glassner@unc.UUCP (Andrew S. Glassner) (06/11/85)
I'm fairly new to the game of hack (I've made it down to the
10th level a couple of times), but some of the discussions I've
seen here have gone completely beyond me.
1. What is a 'ghost level'?
2. Some people on this newsgroup have referred to things
that have happened because 'someone was there before'.
Does hack maintain a memory of what has happened in
previous games? Does that memory only apply to yourself
or to everyone who's played?
3. The hack manual (the stuff that comes out when you enter
a '?' as a command) says that the little dog "can be
trained to do all sorts of useful things"(paraphrased).
Like what? How do you train it?
4. How can I tell when the dog is getting hungry? He turned
on me once out of confusion brought on by hunger...
5. I have entered the vault once, and was promptly chased
(er, "escorted") out by a guard. Should I have tried to
fight, or is the guard as tough as he sounds? I have
inferred from some discussions that the vault is a vertical
chamber running through all the levels, so that one may dig
down (and up) to get lots of gold. Is this valid?
6. This is a much more general kind of question. As I said
above, I've made it pretty far down (level 10) a couple of
times, but that's very rare. I start out as a Wizard
(has there ever been a discussion of the pros/cons of
various starting choices? If so, has anyone got a summary
they could mail me? I'd love to know what the Speleologist
is supposed to do with that box...). Anyway, I usually end
up dying on the 3rd or 4th level when something as innocent
as two bats at once gang up on me. Basically I'm going
along just fine and then all of a sudden they get me and I'm
dead! Is there a strategy for living longer? Or do you just
have to play lots and hope you live until your character
reaches the 2nd or 3rd level and you have some hit points
to work with? I know this sounds dumb, and maybe naive,
but I'm getting tired of getting killed just as things get
interesting...
Enjoy!
--
-Andrew Andrew Glassner
glassner@unc decvax!mcnc!unc!glassnerkimcm@diku.UUCP (Kim Christian Madsen) (06/13/85)
In article <412@unc.UUCP> glassner@unc.UUCP (Andrew S. Glassner) writes: >1. What is a 'ghost level'? When an adventurer dies one out of three times the level (s)he was on is saved, and future adventures can meet the ghost of the former player. You might even get rich and well equipped if the former adventurer was so, while all his belongings is dropped underneath the immaterial ghost. >2. Some people on this newsgroup have referred to things > that have happened because 'someone was there before'. > Does hack maintain a memory of what has happened in > previous games? Does that memory only apply to yourself > or to everyone who's played? See above -- The level and it's actual status is saved. >3. The hack manual (the stuff that comes out when you enter > a '?' as a command) says that the little dog "can be > trained to do all sorts of useful things"(paraphrased). > Like what? How do you train it? Be good to it feed it and don't kick it too often -- and whistle for it sometimes. The you will have a good partner, to eventually rob the shops for you. >4. How can I tell when the dog is getting hungry? He turned > on me once out of confusion brought on by hunger... Don't eat all the food yourself and feed it with tribe-rations. If you try to give the dog a food ration and it accepts it then it sure is hungry. >5. I have entered the vault once, and was promptly chased > (er, "escorted") out by a guard. Should I have tried to > fight, or is the guard as tough as he sounds? I have > inferred from some discussions that the vault is a vertical > chamber running through all the levels, so that one may dig > down (and up) to get lots of gold. Is this valid? The guard is as tough as the shopkeepers, that means they're on the same level of experience as you when you appear on the level. >6. This is a much more general kind of question. As I said > above, I've made it pretty far down (level 10) a couple of > times, but that's very rare. I start out as a Wizard > (has there ever been a discussion of the pros/cons of > various starting choices? If so, has anyone got a summary > they could mail me? I'd love to know what the Speleologist > is supposed to do with that box...). Anyway, I usually end > up dying on the 3rd or 4th level when something as innocent > as two bats at once gang up on me. Basically I'm going > along just fine and then all of a sudden they get me and I'm > dead! Is there a strategy for living longer? Or do you just > have to play lots and hope you live until your character > reaches the 2nd or 3rd level and you have some hit points > to work with? I know this sounds dumb, and maybe naive, > but I'm getting tired of getting killed just as things get > interesting... As I see it there are pros & cons for each socialclass, and the players around here seems to like different classes -- But a slight favor for the cave-man perhaps, due to his relative large initial strength, which means he can carry far more treasure. However if you play Speleologist or Tourist you must be very cautious in the beginning of the game, and hope you're lucky to find some useful weapons (dagger, sword, mace etc.). -- Kim Chr. Madsen Datalogisk Institut (Institute of Datalogy) University of Copenhagen {decvax,philabs,seismo}!mcvax!diku!kimcm