Re: CF: Obsolete options

[Kjetil Torgrim Homme <kjetilho@ifi.uio.no>]

[David Andrew Michael Noelle]

I generally concur with you both, just some comments.

>       On the other hand, an ice storm shouldn't be damaging the
>   dragons across the room as much, or more than, the ones that are
>   in clawing range.  Instead of just pulling out the #ifdef
>   NO_CONE_PROPAGATE, how about replacing it with a test for whether
>   the creature being hit is a multi-space object?

To make it more realistic, the force an ice storm impacts should be
reduced if you hide behind a couple of goblins.  Not by much, but by a
little.  I'm not sure what stat to use to calculate the reduction, it
could be weight, max hp, number of tiles or encumbrance if we add such
a stat.  I think max hp will work best.  (Whoo, I'm really helping
building consensus here! Instead of choosing one of two possible
behaviours, I opt for a third, new method ;-)

>       I don't like permadeath.  It makes mages almost unplayable.
>   It's hard enough when one slip costs you 20% of your experience,
>   but with permadeath, mages have to be so cautious that they aren't
>   worth playing.  I've had numerous spellcasters die of starvation
>   because they couldn't kill enough creatures to make money fast
>   enough to buy food.  And casting spells costs food, since for some
>   reason that has never been clear to me, each spell point
>   regenerated costs one food point.

Food handling has gone out of hand.  Remember Crossfire was designed
to end at level 20.  It was impossible to have more than +2 magic and
Int 25.  So the spell point levels have been inflated, and the food
levels haven't been keeping up.  I believe there are rings of
sustenance, but they may not reduce the food consumption for spell
point regeneration.

But the fix I favour is potions of restore mana, readily available at
the right price.  This removes the waiting if the character is
wealthy, so he can zoom deep into the dungeons if he's stocked up
enough.

>       Permadeath is much more realistic though, even with
>   reincarnation and resurrection spells.  My complaint isn't as much
>   with permadeath itself as with the way it amplifies the present
>   prejudice of the game against mages.  If steps are taken to
>   correct that balance issue, I'd be in favor of making PermaDeath
>   the default setting, if not the only setting.

Permadeath is prejudiced against single-player play.  If you party
with your friends, they're usually able to clear out the dungeon and
resurrect you.  It can be nail-biting to watch, though!

>   > > >    * SIMPLE_EXP - uses simpler experience system
>   
>   >  I've been using the simple exp.
>   
>       So have I.  I prefer it over the old system, even though there
>   are numerous balance issues affecting either one of them.

The motivation for reducing the experience gain based on level was to
remove the cheat: Stock up on waybreads.  Brace yourself in a doorway.
Hit towards the oncoming hordes which are continually popping out of
the generators.  Go skiing for the weekend.  Come back to a high level
(well, it was, those days) character.  BTW, this is why you get less
experience when you kill something while standing braced, too.  Now,
if we get rid of infinitely generating generators, this is not a
problem anymore.


Kjetil T.
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