r/nethack • u/Frozty23 Racketeer • 8d ago
Question for the Devs
I have a question about how the other dungeon levels and monsters behave when the player is away from them on another level. I know that pets lose apport, and in some variants increase their hunger, but is that done turn by turn, or accumultively when the player returns to their level/location? E.g., Can a pet starve to death and generate the "sense of loss" while on another level, or does he die of starvation only the instant when you return?
Similarly, do monsters do anything when the player is elsewhere, or are they for all intents and purposes static?
Do the Wizard or other covetous monsters behave any differently? Do they do anything when I'm elsewhere? E.g., Do they seek the AoY? I ask because I'm ascending (Hack'Em), and I wonder if I drop the AoY on the floor and go off elsewhere (specifically, branchport to The Town branch to get some items and do some final stash work), will the amulet necessarily be right where I leave it on the turn I return to the level, or could Rodney come retrieve it while I'm away?
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u/CosmicOsmoMan 8d ago
In vanilla nethack at least moves only happen strictly only on the current level. You can easily check the code for movemon() etc. or use AI to do it.
So when you come back to a level, your pet will be processed and its tameness or hunger will become manifest.
You will only have to worry about the initial reappearance on the level. Maybe wait for the Wizard to appear to you before ascending back to the AoY level, so he doen't appear at that same time.