HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: bpn@po.CWRU.Edu (Brian Nelson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
Subject: Paying Shopkeepers
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 14:35:47 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University
NNTP-Posting-Host: b62102.student.cwru.edu

Here's a suggestion that wouldn't (read as shouldn't) be too hard to 
implement:

When you are in a shop, if you owe the shopkeeper money and you #chat with 
him, he will tell you how much you owe instead of just reminding you that 
you haven't paid yet.

What ya think?

Brian Nelson
bpn@po.cwru.edu
From: marcs@yang.earlham.edu (Marc Seebass(Thunderbolt))
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
Subject: Re: Cool message
Date: 14 Oct 92 15:28:37 GMT
Organization: Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana

In article <15069@goanna.cs.rmit.oz.au>, s913578@yallara.cs.rmit.OZ.AU (Fantom) writes:
> Check it out, died and this is what it said
> 
> Fell on a sink!
> 
> The only notso cool thing was, i didn't fall on a sink that i know of, had cursed lev. boots on and walked above a sink, but i didn't take em off so how did it happen?
> 
> Fantom the Knight
Actually walking over a sink causes you to stop levitating, so thats what 
happend to you.
From: madmax@cellar.org (Alex Strumpf)
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
Subject: Re: Annoying critters
Date: 10 Oct 92 05:16:08 GMT
Organization: The Cellar BBS and public access system

scott@nv10.uswnvg.com (Scott Eckelman) writes:

> >From: mtbb134@ms.uky.edu (Darrell Epperson)
> >Subject: Annoying critters
> >Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 19:04:13 GMT
> > 
> >	Is there anyway (in Nethack 3.0 for the PC) to get rid of
> >	the dumb cat or dog? Some poeple might find them useful, but 
> >	I think they're just annoying.
> 
> The easiest way is to ditch 'em -- head downstairs when your pet is not
> adjacent to you, and it won't follow.  Of course, it'll probably be
> pissed off the next time you see it, so have some food handy.

or match them up against a monster with a weapon: for example, "the Gnome 
swings his axe at the cat." Or: find a room with a pit. Pet will either find 
it, fall in and die, or you can just keep jumping into the pit and move so 
the pet'll follow into the pit.(have some good HP first. :-) ) If you have 
the ring o' conflict, put it on inside a shop; that'll get rid of your pet 
REAL quick. ;-)

madmax@cellar.org
PREFERRED mailpath: madmax%cellar@tredysvr.tredydev.unisys.com



"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."

Doctor Who, ROBOT
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
From: bill@snoopy (Bill Poitras)
Subject: Re: Polypiling
Reply-To: bill@msi.com
Organization: Molecular Simulations, Inc.
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 00:16:35 GMT

Tom Holub (tom@soda.berkeley.edu) wrote:
: Now, you can say, 'don't use wishes or polypiling or rings of conflict',
: but that ignores the fact that someone who doesn't feel the same way
: you do about the game can fill up the high score list with easily-earned
: winners.  The most important factor in game design is balance; the most
: difficult thing to do when designing games is balance them.  To put
: out an unbalanced game and then say 'don't do the things that make 
: it too easy' is wrong.

IMHO the most important factor in game design is fun factor.  I don't
care who gets the highest score, I like the game to be fun.  Perhaps we
need something between explore mode, where you start with a WoW, and
the regular game.  Perhaps we can set the difficulty level by
enabling/disabling certain tricks like polypiling, rings of conflict,
certain shop robbing tricks, etc.  Taking out those tricks could affect
some fun aspect of the game.  Variety is the spice of life.  Making the
game with various "tricks" might give a gamer more various ways to win
the game.

--
+-----------------+-------------------------------+-------------------------+
| Bill Poitras    | Molecular Simulations Inc.    | Tel (408)522-9229       |
| (bill)          | Sunnyvale, CA USA             |                         | 
|                 | FAX (408)732-0831             | bill@msi.com            |
+-----------------+-------------------------------+-------------------------+

Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
From: dcb@wdl1.wdl.loral.com (Predecrement David)
Subject: Re: messages on floor
Organization: Tomobiki-cho
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 16:55:13 GMT

jbbb+@andrew.cmu.edu (Joshua John Buergel) writes:
>>I have recently found this on the floor several times. What does it mean? or,
>>more importantly, what is it useful for?
>> 
>>Something is written here in the dust.  You read: "ad ?e?ar um".
>
>Spoiler Alert:


>This means that there is a secret door right next to this writing.  I
>never figured out exactly what it says, but it appears to be latin of
>some sort.  

"ad aerarium"  (sp?)  Means either, "to the gold" or "to the vault."

>At any rate, search the walls right next to where you find
>the message, and you'll find a secret door.  Ten to one it will be into
>a 'closet', or a pasage of only one place.  Odds are there will also be
>a trap in this closet, so searching for a while standing in the doorway
>is a good idea, usually.  Often it will be a teleportation trap that
>will put you into a vault on the level (if there is one).  Make sure you
>have some way to get out of the vault before you pop through.

Note that the chances are that if the trap is not a teleportation trap, it
is a *level* teleport trap...  It's very useful to have these around.

--David
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| David Blume            | "These games aren't meant to be fun,         |
| dcb@wdl1.wdl.loral.com | "They're meant to be *played!*" Phil Requist |
+-finger acct. for prefs------------------------------------------------+
From: bpn@po.CWRU.Edu (Brian Nelson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
Subject: Re: Wizard lock ?
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 21:47:03 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University
NNTP-Posting-Host: b62102.student.cwru.edu

In article <1992Oct7.202325.5014@data-io.com> gryder@caddy.Data-IO.COM (Gerald Ryder) writes:
>I have recently memorized a spell of Wizard lock. Can someone tell me what this
>is good for?

It can lock doors and create doors where there are none.  Good if you want 
to seal off a room to build up HP or something...

Brian Nelson
bpn@po.cwru.edu
From: agrimm@slate.mines.colorado.edu (Snarf)
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
Subject: Re: WoW
Date: 13 Oct 92 20:43:44 GMT
Organization: Colorado School of Mines

nemesis@pcuf.fi (Ville Salo) writes:
: I have won the game several times but last time I was going through levels 
: I was a bit amazed because I could not find the wand of wishing. Yes, I know 
: where it should be but it was not there. Who stole it?
: I am not playing 1.0.3. so I know it is not under the boulder...:-)
:  
: Thank you in advance...

I know that you're talking about Hack, but I had a similar experience in
Nethack...

I watched a gelatinous cube EAT the WoW (on the castle level) before I
could get to it...*sniff*...

Had my revenge...I _ate_ the little dork!
-- 
Snarf (alias Andy Grimm) agrimm@mines.colorado.edu  |      Cheery thought
"And if I refuse?"                                  |       for the day:
"If you refuse, you die, she dies, EVERYBODY dies." | Jump off a cliff, 20,000
Sounded reasonable to me!              -Heavy Metal | lemmings can't be wrong!
From: bill@snoopy (Bill Poitras)
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
Subject: Re: My 2 stupid deaths
Date: 9 Oct 92 15:56:20 GMT
Reply-To: bill@msi.com
Organization: Molecular Simulations, Inc.
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5

Gerhard den Hollander (holland@dutiws.tudelft.nl) wrote:
[his 2 stupid deaths deleted]
: Questions:
: How do you cure sickness ?

I think there is a potion of cure sickness.
A successfull prayer to your god.
An application of your unicorn horn. (Don't leave home without one)
I also think there is a spell of cure sickness.

: Why was my GOD angry with me ?
: 	I killed everything I could find,
: 	and ate it, incl nurses and the WoY

There could have been a ton of reason.  Eating humans could have been one
of them.

: Which monsters do not ruin your armor when polymorphing ?

Well, not a Xorn, :-)  Most humanoids won't.  The large ones (bugbears,
giants, et. al.) will.  Quadrapeds probably will, as will most lizard
type creatures.  The best way to find out is to get a complete monster
list and see what size they are.

--
+-----------------+-------------------------------+-------------------------+
| Bill Poitras    | Molecular Simulations Inc.    | Tel (408)522-9229       |
| (bill)          | Sunnyvale, CA USA             |                         | 
|                 | FAX (408)732-0831             | bill@msi.com            |
+-----------------+-------------------------------+-------------------------+
From: dcb@wdl1.wdl.loral.com (Predecrement David)
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
Subject: obscure message
Date: 7 Oct 92 17:25:22 GMT
Organization: Tomobiki-cho

KAABLAMM!!!  The air currents set it off!

--David "Just read it for the first time today!" Blume
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| David Blume            | "These games aren't meant to be fun,         |
| dcb@wdl1.wdl.loral.com | "They're meant to be *played!*" Phil Requist |
+-finger acct. for prefs------------------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
From: funky@nevada.edu (MATTHEW KAPHAN)
Subject: Nymphs/Leprachauns
Originator: funky@redrock.nevada.edu
Organization: University of Nevada System Computing Services
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 06:03:06 GMT

What is the method to keep nymphs from stealing things from me, and 
lepracauns also?  I just started playing the game, and I'm having a lot
of trouble staying alive unless i'm in exploratory mode.  Any hints to help
me out?
 
Thanks.

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matthew Kaphan                                        funky@redrock.nevada.edu
                    -What can I say in only 4 lines?-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
From: ernieh@boi.hp.com (ernest hawes)
Subject: compiling hack on hp9000/730
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 16:08:00 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard / Boise, Idaho
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1.4 PL6]


Fellows hackers;

I am trying to get the source to compile on a hp9000/730 running 8.07 hpux. And
 the darn thing is being a real pain. I haven't got to play hack for about a 
 month and I am going through withdrawls. I do not have access to the edu net
 so I can't get executable from penn. Can some give me some ideas as to where
 I can find the executable for my platform on hp net.
 
 Ernest "I need my hack fix" Hawes
 
 email ernieh@hpbs1901.boi.hp.com
 telnet 1-323-4402
From: dcb@wdl1.wdl.loral.com (Predecrement David)
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
Subject: Re: Ring of Conflict (Was: Polypiling)
Date: 13 Oct 92 20:45:38 GMT
Organization: Tomobiki-cho

tom@soda.berkeley.edu (Tom Holub) writes:
> If you make polypiling affect, say, the top 5 items of the pile, and make
> wands of wishing, say, be unrechargable or have a max of 1 charge, and
> make rings of conflict give monsters, say, a 50% chance each round of
> attacking each other, you still have all the tricks, but you've
> improved the balance of the game immensely.
>  -Tom

We can't be tempted to continuously modify the game to suit the expert's
needs.  Tom is evidently already aware of a lot of the tricks of NetHack.
And therefore, he is bored with the game because he can consistenly win.
We _could_ make the game harder to suit Tom, so that he could continue to
enjoy the game.

However, I think the greater deed would be for Tom to move on to a different
hobby.  *All adventure games get boring when you've utterly mastered them.*

Nethack is already on the verge of being unapproachable to the novice.
Nethack is a very frustrating game when you don't know the tricks.  One of the
most enjoyable aspects of the game is experimenting and learning new tricks.
At the current level of nethack, it is near impossible to the novice, hard and 
challenging for the player, and enjoyable/easy for the expert.  

I think we should keep NetHack at the same level of playability.

--David
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| David Blume            | "These games aren't meant to be fun,         |
| dcb@wdl1.wdl.loral.com | "They're meant to be *played!*" Phil Requist |
+-finger acct. for prefs------------------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
From: sread@kipling.webo.dg.com (Steve Read)
Subject: Re: Nymphs/Leprachauns
Date: 14 Oct 92 12:52:47
Organization: NSDD, Data General Corp.

>>>>> On Tue, 13 Oct 1992 06:03:06 GMT, funky@nevada.edu (MATTHEW KAPHAN) said:

mk> What is the method to keep nymphs from stealing things from me, and 
mk> lepracauns also?  I just started playing the game, and I'm having a lot
mk> of trouble staying alive unless i'm in exploratory mode.  Any hints to help
mk> me out?

Well with nymphs you can always cancel them (use a spell or wand),
although I've always taken the more brutal approach, pursuit!  I like
throwing weapons at them then wailing on them when they get close,
'cause when they die they often leave a potion of object detection.
(Killing a nymph and eating it identifies this potion for me and is
usually where I get the teleport intrinsic from).

With leprechauns, I believe that the same tricks work, but with this
added piece of advice, when you see a leprechaun in a room throw your
money out the door, it seems (to me) that the little guy only
teleports away from you once he has managed to rip off some gold from
you, if you don't have any gold and there's none in the room, he can't
take it and fly, so he stays there and you get to partake of his
corpse and maybe find yourself feeling jumpy.
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
s. e. read | sread@kipling.webo.dg.com | data general corp | nsdd onsd
-------------------------< cogito ergo sim >--------------------------
From: skaven@carson.u.washington.edu (Willilam Gilliland)
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
Subject: Re: Another Obscure Message
Date: 14 Oct 92 02:37:02 GMT
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

In article <1bfue1INN8er@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> jmt8@po.CWRU.Edu (James M. Trela) writes:
>
>Here's another one:
>
>	A friend of mine just went down the stairs on level 20 and
>
>		"you hear dice being thrown"
>
>Jim Trela
>jmt8@po.cwru.edu

Thats not very obscure -- thats a barracks on the level.

===============================================================================
   __                                                                    ____
  |  |                    The Missionary of Montlake                    /    \
  |~~|              Bill Gilliland, skaven@u.washington.edu             |    | 
 /    \                    Expatriate Member, SUDS                      |    |
 |    |                                                                 |    |
 |    |                        IN VINO VERITAS                          |    |
 |    |                                                                 \    /
 |    |                    "In Wine there is Truth"                      |  |   
 \____/                                                                  |__|
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
From: wollum@hdpe.ecn.purdue.edu (pack backer)
Subject: Re: messages on floor
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Date: 14 Oct 92 19:50:55 GMT

thanatos@iastate.edu (Bradley C Karsjens) writes:

>I have recently found this on the floor several times. What does it mean? or,
>more importantly, what is it useful for?

>Something is written here in the dust.  You read: "ad ?e?ar um".




It means there is a hidden door nearby.

It is an easy way to get into a vault (sometimes)

Mark
North Carolina State University Class of 1990
_______________________________________________________________
A sign in my office says:

Do NOT turn off cooling system unless the sun goes away or goes
supernova!
_______________________________________________________________
wollum@ecn.purdue.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
From: dalton@nevada.edu (William Tiberis Felis Long)
Subject: source code
Organization: NCC 1701-F USS Enterprise
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 23:24:20 GMT

I am looking for a windows 3.0 source for Nethack that will compile with
Zortech C++.  Know of any?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ze hurdlee-skurld ne-boord ze foorg oorz ees-kurb-ze-nurdlee-gurb,
shreez noor skeed mur de shurgee bork bork bork!
Nee mal me skheer zuv zurgeeng, ee hee veeber geerd ze-borg,
noov seem-oone beer deesk-urb-eeng ze shool feeg-al-skee oov gooh.
Ze vaee zu speeg deend skoo-flerood goor seeg-speezeet gaif zund moodor
sills ge deef ze gurge vu schlurdee-bork!
Seense, me squend, du zab nee-feeled or beeb-eest feerz, ee
zeen-teense oo zu bee egg-schpozeed ne-boord zeer geers.  Bork bork bork bork!
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
From: dcb@wdl1.wdl.loral.com (Predecrement David)
Subject: Re: Polypiling
Organization: Tomobiki-cho
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 17:15:46 GMT

tom@soda.berkeley.edu (Tom Holub) writes:
>dif@bhprtc.scpd.oz.au (David Faulkner) writes:
>
>If you don't polypile (I usually don't), the wand is useful.  All you
>really need to win is the following (newbies take note)
>
>-15 AC
>+6 or better Excalibur, Mjollnir, Fire or Frost Brand, maybe even Stormy.
>Teleport Control
>Levitation
>Poison Resistance
>Magic Resistance

That's misleading.  

I've never won with AC better than -8. 
  (I only like temple priests for their spellbooks.) 
I've almost never had a +6 weapon. 
  (Good strength makes up for the damage bonus.)

You also *need* fire resistance.
You are better off with telepathy. (blindfold & mirror, too.)
You don't *need* magic resistance.  (But you're better off with it.)
You don't *need* levitation, either. (But you're better off with it.)
  (The only time levitation comes in handy is on the way back up in
   the corridor in the strong-hold.  And there are ways around this.)
  (All the other barriers are water, and usually only one square big.)          

My personal list of additional things I like before I get too deep:
+ A rustproof primary weapon.  (Otherwise, a unicorn horn will do.)
+ Some kind of cloak or reflection to spare my armor from bad breath.
+ Speed. (Marginal is ok, but speed boots are preferable.)
+ Ring of conflict. ("Destroy the thief,...")

--David
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| David Blume            | "These games aren't meant to be fun,         |
| dcb@wdl1.wdl.loral.com | "They're meant to be *played!*" Phil Requist |
+-finger acct. for prefs------------------------------------------------+
From: bpn@po.CWRU.Edu (Brian Nelson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
Subject: Re: Annoying critters
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 19:22:01 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University
NNTP-Posting-Host: b62102.student.cwru.edu

In article <1992Oct7.150413.25770@ms.uky.edu> mtbb134@ms.uky.edu (Darrell Epperson) writes:
>From: mtbb134@ms.uky.edu (Darrell Epperson)
>Subject: Annoying critters
>Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 19:04:13 GMT
> 
>	Is there anyway (in Nethack 3.0 for the PC) to get rid of
>	the dumb cat or dog? Some poeple might find them useful, but 
>	I think they're just annoying.

Hmmmm, I always thought kicking them was pretty effective...

Then again, so is throwing things at them and zapping them with destructive 
wands....

Whatever suits ya best....

Brian Nelson
bpn@po.cwru.edu
From: naraht@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
Subject: ghost piles
Date: 10 Oct 92 19:53:40 -0500
Organization: Carnegie Mellon Computer Club

The piles that ghosts have:
The stuff in there is not cursed but can't be taken off.
What is the way to un sticky curse them?

Randy Finder
(naraht@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu)
From: tom@soda.berkeley.edu (Tom Holub)
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
Subject: Re: Polypiling
Date: 12 Oct 1992 07:56:08 GMT
Organization: U.C. Berkeley, CS Undergraduate Association
NNTP-Posting-Host: soda.berkeley.edu

In article <1992Oct12.001635.22773@msi.com> bill@msi.com writes:
)
)IMHO the most important factor in game design is fun factor.  I don't
)care who gets the highest score, I like the game to be fun.  Perhaps we
)need something between explore mode, where you start with a WoW, and
)the regular game.  Perhaps we can set the difficulty level by
)enabling/disabling certain tricks like polypiling, rings of conflict,
)certain shop robbing tricks, etc.  Taking out those tricks could affect
)some fun aspect of the game.  Variety is the spice of life.  Making the
)game with various "tricks" might give a gamer more various ways to win
)the game.

There's nothing wrong with tricks, but when they make the game too 
easy to win, they need to be weakened.

Won again tonight.  Samurai, this time.  No polypiling, just the wand
of wishing and the ring of conflict.  It's getting to the point where
the most difficult thing is not going nuts in the lich room in the
endgame watching the silly ASCII graphics at 2400 baud.

If you make polypiling affect, say, the top 5 items of the pile, and make
wands of wishing, say, be unrechargable or have a max of 1 charge, and
make rings of conflict give monsters, say, a 50% chance each round of
attacking each other, you still have all the tricks, but you've
improved the balance of the game immensely.
 -Tom
From: doctor8@cybernet.cse.fau.edu (Clay Evans)
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
Subject: Re: silent option
Date: 12 Oct 92 16:40:13 GMT
Organization: Cybernet BBS, Boca Raton, Florida

bpn@po.CWRU.Edu (Brian Nelson) writes:

> nethack cause the computer to beep if the silent option is off? i tried
> 
> I love it!
> Bri

Where can one find CHRHACK?

The Doctor
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
From: trav@wixer.cactus.org (traveller)
Subject: Re: Ascended at last
Keywords: cockatrice scrolls
Organization: Real/Time Communications
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 92 15:01:54 GMT

In article <1992Oct7.005513.7446@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> lmulcahy@nyx.cs.du.edu (Larry Mulcahy) writes:
>In article <1992Oct6.194424.26344@slate.mines.colorado.edu> agrimm@slate.mines.colorado.edu (Snarf) writes:
>
>>Okay, here we go...
>>
>>(3) If you use a magic marker and rip the scrolls up in your haste, it
>>    means you haven't yet id's the scrolls as blank.  Try reading one.
>
>This must be what it was... I dipped some useless scroll in a fountain
>and the label changed.  Then I used M-n to name it blank paper.  I
>never did actually read one.

actually, what happened was that you were trying to write a scroll you didn't
know. if you have not yet read the scroll you try to write, there is a very
amazingly slim chance you will be able to write it <like 5%>. but you should
probably go ahead and read a blank first too since it doesn't use them up..

trav
-- 

trav@wixer.cactus.org  |   In Austin, Tx:
     The Traveller     |      The city that made being a slacker an
                       |      acceptable alternative lifestyle.
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
From: mrmarcel@eos.ncsu.edu (MICHAEL RONN MARCELAIS)
Subject: Re: More obscure messages
Organization: North Carolina State University
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 19:09:57 GMT
4646path: eos.ncsu.edu!mrmarcel

In article <18732.2ad83bba@ecs.umass.edu>, daly@ecs.umass.edu (Bryon Daly, ECE dept, UMass, Amherst) writes:
|> Here's two more obscure messages that I thought were pretty funny (but
|> pretty rare...)

How about this one(unix only)

Segmentation fault -- core dumped



-- 

+-------------------------------------+------------------------------+
|  Mike Marcelais                     | mrmarcel@eos.ncsu.edu        |
|  356 Tucker, Box 04783, NCSU        | Fourth Bryan Productions     |
|  Raleigh, NC  27607                 | #include <disclaim.h>        |
+-------------------------------------+------------------------------+
| if the above address bounces, then try the address below:          |
| mrmarcel%eos.ncsu.edu@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu                              |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+