#272 Bolt of Iron->Iron Shot, Ice Bolt->Fling Icicle (FR1801710)
Based on FR 1801710
Bolt of Iron and Ice Bolt were both mechanically different from the other
"bolts" in that they didn't penetrate targets. In addition, Ice Bolt was
very easy to confuse with Bolt of Cold. So they got their names changed to
Iron Shot and Fling Icicle, respectively. This change is both external (in
the game output) and internal (how the code refers to the spells). This
commit also changes the names of the spells in the data files (ie. for
tiles) and the names of some data files themselves (tile images).
(See the file list.)
Note that Lemuel's comment about the concept (and tile art)of "bolt" not
fitting with the way the "bolt" spells behave is still valid, but that's
another issue. I think this stems from a confusion between lightning
"bolts" and crossbow "bolts."
The patch file.
+1
I would really prefer just "Icicle" to "Fling Icicle". Almost all spell names are noun phrases: "Lehudib's Crystal Spear" not "Throw Lehudib's Crystal Spear".
The name I originally chose was "Ice Shard." I also thought about "Icicle" but I thought that didn't sound offensive and descriptive enough. (Summon an icicle as a weapon or what?) "Fling Icicle" was chosen roughly by vote in ##crawl-dev. I am not a huge fan, but I think it works. As far as I am concerned, though, you can change it to whatever you want, as long as it makes more sense than Ice Bolt. In defense of verb names there is Teleport Self/Other, Polymorph Other, Burn Poison, etc. I think spell names are individualistic, which adds flavor, as long as you're consistently inconsistent.
Applied, thanks.
--Eino