Features from variants that should be imported into Vanilla

[Donald Jonker]

Friends,

What follows is a list of things, in order of priority, that I think should be eventually pulled from variants into Vanilla.

1. Eddie's squelch system. I've said it before and I'll say it again: "Man I love being a turtle." ...er, it's hands-down the best squelch system. And we need one. 'Nuff said.

2. NPP's quiver system. All classes need a way of managing ammo types by the end of the game. As it is, they take up too much room in the home in efforts to merge or keep enough different kinds for the different high-end uniques you want to kill. Right now, you can't plan ahead for endgame uniques very well.. and that ought to change.

3. NPP's store services. A tried-and-true way to eliminate townscumming without unbalancing the game.

4. FA's terrain types. Apart from flavor, FA's terrain really opens up a lot of new tactical opportunities, which would really benefit Vanilla. I know Herr Sidwell mentioned looking into terrain, and I think the FA model far excels NPP, which while it looks very pretty, doesn't do a whole lot for tactics (painting huge swaths of the dungeon with a terrain type doesn't open up many possibilites). Climbing into a tree or rubble tile for better defense, while simple, adds a whole new dimension.

5. NPP/FA Shooter affinities. Slings and Shortbows are currently marginalized. I like what NPP does for rogues and slings. I don't really understand how FA handles it, but I think there should be some differentiation between classes, if for flavor only. Right now everybody just wants a longbow.. and that's fine, but why not mix things up a little?

6. Z+'s changes to humans. I can't think of any compelling reason why we need a base race. Z+ makes humans interesting (letting them ID weapon bonuses, show damage delivered to monsters, &c). No race should be boring.

[Larvitz]

I like all those ideas. I love terrain, especially, it's so cool, for example in UnAngband, with all the different kinds of stuff affecting things... definitely makes gameplay a good bit deeper.

I liked my digging slot, but the man who does not encourage digging turned me down.

[takkaria]

Originally Posted by Donald Jonker

Friends,

What follows is a list of things, in order of priority, that I think should be eventually pulled from variants into Vanilla.

1. Eddie's squelch system. I've said it before and I'll say it again: "Man I love being a turtle." ...er, it's hands-down the best squelch system. And we need one. 'Nuff said.

2. NPP's quiver system. All classes need a way of managing ammo types by the end of the game. As it is, they take up too much room in the home in efforts to merge or keep enough different kinds for the different high-end uniques you want to kill. Right now, you can't plan ahead for endgame uniques very well.. and that ought to change.

3. NPP's store services. A tried-and-true way to eliminate townscumming without unbalancing the game.

4. FA's terrain types. Apart from flavor, FA's terrain really opens up a lot of new tactical opportunities, which would really benefit Vanilla. I know Herr Sidwell mentioned looking into terrain, and I think the FA model far excels NPP, which while it looks very pretty, doesn't do a whole lot for tactics (painting huge swaths of the dungeon with a terrain type doesn't open up many possibilites). Climbing into a tree or rubble tile for better defense, while simple, adds a whole new dimension.

5. NPP/FA Shooter affinities. Slings and Shortbows are currently marginalized. I like what NPP does for rogues and slings. I don't really understand how FA handles it, but I think there should be some differentiation between classes, if for flavor only. Right now everybody just wants a longbow.. and that's fine, but why not mix things up a little?

6. Z+'s changes to humans. I can't think of any compelling reason why we need a base race. Z+ makes humans interesting (letting them ID weapon bonuses, show damage delivered to monsters, &c). No race should be boring.

Here's a summary of where I'm at with all these things:

Eddie's working on a port of his squelch system for 3.1; quivers are on the agenda for 3.2 or thereabouts; I'm looking at store stocking in 3.1.2, and so we'll see what happens there (I'm probably not adding store services, but I hope to reduce scumming in other ways); terrain is something I'm interested in, but again 3.2+; affinities/anything else combat-y is also waiting til 3.2; and race changes other than Antoine's I haven't really looked at yet, but what you suggest about ID is likely to not apply to V since I'm reworking it in 3.1.1 anyway.

[tigpup]

NPP mana-limited monsters.
Anything that makes randards more interesting.
Random monsters.
Monsters that are randomly generated.
Random monsters.

-neil

[Donald Jonker]

Originally Posted by takkaria

Here's a summary of where I'm at with all these things:

Very cool - good to know. Thanks for the reply!

[momo125]

no terrain please. That belongs in variants

I just want things that make game play better

Store services and npp style squelch and autoscribe

[Donald Jonker]

Originally Posted by momo125

Store services and npp style squelch and autoscribe

Ah yes - NPP-style prompted auto-inscriptions is something I often desire when playing Eddie's patch, but always forget to request. Makes things much less laborious (particularly when upgrading versions or starting new savefiles). Consider it requested.

[Donald Jonker]

While I'm sitting down, is Eddie's "no selling to stores, dungeon-gold multiplier" being considered for birth option status in future versions of V?

[takkaria]

Originally Posted by Donald Jonker

While I'm sitting down, is Eddie's "no selling to stores, dungeon-gold multiplier" being considered for birth option status in future versions of V?

Yeah, it is. Someday. (Quite possibly 3.1.2, since I'm doing store-related stuff then.)