Life In 19x19

Let's see how off-topic off-topic can go. I was surprised to just how many technical people there were in the GD poll, so I got to wondering what other technical/geeky hobbies we share. Does anybody else here play roguelikes? (For the uninitiated, it's a style of video/computer game based on an old computer game. The genre uses simple and often text-based graphics and randomized dungeon maps for a dungeon crawl rpg).

Personally, I play Crawl and Nethack. I think I've only gotten 3 runes of zot in Crawl, but I've ascended a few characters in Nethack. My first ascension was a gnome caveman, because I'm... weird.

So yeah, nerd-post.

I have 11 NetHack ascensions (my first was a wishless tourist, believe it or not). I've also got a caveman that's been sitting outside Rodney's chamber ready for his ascension run on alt.org for the past year or so since I last played.

fwiffo wrote:(my first was a wishless tourist, believe it or not).

You, sir, win for hardest first ascension.

If you've never tried crawl, you might want to give it a shot. It streamlines a lot of things, without getting rid of the oppressive difficulty. =D It goes for more of a spoiler-not-required design approach, though.

Somehow, I grew up on ADOM so I fall a bit astray of most of other roguists, but I have trouble changing my habits for the other games. I still enjoy playing ADOM time by time though, and finished it quite a few times (but I was always heavily spoiled).

I've tried one or two(don't remember which), but never got much into it.

The closest to it that I've really liked is Desktop Dungeon, which is more like a puzzle than a roguelike.

I play Astro Empires, which is pretty geeky.

Also I cross-train in other live games, mainly bridge, also chess and backgammon.

zinger wrote:Also I cross-train in other live games, mainly bridge, also chess and backgammon.

I play Bridge as well, though only casually. I also play Chess (though it's been quite a long time) and, to add the geek factor, I play Magic: the Gathering. Sadly, my skill in all mentioned games is akin to my Go skill: middling at best.

That is a bit off the subject of roguelikes, I think.
As for other geeky games, I play a lot of boardgames, from abstract to themed.

YAFAP.

After ten years playing Nethack on and off, mostly off, I had my first ascension about a week ago as a female human wizard. I always cripple myself slightly by making irrational choices with respect to my impressions of the character. I always play a wizard, and I played the entire game with the quarterstaff that you start with, but kept reading scrolls of enchant weapon on it. I also kept trying to keep a cat as a pet, but they invariably die or disappear. Purple worms and archons are all very nice, but I just wouldn't want one as a pet.

It was the first time I'd managed to get the Amulet of Yendor, and at that point I became paranoid and read absolutely everything possible. Definitely not a wishless ascension, though. I got my silver dragon scale mail from a wish, a ring of levitation, and I wished for a glass orb just before the elemental planes.

I promised myself years ago that I'd abandon the game once I'd ascended, and I think that I'm going to stick to it.

Ahhhh. It was nice to share that with an audience that knows what I'm talking about.

It was more-or-less luck that got me the wishless tourist ascension. It's just that I already had most of my ascension kit (dragon scale mail, Mojo, shield of reflection, AoLS) before I got to the castle, and didn't find any wishes before then. Believe it or not, it was only a couple weeks after I first started playing. I know a lot of people who've played for years without ascending at all.

Tourists are actually an underrated class. Yes, they're really weak at the beginning of the game, where the game is hardest (SOLDIER ANTS!!!!) But they start with a lot of cash and the credit card and camera are quite useful. It's really painful to not get a key or lockpick until minetown or something which can happen sometimes with other classes. Their stat growth is good and they're not restricted in any weapon, so you can jump right into some good weapons right away, no matter what you happen to find (I'm partial to a dwarvish mattock or a unicorn horn since you'll need to carry a pick axe and horn anyway). Their quest nemesis is almost as big a pushover as Vlad, and the Platinum Yendorian Express Card is killer. Post-quest they're probably one of the easiest classes, actually. And they're neutral. Plus, they teach you caution and patience, which is essential to surviving the early game with any class.

Tip for purple worm pet keepers: Take your worm into a graveyard (VoTD or Orcus Town are good choices) and let them go to town on the wraiths. Since they eat monsters whole, they aren't affected by the RNG when it comes to leaving corpses. They'll get real big, real fast. "So thou thought thou couldst kill me, fo... BUUURP!"

I have nethack on my android phone.

mdobbins wrote:I have nethack on my android phone.

Snap.

mdobbins wrote:I have nethack on my android phone.

Yeah, I've tried the various clients for Iphone, but am not at all big on the interface. It never seems to be quite as intuitive or fast as it should be. <shrug>

Chew Terr wrote:

mdobbins wrote:I have nethack on my android phone.

Yeah, I've tried the various clients for Iphone, but am not at all big on the interface. It never seems to be quite as intuitive or fast as it should be. <shrug>

That's what you get for not having a keyboard.