Temple of The Roguelike Forums
Game Discussion => Classic Roguelikes => Topic started by: Slash on May 25, 2007, 02:25:15 PM
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Hello all...
Today, we feature a competition that goes back to the roots of the genre, back to the very same moment when the adventurer stood in the entrance of the dungeons of doom, seeking fame and fortune for his guild of Rogues. Yes gentlemen (and gentlegirls), I am talking about the game that started it all. Rogue.
Rogue was a game made in 1980, but don't be fooled... this doesn't means it is a simple, easy or uninteresting game. One may be led to think that all these years of enhancements made on further games would opaque the features of Rogue, well, this is not true.
Rogue's pushforward nature and the cruelty of the enemies makes up for a lot of fun and challenge, prepare for a lot of keyboard bashing and screen cursing, as your adventurer's armor melt again to rust monsters' breath, Vampires suck your HP away and wraiths level you down (yes, permanently).
After all, as you know, this is the game that spawned the genre.
The competition is simple:
- Recover the amulet of Yendor and report your deed to Temple of The Roguelike
- Post screenshots of your victory
- Post the history of your brave rogue.
- The competition will run for 2 weeks from now on.
- If there happens to be more than 1 victory, the winner will be judged this way
- Highest Score adds 2 points
- Coolest Rogue's History adds 5 points
- Posting failures or almost victories is encouraged
- If you cheat, the RNG will haunt you for eternity, andall the characters you play in any roguelike will begin with a Doomed intrinsic or equivalent
- This challenge applies for the "happy face" Rogue version which can be found here: http://www.the-underdogs.info/game.php?name=Rogue (http://www.the-underdogs.info/game.php?name=Rogue), or for Linux the version inside the bsdgames-nonfree package which can be installed via Synaptic, apt-get, etc.
- Good luck!
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Hey, count me in. I'll try and post something one of these days :P
Although I guess it would be better to stick to *one* specific version of Rogue. One that runs on Linux, preferably :P
Or are there two versions completely equivalent?
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I like the Epyx version of the game, the color makes a huge difference for me. Though I actually have the pre-comercial version of it(1.1)
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Duh was playing yesterday but
a. Rogue 5.4 seems to have a bug which didnt let me equip anything (played on winXP)
b. My best character on happy face Rogue was killed by a bug on DosRecorder (was recording overwriting a file, the game hanged up when I got to the last frame of that file), this was sad (down to level 11, stuffed with food and magical items:( )
Will give it a shoot again tonight
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Note: If you use Debian or a derivated linux distribution (Ubuntu etc.), you can install Rogue with Synaptic, apt-get etc. The package is called "bsdgames-nonfree". It is in the non-free section because Rogue's license prohibits commercial use.
Kind regards from the aging minotaur
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Slash the Rogue, 3028 gold pieces, Killed by a Troll on Level 14
YetAnotherUnluckyDeath
Met a Venus flytrap and thought I could handle it. I was wrong... It was tearing me apart and I had to read my only scroll of teleportation, 7HP left. I am teleported right behind a Leprechaum... stumbling around in confusion I find myself lucky not to hit it and make it beat me... I slowly start regenerating until about 12HP, then a Troll appears... found nothing of use in my inventory so it was the end.
Died with 2 potions of recover strength, one of increase strength, an unidentified wand, an unidentified staff, 9 rations of food, amongst some stuff.
Equipment was a sword and an aquated chain mail.
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I seem to be the only one trying...
Rogue version 1.1
2164 gold, Killed by a Troll on Level 12
Landed on a zoo with two aquators and a troll surrounding me; disposed them and a centaur but panicked at the sight of another troll (19 HP)... tried two staffs over him without any effect... then died
Trolls are nasty
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I seem to be the only one trying...
Not quite :). I took the challenge as an opportuinity to play some Rogue after a long time of abstinence. I don't expect to actually make it, though. My current high score is at 5888 gold, killed by a Medusa on level 18. Argh. I wasn't terribly lucky in the early game, but not unlucky either, as one usually is in Rogue. This was my first encounter with the dreaded 'M'. My hero didn't know what hit him :'(. Rogue is a terrific game; as a coffee break dungeon dive I prefer it to any other non-epic RL I've tried, and the fact that a lot of the mechanisms are still used in modern RLs (cursed items, importance of food, etc.) says something about the ingenuity of this game, I think.
Kind regards from the aging minotaur
EDIT: I can't believe it! I just got down to level 20 -- took on trolls easily, and managed to kill off a few medusas and black unicorns (I had 20 strength, 14 armor(!) and a decent two-handed sword). What killed me in the end? Hunger!
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Wow sorry to hear that...
Level 20 :| --- How did you manage to get there??
By the way... how many levels are there til the amulet of yendor??? (I forgot)
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This time the RNG was pretty evident on his will to destroy me... I landed on a monster zoo on level 12... two yetis, two trolls, one centaur, several zombies... I fought until the end... wish I have had some teleport scroll :*( but it was a doomed fight...
Attached screenies
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Level 20 :| --- How did you manage to get there??
Luck ;). I found some very nice armor and weaponry early on. Strategically, I try to be careful, not to mention patient -- two things I am usually not. Rogue strikes me as an extremely tactical game; you don't want to waste a single move (a feeling I don't from ADOM, for instance). One tip I found useful was to not start trying out magical stuff until the backpack is actually full (and then start with using items of which you have two). That means that for instance, if you read a scroll of identify, chances are greater you have something interesting to actually id, or if you quaff a potion of blindness, chances are greater you'll have some healing remedy. This at the expense of a slightly harder opening game. I try to stay away from nymphs, and to ration magic tools. I don't put on strange jewelery; you never know where it's been.
The lower levels I will certainly clean out, to gain the xp and treasure, but once things start getting tough, I might consider making a dash for the stairs rather than risking battle with a powerful foe (expending useful potions and wands), even if the reward looks promising. I also came over some interesting spoilers (which I won't repeat here) concerning scrolls of scare monster. I haven't gotten to the point of actually trying out such a scroll, though.
If I recall correctly, the amulet is found at level 26.
Good luck,
--Your friendly neighborhood buffalo man
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I keep going at it.... getting closer everytime!
I had one character get like 8 rations of food before level 6. No weapons, no armor... my armor eventually got aquated to 1 and I was monster food.
... Then I had one find FIVE two handed swords and FOUR plate mail, before level 6. No food... my stomach eventually started yelling and I collapsed cursing into a dungeon floor.
Ah... I love Rogue
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Rogue is evil.
Yesterday I lost a character with 9 rations of food, strength 20, a two handed sword, enchanted splint mall... was just careless against a Centaur and a Quagga... and very unlucky! I just couldn't hit the Quagga, as hard as I tried! it took me from 36 HPs to death, after escaping via scroll of teleport...
A shame...
I just want to see the fucking amulet :P
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Ok, I am about to give up
This game is evil.
Any fight below level 15 is deadly, an Ur-Vile will just kill you in 3 blows if you dont have a decent (as in a +3 plate mail) armor equiped, and even so, it will just kill you if you miss two hits.
However, you will be lucky if you are in posession of such thing... because if you by any chance find one, it will be destroyed to nothing as you pass through the Aquators. Off course, you can save this by using a ring of preservation, but if you are *lucky* to find one, you will need to munch a lot of food, which you need to be very lucky to find. And if you find enough food, you wont find a good armor, so it's a no-no game.
Then we have rattlesnakes, and they droping your strength to 10 or less, and not having enough luck to find potions of recover strength.
So, how many times have I written "luck"? yes, you need to be in a lucky strike (a very lucky strike) to have a chance to win. and this chance is so dismal that you just won't win.
Rogue is got its charm, but after level 15 things are just unfair, unbalanced, too depending on luck, and just evil to the player.
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So, has nobody done it yet?
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i made it to the amulet in irogue (the palm port for it) and died due to the fact that i was unlucky enough to be spawned inthe room with the amulet with only one exit into a zoo. irogue does savescum for you but i made it to the amulet w/o the feature it was on level 29. i was lucky in the beginning to find a longsword and mithril armor... trolls were no problems. but i found a very unusual enemy it was a "q" it was a 64-bit int. it was like a wraith. whenever it hit you it would say "the 64 bit int hits. you overflow, welcome to level [insert current level - 1]" =\ those things angered me. the only three enemies i had problems with though were Dragons "D", Griffins "G", and Medusas "M"
i tip i found useful is. dont exit a level the second you find the exit... sitck around and level a bit until about level 10 solwly progressing until about floor 9 then try to speedrun to the amulet. avoiding most monsters
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So, has nobody done it yet?
I honestly didn't read about this competition until today. It's a good competition though! I should try it.
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What happened to this thread?
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Of course, everybody is scared to acept this challenge! :D
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So, has nobody done it yet?
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I never get very far before dieing, so Ive not even come close yet, but I have only played a few games of rogue over the last month :)
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I just downloaded the good ol' "Rogue: Dungeons of Doom" only had time for one game atm but my first char got some decent equipment but died at level 13 cause I was in a hurry.
Rattlesnakes damaged my STR quite a bit.. Are they worth using the bow against? And is there a potion to replenish the STR again or?
2400 gold (What is gold for anyway?? xD)
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I just died to a pair of trolls with 3542 gold.
Rattlesnakes damaged my STR quite a bit.. Are they worth using the bow against? And is there a potion to replenish the STR again or?
It depends on the situation. Personally, I'm pretty bad about neglecting the bow.
And is there a potion to replenish the STR again or?
Yeah, it gives a message that says you feel warm or something like that.
2400 gold (What is gold for anyway?? xD)
It's just your score.
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Personally, I'm pretty bad about neglecting the bow.
Same here. Rattlesnakes are the only enemy against which I usually use a bow.
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Really my biggest problem is that I seem to run into 9/10 enemies in hallways where you can't see them until they're right there, and of course for the entire second half of the game, every room is dark and I don't always get a staff of light.
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I experience several problems for which I find no solution; 1) Items. It seems impossible to be "safe" with finding new unidentified items.. One will never find enough ID-scrolls for weapons, rings, armour etc. So you just have to gamble right?
Also, the Aquator? And the Rattlesnakes? They will thrash your armour. They will ruin your str.. Nothing can be done about this.
There are NO tutorials/guides/spoiles for rogue to be found on the net either.. I'm guessing that is because, quite frankly this game IS based upon luck.
Don't get me wrong though, I have much respect for this game and its authors, but there are hardships which seems to have NO potential solution except for: Be very lucky.
Am I missing something or is this correct?
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This is absolutely correct and the reason I stoped trying :)
However, there are spoilers in the net... check http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/580055/9646 for instance
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I experience several problems for which I find no solution; 1) Items. It seems impossible to be "safe" with finding new unidentified items.. One will never find enough ID-scrolls for weapons, rings, armour etc. So you just have to gamble right?
Weapons, armor, and scrolls are safe most of the time. Only a few scrolls will do anything bad to you, and cursed weapons and armor can be dealt with using a scroll of remove curse instead of a scroll of ID. Most of them aren't cursed anyway. For rings you'll want to ID them because many are powerful, and most cause you to become hungry faster, so you need to know whether it's worth it or not. Potions are a gray area, because there are several that can harm you, but you're not likely to find enough ID scrolls for every type. I think the worst one is a potion of blindness, so if you have a potion of healing to remedy it, feel free to experiment.
Also, the Aquator? And the Rattlesnakes? They will thrash your armour. They will ruin your str.. Nothing can be done about this.
Take off your armor against aquators, they're extremely weak in a fight, so if they're not hurting your armor, they're no threat in any way. If you find more than one set of armor, carry it around in case aquator's trash your first set. Leather armor is supposed to be immune to them as well, so if you find some of that, it may be worth using and blessing at every opportunity.
For rattlesnakes though, there is nothing you can do if they show up at close range. You just have to hope for a potion of restore strength, which will restore it fully. According to the guide Slash posted, there's no difference between a strength of 8 and a strength of 15, so don't worry about it too much until it gets really low.
There are NO tutorials/guides/spoiles for rogue to be found on the net either.. I'm guessing that is because, quite frankly this game IS based upon luck.
In addition to the guide Slash posted, which looks useful, I've found this
http://www.rots.net/rogue/index.html (http://www.rots.net/rogue/index.html)
which is less of a walkthrough, and more of a quick reference to what every type of monster and item is.
Regarding the luck thing, there are right and wrong decisions, and there are good and bad players. Now, for example, I find myself getting much further than I could when I first played the game at the age of 8. With that said, even perfect play can be frustrated by misfortune - bad luck absolutely can (and let's be honest - probably will) kill you.
Some interesting and useful tips from the guide slash posted:
"If you are standing in a doorway and the doorway is blocked by a weak monster you
can shoot other monsters diagonally without taking damage from them."
I never knew you could shoot diagonally through doorways. You can't attack diagonally through them, so that's really useful.
It also says that if you drop a scroll of scare monster, nothing can attack you on that spot (but you can't pick it up again). I always wondered why reading that scroll never seemed to do anything. The message you get from reading it is the one about "maniacal laughter," so if you find any of those, make sure to put them to good use. Note that it says the special attacks of Medusas and Dragons can still affect you.
Edit:
This game is like... pure malice concentrated into ascii form. One run I might find over 10 pieces of food, but be stuck with my original mace and aquator-ruined armor for the whole game, so I get mercilessly crushed by the first troll I meet. Later I'll find several quality suits of armor and a two handed sword, but be defeated by the RNG's refusal to generate any food at all.
Edit 2:
I have a +4, +4 two handed sword. I can't wait to see what's in store for me now.
Edit 3:
Aaaaaannnd.... that's it. I got pinned between an Ur-Vile and a Yeti. That sword ended up being +6, +4 by the end of it, and of course I found a million other two handed swords throughout the course of the game, because they were of no use to me at that point.
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Hehe yeah I got greedy by finding too many armours this round.. Kept trying to find something better and got stuck with a -3 armour! (2 AC or something)
But these guides helped a great deal! Level 16 this run, and this was a pretty unlucky one. And my other two games showed much better potential, but my rogue-game crashed when I tried equipping a ring onto Left hand. (Twice in a row this happened, two separate games in a row :/)
Downloaded the original Rogue now instead of "10Rogue". I want the amulet!! :D
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Rogue is powered by some kind of Murphy's Law based technology.
If you find one two handed sword, you'll find a million more that life. Then, to break even, you won't find another for 1 million lives.
If you're quaff-identifying potions, you will always drink the potion of healing before the potion of blindness.
If an ur-vile surprises you in a hallway, and you decide to run, there will be another monster, just out of sight on your other side.
Finding a nice suit of leather armor destroys your chances of finding scrolls of bless armor. Likewise, finding scrolls of bless armor means that you won't encounter any non-studded leather.
You will find exactly one scroll of scare monster every game, and you will discover it while read-identifying your scrolls. You will never, under any circumstance, get an actual chance to use one of those.
If the game decides to spawn a treasure room, there is a 99% chance it will place you in it when you start, and you will be immediately killed by its guardians.
If you find a two handed sword and some nice armor, the game will never generate food again.
If you find a ring of slow digestion, the game will spawn dozens of food items, rendering your find meaningless for no reason other than spite. You will pay for this food by never finding some other needed item.
After you clear a treasure room of monsters, and are just about to collect your reward, you will inevitably step on a trapdoor, and lose everything there forever.
Rogue's RNG isn't like other RNGs, where they just have unfortunate outcomes with suspicious frequency. I think Rogue's creators actually made a sentient artificial intelligence that bears malice towards all living things.
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This is the most accurate description of the random nature of rogue I have ever found! :D
/me hates :P
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Level 16 - 4000gold is my record now!
I was unlucky enough to find a great two-handed sword AND decent armours.
Ring of dex+1, Ring of Regeneration = no food.
Ohwell! Was trapped between a Troll and a phantom at the end there, was at 3hp and had no useful items except for possibly an un-IDed scroll. It was a scroll of teleportation! And I managed to go downstairs to regen some.. Then I died of starvation :P
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Yeah, just because you find an uncursed ring (a rare enough occurrence itself), doesn't mean you should necessarily wear it.
Edit:
I just got pinned between an ur-vile and a phantom on level 17. Of course, just to spite me, I died to the phantom immediately after killing the ur-vile.
Level 16 is definitely where you should quit treasure hunting, and just make a break for the amulet.
If I can get some food, preferably a scroll of slow digestion, and a bit of luck, maybe it would be doable to grind monsters for a while on level 12 (after trolls but before wraiths).
I don't think it's feasible to do this before trolls show up - almost everything before them gives low amounts of experience. After level 12, wraiths will probably ruin everything. With a scroll of scare monster, you could pull it off against ur viles and phantoms and wraiths, all good sources of exp, up to level 18, where medusas show up, who will have a high likelihood of killing you off if you try this where they can find you. I don't know if this is worth it, as a scroll of scare monster is pretty much a get-out-of-jail-free card.
I've read that you can identify a scroll of scare monster without even picking it up, but they didn't say how it was done. Will monsters not step on one lying on the ground? Does anyone else have esoteric tips?
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Is there any such thing as a uncursed Ring of Tele? I mean even a uncursed ring will just randomly teleport you about, right? It's kindof like putting on a ring is like 'u'se ability..
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Ahhh! Just -cannot- get past level 16.
I've found that the challenge with this game is to find _balance_ with your style of playing. At the start you know it can be severe later on if you accidentally equip a cursed shitty longsword. You also know that staffs you find will come in very handy. You also know that rings like Regeneration, Stealth, add STR etc. increases food consumption alot! ..and there might not be much more food in store for you! Anyway what I'm getting at is that I've found that all my characters with the MOST potential (Great rings, nice staffs, enough food, decent gear) die before level 10. Because instead of being moderate, I get greedy.
With these mediocre characters I just use what I got when I have to, and easily run down to level 15-16.
Can't wait till I get one of these uber-characters down to that level! ;) Atleast my last one killed afew trolls, ur-viles and phantoms! (When I was forced to deal with them with the sword) What was sad for this last char was the only armour I had was 2 AC. That doesn't cut it for long at level 16! ;)
This game is abit like chess. Atleast I'm learning more about movement and being careful in dark rooms/after level 15 :)
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Ahhh, damned jabberwock at level 24! Ohwell, new record ^^
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jabberwock at level 24! Ohwell, new record ^^
Ohhh, that's a shame.
24 is impressive. I've never been that far before.
I say we all just go on a Rogue marathon until someone makes it. One of us has to get lucky eventually, right?
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One of us has to get lucky eventually, right?
No.
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I am working on it! :) This game has far more strategy than I initially thought.. Think "Rogue" is gonna be the first "roguelike" I ever manage to win at this rate.. I keep thinking about playing Crawl, start up Dosbox then go.. "Meh.. ONE quick rogue-run first!" Then I end up doing 4 runs :P
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No.
:(
I am working on it! :) This game has far more strategy than I initially thought..
Got any tips to share?
Think "Rogue" is gonna be the first "roguelike" I ever manage to win at this rate..
That would be an extremely impressive first win. I think a Rogue win is the prestigious victory of all.
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Arrrghhh! I downloaded Dos recorder for my next game to try and record a game, and it went extremely well. Got to level 23 again, and AGAIN died to a 'J'. Ofcourse I managed to close Dosbox before going to check out the demo.. messed it up x_x
I'll try to record another later or tomorrow! :) It took about 20minutes.
Got any tips to share?
I don't know, I just found that guide slash posted extremely helpful.
The playingstyle I've adapted is just to collect all the items I can, exploring all of each area on each level down to 14/15.
I try to get past most of the rattlesnakes before I start quaffing potions.
I try to avoid using 2 rings, ever. Unless I have TONS of food, or there's a dire situation. Take off rings for resting. Rest in the middle of well-lit rooms, so you most likely can start off an encounter by throwing some arrows.
Do not mix staffs/wands. Staffs are staffs in all games, and wands are wands in all games. Wands I usually just ID by zapping in a dark room, or if that doesn't work, at a monster. I try to ID staffs on a semi-hard monster too.
If you have a +3, +2 mace, don't take the risk of equipping an un-IDed two-hander at level 13.. :P It WILL be -3 and cursed!
I only stick with Leather Armour if it starts out somewhat enchanted and I encounter 2 or more Enchant Armour scrolls.
Below level 16, forget about being conservative with good staffs or items. Now your goal is just to get to the NEXT level. A potion of magic detection can be a life saver! The potions of curse monster are extremely powerful against monsters which don't have TOO much HP. Staffs of polymorph are also VERY good. And I find that Ring of Stealth is the best ring you possibly can wear. Allows you to just tippy-toe around Dragons, Medusas and other nasty foes.
When I never got below level 16, my goal was to just get DEEPER, not win the game. That means I am expecting to die before I reach the amulet. So if you ask me, you can be happy if you die at level 20 with an empty inventory, and be angry with yourself if you die at level 22 with an inventory full of still useful potions/scrolls.
Arrrr.. someone get to those damned Jabberwocks and tell me how to dispose of them.. x_X
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Arrrr.. someone get to those damned Jabberwocks and tell me how to dispose of them.. x_X
The only time I ever encountered a Jabberwock and lived to tell the tale was because I polymorphed him.
Really, I don't think you're supposed to fight them one on one at all. They have as much health as you, and do more damage.
Also:
Don't you love it when a two handed sword is generated on the first level after not having seen one for dozens of games, and then you promptly get cornered and killed by a hobgoblin who manages to dodge about seven consecutive attacks? I know I love it.
If I ever get two rings of slow digestion, I'm just going to sit on floor 11 until I'm level 15 or something, and make everything pay for its crimes against me.
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Haha yeah I know, I was thinking that as it killed me. I tried to 'z'ap my staff of polymorph, only to discover (and remember) that in my hurry of doing the run quickly, since I was recording, I was standing on a staircase at level 5 or something, wanting to drop a ring of -1 DEX and instead I dropped a staff and then went down.. I got to pay for that mistake!
Btw, at level 18, I had all my potions identified and I had not found a "Restore STR" yet. However my str was at 14/19 or something, and I had 3 potions of increase STR. I figured "Screw it, I won't find a restore str potion in time. I need to quaff them to raise my str alittle just to maybe survive alittle longer." I quaffed all 3 potions. Found another so my str was 19/19. Then in the next room lies an unidentified potion.... ;P We all know which one. Could've had 23/23 str instead had I kept my cool for 3 rooms more x.x
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I just died on level 19 because an ur-vile showed up at a dead end, and then when I threw my potion of paralysis at him, it missed, and when I threw a potion of confusion, it didn't do anything. Those things are my most hated enemies in the game. Jabberwocks and griffins are worse in every way, but it's just overkill by that point, and most of the time an ur-vile will probably get you before you reach them anyway. Never seen a dragon before.
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Oohh nice. Seems like you're getting more consistent deep runs too. I have never had much success with throwing potions either, at all. I tried it out on some weak monsters when I started playing just to see if it worked, and it didn't so I concluded that throwing potions were useless.
Ohwell, I'm sure you'll reach that depth again but with some staffs that dispose of the ur-viles easily! Heading to bed now. Gonna try again tomorrow! :-)
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AHHHRRR! Died on floor 24 with the amulet in my posession! :/ ..from starvation!
For anyone that's never held the Amulet before and get it for the first time: Getting the Amulet does NOT turn the down-staircases into up-staircases! You have to use < instead of >!! I didn't realize that and ventured from 26 with the amulet down to 29 before I managed to turn around! :x
I had a ring of stealth, I had a unused wand of polymorph, a unused staff of slow monster plus another that I used acouple of times! I just didn't have freakin food#! ;X
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What version of rogue was this, MSDOSHappyFace?
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Screenshot it the next time you find the amulet (if there is a next time) so we can bask in its majesty, and if you do manage to succeed, the story will be better with the visual supplements. That is a terrible shame though, all the way down to level 29. You'd have been out of the most dangerous part of the dungeon had you been going the right way, but I suppose the starvation would've still gotten you in the end, eh?
Once you have the amulet and go upstairs, does it generate new levels with new treasures, or are they persistent levels? I would imagine the former, but have never gotten there myself.
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Yeah the link you posted for download Slash didn't work, and I tried to find the original Rogue elsewhere. First thing I found was called "10rogue". It seems to be just like the original, just some convenient controller-settings. (like * automatically after using an ID scroll for example) However, this game kept crashing whenever I found a certain ring and tried to equip it on my Left hand.
So I am playing smileyface Rogue in DOS. It saddens me that I can't dos-record in Dosbox..:/ The only window found for capture is the console-window in Dosbox, the "window" that is generated by the console and don't belong to a exe-file can't be captured :/
In Vista, the MS-DOS "mode" is HORRIBLE. The colors are disgusting, I cannot fullsize, it lags even with Rogue.
The levels are not persistant on your way back up. New levels are generated each time you enter. There's a great chance I 1) Could've found some food in time if I had went the right way. 2) Could've survived fainting infront of a not-so-bad-monster.. But I don't want to speculate further into that! ;D
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What version of rogue was this, MSDOSHappyFace?
Yeah, I'm using the one you can download from here (http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/rogue/).
The download link in the OP doesn't work anymore, but it should be the same, or at least a very similar version.
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Anyone know how to record in Dosbox? Fraps is not an option. It sucks. I tried to make a 4minute long videoclip with 2fps, and it generated a videofile of 4GB, which started spawning new videoclips of 10-15mb everytime I viewed it..
I LOVE dosrecord, is there no way to emulate/run DOS in Vista where Dos Record can be used? :/
Edit: That is the same version I am playing btw Curseman. I downloaded from there too =)
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I recorded a game btw.. Nothing special though I guess. I think I died at level 18 with 2900 gold. Had a GREAT sword..but a horrible armour!
And sadly, lots of food but no rings of much use.. My best armour was 2AC! :/
Two staffs of slow monster too, but after a Medusa's stare, and a scroll of teleport, landing in the lap of an Ur-vile with only one potion of healing = Death.
Anyway hopefully I can record reaching the Amulet again soon! :) ..ahh it looked so beautiful! x_x I was worried about not finding it, or whether a monster was Guarding it or how it worked.. But when I saw it.. I KNEW! ;D
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This is maybe my most promising character yet. Blessed vorpal longsword, undamaged chain mail, rings of stealth and slow digestion (just found), a wand of light and an unidentified staff, a scroll of teleportation and scare monster. I only have two rations of food, and the game hasn't been generous to me on HP, but I think I have a chance. I'm character level 9 and just about to enter dungeon level 16.
Edit:
Nope, got killed by a completely unavoidable Medusa on level 21.
Of course I could never hit the Medusa, but it could never miss or even hit for less than maximum damage.
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This is maybe my most promising character yet. Blessed vorpal longsword, undamaged chain mail, rings of stealth and slow digestion (just found), a wand of light and an unidetified staff, a scroll of teleportation and scare monster. I only have two rations of food, and the game hasn't been generous to me on HP, but I think I have a chance. I'm character level 9 and just about to enter dungeon level 16.
Ooo nice weapon. ID that staff when you get a chance and try to have an escape route ready to the down-stairs if you find it and decide to keep exploring the area. Ring of Stealth usually lets you start off most fights you decide to pick, with arrows.
Good luck! :o
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I died less than 30 seconds after you posted that.
Rogue would be so much better if
1) You started with a ring of stealth and
2) Every room was lit.
The endgame is almost impossible without a ring of stealth (it's barely possible with one), and dark rooms do so much damage to the player's tactical options. Maybe if they started with a ring of stealth and a wand of light it would be okay.
Edit: Oh it's on!
Two handed sword, ring of stealth, 8 rations of food, and an AC of 10! Level 16 and character level 9, but the RNG was more kind with giving me HP this time. Wish me luck...
Edit 2: *Sigh* nope...
The game decided to generate about five ur-viles in a row, and of course the ring of stealth didn't do any good against any of them, and after the fourth one an aquator knocked two points off of my AC, and the last ur-vile got me.
I can't decide whether this game hates me more than I hate it.
Still, it's really weird that I had two characters that promising so close together. I'm legitimately starting to think that the game is programmed so that on October 13th the random number generator behaves more chaotically or something like that.
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Haha. Well one of the things that surely show how great Rogue actually is made, is to see how many players get paranoid about the code in this game, including myself. I don't know how many times I've been struck by some insane paradox/incredible coincidences happened (that ofcourse usually is for the worst) and made me wonder if they coded it so cleverly that the "coincidences" are calculated.. ;) I do however think it's all random and that it's just so difficult, balancing right on the edge of impossible, making all these crazy coincidences happen. One great attribute of this game is the lack of ID-scrolls, meaning there is really hard to see what actually happens in the game. When does Scrolls of ID start appearing? At what levels were these potions of restore STR gathered, and did I find them before I found these add STR potions?
Since I really believe it's randomized and controlled by chance everytime I play, I think the best way of getting a chance at winning this game is to just perfect your playing-style to automatically do everything in your power to 1) Use as few turns as possible. 2) Minimize chances of disasterous things to happen. 3) Find a balance between survival/conserving useful things for the endgame.
When you get these things in solid so it's more or less how you play automatically, you can play more effectively, play faster, play more games, increasing your chances of winning!
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3) Find a balance between survival/conserving useful things for the endgame.
I've come to the conclusion that this balance needs to be skewed so strongly in favor of playing towards late game survival that everything before that point should just be an afterthought. If I find a good suit of armor, I'll take it off before level 8, and I won't put it back on until I get to where ur-viles show up. *Maybe* trolls if I'm feeling conservative.
Yeah, centaurs can be hard, but they have nothing - nothing! - on ur-viles, and it just gets worse from there on out.
One day I'm going to get two rings of slow digestion and a scroll of scare monster, and then this game will pay for its crimes against me.
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One day I'm going to get two rings of slow digestion and a scroll of scare monster, and then this game will pay for its crimes against me.
It wont...
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One day I'm going to get two rings of slow digestion and a scroll of scare monster, and then this game will pay for its crimes against me.
It wont...
lol, why are you so pessimistic Slasharoni? :P You started this thing..this obsession!!
Btw, when recording with dosrecord, do you guys prefer full run in the video, or just recording to start around level 12 with a summary in an annotation or what?
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We can just skip ahead, so record it all.
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We can just skip ahead, so record it all.
Really? How?
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Uh, er... someone must have swapped my root beer with a potion of confusion. Disregard.
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I just remember this idea I had back on '07:
http://www.roguetemple.com/atTube/slashie-rogue-040607.html
also, check out
http://www.roguetemple.com/atTube/eliannita-drashrl-030207.html
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One day I'm going to get two rings of slow digestion and a scroll of scare monster, and then this game will pay for its crimes against me.
It wont...
It won't generate those items, or it won't pay for its crimes even after getting those?
Because in the latter case, the only thing that could hold me back from unlimited power is my own lack of patience.
Edit:
That @tube thing is kinda cool.
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@tube looks awesome.. Would be nice to be able to upload to and link from.
Anyway my latest char could've been a winner for sure, if it hadn't been for the fact I found about 6-8 armours in game, 2 of which were uncursed (and pretty crappy). Aquators and bad armours ruined this char. Uploading a record that started from D-lvl 14 with a summary of current status at beginning for anyone interested.
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h) +1 ring mail [armor class 5]
i) Splint mail
j) -5 splint mail [armor class 2] (being worn) - It's cursed
k) Plate mail
l) Chain mail
This game is so unfair.
Edit:
By the way, does anyone have a chart for how much experience is needed for each level up? I haven't been able to find one. Is there a level cap, and if so, what is it?
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@tube looks awesome.. Would be nice to be able to upload to and link from.
Yeah, it was just a proof of concept... if anyone is up to the job of making it real, feel free to do it
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By the way, does anyone have a chart for how much experience is needed for each level up? I haven't been able to find one. Is there a level cap, and if so, what is it?
2: 10
3: 20
4: 40
5: 80
6: 160
7: 320
8: 640
9: 1300
10: 2600
11: 5200
12: 13000
13: 26000
14: 50000
15: 100000
16: 200000
17: 400000
18: 800000
19: 2000000
20: 4000000
21: 8000000
That's the maximum.
This is for Rogue 5.4. For earlier versions the numbers are slightly lower and the max level is 20. I don't know about PC Rogue, but it's probably similar.
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Oh, nice. Thanks elwin!
See, if you can get two rings of slow digestion you can go forever without food, and you're free to grind away forever. Standing on a scroll of scare monster (don't pick it up!) makes you invincible to anything except medusa's gaze and dragon breath.
My hope was that I could one day luck into getting these things, and set a scroll of scare monster down somewhere after trolls show up but before medusas do, and just grind away to level 20.
Yeah, it would take forever and a day of waiting, but a near-guaranteed win after 100 years of grinding is a better shot at victory than 100 years of playing the game normally (which would still give you about a 0% chance).
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I dunno if this is still going on but man...'f' this game! ;)
Level 9 is as far as I've gotten.
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I dunno if this is still going on but man...'f' this game! ;)
It will always be going on. No one will ever beat rogue.
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I just tried.....
I was all like "Woohoo! Things are going just great!" Then I stepped into a room FULL of monsters. FULL of 'em. It's like the game KNEW.
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I thought I had a chance. I had a two-handed sword. I drank 3 potions of gain strength. I had +3 plate mail (that's AC 0.) I had 9 food rations and two rings of slow digestion.
I got caught between a troll and a centaur only 16 levels down. Not even 3000 points.
My strategy needs some alterations.
ttyrec (http://rlgallery.org/ttyrecs/elwin/rogue3/2010-06-10.14%3a01%3a53.ttyrec)
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Just found this forum...
I've been playing rogue (ver 1.1) off-and-on for 26 years now, and have won 3 times. I don't count the losses. ;) I've got a friend who's much better at it than me (mostly because he's a lot more careful and patient) and has probably won several dozen times. The first time he did so, I thought it must be one of the great all-time achievements by the human race... except nobody knew about it!
Here are a few tips we discovered that I didn't see in this thread. Hope some of them work for you.
1. On the early levels, don't pick up any scrolls before you find a Scare Monster. When you see a new scroll, go find yourself a Snake or an Emu (or any monster you should be able to handle easily) and drag it back to the scroll. When you get back, instead of stepping on the scroll, walk around it. If the monster follows you around the scroll instead of stepping on it itself, you've got a Scare. In no case, will any monster ever step on a Scare.
2. In some games you only get one warm (restore strength), in which case you don't want to quaff it until out of Rattlesnake territory (and hopefully after you've identified, one way or another, the potion of poison). Unless you've got inventory overload problems, don't quaff any unknown potions until you've got two of them (or you've already found a warm or are desperate for one). Few things are more frustrating than wandering the lower levels having to use up your magic because your strength is so poor.
3. Before quaffing your unknown potions, drop your unidentified objects in a hallway. (Just be sure there aren't any trap doors between you and your stuff.) If you get magic detection, you'll know which of your belongings are cursed or enchanted. This can save you a lot of identify and remove curse scrolls.
4. In the lower levels, mazes are your friend. I don't know if this a bug or not, but in many mazes with two-level rows, monsters get disoriented. Try dragging a relatively harmless monster into one of them, and then move diagonally, either below or above the monster. This appears to be giving the monster a free shot, but the monster will often head back to the exit instead. This gives you one free swing as the monster is leaving. After you've taken it, go back to the maze entrance, lead the monster back in, and do the same trick. It's a great way to kill Griffins because, if you do it right, they never swing at you. Ideally, you'll find one of these mazes on level 17, pre-Medusas, with the staircase in a room next to the maze, and a ring or two of slow digestion in hand. If you can kill 4 or 5 Griffins before going to level 18, your chances against Medusas are much improved.
5. Medusas may seem impossible at first, but they can be beaten. Don't try to swing at them while confused (unless you have no other option) because you'll probably miss. Instead, throw something (crossbow bolts are quite effective if you're strong) or use a magic wand. You have a much better chance of hitting with a wand or thrown object than with your wielded weapon.
6. This has been said before, but I'd like to reiterate: once you get to level 18 (earlier if you don't have good escape technology), find the exit as quickly as possible and go down.
7. It's tempting to enchant leather armor, but you're better off enchanting plate mail and waiting until level 18 to use it. That's when you really need it! With +4 plate mail and high experience, you can often wait out a Medusa confusion. As unfair as rogue is, it could be worse: Medusas and Aquators don't occupy any of the same levels (except for the occasional level 17 zoo). Great armor is also useful for preventing Vampires from permanently taking your hit points.
8. There's no food on the way back (except perhaps for the occasional nymph), so, if you're going to win, you've got to conserve some. Needless to say, slow digestion is extremely valuable.
9. Some monsters (Centaurs, Wraiths, Phantoms, Jabberwocks, etc.) are often asleep and won't wake up until attacked. If you have a ring of stealth, more monsters fit into this category. On the lower levels, leave these monsters alone, at least until you're ready to leave the level. You can often kill off an Ur-vile or a Griffin by walking around the sleeping monster, and taking a swing at the following monster only when you have sufficient hit points. Just be careful and don't hit the sleeping monster by mistake. Even if that doesn't work, you can use the sleeping monster as a pick to change directions without getting hit.
10. A ring of regeneration is awesome in the early levels. As long as you've got enough food, you have very little chance of being killed. (Just be sure to take it off immediately when you get back to full hit points.) Once you get to a very high experience level, however, your hits come back very quickly anyway, so it may not be worth keeping. Deep down, stealth and slow digestion are your friends.
11. If you've got a ring of teleportation that you've managed to uncurse, consider keeping it in your pack if you've got room. If you get desperate, put it on, and you might just escape that Medusa or Dragon. Then again, it can also cause a lot of problems, so you should use it as a last resort.
There's probably more, but that's what comes to mind at the moment. Hope it helps!
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Thank you for the tips! I will give it a try again, someday soon!
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Yeah, those are actually pretty helpful.
I dunno if I want to try rogue again though. We'll see.
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I did it!
Not entirely sure which version it was, but it was remarkably similar to the Epyx one I had back in 1987. This "newer" version had Snakes instead of Slimes and mangoes instead of slime molds. I feel like the older one was a little bit more generous with hit points when you advanced levels. The newer one I got from Home of the Underdogs (?) about 5 or 6 years ago.
I've read most of the previous posts in this thread and don't have TOO terribly much to add. One thing that definitely should be noted is that the ring of stealth really IS beneficial - maybe even indispensable. I had one for the whole way down and a decent part of the way up. Had to drop it though to make room in my pack, plus my food supply was running out. Fortunately, on the way up there WERE some food rations lying around (and a few nymphs to take them from) - but it must be noted that items were far more sparse on the way back up. If there were no items on the ascent, I wouldn't think it possible to beat the game.
I was also surprised to see that I was able to beat the game using the mace from the beginning - only a few enchant weapon scrolls. It definitely helped having level 20 strength. The +9 armor sure came in handy, but by the time I was on the way back up, my hit points were in the 90's, so I was able to mow down trolls without thinking twice.
Wands/staffs. I don't know if it was a stroke of bad luck, but I wasted THREE polymorph charges on a dragon before giving up. Thankfully I did have a potion of haste self, which essentially works the same as zapping a monster with a slow monster charge. Then comes the dance - hit once, back up. Hit once, back up. Slow monster is an incredibly helpful stick, and it's surprising that I won without having it. At the end I also had a couple fire staffs and a wand of lightning, but honestly I have to say they were somewhat disappointing. The lightning bolt whizzes past the griffin. The flame whizzes past the ur-vile. When they actually DID make contact, it didn't seem that much more damaging than a good old-fashioned mace blow. I can't count how many turns I've wasted throwing impotent paralysis/confusion/blindness potions at griffins and the like that would shrug them off IF I was lucky enough to even connect.
The monsters I had the most difficulty with were the usual suspects: Jabberwocks, Dragons, Medusas, Griffins. Medusas aren't actually THAT bad if you are able to fight them head on. I've always wondered what would happen if you quaffed a potion of blindness before fighting them, but by the time I get to those levels, I'm not feeling like experimentation! Jabberwocks are VERY tough and even with an armor class of +9 I would lose at least 20 hit points a turn. In fact, it was a jabberwock that carried the Amulet on level 26.
Let me again stress that all the magic in the world will not help you unless you have:
(a) a decent weapon
(b) decent armor
(c) high hit points
I won without finding I would have thought to be indispensable: a two-handed sword, a slow digestion ring, a ring of searching (especially for trapdoors - TWO of which I fell down on the way back up!), a regeneration ring, a scare monster scroll, a wand of polymorph (granted, I HAD one, but only used it once ineffectively against a dragon). Luck is a FACTOR, but maybe not as big of one as some people here have said. It's sort of like Scrabble in that regard - if you draw 4 I's, you're not gonna get a bingo. Perseverance is definitely the key. I played Rogue a ton back in the late 80's, and have been playing it even more for the past several years, and only beat it for the first time a few days ago. I could count the number of times I've even found the Amulet of Yendor on two hands, and there would probably still be a finger or two left over.
a) 1000 The Amulet of Yendor
b) 100 A scroll of identify
c) 70 A scroll of monster confusion
d) 185 A staff of fire [2 charges](walnut)
e) 350 A staff of fire [2 charges](walnut)
f) 310 A staff of polymorph [0 charges](zebrawood)
g) 390 A staff of lightning [3 charges](eucalyptus)
h) 380 A staff of drain life [4 charges](dogwood)
i) 260 2 potions of healing (magenta)
j) 5 a potion of poison(clear)
k) 860 +1 plate mail [armor class 9]
l) 30 -5 splint mail [armor class 2] (being worn)
m) 152 A +3, +3 mace (weapon in hand)
n) 6 6 +0, +0 arrows
o) 1 A +0, +0 dart
5169 Gold Pieces
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Hey, congratulations!
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I got to level 17. I was mowing down Medusas and vampires, and then I starved to death. Serves me right, I was wearing six rings. Speed, regeneration, slow digestion, and three others. Whee, no wonder I was having such an easy time in fights. Uh, but not an easy time finding enough food.....
Bear
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Sigh!
It's true that a lot of luck is required, but very often you die from greed or a lapse of concentration.
Two days ago, I was on my best run ever. I had the amulet, plenty of food and was on my way back up. Then I went to a party. Of course, the game was all the time in the back of my mind. Late in the evening, relatively drunk, I flipped out my iPod, continuing on level 25, and almost immediately ran upon a dragon. And tried for just one hit too many. In an instant, everything was lost. The most tragic thing is that I had so many ways out: a scroll of scare monster, a teleport, a wand of polymorph, slow monster.
But I was obviously not thinking clearly.
What a waste.
(http://IMG_0011.PNG)
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I won without finding I would have thought to be indispensable: a two-handed sword, a slow digestion ring, a ring of searching (especially for trapdoors - TWO of which I fell down on the way back up!), a regeneration ring, a scare monster scroll, a wand of polymorph
The only thing truly indispensable is high HPs. And luck - that's a huge factor.
I was potzing around tonight, nothing spectacular regarding the game, except I realized I had about 70 hp at L9. Around level 18 I realized I could actually win this time, even though all I had was a staff of slow monster (great), 2x striking (useful vs medusas), and 3x potion of paralysis (throw at monsters). No teleport scrolls, no hold monsters, no polymorph, no scare monster. Oh, strength of 16, +2+2 mace, +2 chain mail.
I made it down to the amulet, but knew I had trouble - no food left, no ring.
I made it back to L18 before I finally croaked, a troll got me after I fainted for the umpteenth time. If I had found just one more ration of food I would have made it out! So yeah, luck is HUGE. Luck gets you good HPs vs crappy ones, a slow monster staff vs haste monster, food vs nada.
Of course, you have to take what you're lucky enough to get and find a way to win - no small feat! As mentioned above, patience and perseverance, since all it takes it a careless move, or forgetting about the lifesaver you have tucked away, and it's all for naught...
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Yes! I finally did it.
This was on Rogue Clone IV for Ipod Touch, adapted from Rogue v. 5.3
Some differences that I have noted with respect to the PC versions:
1. There are no dark rooms (this is a big help of course)
2. It is not possible to throw potions.
3. Weapons thrown at monsters are not recovered when they die, and can not be identified in this way.
4. The amulet appears to function as something like a ring of slow digestion, as I did not get hungry at all on my way up. That is why I made it up with 5 rations of food as you can see from the attached.
5. Vampires drain both max HP and strength, which is why my strength was worn down quite a lot in the end.
I had the benefit of two wands of slow monster and three potions of haste self that allowed me to knock of a couple of dragons, griffins and Jabberwockys. But above all, I had a very nice two-handed sword. I don't know its enchantments because I only came across three scrolls of identify during the game, but I quickly found that it was very efficient at dispatching monsters.
I was very fortunate with HP rolls. I might have reached something like 110 HP in total, less about 5 points lost to vampires, which means that I gained about 7.25 HP per level.
The relatively short high-score list is because the Ipod touch rogue tends to crash to a point where the game becomes non-functional and you have to reinstall. I have played 100's of games before succeeding.
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Way to persevere!
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Does it count if I beat Rogue Clone? I cant seem to find the original windows binary I used to use.
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Does it count if I beat Rogue Clone? I cant seem to find the original windows binary I used to use.
I'd count it!