What's the best variant of Angband in your opinion?

[ssjs]

I've played PosChengband and Entroband.They are all really good.

[Mondkalb]

I really like FAangband.
It might be a bit dated UI-wise, but it has lots of nice litte flavor thingies that have been kicked out of Vanilla.
I also enjoy the various landscapes and different dungeons of the game.
Also, it's hard ... ^^

[Pete Mack]

@Mondkalb--
This is why I was so against major gameplay changes (except ones related to UI like runeID) while the engineering deficit was eliminated. With major gameplay changes as well as code clean up, backports to other variants would be essentially impossible rather than simply very difficult.

[Mondkalb]

Originally Posted by Mocht

I haven't played FAngband, could you expand on this

First of all, FAangband has a very Tolkien-esque (Silmarillion-based) feeling. Nick has done a great job with certain locations to give you the feeling of traveling through Beleriand.
(The outside world certainly adds a nice touch to the otherwise somewhat bland dungeon crawler. Also, there is more than one dungeon and more than one town. )

Then there are minor decorative things in the dungeons like brokens sticks and broken weapons, and skeletons and such, that have long been removed from vanilla.

Uncursed items with negative values are also gone in vanilla, some say for good . Of course they are garbage, but they add flavor. (I recall a guide on Thangorodrim, I bielieve, that supposed ways to make use of junk items in desperate situations.)
There are also mean things like sticky curses that are arguable, but they add to the overall feeling, because you never know what you get and you must be much more careful with items than in vanilla. This is obviously opposed to the new identify-by-use mechanism in vanilla, which wouldn't go well with sticky curses.

On top of that there are many items (much more than in vanilla) with pros and cons. Together with the fractional resistances you get a plethora of possibilities what properties items can have. I find jewelry in particular more interesting than in vanilla.

http://www.roguebasin.com/index.php?...st_Age_Angband

[Gwarl]

+1 for FAangband. I think it's among the very best variants out there. I don't play it as much as this estimation would warrant, because it's too serious/difficult for me when I usually want to blow of steam with something easier/sillier.

Oangband deserves a mention as the progenitor of FAangband, but again the difficulty is too demanding for me to play it much.

Sil deserves a mention of course.

Poschengband development being finished and the last few versions being deeply flawed, I'd look to it's successors instead:

Composband: this is my variant, I made it, therefore it's just right.

FrogComposband: this is a variant of my variant, I mildly disagree with many of the design decisions which is why someone else needed to make a variant. It's also being developed at a higher speed.

Composband will be better when I get round to making it better though

[CyclopsSlayer]

Zangband will always hold a place in my heart.

Otherwise, the Heng, Cheng, PosCheng, ComPos, and FrogCom chain seems to have everything I like.

[Pete Mack]

NPP 0.4.1 (NPP 0.5 is just too much.)
Unfortunately, it doesn't have the necessary UX fixes.

[Mondkalb]

Originally Posted by Pete Mack

@Mondkalb--
This is why I was so against major gameplay changes (except ones related to UI like runeID) while the engineering deficit was eliminated. With major gameplay changes as well as code clean up, backports to other variants would be essentially impossible rather than simply very difficult.

Regarding FAangband I am confident that Nick will make something incredible with his announced project "Beleriand", once he is done with Angband.
Hurry up, Nick!

[Sphara]

Just to experience Crows of Durthang on dungeon level 2 is enough for me to cast a vote for OAngband. They don't call pack of crows a murder for no reason.

Seriously challenging *band that might lead people to attend anger management courses. If someone can ironman that thing to the end, he's probably not a human.

[CyclopsSlayer]

Originally Posted by Sphara

Just to experience Crows of Durthang on dungeon level 2 is enough for me to cast a vote for OAngband. They don't call pack of crows a murder for no reason.

Seriously challenging *band that might lead people to attend anger management courses. If someone can ironman that thing to the end, he's probably not a human.

There was a variant I played many years ago. Players were incredibly OP, hitting for 1000's before L10. Until you meet the baby mob that has 100% damage reflection.
I can't remember the name, but I remember a few rage-inducing moments.