This isn't your usual "go play Nethack" thread but rather a "why the hell should anyone bother" thread. I got the game with the neat 32x32 tiles (some of which are just blown-up 16x16 ones, it seems) and started playing. The Gauntlet-style dungeon concept is solid and was fun for the first 5 levels or so, despite dying in many and seemingly arbitrary ways. Eventually I resorted to using save points by file swapping only to discover that dying at character level 8-10 is usually easily done within a matter of minutes even if you don't spend forever on the early levels. And not exactly in heroic struggles, either, but typically one of:
* You run out of food, either because you're running through a set of explored levels (maybe because you were randomly teleported to level 1), or because you can't afford to eat until you're really hungry and are then attacked while weak or fainting. Or because the food you thought you had in reserve turned out not to be edible. Or while running around trying to get equipment back from a nymph/leprechaun (which is, ironically, the only way I found so far or removing cursed equipment). And this is after I realized you pretty much have to eat any (hopefully) edible corpse you see because there won't be much food, even in shops if you're lucky enough to find one.
* Arbitrarily dropping down or being level teleported into a den of a thousand monsters, some more powerful than you, who close in and whack you.
* A monster with stun capability repeatedly stuns you so other monsters can slowly whack away at you.
* Discovering some new and unguessed feature, which kills you (e.g. drinking from a fountain in Mine Town may anger the guards).
The strange part was realizing that death really is arbitrary most of the time. It's not just "I should have got resistance X before taking on Y", because there's no way of knowing what Y is or where it is or how to get X in any case (because it's all random and unknown). This game seems to be begging not to be played. I know about the umpteen features and possibilities, but I swear it's impossible to figure them out on your own unless you have photographic memory and amazing powers of magic generalization. Getting a piece of great equipment is really inconsequential because you'll die around the corner and start over without it, so even that's not very exciting unless you cheat with save points.
Am I missing something? Is there anyone who plays Nethack on a regular basis and does not have these problems? And who actually starts over from level 18 or whatever upon finding out that, "Whoa! Dropping the Ring of Sock Puppets in a doorway is an insta-death! Those rascally designers! Well, now I know till next time"? If so, feel free to try to convince me that it's worth retreading the same ground over and over again.
* You run out of food, either because you're running through a set of explored levels (maybe because you were randomly teleported to level 1), or because you can't afford to eat until you're really hungry and are then attacked while weak or fainting. Or because the food you thought you had in reserve turned out not to be edible. Or while running around trying to get equipment back from a nymph/leprechaun (which is, ironically, the only way I found so far or removing cursed equipment). And this is after I realized you pretty much have to eat any (hopefully) edible corpse you see because there won't be much food, even in shops if you're lucky enough to find one.
* Arbitrarily dropping down or being level teleported into a den of a thousand monsters, some more powerful than you, who close in and whack you.
* A monster with stun capability repeatedly stuns you so other monsters can slowly whack away at you.
* Discovering some new and unguessed feature, which kills you (e.g. drinking from a fountain in Mine Town may anger the guards).
The strange part was realizing that death really is arbitrary most of the time. It's not just "I should have got resistance X before taking on Y", because there's no way of knowing what Y is or where it is or how to get X in any case (because it's all random and unknown). This game seems to be begging not to be played. I know about the umpteen features and possibilities, but I swear it's impossible to figure them out on your own unless you have photographic memory and amazing powers of magic generalization. Getting a piece of great equipment is really inconsequential because you'll die around the corner and start over without it, so even that's not very exciting unless you cheat with save points.
Am I missing something? Is there anyone who plays Nethack on a regular basis and does not have these problems? And who actually starts over from level 18 or whatever upon finding out that, "Whoa! Dropping the Ring of Sock Puppets in a doorway is an insta-death! Those rascally designers! Well, now I know till next time"? If so, feel free to try to convince me that it's worth retreading the same ground over and over again.
). I think what montez said is right, most people think fainting from hunger and getting killed by a pony is a dumb way for a level 11 ranger to die, but i find it... refreshing i'd say. most games these says are too easy / forgiving, and i find it nice to have an absolutely evil game that gets your 9th level samurai gangabanged by invisible elves because he went in a store while having a pick in his possesion.
