Next competition

[PowerWyrm]

I just downloaded PosChengband 5.0.2 to give it a try... and a mighty half-giant berserker works too, probably easier to set up than the ToME counterpart.

[debo]

I just downloaded PosChengband 5.0.2 to give it a try... and a mighty half-giant berserker works too, probably easier to set up than the ToME counterpart.

This could be another good week-long competition

[HugoVirtuoso]

Suggestion for Compo 198 - Athena parentage Demigod Armageddon/Sorcery Yellow-Mage? This tests the Gatling Mage to the max!!! ...which includes gatling rockets eventually!!

[debo]

Next competition will probably be eddieband, and after that it will probably be silmas. Chris will probably release at least one more poschengband minor version before we get to it again

I'm in an internet dead zone atm so setting up the next competition may take a couple more days.

[debo]

Competition #200 is upon us! I'm going to need a day or two before I can find some time to post it, so apologies for that.

If you have any ideas for what you'd like to see in this landmark comp, let me know -- I'm happy to have my ideas superceded.

[bron]

ideas for what you'd like to see in this landmark comp

I think it should be a Vanilla comp, and something hard. Say, a no-artifacts iron-man. But to make it at least possible, use a powerful race/class combo: High Elf Mage, or Dunadan Ranger, or Dwarf Priest, or Half Troll Warrior.

[HugoVirtuoso]

I'm inclined to say a PosChengband Tonberry Chaos-Warrior because that's the only variant + combo I play nowadays.

[HugoVirtuoso]

Now that we have PosChengband v5.0.5 with the new Skillmaster addition...how about a future compo with this new PCB Skillmaster class, shall we?

[debo]

Sorry for the delay with the next comp -- I should have something up in the next couple days.

[debo]

Thinking about doing an unangband comp for 203, using the new release. The release notes for the recent version are fairly short, so I'm assuming the maintainer is working themselves up to fixing the gazillion things that are broken in that variant

Can anyone suggest a race/class/game mode combo that they have personally experienced and had working for them on the new version? I don't have the time to do that much testing at the moment. The last un comp we did was some kind of trapmaster or something, only to discover that the core mechanic for the class was totally busted. I've been wary of running Un comps ever since.

[MITZE]

UnAngband Comp

I've tried playing a fair few games with the newest version, though I didn't post any characters to the ladder; mostly I played spellstealing rogues specialized in dual-wielding, and aside from throwing working rather less than expected (I can't tell whether throwing is broken in some way or if my characters have just been bad at it), that particular character type seems to play fine.

I'll probably try out some other combinations and relay the results here before next comp.

[debo]

I'll probably try out some other combinations and relay the results here before next comp.

Thank you!

[HallucinationMushroom]

The last un comp we did was some kind of trapmaster or something, only to discover that the core mechanic for the class was totally busted. I've been wary of running Un comps ever since.

To be fair, I recommended a strong race/class combo!

If the point of the competition is to make something barely winnable or unwinnable, because competition = challenge, then just about any sub-optimal combination in Unangband is going to satisfy that requirement because there is something a bit wrong with Un's combat balance.

If the point of the competition is to garner interest in Unangband and to showcase what is best in Unangband, (IMO the gorgeous procedurally generated dungeons), then I recommend picking something as min-maxxed as possible so your competition players experience as much as possible. The ladder recommends 'mage' as the go-to winner.

The game's atmosphere begs for roleplaying characters, but it's difficult to pull this off given how difficult combat tends to be. From my experience, I wanted to soak in the atmosphere and make interesting tabletop rpg style characters, but they just weren't powerful enough to endure what is, IMO, broken combat. So finally, if the point of the competition is to garner interest but also allow for opportunities to gather input for balance changes for the new maintainer, I recommend a high elf warrior.

[Pete Mack]

@HM
It's not the combat. It's the bosses. If you play in dungeon crawl mode, it's not so different from V. But having to get through multiple bosses, and being forced into particular dungeons makes it very tough indeed. And you absolutely must coat your weapons and arrows with bad mushrooms and potions. It's a game where bags of holding are pretty much a necessity. There is no way to win without a lot of small buffs.

[HallucinationMushroom]

I've never tried dungeon crawl mode since the LoTR campaign seemed too good to pass up. Does dungeon crawl mode showcase the many different environments you would expect to see during the campaign?