Talk:Bones

When was the bones pile feature conceived and implemented? fontppp in #nethack asks and I couldn't find an answer. One of the significant changes from Hack 1.0.2 to 1.0.3 was "A real amulet of Yendor can no longer be found in bones files." so bones are at least as old as (and certainly older than) 1.0.2 which came out in April 1985. Were they in Jay Fenlason's Hack, or introduced in Hack 1.0, or did they originate in Rogue? --Eidolos 04:44, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

I can find no reference on Usenet to bones in Rogue, but they are certainly in JF Hack (source for hack.bones.c) --Jayt 12:30, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Ethics?

Is there really an ethical question over the use of bones-found items? The only ethical issue I'm aware of is using notes from (or memory of) the deceased character's game to bypass identification. --Jayt 13:13, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Multiple bones

I entered the oracle level today and I found a couple of ghosts there with different names, along with the monster that killed them. Well, that monster killed me, too. That was the first time I found a bones level that had multiple people dead on it. Is there a maximum number of times a level can become a bones file? If not, I think that level will become quite the grave yard. --MadDawg2552 23:09, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

I just came here to ask if this was possible, so I guess this answers my question. I doubt the odds of leaving bones are any different, which will mean the chances of the level not being saved would increase exponentially over time. I may source dive and have a look Bitplane 03:55, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Artifacts in bones

If an artifact was not of its default alignment (i.e. Magicbane given to a Chaotic Wizard), will it "remember" this, or will it revert to default? --66.23.133.55 17:19, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

A neutral wizard finding a formerly chaotic MagicBane will not be blasted, i. e. it is rendered neutral to match the new wizard. A lawful knight simply will not find a chaotic MagicBane, but a wizard will be able to load the bones file. --Tjr 15:19, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Gravestone/no gravestone

How come some players leave a gravestone ("|") when die, and some don't? What affects this? Or is this something totally random? Gneek 01:46, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

I had a hunch that a gravestone can only be generated if the location where the player died is in a room. I decided to confirm that by checking the source code (Source:Engrave.c#make_grave and Source:End.c#line650). From what I understand, a gravestone can only be generated if the location is in a room and doesn't have a trap. Also, if the player died right on a gravestone, that gravestone can be replaced by the gravestone of the recently deceased player. —Shijun 02:09, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

I already had a gravestone made by me in a corridor. Also, fir that matter, are mazes corridirs or room?--Newtkiller 05:14, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

we need probabilities of leaving/loading here

as the headline says, we need the odds of leaving and loading bones in vanilla and slashem. Tjr 22:20, 13 May 2009 (UTC)