Questions about NLarn.

[FlyingShisno]

I'm still pretty new to these forums, so sorry if this is not the right place to post this. I'll remove this(if possible) if I'm breaking rules.

I'm still pretty new to NLarn, and haven't made it past floor 3 of the cave, mostly because of gnome lords. Here are my questions:

1) My weapons break a lot. Like, 2 battles and my elven short sword breaks. I had a two handed sword that lasted a floor and a half once. Are they supposed to break this often? Fighting training doesn't seem to help.

2) How many floors are there in the cave and volcano? I like to take a very slow pace, constantly going back to town to sell my loot after clearing a floor. I'm just curious if I need to go faster in order to win.

3) Were is that cure potion for the daughter? I read somewhere it was in the cave, and another source said that it was in the volcano.

4) Is it necessary to save the daughter? Like, will the game automatically end if I don't make it in time?

5) I like training at the school, but is it neccessary to clear the cave?

6) Is it necessary to clear the entire cave?

I'm more concerned about questions 1 and 4.

Oh, the reason I posted this to Major Roguelikes is because Larn is pretty old right?

7) Does a roguelike being old mean that it's major?

Thanks to everyone who helps!

[Chex Warrior]

1) Not sure, but it does seem like they are supposed to, which I think is pretty cool actually.

2) I have no idea

3) I'm pretty sure its in the volcano.

4) Not certain but I feel like the game will end if your daughter dies.

5) I don't think so.

6) No

7) No, I don't believe NLarn is anywhere close to a major roguelike anymore.

[FlyingShisno]

Thanks for the reply! I just found it annoying that a nice weapon I bought broke in 3 hits. It took 3 battles to make that money back, but still.

[kraflab]

7) No, I don't believe NLarn is anywhere close to a major roguelike anymore.

In fact, I would say that even nethack and angband are no longer major roguelikes in that their influence has wavered.  Currently it's more like tome4. dcss, dwarf fortress.  That's how it seems to me at least.

[Z]

Larn never was a major roguelike. This term originally meant one that has its own Usenet group. Larn was not one of them. Nowadays, popular roguelikes no longer have their own Usenet groups, which makes the term useless, and it is better to use some more specific adjective (popular, epic, classic, etc.).

[Krice]

I would say that even nethack and angband are no longer major roguelikes

I think we could forget the term "major" anyway and just say roguelikes which Nethack and Angband surely are. More than that funny dwarf fortress anyway.

[Legend]

I think there are 10 levels in the cave and 3 in the Volcano.

I know there is a time limit in order to save your daughter. But I couldn't tell you exactly how long it is.

[Chex Warrior]

Oh, I just found out if you go to your house the doctor will tell you how much time you have left to save her.

[FlyingShisno]

I think there are 10 levels in the cave and 3 in the Volcano.

I know there is a time limit in order to save your daughter. But I couldn't tell you exactly how long it is.

10 sounds about right. 2 teleportation scrolls took me to Dlvl 10 both times. Thanks for the help!

Oh, I just found out if you go to your house the doctor will tell you how much time you have left to save her.

I knew that part. What I was wondering is if that is enough time to do everything at a slow pace. Like, making a trip back to town every other level and taking all the training classes.

[Ancient]

Well, I won NLarn and am sure you can safely take all the classes. At least it was true in 6.1 which was some time ago. I was returning to town when my inventory was full and still had plenty of time.

In old Larn you continued to play when your time ran out. Game would not end until you visited your home after time was up. If you have the potion of cure dianthroritis but 300 mobuls passed your daughter is already dead.

[FlyingShisno]

Well, I won NLarn and am sure you can safely take all the classes. At least it was true in 6.1 which was some time ago. I was returning to town when my inventory was full and still had plenty of time.

In old Larn you continued to play when your time ran out. Game would not end until you visited your home after time was up. If you have the potion of cure dianthroritis but 300 mobuls passed your daughter is already dead.

Thanks! This was my biggest concern.

Did your weapons break a lot? Is it supposed to do that, or is there a way to prevent it?

[Ancient]

I can't help you on that because I don't remember any breaking at all! I just checked the website. There it is stated weapon breaking was added in 7.1:

Weapons can break during combat. The number of broken weapons is counted and shown in the postmortem.

If it is as ridiculous as you say maybe shoot developers an email with your thoughts on that matter? Feedback is always appreciated in roguelike circles and you might get some gameplay advice as a bonus.

[FlyingShisno]

Thanks! I'll send an email asking.

[Z]

I have tried just a short game, but indeed, the quality of weapons was extremely low.

Also please tell them that some people have problems running it in Windows. Include the correct versions of libglib-2.0-0.dll, iconv.dll, and intl.dll.