Talk:Blindness

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Revision as of 23:54, 27 January 2015 by Kdz (talk | contribs) (Your eyes momentarily itch.)
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Extra Benefit

Is it my imagination, or can you discover secret passages just by walking into them when blind? --72.70.76.123 02:09, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Your eyes momentarily itch.

If temporarily blinded, such as by the gaze of a floating eye and then put blindfold, the message "Your eyes momentarily itch" seems to indicate that the temporary blindness has passed. Of course, you still cannot see until you also remove your blindfold. Maybe this message should redirect to the Blindness page. Kdz (talk) 23:53, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

#chat to find monsters while blind

Should it be included? Does it use a turn if there is none? --Tjr 16:15, 6 January 2011 (UTC)

Apparently not, but I see a few limitations (besides the amount of work it takes):

  1. Not all monsters are detectable by chatting. Specifically, chatting to MS_SILENT monsters (and sleeping ones?) gives no message and consumes no turn, and there are some other special cases in domonnoise that act the same way.
  2. Chatting to some monsters has side effects that you might want to avoid. For example, chatting to werecreatures or giants may wake nearby monsters, and chatting to foocubi may trigger their seduction attack (and subsequent teleport).
  3. Finally, if the monster does make a sound, this also consumes a turn during which it may move. The location you are shown will always be the one where it used to be, even if it moved away.

--Ilmari Karonen 17:07, 6 January 2011 (UTC)

Are you sure #chatting with werecreatures and giants wakes up monsters? --Tjr 17:30, 6 January 2011 (UTC)
Yes, but not always. All is in Source:Sounds.c; Giants wake monsters if they say "Fee Fie Foe Foo" (50% chance if not peaceful), weres wake when they howl (%s throws back %s head and lets out a blood curdling %s!); done only on a full moon, if at night it's with a 12 in 13 chance, or a 1 in 13 chance otherwise. -- Qazmlpok 17:45, 6 January 2011 (UTC)
I think it should be included as useful in a few cases. One particular place it would be useful is in a coaligned temple, if you lack telepathy. Monsters won't attack you there, so chatting is probably about the only good way to distinguish the priest. And inadvertently angering the priest is a very quick YASD. Also it could be useful in shops or in Minetown, especially for somewhat low-level characters. Personally I would just wait out the blindness, but sometimes that's not an option (like if you find yourself next to a mimic in a shop, for example).
It does seem, however, that this is not useful to tell if a monster is your pet; walking into it while blind does not attack it or reduce its tameness apparently. Walking into an already-detected monster (an 'I') does attack it without asking for confirmation though, even if it is your pet. I suppose one might want to chat to those I's to make sure they aren't a pet, although pets tend to move around so much that that may not be useful. -Ion frigate 08:43, 7 January 2011 (UTC)