Yet Another Stupid Death? I Call Nethax

[CRBWildcat]

I've got a bit of a story to tell that those who've played Nethack before might get a kick out of.

I've been playing the game since before it was ever called Nethack, since the late 80's (the version I tend to favor is 3.2.2). I've never beaten it before on my own merits outside of explore mode, as something or other keeps foiling me in-game and out. Technically I managed it once, but that was through continuous backing up and re-copying of my save file, so I don't really count that.

This past week, I was on a bit of a roll. I'd begun to think: "Hey, I may actually beat the game this time!" I'd managed to scour all but the bottom-most level and reach the Wizard of Yendor's tower in order to obtain the last of the items I'd need to access the Amulet. I freeze part of the moat, dig my way through the tower, and immediately get confronted by the Wizard. He summons monsters to fight me, so I go to waste them. Should be simple, right?

Well, not really. One of his monsters was a fire-breather, and it melted the ice I was standing on and made me drown. Could've been dealt with, except for one thing: I forgot to equip an amulet of magical breathing I had in my inventory.

Face.

Palm.

[Spica75]

*lol*

And OUCH!

That's the kind of thing that sucks sooooo bad. So annoying.

[CRBWildcat]

Yeah. And it occurred to me just before making this post that I didn't even need to freeze the moat; I had levitation boots in my inventory. Oh, well...

Still, looking back I'm rather happy with that attempt all around. It's all part of what makes the game so fun.

[Té Rowan]

Maaan… I haven’t played these Rogue games in a very long time. I think it was back in my MS-DOS days, and that the last one I played was either Larn or Moria.

[CRBWildcat]

DOS always brings back happy memories for me. Can't say I've played either of those games, though.

I did a little bit better on this most recent playthrough, though my cause of death this time was no less stupid. I was on the bottom-most level, clearing my way to the room with the Amulet. To hasten my progress, I picked up a cockatrice corpse and started turning monsters to stone with it. Things were looking good.

Then my character fell into a pit just a few steps away from the room, and the corpse hit her on the way down and turned her to stone instead.

[Spica75]

Please excuse me, but i simply can't help laughing at that... It's just too perfect.

[CRBWildcat]

Yeah, yeah, I'm a pile o' chuckles right here. Laugh it up, why don't you...

...

[Té Rowan]

DOS always brings back happy memories for me. Can't say I've played either of those games, though.

I recall I finished PC Larn (probably v12.3). The goal there was to find a potion to cure a disease. I did dabble in both PC-Hack and Moria, but do not recall ever finishing either.

Of course, my favourite game back then was Turbo Pascal.

[Spica75]

Of course, my favourite game back then was Turbo Pascal.

That's a lot of games... If you can code them.

[Cheb]

Face. Palm.

I can only imagine your pain. The hardest I had was when you play through a whole level of Doom 2 in one go, no saves except autosave at the level start, Ultra Violence on Brutal Doom, survive untold hordes, survive The Cyberdemon - and then do something stupid and get offed by a lost soul.
But that's a single map.
To play roguelikes through... You are a titan of willpower.

Of course, my favourite game back then was Turbo Pascal.

Me too! Me too!

That's a lot of games... If you can code them.

Heh.

[CRBWildcat]

I recall I finished PC Larn (probably v12.3). The goal there was to find a potion to cure a disease. I did dabble in both PC-Hack and Moria, but do not recall ever finishing either.

Of course, my favourite game back then was Turbo Pascal.

I read a little about Larn and Moria, and both of them seem pretty neat.

As for Turbo Pascal, well... programming on the whole isn't my thing. That's not to say I haven't tried it---I've used BASIC, Q-BASIC, Visual Basic and C++ before, plus the more business-oriented RPG IV and Cobol---but making complicated programs is something I don't have the patience for. ()^_^

I can only imagine your pain. The hardest I had was when you play through a whole level of Doom 2 in one go, no saves except autosave at the level start, Ultra Violence on Brutal Doom, survive untold hordes, survive The Cyberdemon - and then do something stupid and get offed by a lost soul.
But that's a single map.
To play roguelikes through... You are a titan of willpower.

...I think that's the most anyone's ever said of me. Thanks. But really, I've been playing Nethack since back when it was just called Hack, thanks to an older sibling who was taken with the game. Back then it was a lot simpler---a lot less items and monsters, Gehenom was just called 'Hell' and required fire resistance to enter, the Wizard of Yendor as we know him now hadn't been implemented yet---and I still couldn't beat it.

(Not to say I haven't tried that, either; I'd managed to get a level or two into Hell back then [or at least close to it], but my Mom saw that I was spending too much time on the computer and told me to get off and enjoy the day outside. I said sure, tried saving the game, but it was so far in and the disk I was using was old enough that the save didn't take. )

-----

I have a rather promising update. My latest attempt has landed me in the Elemental Planes with the Amulet. Provided I can reach the Astral Plane and evade the Riders---and I have something with me that may help with that---I stand a decent chance of finally winning.

Here goes nothing...

[Spica75]

I stand a decent chance of finally winning.

Here goes nothing...

Good luck.

[CRBWildcat]

Well, I managed to finish the game... just not in the way that's good. I got to the Astral Plane, and... well, for anyone reading this who's new to the game, I'd better explain something.

In Nethack, no matter which character class you are, there are three rival gods---one for each character alignment (Lawful, Neutral, Chaotic). As a Valkyrie, the respective competing gods are Tyr, Odin, and Loki. By default Valkyries are Neutral, so I was supposed to have gotten the Amulet over to Odin's altar.

I had a close encounter with one of the Riders and a small horde of angels and rogue priests, but I reached one of the altars with my HP intact. I made to offer up the Amulet... and discovered too late that it was Loki's altar. My high score table currently shows the top three as follows:

Code: Select all

No   Points      Name                                                 Hp [max]
 1    1945468  Aldonza-V escaped the dungeon in celestial disgrace.  148 [283]
 2    1667805  VF Aldonza-4 turned to stone in Gehennom on Level 51.
                 Petrified by a cockatrice corpse.                   143 [152]
 3    1522885  VF Dierdre-4 died in Gehennom on level 43 [max 55].
                 Drowned in a moat.                                  248 [254]


So basically, I lost. On the plus side, I've proven to myself that it's possible to reach the endgame. I just have to make sure that I'm on the right altar next time, and thanks to the Nethack Wiki I know how to do this now. It's only a matter of time.

[CRBWildcat]

Reviving an old thread, for the sake of a new attempt at Nethack. It's been a few years since I've focused on this game, surprisingly...

I've got a Valkyrie named Metalium currently sitting on the Plane of Earth with the Amulet. I've got the game saved, and I'll be continuing it tomorrow. I'm hoping, with extra emphasis on that word, that I'll finally be able to beat the game. It's not really looking too good, since I'm feeling fairly unprepared when it comes to dealing with the Riders this time, so I'm going to have to hope that my ring of conflict (among other things) will be enough to keep them distracted.

---EDITED 10:49a.m., 3/31/2023---

...

...

...

Yes. Finally. YES.

34-35 years since I started playing, with failure after failure. That has changed today. Metalium has succeeded in her mission, and I have FINALLY cleared Hack/Nethack for the first time in my life. Been roughly ten minutes, and I am still psyched.

I'll post proof later, along with some of my notes on the run. Right now, I need to wait until I stop grinning.

[Drawde]

Congratulations. Never did too well myself with the game, but I've still seen how hard it is.