November-December competition

[Bandobras]

Hello! Can I have my competition please? Thank you.

[Seany C]

Which competition would that be, then?

[Bandobras]

What I'm good at: Angband (variant) playing. Well, not really, but at least I'm good at playing over the first 20 levels and it's a lot more fun in good company. Of course, I have my favorite variants, too, and even some I've tweaked with my own hand to increase my chances. ;D

[Bandobras]

Thank you very much, indeed.

The November-December competition is here:

http://www.angband-comp.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/compo.html

The winner is determined by the deepest unique killed; no turn-count.

[Bandobras]

Several questions about rules, with my proposed answers. Please discuss, if you disagree.

1. Can I play the same character after death using the quickstart feature, instead of overwriting the savefile with the initial compo savefile?

I think, yes. The submitted savefile has no determined initial shops (just walk differently to the first shop), so the only difference would be bigger monster memory and different social status. I guess you could refrain from using social class 100 savefile (just quit and quickstart again), but otherwise there is really no big difference and the monster memory provides a lot of comfort in the long run, because you don't have to use spoilers or code-dive.

2. Can I use spells from any other set of initial basic 4 mage books (e.g. the Book of Cantrips or the Book of Curses)?

No. There seems to be an exploit that allows you to learn those spells, after telling you that you cannot learn them, but it's just a bug (I think). However, Song Books are very valuable for Druids and perfectly legal, especially the first song book...

3. Can I play the SVN version instead of wip7b?

I think, yes, because there are no really big changes so far. When/if wip7c is released everybody will be able to switch (but I'd propose the switch to be voluntary).

4. Can I change options?

Yes, all except Birth and Cheat (auto-scum is under Birth).

Edit:
5. Can I scum the siege of Hornburg?

I think, yes, this is just gaming the system.

[andrewdoull]

Originally Posted by Bandobras

Several questions about rules, with my proposed answers. Please discuss, if you disagree.

1. Can I play the same character after death using the quickstart feature, instead of overwriting the savefile with the initial compo savefile?

I think, yes. The submitted savefile has no determined initial shops (just walk differently to the first shop), so the only difference would be bigger monster memory and different social status.

And random artifacts - which may make a big difference to the play through. But, as I mention on my blog, this is as much a matter of trust.

I guess you could refrain from using social class 100 savefile (just quit and quickstart again), but otherwise there is really no big difference and the monster memory provides a lot of comfort in the long run, because you don't have to use spoilers or code-dive.

2. Can I use spells from any other set of initial basic 4 mage books (e.g. the Book of Cantrips or the Book of Curses)?

No. There seems to be an exploit that allows you to learn those spells, after telling you that you cannot learn them, but it's just a bug (I think).

You're correct - I need to tidy this up, especially as it is broken with easy_more.

However, Song Books are very valuable for Druids and perfectly legal, especially the first song book...

3. Can I play the SVN version instead of wip7b?

I think, yes, because there are no really big changes so far. When/if wip7c is released everybody will be able to switch (but I'd propose the switch to be voluntary).

There's a unique killing bug that will be problematic if you don't upgrade (wip7b and earlier - you cannot kill uniques with bolt spells that also have a chance of beaming).

4. Can I change options?

Yes, all except Birth and Cheat (auto-scum is under Birth).

Edit:
5. Can I scum the siege of Hornburg?

I think, yes, this is just gaming the system.

I like the fact that there's a battlefield open to the starting player. I'm just not sure that it should be the siege of Hornburg... I guess there are enough novice warriors there for another one not to be problematic.

Andrew

[Bandobras]

Originally Posted by andrewdoull

And random artifacts - which may make a big difference to the play through. But, as I mention on my blog, this is as much a matter of trust.

Oh, indeed, playing subsequent incarnations until random artifacts are excellent and from then on only replaying the same savefile would be cheating. Though it's not as crucial as when all artifacts are randomized.

I like the fact that there's a battlefield open to the starting player. I'm just not sure that it should be the siege of Hornburg...

It's from LOTR straight away and only visiting two locations is needed, though the visiting has consequences, unlike the siege which has no result. For the next version, I'd remove all the levels beneath siege, made it harder (some trolls, some bad men), allow to enter it only once and made some reward if the guardian is slain (e.g. access to an optional location with treasure). BTW, I like how the Battle of Five Armies is gradually opened. Perhaps add also a battle (the one of 2941) of mages against ghosts at Dol Guldur so that moving on to LOTR and setting loose all the Nazgul is not so trivial as it's now? The victorious battle essentially only "stirred up" the evil, so it generally agrees with the current description of Dol Guldur.

Edit: or perhaps block Paths of the Dead if you fail the Siege? BTW, Currently Paths are anyway blocked forever if you visit Darkened Isengard. Just ading Q:29:249 to the Siege right now would make it too easy to get to Minas Tirith, OTOH.

Edit: or perhaps reopen Edoras with its great shops after winning the Siege? Similarly to Lake Town. I can try to do this for the next version, if you don't come up with something more original.

Edit: OTOH the trade-offs right now are OK: if you visit Dol Guldur you can scum the Siege, but you lose the Paths' treasure and the easiest way to Minas Tirith. The more reason to make Dol Duldur harder to trigger by newbies...