making a semi-variant (more talk about modifying the /edit .txt files)

[will_asher]

I'd like to make my modified edit directory available for anyone to play almost like a variant, and it's almost different enough to call a variant even though the /edit .txt files are the only thing that's changed. There's new races and classes and changes to make permanent see invisible a lot rarer (and less monsters invisible), in addition to a lot of different monsters. I have a few monsters native deeper than dL100 to make it interesting to keep playing a little after winning the game. (Not that I could take advantage of that for awhile..) Can I distribute this legally? If not, can I distrubute it legally if I get official permission from Takkaria? Is there any way to make the dumps different from vanilla dumps so there can be a separate section of the ladder for it? (I'd like to be able to dump characters on the ladder).

Also, I hope I can get people to tell me what they think of the deeper monsters. It's kindof hard to test stuff like that when I don't usually get past dL20 or 25.

I've heard suggestions in another thread to get rid of some of the artifacts, and I'd like to do that except I don't really know which artifacts to take out. any suggestions? (please don't ask me to take out the uber-good stuff, I don't want my semi-variant to be harder than vanilla -just different).

Also, there are a couple flags I still don't know what they do, can anyone tell me?
POWERFUL (someone said it increased breath damage, but in the monster blow spoiler it only says that it increases the radius of the breath, and I'd be a little surprised if that was all it did.)
STUPID
(I think those are the only two I'm not sure about)

Is there a difference/ What is the difference between HURT and FIRE,ACID,COLD,ELEC besides the effect of the elemental damage?
(someone in a recent thread inplied there was a difference besides the effects of the elemental attack.)

thanks
Will

[Daven_26d1]

Just distribute your edit files, there's no point wrapping up another copy of Angband with them if 99% of the people who will use them already have a copy of Angband.

A couple install scripts so that anyone can use your mod quickly and easily and you'd be away.

EDIT - I would guess that STUPID monsters always use the stupid AI?

[will_asher]

Install scripts to replace the original edit files with mine automatically? That sounds cool, but I wouldn't know how to write it. maybe I'll ask someone to do that for me once I have them ready to download.

[zaimoni]

If I was providing those scripts, I'd back up the original edit files as well. They'd be somewhat platform-specific.

At minimum
* *.bat for DOS/Windows
* *.sh for *NIX (least common denominator, something that works on all non-buggy shells out there.)

I'd want
* initial install
* uninstall
* switch to original
* switch to revised

[will_asher]

I've already replaced several uniques, but I'm wanting to add just a couple more. Vanilla Angband has 97 uniques, mine currently has 99 but about six of them are minor orc uniques which I don't want to count since I want to make them not much tougher than their escorts.

I didn't like Cantoras because he's not from Tolkien nor from another popular story or mythology that I know of. If he was just made up for Angband, Moria, or DND, then I don't want him in the game. But if he is from a fantasy story or mythology, or possibly from Tolkien (but didn't get into the Guide to Middle Earth by Robert Foster which I use to find out if some uniques are from Tolkien or not because it's been awhile since I read the Silmarillion and I don't remember a lot from it.) ..then I'll put him back in my monster.txt file. So if Cantoras is from a fantasy story or mythology that I don't know about, please let me know, if not I was thinking about replacing him with a mummy unique. any suggestions?

Also, I'm pretty sure that Tselakus was probably just made up for Angband, and want to take him out. I would like to replace him with a ghost unique.

I also thought I might like to add a snake unique, I was thinking possibly Apophis (the evil snake-shaped brother of Ra in egyptian mythology), but welcome other suggestions.

Some stuff I've already done with uniques:
Atlas and Kronos are taken out. The quylthulg unique is cut. The yeek uniques (like the rest of the yeeks) have been terminated. I already mentioned Tselakus and probably Cantoras will be expelled. Baphomet is changed a lot (because it shouldn't be called a minotaur). Smeagul is changed and appears later (and is called Gollum not Smeagul). The dL3 unique is now Lotho-Sackville Baggins. Gorlim has been released because he really wasn't a bad guy (I felt sorry for him). Farmer Maggot has been replaced by Harry Goatleaf. The elemental uniques have been rejected. The Cat Lord has been replaced by the White Cat of Beruthiel (who rules over the black cats) but is essentially the same. Omarax has been plucked out. The angel uniques (along with the other angels) don't belong in Angband. I took Medusa out because 1) if she can't petrify then she's not Medusa 2) she is unrelated to hydras and nagas like she appears to be in Angband.

Not sure about Polyphemus and Fundin Bluecloak. Polyphemus I took out at first, but I'm thinking I'll probably put him back in. Fundin Bluecloak is not mentioned as either a bad guy or a priest in the Guide to Middle Earth or the Enclyclopedia of Arda (on the internet). I'd look him up in the Sillmarillion, but I don't have a copy of my own. When I read it, I was borrowing it from my parents. oh well.

Some uniques I have added (besides minor orc uniques):
Harry Goatleaf and Lotho Sackville-Baggins like I mentioned already
Bill Ferny
Wolf, Farmer Maggot's other dog (BTW, I also made slight differences between the dogs 'cause I didn't feel like having them all exactly the same)
Three uniques from The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon: Siniava, and the two evil gods Achrya and Liart.
Wulf, Renegade of Rohan (from the Sillmarillion)
The third of the Stone troll brothers (I forget which one is missing from vanilla ..wait, aren't they all in vanilla? maybe he was already there).
Old man Willow who lives near the Shire, and The Watcher in the Water at the doors of Moria.
Bel-Shamharoth, a beholder-type from Discworld (much earlier and not nearly as tough as the old beholder unique)
The Cerberus and The Minotaur of Crete from greek mythology
Huwawa, Guardian of the Forest from the story of Gilgamesh
Two uniques from Wagner's the The Ring (which Tolkien got some ideas from): Alberich the Nibelung (the Dwarf Lord, who currently replaces Fundin Bluecloak), and Fafner the Giant.
and a couple others which I will leave as surprises.

[andrewdoull]

Originally Posted by will_asher

I've already replaced several uniques, but I'm wanting to add just a couple more. Vanilla Angband has 97 uniques, mine currently has 99 but about six of them are minor orc uniques which I don't want to count since I want to make them not much tougher than their escorts.

Hi Will,

Shawn McHorse did a lot of what you are suggesting previously for Angband, and came up with a comprehensive list here.

http://groups.google.com.au/group/re...6c88bff0a9da9e

I then took that list and modified it for Unangband, incorporating various monster stats from a number of Angband variants, as well as re-using the stats for some uniques that he drops.

Keep up the good work.

Andrew

[andrewdoull]

Originally Posted by will_asher

Not sure about Polyphemus and Fundin Bluecloak. Polyphemus I took out at first, but I'm thinking I'll probably put him back in. Fundin Bluecloak is not mentioned as either a bad guy or a priest in the Guide to Middle Earth or the Enclyclopedia of Arda (on the internet). I'd look him up in the Sillmarillion, but I don't have a copy of my own. When I read it, I was borrowing it from my parents. oh well.

Don't bother looking. Fundin was the first Angband winner ever...

Andrew

[will_asher]

`

Originally Posted by andrewdoull

Hi Will,

Shawn McHorse did a lot of what you are suggesting previously for Angband, and came up with a comprehensive list here.

http://groups.google.com.au/group/re...6c88bff0a9da9e

I then took that list and modified it for Unangband, incorporating various monster stats from a number of Angband variants, as well as re-using the stats for some uniques that he drops.

Keep up the good work.

Andrew

Thanks for the link, it's a very interesting post by someone who did some good research. I find it very funny that Sauron was originally a cat. Ted Sandyman I can use as another early unique to let me take out Bullroarer (who, as the post says, wasn't a bad guy). I heard Ted was in a variant or two but wasn't sure if he was from Tolkien.

<..reads the rest of the message from the link> I think I'll make some changes to my uniques now..

I almost removed Vecna, but I did kindof want to have a lich unique so I left him in. I had only heard of him as a Hindu god though. I was never interested in DND and don't want to have too much influence from it.

I knew the names of the Nazguls besides Khamul were not from Tolkien but it's appropiate to make each nazgul a unique and to do that it helps to have names for them.

That fact about Fundin might've actually made me put him back in the game if I had not already found a replacement (mentioned in my earlier post). I did keep Draebor after all. There is a mythology which is original to roguelikes which would include things like Fundin and Draebor.

more later..

[Nick]

Hi Will,

I've done a lot of this sort of thing for FAangband. Because it's First Age based, I needed to remove all the later uniques (Saruman, Grishnakh, etc), but I did keep ones like Vecna and Cantoras who are not mentioned in Tolkien. I also removed anyone from other mythologies (although there were already not many of those in O, which I forked from). You seem to have worked out what you're basing your selections on, which is the important thing.

You might like to have a look at the FA monster list - in particular the Phantom of Eilenel is a Tolkienian ghost unique. It's worth noting, too the gameplay purposes of some of these uniques - the angels, for example, are among the few high-level uniques which are not evil.

Keep us posted.

[Daven_26d1]

Originally Posted by zaimoni

If I was providing those scripts, I'd back up the original edit files as well. They'd be somewhat platform-specific.

At minimum
* *.bat for DOS/Windows
* *.sh for *NIX (least common denominator, something that works on all non-buggy shells out there.)

I'd want
* initial install
* uninstall
* switch to original
* switch to revised

My idea would be to unpack scripts & edit files to the angband folder, and run the install script there. After that, run a provided angband.sh or angband.bat instead of angband or angband.exe and the script can prompt you for a choice regarding which version you wish to play, swapping over the files where neccessary. Of course, when it swaps edit files in/out, it should also swap in/out the savefile if it exists.