Rascal updated - requesting feedback esp. on new difficulty level

Playing Beta Testing Requests and Discussion
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As posted previously, Rascal is an ASCII-art roguelike/parser hybrid for the Z-machine in which you, the heroic @ sign, descend through an ever-changing dungeon, battling monsters and seeking treasure.

Various things have been updated since that last thread, including:

  • New places to visit
  • New room layouts
  • New enemies
  • New items
  • New ways to find loot
  • UI improvements

But the big change in this release is the inclusion of a tougher difficulty mode. The regular difficulty is tuned to be “winnable with some patience and effort”. The new “expert quest” mode is aiming for more of a “challenging enough to be worth bragging about if you win” feeling: some easily exploited mechanics are tightened up, combat is more perilous, and every decision hopefully feels weightier. (So far, I’ve made it to floor 12 out of 25.)

That’s where your feedback will be invaluable: did I go too far, or not far enough?

You can download the story file or play in-browser at:

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This game is an ace of a roguelike experience!
In my first run, I befriended a monkey and met an untimely death at floor 8:

The kraken hits you, dealing 3 damage.
You died on floor 8. Final score: 892. Press Q to quit, R to restart.

The UI is very good. I like to play roguelikes, it is always nice when commands are displayed on-screen (that is, I know that I have to press T to drop something). Same about moving, fighting, very slick experience, congratulations!

There are some things I have questions about:

  • is there a way not to have autopickup? What I am doing now is going over stash, and then discarding. Is there a better way to approach this?
  • It seems I have to bump into walls to get them appearing (I am using frotz), is that correct?

I had this conversation with the farmer. I got the command in the end, but maybe the player could be hinted on what to do:

Summary 

> identify
I don't know the word "identify".

> ask man about potions
You can't use multiple indirect objects with "ask".

> ask potions
You can't use multiple direct objects with "ask".

> ask identify
I don't know the word "identify".

> help
I don't know the word "help".

> commands
I don't know the word "commands".

> x farmer
He's wearing a pair of denim overalls and a straw hat.

> give potion to farmer
Which do you mean, the argent potion, the bluish potion, or the indigo potion?

> argent
The farmer gives it a lazy swirl and yawns. "Potion of torpor. Drink that and the beasts'll close in on you twice as fast before you can do much back."

> argent
That sentence has no verb.

> give potion to farmer
Which do you mean, the potion of torpor, the bluish potion, or the indigo potion?

> bluish
The farmer swirls it, sniffs, and nods. "This'n's a potion of health. It'll increase your max HP by two, plus it'll heal you a bunch."

> give potion to farmer
Which do you mean, the potion of torpor, the potion of health, or the indigo potion?

> indigo
The farmer swirls it, taps it a few times, and nods. "Yep, that's a potion of motion. It'll zap you to a random place on the dungeon floor, which could be good or bad, depending."

On floor 5, I got this warning:

Warning: @put_prop called with object 0 (PC = 160a6) (will ignore further occurrences)

Sorry for the haphazard feedback, this game rocks!

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Currently, no. If you find yourself doing that a lot, would it be enough to have a key to instantly drop the item after picking it up?

Yes, wall tiles are only revealed when you stand next to them - this takes the place of a “search” key to find hidden doors.

Good idea.

Fixed, thanks!

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That would work, or an “inspect nearby stash” key.

Fantastic, this way you have the hidden door mechanic without “wasting” another key. I like it!

I am thinking aloud: should the “Equip” menu be sorted somehow? Maybe, or maybe not.

1 Like