS/X version now available as well.

See http://unangband.blogspot.com for details.

Thanks again Bandobras.

[Karzack]

I registered just to comment on this variant.

I wanted to say that this is, at current time, my favorite variant. I have played Angband and its variants for years, and still have yet to beat one. lol Although for the last 6 months or so Dwarf Fortress has been sucking my life away. I wanted to post just to show my support and let it known that there are people like me who just lurk in the shadows that play UN, among other variants/roguelikes. Keep up the good work, I see good things for this variant.

I can't really comment to much, because I haven't really made it too far. But since it seems that andrew and band are ones looking for comments/complaints/ideas I will share a few minor ones that I have thought of.

Would it be possible, or maybe it is, to change the display of stats from 18/100, to a regular number. Tome allowed for this and for me personally this is something that has always irked me. But don't change it on just my account. Another, when traveling in the wilderness, would it be possible to automatically, or something like that, eat something that is in your pack. Instead of arriving at your destination weak from hunger when you have food in your pack. I am sure there are others, but don't see much of a point in bringing up too much since the game isn't really complete yet and I don't know what is coming.

Overall though, I really like the additional things that one can do. Coating of weapons, searching the cabinets (among other things) in rooms for treasure, and being able to throw spores is a blast too. Oh, and there are also the runes, but I have yet to be able to play around with them. One of the best features in my opinion is the unlockable races. I have always been a fan of unlockable content and I know others hate the idea in roguelikes, but I think it's pretty slick. From the playing I have been able to do I see more things coming that just aren't in the game yet.

Keep up the good work.

[andrewdoull]

Originally Posted by Karzack

I registered just to comment on this variant.

I wanted to say that this is, at current time, my favorite variant.

Thanks

I have played Angband and its variants for years, and still have yet to beat one. lol

Neither have I.

Although for the last 6 months or so Dwarf Fortress has been sucking my life away. I wanted to post just to show my support and let it known that there are people like me who just lurk in the shadows that play UN, among other variants/roguelikes. Keep up the good work, I see good things for this variant.

I can't really comment to much, because I haven't really made it too far. But since it seems that andrew and band are ones looking for comments/complaints/ideas I will share a few minor ones that I have thought of.

Would it be possible, or maybe it is, to change the display of stats from 18/100, to a regular number.

This shouldn't be too hard to do. The easiest way would be to have an option converting the current display to a number 1-18 + (stat over 18 / 10). e.g. a 1 to 40+ range. This is already done internally for a variety of things.

What you would miss out with this option is knowledge of the fractional increments you get from boosting a stat by a partial amount (e.g. less than 10).

Tome allowed for this and for me personally this is something that has always irked me. But don't change it on just my account.

It makes a lot of sense for new players too.

Another, when traveling in the wilderness, would it be possible to automatically, or something like that, eat something that is in your pack. Instead of arriving at your destination weak from hunger when you have food in your pack. I am sure there are others, but don't see much of a point in bringing up too much since the game isn't really complete yet and I don't know what is coming.

This is the old 'I don't want to have to think about x so can the game do it for me?' argument.

I'm actually a fan of this particular argument as as a game designer, I'm never able to make my mind up about which features work, and which don't, and which choices are interesting and which are not. There's always a risk in balancing this, as you can end up with a game that gets played automatically for you, but the popularity of Progress Quest and the Angband Borg screen saver suggests that automatically played games are a great untapped genre.

I've tentatively sketched out a 'gambit system' design, which allows this, so consider it another 'up and coming feature'.

Overall though, I really like the additional things that one can do. Coating of weapons, searching the cabinets (among other things) in rooms for treasure, and being able to throw spores is a blast too. Oh, and there are also the runes, but I have yet to be able to play around with them. One of the best features in my opinion is the unlockable races. I have always been a fan of unlockable content and I know others hate the idea in roguelikes, but I think it's pretty slick. From the playing I have been able to do I see more things coming that just aren't in the game yet.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks again.

[zaimoni]

Originally Posted by andrewdoull

This is the old 'I don't want to have to think about x so can the game do it for me?' argument.

I'm actually a fan of this particular argument as as a game designer, I'm never able to make my mind up about which features work, and which don't, and which choices are interesting and which are not. There's always a risk in balancing this, as you can end up with a game that gets played automatically for you, but the popularity of Progress Quest and the Angband Borg screen saver suggests that automatically played games are a great untapped genre.

This is similar to the reasoning behind Zaiband's INT/WIS driven moronicity checks. (Which are not nearly extensive enough, but further extensions do require thinking about what game information should be user-visible that isn't currently.)

[Bandobras]

Originally Posted by andrewdoull

Thanks again Bandobras.

Originally Posted by Karzack

I registered just to comment on this variant.

Heh, you are welcome. *bows deeply*. It's really swell to be famous and stuff. ;>

Karzack, when you manage to explore a few dungeons, it'd be great if you posted your character on the ladder. We discover a lot of things just looking at the dumps (todays I"ve spotted a probable bug, thanks to thorgot's rain of dead characters). And, of course, join the competition!

What you would miss out with this option is knowledge of the fractional increments you get from boosting a stat by a partial amount (e.g. less than 10).

This is a big problem because above 18/80 increases are always one-digit, so most of the increases would look like failures. We'd have to use three digits for stats.

Also, the various phases of stat increases are less visible. At around 18 the boosts become big, at around 18/50 they start dimishing, at 18/80 they are minimal and so it stays. Only this last phase is visually easy to discern (by ! before the stat) with linear stats. 18 is not that different from 13, also 18/50=23 does not look special. So, stats would have to be somewhat scaled or translated to make the thresholds visible. I guess I could do that, but I think it will be hard to keep both systems in sync. And, frankly, I don't like options (e.g. I have a lot of trouble with the two main screen setup modes).

[takkaria]

Originally Posted by Bandobras

Also, the various phases of stat increases are less visible. At around 18 the boosts become big, at around 18/50 they start dimishing, at 18/80 they are minimal and so it stays. Only this last phase is visually easy to discern (by ! before the stat) with linear stats. 18 is not that different from 13, also 18/50=23 does not look special. So, stats would have to be somewhat scaled or translated to make the thresholds visible. I guess I could do that, but I think it will be hard to keep both systems in sync.

I have this problem in V -- I really want linear stats display. Zangband added linear stats, displaying them all like "10.0" or "24.3", which keeps the fractional part. I can't do linear stats in V though because of what you say -- the breakpoints aren't visible enough, so I'd have to pretty much rewrite the stat bonus tables.

And, frankly, I don't like options (e.g. I have a lot of trouble with the two main screen setup modes).

We should set up a club.

[thorgot]

Originally Posted by Bandobras

Karzack, when you manage to explore a few dungeons, it'd be great if you posted your character on the ladder. We discover a lot of things just looking at the dumps (todays I"ve spotted a probable bug, thanks to thorgot's rain of dead characters). And, of course, join the competition!

:'-(

How does one enable additional term windows in the linux version? I've been running the windows version in wine because I needed the other windows.

[Arendil]

Hm...next version and same old bugs plus few new......

First, "Ignore corpses by default" is just not working. At all. Everytime I step on a corpse I recieve "Get which item?" prompt. Highly irritating.

Second, dropped items (both by monsters and from inventory) cause "X dissapears from view" message, and become invisible until I step on them. As if my char hadn't any source of light even wielding torch or something.

Last, for the moment at least, and not a bug, I really hate that pressing Enter opens a menu of some kind. I use that key as a "more" key, and no, I can't use Space instead. Also maybe that just me, but I really don't like unlockable races.
I play Angband with variants for more than a decade now, and the last thing I find interesting is having to play dull races to be eventually able to play "cooler" ones. How about an option to unlock them?

Well, still this variant is one of the best and also most buggy...I guess those two are inevitably tied together......

[Bandobras]

Originally Posted by Arendil

First, "Ignore corpses by default" is just not working. At all.

It works for me. All the time. Which binary? Could you supply some more random details, like a screen dump of the options screen, etc.?

Second, dropped items (both by monsters and from inventory) cause "X dissapears from view" message, and become invisible until I step on them.

Only when on grass, or on which kinds of terrain? On grass this is normal (not that I insist on keeping this features).

Last, for the moment at least, and not a bug, I really hate that pressing Enter opens a menu of some kind. I use that key as a "more" key, and no, I can't use Space instead.

Perhaps you can make a macro that maps [Enter] to [Space]? Or to [0], which sometimes works the same as [Enter] (e.g. when targetting)?

Also maybe that just me, but I really don't like unlockable races.

How do they work? I've never had to unlock anything, so I'm curious...

Well, still this variant is one of the best and also most buggy...I guess those two are inevitably tied together......

The price of progress...