Competition 64

[buzzkill]

In the knowledge menu (page 2), under weapon proficiency, what does the ! indicate? I assumed it was a negative indicator of some sort, but now I'm not sure.

My pike (see below) started out as [unskilled] but after the slaughter was complete, it had changed to ![beginner].

I found a Pike of Slay Orc and what could best be described as a small orc pit. I figured what better time to gain proficiency than in this situation. I started hacking away at the sleeping orcs with out much success at first. But soon enough my minus to hit got smaller. I checked it after each and every successful attack, it drops pretty quickly.

[chem]

In the knowledge menu (page 2), under weapon proficiency, what does the ! indicate? I assumed it was a negative indicator of some sort, but now I'm not sure.

My pike (see below) started out as [unskilled] but after the slaughter was complete, it had changed to ![beginner].

I found a Pike of Slay Orc and what could best be described as a small orc pit. I figured what better time to gain proficiency than in this situation. I started hacking away at the sleeping orcs with out much success at first. But soon enough my minus to hit got smaller. I checked it after each and every successful attack, it drops pretty quickly.

It means your skill in that category is maxed out. Ninjas can only achieve top proficiency with certain weapons. Heavy weapons like pikes will cap at lower levels. You can still use them, but it is probably not in your best interest (also check your # of blows with lighter weapons compared to pikes).

[Jungle_Boy]

Some comments about Entro.

I like all the choices at character creation but it would definitely be daunting for a new player. There is way too much junk generated but that is a rather common problem and if you are moving to 3.1x anyway a lot of that problem should be fixed or at least mitigated. Overland travel seems kinda unnecessary but I do like all the different dungeons and the dungeon-masters. I like having quests but maybe make them a little more random in the beginning since it gets kinda boring at the start. I would like to see graphics support because that is how I like my *bands.

EDIT: Forgot to put in my thoughts on the auto-destroyer. It's nice because it's can be very specific and easy to add stuff to be autodestroyed but it would be nice if it didn't spam quite so many messages.

[Pete Mack]

Note:
ToME (and presumably Entro) sets up all random quests at the beginning of a game. They won't change unless you start a genuinely new character.

[buzzkill]

Two more questions...

The Lantern of Darkness, junk, correct?

I found a shield 'Holy Destiny', with some really nice perks, but it seems to be conflicting with my starting 'Holy Avenger' dagger. It seems to me that these two should be able to 'play nice' together. What's the deal?

My instinct tells me that I'm going to ditch the dagger (which I like) and keep the shield (which I like), but I'm open to advice. See the dump here.

[Pete Mack]

Not junk for a Ninja. You can use it to overcome the negatives from a PLITE object.

Shields are bad for Ninjas. But you may need to use it anyway for resists.

[chem]

This link was posted earlier in the thread, but is worth reposting:

http://www.kmc.gr.jp/~henkma/heng-e/class/ninja/index.html

ninja class details. if you equip a shield, you lose the ninja intrinsic speed boost, and other things too.

[chem]

My latest comp try just had his WIS and DEX nexus swapped. Tempted to just let him die. So annoying.

[buzzkill]

Why do Rings of Levitation, although known, keep showing up as un-id'd? Can they be cursed or something?

Is there a way, for our vamp ninja to capture a monster (a horse) short of a capture-ball or charm monster?

I lost a ton of progress recently due to a crash with the Auto destroy query. I'm probably done with this competition, although I did enjoy playing.

From a newb's perspective, my thoughts on the game. There's a lot about it that I like, but it's easier to point out the things that I feel need improvement.

I guess this was originally a Japanese variant, and it shows. The English language needs to be cleaned up quite a bit.
The items need better descriptions. "You notice nothing unusual" just isn't cutting it for me.
The capture-ball concept seems a poke-monish. Keep the concept, but rework in something else, like an Orb of Domination.
The small local/world map transition needs work. I once switched views just to see where I was, and although I was standing on a safe terrain, I was nearly burned to death as on the world map I was on a lava grid. I think I'd prefer eliminating world map movement, though there are plenty of other ways to handle it as well.
Fixed quests, with fixed rewards seems too static.

[Donald Jonker]

Why do Rings of Levitation, although known, keep showing up as un-id'd? Can they be cursed or something?

They can have additional powers, like a "ring of levitation and damage" or some such. Same is true of all rings, so make sure you don't trash rings of stupidity and so forth. Makes id'ing jewelry a bit tiresome, IMO.

The items need better descriptions. "You notice nothing unusual" just isn't cutting it for me.

You get a full description (eg, what a "dagger" looks like..) when you *identify* an object or research it at a library. I agree that this ought to go.

[Daniel Fishman]

That last is due to its Z roots - the Z 2.6.2 I have does the same.

[Nick]

OK, end date is now the 1st of March. Anyone unhappy with that, let me know.

Judging by the current activity, this might have been a bad plan - opinions?

[Jungle_Boy]

I keep trying like every other character but all my ninjas die about level 15-17. Also I odn't like not having graphics.

[buzzkill]

Also I don't like not having graphics.

What he said, plus I lost CL's 15 to 28 due to a crash and can't bring myself to play (re-play) it again.

[chem]

What he said, plus I lost CL's 15 to 28 due to a crash and can't bring myself to play (re-play) it again.

There is an autosave option to help prevent losses like that -- you can time it by entering new levels, or # of turns. It's quite nifty.

I hope you all give it another go. There's a winner out there that can serve as a guide!