Spelunky!

La-Mulana + Nethack + based on what I've heard, AOD and Spelunker = Spelunky?

Also, the shopkeepers are confirmed to be easier to kill than Nethack's.

Also, I hate YASD'ing.

Urgh, tell me about it. YASD's are the bane of all players of Roguelikes. That said, at least this game doesn't automatically erase your character after dying.

On another note, what were you supposed to do with the girls you find every now and then?

EDIT: Hold on. Am I getting this confused with another game? Because I swear, I seem to remember that erasing the save file was an option the game gives you after dying.

edited 28th Aug '09 10:44:11 PM by catch_the_sun

Wait, you can save the game?

I was unaware of any save function.

Then again, my version may not be current.

Oh, sorry. I just checked. It was "erase high scores", not "erase save file". Actually, I don't think there is a save file. Weird, most roguelikes do have save files.

edited 28th Aug '09 11:07:53 PM by catch_the_sun

Well, a Nethack game can last for hours if not days, but Spelunky levels are a maximum of about 2 and a half minutes long.

I love Spelunky. It's loads of fun, and every time you play it has new levels, so there's plenty of variety. The good equipment is available infrequently enough that it really feels fresh and fun whenever you get a piece, though I think he could've gotten away with increasing their likelihood slightly. I think my favorite level is the ice caves, because it plays so differently from the rest; rather than progressing through trying not to kill yourself in an embarrassing way while grabbing as much as possible, you have to stop and think to figure out how to get just about anywhere, and be very careful; I probably don't preemptively use the ropes nearly as much as I should there. They also happen to be the shortest levels, whether that's a good or bad thing.

As for the girls... how far have you been able to get in the game without figuring that one out? You have to carry them to the exit, and if you do they'll give you a kiss at the loot screen that gives you extra health.

Barely the first or second stage. The fact that there was a Spider hanging around pretty much killed any ideas of doing any thing with them as I tried to figure out what to do about those damned things.

Throw them at the spiders. xD

I have a lot of non-spoilery tips:

• Cling from suspicious ledges and look down first! Every so often the RNG loves to toss spikes directly under a drop.
• Save some bombs! They are the best expendables to buy. Learn to cook their fuses for precise thrown explosions.
• As of version 0.99.9, you no longer keep flares in your pockets, but are given a box of 3 flares at the start of a Dark Level. Make full use of this freebie.
• Master your precision jumps! This helps you scale tiny nooks in a wall, and will save your life where spikes and other nasty creatures are concerned.
• You can use spiderwebs to break a long fall.
• As of Version 0.99.9, several items were buffed, and part of the Altar system was tweaked.
• Also new to 0.99.9, Items can now be (rarely) generated hidden in the landscape! Dig them up with bombs or a Pickaxe.
• Break pots from a safe distance (with the tip of your whip) to avoid Surprise Spiders/Snakes.

I have now played Spelunky over 1500 times and have only won 49 times.

edited 29th Aug '09 4:04:25 AM by AceOfScarabs

I also have some to contribute!

• Low on health? Do a good deed, and rescue any hapless damsels you find! It's worth it!
• Don't have enough money to buy that awesometastic weapon? Remember: Shopkeepers do suffer from knockback, and those guns are loaded...
• When a strange man asks you for money, GIVE. IT. TO. HIM. it is very important to have any consistency getting through the game!
• Feel like killing a giant spider just for giggles? Remember, webs are sticky, and ANYTHING sticks to it, and inanimate objects don't activate it....

I'll try to think of more later!

How to kill a shopkeeper:

Caution: MAY RESULT IN GAME OVER. Duh.

1. Web shooter + jumping on head.
2. Shotgun (immediate).
3. Pistol (hit to stun then run, need to hit five times).
4. Sticky bomb from beneath shop.
5. Apparently, there's some way to lure them outside, but I don't know how to do that yet.

Note that, if you do successfully open up a shop but not kill the shopkeeper, the shopkeeper is very deadly. However, you can now grab all the items for free. Note that web shooter does NOT cause him to stop shooting, though.

DO NOT PUT DOWN ITEMS, EVEN MERCHANDISE, RIGHT AT THE SHOPKEEPER'S FEET.

edited 29th Aug '09 9:22:17 AM by GlennMagusHarvey

Wait, web shooter? Wouldn't that cause you to get stuck in the air after the first time you jump on him? Anyways, I never really got the hang of killing the shopkeepers—I can do it with a shotgun or with a stickybomb (or a regular bomb if there's a tunnel right under his shop), but that's it. And I personally don't like the shotgun enough to consider it worth robbing for (since it takes up your held item slot).

I didn't know about the free flares thing. I assumed you were still limited to three per game. Neat!

I never got the "Altar" thing to work. I think I know what it's about, but the floor drops away so quickly after grabbing the golden head that even if I have a rope already set up I'll still fall in. I suppose I'm supposed to get in one of the wall nooks and climb out via rope from there, but by that point it's almost easier to just rescue the her (unless I'm carrying the scepter of course).

Few more tips (I've beaten the game but only a few times):

• Spikes are deadly if you fall on them from a height—but not so much if you climb down carefully. If a spike is next to a ledge such that hanging off the ledge places you on the tile directly above the spike, you can let go of the ledge and land on the spike safely. Same if the tile you'd hang on is the spike tile, I think. This can be used to your advantage with the spike traps in levels 5-8, as long as you're careful to not get hit while you're in the pit (but any enemies who try to attack you will die instantly).
• In the ice caves, if you can survive the first ten seconds after stealing from a shop you can probably survive all the consequences, even if you can't kill the shopkeeper.
• A simple rock, mundane as it seems, is still many, many times better than your whip as a weapon. Even a skull is better than nothing. The only time you should not be carting around some form of carried item is when circumstances take it away from you or at the beginning of a level after banking one of the items which you only need to carry to the door, and even then if there's a rock near the exit you should grab it on your way out.
• The damsel is almost invincible. She can be killed by spikes or lava or a bomb like everyone else, and she will die if she's hit with enough projectiles/dart traps, but she has way more health than you, doesn't take damage from touching enemies, and can be used as a thrown weapon. There's no penalty for letting her get roughed up a bit as long as she doesn't die.
• The spider is easily worth killing. The mummy, when you reach him, is very worth killing. The giant fish is not worth killing unless you have a gun. The giant yeti is worth killing if the opportunity presents itself. The giant alien brain is not worth killing; according to spoilers I've read if you managed to pull it off you'd get a jetpack, but I am yet to pull it off, and every time I've tried I've died. Don't think you're being clever just because you're approaching him from above rather than the side. I suppose maybe if you had a pickaxe it'd be easier, but who would bother with a pickaxe in that level?
• Climbing gloves and jumping boots are always worth buying. The jetpack, if you ever find it in a store, is especially worth buying, and worth stealing if you can't afford it. But always check which kind of gloves or boots you're buying, because the alternate gloves are worthless and the alternate boots are probably not worth the gold.

Since someone posted about luring shopkeepers out, I'm going to say the method.

Step one: Use a rope to climb as high as you can in the shop. Step two: Light a bomb. Step Three: This really depends. Most of the time the shopkeeper shall run out of the shop, never to return, leaving the items for grabs. If you're lucky, you'll hit him with the bomb, delaying him and possible killing him. You shouldn't try this in enclose spaces, since the keeper will probably just freak out and kill ya.

• The (new as of ver 0.99.9) secret ability of the bow doesn't seem to alert shopkeepers at the moment. Explosive Arrow! Draw the bow and plant a bomb on it.
• Care should be taken if you're raiding the Black Market, as there are quite a few shopkeepers there.
• The Dice shop has been improved with an item prize on a 7! I've gotten countless bombs and some jetpacks and capes from it.
• Boss tip: Giant Alien is easy to kill if you're careful and avoid the psychic ring-laser. Clear all enemies away, and use bombs or a ufo to break the ceiling and destroy the force field generator. Either use a bouncing yeti corpse or bomb to kill it, or shoot it once the force field is down. The Jetpack is in the tile directly behind the Alien.
• For the Ice Caves, Climbing Gloves and Spiked Shoes make your life easier in subtle ways, and the Compass is most useful here.
• Damsel/Idol trap? Toss the damsel to safety first. Time it so that you toss a rope right before you grab the Idol, so the rope falls past you when the floor vanishes.

edited 29th Aug '09 4:43:07 PM by AceOfScarabs

Oh, I know how to get the damsel to safety. But isn't that the "altar" thing? I think I heard that you still get the health boost if you "sacrifice" her to the lava, presumably by taking the idol and letting her fall. I didn't think of timing the rope so it falls past you. And I had no idea about the secret archery technique or the gambling prize. I suppose that makes up for the bow being just short of entirely useless before.

As for the Giant Alien, I can never, ever, ever get it to work with him. It's just too hard to plant the bombs in the right spot and dodge his attacks, and if you aren't careful you'll run out of bombs, since if memory serves it takes a minimum of three bombs to kill him from above and two from in front, and in front requires even more careful placement. And then you'd need another bomb to claim your prize, right? So from above that's four perfectly placed bombs while being shot at by homing projectiles for the first three, and from the side it's three. If you don't have more than the starting stockpile of bombs you might as well give up.

I tend to buy all the bombs I get my hands on. On one occasion, I used an exploding ufo to break open the force field, then threw rocks and dead yetis at it, so I only had use one bomb to get the jetpack out.

The dice-house upgrade is new to version 0.99.9, by the way.

No wonder I didn't know about any of the features you were talking about; I've still got 0.99.5. It's way too easy to not hear about updates to this game.

edit: While browsing the game's wiki to see what the new features meant, I discovered that the altar mechanic is not what I assumed it was. How long have those things been in the game? I didn't even notice them.

edited 29th Aug '09 8:30:50 PM by Brickman

Updating your copy of spelunky is as easy as overwriting the files, since it saves your progress in the Registry.

Yeah, I just did it and played a dozen or two games. I got to see the new vampire enemy (and get stomped by him since I didn't have a projectile weapon and didn't think to use my bombs. I definitely approve of this guy; before the restless dead levels were practically easy mode compared to the regular jungle), and the new dark level rules (much more fair), and the reduced equipment prices (more equipment is good, but the new prices seem kind of arbitrary—goodbye round numbers). I managed to get one round where I got climbing gloves, spring shoes, the ankh and the jetpack, but I still managed to die—I lost the ankh to a caveman within one second of buying it, and then I died on the first screen of the ice caves because I was careless with killing a UFO. Shame, I could've gone all the way on that run.

I did NOT see any sign of these altars. Just how rare are they? I tried runs starting in all four zones and none seemed to contain a single altar.

edit: I also had a hilarious streak of four tries in a row in which I died before even scrolling the starting door offscreen in the last zone. Those spiked blocks are nasty!

edited 29th Aug '09 11:49:16 PM by Brickman

They don't seem to spawn that much in my experience, although I see them in every zone. The best places to get altars are in the last 2 zones though, since by then you should have mobility and a weapon to help you with it.

I tend to try and clear monsters away from shops so I don't accidentally anger the shopkeeper when I don't want to, or get killed while shopping by a killer Frog. (Red Frogs are great for assassinating shopkeepers too!)

Edit: Those Thwomp-clones can be jumped over, and will kill enemies in the way too, although they only trigger on you. I imagine their line-of-sight is about 5 tiles or so, maybe more.

My top 3 causes of death are Frogs, Spikes, and Explosions, while my top 3 causes of injury are falls, Arrows, and Carelessness.

edited 30th Aug '09 12:08:35 AM by AceOfScarabs

Oh, I know how to survive the spikey blocks. That doesn't mean I always do it. Same with keeping monsters out of shops, though in the black market that can be kinda tricky.

I don't get killed by floor spikes very often (relatively speaking), and I'm usually so shy about using bombs that those don't kill me often either (flying saucers I usually just ignore or try to coerce into helping me with mining). Falls I'm not so good about, and the totem pole spikes can be tricky. Frogs are probably the hardest common enemy except cultists, and they're all over the place in the jungle. And as for the cultists, with them if you're patient you can do ok but if you screw up you screw up big. Spiders can lead to some cheap hits too. Arrows only get me if I'm being exceptionally careless, but I often am at the beginning of the game. The minibosses except the spider can range from free items to pure evil depending on the situation, but usually you can avoid them if you aren't in a good position to fight.

But of course, the number one cause of death and injury is and always will be carelessness.

Well... have you ever been one level away from the shortcut guy for the ice world, starting from the cave world so you had lotsa money... were one level away... and got killed by a JAR SPIDER? Much raging was had by all parties involved.

Dying to a jar spider falls squarely under "carelessness". Everybody knows HOW to protect yourself from jar spiders with 100% effectiveness, as long as you have the patience to do it every time even knowing that most jars are safe... which is a big if.

DAMN THIS GAME IS MADE OF SCHMUCK BAIT

Also, if you have two yeti with seven units of space between them (not including their panels), and at the same height, they have the hilarious ability of juggling you (or anything else) between them.

I've killed the giant alien twice...and NOW you tell me there's a jetpack? THAT's why I only got a few gems from it!!!

Also, what's the prize for killing the giant yeti, other than a lot of rope?

Also, if you're in the black market, and have a bomb frog, you can bomb frog a shopkeeper, but MAKE SURE YOU GRAB HIS GUN, AND THEN STAY ALERT AND KILL EVERYONE ELSE.

edited 30th Aug '09 2:42:15 PM by GlennMagusHarvey

I think the giant yeti just drops an assortment of random supplies. No special unique items, but stuff that will be handy for the rest of the ice caves, and certainly worth a bomb or two if you can do it safely.

If you didn't find the jetpack after the first time you killed the alien, why did you bother with a second? He's not hard to go around.