Nethack

[Hitti-Litti]

Does anyone have this on his/her computer? Nethack is an rogue-like, ASCII game. It's small, and free to download. And it's damn hard... I found out that I still had it on computer, and played it. Here's what happened:

Well, I started as a priest, and survived to the bottom of Gnomish Mines with great amount of luck(used wand of digging to get to a lower floor, used that to escape a group of chickatrices). There, I saw that there was a gnome king, three gnome wizards and a dwarf against me. I was wounded, and had about hald of my HPs left. Well, my big brother watched me play. I found out that I had an unidentified potion in my inventory. My brother said "Throw it towards someone!" But no, I wouldn't listen. I drank it. So I fell to sleep and was killed by the gnome king. You can imagine the laughter of my brother after that...

So, you who still play it or at least have it on your computer, try it and tell me how good are you at it.

 

[steviejay]

I played it a while back but I didn't seem to be very good at it but it can be fun. it's certainly more fun than say Solitaire or Minesweeper

 

[Knight-Dragon]

kcwong is playing it. I am sure he'll come and regale you with tales of his grand adventures soon...

 

[vbraun]

I've gotten just beyond the castle with a Valkyrie once before..

 

[kcwong]

kcwong is playing it. I am sure he'll come and regale you with tales of his grand adventures soon...

I started playing around June 2006, and I'm still playing it now. I haven't ascended yet, but have a bunch of characters, most already cleared the Castle. Let me check my spreadsheet... I have:

Rozen the Elf Wizard. He's my best character. He's currently looking for the vibrating square (Rodney not triggered yet, of course), and making sure there's a clear and straight path back up.

Bob the Human Barbarian. He has cleared the Castle level, filling out his ascension kit.

Athena the Dwarf Valkyrie. She has cleared the Castle level as well.

X the Human Tourist. He has also cleared the Castle.

Kacy the Gnome Healer. She's the one I'm playing right now, and she has completed Sokoban, heading to Mine's end. She has over 100 HP, has magic missile and all the healing spells, skilled in dagger and 2 large feline bodyguard. Already have "oR from Sokoban and +2 grey dragon scale mail thanks to a grateful water demon.

I usually don't go for the Mine's end first... it's too dangerous. Digging for victory is not for me... and I don't have the stomach for Protection Racket either... I killed many gnomish healer this month before starting Kacy.

I usually grow my pet to large status in the main dungeon, then enter the mines briefly to grab some nice armor. Then depending on the situation I either clear Sokoban or find mine town. I always clear Sokoban before going to Mine's End.

 

[Reno]

I've been playing Nethack for years now, played it first around 2002. Restarted playing it around 2005ish, no accessions for me yet.

My best characters, mostly Wizards, Monks and Valkyries with a few Knights and Archeologists added to the mix as well, have gotten past the Castle and into Gehennom; I've yet to pass beyond the vibrating square though.

I also *slightly* helped Kcwong to keep intrest in this game after all too many frustrating deaths of his characters, this all transpired in a completely different forum of cource.

Here's a very useful website; good to use as a reference while playing.

http://nethack.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

 

[Hitti-Litti]

Heh, I have survived to the Maze level, but got killed by the minotaur in it... My big brother has gotten in the Medusa's Island, but got killed by an eel.

I always clear the Gnomish Mines first. It keeps the interest on in playing, as the mass destruction of gnomes is fun. Usually I have either a really nice wand or some artifact earned by sacrificing monsters when I clear the bottom level. I have passed the Mines several times, maybe I could have done better without rushing into them immediately. And for some reason I never keep my pet with me, maybe it's because I want all the experience and corpses to eat from the battles.

Oh, and I'm always happy when I eat the gnome/dwarf king.

 

[kcwong]

I also *slightly* helped Kcwong to keep intrest in this game after all too many frustrating deaths of his characters, this all transpired in a completely different forum of cource.

After killing more than 100 characters on my first day, I thought I was getting somewhere... but I still got killed to often. So it's not surprising that I needed some help.

Here's some of my silly fatal mistakes during my early days...

I found out I can kick doors, and was doing it all the time... until...

And that's how my first Knight died... right inside the first room. I wasn't paying attention to my HP.

My priest's last word: Uh-oh. That was before I learned what the sounds meant.

Not a fatal mistake, but this is how I killed my first mumak...

... I retreated, dug a pit and lured the mumak into it. Then I killed it by throwing stones.

I'll show one of Reno's error...

 

[Hitti-Litti]

I'm playing as a monk, cleared the Gnomish Mines and now I'm in level 11. This is the quest level, maybe I'll go check out what's happening there(though I know that the monk quest is damn hard). I have a red naga hatchling as a pet, I took an egg and it hatched in my inventory. Oh, and I've gotten two artifacts from my god, Ching-Sung-Tzu. Vorpal Blade and Giantslayer. I sold Vorpal Blade for a nice amount of money(it ain't that useful as I'm a Grand Master in martial arts) and used the Giantslayer to kill about several giants in the Oracle level.

 

[Julian Delphiki]

NH is very hard and very addictive.. and really funny as well.

 

[Reno]

I'll show one of Reno's error...

You can't believe how sad I was after that occured. "It's only an illusion, only an illusion..."

The background wallpaper and the name of that character (Precia, a Wizard I believe) indicate that that was quite a while ago.

 

[Hitti-Litti]

1. My monk was killed by a couatl. I got to the level that has a huge room with lots of monsters. First I killed a couple of couatls, by luring them to an upper floor and slaying them one by one. But, my plan had a fault in it. I lured my fourth couatl upstairs, and started slaying it. Then I saw a tiger approaching me from a corridor. Well, I tried to flee away to another room, lock the door and heal myself, but the couatl grabbed me and I couldn't escape. I could have done the couatl only, but tiger made so much damage that I died.

2: My samurai named Blarq survived to the bottom of Gnomish Mines and back. Then, at level 10, there was a zoo treasure hall(or whatever it's called). I killed most of them with my +3 katana, by escaping upstairs to heal myself once in a while. Suddenly a rust monster appeared upstairs, and my katana rusted thoroughly(spelling?). Well, I started fighting bare hands, and I did well for sometime, until I had only two monsters against me, a gelatinous cube and a crocodile. Gelatinous cube touched me, and I freezed. So the crocodile slashed me into pieces and I died. :angry:

Gahh, now starting as a Valkyrie.

 

[Reno]

The Big Room is easy, if you have the right equipment; a cockatrice corpse and something to permanently/semi-permanently burn/scribble Elbereth into the staircase.

As soon as you enter, burn Elbereth into the staircase and get ready with the corpse; then just smack away as the monsters huddle next to you, get smacked with the corpse and turn to stone, or run away.

With that tactic I cleared the room without a single blow landing my Valkyrie character. Had a nice ring of statues around the staircase afterwards.

 

[Izipo]

This looks like great fun (I like retrogaming), reminds me of Gateway to Apshai.
I might try to get my hands on it.

 

[Hitti-Litti]

It's easy to get your hands on it. It's freeware, and really small. But hard as hell. It's pretty easy to learn to play it, but veeeeery difficult to master.

 

[Izipo]

OMG !!!
I just went through 7 Izipos (all random), and I fear I'm bound to play this game a lot in the next week or year...
Funny thing is I received Oblivion as a gift for Christmas (it's still unopened)

 

[kcwong]

but the couatl grabbed me and I couldn't escape. I could have done the couatl only, but tiger made so much damage that I died.

You can scare them away by engraving Elbereth. You can write in the dust with your fingers - the commands are "E, -, Elbereth". As long as you're not having any bad status (blind, confused, etc.) you have a pretty high chance of writing it correctly in a single turn. As the dust might erode very quickly, keep writing for a few turns, and use the local look command ";" to check the engraving's status.

Also it indicates you're not having enough AC for the dungeon level you're in... get more. Best to have it below -10, and don't be satiated all the time - it abuses your dexterity. Never be burdened when you fight.

Suddenly a rust monster appeared upstairs, and my katana rusted thoroughly(spelling?). Well, I started fighting bare hands, and I did well for sometime, until I had only two monsters against me, a gelatinous cube and a crocodile. Gelatinous cube touched me, and I freezed. So the crocodile slashed me into pieces and I died. :angry:

There's the Ring of Free Action... it prevents you from getting paralyzed or held. You should start the identification process early... the equipment you found will help you a lot. Besides you might be better off fighting with your rusted weapon, especially if you've put skill slots in it. There are ways to remove the rust, and even protect your weapon from further erosion.

The Big Room is easy, if you have the right equipment; a cockatrice corpse and something to permanently/semi-permanently burn/scribble Elbereth into the staircase.

Right equipment is the keyword here. I once got a potion of paralysis smashed on my head the moment I entered the big room (reread that thread, Reno). Ring of Free Action and Amulet of Reflection are recommended for the big room.

It's easy to get your hands on it. It's freeware, and really small. But hard as hell. It's pretty easy to learn to play it, but veeeeery difficult to master.

And there are ports to other platforms. I have the Windows Mobile version installed in my Smartphone.

 

[Reno]

Started playing as Dante, a neutral human female Wizard. Got lucky and found a coaligned altar and an amulet of life saving right on the first level. After a few sacrifices Magicbane was mine. Although I managed to kill her once due to a misjudgement on my part; thankfully she had the aformentioned amulet.

I really need to start playing again in earnest.

 

[Reno]

Ring of Free Action and Amulet of Reflection are recommended for the big room.

Those two are pretty much a necessity to have as soon as possible; however the amulet can be replaced with the suitable Dragon scalemail which allows room for more useful amulets such as life saving and magical breathing (unbreathing).

 

[Hitti-Litti]

kcwong@ Thanks for advice.

For some reason I rarely use Elbereth. Normally I don't remember to use it. And in some way I think it as a minor cheat, as you can wait and heal yourself while the monsters roar at you couple of squares away. But I'll try it.

BTW, my AC was about 0 at that time, and I had no amulets or rings. And my XP level was 11, and max HP nearly hundred IIRC.

Well, gotta try again. Maybe as a wizard, I'm trying to learn to combat more with magic than weapons.