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

DanB wrote:
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.

I'm in my first 20 plays so I appreciate the advice for newbs. Question about this tho- is robbing a shop keeper worth the cost? I've killed a few shopkeepers (mostly accidentally) and regretted it each time when I re-encounter them in later levels.

demonbox wrote:
DanB wrote:
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.

I'm in my first 20 plays so I appreciate the advice for newbs. Question about this tho- is robbing a shop keeper worth the cost? I've killed a few shopkeepers (mostly accidentally) and regretted it each time when I re-encounter them in later levels.

At this point, no. It takes time to pull off well, and much more to know the game well enough when to do it, and how to stay alive afterward.

cyrax wrote:
demonbox wrote:

I'm in my first 20 plays so I appreciate the advice for newbs. Question about this tho- is robbing a shop keeper worth the cost? I've killed a few shopkeepers (mostly accidentally) and regretted it each time when I re-encounter them in later levels.

At this point, no. It takes time to pull off well, and much more to know the game well enough when to do it, and how to stay alive afterward.

I concur.

However! There are a few ways you can speed up that process:

  • There's a shopkeeper in the last area of the tutorial, and if you die there it starts you at the beginning of that area, which allows for lots of practice in robbing a shop.
  • Watching lots of other people's videos is a great way to learn specific strategies, especially for robbing the Black Market. There's not one way to do the Black Market, but I do think there is a general pattern that almost always works. Ish. And I learned it from others.
  • Spend a few runs dedicated to killing as many shopkeepers as possible. I did this when I was trying to get the Most Wanted achievement and found myself much better at it afterwards.

But Cyrax is right, waiting until you get to know the entire game better before regularly robbing them is a good idea. Otherwise it ramps up the game's difficulty prematurely.

demonbox wrote:
DanB wrote:
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.

I'm in my first 20 plays so I appreciate the advice for newbs. Question about this tho- is robbing a shop keeper worth the cost? I've killed a few shopkeepers (mostly accidentally) and regretted it each time when I re-encounter them in later levels.

The short answer is no, it isn't always worth the cost. The long answer is; it depends on what your immediate needs and longer term strategy are and of course what items you'll gain from the robbery.

If I'm already carrying the shotgun I'll just about rob any shop (there are some shops where the set of items simply isn't worth the extra agro). If I don't have a shotgun but there is one in the shop it is easy pickings (even if it has a boomerang too!). Any shop with a jetpack or shotgun is a definite target as both those items are immeasurably useful. Also If I'm short of both cash and bombs then I'll consider a bomb filled shop; shop keepers are fairly easy to deal with once you have plenty of bombs. Having said all that any shop with nothing of interest to me (say a set with the spring shoes, sticky bombs, boomerang and a present) I'll almost certainly leave in peace, I'm not going to trigger the shop keepers' wrath for the sake of a collection of things I don't want.

Generally, if you are going to rob a shopkeeper it is a must that you end the encounter with the shotgun in hand and/or a huge pile of bombs because you know that you'll need some weaponry to deal with the coming angry shopkeepers.

Loving Spelunky at the minute, even with the insane difficulty, its infinitely re playable, as I must have died well over 50 times in just 4 hours play time. I thought I was never gonna get the short cut to the jungle level but tonight its finally come as a reward for my death ---> quick restart combo for a good hour. What's the multiplayer like on this btw?

Just picked this up finally and just wanted to say that placing an dart thrower directly across from a shop entrance should earn the level designer a place in the deepest pits of hell. That said, I'm terrible at this game and am still loving every minute of it.

Lucky Wilbury wrote:

Just picked this up finally and just wanted to say that placing an dart thrower directly across from a shop entrance should earn the level designer a place in the deepest pits of hell. That said, I'm terrible at this game and am still loving every minute of it.

There's a few things you can do about that:

Spoiler:

1. Whip the arrow. This one takes practice, obviously. You want to start the whip animation roughly two blocks above the trigger, roughly 3 blocks away from the trap (if I remember correctly), and you can't be falling too fast. A lot of practice later, you'll actually find it to be pretty easy.
2. Use a corpse (or better yet, a stunned enemy, scorpion also works) to trigger the trap. Though make sure you throw it close to the trap, so the body doesn't go flying through the trigger, dodging the arrow.
3. If there's a pot around, you've got good odds on there being a creature inside, so if you're out of options, it's better than nothing.

Hyetal wrote:
Lucky Wilbury wrote:

Just picked this up finally and just wanted to say that placing an dart thrower directly across from a shop entrance should earn the level designer a place in the deepest pits of hell. That said, I'm terrible at this game and am still loving every minute of it.

There's a few things you can do about that:

Spoiler:

1. Whip the arrow. This one takes practice, obviously. You want to start the whip animation roughly two blocks above the trigger, roughly 3 blocks away from the trap (if I remember correctly), and you can't be falling too fast. A lot of practice later, you'll actually find it to be pretty easy.
2. Use a corpse (or better yet, a stunned enemy, scorpion also works) to trigger the trap. Though make sure you throw it close to the trap, so the body doesn't go flying through the trigger, dodging the arrow.
3. If there's a pot around, you've got good odds on there being a creature inside, so if you're out of options, it's better than nothing.

Last but not least, just jump on down! Meet death's embrace with open arms.

I don't know if I hate this game or love it. Can't stop playing it though.

Hyetal wrote:
Lucky Wilbury wrote:

Just picked this up finally and just wanted to say that placing an dart thrower directly across from a shop entrance should earn the level designer a place in the deepest pits of hell. That said, I'm terrible at this game and am still loving every minute of it.

There's a few things you can do about that:

Spoiler:

1. Whip the arrow. This one takes practice, obviously. You want to start the whip animation roughly two blocks above the trigger, roughly 3 blocks away from the trap (if I remember correctly), and you can't be falling too fast. A lot of practice later, you'll actually find it to be pretty easy.
2. Use a corpse (or better yet, a stunned enemy, scorpion also works) to trigger the trap. Though make sure you throw it close to the trap, so the body doesn't go flying through the trigger, dodging the arrow.
3. If there's a pot around, you've got good odds on there being a creature inside, so if you're out of options, it's better than nothing.

Wow I had no idea that scenario number one was even possible! Love how you can do some crazy technical stuff like that. Also just recently stumbled upon a new tunnel type in jungle that took me by surprise, love how's there so much I still don't know about this game.

Hyetal wrote:
Lucky Wilbury wrote:

Just picked this up finally and just wanted to say that placing an dart thrower directly across from a shop entrance should earn the level designer a place in the deepest pits of hell. That said, I'm terrible at this game and am still loving every minute of it.

There's a few things you can do about that:

Spoiler:

1. Whip the arrow. This one takes practice, obviously. You want to start the whip animation roughly two blocks above the trigger, roughly 3 blocks away from the trap (if I remember correctly), and you can't be falling too fast. A lot of practice later, you'll actually find it to be pretty easy.
2. Use a corpse (or better yet, a stunned enemy, scorpion also works) to trigger the trap. Though make sure you throw it close to the trap, so the body doesn't go flying through the trigger, dodging the arrow.
3. If there's a pot around, you've got good odds on there being a creature inside, so if you're out of options, it's better than nothing.

@Lucky Wilbury, I believe all levels, excluding the two bosses and the tutorial, are at least partially procedurally generated. Just wait to see how much you curse Derek Yu and Andy Hall when you

Spoiler:

Have the shopkeepers get mad at you because of an exploding frog or rogue Aztec Warrior the instant you enter the Black Market. Which partly justifies my strategy of killing all shopkeepers on every Hell run.

@Hyetal, you forgot about a trick.

Spoiler:

Carry a rat, hatchling spider, or locus and face the arrow trap. The critter will take the hit and the arrowhead will be destroyed safely.

Just got this one the sale, at first it seemed bland to me, but I now play with my kids watching me and in 10 seconds they understood everything about it. They alert me of dangers shouting vividly, "..watch out a bat!!!" or similar, while the eldest want me to stock up with all the bombs possible the little one keeps saying "pick the snake" instead of kill it.

I can see a sad look on their faces when I die but they instantly ask for one more try. I have yet to sacrifice a girl and some of the moment are funny/scary like when I entered the bee hive and was constantly stung by them after dead.

I haven't passed the jungle yet, the game rewards patience a lot more than I have but still a fun to play a few games in a row.

Been practicing robbing shopkeepers. Managed to do 5 in a row. Tutorial is where I did my robbing.

anyone wrote:

I have yet to sacrifice a girl

You should totally get in to doing this, the rewards are totally worth it.

anyone wrote:

I haven't passed the jungle yet, the game rewards patience a lot more than I have but still a fun to play a few games in a row.

I find that the caves can almost be run through but the Jungle always requires a fair amount of patience and care.

DanB wrote:
anyone wrote:

I haven't passed the jungle yet, the game rewards patience a lot more than I have but still a fun to play a few games in a row.

I find that the caves can almost be run through but the Jungle always requires a fair amount of patience and care.

I've been working on passing the jungle for weeks, with no luck. I've managed to get to 2-4 several times though. I'm pretty much at the point where I'm going to skip straight to the jungle for a while just to get enough practice in.

gravity wrote:
DanB wrote:
anyone wrote:

I haven't passed the jungle yet, the game rewards patience a lot more than I have but still a fun to play a few games in a row.

I find that the caves can almost be run through but the Jungle always requires a fair amount of patience and care.

I've been working on passing the jungle for weeks, with no luck. I've managed to get to 2-4 several times though. I'm pretty much at the point where I'm going to skip straight to the jungle for a while just to get enough practice in.

Like all rogue-likes don't try and clear out the levels, pick up what you can on the way through but head fairly directly towards the exit. Just being in a level is a risk factor for losing lives, so the less time you can spend in any level the better. I might spend some time moving bodies back to an alter though. Also I'll avoid the bees unless I'm totally sure I have a safe vantage point from which to kill them all (and the shotgun). And never get in the water with the piranhas.

The compass is invaluable for both the Jungle and the later levels for aiding your direct path to the exit. Also don't be afraid of using the odd bomb to ease your path to an exit. Which is why it pays to always start at the first level so you might have plenty bombs on hand

I've had relatively good luck with the bees, but it's mainly due to where their exit from the hive is. I've definitely learned my lesson about the piranhas. To be honest, the Tiki traps get me more than anything. I'm currently trying to be very liberal in using bombs to get by them, but there's obviously a big price to pay there.

I'm trying hard to learn how not to be greedy when I'm going through a level, because it's absolutely my most frequent cause of death. It's hard when I'm chasing that daily score though

Thinking about the Big Money achievement. I see two paths before me:

  1. Ghost as many levels as possible and bring a load of bombs to the City of Gold to get ~$450k by Olmec.
  2. Get to Yama with $272k and get the rest from killing him ($100k) and getting all the rubies in his throne ($128k).

I'm not very good at ghosting yet, but still the first option seems...easier? And at least something I can practice. Getting to Hell is hard. What do you folks think? Those of you who got the achievement, did you get it via Yama or primarily through the City of Gold and ghosting?

The daily challenge on PSN today is nuts. I had 12 health, 24 bombs, and almost $75k by the time I made it to the black market. I was back up to 6 health going into the temple with the hedjet, but (being my first time in the temple) I quickly met my fate failing to jump across a wide pit of lava. I never had an opportunity to pick up paste, so taking out Anubis would have been a bit tricky. Oh well, next time!

psoplayer wrote:

The daily challenge on PSN today is nuts. I had 12 health, 24 bombs, and almost $75k by the time I made it to the black market. I was back up to 6 health going into the temple with the hedjet, but (being my first time in the temple) I quickly met my fate failing to jump across a wide pit of lava. I never had an opportunity to pick up paste, so taking out Anubis would have been a bit tricky. Oh well, next time!

Man, I've done jumping over those lava pits. I've had too many good runs ended by being a few pixels off. I always bomb them or bomb my way to a lower level now.

danopian wrote:

Thinking about the Big Money achievement. I see two paths before me:

  1. Ghost as many levels as possible and bring a load of bombs to the City of Gold to get ~$450k by Olmec.
  2. Get to Yama with $272k and get the rest from killing him ($100k) and getting all the rubies in his throne ($128k).

I'm not very good at ghosting yet, but still the first option seems...easier? And at least something I can practice. Getting to Hell is hard. What do you folks think? Those of you who got the achievement, did you get it via Yama or primarily through the City of Gold and ghosting?

The first time I topped $500K, I did so by defeating Yama and robbing the shops, I didn't have enough bombs to grab his throne of rubies either*. If you're going to Ghost a vault you'll get about 80K from it, there's typically one vault per area if you avoid the special levels. So you can get a reliable 320K from the four vaults you expect to see.

It's really tough to top $500K without angering the shopkeepers but I think you should only commit to ghosting if you're properly equipped to travel vertically and don't try to ghost gems that will trap you in a tight spot.

Here's a couple of tricks that may or may not be spoilers.

Spoiler:

The snake pit levels always have a mattock. It's right under the two rubies at the bottom. If you grab that and the Udjat eye or the spectacles it's a really good opportunity to ghost gems or just grab an extra 20K of gems.
*Bomb placement matters, especially against Yama. If you line up a bomb between the middle two rubies up top and let it go it'll free up the top row and two from the middle of the next row, if you repeat that placement all the way to the bottom of the throne it's an efficient use of your bombs there. If you have paste you can bomb the tiki-trap columns from the bottom and destroy all of the traps for the cost of 2 bombs! Keep in mind that Horsehead and Oxface each drop a bomb-box too.

S0LIDARITY wrote:
danopian wrote:

Those of you who got the achievement, did you get it via Yama or primarily through the City of Gold and ghosting?

The first time I topped $500K, I did so by defeating Yama and robbing the shops, I didn't have enough bombs to grab his throne of rubies either*. If you're going to Ghost a vault you'll get about 80K from it, there's typically one vault per area if you avoid the special levels. So you can get a reliable 320K from the four vaults you expect to see.

It's really tough to top $500K without angering the shopkeepers but I think you should only commit to ghosting if you're properly equipped to travel vertically and don't try to ghost gems that will trap you in a tight spot.

Thank you sir, that's helpful. How much gold do the Shopkeepers carry? Does it vary, or is it always the same amount?

Also, what's the best way to crack open the vault? I've typically bombed my way in from the top, but it makes it difficult to get into and out again with the ghost trailing me.

danopian wrote:
S0LIDARITY wrote:
danopian wrote:

Those of you who got the achievement, did you get it via Yama or primarily through the City of Gold and ghosting?

The first time I topped $500K, I did so by defeating Yama and robbing the shops, I didn't have enough bombs to grab his throne of rubies either*. If you're going to Ghost a vault you'll get about 80K from it, there's typically one vault per area if you avoid the special levels. So you can get a reliable 320K from the four vaults you expect to see.

It's really tough to top $500K without angering the shopkeepers but I think you should only commit to ghosting if you're properly equipped to travel vertically and don't try to ghost gems that will trap you in a tight spot.

Thank you sir, that's helpful. How much gold do the Shopkeepers carry? Does it vary, or is it always the same amount?

Also, what's the best way to crack open the vault? I've typically bombed my way in from the top, but it makes it difficult to get into and out again with the ghost trailing me.

The shopkeepers each carry a base of 2K. So by the temple they have 4K. If you can collect all the gold from the shopkeepers that aren't in the caves that's another 20K or so. The big advantage is getting all of the shop items for free though.

I like opening the vault from the side. You can time a shotgun shot with the bomb going off to shoot and stun the Vaultkeeper immediately and finish him off with relative ease that way. Keep in mind that shopkeepers don't fire at you unless you're on screen. I like to pick a sniping spot that lines up with the vault-keeper horizontally and is reasonably far away, then place my bomb and count down from three Mississippi firing at 0 and keep blasting that trigger until I'm confident the shopkeeper is dead.

You can also whip the gems into one big pile so that they're easier to ghost and recover. Sometimes I blow a hole open in the side and hope the Vaultkeeper doesn't blast open the chests. The terrain would need to guide him into an Ol' Bitey pit, the cavern abyss, or a spot he'll get trapped in though. It can be really nice to set the chests in the middle of the level before whipping the open and having the gems be on a platform that the ghost can be kited into from a variety of angles.

This would all be so much easier to demonstrate with a screen cap device for my Vita.

S0LIDARITY wrote:
danopian wrote:

Thank you sir, that's helpful. How much gold do the Shopkeepers carry? Does it vary, or is it always the same amount?

Also, what's the best way to crack open the vault? I've typically bombed my way in from the top, but it makes it difficult to get into and out again with the ghost trailing me.

The shopkeepers each carry a base of 2K. So by the temple they have 4K. If you can collect all the gold from the shopkeepers that aren't in the caves that's another 20K or so. The big advantage is getting all of the shop items for free though.

I like opening the vault from the side. You can time a shotgun shot with the bomb going off to shoot and stun the Vaultkeeper immediately and finish him off with relative ease that way. Keep in mind that shopkeepers don't fire at you unless you're on screen. I like to pick a sniping spot that lines up with the vault-keeper horizontally and is reasonably far away, then place my bomb and count down from three Mississippi firing at 0 and keep blasting that trigger until I'm confident the shopkeeper is dead.

You can also whip the gems into one big pile so that they're easier to ghost and recover. Sometimes I blow a hole open in the side and hope the Vaultkeeper doesn't blast open the chests. The terrain would need to guide him into an Ol' Bitey pit, the cavern abyss, or a spot he'll get trapped in though. It can be really nice to set the chests in the middle of the level before whipping the open and having the gems be on a platform that the ghost can be kited into from a variety of angles.

This would all be so much easier to demonstrate with a screen cap device for my Vita.

Thanks so much, this is great stuff. Can't wait to try some of this out.

Couple last questions about ghosting: are platforms, then, the best place to open chests and break pots? Middle levels in the center would be best if accessible, I assume? Or is it more about the particular level and its main path?

danopian wrote:

Thanks so much, this is great stuff. Can't wait to try some of this out.

Couple last questions about ghosting: are platforms, then, the best place to open chests and break pots? Middle levels in the center would be best if accessible, I assume? Or is it more about the particular level and its main path?

I wouldn't worry about that too much. I think it's more important to use pots for setting off traps and attacking enemies from afar. If you have the time and focus to toss it on a convenient spot for ghosting it's a good strategy though. I tend to think of each level as a 3x3 grid with 0,0 being the NW corner and 2,2 being the SE corner. I think it's ideal to pick a platform that has lots of empty space and few hazards in either 0,0 or 0,2 I like to keep it away from the exit if possible, but that requires a jetpack and hulk hands for easy vertical movement.

Here's a great run I had on my plane ride back to Seattle.

IMAGE(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5533/11832969944_d482f77831.jpg)

I set up Flickr on my Vita so I can share some techniques via screen shots and not just high-scores.

IMAGE(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3693/11832865763_d80f1608c3.jpg)

Place a bomb where I'm standing to repeat that pattern and get that 6 block destruction path.

S0LIDARITY wrote:

Here's a great run I had on my plane ride back to Seattle.

IMAGE(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5533/11832969944_d482f77831.jpg)

I set up Flickr on my Vita so I can share some techniques via screen shots and not just high-scores.

IMAGE(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3693/11832865763_d80f1608c3.jpg)

Place a bomb where I'm standing to repeat that pattern and get that 6 block destruction path.

That's an amazing score.

I think it's my 3rd best. I missed the first vault due to a lack of paste and only having 6 bombs. I also left the city of Gold with 20 bombs. I usually like to leave with 10 but I had a close call with the ghost and my Vita was dropping frames like crazy.

What do you know about eggplants? Not much? Well, prepare to learn a lot. (Article by the creator of JS Joust)

http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/23/5227726/anatomy-of-a-spelunky-miracle-or-how-the-internet-finally-beat

psoplayer wrote:

What do you know about eggplants? Not much? Well, prepare to learn a lot. (Article by the creator of JS Joust)

http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/23/5227726/anatomy-of-a-spelunky-miracle-or-how-the-internet-finally-beat

That is a must-read article (and video).