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Nethack is a very complex game, and takes a very long time to understand enough to ascend (beat the game). Think of it like dungeons and dragons on crack, with

Nethack is a very complex game, and takes a very long time to understand enough to ascend (beat the game). Think of it like dungeons and dragons on crack, with endless possibilities and variables. The fact that someone wrote a bot to think on its feet enough to do this, is astonishing. You should try it out in your free time, check out alt.org, there's a server where you can play and the irc channel #nethack on freenode (I believe) is very helpful and there's a few wikis available. But beware, it becomes very addictive. The 'one more turn' rule applies heavily here.

schoen 12y ago
Probably D&D with a human dungeon master would allow more possible actions, in the sense that NetHack only allows (a)pply, (C)all, (d)rop, (e)at, (E)ngrave, (f)ire, (P)ut on, (q)uaff, (Q)uiver, (r)ead, (t)hrow, (w)ield, (W)ear, (z)ap, #dip, #invoke, #name, #offer, and #rub actions with specific items in your main inventory (and most of those actions won't be applicable to most items most of the time). A human DM might allow many more verbs, like stacking things on top of one another, repairing items in a nonmagical way, building new devices or modifying the functionality of existing devices in a nonmagical way, pouring a liquid onto a specific object or dungeon feature (including one that can't be picked up), and a lot more. I agree that the bot ascension is an astonishing achievement, and one I didn't expect to see for many years!
- digi_owl 12y ago
  Then again, human DMs can also be outwitted by careful specification of actions. Like how someone managed to win the original Tomb of Horrors.
  - alasdair_ 12y ago
    Was that module ever won by the first groups to encounter it?
    - digi_owl 12y ago
      I have no idea.
  - alasdair_ 12y ago
    Was that module ever won by the first groups to encounter it?
  - steveklabnik 12y ago
    Do you have a link with some backstory on this? I'd be interested.
    - digi_owl 12y ago
      http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TabletopGame/TombOfHorrors http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TabletopGame/TombOfHor... Crowning moment of awesome entry.
      - steveklabnik 12y ago
        Thanks for the follow-up.

schoen 12y ago

Probably D&D with a human dungeon master would allow more possible actions, in the sense that NetHack only allows (a)pply, (C)all, (d)rop, (e)at, (E)ngrave, (f)ire, (P)ut on, (q)uaff, (Q)uiver, (r)ead, (t)hrow, (w)ield, (W)ear, (z)ap, #dip, #invoke, #name, #offer, and #rub actions with specific items in your main inventory (and most of those actions won't be applicable to most items most of the time). A human DM might allow many more verbs, like stacking things on top of one another, repairing items in a nonmagical way, building new devices or modifying the functionality of existing devices in a nonmagical way, pouring a liquid onto a specific object or dungeon feature (including one that can't be picked up), and a lot more. I agree that the bot ascension is an astonishing achievement, and one I didn't expect to see for many years!

digi_owl 12y ago
Then again, human DMs can also be outwitted by careful specification of actions. Like how someone managed to win the original Tomb of Horrors.
- alasdair_ 12y ago
  Was that module ever won by the first groups to encounter it?
  - digi_owl 12y ago
    I have no idea.
- alasdair_ 12y ago
  Was that module ever won by the first groups to encounter it?
- steveklabnik 12y ago
  Do you have a link with some backstory on this? I'd be interested.
  - digi_owl 12y ago
    http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TabletopGame/TombOfHorrors http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TabletopGame/TombOfHor... Crowning moment of awesome entry.
    - steveklabnik 12y ago
      Thanks for the follow-up.