Next Angband competition

andrewdoull · October 25, 2007, 02:26

I'd also really like to submit an Unangband character for the next competition: either a Druid, Master or a Sorcerer (all are mage subclasses). Firstly, I'd need people to hit on Unangband and identify any last minute bugs, before the current competition ends (31st October). Secondly, does anyone have a preference as to which class they'd prefer?

From the help files:

The school of Druidry contains a wide variety of different spells,
include a good low level offense, but is hampered by difficult to
use defensive spells and offensive magic that takes a while to get
going and may leave the Druid in close proximity to harm should
they fail to work. A Druid operates best when he is able to
prepare the ground upon which he fights, and works best in open
spaces: conjuring trees, calling forth lightning and fire and so
on. This is also the Druid's weakness: he must operate in the
open, and takes a while to prepare his magic, which means he can
be overwhelmed before his magic can be used.

The school of Mastery contains some useful low-level magics, but at
higher levels is heavily reliant on the ability to summon and control
minions for the great part of both offense and defense. This is
a double-edged sword: while the minions are more than capable of
providing the Master protection and dealing out damage, he has a
heavy investment in them, and will have to pay a 'mana debt' or
'blood debt' should they be destroyed. This reliance on minions
means that the tables can turn very quickly on the Master and get
out of control.

The school of Sorcery is both deceptively weak and strong. A
Sorcerer lacks the immediate damage dealing capacity of the Wizard
and the long term damage capability of the Druid, and does not have
the same range of minions as the Master. The Sorcerer's spells and
minions are useful in preparing the ground like the Druid, in
particular with a range of traps and mimics, and enraging and
drawing in the enemy. But his abilities to ensorcle perhaps any
enemy, will give him opportunities and gambits far greater than
the Master is capable of.

Andrew

Daven_26d1 · October 25, 2007, 02:43

Druid would be a cool class for a competition. Haven't had the chance to play one yet, but they sound like fun.

EricCamp · October 25, 2007, 03:43

Sounds like fun. Was wanting to get involved in these competitions.....

Big Al · October 25, 2007, 05:36

Never been a big fan of pets, therefore anything other than Master, judging by the descriptions.

Geofferic · October 25, 2007, 08:50

Druid sounds interesting, or perhaps the Sorcerer. The Master is not interesting to me, as I am with Big Al in the not liking pets department.

Magnate · October 25, 2007, 10:44

Yay, an Unangband competition! I will definitely dig it out again. I voted for sorceror, but not because I don't like pets (more because I'm afraid of being eaten by them). I don't have the skill/patience to prepare properly, so druid is out.

CC

Bandobras · October 31, 2007, 18:57

Is the race decided yet? Or perhaps contestants will be free to choose a race, except Maia (High-Elf for everybody? but Shadow Fairy may easily be better, or perhaps a Goblin? any shapeshifter)? Highest unique and exp/turn? Which kind of turn? Connected stairs? Autoscum (I suggest not)? Small levels (do they even work?)?

wip7a or wip7b? What about exploits (I propose that contestants are allowed to use them --- there are no known big exploits left so it will be fair for everybody)? I guess if a serious bug is found and corrected, switching to the corrected version should be voluntary.

andrewdoull · October 31, 2007, 22:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bandobras

Is the race decided yet?

I was thinking Dwarven Druid...

Quote:

Or perhaps contestants will be free to choose a race, except Maia (High-Elf for everybody? but Shadow Fairy may easily be better, or perhaps a Goblin? any shapeshifter)? Highest unique and exp/turn? Which kind of turn? Connected stairs? Autoscum (I suggest not)? Small levels (do they even work?)?

Connected stairs = yes. Autoscum = do we even need this anymore? Small levels = not yet implemented.

Quote:

wip7a or wip7b? What about exploits (I propose that contestants are allowed to use them --- there are no known big exploits left so it will be fair for everybody)? I guess if a serious bug is found and corrected, switching to the corrected version should be voluntary.

There's one major bug that survived playtesting for 2-3 months in SVN without being picked it up. Its fixed now, but for any school based spell
caster will have to upgrade to 7b (Will have to disable monster classes for that release).

Andrew

Bandobras · November 2, 2007, 20:32

I can't wait for the competion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrewdoull

I was thinking Dwarven Druid...

Great. The one I've got by point-based creation has -1 speed and 15% fail, but it's OK --- mages are powerful and stats improve quickly.

Quote:

[...]Autoscum = do we even need this anymore?

I think we don't. Levels are interesting enough. They have higher level feelings than V, most of the time, though often still lower than with auto_scum. If we also removed level feelings (except in exceptional cases) there would be absolutely no risk of manual level feeling scumming, so no point of auto_scum.

Quote:

Small levels = not yet implemented.

A pity.

Quote:

[...]caster will have to upgrade to 7b (Will have to disable monster classes for that release).

Sure, monster classes will require lots of fine-tuning, I'm sure. It seems removing the first occurence of RF9_LEVEL_CLASS in melee1.c and the second in defines.h should be enough.

andrewdoull · November 2, 2007, 23:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bandobras

I think we don't. Levels are interesting enough.

Not trying to blow my own trumpet here, but I'm really enjoying the level design... I had shivers going up my spine when, while fleeing a Giant grey termite, I had to cross a massive water filled room where I could see various dragon-flies sleeping amidst the pillars...

Quote:

Sure, monster classes will require lots of fine-tuning, I'm sure. It seems removing the first occurence of RF9_LEVEL_CLASS in melee1.c and the second in defines.h should be enough.

Yep. Sounds like they'll be experimental for a little while from feedback I've had elsewhere.

I'll try to do another big round of bug-fixing this weekend and get 7b out...

Andrew

View Poll Results: Which class would you prefer?
Druid	5	50.00%
Master	2	20.00%
Sorcerer	3	30.00%
Voters: 10. You may not vote on this poll

October 25, 2007, 02:26	#1
andrewdoull Unangband maintainer Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Sydney, Australia Age: 44 Posts: 872	Next Angband competition I'd also really like to submit an Unangband character for the next competition: either a Druid, Master or a Sorcerer (all are mage subclasses). Firstly, I'd need people to hit on Unangband and identify any last minute bugs, before the current competition ends (31st October). Secondly, does anyone have a preference as to which class they'd prefer? From the help files: The school of Druidry contains a wide variety of different spells, include a good low level offense, but is hampered by difficult to use defensive spells and offensive magic that takes a while to get going and may leave the Druid in close proximity to harm should they fail to work. A Druid operates best when he is able to prepare the ground upon which he fights, and works best in open spaces: conjuring trees, calling forth lightning and fire and so on. This is also the Druid's weakness: he must operate in the open, and takes a while to prepare his magic, which means he can be overwhelmed before his magic can be used. The school of Mastery contains some useful low-level magics, but at higher levels is heavily reliant on the ability to summon and control minions for the great part of both offense and defense. This is a double-edged sword: while the minions are more than capable of providing the Master protection and dealing out damage, he has a heavy investment in them, and will have to pay a 'mana debt' or 'blood debt' should they be destroyed. This reliance on minions means that the tables can turn very quickly on the Master and get out of control. The school of Sorcery is both deceptively weak and strong. A Sorcerer lacks the immediate damage dealing capacity of the Wizard and the long term damage capability of the Druid, and does not have the same range of minions as the Master. The Sorcerer's spells and minions are useful in preparing the ground like the Druid, in particular with a range of traps and mimics, and enraging and drawing in the enemy. But his abilities to ensorcle perhaps any enemy, will give him opportunities and gambits far greater than the Master is capable of. Andrew __________________ The Roflwtfzomgbbq Quylthulg summons L33t Paladins -more- In UnAngband, the level dives you. ASCII Dreams: http://roguelikedeveloper.blogspot.com Unangband: http://unangband.blogspot.com

October 25, 2007, 02:43	#2
Daven_26d1 Adept Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: North of England. Posts: 211	Druid would be a cool class for a competition. Haven't had the chance to play one yet, but they sound like fun. __________________ You sold a Broken Sword (1d2) (-2,-4) {average} (j) for 1 gold. The shopkeeper howls in agony! You say "Dude, the clue is in the name...".

October 25, 2007, 03:43	#3
EricCamp Rookie Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Florida USA Age: 42 Posts: 16	Sounds like fun. Was wanting to get involved in these competitions..... __________________ ------------------------------------- So there @ was, broken blade in hand, defiantly telling a D where he could stick it.

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October 25, 2007, 05:36	#4
Big Al Swordsman Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Calgary Age: 31 Posts: 327 Donated: $18.32	Never been a big fan of pets, therefore anything other than Master, judging by the descriptions.

October 25, 2007, 08:50	#5
Geofferic Rookie Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 24	Druid sounds interesting, or perhaps the Sorcerer. The Master is not interesting to me, as I am with Big Al in the not liking pets department.

October 25, 2007, 10:44	#6
Magnate Angband Devteam member Join Date: May 2007 Location: London, UK Posts: 5,057	Yay, an Unangband competition! I will definitely dig it out again. I voted for sorceror, but not because I don't like pets (more because I'm afraid of being eaten by them). I don't have the skill/patience to prepare properly, so druid is out. CC

October 31, 2007, 18:57	#7
Bandobras Knight Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 722	Is the race decided yet? Or perhaps contestants will be free to choose a race, except Maia (High-Elf for everybody? but Shadow Fairy may easily be better, or perhaps a Goblin? any shapeshifter)? Highest unique and exp/turn? Which kind of turn? Connected stairs? Autoscum (I suggest not)? Small levels (do they even work?)? wip7a or wip7b? What about exploits (I propose that contestants are allowed to use them --- there are no known big exploits left so it will be fair for everybody)? I guess if a serious bug is found and corrected, switching to the corrected version should be voluntary.

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