Improvement Ideas:

[Carnivean]

Originally Posted by Tibarius

If someone, like you, uses the phrase 'asshole' i personally consider that person obviously unable to handle criticism (which by the way was not directed to you). So do you think Nick cannot write for himself, or what reason motivates you to response to comments in that way?

Derakon or Nick being unable to handle criticism or not doesn't have anything to do with the level of social transgression that you made. I doubt that there is anyone that would consider your words to be anything less than utterly impolite and likewise most people would think less of you as a person for having committed such an act.

You were an asshole and deserved to have the approbation of other members of the community that were witness to what you did.

Derakon has acted with restraint and a great deal more patience than you have deserved.

[Quirk]

Originally Posted by Carnivean

Derakon has acted with restraint and a great deal more patience than you have deserved.

I would like to note that I found Nick's response saintly, and the same thing could be said of him also.

Are these forums actively moderated?

[Nick]

Originally Posted by Quirk

Are these forums actively moderated?

Well, I have moderator powers

To be perfectly honest, much as it annoys me sometimes, I prefer to hear the criticism. In this particular case, Tibarius did (IIRC) have some ideas which I incorporated into the new mage class. The way that class developed has disappointed him, though, and hearing that reminds me that any changes are going to annoy somebody.

When I took on this job, I made a conscious decision to have make my development process as public as possible, because I thought it would lead to better outcomes, and on the whole I think it has. But that's just my opinion.

So I'm planning to keep the development process pretty much the same because that works for me, and seems to be mostly working for most people. Maybe the next maintainer will undo a lot of what I do and go in a completely different direction. I'm just really glad to have the opportunity to work on this game that has given me such enjoyment.

[Carnivean]

Originally Posted by Quirk

I would like to note that I found Nick's response saintly, and the same thing could be said of him also.

Yes, totally agreed.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

Nick, you probably never guessed that taking on being Angband maintainer would lead to canonization. While I don't always agree with all the changes, I wholeheartedly endorse your application to sainthood!

[mrfy]

Originally Posted by Ingwe Ingweron

Nick, you probably never guessed that taking on being Angband maintainer would lead to canonization. While I don't always agree with all the changes, I wholeheartedly endorse your application to sainthood!

Isn't Saint Nick already in the game as Father Christmas?

[Grotug]

Originally Posted by mrfy

Isn't Saint Nick already in the game as Father Christmas?

Hahahaha, maybe it should be changed to Saint Nick. +1 to Derakon and Carnivean's posts.

Philip said:

it would just require the monster that killed your previous character to become a unique until a descendant finally kills it. I think this would be fun, but it would be a lot of work.

I love this idea! I would love to see this in V. It would give dying the silver lining I always wish it had. Of course it would be terrifying starting up a new game after just dying to a Drolem or something along those lines.

I love the prefab'd rooms in Angband. I love all the new ones. It seems I am still encountering special room types I have never seen before; some of them seem to be hybrids of others; some almost feel like they are randomly generated, though I don't see how they could be. Seems to me there is enough of them that you don't keep seeing them all the time. And the large oval one with the rectangle in the center is an iconic Angband staple.

I like the idea of smaller early levels, or at least early levels that are easy to navigate.

[takkaria]

I love the prefab'd rooms in Angband. I love all the new ones. It seems I am still encountering special room types I have never seen before; some of them seem to be hybrids of others; some almost feel like they are randomly generated, though I don't see how they could be.

I wonder if we could train a neural network on the existing room set to create random new ones...

[Derakon]

Originally Posted by takkaria

I wonder if we could train a neural network on the existing room set to create random new ones...

The sample set is still a bit small, but it's probably big enough. See if you can get the interest of that person that made machine-generated Pokemon (and perhaps a bit more relevantly, D&D spells).

[Huqhox]

Originally Posted by Grotug

I like the idea of smaller early levels, or at least early levels that are easy to navigate.

I had a bash at this on the latest source. The new level gen is easier because it already has a proper scaling factor in it. The classic gen is harder because it doesn't work so I did some fudges to make sure the number of items, monsters, stairs and traps were roughly in line with the level size. I didn't touch the cave or labyrinth levels but these don't appear until after the early levels anyway.

I tinkered with the size a bit (one room levels being just a bit too small...) and came up with a formula of (2 x depth + 60)% scale factor, so the first 14 levels scale up slowly. I felt it worked quite well.

Does it speed up the first few levels? Yes. Would it encourage new players to not explore every level completely? I think the jury is still out on that one