angband-data 1:3.3.2-2.1 / usr / share / angband / help / 330.txt

New features in Angband 3.3.0
=============================

There were a lot of significant changes in 3.2.0, so if you haven't played
Angband for a long time, they are summarised below. If you are completely
new to the game, please read the other help files for an introduction to the
game, as this file contains spoiler-ish info.

This new version has a few significant changes too:

Dungeon generation has had its first major overhaul for two decades. As well
as rooms and vaults, pits and nests you will now find special "cavern" and
"labyrinth" levels occasionally. Both of these new level types, for different
reasons, can be quite dangerous.

Level feelings have finally been completely redesigned. You will now get two
separate feelings: the moment you descend the stairs, your first impression
of the new level will give you a sense of how dangerous it is (judging by
corpses, bloodstains, etc.). Some time later, you will get a sense of how
lucrative it might be in terms of treasure/loot. Many thanks to Jeff Greene
for the foolproof mechanism for the random time delay.

Objects may now have up to three pvals, which are displayed in <angle
brackets>. So an object may provide +1 to STR and +2 to stealth at the same
time.

Macros no longer exist. Everything you could do with macros you can now do
with keymaps - and more.

You can no longer destroy items - they are squelched instead. You can toggle
the visibility of squelched items by using the 'K' command.

Certain things, like enchantment scrolls and restore stat potions, are no
longer available in town. Restore stat potions don't exist any more - but
drained stats are restored on level up (and by stat gain potions).

Resistances have been made more consistent, and a new class of "protections"
from non-damaging status effects has been created. Confusion is no longer a
breath attack, and has a protection rather than a resistance. Protection from
stunning is now separate from sound resistance. A resistance will protect you
from status effects from that element only - so sound resistance will no
longer protect you from mystics.

If you play with randarts and really like the ones in a particular game, you
can keep them for subsequent games by choosing "keep randarts" from the death
menu. Note that switching back to non-random artifacts will lose them though.

Some items have been rebalanced: Dragon Scale armours are no longer quite so
frequently powerful, and magical effects which hinder monsters (slow, sleep,
confuse, scare) are now more useful. Elemental rings no longer boost your
melee damage. Teleport Other is now a bolt, affecting only one monster at a
time, and *Destruction* now removes artifacts as well as monsters. Potions
that cure wounds are no longer quite so powerful.

Spiking doors is now a lot more useful, and you can lock doors too (by using
the Disarm command). Monsters may take several turns to open/bash a locked
and spiked door.

Finally, mimics are a lot harder to spot ...


New features in Angband 3.2.0
=============================

There are some changes in this version to things that have remained 
unchanged for many years -

The AC system has been revised, so that heavy armour items offer a more 
proportionate amount of protection for their weight. This makes them 
more useful, but more expensive. (The concept of AC is unchanged: it 
makes you harder to hit and reduces the damage you take from physical 
attacks.) Those rare and special "dragonhide" armours are now more 
useful and more varied ...

In melee, the concept of "attacks per round" has changed. Attacks now 
cost a fixed amount of "energy", dependent on your stats, class and 
weapon. You still spend up to 100 energy attacking each turn, but unused 
energy will be carried over to your next turn. This will result in 
getting your next turn more quickly, when you have accumulated enough 
energy, and means your "blows per round" can be expressed as a fraction. 
In addition, you will stop your turn when you kill a monster and carry 
over your remaining energy to your next turn.

Resistances to fire, cold, acid and lightning will now reduce the 
chances of items in your backpack being destroyed by those elements.

Missiles with slays or brands are now slightly less awesomely effective: 
the multiplier from the slay/brand is added to the launcher multiplier, 
rather than multiplied by it. So a x3 bow with a x3 brand does x6 damage 
not x9. Missiles are still a competitive form of attack though.

There are now good reasons to try and clear monster pits and nests, 
other than the experience.

Artifacts are now instantly recognisable, but you will still need to 
find out what they do by trying them out or identifying them.

To reduce note-taking, you can now review the contents of the stores 
while you are in the dungeon. Note that this does not keep track of 
changes since you have left town, so the lists may be out-of-date by the 
time you return!

Storekeepers will offer occasional hints to young adventurers. After you 
gain a few levels, they will greet you without presuming to offer 
advice.

There is a new "no_selling" option. Storekeepers will still happily take 
items off your hands, but they will pay you nothing (though they will 
still ID unknown items for you, and they will still happily sell you 
their wares). Instead, gold found in the dungeon is increased in 
quantity. This is a birth option and must be set before or during 
character creation. If changed during a game, it will not take effect 
until the next game. Note that changed birth options do not take effect 
if you use the "quickstart" option (i.e. immediately start a new 
character based on the previous one). If you want to play with changed 
birth options, make sure you go right back to the start of the birth 
process (press 'N' at the quickstart screen, then '=' to edit birth 
options).

There is another new option, to display all "unique" monsters in a 
special (light purple) colour, so you can see at a glance that they are 
uniques. If you like the idea but don't like the colour, you can edit it 
by choosing "interact with colours".

There is yet another new option to make certain powerful monsters and 
items shimmer in real time (i.e. between keypresses).

If you play with graphical tiles, you can now make them bigger. There is 
also a new 8x16 tile set (thanks Nomad!).