Desktop Dungeons

[Fengol]

BTW, did anyone see or already post this article? http://news.bigdownload.com/2010/02/...ktop-dungeons/

[DukeOFprunes]

Here you go, more exposuresauce.

EDIT: Damn, googlewhack this thing and it's popping up everywhere like here too.

Nandrew, do people who do write-ups on this thing let you know about it?

[The Dash]

Oopth. Another bug. When you travel to an alter it doesn't always display the message. Its because you can click right next to the alter to travel to the block, but you have to click on the alter itself to display the message. Know what i mean?

[Chippit]

Originally Posted by Speusippus

2. Prioritize the highest level monster you can kill. Each monster is worth (I believe) MonsterLevel + 3 * (MonsterLevel - PlayerLevel) in experience. (Though sometimes it seems to be off by one for reasons I haven't been able to discern.) So suppose you're at level three, and there's both a level three and a level four monster on the screen waiting to be killed. Suppose killing either will bump you up a level. If you kill the level three monster first, then your total experience for the two kills will add up to 7. But if you kill the level four monster first, then your total experience will add up to 10. You get more experience in the long run if you prioritize higher-level monsters. Once you reach level three, typically you start being able to kill level four monsters if you are careful. And if there are monsters with special attack types that you have a defense against, or with special vulnerabilities your character can take care of (for example undead when you are a priest. or dragons and warlocks when you are a berserker) then you can often kill creatures two or even three levels above you. Moreover, in my experience, starting around level five or so it is not at all uncommon that very careful management can let you kill monsters two levels above you with almost complete reliability. (Depends on your class to some extent, though. The ability to cast multiple fireballs really helps...)

You're not quite right here. You're correct in saying that a monster's base experience is equal to its level (when it's your level or lower), but the bonus for monsters a higher level than you is n * (n + 1), where n is the difference in your levels. So this means killing a monster 4 levels above you (when possible) nets you 20 bonus experience.

Originally Posted by Speusippus

I do not know how potion effects are calculated. At one point, I had a level six character getting 31 HP per potion. Is it 5 * PlayerLevel + 1? I haven't confirmed this yet.

I think all potion effects (health and mana) are related to your maximum value, and not directly to your level. Admittedly, I've not paid much attention to the exact values, but it appears to be somewhere in the 30%-40% region (rounded down, as all the values in the game appear to be). I do remember my wizard that had 23 or 24 mana still only regenerated 10 mana per potion, so it's not particularly generous. It's also possible the formula for health and mana are slightly different, I'm really not sure.

Originally Posted by Speusippus

Also, by the way, I have no idea how to kill the Meat Man boss, no matter what class I'm playing. How is it possible to take down so many monster hit points?!

I think I've managed to kill him once, but I got a low HP variant (it appears to vary quite drastically; I've seen one with over 900 hp! :O), but I agree that he's definitely the hardest of all the bosses.

[coendou]

this might be a stupid question, but i checked this with pen and paper not to lose count, 20 times after one another i got a goat while i was a gnome sorceror, is there any chance it is race/class related? (after 20 times i gave up on sorceror lol)

[dislekcia]

Originally Posted by coendou

this might be a stupid question, but i checked this with pen and paper not to lose count, 20 times after one another i got a goat while i was a gnome sorceror, is there any chance it is race/class related? (after 20 times i gave up on sorceror lol)

No, it's completely random. Specific challenge dungeons will do certain class/monster combinations, but those aren't in this version.

[neongrey]

I've been playing this game like crazy over the past few days, and I'm really loving it.

I did notice a couple things, though; while going through the various classes, I often found myself going for the boss earlier and earlier (I think as early as level 5, though I think my blood mage may even have gone at level 4), but the achievements stop at level 8. I think ganking the boss so early ought to be worth a few more points than that, even if it's the result of a sub-optimal play-style. :)

Another thing I think would be neat, and this obviously couldn't be used in ranked matches games because you'd get some absurd combos, would be able to mix and match up to three of the various class traits on a character. I think it'd be a lot of fun both for trying for hilariously easy runs, and for extreme challenge games.

I also think, and I'm not sure if there's plans in this direction or not, that this would really be a great game for a mobile phone port (android is my horse in this race, but there's always the iphone); it plays quickly and and the controls are dead simple. Any plans?

e: Oh... I don't know, but I sort of feel like the rogue and the assassin's class names are kind of backwards. The rogue feels a lot more like an assassin to me with its massive attack boost and permanent first stroke, and the assassin feels a lot sneakier to me, with its emphasis on exploring the areas around monsters in order to first-strike, etc. I dunno, maybe it's just me.

[brazed]

If you turn the boss to stone the game doesn't end. I've cleared the level, but no end game in sight.

[neongrey]

The game only ends automatically when you die. You'll have to retire whether you petrify or kill the boss.

[Astrimedes]

First of all, great game! It really grows on you.

I just started playing today, and I noticed something that I assumed to be a bug...

Playing as a Level 1 Human Thief, I picked up and started using LEMMISI. It does not seem to cost mana! I stood there and cast it 5 or so times, still at full mana. Moved a couple squares, cast it again, still no mana cost.

I took a screenshot of it, if you think this would somehow help let me know and I'll email it to you or something.

Keep up the good work!

[Nandrew]

Oh wow, where to start? I'm impressed that people are starting to whip out the maths and offer some pretty advanced tips! Really, really cool. :)

A few specific replies here and there:

@DukeOFprunes: heh, no, they don't. :P Guess they assuming that I'm doing my research and looking out for reviews on the net. ;) Or, well, in this case letting other people do that for me. :P

@The_Dash: some interesting bugs, thanks for the spots. I think I know what you mean about the altars ... will investigate.

@neongrey: I'm getting a few reports of players attacking the boss on early levels here and there. May be ironing this out in future versions with rebalancing, but if not I'll be happy to add stacked achievements instead. :)

@Astrimedes: welcome to the DD fold. :P It's a damn difficult game, so be sure to read over this thread if you need any help! It'll also explain LEMMISI if you're confused ... ;)

For the rest: I'm really digging these discussions, so keep 'em coming! Won't comment too much on anything (making it a personal rule to not give away that much info), but I'll be listening in carefully and making balance adjustments as I go.

[dislekcia]

Holy balls. Someone beat 20k!

http://www.gmhighscores.com/highscores.php?gameid=648

*ahem* elfwizard *cough*

[Nandrew]

Originally Posted by dislekcia

*ahem* elfwizard *cough*

I totally heard that Chippit doesn't like elves, yo.

[Azimuth]

Originally Posted by Astrimedes

First of all, great game! It really grows on you. I just started playing today, and I noticed something that I assumed to be a bug... Playing as a Level 1 Human Thief, I picked up and started using LEMMISI. It does not seem to cost mana! I stood there and cast it 5 or so times, still at full mana. Moved a couple squares, cast it again, still no mana cost. I took a screenshot of it, if you think this would somehow help let me know and I'll email it to you or something. Keep up the good work!

Stop. Think.

;)

[Chippit]

Originally Posted by Nandrew

I totally heard that Chippit doesn't like elves, yo.

Did you, now? Whatever would have given you that idea? :P

[Delvin]

Finished Ranked mode with 3 different classes now. It's very easy with the correct glyphs actually ;)

As demonstrated by this (yes, that is a level 10 character - yay for exp bonuses):

I'm probably missing some point awards that could boost the score even further (for one, monster summoning gives ~1k points and wasn't found in this game)



In particular rounds where I get poison very early tend to go extremely well. Couple with fireball and blood-to-mana, and you can focus both HP and MP regen against powerful enemies. Low hp high levels ones work particularly well.

Another powerful strategy is to make a Rogue and find CYDSTEPP (survive fatal blows) early. It's ridiculous. You can precast protection. Regain 10 mana. Engage an enemy. With double protection, first strike and huge attack power you can often kill monsters way above your level.


EDIT: By the way, I crashed the game once (divide-by-zero error) by using an altar that reduces your maxHP by 10 when I only had 10HP on a L1 character.

[BlackShipsFillt]

Silly me. I only no realised why ranked can only be played after everything is complete - because each game unlocks different monsters and stuff.

Although is that true? If I go back and play wizard again will the new creatures appear, or will I just be playing the original game again? (I'll test this out once I'm back on Windows)

[Nandrew]

That's an impressive score, Delvin! You've just toppled the previous global leader! :P

Originally Posted by BlackShipsFillt

Silly me. I only no realised why ranked can only be played after everything is complete - because each game unlocks different monsters and stuff. Although is that true? If I go back and play wizard again will the new creatures appear, or will I just be playing the original game again? (I'll test this out once I'm back on Windows)

Yep, half the appeal is that you can experience a broader dungeon with old characters once you've progressed through the unlocks. :) Playing a fully unlocked dungeon with a Fighter, for example, can be a vastly different (and far more challenging) experience when compared to your first playthrough!

[Graal]

I just beat my first dungeon as a halfling thief. Got Aeq as a boss. Got to level 8. Decided to stop wasting potions and just fought him. Had 4 health pots over in the end as I just kept using the fireball spell on him.

Victory dance!

[Almost]

I really like this game. I've won as every unit other than the Bloodmage so far. (he doesn't seem very effective..)

And yeah, I too got an error when I gave myself 0 max health :D
It's just something you do out of curiosity when you're level 1 and have nothing to lose. It's really not a problem.

Please, make the numbers go and the boss disappear immediately when he is defeated, and THEN bring up the message of what I've unlocked. As is, I keep thinking that my first strike must have failed due to some fault of mine and I'm dead since a dialog just popped up and I still see him.