[Announce] FrogComposband 7.1.toffee released

[Sideways]

7.1.toffee is now available here, with the source code, precompiled Windows full game (without the source code) and precompiled Windows .exe.
(Windows users who download the .exe should also download the source code, but not the full game, which would be superfluous. Windows users who download the full game won't need to download any other files.)

Savefiles are unidirectionally compatible with previous versions of FrogComposband; you can safely use old savefiles in 7.1.toffee, but you can't use toffee savefiles in older versions.

Note that the precompiled Windows full version includes pre-generated help files. All installations other than the precompiled Windows full version will generate those help files the first time you start the game, which may take a few seconds and cause minor, very temporary weirdness if you press any keys or buttons during that time. This will only happen the first time you start the game (and subsequently after major updates).

Thanks to everyone who provided suggestions and feedback! You're the people who make this game worth developing, I hope you'll enjoy this new version and continue to help me improve FrogComposband. I apologize if I've forgotten to properly credit you in the changelog.

Changes in FrogComposband 7.1.toffee:

* Random ring and amulet artifacts can now generate occasionally

* Added a new building in Anambar offering banking and insurance services

* Dungeon entrances are now easier to locate

* Added two new playable monster races (Orc, Filthy Rag)
[Special thanks to everyone who helped me play-test filthy rags! They are still a bit beta though because I don't really know what rag endgame is like. Also, everybody should get a fair warning that they are... not very strong, at least not in the early game]

* Added one new playable normal race (Boit)

* Added new objects, ego types, artifacts and monsters

* Added new random artifact names

* Multiple player auras of the same type can now stack for extra damage

* Enabled sticky labels for race/class/mutation powers (permanently attaching a power to one letter, similarly to what @ inscriptions do for items)

* Updated the list of Arena opponents (spectral tyrannosaurus, mummy king and great unclean one added; greater balrog appears much later in accordance with its high native depth). Also tweaked the rewards dropped by top-end opponents

* Made damage reduction from resistances somewhat less random

* Changed how cut damage works. The total amount of damage remains the same, but it is suffered more evenly (e.g. instead of taking 100 damage one turn and 0 damage the turn after, the player will take 50 damage on both turns); and unlucky "instableeding" with no opportunity to cure the cut first can no longer happen

* Changed orc colours to make uniques, warlords and sappers stand out more

* Weaponsmiths can now improve equipped items without having to unequip them

* Nappa the Saiyan resists confusion now

* Many high-level demons now resist nether

* Polyphemus can now clear his head (some people seemed to be under the impression that he already had this ability, convincing me that he ought to)

* Leprechaun fanatics now do bomb damage (adapted from Frogspawn), which can be resisted through rShard and rSound, instead of unresistable raw damage

* Increased the chance of deep Angband levels being small (and reduced their average size when they do generate as small)

* Destruction no longer works in Witch Wood (because it's outdoors)

* Confusion now takes priority over stunning for monster health-bar colouring

* Tweaked item valuation a bit
- some devices, notably Staves of Healing and Staves of Destruction, are worth more now
- tweaked pval valuation, for most pvals the change is minimal, but items with pvals of 1 and 2 are worth a bit more now
- auras are worth a bit more now that they can stack
- off-weapon vampirism brands had no score value; this has been fixed
- off-amulet anti-magic no longer has a negative effect on the item's value
- valuation of activations now accounts for timeout length
- fixed some weirdness with valuation of vulnerabilities

* Fixed an old PosChengband bug that sometimes caused artifacts to be permanently lost with no chance to ever find them at all (thanks to bostock for reporting)

* Fixed a bug with ESP Living not use-IDing properly

* Fixed a loophole to anti-scumming item/gold drop limits

* Fixed generation of standarts from chests (previously, standart generation depended on the level at which the chest was opened, while generation of all other chest objects depended on the level of the chest itself)

* Ammo breakage chances are now displayed correctly for snipers browsing a sniping shot (thanks to TauzentBlitz for reporting)

* Fixed some weirdness with throwing calculations (thanks to TauzentBlitz for reporting)

* Fixed a number of closely related information leaks with unidentified scrolls and potions (thanks to mewmew for reporting)

* Some high-level monsters were missing the FORCE_SLEEP flag, allowing them to immediately cast spells or breathe on the player when summoned; this has been fixed

* Fixed a bug with scrolling in the object list while using the S toggle

* Fixed a number of minor issues with the town of Thalos (item recharging services were advertised but no longer truly available; two buildings offered the same services, and a Thieves' Guild was specified but had no location; it has now taken over one of the redundant buildings)

* Fixed an infinite loop with Berserkers getting brain-smashed (thanks to floatRand for reporting)

* The Bard invulnerability song "Fingolfin's Challenge" did not consume an extra turn when the invulnerability ended; this has been fixed (thanks to bostock for reporting)

* Fixed a bug with friendly fire from ancient dragons (thanks to TauzentBlitz and Benly for reporting)

* It was still possible for nexus effects to teleport the player out of a dungeon quest level; this has been fixed (thanks to Oneiron for reporting)

* Player Rings could potentially conquer a single dungeon multiple times; this has been fixed (thanks to Oneiron for reporting)

* Rage-Mages received a class bonus to spell capacity but were missing the corresponding flag; this has been fixed (thanks to MITZE for reporting)

* Fixed further travelling-related infinite or unintendedly lengthy loops (thanks to bostock for reporting)

* Fixed weird message when a named pet evolved (thanks to vertigo for reporting)

* Fixed a bug that sometimes allowed summoning multiple copies of the real unique in the Cloning Pits if enough of the clones were killed first (thanks to Philip for reporting)

* Fixed a bug with Endless Quiver behavior when combined with harps or guns (thanks to wobbly for reporting)

* The curse status indicator was not updated properly after Mundanity; this has been fixed

* Reforging consumed game time but did not check if midnight had passed; this has been fixed

* Being stunned sometimes made devices easier to use; this has been fixed

* Some menus, in particular the option UI and the demigod talent selection UI, no longer work quite as badly in cases where the number of options exceeds the number of available lines. Also fixed a minor cursor placement issue on the autodestroyer options page

* Travel resumption sometimes produced strange results in the wilderness; this has been fixed

* Hex High-Mages lost the spelling indicator on entering the Arena but did not actually stop spelling; this has been fixed

* Potions of Salt Water did not cure poison despite promising to; this has been fixed

* Stair Creation spells could create normal stairs in all-shafts dungeons and in coffee-break mode; this has been fixed

* Insta-kill attacks (e.g. poison needle hits) could have their damage reduced if the player was stunned; this has been fixed

* Fixed weirdness with telekinesis prevention (the code only checked if there was already an object in the target square; it didn't check for traps, stairs, deep lava or even walls)

* Fixed broken flavoring on the Hand of Vecna

* Updated outdated makefiles that were causing problems for some Linux users (thanks to introsp3ctive for reporting this problem)

* Player breaths aimed in a direction rather than at a specific point will no longer stop at the first monster hit

* Amberites can no longer embed themselves in rock with their own death curses (allowing this sometimes resulted in strange or undesired behavior, including non-generation of wanted corpses)

* Spell-browsing UI now supports slightly longer spell descriptions

* Prevented ego diamond edges from generating with extra-high pvals

* Deep puddles and shallow puddles now count as mimics for the easy_mimics option (thanks to bostock for suggesting this)

* Cancelling a Ring spell during the targetting phase no longer consumes a turn (thanks to clouded for suggesting this)

* The automatic attack on Polearm weaponmasters no longer triggers on pets or friendly monsters (thanks to Aav for suggesting this)

* The Hard Leather Boots of Feanor are now rarer

* All stairs in the Graveyard dungeon are now shafts

* Renamed the Mountain dungeon to Eyrie; all stairs there are now shafts

* Monster polymorph race selection now accounts for the terrain (e.g. if a monster is within a wall, it will try to polymorph into another wall-passing monster, as was already the case for chameleons)

* Slightly tweaked coffee-break mode's XP-gain and loot-generation bonuses

* In coffee-break mode, all late-game level guardians will now appear on either odd levels or even levels

* The Battlefield reward is now a rune sword instead of a scythe of slicing (copied from Composband). Also, sword weaponmasters can now use rune swords

* The Restoration town service now restores life points and experience in addition to stats (copied from Composband)

* Allowed Chaos-Warriors and Chaotic characters to choose their patron at character creation (copied from Composband)

* Buffed dwarven body armour (inspired by Composband)

* Chaos patrons will no longer attempt (and fail) to curse the player's equipment if the player is a Death-Sword, a Filthy Rag or a Ring; they will hit the player with the Baby Foul Curse instead

* Haste Monster and Heal Monster are no longer reflectable (thanks to MITZE for suggesting this)

* Tweaked Rage-Mages (thanks to MITZE for suggestions)
- Rage-Mages can no longer gain SP from Clarity/Great Clarity/Restore Mana
- Rage-Mages can now use their skills through anti-magic shields
- Rage-Mage spell letters are now fixed, allowing better macro use
- Substituted "Dispel Curse" for "Summon Commando Team"

* Confirmation is now always requested for alchemizing an inscribed item, even if it has no value, and wanted corpses cannot be alchemized at all (thanks to Draghmar for bringing this up). Also fixed an issue with cancelling requests to alchemize parts of stacks

* Duelist Isolation now fully respects teleportation immunity (thanks to bostock for bringing this up)

* Most population-specific charming effects now report if a monster is immune, similarly to what the generic charming effect already did (thanks to vertigo for noting this)

* Tweaked disappearance of pets at low health (thanks to vertigo for feedback)

* Some race/class/mutation powers will now be available even if the player is confused or trembling in fear (e.g. the 'Stop Singing' ability on Bards)

* Rings and Death-Swords now automatically *id* all items they absorb (so the player isn't left checking the essence sheet to see what was absorbed)

* Player Demons and Balrogs now take some extra damage from Holy Fire

* Player Angels and Archons now take some extra damage from Hell Fire

* Made player Xorns a little more fragile

* Nerfed monk melee a bit

* Nerfed tourists slightly

* Buffed the Necklace of the Dwarves

* Buffed the Infernal Deal demigod talent to make it more competitive in the late game (inspired by Composband)

* Added a new demigod talent (Strong Mind) that provides immunity to mana draining

* The Craft spell "Walk through Wall" was replaced with "Simplification" (which mundanifies an item)

* Autodestroy now ignores mundanified items

* Mundanity no longer works on ego items with a 99% discount

* Updated player Tanar'ri (thanks to MITZE for the central idea)
- the early forms, especially death quasit, are a bit more fragile now
- mariliths can no longer wear shields, but get a bonus to dual-wielding
- reduced the XP modifier

* Updated player vortices, especially the final form (aether vortex). Aether vortices now have lower speed and melee damage than before, but can choose one of three possible vortex powers (one giving increased melee damage, one giving increased speed, and one allowing them to control which element they breathe). Also fixed bugs with flags on some vortex forms, removed the 1-in-66 chance of random movement, gave plasma and disintegration vortices invisible "resists" to their respective elements, and reduced off-weapon +At from +0.50 blows/unit to +0.25 blows/unit

* Tweaked Kawarimi a bit (increased the chance of a blink-type effect compared to a long-distance teleport)

* Blood-Knight extra blows are now more gradual

* The healing penalty on Blood-Knights and Blood-Mages now applies to vampirism

* Special-cased the weapon stat display for Poison Needles

* Tweaked the skill description scale (earning most of the medium rankings takes a bit more now, and Superb no longer covers such a large range)

* Spawning Pits is now displayed as danger level 80 (with no effect on anything in the quest, which remains unchanged)

* Eating a Mushroom of Hallucination now sets mana to zero (unless resisted), in addition to inducing hallucinations

* The "icky" autopicker keyword should now work for Weaponmasters

* Tweaked visibility of the Es and Dm flags to be more in line with the actual availability of easy-spell and dec-mana to the player

* Monsters are now always assumed visible for player death purposes (so they should show up as "Killed by Yibb-Tstll, the Patient One" instead of "Killed by the Monster", even if not visible)

* Added a new help file listing basic tips and common mistakes to avoid

* Added an option (on by default) to show explanatory statistics before proceeding with a reforge

* Updated some outdated and misleading spell and item descriptions

* Various minor tweaks and code improvements

Good luck everybody, and have fun!

(Before Hugo complains: I know that the bug he reported earlier today still exists. Given that it's very minor and there's no way to exploit it, I wanted to play safe and not introduce any unintended side-effects trying to fix it just before the release. It will be fixed in the next version.)

[clouded]

Thank you for the release.

 * Increased the chance of deep Angband levels being small (and reduced their average size when they do generate as small)

This reduces my desire to play no_wilderness mode, more specifically the removal of the no small levels option. The reason is because once you are deeper always small levels means that you "> detect move 5 steps < detect move 5 steps" and repeat, on mostly empty levels. Big levels are more likely to generate an item worth crossing it for or a vault or interesting room, late game gameplay is using clairvoyance for that sort of thing.

[Sideways]

Originally Posted by clouded

This reduces my desire to play no_wilderness mode, more specifically the removal of the no small levels option. The reason is because once you are deeper always small levels means that you "> detect move 5 steps < detect move 5 steps" and repeat, on mostly empty levels. Big levels are more likely to generate an item worth crossing it for or a vault or interesting room, late game gameplay is using clairvoyance for that sort of thing.

"Small levels" in deep-dungeon Angband, even after this tweak, are actually pretty large - usually 132x66 or 198x44, sometimes 132x44 (compared to 198x66 "big levels") - and play more like big levels than like the tiny levels of dungeons like Mine. Maybe "medium-sized levels" would be a more accurate description; they just have their sizes picked by the small-level routine, so that was the most immediately available term.

[HugoVirtuoso]

Major props to rodent and everyone credited to keeping FCPB alive to the excitement it keeps to this day!!

Feature request:
'Valhalla' dungeon with Viking / Norse mythology themes and monsters

Side note -
For reference, rodent was referring to this 'very minor bug' earlier:
(See the accompanying posts after that one too - At the time of that 'bug' posting, I did not yet check on how much / little 'energy' is spent on destroying individual item(s) in a multi-item-type stack)

Various other 'bugs' that I've mentioned on angband.live (These are my pet peeves):
1) Blinded players can still 'see' objects on ground. Arguably, being blinded just means 'extremely myopic' in the game's context.
2) 'Confused' players can easily use Staves of Curing / Teleport at very low failure rates. On the other hand, being 'stunned' significantly worsens failure as expected.
3) For non-Possessors, all corpse and skeleton weights are 4 lbs and 2 lbs, respectively.

[Rudiment]

I have questions about Demigod Special Powers:
1) Fleet of Foot. Does it increase speed of hero in term of speed +x?
2) Weapon Versatility. Is it just give hero opportunity to master all weapons? Does it remove "icky" wield or something? How can i know max level of weapon mastery available for my class (ex. mindcrafter)?
3) Ambidexterity. Can this power increase dual-wield mastery beyond maximum level?

Then i wear my Double Ring Mail i get message "Then i wear my Double Ring Mail i get message" but there is no decrease speed of my character. What does it mean?

[Sideways]

Originally Posted by Rudiment

I have questions about Demigod Special Powers:
1) Fleet of Foot. Does it increase speed of hero in term of speed +x?
2) Weapon Versatility. Is it just give hero opportunity to master all weapons? Does it remove "icky" wield or something? How can i know max level of weapon mastery available for my class (ex. mindcrafter)?
3) Ambidexterity. Can this power increase dual-wield mastery beyond maximum level?

Then i wear my Double Ring Mail i get message "Then i wear my Double Ring Mail i get message" but there is no decrease speed of my character. What does it mean?

1) No. Fleet of Foot makes you walk much faster, but unlike a speed bonus it applies only when you walk, it does not affect any action other than walking. Like the description says, it reduces walking energy consumption by 40% (that is, you can walk 5 squares in the time it would normally take you to walk 3 squares), which does not correspond to any fixed bonus of the "speed +X" type.

2) Weapon Versatility allows you to reach [Ma] proficiency with any weapon, however it does not remove icky-wield (you can master the icky weapon but will still receive the icky penalties). You can view your maximum proficiencies in the proficiency menu (~P, then M to toggle mode).

3) Yes, but the bonus from Ambidexterity doesn't stack with any bonus from gloves of Genji.

4) Your message seems a bit garbled here, but if you mean the message that says "The weight of your equipment encumbers your movement", that means a reduction in your mana pool (your equipment is so heavy that it prevents you from casting spells normally). How large that reduction is depends on just how overweight your equipment is; it could be either huge or negligible. For some classes, at least Blood-Mages, this status may also trigger other spellcasting penalties.

[Rudiment]

Thank you. I found in my katana (Life) stat named "Blessed". It means that this weapon is suitable for priest and no other bonuses?

[Sideways]

Originally Posted by Rudiment

Thank you. I found in my katana (Life) stat named "Blessed". It means that this weapon is suitable for priest and no other bonuses?

It also means that weapon has a chance to resist being cursed.

[Rudiment]

1) Find a weapon with stat *Sharpness*. Does it just increase the base weapon damage and nothing more?
2) Does power of given artifact via Scroll of Acquirement depends of dungeon level where scroll is read?
3) Some enemies use mana bolt and this attack can eat up to 150 HP per turn. Is there any way to reduce such damage? (exclude daze attacks on foul spellcasters)

[Sideways]

Originally Posted by Rudiment

1) Find a weapon with stat *Sharpness*. Does it just increase the base weapon damage and nothing more?
2) Does power of given artifact via Scroll of Acquirement depends of dungeon level where scroll is read?
3) Some enemies use mana bolt and this attack can eat up to 150 HP per turn. Is there any way to reduce such damage? (exclude daze attacks on foul spellcasters)

1) Sharpness and *Sharpness* give sharp criticals, which basically multiply the damage from the dice, but in a much more unpredictable way than brands or slays. The damage numbers shown on your character sheet account for sharp criticals.
2) Yes (and ?Acquirement results are not necessarily artifacts)
3) Magic resistance would reduce the damage, but magic resistance is incredibly rare (the vast majority of winning characters never find a magic resistance item). Reflection gives a 75% chance to reflect any incoming bolts, including mana bolts; you will take no damage from a reflected bolt. Remember, though, that that still leaves a 25% chance of the mana bolt getting through...

Level up a bit more and your character will have to survive much worse than mana bolts