Poll: preferred solution to archery woes?

[Maul]

I agree that the Quiver would be the best option, but I really do think it would be incredibly cumbersome to code it into the game.

Not really. By itself, it would be a trivial programming challenge. Even in C, I believe a simple linked list would work well.

(I voted "quiver" only, but removing the non-affix variety would work as well. I don't ever remember actually thinking "Hmm, should I use my (+2, 1d6) or my (+0, 1d6+3) arrow to kill this monster?" Only, maybe, using the higher damage arrows at a lower weapon skill to compensate for being unskilled.)

[Harwin]

Not really. By itself, it would be a trivial programming challenge. Even in C, I believe a simple linked list would work well.

There's also all the UI for it as well. If this is a container, it's the first such container in the game. (The game doesn't seem to support bags or anything like that). If you're just saying "mark this for reload" then is that any different than the "bundle" solution?

[SirTheta]

Not really. By itself, it would be a trivial programming challenge. Even in C, I believe a simple linked list would work well.

TB has specifically stated it would require too much work to implement - nothing in ADOM is a "trivial" task.

[Al-Khwarizmi]

Implementing something in isolation is one thing. Adding it to a large system and making it interact correctly with the other parts of the system is a very different thing. For example, implementing the quiver would imply things like implementing a filter so that only arrows/quarrels can be put inside it, making item destruction effects traverse the quiver to destroy what's inside, adding keys in the inventory UI to add and remove arrows to/from the quiver, making it so that if you pick up an arrow which came from the quiver it automatically goes back there, modifying inventory weight calculations so that the total weight sums the weights of arrows in the quiver correctly... and many other things that we don't even know.

While I would love to have a quiver, as a developer I totally understand that it is very difficult. Marking/bundling would be fine by me and partial removing of variable would be nice too.

[Blasphemous]

The only thing among regular missiles that I consider when selecting a stack to use is the amount of arrows/quarrels inside.
To-hit and to-damage variation is completely irrelevant as the benefits of shooting continuously without having to go through prompts etc. far outweigh any potential benefits of +1/2/3 extra damage or chance to hit.
I think that perhaps TB originally thought that these varying combat modifiers would improve the game, diversify the gameplay.
What they in fact achieve is only another tedium. I believe that middle ground can be achieved here by reducing variable missiles' attributes to 3 kinds (as somebody mentioned already before me) - no modifier (base 0, 1d6) or +1 to-hit & to-damage or -1 to-hit & to-damage.
This way you avoid having to perform extra programming work with the mixed quiver, while at the same time you retain some of the original idea.
Having 3 possible stacks of regular missiles of a given type would be a huge step forward for archers (so basically every character as I can't seem to think of any chars that don't use ranged weapons, even duelists).

[Dlightfull]

Having 3 possible stacks of regular missiles of a given type would be a huge step forward for archers (so basically every character as I can't seem to think of any chars that don't use ranged weapons, even duelists).

9 stacks. You forget B/U/C status.

[shockeroo]

I'm all for nuking the hit and damage modifiers completely. I'm either using the largest stack, or I'm using slaying ammo. I think the only type of prefixed ammo I ever cared about is penetrating, and maybe I used hunting once; all the others just aren't worth the hassle with stacks.

[Maul]

TB has specifically stated it would require too much work to implement - nothing in ADOM is a "trivial" task.

Interesting. Well, I don't know the code and I'm only just a student programmer anyways, so I'm sure TB and some of the folks here know this better than I do. I just thought that if the rest of the code is designed well, adding quiver mechanics wouldn't be that hard. I mean, one could look at it like a second inventory which is handled slightly differently.

[Al-Khwarizmi]

I'm all for nuking the hit and damage modifiers completely. I'm either using the largest stack, or I'm using slaying ammo. I think the only type of prefixed ammo I ever cared about is penetrating, and maybe I used hunting once; all the others just aren't worth the hassle with stacks.

Of darkness, of thunder, unerring, winged are also fun. I think large stacks of standard arrows + small stacks of occassional-use special arrows would be fine.

[Harwin]

9 stacks. You forget B/U/C status.

But those at least you can currently adjust. A single blessed scroll of uncursing removes a bunch of those. That means 6 stacks (assuming you don't want to go blessing everything), and uncursed will be the majority.