New Let's Play FTL Series Starts Today!

I was making a ton of FTL videos, and I realized that I need to standardize the number system and decide if deaths should stay in the videos. I am going to leave all the deaths in the footage, not just post good runs with ships. The Basalisk run I posted yesterday is a "good run" but if you start watching the series below, you'll see me fuck it up a few times and explode some perfectly nice spaceships.

The "space girl" wallpaper is made by an anonymous artist. You can check out the funnyjunk page here if you like.

Also, I have full video and recording capabilities now.... if you'd like to see some LPs now would be a good time to ask.

The Rise & Fall of a Mummy Summoner

This is a record of two epic Mummy Summoners. After the death of my Tengu Summoner, I decided to try Mummy Summoner out in Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup. Along the way, I took screenshots to document my adventure and to help others survive the early game as a Mummy Summoner.

After I found an altar of Sif Muna, I joined his religion. With Rank 1 Piety, Sif granted me the ability to channel magical energy (gain MP) at the cost of food. Because Mummies don't need food, the ability was free; my formidability in a battle subsequently increased dramatically. Taking down this play ghost was no problem.

With this power I could summon vast hoards of imps and canine familiars. Somehow this guy died, however, and I had to start over.

Menkaure's usually a son of a bitch. My guys had him surrounded, however. Notice how my army is drastically smaller without Sif Muna's channeling ability.

Eustachio draws near, command?

He's a unique summoner, so we had a little summoning battle.

He was totally outclassed by my thrall of imps.

I soon found the Temple and started worshipping Sif Muna again, although for this battle with Edmund I did not yet have the channeling ability.

It didn't take too long for me to find the lair and gain favor with Sif Muna. Now I was able to raise platoons of monsters once again.

Clearing out the Lair seems like it's gonna be cake.

Even this hive of Killer Bees didn't phase me... at first.

I go all-out with the summons and channeling and more summons. However, the Killer Bees are in another league and they slaughter anything and everything I can summon. Even though I set up my guys perfectly, the Bees walk through my army like it wasn't even there.

I make a run for it, but it won't be enough. A few rounds after the above screenshot I fall to the swarm. Let this be a lesson: Killer Bees require a stronger summon than imps and canines. Maybe my Ice Beasts would have been able to do the job, but other than that it's hard to know how I could have done better. Some games you get lucky and find another spellbook, other games, like this one, you are forced to deal with your default spells for a long time.

How to Play Crawl and Other Roguelikes

So you want to play Crawl...

No problem! This guide will walk you through the several easy steps required to play Crawl, Nethack, Rogue, ADOM, and other awesome games.

STEP 1: Download PuTTY (Link to Putty Download Page is here)

PuTTY is a TTY interface--a program designed to send text and symbols between computers. This is how most Roguelikes, including Crawl, are played.

Putty supports both Telnet and SSH, the two most common protocols used for TTY interfaces.

STEP 2: Download mIRC. www.mirc.com

IRC is "Internet Relay Chat" and like TTY it goes way back to the pre-Web days of the internet. mIRC is the most commonly=used program for accessing IRC.

You will need IRC because several of the games--especially Crawl and NetHack, have IRC chatbots which players are meant to use as a database. Additionally, you can chat with other Crawl players, ask questions, recieve guidance, etc. The chatbots annouce all the deaths, so you don't want to miss out on IRC.

STEP 3: Telnet to crawl.akrasiac.org

This is CAO, the North American Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup server. Telnet over and you can create an account, play the game, and watch others play as well. For other games, search the web for the game's website and find it's appropriate server configurations.

STEP 4: Sign on the IRC server irc.freenode.net

In mIRC, type "/server irc.freenode.net" minus the quotations into the chat bar, and you should be connected to the server.

STEP 5: Join ##Crawl, #SR, #8bitcity

You have to join channels on IRC, so go ahead and join ##crawl.

You can join a channel, for example, by typing "/join ##crawl" into the chat bar.

You should also join #SR and #8bitcity to meet up with the other 8bitcity readers and Shrenwold Revenants! You can also join #nethack if that's your poison instead of crawl.

STEP 6: Begin Your Quest!

This is just a quick and dirty guide to getting your ass off of the xbox and onto Crawl. I have several advanced tutorials I'll be working on, such as interacting with the chatbots and playing Crawl successfully. These games are tough, but have fun playing and after a hundred tries or so you'll be getting better! Happy Crawling!

Check out ##Crawl, #nethack, and #8bitcity on irc.freenode.net!

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup Tengu Summoner

I had an awesome summoner going on Crawl this morning, If you don't know what Crawl is, that's cool--just check out these screenshots.

If your character dies in Crawl, it's done forever. It was a shame to loose this guy to a player ghost who hit for 50% of my HP. I found the book of Summonngs which really helped out, but I was only a level or two away from learning to summon demons.

Here I am still relying on Imps and scorpions...the combination actually hold up pretty well because of the low cost to cast both spells and the scorpions' deadly poison stacking. Summon Small Mammals is always a great summon spell for beefing the size of your army with weak meatshields. For 1 MP you can get 2 quokkas, and if the enemy is bashing the small mammals, they aren't destroying your Ugly Things.

Even 6 Yaks aren't much of a problem, although the battle lasted for several minutes. 

After getting the book of Summons, I could conjure these Ugly Things and Very Ugly Things which were great meatshields and damage dealers. A few could even take out a Death Yak.

These narrow passages are hell for a summoner; ideally you want to lure monsters into the open. 

Ice Beasts are nice companions, although they aren't as strong as Ugly Things. I've found that a diverse set of summons can often be very effective at dealing damage and working around monsters' strengths and weaknesses by providing a wide array of attacks and general confusion for the AI.

I would spend the next half hour killing these Death Yaks and nearly avoiding death several times. Eventually a player Ghost on the next dungeon floor took me down. It was an epic journey, and it ended too soon. Shortly before I died I #chardumped my data into a file which I will preserve below. You can see all of my character's attributes.

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.10.1-30-g593e17d character file.

Robot2600 the Convoker (Tengu Summoner)            Turns: 21015, Time: 02:42:31

HP  54/54        AC 15     Str  8      XL: 11   Next: 71%
MP  29/29        EV 11     Int 19      God: Makhleb [*****.]
Gold 323         SH  0     Dex 15      Spells:  8 memorised,  4 levels left

Res.Fire  : . . .   See Invis. : +    I - +5,+3 quarterstaff (chaos)
Res.Cold  : . . .   Warding    : . .  B - +3 leather armour of Folaeh {MR Acc+4 SInv
Life Prot.: . . .   Conserve   : .    (no shield)
Res.Acid. : . . .   Res.Corr.  : .    z - +0 cap
Res.Poison: .       Clarity    : .    J - +2 cloak
Res.Elec. : .       Spirit.Shd : .    d - +2 pair of dwarf gloves
Sust.Abil.: . .     Stasis     : .    (boots unavailable)
Res.Mut.  : .       Ctrl.Telep.: .    (no amulet)
Res.Rott. : .       Levitation : .    (no ring)
Saprovore : . . .   Ctrl.Flight: +    q - +3 ring of protection

@: very resistant to hostile enchantments, fairly stealthy
A: able to fly, beak, talons 3
a: Fly, Minor Destruction, Lesser Servant of Makhleb, Major Destruction, Greater
Servant of Makhleb, Renounce Religion


You are on level 11 of the Dungeon.
You worship Makhleb.
Makhleb is exalted by your worship.
You are not hungry.

You have visited 2 branches of the dungeon, and seen 12 of its levels.

You have collected 690 gold pieces.
You have spent 387 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 D - the -2,+3 sabre "Faut" {flame, SInv}
   (You found it on level 9 of the Dungeon)   
   
   It emits flame when wielded, causing extra injury to most foes and up to
   double damage against particularly susceptible opponents. Big, fiery blades
   are also staple armaments of hydra-hunters.
   
   It enhances your eyesight.
 I - a +5,+3 quarterstaff of chaos (weapon)
Armour
 d - a +2 pair of dwarven gloves (worn)
 z - a +0 cap (worn)
 B - the +3 leather armour of Folaeh (worn) {MR Acc+4 SInv}
   (You bought it in a shop on level 4 of the Dungeon)   
   
   It affects your accuracy (+4).
   It increases your resistance to enchantments.
   It enhances your eyesight.
 J - a +2 cloak (worn)
Magical devices
 l - a glowing bronze wand {zapped: 7} {tried by monster}
 r - a wand of digging (8)
 s - a wand of enslavement (5)
 y - a wand of random effects (20)
 G - a wand of digging
 L - an ivory wand
 M - a lead wand
Comestibles
 E - a beef jerky
Scrolls
 a - a scroll labeled CINGEO WEVESH {tried on cursed -1 robe}
 e - 4 scrolls of detect curse
 g - 5 scrolls of fear
 h - a scroll of identify
 i - a scroll of amnesia
 m - a scroll of random uselessness
 n - a scroll of fog
 u - 2 scrolls of magic mapping
 v - a scroll labeled NIER OWNELEQODGH
 H - 2 scrolls of teleportation
 K - 4 scrolls of remove curse
Jewellery
 q - a +3 ring of protection (left hand)
Potions
 f - a potion of might
 j - a potion of invisibility
 o - 3 potions of curing
 t - a potion of agility
 w - a potion of water
 C - 3 potions of heal wounds
Books
 k - the Disquisition on Excruciating Cold
   (You found it on level 9 of the Dungeon)   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   Throw Frost                        Conjuration/Ice              2
   Bolt of Cold                       Conjuration/Ice              6
   Metabolic Englaciation             Hexes/Ice                    6
 F - a book of Summonings   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   Abjuration                         Summoning                    3
   *Recall                            Summoning/Translocation      3
   Summon Elemental                   Summoning                    4
   *Shadow Creatures                  Summoning                    5
   Summon Demon                       Summoning                    5
   *Summon Ugly Thing                 Summoning                    6


   Skills:
 - Level 2.1 Dodging
 - Level 2.0 Stealth
 - Level 11.1 Spellcasting
 + Level 15.5 Summonings
 - Level 6.0 Poison Magic


You have 4 spell levels left.
You know the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power        Failure   Level  Hunger
a - Summon Small Mammals  Summ           #####        0%          1    None
b - Call Imp              Summ           #######...   1%          2    None
c - Call Canine Familiar  Summ           #######...   1%          3    None
d - Summon Scorpions      Pois/Summ      #######...   1%          4    Strawberry
e - Summon Ice Beast      Ice/Summ       ######....   3%          4    Strawberry
f - Summon Ugly Thing     Summ           #######...   1%          6    Honeycomb
g - Recall                Tloc/Summ      N/A          1%          3    None
h - Shadow Creatures      Summ           N/A          1%          5    Honeycomb


Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (11/27)            Temple (1/1) D:4             Orc (0/4) D:7
  Lair: D:8-13      

Altars:
Ashenzari
Fedhas
Makhleb
Okawaru
Trog
Xom

Shops:
D:4: [  D:11: !


                    Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You can fly.
You have a beak for a mouth.
You have claws for feet.


Message History

You swap places.
You swap places.
Really walk into a travel-excluded area? 
Okay, then.
You swap places.
There is an open door here.
You start resting.
You are engulfed in freezing vapours.
* * * LOW HITPOINT WARNING * * *
Your white ugly thing is engulfed in freezing vapours.
Your white ugly thing is engulfed in freezing vapours.
Your white ugly thing is engulfed in freezing vapours.
You start resting.
Magic restored.
You start resting.
You start resting.
Your white ugly thing disappears in a puff of smoke!
You start resting.
HP restored.
Char dumped successfully.

.#    #...#.#...#.#%%§#.#
.#    #...#.#...#.#§§%#.#
.#    #...#.#...#.#§%§#.#
.#    #...#.#...#.#§§§#.#
.#    ##'##.##s##.##'##.#
.#     #.#...#.#...#.##.#
.#     #.#...#.#...#.#..#
.# #####'#####'#####'#.##
.###.'..........@....#.#
.....'...............#.#
.#######'#####'#####'#.#
.#     #.#...#.#...#§#.##
.#     #.#...#.#...#§#..#
.#    ##'##.##'##.##§##.#
.#    #...#Z#...#.#§%§#.#
.#### #...#Z#...#.#§§§#.#
....# #...#5#...#.#§§.#.#


There are no monsters in sight!

Vanquished Creatures
  A human (D:11)
  A spriggan (D:7)
  A yak (D:11)
  A giant frog (D:6)
  A killer bee (D:10)
  A big kobold skeleton (D:10)
  A big kobold zombie (D:10)
  A crimson imp (D:10)
  2 hounds
  6 scorpions
  A jelly (D:10)
  An orc wizard (D:9)
  6 adders
  An iguana zombie (D:5)
  2 white imps (D:7)
  A worm (D:6)
  A bat skeleton (D:5)
  2 giant geckos
  3 oozes
  5 orcs
  A ball python (D:4)
  6 bats
  A grey rat (D:10)
  10 hobgoblins
  3 jackals
  2 quokkas
  3 giant cockroaches
  3 goblins
  A hobgoblin skeleton (D:7)
  6 kobolds
  13 rats
  16 ballistomycetes
  10 toadstools
114 creatures vanquished.

Vanquished Creatures (collateral kills)
  9 death yaks
  Pikel (D:6)
  6 hill giants
  Grinder (D:6)
  34 yaks
  Eustachio (D:4)
  A hungry ghost (D:10)
  A war dog (D:10)
  Menkaure (D:6)
  2 ice beasts (D:9)
  3 sky beasts
  A swamp drake (D:7)
  A yellow wasp (D:10)
  5 ogres
  4 orc warriors
  4 slaves (D:6)
  5 centaurs
  The ghost of AnalyticBranch the Shooter, an average HEHu (D:4)
  Sigmund (D:6)
  Duvessa (D:7)
  5 giant frogs
  A gnoll sergeant (D:10)
  A yellow wasp zombie (D:8)
  2 humans (D:11)
  A basilisk skeleton (D:10)
  8 killer bees
  A killer bee zombie (D:5)
  3 jellies
  A big kobold zombie (D:10)
  A goliath beetle (D:7)
  Dowan (D:7)
  A big fish (D:6)
  2 crimson imps
  Crazy Yiuf (D:5)
  6 orc priests
  A shadow (D:7)
  5 hounds
  6 worker ants
  4 iguanas
  2 gnoll shamans (D:10)
  8 orc wizards
  46 scorpions
  A deep elf soldier (D:9)
  4 sheep (D:11)
  2 mummies
  A goliath beetle zombie (D:10)
  17 gnolls (D:10)
  A green rat (D:4)
  A giant centipede (D:11)
  2 iguana skeletons
  6 adders
  An adder skeleton (D:7)
  An adder zombie (D:6)
  2 worms
  An ufetubus (D:4)
  A giant eyeball (D:11)
  2 giant geckos
  2 oozes (D:2)
  32 orcs
  4 giant cockroaches
  13 goblins
  11 hobgoblins
  18 jackals
  17 kobolds
  A ball python (D:4)
  9 bats
  7 giant newts
  A giant spore (D:10)
  A quokka (D:4)
  7 rats
  A rat zombie (D:7)
  13 ballistomycetes
  A fungus (D:9)
  2 toadstools
373 creatures vanquished.

Vanquished Creatures (others)
  6 very ugly things (D:11)
  A wizard (D:4)
  A wolf spider (D:11)
  11 ugly things
  A war dog (D:10)
  An orc warrior (D:11)
  A human (D:11)
  4 ice beasts
  An ogre (D:11)
  A sky beast (D:11)
  2 yak zombies (D:11)
  3 giant frog zombies
  A yellow wasp zombie (D:10)
  A warg (D:10)
  3 hounds
  37 crimson imps
  129 scorpions
  An orc priest (D:11)
  8 iron imps
  An elf zombie (D:7)
  20 shadow imps
  A sheep zombie (D:11)
  20 white imps
  32 grey rats
  A gnoll zombie (D:10)
  4 orcs
  22 bats
  A giant cockroach (D:11)
  A hobgoblin (D:11)
  6 jackals
  39 quokkas
  A giant gecko zombie (D:9)
  A giant newt zombie (D:2)
  8 giant spores
  2 jackal skeletons
  2 jackal zombies
  An orc skeleton (D:11)
  An orc zombie (D:10)
  30 rats
  2 ballistomycetes
  16 toadstools
425 creatures vanquished.

Grand Total: 912 creatures vanquished

Notes
Turn   | Place    | Note
--------------------------------------------------------------
     0 | D:1      | Robot2600, the Tengu Summoner, began the quest for the Orb.
     0 | D:1      | Reached XP level 1. HP: 10/10 MP: 3/3
    52 | D:1      | Reached skill level 5 in Summonings
   494 | D:1      | Reached XP level 2. HP: 15/15 MP: 5/5
   503 | D:1      | Learned a level 2 spell: Call Imp
  1449 | D:2      | Reached skill level 6 in Summonings
  1825 | D:2      | Reached XP level 3. HP: 19/19 MP: 1/6
  2385 | D:2      | Reached skill level 7 in Summonings
  2724 | D:3      | Found a burning altar of Makhleb.
  2728 | D:3      | Became a worshipper of Makhleb the Destroyer
  3059 | D:3      | Reached XP level 4. HP: 24/24 MP: 2/8
  3811 | D:4      | Found a shattered altar of Ashenzari.
  3826 | D:4      | Reached skill level 8 in Summonings
  4040 | D:4      | Found a staircase to the Ecumenical Temple.
  4074 | D:4      | Found Venaepp's Antique Armour Emporium.
  4142 | D:4      | Bought a faintly humming leather armour for 147 gold pieces
  4150 | D:4      | Identified the cursed +3 leather armour of Folaeh (You bought it in a shop on level 4 of the Dungeon)
  4199 | D:4      | Noticed Eustachio
  4232 | D:5      | Entered Level 5 of the Dungeon
  4318 | D:5      | Reached XP level 5. HP: 28/28 MP: 6/10
  4527 | D:5      | HP: 1/28 [centaur/arrow of flame (16)]
  4916 | D:5      | Learned a level 3 spell: Call Canine Familiar
  5188 | D:5      | Reached skill level 9 in Summonings
  5203 | D:5      | Acquired Makhleb's first power
  5242 | D:5      | Reached XP level 6. HP: 14/32 MP: 1/11
  5554 | D:5      | Noticed Crazy Yiuf
  5577 | D:5      | Killed Crazy Yiuf
  5905 | D:6      | Noticed Sigmund
  5950 | D:6      | Killed Sigmund
  5950 | D:6      | Reached skill level 10 in Summonings
  6046 | D:6      | Noticed Pikel
  6279 | D:6      | Found a glowing drain.
  6320 | D:6      | Killed Pikel
  6320 | D:6      | Reached XP level 7. HP: 36/36 MP: 0/17
  6327 | D:6      | Learned a level 4 spell: Summon Scorpions
  6349 | D:6      | Noticed Menkaure
  6366 | D:6      | Killed Menkaure
  6726 | D:6      | Noticed Grinder
  6751 | D:6      | Killed Grinder
  6751 | D:6      | Reached skill level 5 in Spellcasting
  7039 | D:6      | Reached XP level 8. HP: 6/41 MP: 12/20
  7477 | D:7      | Noticed Dowan
  7478 | D:7      | Noticed Duvessa
  7502 | D:7      | Killed Dowan
  7517 | D:7      | Killed Duvessa
  7778 | D:7      | Acquired Makhleb's second power
  8281 | D:7      | Your ally Dowan died
  8670 | D:7      | Found a staircase to the Orcish Mines.
  9399 | D:7      | Learned a level 4 spell: Summon Ice Beast
  9856 | D:4      | Killed Eustachio
  9979 | D:4      | Found a bloodstained altar of Trog.
  9979 | D:4      | Noticed a terrified wizard
  9986 | D:4      | Killed a terrified wizard
 10096 | Temple   | Entered the Ecumenical Temple
 10175 | D:4      | Noticed AnalyticBranch's ghost (average HEHu)
 10196 | D:4      | Killed AnalyticBranch's ghost
 10514 | D:5      | Acquired Makhleb's third power
 10645 | D:5      | Reached XP level 9. HP: 45/45 MP: 16/24
 11129 | D:8      | Found a bloodstained altar of Trog.
 11750 | D:9      | Reached skill level 1 in Poison Magic
 12173 | D:9      | Got a shimmering sabre
 12174 | D:9      | Identified the sabre "Faut" {flame, SInv} (You found it on level 9 of the Dungeon)
 12590 | D:9      | Reached skill level 5 in Poison Magic
 12694 | D:9      | Got a blackened book
 12695 | D:9      | Identified the Disquisition on Excruciating Cold (You found it on level 9 of the Dungeon)
 13586 | D:10     | Entered Level 10 of the Dungeon
 14192 | D:10     | Reached XP level 10. HP: 48/50 MP: 1/26
 14368 | D:10     | Reached skill level 11 in Summonings
 14701 | D:10     | Acquired Makhleb's fourth power
 15045 | D:10     | Reached skill level 12 in Summonings
 15587 | D:10     | Learned a level 6 spell: Summon Ugly Thing
 15591 | D:10     | Learned a level 3 spell: Recall
 16444 | D:11     | Found Gizizaf's Distillery.
 16452 | D:11     | Bought a potion of curing for 30 gold pieces
 16452 | D:11     | Bought a potion of heal wounds for 45 gold pieces
 16452 | D:11     | Bought a potion of heal wounds for 45 gold pieces
 16452 | D:11     | Bought a potion of heal wounds for 45 gold pieces
 16452 | D:11     | Bought a potion of heal wounds for 45 gold pieces
 16452 | D:11     | Bought a potion of curing for 30 gold pieces
 16659 | D:11     | Reached skill level 10 in Spellcasting
 16707 | D:11     | Learned a level 5 spell: Shadow Creatures
 17181 | D:11     | Reached XP level 11. HP: 54/54 MP: 3/29
 17355 | D:11     | Acquired Makhleb's fifth power
 18419 | D:11     | Reached skill level 13 in Summonings
 19594 | D:11     | Reached skill level 14 in Summonings
 20037 | D:11     | Reached skill level 15 in Summonings

Nethack Tileset

I did not make this tileset, but it's an awesome example of roguelike graphics. Who needs animations? Tiled RPGs all the way.

Ascending NetHack

After playing NetHack the entire weekend, I have finally ascended. My Dwarven Valkyrie joins the ranks of demi-gods and -goddesses. The road was long, and, in a way my journey actually began two years ago when I first discovered NetHack and became completely captivated with its ASCII graphics and technical superiority.

The quest was difficult, the monsters were brutal, and the instant death hazards were abundant. For two years I knew I had to beat this game, but for two years I only managed to kill off dozens of noble would-be heroes. This morning I was on level 46 of Gehennom, and a Master Mind Flayer wiped my memory. I lost all hope of ascending. However, after a few minutes I realized that I would push on, despite the odds. I returned to the first level of the game, remapping all of the levels, and carving a direct path down to the Inner Sanctum. When I returned to scene of my memory loss, I was more powerful and better prepared for future dangers.

The second major obstacle manifested on the elemental planes. I had no means of detecting the portals. Haphazardly, I stumbled about and easily found 3 of the portals.


Finally, I was on the Astral Plane, the legendary final level. Using wands of teleportion, I carved a path through the monsters to the first altar. It was unaligned. Using the remaining teleport charges, I reached the second altar, and my fears were once again realized: the altar was unaligned. However, my hit points never dropped to a dangerous level and my confidence was increasing. Adrenaline flooded my nervous system. I had no more wands of teleport, so my only option was to cut a bloody swath the to the final altar.

The amulet sacrificed, the game was over. I had ascended.

Check out the dumplog of my ascension, complete with ending stats, items, and screenshot.

NetHack

At the other end of the technical spectrum from Adventure 2600 (but largely on par in the graphics department) is the 1987 classic NetHack. The latest version, 3.4.3. was released December 8, 2003, and it is still under development. There is a story about an amulet, but before you can even hope to win the game, you've got to learn how to play it. This is something like learning an instrument (perhaps a plastic one) and requires at least a week of constant playing to progress decently far.

NetHack is the ultimate randomized dungeon crawler. There are thousands of items, dungeon features, and possibilities all extremely impressive and complicated. It's basically Dungeons and Dragons boiled down to pure combat. You proceed floor by floor down into this hellish dungeon, with side dungeons, secrets, treasure, monsters, cities, priests, altars, dragons, kobolds, traps and overpowered monsters ready to kill you. The slightest misstep, walking in a seemingly harmless direction can easily spell instant doom.

Each level is generated completely randomly, but all are beatable provided you can take out the monsters. If you can't, you can run, or try to use one of your many items in a creative way. Maybe you get lucky and escape, maybe the monster kills you. The game constantly puts you in life or death situations with a difficult monster about to kill you in 1 or 2 hits, and it's far faster. As a last-ditch effort you can read a scroll and hope for some life-saving spell. Victories like that are very rewarding. Deaths are more common.



What I love about the graphics is that the game was created (and continues to be) developed in ASCII. That said, I prefer the tile version, which uses non-moving icon tiles and is much easier on the eye. Still, switching between modes in the Windows version is only a single button push to toggle between ASCII and tiles, making it easy to learn the ASCII code. You'll probably want to read the documentation first, here are the links you need to get started with NetHack.



First, read the guidebook. It's very long. I printed out most parts of it, but you'll be constantly referring to information when playing NetHack until you become very good. Eventually you won't need to do any fancy commands and you'll be able to play the game for a while without dying on your own. But the documentation hides many options and secrets that mean the difference between life and death.

Also check out the official page, nethack.org

Or go straight to the download page.

The same game of NetHack can never be played twice.