Making the game feel more beautiful

[Mithril]

Have a look at Brogue:
http://sites.google.com/site/broguegame/

It feels incredibly beautiful for being an almost pure text game. So in trying to analyze why, I think one factor is likely the slight color variation in walls, grass, trees, and so on. This makes the game feel more natural and interesting to look at.

So, an idea would be a similar scheme for ToME, introducing a similar small color variation in the map.

(Brogue also has some other interesting ideas like bridges, chasms, and animated water.)