(l)ook command - examining items in shops

PowerWyrm · Post by **PowerWyrm** » Thu 13.03.2008, 12:20

I saw that this feature has been implemented in MAng 1.0. The problem with this feature is that you can easily describe items in shops in term of hidden properties. Before, when you wanted to buy an amulet of Terken or a (Blessed) weapon, you had to gamble about the hidden ability since you had no way to tell what it was before you bought the item... and all those items had the same price.
And now? Do you really want to keep an amulet of Terken with slow digestion at the same price as one... with ESP? For PWMang, I have implemented a brand new pricing routine that takes into account hidden abilities when calculating the price of an object. For example, a basic amulet of Terken costs 10k, while one with ESP will cost 50k... so you'll get different prices in shops. And un*id*ed items ('it might have hidden powers') will be worth the base price when selling to shops...

Ace · Post by **Ace** » Thu 13.03.2008, 13:49

** edited **

nevermind, i misread your post.

Good idea

and one question....
you make difference when "identify" and "*identifying*" items? If not it's odd because even if the item was "identified" the hidden powers might not become obvious immediately and by offering the item to the shop i would know if it is worth to "*identify*" right?

Post by **Jug** » Thu 13.03.2008, 20:34

The problem with this feature is that you can easily describe items in shops in term of hidden properties.

There was a problem with the PWMAngband implementation of this feature, but not with the feature itself :-p In Angband, shops to not reveal the hidden powers of items, they only reveal those powers which you could just look up in a spoiler anyway. But an (Blessed) item will say, "It may have hidden powers".

In MAngband we are aiming for the same behaviour as Angband. If in the latest MAngband code hidden powers are revealed, this is a bug, not a feature

- Jug

Post by **Jug** » Thu 13.03.2008, 20:35

I've just tested this on the beta server and in MAngband on a Holy Avenger weapon in a shop it says, "It might have hidden powers".

- Jug

PowerWyrm · Post by **PowerWyrm** » Thu 13.03.2008, 20:36

Yes there is a difference. When you sell an item unidentified (an emerald amulet), you get the base price for the type of item (45 gold for an amulet). When you sell an item un*id*entified (an amulet of terken), you get the base price for the item (10k for an amulet of terken). When you sell an item fully itendified (an amulet of terken with ESP), you get the real price (50k for an amulet of terken with ESP).

PowerWyrm · Post by **PowerWyrm** » Thu 13.03.2008, 20:43

Ah ok... I didn't really check MAngband's behavior, so MAngband sell items without *ide*ntifying them. In this case, the (l)ook command is simply a convenience for basic properties or for items sold in shops that were already *id*ed. You will still have to gamble for your (blessed) weapons...

.
In PWMAngband I've implemented the feature so that all items sold in shops are *id*ed (like in old pernmang or tomenet). Not Angband like, but I like it this way...

Maegdae · Post by **Maegdae** » Thu 20.03.2008, 10:06

"It might have hidden powers" is a lie perpetuated by shopkeepers marketing their wares, they are truly telling all already.

Not that I would know what such evil shopkeepers are like..

PowerWyrm · Post by **PowerWyrm** » Thu 20.03.2008, 11:29

Yes this is a bug in the current implementation of the new text_out() routine. It will say 'It might have hidden powers' even for items that have none.
BTW the new examine command will reveal all the hidden powers. High resists on elvenkinds, istaris and such... abilities on terkens, magi crowns, blessed... That would be a bug according to vanilla implementation.

Post by **Jug** » Thu 20.03.2008, 20:47

the new examine command will reveal all the hidden powers. High resists on elvenkinds, istaris and such... abilities on terkens, magi crowns, blessed

Rest assured, it won't. Flambard is doing a lot of work tidying up the awareness and id code, so although on the beta server you may see this behaviour on some days, the final behaviour will be that of Angband.

- Jug