Monster Pits vs. Monster Nests

[TricksterWolf]

This is a stupid question. I know it is stupid. But after a few hours of searching and many years of playing I STILL do not know what a "monster nest" is. I know monster pits very well, as well as unusual rooms, lesser vaults, and greater vaults; and I have played ang variants for many many years. I just don't know what a "monster nest" is. I don't get it. I don't see areas that have all the same type of monster in them that aren't pits.

For the love of Luna, somebody just post a picture of a canonical monster nest or a number of pictures that show each room type so I know what it actually means when someone says "nest". Please?

Thankyousomuch if you reply to this!

[Derakon]

As I understand it, the only difference between a pit and a nest is that a pit is organized and a nest isn't. Orc pit, troll pit, demon pit, dragon pit; jelly nest, "zoo" (animal nest), "graveyard" (undead nest). They have the same room+moat layout in the dungeon, but the monsters inside a pit are arranged in orderly rows (until they start pushing past each other, anyway), while the monsters inside a nest are randomly placed.

You could call them all pits and I don't think anyone would be particularly bothered.

[TricksterWolf]

I still don't get it. You mean a "nest" is just a "pit" that isn't full?

[TricksterWolf]

Oh! Okay, okay. I see.

That's a pretty dumb distinction, to be honest. It always confused me because I thought there was some other type of room I was never seeing. Plus in the description it says, "nests are like pits except there's an inner room" so it makes it sound like they're in those areas where you enter the room and then there's a tiny 1x1 room in the middle (you know the type), but those usually have like 5 traps and a couple of monsters. :P

[Timo Pietilä]

Originally Posted by Derakon

As I understand it, the only difference between a pit and a nest is that a pit is organized and a nest isn't. Orc pit, troll pit, demon pit, dragon pit; jelly nest, "zoo" (animal nest), "graveyard" (undead nest). They have the same room+moat layout in the dungeon, but the monsters inside a pit are arranged in orderly rows (until they start pushing past each other, anyway), while the monsters inside a nest are randomly placed.

Also nest has far greater randomness in what kind of monsters are in there. Zoos and graveyards change a lot when you go deeper, but pits don't change much.

[TricksterWolf]

But then...

Why does the Angband FAQ say that monster nests are: "Similar to a pit, but containing an inner room and a random assortment..."

Maybe the 'and' is a typo (instead of 'with')? As worded, it sounds like nests have an inner room that pits do not. This was the source of my confusion.

[Timo Pietilä]

Originally Posted by TricksterWolf

But then...

Why does the Angband FAQ say that monster nests are: "Similar to a pit, but containing an inner room and a random assortment..."

Maybe the 'and' is a typo (instead of 'with')? As worded, it sounds like nests have an inner room that pits do not. This was the source of my confusion.

OK, that's clearly something that should be fixed. Maybe "Similar to a pit containing an inner room but with random assortment..."