I win at the nethacks
For the new year, I decided to give another try to some vices I had sworn off (I guess that's like the opposite of making resolutions). So I started a new game of nethack. My first two characters got wiped out by what was basically the Gnome With the Randomly Generated Wand of Death, but just when I was about to give up, my third had a ridiculously lucky start.
I combined that with all the virtues I talked about last time I was playing: I moved slowly, carefully analyzed battle messages, and double- and triple-checked to make sure I was prepared before doing dangerous things. I took notes on things I'd seen and what I'd put in my different stashes, even when it was annoying and I wanted to skip over it. I took the time to make sure I had the right equipment for every situation, even when I probably could have crashed through without bothering to change. I even cleaned up after myself so I'd be able to navigate areas more easily in the future.
I'm often careless and rush through things, so I'm pretty proud of myself for all this, even if it was just a game. I know it sounds like a stretch, but if I analyzed my data the way I play nethack, I'd spare myself days and days of aggravation and probably be more successful at my job too. I mean, it's almost these exact things. They're hardly even metaphorical.
Anyway, I did things right, and then I won! I finished the game and it was fun and now I never have to do it again. I've told stories before about how I go overboard with video games, but this was a whole new level. On two occasions I stayed up all night playing. I would put off eating or stretching or even going to the bathroom for as long as I could (the only time anything got close to this level was when I was making that old website, the one we don't talk about anymore). I think this kind of total absorption is a beautiful part of the human experience and everyone should try it, just maybe not more than once or twice a decade.
By the way, if you've never seen Nethack, I think it supports my contention that graphically sparse but information-dense interfaces can facilitate engagement. Here's a picture of an epic battle from the endgame:
(those @ signs are pretty threatening once they've called down bolts of lightning and covered you in boils a few times).
Anyway, I'm giving myself a pass on the incredible lengths I went to during this game, but now -- and this is the only reason I'm not too ashamed to share this with all of you -- I am now finished and am moving back into the real world.
For those who are familiar with Nethack or other roguelikes, here are some comments on my game. * I really was ridiculously lucky. The first random item sitting in the room where I started was a blessed magic lamp!
* I was also lucky with altars. I never found a lawful one, but there were unguarded ones on levels 2 and 3, and by the time I found the temples on 15 and 21 I was strong enough to cheap-kill the priests. Then I found a couple of wands of create monster, and it was party time for Amaterasu Okami.
* Things didn't go well with pets. A lot of "sad feelings." I kept taming new ones, and they kept triggering falling rock traps and stumbling onto level teleporters and picking fights with umber hulks. When I got to the castle I did the standard wish for a blessed figurine of an archon. Twenty turns later he walked into an area I'd just cleared and got swallowed by a trapper.
* I did triumph over adversity a few times. Early in the game I unintentionally put on a cursed helm of oppose alignment, which is a fun one because you'll get into big trouble if you try to pray for help. I got my enchanted everythingproof cloak torn apart in polymorph traps twice, lost some critical info to a mind flayer, and got some very unfortunate intrinsics when I accidentally committed cannibalism (I killed an invisible stalker and an invisible ninja on the same square...).
* If you want proof that I learned a great deal of patience, I have one word for you: polypiling.
* Oh god sokoban. I am proud to say that although I suck at sokoban puzzles, I did NOT use any spoilers. I did however find a sokoban game with the nethack levels programmed in, so I could work them out in a less abusive interface.
* Once I reached the castle, I established a base with a locked chest full of spare gear and a succubus hanging out in a secure area. After that it was a matter of repeated sorties into Gehennom, each one followed by further enchantment, polypiling, and generally getting more muchkinlike. This was a a samurai; I get the impression that the latter half of the game is much harder if you're a class that doesn't evolve into a dual-wielding regenerating fast stealthy DPS sniper cleric tank.
* The closest call I had (other than the Wizard's &#!*$ing finger of death) was when I finally trapped Orcus with him slowed and me hasted enough that I could finish him off. Then he summoned Yeenoghu. Then the Wizard showed up. Then the other Wizard showed up. And then, after some very tense skirmishes (fortunately, those monsters are all cowardly teleporting types), a cockatrice showed up. This led to a quick but anticlimactic escape.
* I took the easy way out on almost everything: three category genocides (L, h, and ;), nine wishes, a bunch of amulets of life saving, and checking the online spoilers a lot. I did get through without ever using an illicitly-copied save file, which was good because I later discovered that my copies don't work!
* I still feel kind of stupid. There's a lot of stuff I got from the wiki that would have taken forever to piece together, but there are also things I could have figured out on my own, but didn't: wielding cockatrices, polypiling, luring large monsters onto the altar, getting stuff out of the water using a wand of cold, stealing items by polymorphing into a nymph, and on and on.
* There are a few clever things I figured out on my own, like locking yourself in a room before talking to a succubus, stashing items with shopkeepers, certain tactics for fighting blind, and letting monsters close in on you instead of approaching them (D&D players: it's an attack of opportunity). I was also pretty pleased with myself for realizing that instead of chasing the wizard down over and over, I could just let him hold on to the artifacts for me, and go back and beat him up when I was ready to win the game.
* By the time I got to the astral plane, nothing was a big deal. I was enchanted all to heck, strong enough to kill everything in two or three shots, and fast enough to cure myself after Pestilence's attack and still hit back. I figured out that I should go for the priests before the angels, but maybe let them summon insects first -- it was still easy enough to go after my chosen targets, and if I have to be harried from seven sides while I do it, I'll take unusually large ants over fiery-bladed seraphim, thank you very much.
If you're ever playing Nethack and want some advice, feel free to message me -- I'll be happy to help.
I combined that with all the virtues I talked about last time I was playing: I moved slowly, carefully analyzed battle messages, and double- and triple-checked to make sure I was prepared before doing dangerous things. I took notes on things I'd seen and what I'd put in my different stashes, even when it was annoying and I wanted to skip over it. I took the time to make sure I had the right equipment for every situation, even when I probably could have crashed through without bothering to change. I even cleaned up after myself so I'd be able to navigate areas more easily in the future.
I'm often careless and rush through things, so I'm pretty proud of myself for all this, even if it was just a game. I know it sounds like a stretch, but if I analyzed my data the way I play nethack, I'd spare myself days and days of aggravation and probably be more successful at my job too. I mean, it's almost these exact things. They're hardly even metaphorical.
Anyway, I did things right, and then I won! I finished the game and it was fun and now I never have to do it again. I've told stories before about how I go overboard with video games, but this was a whole new level. On two occasions I stayed up all night playing. I would put off eating or stretching or even going to the bathroom for as long as I could (the only time anything got close to this level was when I was making that old website, the one we don't talk about anymore). I think this kind of total absorption is a beautiful part of the human experience and everyone should try it, just maybe not more than once or twice a decade.
By the way, if you've never seen Nethack, I think it supports my contention that graphically sparse but information-dense interfaces can facilitate engagement. Here's a picture of an epic battle from the endgame:
(those @ signs are pretty threatening once they've called down bolts of lightning and covered you in boils a few times).
Anyway, I'm giving myself a pass on the incredible lengths I went to during this game, but now -- and this is the only reason I'm not too ashamed to share this with all of you -- I am now finished and am moving back into the real world.
For those who are familiar with Nethack or other roguelikes, here are some comments on my game. * I really was ridiculously lucky. The first random item sitting in the room where I started was a blessed magic lamp!
* I was also lucky with altars. I never found a lawful one, but there were unguarded ones on levels 2 and 3, and by the time I found the temples on 15 and 21 I was strong enough to cheap-kill the priests. Then I found a couple of wands of create monster, and it was party time for Amaterasu Okami.
* Things didn't go well with pets. A lot of "sad feelings." I kept taming new ones, and they kept triggering falling rock traps and stumbling onto level teleporters and picking fights with umber hulks. When I got to the castle I did the standard wish for a blessed figurine of an archon. Twenty turns later he walked into an area I'd just cleared and got swallowed by a trapper.
* I did triumph over adversity a few times. Early in the game I unintentionally put on a cursed helm of oppose alignment, which is a fun one because you'll get into big trouble if you try to pray for help. I got my enchanted everythingproof cloak torn apart in polymorph traps twice, lost some critical info to a mind flayer, and got some very unfortunate intrinsics when I accidentally committed cannibalism (I killed an invisible stalker and an invisible ninja on the same square...).
* If you want proof that I learned a great deal of patience, I have one word for you: polypiling.
* Oh god sokoban. I am proud to say that although I suck at sokoban puzzles, I did NOT use any spoilers. I did however find a sokoban game with the nethack levels programmed in, so I could work them out in a less abusive interface.
* Once I reached the castle, I established a base with a locked chest full of spare gear and a succubus hanging out in a secure area. After that it was a matter of repeated sorties into Gehennom, each one followed by further enchantment, polypiling, and generally getting more muchkinlike. This was a a samurai; I get the impression that the latter half of the game is much harder if you're a class that doesn't evolve into a dual-wielding regenerating fast stealthy DPS sniper cleric tank.
* The closest call I had (other than the Wizard's &#!*$ing finger of death) was when I finally trapped Orcus with him slowed and me hasted enough that I could finish him off. Then he summoned Yeenoghu. Then the Wizard showed up. Then the other Wizard showed up. And then, after some very tense skirmishes (fortunately, those monsters are all cowardly teleporting types), a cockatrice showed up. This led to a quick but anticlimactic escape.
* I took the easy way out on almost everything: three category genocides (L, h, and ;), nine wishes, a bunch of amulets of life saving, and checking the online spoilers a lot. I did get through without ever using an illicitly-copied save file, which was good because I later discovered that my copies don't work!
* I still feel kind of stupid. There's a lot of stuff I got from the wiki that would have taken forever to piece together, but there are also things I could have figured out on my own, but didn't: wielding cockatrices, polypiling, luring large monsters onto the altar, getting stuff out of the water using a wand of cold, stealing items by polymorphing into a nymph, and on and on.
* There are a few clever things I figured out on my own, like locking yourself in a room before talking to a succubus, stashing items with shopkeepers, certain tactics for fighting blind, and letting monsters close in on you instead of approaching them (D&D players: it's an attack of opportunity). I was also pretty pleased with myself for realizing that instead of chasing the wizard down over and over, I could just let him hold on to the artifacts for me, and go back and beat him up when I was ready to win the game.
* By the time I got to the astral plane, nothing was a big deal. I was enchanted all to heck, strong enough to kill everything in two or three shots, and fast enough to cure myself after Pestilence's attack and still hit back. I figured out that I should go for the priests before the angels, but maybe let them summon insects first -- it was still easy enough to go after my chosen targets, and if I have to be harried from seven sides while I do it, I'll take unusually large ants over fiery-bladed seraphim, thank you very much.
If you're ever playing Nethack and want some advice, feel free to message me -- I'll be happy to help.