Spelunky Catch-all (Spelunky HD now on Steam!)

Crockpot wrote:

I see, the reason the game is bad is because I'm playing it wrong. My bad.

Yes, I use shortcuts. Starting back from 1-1 doesn't make it easier and rewarding for me. I'm happy it works for you guys but it sure isn't for me.

What I am saying is, you aren't going to find the golden key if you use shortcuts so if you want to unlock the temple you'll need to start from the beginning. That said, it isn't as tough as it might seem.

Crockpot wrote:

I see, the reason the game is bad is because I'm playing it wrong. My bad.

Yes, I use shortcuts. Starting back from 1-1 doesn't make it easier and rewarding for me. I'm happy it works for you guys but it sure isn't for me.

How many plays are you at? It's a game that takes a long time to click. I think it was 400 plays before I beat it once and 600 before I beat Hell. I also feel strongly that the game is easier when you get comfortable killing shopkeepers.

It's very subjective to say if it is or isn't tough. Sorry, the game just doesn't cater for me. I'm happy it does for you guys.

I won't play it 400 plays just so I can make it past the ice level. I just wish the designers would at least make a option to make it easier to unlock shortcuts. I guess they know their target audience really well.

Crockpot wrote:

It's very subjective to say if it is or isn't tough. Sorry, the game just doesn't cater for me. I'm happy it does for you guys.

I won't play it 400 plays just so I can make it past the ice level. I just wish the designers would at least make a option to make it easier to unlock shortcuts. I guess they know their target audience really well.

It's difficult to see these words rendered on my browser

In all honesty I think the shortcuts do a disservice to the game. It gives new players a false incentive to aim for. Spelunky is a game about NOT taking shortcuts, of starting with little and gaining momentum through the course of a run. You make mistakes and you learn from them, and even after more than 2k plays I still make those mistakes from time to time. But the game teaches you how to avoid them more often than not, about overcoming spontaneous hazards and creating a robust collection of items to hurdle over those obstacles.

It saddens me to see you not enjoying the game, but I can understand if it's not your cup of tea. Fortunately for me it's like gamer crack. I can't get enough of it. Even dying is fun!

Sorry to bring the thread down, I was hoping for a better solution to the problem I was having. I can't tell you how disappointing it is for me too. I really do like the game, but it's just a deal breaker for me.

I see where you guys are coming from but the game was just rewarding enough to do the shortcuts for me. There is just too many things competing for my attention to waste time at a game that doesn't let me progress in the terms that I like.

I always felt like games had an advantage to let players enjoy the game at a pace that they would like it by putting in more options. I really do think Spelunky could of cater to both audiences just by letting me flip a couple switches in options. Oh well.

Have you enjoyed other rogue-likes?

Crockpot wrote:

Sorry to bring the thread down, I was hoping for a better solution to the problem I was having. I can't tell you how disappointing it is for me too. I really do like the game, but it's just a deal breaker for me.

I see where you guys are coming from but the game was just rewarding enough to do the shortcuts for me. There is just too many things competing for my attention to waste time at a game that doesn't let me progress in the terms that I like.

I always felt like games had an advantage to let players enjoy the game at a pace that they would like it by putting in more options. I really do think Spelunky could of cater to both audiences just by letting me flip a couple switches in options. Oh well.

If it were a AAA title I might agree with you. But, this was a game made by essentially one man (my apologies Andy Hall.) And its premise is "the platformer roguelike" IRC.

I will defend this game to the death if I have to, dagnabbit. And dems be fighting words.

IMAGE(http://media.giphy.com/media/rIEsIDt1Xs4De/giphy.gif)

EDIT: S0LIDARITY-hausered

Playing from the shortcuts actually makes the game harder in some ways. Being able to kit out your character from crates and stores and rescue/sacrifice damsels for hearts is going to greatly increase your survivability in the long run. Starting at the caves or the temple won't give you enough time to build your character, and as a result, things are going to be much harder for you. The shortcuts are great to get a feel for what the new areas are going to throw at you trap and enemy-wise, but it isn't going to make it easier to win.

Yes. I love roguelikes. FTL is one of my favorite games of all time.

Also, no. Starting from the beginning is hardier than taking the shortcuts. For me anyways, I'm sure it varies to person to person.

Thanks for the discussion. I think at this point forward this discussion will just go in circles. Spelunky is a great game and gave me 13 hours of solid fun gameplay. I just feel like if I keep on playing it I'll enjoy it less and less and rather not ruin my memory of Spelunky. Enjoy Spelunky!

Yesterday's daily challenge was perfect, almost unlimited bombs and I was finally able to kill Yama with no problems.

Today was just nutty and it was mostly my fault. First I failed killing the first shopkeeper with the jumping trick and the items in his shop were definitely not worth it. I tried to kill him by grabbing the idol but the boulder miraculously went around him so I just had to run for the exit while he was stuck on the floor above. Fortunately aggroing that shopkeeper paid off because on the next floor there was a great shop with a jetpack and I would've had to go through it anyway to get the Udjat Eye. Going into the jungle I was worried I wouldn't have enough bombs for the black market but was able to spend my second to last bomb to get three more bombs from a crate. The black market itself was amazingly smooth and due to the shopkeeper placement I was lucky enough to kill most of them without using bombs. And there were a ton of bombs in the black market anyway. Now heading out of the black market I'm feeling pretty good about this run, but then disaster strikes. I see Monty the dog damsel underneath an altar and I try to carefully bomb around the altar but of course one tile of the altar is just within the bomb radius and poof out come a ton of spiders taking me to one health. I start sacrificing anyway to try and regain favor with Kali. Unfortunately I make another mistake trying to kill a Tiki Man and jump a pixel too far forward and land on his boomerang, killing me and triggering the Ankh. Dejected I go through the rest of the jungle and on to the ice caves. Here I say screw it and just start ghosting every gem possible trying to maximize my score. I even come across an altar and manage to sacrifice enough yetis to get a Kapala. Again I start to feel pretty good about this run. That's when I make my final mistake, similar to how I took damage from the Tiki Man before, again I try to jump on a yeti and was just a pixel too far forward and he starts hurling and rebounding me into a wall until I die. Definitely one of my most eventful Spelunky runs.

I got my first Hell win on the daily challenge last night!!

IMAGE(http://cloud-3.steampowered.com/ugc/468670458913081458/703C348149D3049B1E7145B725F0A5FFB0861D27/)

This was also the first time I've broken $500,000 gold in a game. I lucked out on getting a jetpack and a ton of bombs from the black market. I also was fortunate to find a shotgun in 5-1, which made Hell more manageable. It was only my 3rd time getting there but I was able to bomb my way past tough parts and take out most baddies from afar. Yama wasn't too tough once I figured out how to hide from falling skulls. Sticky bombs and shotgun blasts finished him off. I also had enough bombs left over to grab all the rubies below him.

I think I've decided that it is better to hold off on killing shopkeepers until you get to the black market. I've died too many times to pissed off shopkeepers in the mines and jungle. If you wait until the black market, you only really have to worry about them for a couple Temple maps (since they usually kill themselves in the ice caves).

Congrats ErikTheRed! Beating Hell was one of my favorite moments in gaming. It truly felt like an accomplishment.

I think I've decided that it is better to hold off on killing shopkeepers until you get to the black market. I've died too many times to pissed off shopkeepers in the mines and jungle. If you wait until the black market, you only really have to worry about them for a couple Temple maps (since they usually kill themselves in the ice caves).

It really depends on your end goal. If you're score-chasing I think it's important to kill the first shopkeeper. If you're just trying to beat Hell then I think it's appropriate to wait until the Black Market. I haven't played in a while but I prefer to kill shopkeepers very early as it assures you a shotgun early which is necessary for ghosting the vaults and it guarantees that you have the opportunity to take a shotgun from a shopkeeper into Hell. I think I only beat Hell once without a shotgun and that was only because I managed to get chained by Kali and was forced to carry the ball.

I just got spelunky on my vita for $3.75. I played through a whole football game on TV. Then I read this thread and am now intimidated. What did I get myself into?

Localgod54 wrote:

I just got spelunky on my vita for $3.75. I played through a whole football game on TV. Then I read this thread and am now intimidated. What did I get myself into?

A really deep roguelike platformer.

Localgod54 wrote:

I just got spelunky on my vita for $3.75. I played through a whole football game on TV. Then I read this thread and am now intimidated. What did I get myself into?

A game that you will either play for a couple of hours before giving it a "meh" and forgetting about it, or something that you can play daily for the next year and be learning new things about it all year long.

Finally! And At last!

I just managed to complete Spelunky HD on my 500th attempt. Not only completed it but also picked up the Casanova achievement and visited the City of Gold for the first time along the way. I did not pick up the necronomicon on the way, that seemed like pushing it). Neither did I agro any shopkeepers; I'd gathered so much cash by The Black Market it seemed like an unnecessary risk, I just bought the items I wanted and stayed out of trouble

Made it to Olmec with about 60 bombs, the jetpack and the compass but no other pickups. So I ran off from him and bombed a huge hole in the floor before leading him over it.

Edit: Also it was a playthrough that I started to fill 10mins before I went to bed. Was not expecting that at all!

Way to go Dan-o! And without any harm to a shopkeep, most impressive.

I finally understand the glory that is the jetpack. Got it for the first time tonight and easily got my best run yet, although sadly I didn't get past the jungle. Now if I can just get the shotgun along with it...

gravity wrote:

I finally understand the glory that is the jetpack. Got it for the first time tonight and easily got my best run yet, although sadly I didn't get past the jungle. Now if I can just get the shotgun along with it...

Shotguns are easy to acquire. Just find a shopkeeper.

Just picked this up on the PS3 the other night, thanks PS+ sale!

This is one of those games I'm going to be absolutely terrible at and love every minute of it. I'm not sure what this jungle is that you speak of but I'll be happy if I discover it some day

Dreaded Gazebo wrote:

Just picked this up on the PS3 the other night, thanks PS+ sale!

This is one of those games I'm going to be absolutely terrible at and love every minute of it. I'm not sure what this jungle is that you speak of but I'll be happy if I discover it some day :)

Here's my potted advice;

Be careful. Mostly throw pots to open them. 1 bomb is usually worth spending to rescue a damsel. Ropes are useful but less valuable than bombs. The boulder is a crummy way to rob the shop keepers. Learn how to rob the shop keepers. Use the downward look before you drop.

mr_n00b wrote:

Way to go Dan-o! And without any harm to a shopkeep, most impressive.

Yeah I've come to the conclusion that unless a shop keeper has something I really, really want (jetpack or shotgun mostly, occasionally 12 bombs if I'm out) I'll leave them alone. I won't cause agro for the sake of the spike boots and a couple of bombs, useful as those things are. Usually if I'm careful then, about 8 times out of 10 I'll have about 50-80k by the time I reach the black market. So I can usually buy anything I want there, so it seems unduly risky to agro the shopkeepers before the black market unless there is something great to be had.

I'm increasingly of the opinion that the compass is nearly the most important item in the game (maybe after the jetpack).

I find that whipping pots is better than throwing them. You will be in a position to immediately kill anything that comes out of them when you whip them.

My preferred method of killing shopkeepers lately (provided he isn't selling a weapon):

1. Stand on the item closest to the door, farthest from him
2. Jump and throw a bomb at the same time
3. You are guaranteed to land on his head as he aggros toward you, knocking the shotgun from his hands
4. Grab his shotgun and blow him away.

EriktheRed wrote:

I find that whipping pots is better than throwing them. You will be in a position to immediately kill anything that comes out of them when you whip them.

Yeah, if I don't have much space I'll double whip. But I'll usually throw them back the way I came, and continue through the level ignoring it if it's a mob.

Having beaten Yama last week, I've turned my attention to Speedlunky for a change of pace (chortle!).

Anybody have tips for speed-running?

The ones I've seen so far that have been helpful are:

  • Don't rob the shopkeepers. Inevitably there will be a guarded exit that requires too much time to safely reach.
  • Use edges to descend rapidly, and use the run-and-turn to quickly grab onto a ledge rather than crouch-and-swing-over.
  • Avoid the climbing gloves.
  • Mattocks are tremendously helpful.
  • Don't stop to fight bats or spiders unless absolutely necessary, just outrun them.
  • Take the time to look down.

Here's my personal best so far:

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/mnmgP23.jpg)

My final 360 controller just died so I've been trying to play this with a keyboard... man, it is a rough going. I think I might go pickup a PS4 controller tomorrow and try it out.

mr_n00b wrote:

My final 360 controller just died so I've been trying to play this with a keyboard... man, it is a rough going. I think I might go pickup a PS4 controller tomorrow and try it out.

I'm a keyboard-always Spelunker. I enjoy the responsiveness when I play with my 360 controller, but really like the precision of the keyboard. If I press down, I go straight down, no room for error.

Is Spelunky easier on the PS3 compared to the Vita? It feels that way to me. I can consistently make it past the mines on the PS3.

On the PS3, when I buy an item from the merchant, he wraps it for me. On the Vita, he does not. Actually more inconvenient on the PS3 to have to unwrap it.

danopian wrote:

Anybody have tips for speed-running?

I'll add one: the whip animation prevents you from grabbing ledges, so it can be useful for smooth descents without getting caught on fiddly edges.

Greg wrote:

Is Spelunky easier on the PS3 compared to the Vita? It feels that way to me. I can consistently make it past the mines on the PS3.

It was definitely easier for me on PS3 while I was getting used to the much smaller arrangement of buttons on the vita. For quite a while I would accidentally start throwing bombs and ropes in the midst of a panicked situation.