'Toe to Toe' with the dragon

[Jan]

@Ameena and Trantor: Hey, me too!

Although I usually play with one character only, so that one death means a death of the whole "team".

[beowuuf]

Aww, my post never got sent, weird computer

It depends on circumstance, if a million mile sighted sniping Wizard Eye kills me from a thousand paces, yeah, kill party and restart

However, if the game is really well done, and it has been me at fault, sometimes I will carry on and get back to the nearest Vi Alter

I've done that at least once in Conflux, and even wrote a story about my race back up from the mines with Stamm's bones, did it in Sauman's dungeon recently after clearing the deathfield but losing my mage, and I remmeber being in Ian's situation in an amiga run through of DM and deciding to carry on with a three party to the Vi Altar. It's nice to adjust your strategy

Let's face it, we can all do solo runs if we've played alot, so even if three party die, as long as you can get their possessions back - why not swap your stretegy for a while for fun ;D

[Trantor]

The reason for me is laziness. Carrying the bones to the nearest VI altar is manageable, but getting his/her belongings again? Nah, just too much clickling. Same reason why I almost never use throwing items, slings or bows.

[beowuuf]

I collect them for a while, don't use them, and then when I can't subsidise my packrat inclinations anymore, I dump them ;D

[Ameena]

I used to do that (collect junk like arrows and crap), but now I don't even bother - I just keep food and important items like keys and stuff. Actually, in DM, food ends up being a problem - not running out of it, I mean...quite the opposite - I tend to eat Screamer slices first and then start on the "proper" food (although I do eat cheeses first if I have any 'cause they're the heaviest), leaving drumsticks and finally Dragon steaks till last. By the time I'm at the bottom of the dungeon I'm still on the Screamer slices - I have to leave the remains of the Dragon behind because his steaks will overload me (both capacity and weight-wise, usually). Worm rounds I don't bother looting but tend to chomp on the spot till everyone's full.

[Trantor]

I actually always carry some arrows and rocks with me, in case I find a plate that needs an item or I have to throw something through a teleporter or portcullis. But that's all I'm using them for.

[beowuuf]

Heh, I think the food order and throwing contingencies must be standard stuff!

I know I recently realised bread was pretty good too (not as good as drunksticks) but is slightly lighter. Definitely cheese is good, but weighs too much so gets dumped or eaten. And apple eaten ahead of corn!

[Ameena]

Oh yes I was gonna mention that I do also usually carry a couple of rocks/daggers around too in case I need to trigger anything, but I forgot to mention that as I sidetracked myself and ended up waffling on about how I end up carrying too much food . I tend to end up with both characters carrying a chest full of drumsticks and their inventories full of the other foods. In CSb it's Dragon steaks instead .

[Jan]

We all seem to use the same strategy.
Sometimes, I carry things like a bow etc. for a few levels just in case something like the "riddle room" in DM occurred. I pile these useless things every two or three levels.

@Trantor: I can't see your avatar!

[beowuuf]

Yes, the paranoia of carrying alot of heavy weapons incase they are needed for a puzzle room or certain monster!

[Ameena]

Oh yes, in DM I know which items are used for, say, the Riddle Room, so I'll keep hold of them (well, actually, last time I forgot and didn't bother picking up the bow, so I went all the way back and found it after I'd got to the start of Level 6 and thought "Ohh bollocks..."). I don't think anything like that is used in CSB (as far as I can remember) so my inventory just gets full of food and (mostly iron) keys. The worst thing is custom dungeons (although I've not played many of them), because then you have no clue if any item might be used later!
I sort of occasionally think, every now and then, that maybe I could get on with my own dungeon some time...but then I remember how complicated it is and stuff, and can't be arsed, lol.

[Paul Stevens]

anything like that is used in CSB

CSB has at least one! I hate it when I get to the
Worm Regneration Room on level 00 and have
to put up a big fights because I forgot
to bring a Boulder.

[Bit]

You're all lazy and cheating folks!
Now that we don't have to scratch on floppies anymore, we should built in an automatism that writes back a variable to the save game which makes it impossible to replay it within an hour
And if I ever make a custom dungeon - I'll force you to carry each and every item to the final room to get the last key

[beowuuf]

For lazy' read 'don't have much free time anymore'. I think most people just want to get passed the penalty of silly mistakes to carry on. We all could do i, but losing all that extra time is not fun if you don't have extra time to play around with!

[MasterWuuf]

I like the 'poison cloud multiplied' to expire in a cloud of glory, when I decide to 'off' my team.

I like to keep rocks and clubs for a couple of levels, so as to stockpile them in strategic spots.
Then...lead the worms, etc. on a merry chase down the halls to my 'gold mine' of throwing items.
Up goes my ninja levels, as I systematically switch 'team leader' and toss everything at the bad guys.

[Saumun]

I must admit, i had never tried a solo run until reading this thread. So yesterday i did one with Hisssa and found it surprisingly easy, but the Tiggy run sounds a challenge so i think that might be my next port of call.

I never bother to resurrect either when a character dies. Just reload my last save.

[Saumun]

Just done a Tiggy run. Aaaagh... The biggest problem was not being able to carry much. Had to do it all in chain mail carrying a couple of drumsticks, one weapon and an empty flask. Anyway.... it took 5 hours and 6 mins, but i spent an inordinate amount of time fighting the golums and the dragon when i should just have dodged them.

Ah well.... Try everything once.

[beowuuf]

Well done everyone! Solo runs are fun, watching all that XP be concentrated, but suck for the limited resources like carrying. Certainly, nothing in the game says you have to kill the golems or dragons!

[Ameena]

I did a solo run a while back (like, a couple of yers or so) with (reincarnated) Wuuf...finished DM okay but got stuck in CSB in a little room with a ton of spiders outside (that bit in...Dain, I think, with the crossroads and four doors which all have spiders behind which keep respawning) and no mana and stuff...didn't have the power to kill them all without needing to rest and end up respawning more of them .

[beowuuf]

Stop turning around at the crossroads! Or use lotsa poison cloud and zo spells to block and close the doors before chosing your path. Something like that

[Ameena]

I kept running out of mana - didn't have enough to kill them all and get out - killing a few and then trying to run meant that more spawned in my way, so I had to retreat again and rest so I had the mana to kill them, then the same kept happening .

[MasterWuuf]

Just done a Tiggy run. Aaaagh... The biggest problem was not being able to carry much. Had to do it all in chain mail carrying a couple of drumsticks, one weapon and an empty flask. Anyway.... it took 5 hours and 6 mins, but i spent an inordinate amount of time fighting the golums and the dragon when i should just have dodged them.

Ah well.... Try everything once.

My biggest problem is a ridiculous desire to 'hoard' everything as I go.
I've seen everything, so why can't I just ignore one of the 'key' rooms in the Creature Cavern area?

I could still complete the game.

Some habits are hard to break.

[Jan]

"Chain mail" - hahaha! That's exact! Hahaha!

Exactly the same things were happening to me. In my first solo run in DM, I was carrying practically everything I found - 4 full waterskins, about 5 chests full of food (one with drumsticks, one with cheese, two with bread etc.), a chest full of useless coins, etc., so that my old poor Chani was asked to carry about 80 kg of stuff. So it was a multi-chain-mail, I spent ages running here and there with chests (particularly demanding in e.g. the worm level). I was then leaving food chests in "strategic points" - in the RA level, on the central stairs, etc. Only after finishing this first solo run I realised I need only one waterskin and about 3 or 4 drumsticks...

But I still have a tendency to explore everything and carry more than needed ("one item from its kind"). I don't know why. It's sort of obsession with accumulating things...

[Ameena]

I manage to complete DM without using a waterskin at all now, I think. Yet of course both my charactesr must carry one. Sorry, two, because there's four, isn't there...well, yeah, I carry them and keep them full but end up just drinking at fountains all the time, lol. Once you're down to the end of Level 9, everything becomes that much easier as you have access via the Central Stairs to the Rat Room and that fountain in the nearby room.

[beowuuf]

If you are sufficient level, don't neglect strength potions to help with the hording and the spanking of your enemies!

[Jan]

Yet of course both my charactesr must carry one. Sorry, two, because there's four, isn't there...

[Trantor]

Seems the similarities in our playing styles continue. I also took EVERYTHING with me the first few times I played DM. Today I rarely carry more than a waterskin or two and one chest of food at the most. The rest will be key items, two melee weapons, two staffs which give you mana, armor for everyone and 4 flasks. Oh, and Magic Boxes and Ful/Ven potions, but that's it.

[Paul Stevens]

Edit ********************
The competition has been moved to:
http://www.dianneandpaul.net/CSBwin/Com ... ntman45.7z
and contains an updated CSBwin.exe which does not
get confused about dead characters.
Edit ********************

OK. What is the MINIMUM number of things you must pick
up? Fetch http://www.dianneandpaul.net/CSBwin/MinimumPicking.7z
and play the game. Make a recording. Saves and restores are
allowed. It will keep track of how many item you pick up.
Pick it up twice.....it gets counted twice. Putting it
into or from the backpack is free. Tell us your
minimum. See if you can hold the record.

By the way....Zyx might be interested in the substitution
of 'Global Variables' in text. It would save him a lot of
hacking in order to display numbers.

[Paul Stevens]

I picked up 17 objects getting to the
"Choose Your Fate" level.

[Ameena]

Heh, if I tried that, I'd mess up my score working on my Ninja skill - it's the one skill that never gets increased "naturally" (ie in the general course of how I play the game), so once or twice I'll just grab something really heavy (a boulder or chest or something) and just chuck it repeatedly - being a heavy item it just lands on the floor right in front of me so I don't have to go anywhere to pick it up .