Un 0.64 thoughts

[Therem Harth]

This is a really interesting variant. My thoughts so far:

- I like the new terrain symbols. Can't say the same for the monster symbols though, ah well.

- Likewise the randomly generated rooms with interesting stuff in them. Very atmospheric.

- On a similar note, this variant is rather gruesome! This actually manages not to be in bad taste though. When you walk into a room, notice a bunch of heads lined up against the opposite wall, and get a message about footsteps somewhere behind you, it definitely contributes to atmosphere - something kind of rare in roguelikes. It feels almost like a survival-horror game at times.

- The creepy atmosphere is nicely complemented by the quirky humor of the occasional notes.

- Monsters using items = cool. Golems with whips are my new nemesis.

I have only one real criticism... Size as a changeable stat is kind of silly. Especially being able to raise it on level gain. It seems to have significant gameplay effects (mostly on hitpoints?) but piloting a ten-foot-tall dwarf is rather strange; IMO if size is going to be a stat, it should only be possible to increase or decrease through obviously magical means, e.g. Entish potions.

[Adley]

Your dwarf is not ten foot tall. he his ten foot wide.
"logic and gameplay aren't the same thing".
And yes, the graphics are awesome.

[EpicMan]

It's not so much the logic of the thing as the breaking of immersion. Maybe call 'Size' Stamina, or Endurance, or Toughness, something so I don't see my character getter bigger as the game goes along. If I am playing a dwarf or especially a hobbit, I don't want to end up taller than humans unless I start out as Hobbo the seven-foot hobbit.

[Derakon]

Size also improves your charge attacks, if I recall correctly.

But yes, it is rather odd.

[andrewdoull]

Being able to change your size is somewhat faithful to the source material - Ent Draught in particular. And since potions in Unangband don't provide permanent stat improvements, stat gain at level up is the closest approximation.

The issue with size as a stat isn't so much that you can change it, but that at high size levels, it breaks the game - you end up having far too many hit points if you improve your size and have size improving magic items.

The approach I'm going to take in the next release will be there are very few size improving items, so the significance of the stat improvement will be greater.

Remember, Unangband is supposed to be balanced if you decide not to improve a stat so you can always forgo size improvement if it strikes you as wrong...

[EpicMan]

I had forgotten about the ent draught and Merry & Pippin. It still seems strange to me but I can't really argue it breaks immersion since it happened in LoTR.

So that leads to a more general question, why 8 stats? It seems like size and CON overlap quite a bit (both being HP stats). Agility and dexterity seem similar as well. I know your intention is that there all stats will be useful to all characters, so why have so many? Fewer stats would probably make it easier to figure out what I want to raise.

This is not a criticism, I just know from reading your blog you put a lot of thought into the changes you make and I don't see much benefit from increasing the number of stats as well as making them all needed in one way or another.

[Bandobras]

IIRC, the CON and SIZ separation was, among others, to make the CON stat not dwarf all the other stats combined in usefulness so much. Otherwise all characters end with max CON. If we ended up with all characters at max CON _and_ SIZ, then it did not work as expected...

[Bostock]

Hitpoints keep you alive.

You cannot win if you do not stay alive.

CON of course gives hitpoints.

The other stats should, in one way or another, be equally useful in keeping you alive.

[Arralen]

Bigger size makes you slower.

Maybe it should make you easier to hit?

Nevertheless, IMHO, there should be some limit on growth - things can really get strange with hobbits, dwarves etc ...

I always wondered why (permanent) stat potions aren't unique/artefacts - they're surely mighty magic, which isn't readily lying around in ME?!

And when will we finally see the marvellous wilderness areas and the nice jewelry (complete with %ual resistances) from FA in UN ?

[andrewdoull]

Originally Posted by Arralen

And when will we finally see the marvellous wilderness areas and the nice jewelry (complete with %ual resistances) from FA in UN ?

Wilderness yes; percentage resists no...

Andrew