YAAD (=yet another annoying death)

2 197521 Cica-Bar-Orc-Mal-Cha died in The Dungeons of Doom on level 16 [max 19]. Killed by an iron golem. Hp [max] - [145]

What a disgrace to be killed by an irom golem after such a glorious adventure. But as said before, if NetHack wants you dead, you're dead... well, that's not actually true at least in this case. I was going to write how there was absolutely no way to escape, but I just realised I could have dug a hole in the floor when I was surrounded with the monsters such as Couatl :-D Bugger. Damned be my idle mind.

Anyhow, I consider the game quite a success. I scored with some succubi (plural of succubus for those unaware), and also for the first time, managed to kill them afterwards! Boy, am I good.

I also managed to gather up quite a collection of intrinsicts, money and diamonds as well as other objects, and I was in good standing with my god - although, at the final precisive moment he refused to return me my hitpoints and thus condemned me to death (he thought it be better just to uncurse the towel I was wearing around my head - how stupid can a god get?).

But god forbid if ever again I'm going to go as long without telepathy as I did in this game. It was pure torture.

Real life NetHack

What do you want to eat [tAF or ?*]

A – parmeggiano pasta

You’re having hard time getting it all down. Continue eating? y/e y

You’re finally finished.

Satiated

Down and down we go...

The diabolical aspect of NetHack never ceases to amaze me.

It’s enough that you have to handle with everyday problems of NetHack, such as trying not to be burdened all the time and staying properly nourished, but then something unexpected happens, maybe just the smallest thing, and everything starts to go downhill.

I started playin a game I saved a couple days ago, and didn’t quite remember what I’d been doing. Nevertheless I rushed into business, and decided I needed to get back to the shopping mall level few levels eralier, as my lamp had run out of oil.

On the mall, I bumped into a leprechaun, that turned himself invisible with a wand, and stole all my money (not too much though, just above 600 zorkmints, but enough to be annoying). As I hadn’t eaten a floating eye yet, I decided I needed to locate one so I could go on chasing the leprechaun.

I started searching the levels, and suddenly stepped into a level teleport trap, teleporting two levels down onto an unknown territory. I started climbing up again, but got into trouble on the way back. First I run into a rust monster, that rusted my +1 iron shoes and +2 dwarvish iron helm. A little while later, I stepped into a polymorph trap, and turned into a glass piercer, losing in the process my +2 bronze plate mail. Argh.

Apparently the piercers are also blind, as I am unable to see anything.

Maybe I just should have picked up the Excalibur few levels earlier, no matter the alignment and cursedness. At least I might have found the traps before stepping into them.

***

Later on:

I managed to gather up some armour (pretty good as well) and went to the bottom of Gnomish mines and back - still no floating eye though. (Or there were a couple but they didn't leave corpses, maybe daggers tear them up too badly?)

Picked up the Excalibur on the way back to the Dungeons of Doom and got zapped. Twice. The journey continues...

Such a quitter

1. p. 366161 Olympia-Val-Hum-Fem-Law quit in the Dungeons of Doom on level 25. HP 134 (max 135)

2. p. 161143 Freia-Val-Hum-Fem-Law died in the Dungeons of Doom on level 14 [max 16]. Killed by a rock troll. HP - (max 115)

3. p. 140042 Bored-Mon-Hum-Fem-Law died in The Quest on level 16. Killed by a xorn. HP - (max 103)


It's been a long time. And a long time since my last proper game too. I had this unbeliavably long break (mmm, about 8-9 months?) in playing, because I had this game that went really well and I got much further than ever, but finally I was too scared to play anymore because I was afraid of dying.

I tried to play every now and then, but because I always had so long breaks, I couldn't remember what I had been doing, and it was really hard to get back on track again. I didn't even feel like starting any new games, because the unfinished one kept bothering me.

Then finally, few days ago, I decided to take at least a look to that infamous game, and maybe start a new one in case I didn't feel like playing that. And here comes the lesson: if ever you are a long time without playing NetHack, never ever type in commands you're not ready to bet your life (in NetHack) on about their meaning.

Here's what happened to me: I took a look to that unfinished game, and decided I wasn't going to play it right then. I wanted to move on to another game, but couldn't remember how to exit a game properly (and keep it saved). So, I managed to type in quit command, which, of course, doesn't save the game, but finishes it completely. And there they went, my 25 levels, my accomplishments in the bottom of the Gnomish Mines, my backpack full of diamonds and tricks, my pet Dragon, my everything!

I actually cried a good while as a result. Mostly though, because I didn't even get to see what I had accomplished, my inventory and attributes and such, because I panicked and sort of jumped over that part when I accidentally quit the game.

So, take my advice on it: Save the game, always! And remember to check the commands you type in, unless you're deadly sure of them.

Hereby I rest my case.


PS. And what really bugs me too, I didn't get a funny death out of that game to brag about.

My Dear NetHack Diary

1. p. 74212 Ponderer-Bar-Hum-Mal-Cha died in the Dungeons of Doom on level 9 [max 11]. Killed by a death ray. HP 100 (max 109)

2. p. 34225 Trixie-Mon-Hum-Fem-Law died in the Quest on level 11 [max 12]. Killed by an earth elemental. HP - (max 63)

3. p. 33025 Jesus-Bar-Orc-Mal-Cha was poisoned in the Gnomish Mines on level 6 [max 7]. Poisoned by a rotted yeti corpse. HP 130 (max 130)


I would say my most common reason for dying prematurely, is underrestimating my enemy. NetHack is a devilish game.

Someone tell me, is there any way to survive death ray? It just seems to come totally out of blue. Although, most of the times it seems that the death itself is as sudden as well. Out of nowhere appears a pack of monsters you're not ready to handle yet, a nymph steals all you're supplies...the ways are endless, only death is certain.

One thing that bugs me most, is that usually I would have some way of getting out of fatal situations (well, not when NetHack has decided to kill me), but I just don't realise it at the time, either because I've no knowledge, or because, I forget to see through my inventory.

Then again, maybe my biggest problem is speed. I have too much speed and bump in the middle of a pack of killer bees, try to kill a mindflayer that I thought to be a dwarf king, just because I didn't care to check, OR, I'm so burdened I can barely move and then bump into an angry unicorn...and so on. Once I didn't stop to think and ate a tainted yeti corpse, which led to my death, since god was already angry with me.

Things I've learned so far: Donating all your money to a priest of another alignment doesn't save you from a foodpoisoning.