Hello Crawlers. Since I last wrote for this blog (a long long time ago indeed)

I’ve joined the development team, and I’m happy to be back with a write up of

what’s been popping and shaking over the past few months of trunk development.

Let’s start off with some miscellaneous changes that come from categories that aren’t big enough to merit a separate heading.

Wanderers’ starting spell libraries are listed in the

message log on game start, and logged to the character log. They also

start with a level 1 spell memorized if they start with exactly one

such spell.

starting spell libraries are listed in the message log on game start, and logged to the character log. They also start with a level 1 spell memorized if they start with exactly one such spell. New tiles: monster spell icons, shock serpent, dream sheep,

mana viper, Azrael, Dispater, Robe of Vines; plus a new splash

screen.

monster spell icons, shock serpent, dream sheep, mana viper, Azrael, Dispater, Robe of Vines; plus a Confusing touch can now be used with a weapon.

Levels

A vast and terrible array of new vaults (over two hundred) has been

added, touching most branches of the dungeon, including new ghost

vaults, new transporters, vaults that place early manuals, and much more.

added, touching most branches of the dungeon, including new ghost vaults, new transporters, vaults that place early manuals, and much more. Many old vaults have been adjusted to prevent unnecessary vetoing,

allowing them to place with greater frequency.

allowing them to place with greater frequency. The concentric octagons layout has been added to Snake and Lair,

and the cave pools layout (with some parameter changes) has been added

to D.

Monsters

Grasping Roots is now a smite-targeted constriction

effect.

is now a smite-targeted constriction effect. Jorgrun has learned this new Grasping Roots spell, and can

spawn in Swamp. Watch out for the Roots/Iron Shot wombo-combo.

has learned this new Grasping Roots spell, and can spawn in Swamp. Watch out for the Roots/Iron Shot wombo-combo. Orb run spawns are more frequently near the player and more

dangerous.

are more frequently near the player and more dangerous. Pandemonium lords’ spell sets and attack brands are revealed

when you meet them.

spell sets and attack brands are revealed when you meet them. Monster equipment is identified when you see the monster (including wands).

Items

Stash search can now search by handedness.

can now search by handedness. Butchering always leaves a skeleton.

always leaves a skeleton. Wand charges have been reduced, according to the following

schedule of average charges per wand: Wand Before After digging 12.5 5 enslavement 12.5 8 paralysis 12.5 8 polymorph 12.5 8 flame 24.5 16.5 random effects 24.5 16.5

have been reduced, according to the following schedule of average charges per wand: The following fixed artefacts have been changed: The Singing Sword is now a vorpal double sword, its sonic damage effect triggers on 50% of hits (including ripostes) and is considerably higher. The Spriggan’s Knife now carves into the realm of dreams, and all backstabs are as if the target were asleep. The Robe of Misfortune is no longer an item identification trap, and is now a +5 robe with *Drain *Corrode *Contam Harm *Slow and EV+5. The Sceptre of Torment is now a pain branded eveningstar that torments on 1 in 5 hits but does not torment the wielder. It gains a new tile too! The Arc Blade’s static discharge effect now casts the spell once (instead of using a special custom version) and has had its enchantment bumped to +8. Finisher trades Str+3 for a chance (based on monster toughness) to instantly kill and explode the target.



Technical

MS Visual Studio can build crawl again.

can build crawl again. Crawl’s Lua API has been documented, at least the portions available from your options file. Read the docs here.

That’s all for right now, so until next time: happy crawling!