Good Grief!

Discuss Chaos Strikes Back, the "expansion pack" for Dungeon Master.
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terkio
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Re: Good Grief!

Post by terkio »

FRom this discussion, I could not help giving a try to CSB. I am using the RTC version.

Importing a damn poweful party, I had an easy start.
Chani, Darou,Leif,Azizi
Health: 529, 624, 589, 516
Mana : 255, 207, 219, 248
Well, I am addicted again......
CSB with RTC is easier than the ATARI ST version, because of this trick:
Spoiler
Fill your two front tanks with Ku potion...up to the brim ( 255 )
Spoiler
The strenght boost lasts much longer in RTC than in the original version
BTW
I think there is a bug in CSB ( RTC )
From the 4 way pillar ( the place with 3 ways to enter KU or ROS or DAIN or NETA )
There is a start ( can' t remember which one ) where I get stuck in a short corridor, a Vi altar at an end, a fountain at the other end.
Of course, I checked for fake walls and tiny switches.
A bug or I missed someting ?
"You can be on the right track and still get hit by a train!" Alfred E. Neuman
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beowuuf
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Re: Good Grief!

Post by beowuuf »

Does the altar say pray? If so, wait there for a while.
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terkio
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Re: Good Grief!

Post by terkio »

beowuuf wrote:Does the altar say pray? If so, wait there for a while.
Yes, No bug.
Spoiler
This is a start of NETA
Spoiler
After a while being stuck, the altar spits a scroll, that tells "Pray for a miracle", then not stuck anymore
"You can be on the right track and still get hit by a train!" Alfred E. Neuman
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beowuuf
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Re: Good Grief!

Post by beowuuf »

CSB is an evil, evil dungeon. I think you can get a key of B in a similar way around there...
hissa-lives
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Re: Good Grief!

Post by hissa-lives »

terkio wrote:
A pretty good, well equiped team :)
It is fun to specialize champions, with 2 tanks in the front and 2 casters in the back.
However,

I would go for more health, improving the lower stats.
Adept -> Expert -> Lo Master -> Um Master.

About boosting, Adept Ninja levels, I would go at killing creatures bare handed.

About boosting, OOK and PENNY Lo Master Priest levels, I would constantly renew Fire shiels and Magic shields to always work protected.

LOL and BA are weak at fighter, there is much health gain to get improving their Adept fighter levels.

Boosting levels is faster when training at upper dungeon levels. The top is level 0 where Lord Chaos awaits for you near the FulYa pit.


To determine a champion's level in any of the skills, the following table is used:
0. - (0)
1. Neophyte (500)
2. Novice (1000)
3. Apprentice (2000)
4. Journeyman (4000)
5. Craftsman (8000)
6. Artisan (16000)
7. Adept (32000)
8. Expert (64000)
9. Rune - Lo Master (128000)
10. Rune - Um Master (256000)
11. Rune - On Master (512000)
12. Rune - Ee Master (1024000)
13. Rune - Pal Master (2048000)
14. Rune - Mon Master (4096000)
15. Archmaster (8192000)


Here is the value of the experience multiplier for each level in Chaos Strikes Back:
Level 0: 7
Level 1: 6
Level 2: 5
Level 3: 5
Level 4: 4
Level 5: 5
Level 6: 4
Level 7: 4
Level 8: 4
Level 9: 4
Cheers for the help! I did spend quite a lot of time in the rat room kicking rats to death, but got bored so went for the stats I had at the time :-)
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terkio
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Re: Good Grief!

Post by terkio »

Sure you need a strong party in CSB, however the main thing is solving puzzle and knowing the mazes.
So far all I could do is to reach the DDD once, not remembering how I did it and now I am circling around.
Hence I spent hours and actually made no real progress.
I think I will give up ( again ) CSB RTC.
In case I try again, I' ll use CSBwin because it is a port of the original CSB.
"You can be on the right track and still get hit by a train!" Alfred E. Neuman
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Seriously Unserious
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Re: Good Grief!

Post by Seriously Unserious »

Yes, CSB is a confusing, evil dungeon. It seems like there's silent, invisible teleporters everywhere, making it very hard to figure out how to get somewhere, and nearly impossible to map the dungeons. There's nothing more confusing or frustrating then finding all that careful mapping colliding with an area that you've already mapped, yet nothing matches up right. You know something's wrong but backtracking won't help as it just shows that whatever you were mapping at the time seems right, yet it can't be because it's not mating up with the already mapped portion -- and, to hell with it, I just gave up trying to map anything there, I just couldn't get them to work, not with all those silent, invisible teleporters everywhere.

Still, once I figured out that I was being teleported, I did eventually start to get used to the mazes and could find my way to the DDD with relative regularity, no matter where the evil invisible, silent teleporters dumped my. Take that Lord Chaos! :P
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Sasha
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Re: Good Grief!

Post by Sasha »

Well, now I have to run CSB again. Thank you, really, I didn't feel insane enough these days.
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terkio
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Re: Good Grief!

Post by terkio »

Among things to loose sanity, I remember a quite large room that is easy to go through. You simply go forward.
Actually, you' ve been moved and spinned around by silent teleporters.
The damn place has many of those.
Mapping this room is extremely difficult, a must to know it's layout, eventual secret ways and worthwhile items.

Another place hard to go through is a room that is actually 3 identical rooms with silent teleporters.

Mapping all of CSB is so tough that I had to test all walls with Oh Ew Ra spells to note what is behind.

BTW In case you like classic DM games, want more like DM but not maddening as CSB, I recommend "Dark Reign" by Saumun and "Dungeons Matter" by Ouch.
"You can be on the right track and still get hit by a train!" Alfred E. Neuman
Phoenix
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Re: Good Grief!

Post by Phoenix »

terkio wrote:
hissa-lives wrote:
I would go for more health, improving the lower stats.
Adept -> Expert -> Lo Master -> Um Master.

About boosting, Adept Ninja levels, I would go at killing creatures bare handed.

About boosting, OOK and PENNY Lo Master Priest levels, I would constantly renew Fire shiels and Magic shields to always work protected.

LOL and BA are weak at fighter, there is much health gain to get improving their Adept fighter levels.

Boosting levels is faster when training at upper dungeon levels. The top is level 0 where Lord Chaos awaits for you near the FulYa pit.
If you are serious about boosting levels, then "climb down" with a rope is the most efficient EXP generator for Ninja. Combine this with making stamina potions and you boost Priest at the same time. Fireball is the most efficient for Wizard. You do get more EXP if there is a monster about, but nearly all actions except movement grant EXP. I've gone up levels walking into walls. Fighter is the hardest skill to train, but you get most of your strength and hit points increases from Fighter level increases.

Food and Water are the real limitations to training, but CSB has lots of dragons, hellhounds and worms.
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terkio
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Re: Good Grief!

Post by terkio »

When attacked from the back I' ve gained fighter levels. No fight, just been hit.
I was not aware about the climbing down to improve Ninja, but I like it and will try this. Is this wiith the original ( Atari/Amiga ) or clones ?
"You can be on the right track and still get hit by a train!" Alfred E. Neuman
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Paul Stevens
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Re: Good Grief!

Post by Paul Stevens »

terkio wrote:Another place hard to go through is a room that is actually 3 identical rooms with silent teleporters.
I can't remember where this was. Can you remind me?
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terkio
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Re: Good Grief!

Post by terkio »

That was so many years ago ( when they released CSB ). May be close to the laughing pit. I' ll have a look at my dusty scrolls from that time.
Edited:
No luck. Likely, I was wrong.
Last edited by terkio on Tue Aug 13, 2013 8:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Phoenix
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Re: Good Grief!

Post by Phoenix »

It's based on Technical Documentation - Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back Actions and Combos, so it applies at least to the originals and CSBwin. You do get EXP for being hit (Fighter hidden parry skill).

The rope climb down action can be done anywhere, but it drains that champions stamina, so it's best to have another champion creating YA potions.
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Re: Good Grief!

Post by Ameena »

The only place that springs to mind as being "three identical rooms with secret teleporters" is the Clockwise/Turn Back bit from the beginning of Level Eleven of DM...though I can't remember whether that's three sections or four.
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Paul Stevens
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Re: Good Grief!

Post by Paul Stevens »

That was the only thing it reminded me of, also. There
are four Clockwise rooms (circular hallways, more precisely).
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Seriously Unserious
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Re: Good Grief!

Post by Seriously Unserious »

terkio wrote:Among things to loose sanity, I remember a quite large room that is easy to go through. You simply go forward.
Actually, you' ve been moved and spinned around by silent teleporters.
The damn place has many of those.
Mapping this room is extremely difficult, a must to know it's layout, eventual secret ways and worthwhile items.
I remember this room, from the way of the priest. the solution is quite easy as a scroll just before entering this room literally tells you the answer to it. Most of the time I've had no problems finding my way though this room, but I do remember a couple of times when I did, both were because a giggler snuck up on me and stole one of my good items, and I got lost in there chasing after it, while also dodging and killing the slime devils that also inhabit that area. Other then those 2 times it was no problem.
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