New Player, Questions

[Joe]

Hey there

I started quickband a few years ago, it was too difficult for me so I shelved it. I never wanted to play Angband because 100 levels seemed insane, but it didn't occur to me that the progression would be spread out. I've just started and it's quite manageable, I have a clvl 37 human ranger and I'm at L57. I'm not comfortable but I'm staying alive, but I really need pconf.

I am a pixel artist and am interested in making a tileset, I think it would be a lot of fun to bring to life all the letters which, while I can play with, I cannot keep imagining what they look like as I play. Naturally I have many questions from my first playthrough:

How can I make a character dump?

It seems to me detection is life or death information. As a ranger I can cast detect monsters, but how would you play a warrior?

There've been some very tempting vaults with extremely dangerous enemies, Saruman & Kavlax were literally sitting on the Arkenstone... thankfully I've been wise enough to stay opportunistic. My question: is that the underlying strategy? Sifting through the dregs and the small skirmishes you can handle until you find something worthwhile?

Teleport other. Fortunately I have it, but how would you stay alive without?

The lack of goblins feels empty to me, especially when many non-first era creatures are included. Why aren't there goblins in Angband, and can they be added?

I would like to start a tileset but don't know where to start. I've compiled 4.0.2 on linux and I first tried cloning an existing tileset in lib/tiles, but nothing showed up after a restart. When that didn't work I tried directly editing one, restarted, and no changes showed. ??? Is it pulling tiles from somewhere else? Do I need to recompile everytime? Tile makers, how do you do it?

[mushroom patch]

I believe you can add goblins with so-called "edit files." For example, you could replace all instances of the word "orc" with "goblin." You'd have "half-goblins," "black goblins," etc. Alternatively, you could replace all instances of the word "yeek" with goblin, so that you'd have "blue goblins," "master goblins," and "Boldor, King of the Goblins." If you're feeling a little silly, you could even change "Boldor" to "David Bowie."

Now if you really want to get creative, you could do a search and replace on the word "dragon." Then you'd have "blue goblins," "red goblins," even "multi-hued goblins" all with different, interesting breath attacks. You'd get them in "baby," "young," "mature," and "ancient" varieties too.

[Nick]

Originally Posted by Joe

How can I make a character dump?

'C' for the character screen, then 'f'.

Originally Posted by Joe

It seems to me detection is life or death information. As a ranger I can cast detect monsters, but how would you play a warrior?

Eventually you find rods of detection, and telepathy also helps. Warriors get more hitpoints; weaker detection is part of the tradeoff.

Originally Posted by Joe

There've been some very tempting vaults with extremely dangerous enemies, Saruman & Kavlax were literally sitting on the Arkenstone... thankfully I've been wise enough to stay opportunistic. My question: is that the underlying strategy? Sifting through the dregs and the small skirmishes you can handle until you find something worthwhile?

Basically yes. Vaults are high risk, high reward - it's up to you to decide how much risk to take.

Originally Posted by Joe

Teleport other. Fortunately I have it, but how would you stay alive without?

Detection, and other means of escape like teleport level and destruction.

Originally Posted by Joe

The lack of goblins feels empty to me, especially when many non-first era creatures are included. Why aren't there goblins in Angband, and can they be added?

Orcs and goblins are basically the same creatures - they were mostly called goblins in The Hobbit, and mostly orcs in LoTR.

[Timo Pietilä]

Originally Posted by Joe

I'm not comfortable but I'm staying alive, but I really need pconf.

When you find heargear "of serenity" carry it as swap. Saves you from many problems. Especially handy against mystics.

[Derakon]

Carry potions of Cure Serious/Critical Wounds with you. I don't generally go into the dungeon with fewer than 10 if I can help it. Drinking one will immediately cure you of confusion and blindness. This isn't much help if you're meleeing an Umber Hulk, of course, but for enemies that don't blind/confuse you often, it can be a lifesaver.

[debo]

Originally Posted by mushroom patch

If you're feeling a little silly, you could even change "Boldor" to "David Bowie".

Good Halls of Mist reference.

[Timo Pietilä]

Originally Posted by Derakon

Carry potions of Cure Serious/Critical Wounds with you. I don't generally go into the dungeon with fewer than 10 if I can help it. Drinking one will immediately cure you of confusion and blindness. This isn't much help if you're meleeing an Umber Hulk, of course, but for enemies that don't blind/confuse you often, it can be a lifesaver.

Titans come to mind. Those both hit hard and confuse with melee. Umber Hulk is wimp, I wouldn't worry about heals with it.

Of course CCW is critical component of your survival gear deep down even with most of the nasty effect protections, but having that protection gives you an alternative to fleeing. You can actually melee Grand Master Mystic with ease with serenity.

[Joe]

Hm, C f doesn't seem to work. I get "Saving as /home/joe//.angband/Angband/Cale.txt" (double slash might be the problem) and nothing appears.

Orcs and goblins are basically the same creatures - they were mostly called goblins in The Hobbit, and mostly orcs in LoTR.

Looked it up. Eductated myself. Thank you for clearing that up. I blame Jackson's portrayal in thinking they were different beings.

Hm, sounds like playing a warrior is quite dangerous, especially in forced descent. So much hinges on finding some form of detection. Oh but I just learned rods can't be destroyed, that's extremely useful.

Yes, CCW has been essential in getting down to 57. Still looking for pconf.

——————

Do Hungry and Full have any effect on combat?

Does the level feeling take into account items carried by monsters? I read in the other thread that monsters are generated carrying items now.

Pathfinding. How can it be that, 10-20 blocks away, enemies can be glued to me like a magnet, knowing my precise location at all times, and yet not walk around a corridor in the dungeon they dwell in. On the other hand, what is it supposed to teach a player on ironman after waking up a chaos drake, when even after teleporting across the level the drake "knows" exactly where the player is and arrives in a few moves? I think this needs a lot of work, and it would be much more realistic to take stealth into account in the future. How can a monster without ESP know exactly where I've gone if I've teleported randomly? Just because a monster is awake shouldn't mean it's omniscient. I think "known player location" should be a ? that gets clearer with time, much like wakefulness.

——————

I am much more interested in starting this tileset. I still can't get any changes to show up in game. Should I just start a new thread?

[Timo Pietilä]

Originally Posted by Joe

Do Hungry and Full have any effect on combat?

Does the level feeling take into account items carried by monsters?

No and no. "Hungry" could cause you to faint from hunger though, and before recent changes "Full" could change to gorged when you eat/drank something slowing you by 10. First still apply, but second doesn't.

Items carried by monsters are treated like they weren't there by all relevant measures. You don't lose artifact carried by monster even if monster get crushed by something and you play with preserve off and so on.

[Werbaer]

Originally Posted by Joe

Pathfinding. How can it be that, 10-20 blocks away, enemies can be glued to me like a magnet, knowing my precise location at all times, and yet not walk around a corridor in the dungeon they dwell in. On the other hand, what is it supposed to teach a player on ironman after waking up a chaos drake, when even after teleporting across the level the drake "knows" exactly where the player is and arrives in a few moves?

Sense of smell.
(in old days, this behaviour could be changed by the option flow_by_smell, wich is now gone)
There is a limit how far away monsters can find you. For chaos drake, it's 20 grids, not "across the level". Maybe your "teleport" was just a phase door? Otherwise, the drake would need more than "a few moves" to reach you.