hello from dreembeard

[dreembeard]

Hi all,

I'm Dreembeard, and this is my first post to an Angband forum.
I've been playing Angband off and on (with long pauses) since the early 90s, and it's my favorite game. I've also been modding now and then. In the edit files and later in the C code. Around 2002, I was fiddling with the pet code in Tome, which led to a pretty nifty dungeon crawl algorithm. But that was lost in a computer crash, unfortunately.

A few years ago, I started playing vanilla again. I am thrilled with the many great improvements to the UI and the game itself, but there have also been changes that I do not like. And some stuff that I always found so-so.
So now and then I make notes. Ideas on how to improve the game. From which I hope to create my own variant one day.
But not this week, I think. Nor this month. In fact... possibly not in my lifetime.
For I tend to live my life just as I play the game: like an ent.

That's why I thought that I better share some views and ideas on this forum. Before they all disappear in the mists of time.
And also, your responses may help to fill gaps in my knowledge of angband, remove misunderstandings, and maybe, just maybe... get me to to stop scribbling down yet more new ideas (now over 2 Mb of ascii) and finally start programming.

To start with, here's one knowledge gap of mine that needs a fill:

The changes.txt files of some older angband versions (eg, 3.4.1) refer to tickets (like #1695) or to bug ids of the form "c0452e3" for more detailed info about the changes. I know where I can find the ticket info (on trac.rephial.org), but where can I find more info on those other bugs/ideas?

I also have some comments and questions about the latest version (4.1.0), but I'll put those in the proper thread.
Except that I do want to congratulate the devteam. What a wonderful new version! I am very pleased with the huge expansion of modifiable settings files in the gamedata map. Yummy! And you even updated the help files! Nice.

In closing, it is perhaps prudent to issue a warning.
I have an evil twin brother who tends to follow me around, and I suspect that it won't be long before he follows me onto this forum. He is a bright guy who often spots bugs and design flaws well before I do. If only he were not such a ruffian! He may well be picking on some of you soon, in a harsh and unrelentless manner.
Obviously, I am unable to prevent that, but I do have a tip for future victims: If you feel you cannot stand another bucket of his brine, it may help if you tell him that he is a banana.
At least, that's what often helped me to get him to shut up.

[Estie]

Hi there. Have you been active on the tome forums ? I cant seem to remember this nick.

Oh and welcome!

[Philip]

Welcome.
If you like ents and also making variants, try O or FA if you haven't. They have Ents and they have excellent alternative systems for a bunch of things, including combat. Very fun stuff. FA has pretty much all the modern UI stuff, O UI is not quite as friendly, unfortunately.

[dreembeard]

Originally Posted by Philip

Welcome.
If you like ents and also making variants, try O or FA if you haven't. They have Ents and they have excellent alternative systems for a bunch of things, including combat. Very fun stuff. FA has pretty much all the modern UI stuff, O UI is not quite as friendly, unfortunately.

Thanks for the tip! I did play O for a while, some 2 years back. And I tried out FA too, I see now, but quite a while back, in 2014. Somehow I did not get very far, it seems. Maybe that was one of those long pauses in my gaming. Anyway, my connection with ents is not so much a matter of liking them, as of being one.
But I'll make sure that I 'll download a recent version of FA, and look at its combat system before I start programming my own.

[dreembeard]

Originally Posted by Estie

Hi there. Have you been active on the tome forums ? I cant seem to remember this nick.

Oh and welcome!

No, I haven't. I believe I did not even have internet then. I downloaded the source code somewhere and starting modding it at home.

[Nick]

Originally Posted by dreembeard

The changes.txt files of some older angband versions (eg, 3.4.1) refer to tickets (like #1695) or to bug ids of the form "c0452e3" for more detailed info about the changes. I know where I can find the ticket info (on trac.rephial.org), but where can I find more info on those other bugs/ideas?

Those are git commit IDs. If you look at the Angband git repository, you'll find each of these IDs refers to a particular change.

If you're looking at doing any mods of any sort or contributing code, I'd recommend learning how to use git and making your own branch of the Angband code. Apart from anything else, it will make it less likely you'll lose code in computer crashes.

[dreembeard]

Originally Posted by Nick

Those are git commit IDs. If you look at the Angband git repository, you'll find each of these IDs refers to a particular change.

If you're looking at doing any mods of any sort or contributing code, I'd recommend learning how to use git and making your own branch of the Angband code. Apart from anything else, it will make it less likely you'll lose code in computer crashes.

OK. If I understand you correctly, those git commit IDs are like pointers to code fragments. I was hoping for something closer to documentation. As the tickets usually are.
I did take a quick peek at github earlier, but was taken aback by the apparent need of opening an account, and learning more about git. But I guess I better do that then. In due time...
For now, I'm not ready to start programming yet. I first have to decide where to start from. Vanilla has become a lot more advanced but also more complicated in the past few years, and I'm not sure yet whether recent vanilla is the best point of departure for what i want.
And before i truly know WHAT i want, I need to throw some of my own ideas in the lion's den here, and see how they are torn to shreds...
Anyway, thanks for your quick reply!

[Pete Mack]

You only need an account if you want to publish your changes at GitHub. For a private branch, you can clone anonymously.

[dreembeard]

Originally Posted by Pete Mack

You only need an account if you want to publish your changes at GitHub. For a private branch, you can clone anonymously.

Ah, Thank you!