Nethack vs. Angband article

[Legend]

I stumbled across this article which I thought was pretty interesting and worth sharing.

http://www.iconbar.com/articles/Running_the_gauntlet_-_NetHack_vs._Angband/index1119.html

Basically, it's a review of nethack from an Angband players point of view and vice versa.

Both sides make some pretty interesting and valid points that I never really thought of before.

One thing that I'm not sure is correct is that one of the reviewers claimed that Angband actually has an option to to turn on persistant levels. Is that actually correct, and if so, how do you access that option? I've never seen any way to do it.

[Vanguard]

Persistent levels should be one of the "birth" options you can only change in the options menu during character creation.

Everything the first dude said about Nethack's playability issues is true, but Angband still sucks.

[Krice]

but Angband still sucks.

I don't like Angband either, but some people do. I think Angband has steep learning curve. If you don't know stuff you'll die soon. Nethack is easier, you can wander around and not get killed until you go to bad places.

[Nymphaea]

It's funny, because I felt the opposite way. With Angband's multiple windows it was easy to see the info I needed, I always found it more casual. I think the main reason though was I never read that the scroll would return you to the dungeon, so I always went from town, which ended up helping me stay well ahead of the difficulty curve. The curve is definitely faster than nethack's though, I remember around floors 20-30 it got much tougher very suddenly.

The difference with nethack is that it was fun to die, and try fixing your mistake. Especially if it was from something stupid you did. Angband though took much longer, and there was much more loss when you died after a relatively fun and simple run.

I think the two reviews hit the nail(s) on the head, though. A lot of it is polar though, you can't attract all gamers with a game unfortunately, it's a good display of the differences between players.

[Legend]

Persistent levels should be one of the "birth" options you can only change in the options menu during character creation.

Tired looking in the birth options, but I didn't see anything.

I know the article is a bit old. Maybe persistant levels used to be an option in Angband, but has been removed?

I've been getting back into Angband a little since Ancient's console versions. I fing Angband to be a much more casual game. I tend to play it in kinda the same way I play Minecraft from time to time. By just kinda going at it without any real goal in mind. The length of the game is kind of a trurn off for me, so when I play, I don't really even think about winning.

To me, Angband plays kinda like Dungeon survival sim. It's fun that way from time to time. I wouldn't say it sucks or anything.  I agree with the reviewer about saying it lacks a bit of the depth that Nethack has and for some reason, dying in Nethack is just more enjoyable and often amusing. I know persistant levels would make a big difference for me and I would likely play more if it was an option (that I can find).