Grind mode

[Sirrocco]

I was looking at the iron prison mode, and it's somewhat appealing, but honestly, what I really want is to be able to grind a bit in TOME proper. As such, I suggest a grind mode option. Something like the following:

As standard mode at normal difficulty (including achievements, and unlocks) with the following exceptions
- Lives must be roguelike
- No transmutation chest (and by extension, no upgrading the rod of recall and no farportals)
- Levels are not saved, with a small number of exceptions (quest-spawned dungeons, places with static maps, and starter dungeons that can't be skipped). Instead, they are regenerated fresh every time you enter them. If the level autospawns a boss, and you leave the level without killing it, the unique is respawned when you return.
- Rod of Recall is dropped by the Weirdling Beast.
- Possibly have the orb of identification cost a small quantity of gold.
- Possibly spawn wandering monsters over time
- Boss-type monsters don't generate nearly as much extra exp

Basically, it does let you grind, but you trade in a lot of convenience for it, and a fair bit of safety, so it shouldn't really cheapen the achievements. People who enjoy rushing through the game should obviously stick with original mode, where the bosses give you a level or two at a time, you get the recall rod first thing, and you can magically turn anything you don't want into gold without worrying about carrying capacity or travelling back to town. For those who like the old-school bits and were a bit sad to see them go, this will give them back for the most part, and I don't believe it would take much coding.

possible unlock for this mode: Defeat both bosses of all three sets of generally available intro dungeons, and the bosses of the Maze, Sandworm Lair, Daikara, and Old Forest before you hit the Master (perhaps toss in a few others, too - the halfling ruins, etc). Possible name for associated achievement: "Being Thorough".

[Sirrocco]

Nothing? Nobody else wants this/doesn't want it/thinks it's a terrible idea/has suggestions for improvement? Nothing?

[edge2054]

I think it would be a neat add-on that some people would enjoy.

I think as a new mode for the main game it kinda goes against the spirit of things.

[SageAcrin]

I'm totally neutral on the subject of grinding. I usually don't like to bother-game's long enough-but other people doing it bothers me not.

Generally, I feel Exploratory Farportals provide enough of it, but if you can't get through Nur yet-a reasonable issue-or can't get far enough past it so that the energy constaints of Farportals, it would matter a lot more. So it would mostly be an earlier advantage, and probably would be a hinderance overall, late.

[Sirrocco]

The other thing it does is let you have more control over where you're grinding. Farportals, you get what you get in terms of monster sets and dungeon layouts. Allowing you to grind on your major dungeon of choice lets you tune to preferred playstyles rather more.This may not mean much as far as difficulty is concerned (though it certainly does mean some - Dreads, as an obvious example, are relatively easy for some classes and terrible for others). Also, it allows you to flee untenable situations without sacrificing access. If, for example, you see two powerful rares immediately adjacent to the Master - well, in many cases, that's game-ending. Grind mode would let you jump up and down the stairs and check again.

On the flip side, you are running Roguelike, and the loss of boss exp means that you must grind in order to keep your levels up - giving you that many more opportunities to run into something that can kill you. It's arguably easier than standard roguelike, but I don't think it's easier than standard Adventurer.

In terms of "going against the spirit of things"... well, I suppose it depends. I rather liked Pernband, TOME 2, and TOME 3 - I hadn't thought anyone was saying "That was terrible - let's never do that again". I can see why the game has been made as it has, but my impression was that this was more in an attempt to make the game more enjoyable, rather than out of some idealogical purity - more of a "grinding isn't a whole lot of fun, and the game shouldn't push people to do not-fun things" thought than anything else. I can see where that's coming from, and even agree with it. On the other side, I (and at least a *few* other people, from the sounds of things) actually enjoy grinding - particularly when the underlying game is as enjoyable as TOME 4. I admit, there probably aren't *all* that many of us, but from my (extremely limited) grasp of the code, the suggestion I put out should be relatively trivial to implement (if I'm wrong here, do let me know, as that could make this not worth it pretty fast). I've tried to make it so that it's not appealing even from an ease/efficiency standpoint to anyone except the people who actually enjoy the grinding for its own sake, so no one will feel compelled to follow it as optimal path if they don't enjoy it.

It could probably be set up pretty simply as an add-on, but another part fo the point of it is that grinding uses a somewhat different skillset - patience and prudence become somewhat more important, and other things somewhat less so. I'd like to be able to make my unlocks with grind characters, and rack up achievements when I earn same. I imagine others who share my preferences (however many there are) would like to do the same.

[wobbly]

I myself actually like to grind. What I dislike is having to grind, or it being such a big tactical advantage to grind that I feel I'm losing out if I don't grind.