diff --git a/content/blog/2022/11/my-best-nethack-game-so-far/index.md b/content/blog/2022/11/my-best-nethack-game-so-far/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c3fc28d --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2022/11/my-best-nethack-game-so-far/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,65 @@ +--- +title: "My Best Nethack Game (So Far)" +date: 2022-11-24T09:13:15-05:00 +categories: ["Games"] +tags: ["Nethack", "Roguelikes", "Video Games"] +resources: + - name: wishing + src: wishing.png + title: + - name: oracle + src: oracle.png + title: +--- + +I just finished my best ever game of Nethack. I earned 31,118 points as a level +9 Valkyrie. + +Some highlights: + +I got all the way to the bottom of the Mines, fought several vampires and +trolls, but somehow completely missed the luckstone. I did pick up a grey stone, +but it ended up being a touchstone. + +I got a Wand of Wishing! I was zap testing wands in Minetown and the game asked +me for a wish! I had no idea what to wish for -- it was my first time getting a +wish 😱 -- but I had been watching [Adeon's Nethack speedrun][adeon] at the 2017 +Roguelike Celebration and remembered him wishing for some absurdly qualified +dragon scale mail, so I ended up with a *+2 uncursed silver dragon scale mail* +that brought my AC down to -10. It saved my butt later on when I ran into a +bunch of winter wolf pups because it reflected their cold beams. + +{{< figures/image name=wishing >}} + +Later on in the mines, I stepped on a polymorph trap that transformed me into an +ice dragon. That transformation caused my dragon scale mail to fuse into my +body. When the transformation ended, I was left with simple dragon scales, +which were still silver, but no longer had the big defense bonus. Boo. :( I did +get to lay two eggs that hatched into baby ice dragons. Baby dragons are +ravenous and indiscrimate. + +The baby dragons killed the Oracle. Whoops. + +{{< figures/image name=oracle >}} + +In the oracle level, I tried to dip my long sword into the fountains around the +Oracle, hoping to find Excalibur. Just a few turns before, I'd fought a +gelatinous cube that corroded my sword. I didn't notice at the time though, so +dipping went horribly wrong... Not only did my corroded long sword become +*thoroughly rusted*, it also eventually became cursed. Oddly enough, that sword +was still the best weapon I had, and I used it to the very end. I need to figure +out how to replace weapons that get degraded like that. + +I solved Sokoban with some help from the Nethack wiki for the first time. The +puzzles are hard but I enjoyed thinking through them. The monsters in there, +especially in the upper levels are *hard*: multiple elementals, several packs of +winter wolf pups, yetis, apes, and a zruty. I got through the last level and +discovered a mimic blocking the hallway to the zoo. It killed me. + +Near the end, I was testing amulets and put on an Amulet of Changing that caused +me to switch genders. Boo. + +It's in my [logfile][logfile] now too. + +[adeon]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIB0y_kwFuY +[logfile]: {{< ref "nethack" >}} diff --git a/content/blog/2022/11/my-best-nethack-game-so-far/oracle.png b/content/blog/2022/11/my-best-nethack-game-so-far/oracle.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..91828cc Binary files /dev/null and b/content/blog/2022/11/my-best-nethack-game-so-far/oracle.png differ diff --git a/content/blog/2022/11/my-best-nethack-game-so-far/wishing.png b/content/blog/2022/11/my-best-nethack-game-so-far/wishing.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..047c10f Binary files /dev/null and b/content/blog/2022/11/my-best-nethack-game-so-far/wishing.png differ