Ighalsk - release 0.1.7

I've just released Ighalsk v0.1.7 (you can download the source code from here). A lot of little things have changed since the last release:

• The Monster Editor can now be navigated using buttons as well as keys; it also supports more than 12 monsters.


• The Hero (PC) can now die - yes, this is a necessary feature - perhaps unfortunately; I've been playing "Lego Star Wars" with my son, and it is refreshing that characters in that game just fall apart and quickly come back together again after dying. There have been some interesting discussions of permadeath in roguelikes recently here and here.


• After examining an item, the next screen is either the Inventory or the Equipment screen (whichever screen the item was examined from). Previously the next screen had been the map of the current level; I've now implemented a stack of states, pushing the old state onto it every time the state changes, and popping off states after examining an item. This should be useful for other screen transitions as well.


• Treasures are now generated and placed randomly on quest levels, and can even be picked up by the Hero.


• There's also more to buy with treasure: I've added 3 new, more powerful and more expensive weapons in the Weapon Shop, one for each type of Hero (profession).


• I've added 9 new monsters, using the Monster Editor, and 2 new families of monsters (worm and plant).


• This gave me enough monsters to fill in level 2 of each of the 3 quests.

There were also a couple of small refactorings that shouldn't affect game play but will make the code easier to maintain and extend.

These aren't present in v0.1.7, but here are some draft descriptions of the different types of Hero (originally mentioned here):

*Mighty*
You were born with strength and athleticism far surpassing those of ordinary men and women. You are trained in the use of an incredible variety of weapons, and in the tactics of war. You have wrestled bears to the ground, defeated a squad of enemy soldiers single-handed, and executed flawless tactical retreats.

*Blessed*
You are divinely blessed. You have been given the gifts of healing and protection. You are called on to fight evil and bring peace to the land. At your approach, flowers blossom, birds sing more sweetly, and undead gibber in terror.

*Philosophical*
You have spent many hours studying books and in the company of your own thoughts, and thereby learnt many mysteries. You can influence the universe and shape matter and energy using only the power of your mind. You have also practised the arts of argumentation, and can use them to reduce untrained and unshielded interlocutors to a state of helpless confusion. You know the names of stars, the greater and lesser syllogisms, and the secret delights of pyromania.

A friend also suggested another type of Hero, which I'm thinking of calling *Cunning*, but this type needs more features to support it and so might not make it into Ighalsk for a few releases yet ...