Conflux III discussion thread - potential spoilers

[dolligan]

Well, any directions you can give me about the alternative route through Moria would be most welcome - I didn't think my characters were particularly wimpy (mostly master level in most things, up to =master in my guys' primary disciplines).But I don't last a second in the green nightmare corridor - it's pretty much instakill as soon as I trigger the poison/fire. (Not even time to move 1 square and back out of the line of fire!)

Killed Solune - Yay! Only problem is, now the screen is shaking about a bit- I guess this has something to do with the fact I haven't triggered the ending yet? I put the Chaos Gem into the slot in the dwarf castle area, and opened that door - but not sure how to get past the next bit (Summon the Guardian or something - and a locked door).
From reading some of the other discussion threads on here, I gather I can trigger the ending without actually ending the game? Hopefully this will stop the screen shaking and let me carry on exploring with this party. Or maybe the screen only shakes while I'm near the Chaos Gem ending area and it isn't a problem.

So - my lose ends at the moment are -
Kill the rest of the council
Get back past the green nightmare so I can get the piece of dragon armour from the clockwork maze, and hopefully get past the scorpion and see a bit more of Mapang (now I have the Horn of Fear).
Find a Helion so I can get into Oblivion (contrary to what someone said here earlier, I do not think there is one in the Fall of Fright - there is a shining though).

After all that - it's onto exploring the two guild ending areas I can unlock with this party (fighter and mage). Then I think I will be done with Conflux for a while - it has taken up a lot of time I should have been spending on other things, already... so maybe give it a break until there is a new version out

[beowuuf]

Did you get the fourth party member or not, I can't remember? That might be blocking some of the ways to get to the end.

[Phoenix]

Spoiler

The screen is shaking because you visited the Chamber of Oblivion, which is also why I recommend you don't go there until you're just about to end the game. To my knowledge it's permenant along with the effects of visiting Inferno and killing Vecna.

Can you post the stats for your current champions?

Spoiler

A Helion is behind a closed gate in the Fall of Fright.

As for the Guild endings, you need Halk (fighter), Mophus (priest), Gothmog (mage), or Leyla (ninja) in your party.

Spoiler

There are two pads in the Summon the Guardian room. Placing a certain object on one will summon a Guardian. If that monster steps on the other pad...

[dolligan]

Yes I did get a fourth party member, and a fifth in fact!

I don't think the screen is shaking because I visited Oblivion - because I don't think I have yet! It's behind the Helion lock door isn't it? (Bring Hell With You)?
It might be because I have visited Inferno - I have definitely been there!
Can you list the permanent effects that those actions have please? (Kill Vecna, visit Oblivion etc)? I don't mind spoilers at all - no way do I have enough time to see all of this game without them, and I want to see as much as possible!

And I will look again for the Helion in the Fall of Fright - if you are certain it is there, then I must simply have missed it.

Stats - Halk 762/705/131 Diamond master (sorry cant remember the runes - I always called them "diamond" "triangle" etc) fighter, artisan ninja, expert priest, Lo master Wizard

Lor - 751/999/350 Square master fighter, Neophyte Ninja, Lo master priest, = master wizard

Gothmog 416/320/300 Artisan fighter, journeyman ninja, Lo master priest = master wizard

Iaido 465/225/255 adept fighter, artisan ninja, square master priest } master wizard

[Phoenix]

I'm not quite certain when the DSA kicks in, but I do know it started once I descended that staircase below Inferno.

No one can play Conflux just once and see everything. Each of the Guild endings is almost another dungeon, especially Mophus's Quest. The each of champions you choose will give you different messages in certain places in the dungeon. Some options are just not available unless you have certain champions in your party. If you want to see all of the main Guild endings, you need to take a single guide until you can open a guild to its guildmaster. Once you are familiar with the dungeon, you can take on The Competition. It's re-playability is one of the best parts of the dungeon.

The Helion has been there since at least 3.5B8.

Hmmm...Looking at your stats, I have to ask which version of Conflux you are playing. WIP004 had a missile bug, but I'm not sure if this is the same error. If you killed both Golems and have a free run of the corridor, you should only be losing a few hp/hit unless your party is encombered in the red. You could try using Neta potions to boost your vitaility, but if you are not on WIP004, iit sounds like you might be hitting a bug. You might want to ask Zyx to look at your savegame.

[dolligan]

If you are reading this Zyx would you be able to look at my save please? Let me know how to get it to you.

[dolligan]

So what is DSA?
Every time I start the game more or less, I get an alert "Excessive DSA operations - this is the last warning" or something similar!
It's done that from the start basically, so I don't think its a save error.
I didn't give it much thought because I just close the alert down and everything's fine. They I saw it mentioned above in relation to the shaking screen - I also see something about a DSA trigger on one of the maps. Can anyone enlighten me?

[Paul Stevens]

"DSA" - "Designer Specified Actuator".

A scripted 'actuator'. It accepts messages from pressure pads,
other DSAs, etc and produces messages to open doors, display
graphics, etc.

Excessive operations means it consumed too much CPU time.
But modern, multi-gigahertz, processors zip through this
stuff pretty quickly. So you probably are not going to notice
any delays.

[Phoenix]

I've tested the Green Nightmare with WIP005. With no unnecessary keystrokes, from taking the Emerald key to placing it in the lock, each member of my party took 135HP of damage. After clearing the second golem, a straight run through the corridor cost my party 58HP/each. This seems to be consistant with past versions (I did not play/test WIP004).

[dolligan]

Well, I guess that is my mistake then - just checked and I am on V4. I thought I had got it from the home site though so it would be the latest version.
If I find V5 can I import my save? Don't mind starting again too much to be honest, if I've been playing the wrong version all along ...

[beowuuf]

I do not believe so

[dolligan]

Lol, ok actually I think I am getting myself confused, due to the naming system -
The Conflux I have is called ConfluxWIP_004. Looking at the downloads page on the wiki here- http://dmwiki.atomas.com/wiki/Conflux#Conflux_Versions
It appears that I have the latest version.

The program itself isn't much help - About just gives me the CSBWin version number.

[Phoenix]

Your save game is basically a copy of the dungeon, so no... Zyx announced WIP005 a couple of pages back in this thread. I've added a link to WIP005 on the wiki.

edit: just noticed I mangled Zyx's name (fixed).

[beowuuf]

That said I do not recall any major bug in W004? Maybe I am losing track.


What zyx could do would be to edit your saved game I think and remove the block if there's a bug.

[dolligan]

Awesome, thanks for the link. Actually looking forward to starting again and going through in a more structured way. Probably won't bother with Lor this time and try and get all four guildmasters, if this is possible?
If I was going to do this, which would be the easiest master for me to unlock first? Seeing as it will mean collecting all of the guild objects for one of the guilds, using just one character? From what I have seen so far, I am imagining it will be fighters (maces)?

[Phoenix]

It is possible to see all four normal guild endings.

You need to collect ALL guild objects to open ALL guilds and it can be done by any of the four normal guild guides.
Playing a single champion is difficult, but you advance faster than in a party of three or four. Who you chose as your initial guide can influence how fast you can open the guilds, but, for the most part, it comes down to finding and remembering where the guild objects are. Check out the Advanced Guide for Champion Selection on the wiki.

[Zyx]

Sorry for not being reactive, I'm currently in survival mode. Send me your savegame to bprieu *cough* gmail *cough* com

[dolligan]

Thanks for the offer - but now V5 is out presumably I am better off just starting that and playing it through again?
Are there many other changes other than the projectile glitch? ( I was wondering why things like rocks thrown by rock monsters were doing so much damage! I guess this is part of the same bug?)
It seems that the rats in the cellar generator area don't drop fur pants any more - presumably this is to make collecting them for the axe a more difficult challenge? Is there much else in the way of changes?

[Zyx]

V5 only features the projectile glitch, I think. There's a version history in the docs folder.

[Phoenix]

I don't know if anyone has worked out the actual percentages (except for Zyx of course), but from my experience, there is only a 25% chance that a rat will drop a rag when killed. Killing rats is still a good way to stockpile food until you have access to the Officers' Canteen on the Council level. Try leaving the level and coming back.

[Sophia]

I'm currently in survival mode. Send me your savegame to bprieu *cough* gmail *cough* com

I hope you survive! That's a nasty cough you have...

[Phoenix]

I'm sorry to report that there may be a bug in WIP005. After completing Soap & Water and unlocking Energize dead blast spore, the passage to the inner level fails to open.

[dolligan]

Well if that is a bug, then it was present in WP4 - because I ran into it without even knowing it was a bug.
After I cleaned up the footprints, the door in front of the "energize dead spores" spell opened but nothing else on the level.

This is why I posted earlier that I was surprised that the only way onwards from the apprentice level seemed to be to a section of Aquatana, with no other way onward!

[Zyx]

Damn it! I'll check.

[Chaos-Shaman]

I knew Zyx was always a DM, you're drawn in like the rest of us. so happy to see you still kicking around.

[Phoenix]

Zyx, I'll e-mail you an old savegame right at Soap and Water.

[Zyx]

Completely forgot to upload the new version! Sorry guys! The Soap and Water bug is fixed in WIP006. (you may need to force the refresh of the page).

Anyone, send me your savegame for a quick fix.

[Chaos-Shaman]

ahhh, now you let go, I was holding out for you masta Zyx

[Paul Stevens]

I am totally inept. I have tried several times over the past
years and have gotten several levels into the dungeon.

I am releasing a new version of CSBwin, DM, CSB, and Conflux
for Windows, Ubuntu Linux, and Raspbian Linux.
DM and CSB come with recordings of complete games. I wanted
to provide a short recording of a paritial Conflux game. So....

I go to the rats and collect enough steaks to keep everyone happy
for a while. I open a half-dozen Guild doors. I get a waterskin so
as not to die of dehydration. I visit the 'Kitchen' on level zero to
provide a bit of practice for my heroes. Suddenly I am confronted
with a monster (Tormentor?) that announces himself with a red
haze. He is easy to kill and leaves behind a red footprint. Now,
everywhere I go, even in what I considered were the safe Guilds,
there he is again. No matter what I do (even nothing) or where
I go, there he is again. I cannot proceed through this dungeon
with him popping up every minute or so. I never saw him before
during much longer and deeper explorations of the dungeon.

What did I do to deserve this? How can I escape? No hints, please.
I need a spoiler. This dungeon needs hundreds of spoilers if we
expect any but the most dedicated (insane?) players to take up
the challenge.

[Phoenix]

Hmm...I don't know from your description exactly what creature you are dealling with. Did you by chance unleash Hell in the Room of Fate?
If so, you'd be better off restarting. The Guild area is realtivly safe with the exception of some creatures behind the last guild doors. Vexirks will appear randomly in the Guilds after you visit the Retirement Room on the Temple level, but they stop after a few times...

Conflux does have a very high initial degree of difficulty, but after completing the main quests a couple of times it does get easier. I'm almost to the point where I can write a story that describes a complete walkthrough of the Challenge, but that wouldn't cover many things that are possible. Advanced Alchemy is the biggest missing piece of the wiki.