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0.8 Development and Release Plan

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Edgar A. Bering IV edited this page Dec 12, 2021 · 1 revision

===== 0.8 Plan =====

==== Overall Status ====

These are our tentative dates:

0.8 branch: March 31, 2011

0.8 release: April 24, 2011

We're waiting on the unicode merge before branching 0.8.

==== Combat ====

  • Further looking at defense (AC/EV/SH) balance, see dcss:brainstorm:combat:defense
    • <del>GDR was doubled</del> done
      • <del>the high end needs nerfing (reports of boredom!)</del> done
    • <del>AC/EV bonuses from randarts are removed (unless base type)</del> done
    • <del>Armours are enchantable up to their base AC (e.g. robes +2, plate +10)</del> done
  • Blowguns: Merge curare with the new brands (making it less reliable at low skill); fix the formulas so low skill has a low chance instead of zero; reconsider needles affecting non-living monsters.
    • The formula here really needs work; the new brands are basically useless for non-throwers. However, I think we could stand to globally nerf needle use by non-throwers (including "vanilla" needles). --- //user:Eronarn 2011-02-21 18:43//
      • One thought here: calculate "damage" based on how many vulnerable spots the creature has, and require needles to do 1 point of damage to take effect. Vulnerability should be based on AC "coverage" and size: Needling ogres and giants should be easy (they are big, fleshy, and don't wear armor), but needling beetles should be harder because you have to hit an eye or between two plates of chitin. Raising Throwing should make one better at hitting "hard" blowgun targets, but "easy" ones should be viable even with lower skill.
      • A rough formula could be: 1/Size Category (where 1 = largest and thus 100%) chance that you hit a weak spot. If you hit a weak spot, AC = min(0, Base AC - 10) and they don't benefit from armor (the rationale for 10 AC is that some monsters, like boulder beetles, are so "stony" that even their weak parts would be hard to penetrate). A virtual roll is made: say, 1d(1 + blowgun enchantment + needle enchantment + some size or strength based component (due to bigger lungs)), with a multiplier for Throwing skill. If you get > AC, you do 1 actual damage and the poison (whatever it is) takes effect.

==== Monsters ====

  • <del>Kraken has been articulated, with long-reaching tentacles.</del> (done)
  • dcss:brainstorm:monster:concept:holy, this will also allow to fix the holy monster rooms in ziggurats
  • silent spectre is abusable (see dcss:brainstorm:dungeon:branch:crypt for discussion)
  • trampling is great, but there should be additional damage (and message) if you're next to a wall --- //user:dpeg 2011-01-30 17:41//
    • I've made a proposal on Mantis for trampling to work like this: if you cannot be trampled because there is a wall or feature, you are shoved to a square adjacent to both your "current" trampled location and your "normal" trampled location:
    • <code>#1#

#@2 D..</code> * In this example, you'd end up moving to 1 or 2 instead, and the dragon would end up in your location. This feels a lot more natural than just taking some extra damage. We could also implement extra damage, but only if neither 1 or 2 were eligible (i.e., you've been backed into a corner). * Note that I've also written a trample patch with some other enhancements to it. I think this should go in .8 even if the above doesn't, because the changes are relatively minor and flavorful (e.g., trampling plants automatically). --- //user:Eronarn 2011-02-21 19:00//

==== Spells ====

  • <del>Haste nerf (1.5 speed, with review of lategame monster speed)</del> done, some monster speeds are still ?
  • (number of) dcss:brainstorm:magic:schools:feedback
    • I'd like to see this in .8 but if it's not feasible it should definitely happen in .9. --- //user:Eronarn 2011-02-21 19:08//
  • translocational energy clouds having a gameplay effect
    • Not sure this is necessary. --- //user:Eronarn 2011-02-21 19:08//
  • <del>dcss:brainstorm:magic:schools:enchantments_split in two (or even three) schools SFTracker>2748451</del> done, problems:
    • There are still issues with hexes being generally weak but the current split works for the enchantment-using starting classes (En and Cr, with AM temporarily removed pending another look at the split and the AM spellbook) --- //user:MarvinPA 2011-03-21 21:01//
  • New spells:
    • dcss:brainstorm:magic:spells:golubria - testing.
      • I find this spell pretty underwhelming. There are few uses for it that aren't "cheaper cblink", "prepare cblink in advance", or "trivialize an encounter by luring a monster onto a passage into (island in deep water / middle of an oklob farm you've set up / Cerebov's loot room)". We can do better here. --- //user:Eronarn 2011-02-21 19:08//
    • dcss:brainstorm:magic:spells:malign_gateway - testing.
      • This should definitely go in. --- //user:Eronarn 2011-02-21 19:08//
    • tornado - testing, has been nerfed and made pure air to hopefully balance it better.
    • Leda's Liquefaction - testing
      • IMO this shouldn't go in until it's changed to only affect move speed. Slowing monster action speed is counterintuitive. --- //user:Eronarn 2011-02-21 19:08//
    • <del>Tukima's Ball - should this stay as a player spell at all?</del> Terpsichore and this spell were disabled for 0.8
    • <del>Summon Hydra/Summon Dragon - these seem good, should their spellbooks be tweaked (evktalo wanted them in a new book that Vehumet doesn't gift)?</del> spellbooks tweaked
    • Darkness - added quite recently, although it's potentially useful I've not seen it used at all (since hexes are still lacking in appeal). --- //user:MarvinPA 2011-03-21 21:46//

==== Internal ====

  • <del>user:kilobyte has rewritten the save code</del> (done)
  • user:kilobyte has almost completed comprehensive unicode support: Crawl will handle all text, filenames, etc. internally as Unicode and use unicode aware system calls. This will fix Crawl not installing correctly on non-English Windows installs, for instance. This code is currently in the unicode branch.
  • user:Zaba has cleaned up the dungeon builder!

==== Species/backgrounds ====

  • <del>Improvements to DS balance, new mutations (Powered by Pain)</del> - more balance work and new muts are still possible of course!
  • dcss:brainstorm:species:draconian - patch was applied (Mantis>2705), test!
    • These are definitely solid for .8. I think work can be done still - particularly grey draconians and the green, red, & black drac breath weapons - but it's still an improvement. --- //user:Eronarn 2011-02-21 19:15//
  • dcss:brainstorm:species:cat are in trunk, test!
    • I'm against including felids in .8. They still have what I consider to be major issues: too good at conj, too good at unarmed, clashes with existing "rules" for what transformations can use what gear, and a very high win rate (1.78% with 2646 played - the only higher are 13/393x Centaur [3.31%], 9/502x Demigod [1.79%]). --- //user:Eronarn 2011-02-21 19:15//
      • If the issues are as clearcut as aptitudes being too good, we can change that easily. Otherwise, an overpowered species is much less of a problem than an overpowered god or unbalanced branch. I vote to leave them in. --- //user:jpeg 2011-03-08 14:56//
        • In addition to the balance and flavour issues, the species feels outright unfinished - the sudden, jarring way revival is handled, extra lives aren't even documented properly, the lack of tiles for Blade Hands. And having species-exclusive extra lives in a roguelike sounds like it could cause some outrage. --- //user:minmay 2011-04-01 18:40//
  • <del>Recommended combinations evaluation (many changes are in since the last one); should be done after feature freeze</del>
    • elliptic helped me completely redo these, I'll keep an eye on them in case there are more major changes but I think the current recommendations are pretty good. --- //user:marvinpa 2011-02-28 18:18//

==== Gods ====

  • dcss:brainstorm:god:zin --- <del>Allies</del>, <del>Recite</del>, Vitalise, <del>Imprison</del>
    • Recite is more useful now; bugfixes needed
      • Recite could probably use: a) training faster b) more useful at lower invocations c) something else? It feels better but not there yet. --- //user:Eronarn 2011-02-21 19:25//
    • Imprison got some tweaks, but is still not so great. Vitalization hasn't been touched, and is awful. It really needs work. --- //user:Eronarn 2011-02-21 19:25//
* <del>piety for exploration</del> done
  • Possibly apply to the good gods (replacing piety over time) --- this could go into 0.8 (should be a minor change) but is not urgent
dcss:brainstorm:god:ashenzari (Div god) The design is now good enough to include the god, in my opinion. --- //user:dpeg 2010-09-23 12:20//
  • Ash is in, and is being tested and tweaked. Play!

==== Interface ====

  • Implicit weapon swapping for butchery mantis>373
    • This would be really useful, but will also require heavy testing. Delays are notoriously volatile. Postponing should be okay, especially if 0.9 won't be long in coming, either. --- //user:jpeg 2011-03-08 14:56//
  • <del>Additional pickup/drop mode dcss:brainstorm:interface:interface_implementables#expand_on__in_drop_pickup</del> (done)
  • ''D'' drops the item(s) picked up last. I would really like to have that. --- //user:dpeg 2011-01-24 00:20//
  • The targeting interface should mention the feature under the cursor, just like it mentions monsters. This is necessary for the new tutorials. --- //user:dpeg 2011-01-31 16:23//

==== Others ====

  • dcss:brainstorm:skills:experimental_skill_pool_changes --- retroactive xp assignment.
  • <del>Noise system overhaul</del> (done)
    • <del>Ambient noise is in, affecting mostly Crypt and Tomb (quiet, stealth is harder), and Hive and Shoals (noisy, stealth is easier)</del> (done)
    • <del>New noise propagation system that respects walls and closed doors.</del> (done)
  • graveyard:unannouncedportals - in master, more testing
  • Feature mimics
    • I think we should get rid of trap mimics, and postpone portal and branch stair mimics to 0.9. Normal stair mimics are fine, and I'm convinced that we can iron out chinks in door and shop mimics in time for 0.8. --- //user:jpeg 2011-02-22 19:26//
      • Traps mimics have been axed.

==== Deferred ====

Moving stuff that is probably not going to make 0.8 here. --- //user:greensnark 2011-01-09 18:04//

Old Release Plans

Before 0.21 relese planning was done on the old DCSS Docu Wiki. Pages are archived from there but links have not been translated so may not work.

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