This runtime problem is caused by the phrase “have the ment kick in” removing the noun from play, which only makes sense if it was triggered by snorting an actual package of ment. Therefore when the fruit of kings tries to do it, nothing makes sense, because the launch command has no noun. Maybe this line should be moved to “carry out snorting a package of ment”?
I can’t figure out what the problems with teleporting were. Presumably capmikee was fighting Malygris in the presence of the dimensional anchor… on an old version of Kerkerkruip? This is no longer the exact message given by the dimensional anchor, and in fact that message appears nowhere in the codebase. Regardless, it looks like the shimmering fruit now checks to see if teleporting will work before doing it.
I just discovered this game and it’s a blast. Now that I know there’s a set opening, midgame and endgame it’s quite awesome for replay. I haven’t gotten far, but have been enjoying it.
Does anyone else (I have the graphical Glimmr version) get a quick error that doesn’t seem to affect anything when choosing “new” at the end of the game? When you go from the parser to the main menu. I shouldn’t complain since it doesn’t break the game, but I noticed it.
I just had an idea and I had to try it out. I was wondering: does killing yourself with blood magic trigger the power of the bomb? I had the crown of the god-king and I was fighting the wisps of pain. It seemed like a great way to cut the battle short. Well, it did cut the battle short, but it didn’t trigger the power of the bomb…
It goes by so quickly. I can see “Run Time 32…” and then it goes to the graphical menu. It does not seem to disrupt the game though. This is on Zoom for Mac.
I fixed the fruit of kings problem (in exactly the way Zahariel suggested). I also fixed a related problem where you wouldn’t always get the “Sixth Heaven” achievement.
The teleporation problem has already been fixed by earlier changes, I think.
I’ve been wondering how true my feeling is that the Hound and Demon of Rage are much more difficult than the Reaper and the Chain Golem. So I had a quick look at my rogues gallery:
Clearly, being killed by an individual Fanatic does not count as being killed by the Fanatics of Aite. Which suggests to me that being killed by Mouser or Fafhrd doesn’t count as being killed by the Mindslug. And how come there are no stats for the Overmind?
The problem with kills for groups has been fixed in Kerkerkruip 9. I’ll look at the overmind and other new monsters.
The hound has been made slightly less tough. As for the demon of rage – do you apply the tactic of trying to confront it as soon as possible, i.e., after killing a single level 1 creature?
I was surprised that the Reaper kills me just as much as the hound. I often think of him as an easier opponent. But when he has the scythe of flaming, or when he follows you and catches you in an awkward place, that can definitely make things harder.
Plus, what makes the Reaper easier is his predictability. He almost always concentrates twice before attacking. But with the Overmind, he’s less predictable - and it’s much harder to break his concentration. Like the jumping bomb, when an enemy can kill you in one or two hits, the battle becomes much chancier.
Here’s a new fun thing: I was trying to get the Sixth Heaven achievement, but I didn’t know it was possible to OD on ment!
I’m a little confused though - looking at the code it appears that you’re supposed to get some warning when you OD, at least sometimes. But maybe other times you’re not?
Oh, I get it: If you snort ment while you’re already on ment, there’s a 50% chance that you’ll OD in 12 turns (even if you’re not under the influence at that point). But you won’t get any warning about it for another 5 turns. If you snort ment when you’re slated to OD already, then you die immediately.
What’s the rationale for not giving any warning right away? Or maybe one turn after your OD counter starts?
For the curious, the overmind is a level 4 creature whose big power is that it calls its allies towards it, and boosts their combat statistics. Its own combat abilities are decidedly puny. However, if it does manage to kill you:
“That worked? That actually worked? Who needs allies?!” The little man inside the overmind dances with joy.
I hit Bodmall with the Staff of Insanity and made her insane, which was gratifying.
I readied the glass cannon with 1 hp left, thinking ‘Maybe when it’s halving my hp, it will divide by two and round down.’ Of course it rounded up and I died, which deep down is what I expected would happen. But I was pretty much out of good-looking options at that point.
In one game I’d managed to get Mouser and Fafhrd on my team and I wanted them to help me with Bodmall next. But the large hound (which I previously beat down to 1 hp) was inbetween Bodmall and I, with no ways around. I didn’t want to begin a bunch of vainly hopeful teleporting to get everyone in the right positions - I also forget whether I had teleport scrolls or grenades - so I just brought my teammates to the hound and copped the disadvantage of killing it first. After this, my teammates lost interest in following me or helping. I made small talk like, ‘I’m going to kill all my enemies!’ and they weren’t interested. It was depressing. Maybe I could have contrived to get Bodmall to where they were somehow, but I’m not sure what they would have done… Helped out of self-defence? Anyway, I gave my grand plan a rest and went and fought Bodmall on my own.
I find it vaguely unsatisfying when I don’t know whether someone will follow me or not. Do you think the game should make that more explicit? With Mouser and Fafhrd, it might make sense for them to say something like “That battle/teleportation wiped me out! I’m going to stay here and rest for a while.” That might make less sense for other potential followers, like the rotting corpse. But I’m sure if people thought it was a good thing to have, we could work out a way to convey that information.
One rogue who does give you a hint about whether he’ll follow you is the Reaper. I looked at his source code and discovered that when he says “Do not be afraid, for I will end your suffering!” he starts following you.
The only sure way to make someone follow you is to have the “call” ability. EDIT: I think “enslave” works too.
