ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

Tome and Tome PLUS, Should it be merged to merged to one *best* roguelike game in world? Plz, vote:)

get it through yer head bro..two different directions...won't happen. if youwant it so much...merge them yerself and release it as Tomclaplus

I'd like to say something but Nefarious already said everything there is to say about that. I'll just repeat that to give it more value.

Get the idea, dude: ToME is striving to become almost pure Tolkien material, and T-Plus is turning into Norseband. We don't need to - or want to - cross them, because such a cross already exists: Zangband. See what happens when you haphazardly combine multiple themes with untested, iffy, and sometimes downright silly ideas?

On one hand, there are some general features (not theme-disturbing) and item tweaks from my module which I'd like to see in the standard game. On the other hand, I realize that theme purists and those who think that T-Plus is too easy on players would not want a merger to happen. Being able to accept and understand both sides of the debate--I voted "maybe."

There are a lot of good features that could be added to ToME without making it less Tolkienian. Maybe that's just a matter of time. Until then I'm playing both ToME and T-Plus separately.

There should have been an option to vote: "Some features from T-Plus would be good for ToME." and I would've voted for that.

I' m always open to such things, but you ahve to realize I do not have time to fulyl play every single module, not now that tere are only a few of them, certainly not after 300 when I hope there will be ltos of them

So if you like something, be loud about it

Exactly--I voted "maybe" precisely because not all features of T-Plus are overpowered, silly or theme-breaking. The features which would NOT disappoint hard-core Tolkien purists might be good for the main game...yet I saw no option for a partial borrowing being acceptable.

Like it is often said: "Test it in a module first." None-theme-disturbing ideas that have proven to be fine in T-plus are likely ready for implementation in ToME

The two games have different goals. If you want one, play one. If you want the other, play the other. "Merging" the two would mean losing one.

Of course, I'm the guy who's writing a module from scratch with the goals of being ToME 4, keeping the game closer to thematic purity within Tolkien's Third Age (never sacrificing gameplay for it though), and reducing the power levels to somewhere around Angband 2.9.

We can't all get what we want.

As I said, I would not advocate a complete merger of the two games; if I had the necessary coding and graphics skills, my module would stand alone as a variant in its own right by now. (I'd also have gotten some true version of Norseband off the ground already, but I digress...) If it plays and looks and feels like another game--it IS another game. Selective borrowing yes, merging no.

T-Plus began as a set of tweaks and additions (hence the "plus") that didn't straddle themes as badly as current releases do. However, the feel of the game changed when I took to using it as a testing ground for my own and fellow players' ideas: this should explain why I often favor fun, easy gameplay over fidelity to a single setting. It's become more challenging and less munchkinish than early releases were, partly because of those players' comments. Having a module in which I can test new features and ideas--regardless of their "native setting"--will always be useful. If I were able to draw my own worldmap and do my own fixed quests (the biggest of my obstacles as a maintainer)...I'd cut this test module free from ANY single theme and label it for what it has actually become.

ToME plus ToMEplus? Double-plus-ungood-bellyfeel.

As I've said previously...I know that most of you would not want a merger between the two games (and they ARE two games for a reason). I myself would not support doing so. But for the sake of not setting off a "variant holy war", could you please try to keep the simple "this is good/no it's not" remarks down?

Tachyon wrote:See what happens when you haphazardly combine multiple themes with untested, iffy, and sometimes downright silly ideas?

Well, then you get ZAngband, or some other tongue-in-cheek variant.

I hope Norseband will fork out of T-Plus, and T-Plus will continue it's own life as a module. But there are some things in T-Plus I'd like to see in the main game.

1. Angels (as Maia subraces? Herald => Manwe Maia, of Fire => Aule Maia, ...)
2. The music system.

And numerous smaller changes...