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damerell at 04:20pm on 09/12/2017
damerell at 04:20pm on 09/12/2017One of the questions that vexes NetHack players (you don't have to be one to follow this) is whether the character is wearing pants and/or trousers.
The argument that they are is firstly that the game doesn't represent objects with no game function; junk on the dungeon floor doesn't show up, the knapsack you keep your belongings in isn't an item in and of itself, etc. Sure, you have ordinary clothes - who would go spelunking naked - but they don't need to be modelled. Secondly, you can sit on a cockatrice corpse - ordinarily, touching one with your bare flesh turns you to stone - without anything bad happening. Plainly there is fabric in the way.
The argument that they are not is simple; in the game one has encounters with incubi and succubi, who remove your armour, piece by piece, sometimes asking [1] about each one; but they never ask about your pants, even if your stats are so high that they ask about each armour piece every time. Plainly there is no fabric in the way.
The answer came to me yesterday; the character is wearing a frock. All NetHack characters wear frocks (with no underwear, but we know they're adventurous). When sitting, they scoot the hem up under their bottom, and so aren't petrified when sitting unwisely.
[1] yeees, it's a bit dubious when one thinks about it.
The argument that they are is firstly that the game doesn't represent objects with no game function; junk on the dungeon floor doesn't show up, the knapsack you keep your belongings in isn't an item in and of itself, etc. Sure, you have ordinary clothes - who would go spelunking naked - but they don't need to be modelled. Secondly, you can sit on a cockatrice corpse - ordinarily, touching one with your bare flesh turns you to stone - without anything bad happening. Plainly there is fabric in the way.
The argument that they are not is simple; in the game one has encounters with incubi and succubi, who remove your armour, piece by piece, sometimes asking [1] about each one; but they never ask about your pants, even if your stats are so high that they ask about each armour piece every time. Plainly there is no fabric in the way.
The answer came to me yesterday; the character is wearing a frock. All NetHack characters wear frocks (with no underwear, but we know they're adventurous). When sitting, they scoot the hem up under their bottom, and so aren't petrified when sitting unwisely.
[1] yeees, it's a bit dubious when one thinks about it.
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