NetHack
NetHack copied to clipboard
NetHack
Have neutral sacrifices disappear in a puff, not a cloud, of smoke.
The other two messages, "flash of light" and "burst of flame", each have an evocative onomatopoetic noun describing a sharp, abrupt release of light and flame, respectively. If law is represented by light, chaos by flame, and balance by smoke, the natural word is puff, not cloud.
Puff sounds a bit sissy; you're sacrificing an animal that you've killed for heaven's sake!
I think a less intense message is actually appropriate for the neutral alignment. Besides, its doesn't say how big a puff of smoke it is.
You could also use "great puff of smoke". Though I agree with vivit that "puff of smoke" is fine.
You could also use "great puff of smoke". Though I agree with vivit that "puff of smoke" is fine.
The irony here is that I completely forgot I was the one who added "cloud of smoke" in the first place, and decided against using "puff" like in SpliceHack.
https://github.com/nethack/nethack/commit/c578b95
Stuff on the floor can already cause you to see a "puff of smoke" from fire (zap.c), and when a djinni doesn't emerge from a magic lamp, you can see "a puff of smoke" (apply.c). Why have the language changed to be so similar for an altar?
That's a good point. I agree that "puff" matches more closely than "cloud" to the feel of the other alignments' sacrifice verbiage, but the distinction from the preexisting "puff of smoke" uses seems like a good thing.
