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Context, for non-Nethack players: Nethack is one of the original "roguelikes," back when that meant a text-console game based on `rogue`. It's an RPG where you
by ternus 4y ago
Context, for non-Nethack players:
Nethack is one of the original "roguelikes," back when that meant a text-console game based on `rogue`. It's an RPG where your character kills monsters, picks up loot, and descends into the dungeon. If you die, that's it -- you can't just load a save; you have to start all over. It's legendarily unforgiving.
In Nethack, most (all?) roles start with a pet, e.g. a puppy or a kitten. In the early game, your pet is often stronger than you; it follows you, fights monsters, etc. It's useful in many ways beyond fighting: it won't walk over a cursed item, it can "fetch" items from stores without angering the proprietor, and so on. Your pet gains experience and levels up (puppy -> dog -> large dog), and after a certain point you're prompted to give your pet a name.
The message "You have a sad feeling for a moment, then it passes" is displayed when your pet dies while out of sight. It's pretty difficult to keep your pet alive all through the endgame, so much like any real-life pet owner, there will come a time where you have to say goodbye, one way or the other.
- stickfigure 4y agoPets also feature strongly in the late game. Two of the best items in the game are a scroll of taming (converts nearby monsters to pets) and a magic whistle (summons your pets). Eventually there's no point in fighting yourself; blow your whistle and let your pet dragon army clear the room.
- flyinghamster 4y agoPurple worms also make magnificent pets. Genning up a fleet of pet purple worms and teleporting them away can make life a lot easier on the Astral Plane. Burrrrp!
- cbanek 4y agoI love the family dragon army! But why bother using taming scrolls when you can polymorph control yourself into a dragon (taking off your armor first!) and then sitting to make eggs where they are actual family! Blood may be thicker than water, but dragon scales even thicker than blood!
- eru 4y agoEh, depends on what class you have. Pets are a bit of a hassle to get up and down the stairs. If you do enough damage yourself, it's usually less annoying to do the fighting yourself.
- anon_cow1111 4y agoI remember the first time I played, my dog walked into a trap and died within the first 10 moves. It can avoid cursed items but was clearly helpless against my cursed gamer "skills".
- Tepix 4y agoPets can also sometimes be a problem when you're running out of food and they eat the monster you have slain before you get a chance...
- YeGoblynQueenne 4y agoWhat's worse, your pet can die while you're blind and you attack it without realising who it is. Thankfully this will only happen once in the game. You learn the lesson afterwards. Hopefully.
- worker_person 4y agoHad a hunter with a blue crab named Seafood in World of Warcraft for years. He was somewhat famous on the server at the time. Eventually got rid of him because he had no benefits compared to other pets. No logical reason to keep him. Huge regret. I grieved for that damn crab for months. Finally stopped playing that class all together.
- guggalugalug 4y agoAs a fellow WoWer, I always opted for aesthetics, writ large, over optimization. I get that folks seek out competition, either vs environment or other players. But adhering to a personal aesthetic Code is another option. See also, I suppose, conduct runs in many roguelikes.
- DarknessFalls 4y agoI've retained the same nightsaber on my Night Elf rogue that I adopted in the beginning of the game. It feels wrong to let him go.
- Izmaki 4y agoThis made me chuckle with a dash of acknowledgement and compassion. Poor Seafood... Heh. :)
- pvaldes 4y agoAnd then you find another little kitten in the next level that you (C)all "Falling rock trap III" > If you die, that's it -- you can't just load a save; you have to start all over. It's legendarily unforgiving. Ehum... ( $ cp -r /var/games/glhack/saves/1000user /home/user ) ( ...suddenly a wild fire ant called Rita appears ) ( # cp -r /home/user/1000user /var/games/glhack/saves/ ) ( # chown -R user:games /var/games/glhack/1000user ) ( $ echo "muahahaha im alive, stupid fire ant" | glhack ) ( Pssst, Don't tell it to anybody )
- semitones 4y agoWell, technically you're no longer playing nethack. You're playing a new game, comprised of nethack and cp.
- thechao 4y ago> Make each program do one thing well. To do a new job, build afresh rather than complicate old programs by adding new "features". -- Doug McIlroy
- pvaldes 4y agoAnd it feels so good... Nethack is notoriously unfair with the player, and not a really winnable game. The player can be killed at any moment without allowing a single defensive move. If I think that the game was cheating, I act accordingly. The other option is the exploring mode (X), when you can't be killed, but I find that is boring.
- tubs 4y agoThe game is notoriously fair, given the fact there are players who have runs of some hundred ascension or so.
- linuxlizard 4y agoI hacked the code, built my own version so I wouldn't take damage. I still kept dying of starvation. That game does not mess around.
- LAC-Tech 4y agoAre three still text based roguelikes being made? For me these were one of the most endearing features of the games back in the day. I was a big ADOM fan and it captured my imagination in an almost book like way because everything in the world was rendered only symbolically.
- mysterydip 4y agoCheck out http://roguebasin.com/index.php/Category:Roguelike_games http://roguebasin.com/index.php/Category:Roguelike_games , there should be at least a few you find interesting
- ternus 4y agoADOM had a fancy re-release on Steam recently! It just showed up in my Steam queue. Check out Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup. Feels like a much more modern Nethack, with convenience features (`o` autoexplore, `tab` autofight, etc.) and less of a focus on one-and-done intrinsic immunities in favor of tradeoffs ("this armor comes with cold resistance but vulnerability to fire"). For more of an "explore the world" feeling, Caves of Qud is on Steam and has a ton of depth.
- Sharlin 4y agoDwarf Fortress has Adventurer mode, which, although less developed than the more famous Fortress mode, is still really deep, under slow but active development, and has the unique value prop that you can build a fortress, leave it on autopilot, create an adventurer, go visit the same fortress, chat with the locals, maybe go kill some monsters in the caverns. You can retire an adventurer, switch back to fort mode, see your old character become one of your citizens, and so on.
- LAC-Tech 4y agoI had a go at adventure mode, but I must admit I found it hard to create a narrative for myself. It was fun wandering around and hearing what monks thought life was a bout, but I wasn't quite sure where the adventure was.
- eru 4y ago
- User23 4y ago> there will come a time where you have to say goodbye, one way or the other. Or zap it with a wand of polymorph and hope for the best!
- barbs 4y agoIt blew me away how much attachment I had for what essentially amounted to a letter on a screen controlled by algorithms. I wrote a blog post about it 10 years ago: https://marzzbar.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/awesome-game-experiences-nethack/ https://marzzbar.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/awesome-game-exper...