Race to Fusion

[Paul Stevens]

Yes....I am trying it as I write this.

[Simon]

lol I just realised I said Athlon instead of AMD, please ignore my insanity...

But on a more serious note, does anyone have the same problem as me using CSB?

[PaulH]

I am glad you got it! Just had another go, absolutely flawless, I had just about completed the scorpions when I got cornered and killed with just 17655 on the clock (50mins). It would have beat my last effort by at least 20 mins. Ah well, there is always tomorrow...

[Paul Stevens]

Please.....Anyone who has not yet started a game......Get version 9.1.
It has several bugs fixed when using Fluxcage and Fusion.
It also allows better/easier compression of the playfile.log.

PaulH's game is posted at:
webpages.charter.net/pstevens1 file DMRecord4.zip

BEST TIME
Antman 2 hours, 31 minutes, 45.8 seconds 17080 moves
Paul Hayes 1 hour, 33 minutes, 32.8 seconds 13844 moves

BEST NUMBER OF MOVES
Stevens 6 hours, 45 minutes, 54.5 seconds 13954 moves Halk
Paul Hayes 1 hour, 33 minutes, 32.8 seconds 13844 moves

[PaulH]

Paul,

Thanks for sorting it out.

I guess you learned a few time saving tricks in the early levels by watching my game, but you'll probably agree I made a hash of the lower levels so there is scope to knock a lot of time off the record. I am planning to have a go with Gothmog as himself, I think it is possible to do the game in an hour with a bit of luck (ie worms and rock piles early on being in convenient positions).

With regards to the moves record, that was completely unexpected but again this can be beaten. Why do you choose Halk? Just curious.

Thanks again,

Paul H.

[Antman]

Awesome game! I will have to try and beat using a reincarnated guy which is what you used right? I have plans of how to get past those purple worms and the deth knights at the end. I will try tomorrow.

[PaulH]

Cheers Ant. Yep I resurrected (not reincarnated, so he was much weaker) Hawk, who in my opinion is the best person to start with. I reckon if we combined my first half of the game with your last half it would be unbeatable!

[PaulH]

Are there any others out there having a go at this? If its just me and Ant, then I think I will stop trying as hard as I have been doing...

By now I can compile a list of amusing ways to die as I think have have done them all. Like my last go... I was right at the end of the loops and 50 minutes hadn't even gone by (under an hour was in my sights!) when them two or three wasps right at the end killed me! Can you believe that! I tucked the Fury away thinking a good old shot from the Storm ring would suffice. Wrong. Oh dear. No mana left either. Run! But there was a water elemental who had crept after me so I ran to the 'zoom' bit, got cornered and then found out first hand just how quick the little buggers can sting. Dead. Gutted. I have also trapped myself in the scorpions where the Boots of Speed are after I backed in to get that ful bomb when ONE skeleton hacked me to death. I had actually forgot to press the button so the ful bomb wasn't even there... It's always the tiniest of creatures that get you, I have never been killed by Chaos or the Dragon. I have managed to wedge myself under a door after I activated it when the fastest moving screamers I have ever seen trapped me right in the wrong place. I don't think I could do that again if I actually tried! I once got trapped between a giggler and a Scopion. So I tried to kill the giggler (as you would). But this one must have acquired the plate of Darc as it point blank REFUSED to die, and, as you guessed, it was me who popped first. But the best was when I accidently did a lemming impersonation on the very 1st pit in the game... that particular record attempt wasn't the best I've had.
Anyway, I feel a little better after writing that, it is amazing how infuriating this game actually is. If anyone wants a few tips on how to do a fast game then either post here or watch the playback. I have plenty of time on my hands at the moment as I am off work sick, so DM is keeping me sane... apparantly.

[Antman]

I've died in some pretty bad ways too. I been cornered by a ruster, what are they exactly anyway?, I've been killed by wasps, water elemtals, skeletons, scorpions, flying eyes and mummies and died each time. I haven't actually played the game for awhile but I will have another go in the weekend when I have some free time. I beat csb in an hour, why not dm?

[PaulH]

Glad its not just me then who dies like this! Rusters were originally designed to 'rust' your weapons if you attacked them but the effect was never programmed. I am sure the hour can be done but you need a lot of luck, not just speed. Examples are the positions of the worms which can save you maybe 5mins if you can run through them, the cross key door later on (I got stuck against some water elememtals that took me 20mins to get out of) and the two knights near the spiders. Also the faster you get to the lower levels the weaker your character is...
As for the CSB record, I am thinking about having a go, but I'll admit when I saw your record I was astounded. I have a few tactics but I doubt I'll even get under the hour. My knowledge is a bit rusty of CSB.

[PaulH]

Just had another go, this time with Gando but resurrected. Time, to be verified, at just under 1hour and 4mins. Would have been better if I hadn't forgotten the last Ra key in the knights and had to go back and get it! Moves should be better, but not looked yet.

[sucinum]

i tried, and i failed :)
i was very fast at the worms, and i was circled even faster...next one maybe (im not used to this dodging style)

[PaulH]

I've had about 20 goes with a one in ten success ratio (ie killed chaos) which has resulted in the above two times. It is taking risks that seems to get you into trouble... 'I'll just dodge that rat...' and 10 seconds later your dead. I'd recommend that people try and just get through playing conservatively, don't take time saving risks and you'll be suprised what you can do. Hint: my next game is going to involve a new worm killing tactic. It involves the mummy pit, good timing and a whole lot of luck. Also some characters are better earlier on, others later. Good luck everyone (but not Antman, he's too quick! Only joking!)

[Paul Stevens]

The latest record was set using a resurrected character. You can find
the 'movie' at
webpages.charter.net/pstevens1
DMRecord5.zip.

BEST TIME
Antman 2 hours, 31 minutes, 45.8 seconds 17080 moves
Paul Hayes 1 hour, 33 minutes, 32.8 seconds 13844 moves

BEST NUMBER OF MOVES
Stevens 6 hours, 45 minutes, 54.5 seconds 13954 moves Halk
Paul Hayes 1 hour, 33 minutes, 32.8 seconds 13844 moves

USING ONE RESURRECTED CHARACTER
Paul Hayes 1 hour 3 minutes 35.6 seconds 11160 moves

[sucinum]

maybe i begin with just completing dm...i think ill end up somewhere between 3h and 4h then ;)
what levels do your chars have at the end?
with an artisan fight/novice ninja/craftsman priest+mage you can kill some rat and scorpion or 2 and you survive at least 1 stroke from any monster....
i think, the hardest lvl will be lvl 12 with knights, spider, faders and me not knowing all essential parts of it by heart *g

[Paul Stevens]

One thing you could do......take Mr. Hayes' playfile and edit it to truncate
at the start of level 12. Then play level 12 yourself, starting with a
'Save' so that you can easily play it many times. In that way, you can
practice level 12 without going all the way through the dungeon.

[Antman]

I know your worm killing tatic because I tried it myself, it was written in this forums before the posts were lost. It works but you have to walk into the worm then jump down the pit and wait for quite a bit before entering the teleporter. I will be able to have ten goes in a row on saturday so I should be able to get it under an hour with some luck. I definetly think you should try csb, its a lot of fun!

[PaulH]

Amber: end levels are very much dependant on the time taken, I have discovered. Gando ended up journeyman ninja and craftsman in the other three arts, paradoxically weaker than when I used a reincarnated character. As you will see from my games I don't use much magic at all, only against wasps and gigglers who are very annoying creatures (I used a yew staff aginst faders). Cold steel works best in most situations.

The reason why I chose Gando was because of his high mana and wisdom levels, I wanted to investigate the importance of magic in this competition. And as I said earlier, it doesn't seem to help that much, maybe you can kill a few monsters earlier on a little quicker. Also I wanted a character with 40 strength or above... watch the playback if you want to know why!

If I have another go I might choose Stamm. No mana whatsever, but a nice weapon, high strength and stamina and more health. I also might try using two people, but I'd guess they would be a lot weaker towards the end. But if one dies, you've got one left...

Ant: I had a look at CSB last night (your record) and it seems that you move faster in your DM game. I reckon you can do it even faster! I also noticed that you got all four keys of B. When I played this game a few weeks ago I got to the Ful Ya pit without any of these keys, a master key or lock picks. I used a teleporter that appeared. I shall investigate, but after looking at your record I reckon a flawless, lucky game could end up with just about 30mins. And after watching my last DM record I think that the absolute minimum is 56-57 minutes. But these are 1 in a million games.

[Sphenx]

For CSB : that's true there is a 3rd way to go to the Ful Ya pit, with teleporters (they are 3). They are randomly set on (and off), due to the moves of the generated worm in the inacessible little room (0, 19, 43). This worm is generated when you enter level 0 by any stairs, but since you can't force its moves, you'll have to be extremely lucky to get the teleporters on.
If it works, you may then avoid the keys of B. Could it be faster?
If any want to try...

[Antman]

I will try, when I get some time. PaulH, did you use a resurrected character in your first game?

[PaulH]

1st game reincarnated (so renamed, no levels and lower stats, NB in the original Dm the stats stayed about the same; the lowering is due to the CSB format). Second game ressurected, Gando, who actually had about the same health as as the reincarnated character anyway!

[PaulH]

Just done the game in 56 and-a-half minutes! Mr Stevens to verify and post. That was hard, my brain hurts. If you concentrate you can do two things at once such as cast potions and move round quickly to save time. Which probably explains the amount of walls I headbutted...

[Paul Stevens]

The latest record was set using two resurrected characters. You can find
the 'movie' at
webpages.charter.net/pstevens1
DMRecord6.zip.

BEST TIME
Antman 2 hours, 31 minutes, 45.8 seconds 17080 moves
Paul Hayes 1 hour, 33 minutes, 32.8 seconds 13844 moves

BEST NUMBER OF MOVES
Stevens 6 hours, 45 minutes, 54.5 seconds 13954 moves Halk
Paul Hayes 1 hour, 33 minutes, 32.8 seconds 13844 moves

USING ONE RESURRECTED CHARACTER
Paul Hayes 1 hour 3 minutes 35.6 seconds 11160 moves

USING TWO RESURRECTED CHARACTERS
Paul Hayes 0 hour 56 minutes 34.0 seconds 9924 moves

[Antman]

I think I can get under this time with one resurrected guy. I use Halk and do no training at the screamers, the problem is wasps and no magic are a bad, bad combination. The furthest I have got was level 12, the knight level, but with a few more goes I think I can win.

[PaulH]

Yeah I know what you mean about the wasps, in my last go I hadn't any magic either. Anyway I suggest you DO have somebody with magic because if you don't it sure makes that ZO KATH RA spell hard to cast...

[PaulH]

For the people who are bothered (probably just Paul and Ant!) I just finished it with Azizi in 53 and a half mins. Didn't cast a single fireball either.

[Paul Stevens]

PaulH's latest record is posted at:

webpages.charter.net\pstevens1 as DMMovie7

I have rearranged the site to reduce space. You will
also find the Atari Graphics and Dungeon files there.
If you like Beholders and Rats.

[Antman]

I just got a new record for the fastest game of DM with one reincarnated character. The game was about 40 mins and i sent it to Paul Stevens, so hopefuly he can clarify it and pass it on to Christophe. This game took over 150 goes and don't think i will be able to beat it, now that Paul has Released a version of CSB4Win with DM rules for reincarnation, i might go for that record, i hope anyone who watches it, enjoys it.

Antman

[Antman]

Sorry, i ment one ressurected character

[PaulH]

Wow! You must have taken every risk possible! I will of course try and defend my title, as my old record was from perfect.

Still can't view your playfiles though. YOu send it as a .mim, which I rename as playfile.log, but I get sequencing errors.

But... congratulations!!!