Messages

31

Off-topic (Locked) / Re: Quick question thats been buggin me for 20 years

« on: February 09, 2010, 08:14:31 PM »

I know it's a malus of some kind, but no, I don't know what it specifically does.

I was 99% sure it wasn't a good thing too, and then I found a suit of extremely cool (-5) or (-10) armor.  I'm sorry to say I can't remember if it was an artifact or just an extreme exotic.  What I do remember was that every other intrinsic modifier was a positive.  Seemed odd to me that such a kick ass suit of armor would be soooooo whatever it is that number means...?

32

Off-topic (Locked) / Re: Quick question thats been buggin me for 20 years

« on: February 09, 2010, 01:12:07 PM »

It could also be a -3 to stealth
But I don't know really.

Oh yeah, I never thought of that one.  Yeah possibly since there is a cloak of stealth with a (+value).

EDIT - Infact this seems like the perfect answer.  One problem though.  The Cloak of Stealth as well as Elvenkind Armor and everything else that effects stealth seems to point out that it is effected in the basic identify.  If the Cloak of --> STEALTH <-- actually comes right out and points out the +1 is effecting stealth, why wouldn't something less obvious like armor?

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Off-topic (Locked) / Re: Quick question thats been buggin me for 20 years

« on: February 09, 2010, 01:06:14 PM »

Now that I think about it Moria/Angband does have a hidden encumberence that affects spellcasting and eventually movement.  Not the normal you've gone over your weight allowance encumberence, but the one that actually gives the message that you're over encumbered and your movements are slowed.  Probably has to do with that?  I'd still appreaciate if somebody familar with the code would explain exactly how it works.

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Off-topic (Locked) / Quick question thats been buggin me for 20 years

« on: February 09, 2010, 11:32:22 AM »

I'm pretty sure I read every word of the original Moria docs and could never figure this out.

You know how in Moria/Angband the Armor is written like..

Metal Brigadine Armor (-3) [19,+0]

Okay the 19 is the number added to your AC.  The base protection so to speak.
The +0 is it's magic value.
What the world is the (-3)?

At first I thought it was a good thing, like a damage reduction per strike.  But after seeing the Rusty Chainmail (-3) I started thinking it was more of an encumberence thing.  However it doesn't seem to lower DEX, MOV, or anything else I've noticed on the Character Sheet.  100 tripe rations to the first person to solve this decades old question!

35

Traditional Roguelikes (Turn Based) / Re: Dungeon Adventure released on XBLIG (360)

« on: February 06, 2010, 04:12:54 PM »

I don't really understand why anyone would want to play a roguelike on a gaming platform anyway. The only reasons I could imagine one would want to play any game on a console are that there aren't any system requirements to be met, and it's easier to play with friends, but roguelikes, lacking sophisticated graphics (if they have any), don't require much in the way of hardware, and they are typically single-player affairs.

Location, comfort.  While my computer chair is comfortable enough, many peoples ideal gaming comfort zone is near their console.

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Traditional Roguelikes (Turn Based) / Re: Dungeon Adventure released on XBLIG (360)

« on: February 06, 2010, 04:01:02 PM »

Remember that unlike most roguelikes this game uses your stats to create its one generic monster (with differen't names).  So as noted before, may be the first roguelike that weakens you as you gain experience/equipment.

Elona used to have the game get quite a bit harder as you levelled up, and IVAN punishes you for wearing better equipment.  In the former it was a massive design flaw, and the latter is just sadism, but Dungeon Adventure is certainly not the first.

As I said.  This may be the first roguelike that weakens you as you gain exp/equip.  As in, all experience, all items work negatively (except the one cursed item).  My quote about characters stats being used to create monster stats used the word most.

EDIT - Actually I'm wrong.  The game has 2 healing potions, a magic mapping and freeze monster scroll.  So there are actually a few items that provide benifits to the player.  Still mathematically the game doesn't make sense.  It's like having the size and strength of a two year old, and by the time you're 18 everybody on the planet is the size of a Titan and walking around with a vorpal sword.

37

Traditional Roguelikes (Turn Based) / Re: Dungeon Adventure released on XBLIG (360)

« on: February 05, 2010, 01:29:07 PM »

The v1.1 now apparently available.

Seems to be a weapon or two added, and a few bug fixes like the format of the highscore board, the scroll of enchant armor actually affects your armor stats now.  That being said, tightening up those issues makes the flaws in design that much more noticable.  The game I played had 6 raise level potions on the first level, and I was easily taken down by a bat by the time I hit level 2.

Remember that unlike most roguelikes this game uses your stats to create its one generic monster (with differen't names).  So as noted before, may be the first roguelike that weakens you as you gain experience/equipment.

At least the update was free.

38

Traditional Roguelikes (Turn Based) / Re: "100 Rogues", new indie Roguelike RPG (iPhone)

« on: February 04, 2010, 02:01:48 PM »

Looks like something I'd have to have.  Trouble is I don't own an Iphone and wasn't planning on it.  Are there any plans to expand to NDS, Xbox, or PC?  If not I'll pick up an Iphone before your release.  Looks great, good luck!  Quick question.  Is the title 100 Rogues, inspired by the Japanese tradition of having 100 candles for 100 ghost stories?

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Traditional Roguelikes (Turn Based) / Re: Dungeon Adventure released on XBLIG (360)

« on: January 30, 2010, 08:59:49 PM »

I'm slightly surprised at the ferocity of the critics.
Usually Roguelikes either get praise or no response at all (which some of them do not deserve). And yet here is a game that gets so much Nonstop Flak which makes me wonder: Is this the worst Roguelike to have ever been made or what spawned this religious zeal to dismantle it?

The problem lies in the fact that it cosmetically imitates a Roguelike but when put to the test really bares no resemblence to how a traditional roguelike works.  What the author attempted to do was to recreate a monster leveling progression similar to those seen in a linear RPG.  Granted it's about the most basic attempt at that I've ever seen, but the attempt was made.   Then take in to account we have Healers that don't heal.  Ninjas that don't Ninj.  Six monsters and under 20 items to discover.   Most of which are purely cosmetic and either don't effect your character or effect your character negatively.   You end up with something that is a bit of Con.

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Traditional Roguelikes (Turn Based) / Re: Dungeon Adventure released on XBLIG (360)

« on: January 30, 2010, 01:57:35 PM »

2 weeks to improve Dungeon Adventure.  I'm highly suspicious that the author has probably spent that time tweaking a game that is at it's foundation flawed.  Rather than rebuilding it from the ground up.  Until the Author spends some time understanding how a good roguelike functions there is little reason to re-purchase this title.

41

Off-topic (Locked) / Re: looting my corpse

« on: January 23, 2010, 04:37:57 AM »

One example of something that could make things a bit off, and not even a great example:  Character has rare/unique ring that is findable/generated once in a game.  Player suicides awesome character in some decent place in game.  New character rolls up, gets rare ring as the last one did, then also loots last one's corpse to result in both rings being worn at the same time and thus a headscratcher is born.

Or something.   You'd just need to be sure and bear in mind eq/item/balance/generation dealies a bit different than the usual Roguelike Bear.

Just a variable for unique items that keeps track of whether they are on the board or not.  Nothing difficult.

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Off-topic (Locked) / Re: looting my corpse

« on: January 23, 2010, 04:23:07 AM »

Yeah I was trying to remember if they were present in Ragnarok.  It has been so long since I played it, I couldn't remember.  As for cheating, so you're saying that if I take my Lvl 20 fighter who is having trouble at say level 30 of the dungeon and give all his equipment to a new character, then the new character is going to somehow be at an advantage over the old character?  I Imagine the way I build games you will find that IF you can beat a ghost you'll generally get comprable or lesser items to the ones you currently have.  It only makes sense if I allow the ghosts to keep their stats.  And if you purposefully kill off a super tough character on level 2 of the dungeon, get ready to never see level 3 of the dungeon.

By the way.  The hook here is the ancestry of the various characters.  Do you tell your next door neighbor he is cheating when he inherits his deceased parents wealth?  Taking a hex editor and modifying data files is cheating.  Write protecting a character file to prevent it from being deleted after death is cheating.  Inheriting valuables from your dearly departed is a pretty true depiction of life.

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Off-topic (Locked) / Re: looting my corpse

« on: January 22, 2010, 10:14:33 PM »

Crawl has player corpses/ghosts. I think a few other games keep bones files too. I think they don't get used a lot because a lot of players either hate bones files or consider them cheating.

Crawl does?  Really?  I've played the NDS version of crawl a decent number of times, and don't ever remember meeting my ghost.  As for cheating.  How so?  I suppose if there was a percentage chance that a character could have a heart attack and drop dead in the town or level one that might be cheating for the following character.  But if a character gets killed in the game.  It stands to reason that there was something of sufficient strength to defeat his str/lvl/bonuses.

At least the way I remember it Nethack leaves the monster that killed you wandering the level plus the ghost.  Seems to me that defeating that combination is a difficult enough scenario to warrant the big haul.  I also plan to apply some of the attributes of the actual former character to the ghost.  Nethack's ghosts are extremely difficult to hit, but they do almost no damage, and once you have a magic weapon they are pretty easy for anybody to dispatch.

*EDIT*  Thanks Elig.  I'm installing Stone Soup and look forward to finding my ghost.  I was just reading the Crawl wiki.  I think that is so bizarre that I've never met my ghost in that game.  But actually I like bits about how both games do their bones files.  Crawl keeps much of the players stats for their ghosts, and that is something that I like.  But it doesn't save the level or the monster that originally defeated you.  Nethack has much weaker ghosts but does save the original slayer.  I'd like the ghosts to be the central focus of this game, so I'd like to use the nastier parts of both ideas.  The way I envision the game working.  You should probably be stopped by the appearance of a ghost and temporarily spend alot of time on the previous level getting your character as tough as possible for what is going to be a very nasty level indeed.

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Off-topic (Locked) / Re: looting my corpse

« on: January 22, 2010, 05:40:26 PM »

I'm not sure if nethack does it, but I think a neat idea would be to have the players highscore a dynamic variable.  That is if you leave behind an evil ghost, or a character chooses to fight a neutral or good ghost, and that ghost wins.  Then the player's original score on the scoreboard should be adjusted to reflect the exp gained from that victory plus an adjustment for the gold / items it just aquired.  Items should be merged into the Ghosts stack up to a set limit.  After that limit you could start eliminating items based on value so the piles stay extra rich.  You could also create a follower variable for ghosts, and each time they kill a player character they could be granted one random undead follower.  The follower will keep the player characters former name, but race will be changed to Ghoul, Ghast, Zombie, Skeleton, etc... and new stats will be generated based on the formula for that particular undead.  Portraits will not be added for these lesser (named) undead, but the geneology book and scoreboards should reflect the current statis of that character.  Lesser (named) undead do not gain experience and cannot be permenently killed until their ghost master is released.  If you kill Zombie Bob but decide not to battle or evade it's master, then Zombie Bob should be back the next time that ghost is encountered.

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Off-topic (Locked) / Re: roguelike idea - Ancestor Quest

« on: January 22, 2010, 02:31:06 PM »

Oh yeah.  You win if you find the family heirloom.  Maybe we can make nice garden in town with the statues of the six highest scoring heroes that managed the impossible.  I guess the heirloom can save the town or something.  Maybe it makes rain and the town has been suffering a horrible drought for a decade or something.   Details to be filled in later...