falk@sun.uucp (Ed Falk) (03/31/86)
Well, I finished a game of hack a couple of weeks ago (yay!) and I have
a couple of comments. Perhaps if someone creates a Hack 1.0.4 they might
incorporate a few of these suggestions:
o Get rid of the silly bugs, like the one that lets you get free, weightless
gems by polymorphing rocks.
o The last few levels are too easy. Once you get past a certain armor
class and # of hit points, you just snooze your way through. The only
thing that can kill you is carelessness (drowning, choking etc.) There
should be some sort of challenge to the mazes.
o The nurses are too useful. I finished one game with 2000 hit points. Be
real! Nurses are too forgiving, if you hit one they should get angry
and let you have it. For variety, perhaps nurses should all be in the
the same union. i.e. if you kill one, they ALL try to kill you.
o The minotaur is just another monster. It should be really tough or have
some sort of magic. Perhaps it could changes the walls of the maze as
it moves. If so, it should happen only rarely or the game will get
too frustrating.
o There should only be one nurse per level.
o The Wizard of Yendor was the most pathetic wimp of a monster in the entire
game. One zap of polymorph and it was a miserable quivering blob.
(question: I know it runs up levels as you chase it, will it go all the
way out of the dungeon?). The Wizard of Yendor should be immune to your
magic; I suggest that it wear its own cloak which reflects any magic wands
("The ray of polymoph bounces off the Wizard's cloak --more
You are turned into an acid blob") This could be a lot of fun. The
wizard should do more than wait for you by the stairs as you chase it; it
should run around stealing all your stuff and make you find it. Perhaps
it should not run up levels at all, but stand and fight.
o If you do get polymorphed, it's not the end. You still have all your
possesions etc. The only differences are that the character under
the cursor corresponds with whatever you are and you can only move
as fast as the creature you've become. You might get lucky and become
a Xorn or lose out and become a violet fungi.
o The Hell Hound should be more formidable. Perhaps a "Giant Dog" category
is in order. It should be loyal to its master, i.e. not become your
friend for a tripe ration. After you kill the Wizard, the dog should
be open to negotiation.
o Would it be possible to put snakes into the occasional pit?
o All hell should break loose when you touch the Amulet. By this I mean
that monster generation should shoot way up. You should have to FIGHT your
way back up to the surface, not have a Sunday stroll. ALL monsters should
be out to get you, even the ones that used to be your friends (i.e. your
dog(s), the nurses, the unicorns, the shopkeepers etc.) Guards of vaults
you've robbed should get angry too. Since the
previously friendly monsters are now attacking you, you should not
suffer the luck and other penalties for killing them.
o The Trapper and the Lurker Above are redundant. So are the snake and
the scorpion. I suggest that a new monster be created to replace one
of these -- spiders.
Picture this: You enter a large room. When you reach the middle you get
the message "You are stuck in a spider's web!". Moving when you're stuck
in a spider's web should be as hard as any other trap. As as you move,
you should stay stuck in the web (which covers the entire room).
Spaces you leave don't have a web anymore. Once you escape the
space where you originally got stuck, you get the message "You feel the
web vibrating!". A couple of moves after that, a spider appears in
one corner of the room and moves towards you (slowly). Every few
turns another spider appears until there are half a dozen or so
of them. Naturally, spiders are poisonous. Wands of fire or cold
will clear a spider web, as will struggling through. If you struggle
through, you collect spider's silk which might have some value in
the game. You get the idea, there could be a lot of potential to this.
Eating a dead spider should give you poison resistance.
I suggest that ` be used for the spider symbol (because they're small).
Anybody else agree?
Other suggestions to the net.
Flames to ihnp4!whitehouse!reagan
-ed falk, sun microsystesm