Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup - The Soupening

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IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/EFrao5r.png)

Herein we can discuss all aspects of Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup. This is a spinoff from Ye Olde Roguelike Thread.

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup is a free roguelike game of exploration and treasure-hunting in dungeons filled with dangerous and unfriendly monsters in a quest for the mystifyingly fabulous Orb of Zot.

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup has diverse species and many different character backgrounds to choose from, deep tactical game-play, sophisticated magic, religion and skill systems, and a grand variety of monsters to fight and run from, making each game unique and challenging.

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup can be played offline, or online on a public telnet/ssh server. These public servers allow you to meet other players’ ghosts, watch other people playing, and, in general, have a blast!

GWJ Clan User Name Spreadsheet

The GWJ Crawl Clan Name Repository for Future Crawl Clan Names
Every new version of Crawl is celebrated with an online tournament. Games played using one of several online services will be counted toward your clan's total points. Banners! Achievements! Glory! Join the GWJ clans! Tournaments and new releases are about once every six months.

We try to be very welcoming to new players and we don't have "competitive" teams. We're just here to help and encourage each other. We usually have enough players for several teams so you don't have worry about bumping someone.

Clan pages:
0.25: GWJ - Theres Gnoll Place Like Crawl, GWJ - Derpy DrFEs, GWJ_Do_Not_Drink_and_Dive
0.24: GWJ Boomerang-Toomerang-Zoomerang, GWJ We Hold Gnoll Quarter
0.23: GWJ - Hubris Maximus, GWJ - v23 and Me
0.22: GWJ - Player Ghosted, GWJ - RU Kidding Me
0.21: GWJ - Rational Fears, GWJ - Gnoll Means Gnoll, GWJ - Laught it up QuantumFuzzball
0.20: GWJ - Black Hole Sun Demons, GWJ - Runing My Weekend
0.19: Dith Me Baby One More Time, Flaming Hot Cheevos
0.18: Ground Control to Major Xom, Earth Magic Rocks, Little Red Vehumet
0.17: GWJ - It Burns When I p, GWJ-Better Stronger Harder LobsterMobster, GWJ - Maces and Fails, GWJ - Cocytus Interruptus, GWJ - Full of Dith and Vinegar
0.16: Formicide is Painless, MiFi Over WiFi, Strawberry Felids Forever, Gozag Wealth Joint Holdings - NASDAQ GWJ
0.15: More Than a Felid, Before You Rune You Gotta Crawl, Tengu Barada Nikto, XL1 and Done
0.14: Formicidal Tendencies, No Dithrespect, Bed Bath and Beogh
0.13: Crawlers for and Against Xombamacare, Keep Calm and Crawl On
0.12: Crawlalm_Baskurs
0.11: Crawlers With Jobs
0.10: Gamers with Runes
0.9: GWJ_Sigmund_is_Mean
0.7: GWJ_Lair_or_Bust

How do I play online?
You can follow the well-written instructions laid out at the Crawl site. As long as you are part of a team, any games played on the main servers (most of us play on CSZO) will count toward your score total.

The easiest way to play is in your browser using webtiles (the graphical version of online play) by following the links on the HowTo page.

For console play on Windows you will need a SSH client like Putty. There are detailed Putty steps on the bottom of the page. If you are on Unix/Mac you can just SSH into one of the servers from a command prompt; there are instructions for that as well.

To be included on a team, you have to add the following line as the first line of your rc (options) file:

# TEAMCAPTAIN nameofcaptain

The # sign is included. One webtiles you can use the "edit rc" link, on TTY you can just follow the prompts. Check out tboon's excellent post for a step-by-step guide.

EriktheRed here, reporting for duty!

I'm down again. Maybe I will see a rune this time.

Oh hell yeah.

Sounds like fun. Is there an info page for this? Are clueless beginners helpful? Does it take commitment?

I installed the game a few weeks ago, but haven't done much more than toy around with it.

Oh, double he'll yeah. Mixolyde on cszo! Gotta start practicing again. Spencer time!

First off: Great idea putting the old results in the thread.

What does everyone think of the changelog? At first glance, it looks like the game just got much more difficult. A few things jumped out at me immediately. Mainly, a lot of monsters are getting boost to effects that hinder player movement or cause malicious effects on the player. There are a lot of dangerous monsters now. One movement hindering monster can make that troll that you could easily handle into certain death.

* Lom Lobon can now cast Tornado.
* Antaeus gains Flash Freeze, an ice conjuration which impedes the target's
movement for three turns

Lom Lobom is now not very nice. Potential for an out of control situation is very high, especially if you land close on entry. Antaeus was already very dangerous, but with movement limitation, I can't imagine getting close to him in melee.

* Wind drakes, who can breathe powerful blasts of wind and airstrike the
player.
* Deep elf demonologists summon more greater demons instead of minor
demons.

Wind drakes are the new orc priest. The kill count will soar. Deep elf demonologists were already my least favorite but now I want nothing to do with them.

The new artifacts and rods look great. I can't wait to play with them. This one caught my eye.

* New unrand: "macabre finger necklace" - gives warding and an extra ring
Slot.

Oka worshippers can finally live in peace!

* Okawaru no longer care about the deaths of allies.

I like the idea of making everything ID immediately. The whole ID system was more a frustrating meta-game than anything else. It was frustration with no good on the other end. I like the direction the game is going, but I think I'm still going to keep a copy of 0.8 around just for fun sometimes. 0.8 is like going back and playing plain old powergaming AD&D computer games. The new versions are more like a very refined system where powergaming doesn't enter the picture because everything is balanced. Skillful play is much more important now than it was. In 0.8, a coule +5 damage rings could carry the game!

Godzilla Blitz wrote:

Sounds like fun. Is there an info page for this? Are clueless beginners helpful? Does it take commitment?

I installed the game a few weeks ago, but haven't done much more than toy around with it.

Clueless beginners aren't a hindrance - I can't speak for everyone, but we don't take it too, too seriously. Some teams are in it to win it but we are just there to encourage each other toward high scores. The tourney goes on for a few weeks, getting some good game time is nice.

This was incredibly painful but bodes well for the tourney. Two runes! Made it to Vault:5 and died in the Circle of Death. I was able to stair dance most of the baddies but then sh*t got out of control and before I knew it I was done.

My limitation was definitely resources - never saw a wand of heal wounds the whole game. No more scrolls of blinking to be found, no "panic buttons" left. : ( This was supposed to be a goofaround game playing in trunk. When I came across an altar of Dith first I said "Why not" and it worked surprisingly well. This is post-gargoyle nerfs, too, so no auxiliary attacks and I had to eat like a normal peon.

Still, it's encouraging. My score's gone up every tournament! I feel a win coming soon!

Michael wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:

Sounds like fun. Is there an info page for this? Are clueless beginners helpful? Does it take commitment?

I installed the game a few weeks ago, but haven't done much more than toy around with it.

Some teams are in it to win it but we are just there to encourage each other toward high scores.

I sincerely appreciate this aspect of the tournament most of all. DC:SS is a downright tough-ass game, as proper roguelikes should be... having the ability for spectators to ride along on a game to offer encouragement, advice (be it good or bad ;)), or just general camaraderie really makes this game significantly better. I was totally green to DC:SS during the last tournament, and had a few wonderful Goodjers nudging me along on recommended paths, etc, both in the game and on the site, and I'm sure without that I would've burned out after a couple of dumb deaths.

Michael wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:

Sounds like fun. Is there an info page for this? Are clueless beginners helpful? Does it take commitment?

I installed the game a few weeks ago, but haven't done much more than toy around with it.

Clueless beginners aren't a hindrance - I can't speak for everyone, but we don't take it too, too seriously. Some teams are in it to win it but we are just there to encourage each other toward high scores. The tourney goes on for a few weeks, getting some good game time is nice.

Cool. So one person's low score wouldn't negatively impact the team score, then?

This could be the perfect way for me to dig into the game.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:
Michael wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:

Sounds like fun. Is there an info page for this? Are clueless beginners helpful? Does it take commitment?

I installed the game a few weeks ago, but haven't done much more than toy around with it.

Clueless beginners aren't a hindrance - I can't speak for everyone, but we don't take it too, too seriously. Some teams are in it to win it but we are just there to encourage each other toward high scores. The tourney goes on for a few weeks, getting some good game time is nice.

Cool. So one person's low score wouldn't negatively impact the team score, then?

This could be the perfect way for me to dig into the game.

Unless the tournament rules are changing since the last one, scoring is all "additive", meaning the absolute worst you would do for your team is add zero points.

That said, there are some fun things you can do to help your team which don't require a lot of late-game (or even mid-game) skills or knowledge... pick an uncommon race/class combination and do the best you can with it -- sometimes only a few levels are all that's needed to get the top scoring game with that uncommon combination, and that'll be worth 5 points. It's obviously not worth as much as a full win, but it's the kind of thing that can typically be done in an hour or less, and can be repeated with other uncommon combinations -- and in the process, help you work on survivability.

merphle wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:
Michael wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:

Sounds like fun. Is there an info page for this? Are clueless beginners helpful? Does it take commitment?

I installed the game a few weeks ago, but haven't done much more than toy around with it.

Clueless beginners aren't a hindrance - I can't speak for everyone, but we don't take it too, too seriously. Some teams are in it to win it but we are just there to encourage each other toward high scores. The tourney goes on for a few weeks, getting some good game time is nice.

Cool. So one person's low score wouldn't negatively impact the team score, then?

This could be the perfect way for me to dig into the game.

Unless the tournament rules are changing since the last one, scoring is all "additive", meaning the absolute worst you would do for your team is add zero points.

That said, there are some fun things you can do to help your team which don't require a lot of late-game (or even mid-game) skills or knowledge... pick an uncommon race/class combination and do the best you can with it -- sometimes only a few levels are all that's needed to get the top scoring game with that uncommon combination, and that'll be worth 5 points. It's obviously not worth as much as a full win, but it's the kind of thing that can typically be done in an hour or less, and can be repeated with other uncommon combinations -- and in the process, help you work on survivability. :)

Even just poking your head into new branches gives you a good point boost - whenever I come across a branch I might not want to go to right away I at least head down the stairs and back up.

I am definitely in for another tournament if anybody will have me. Last tourney I saw my first rune and then also my first glimpse of the orb, all because the help and encouragement of goodjers. Maybe this time I will actually touch the orb!

Last year you got points for your team playing builds no one else is crazy enough to. That's how I helped!

The tourney was fun and my only regret is that I did not get into an earlier tourney due to fears of excessive suckage. I still sucked but it was OK!

I would encourage anyone to play. Scoring points in the tourney is fun and there's no pressure to do really well or anything. Old hats might try some risky things they never would for banners, while newbies might stick to it a bit longer to try and see a branch they've never seen before. Spectate games for fun. Report on good and bad times. If you play in a few tournaments, it's fun to go back and see how you've improved over the releases. I think even if you join up and don't score a single point, you'd have to try pretty hard not to have fun at least.

Here are some bad team names that we shouldn't use:

Bed, Bath, and Beogh
More Than a Felid
Dith Me Baby One More Time

Michael wrote:

Here are some bad team names that we shouldn't use:

Bed, Bath, and Beogh
More Than a Felid
Dith Me Baby One More Time

If I had been drinking coffee when I read this it would have been *coffee spit* time! All 3 are great but the first 2 are awesome.

Wait, scoring is additive?

Hmmmmmmmmmmm. I do love me some SS.

Player list added to OP. Godzilla, let me know if you're in fo sho and I'll add you.

Looks like we'll have at least two teams, so we'll need some captains. EriktheRed has historically been one, as was Homard. I'll volunteer to captain one of them if we need it.

garion333 wrote:

Wait, scoring is additive?

Hmmmmmmmmmmm. I do love me some SS.

Right, a bad game won't hurt anything. In the first tourney I played my "contribution" was many, many, many low-point games.

You know you want to!

Those are some seriously sweet names. Top notch. I'm in for the tournament. If the weather is bad, I'll play more than I should, if it's good I'll play less than I want to. I barely play any Crawl at all anymore unless it's during tournaments so I don't feel too bad about playing too much when a tournament is on.

Please add my name. Now that I've won a few games, I would like to try my hand at the tourney.

I could probably give it a shot, this time around.

A

Michael wrote:

Player list added to OP. Godzilla, let me know if you're in fo sho and I'll add you.

A team can have as many as six players, right? So if you put me on a really good team, I'd likely not be contributing as much as a better player. Also, with family and work and exercise and a Coursera course I'm taking and other games and the kids' soccer, I'm likely to be maxing out at 30 minutes to an hour a day, so contributing a bazillion low scoring games might not work so well.

I'd like to give this a try, though, if it's possible to do so without letting my teammates down. How about adding me if there is a team of like-minded newbies, or if a team has four or five players and needs a body to fill a slot? I can play regularly enough to contribute points, for sure, and this does sound like fun.

On a related note, I played last night and survived until I ran into someone named Sigmund. Probably should have run from him, I'm guessing.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:

On a related note, I played last night and survived until I ran into someone named Sigmund. Probably should have run from him, I'm guessing.

Sigmund is pretty notorious for killing new players. Often it is best to just avoid him.

athros reporting if there are still spots!

There seems to be a very small subset of builds that would be able to handle Sigmund when he is first encountered, I usually run to the next floor and come back to kill him out of spite.

Godzilla, we can wait and see what the player count is closer to the tournament start. I think we'll come in just shy of 12...

Michael wrote:

There seems to be a very small subset of builds that would be able to handle Sigmund when he is first encountered, I usually run to the next floor and come back to kill him out of spite.

Godzilla, we can wait and see what the player count is closer to the tournament start. I think we'll come in just shy of 12...

Yeah, up till then everything was more pretty easy to kill, except for a massive army of stuff (20+) that surrounded me once. I ran back up a level to get away from them. Sigmund ate my lunch pretty quickly though. Lesson learned.

And that sounds great for the tournament, thank you. I'll keep an eye out here.

You should probably assign me to a B-quality team, by the way, I'm at best an intermediate player.

I don't know what runes are (yet). I have a vague notion, and may have been close to getting one before getting crushed in the Elven Halls.

I would gladly join a team of people who want to play for fun but have no desire to try and get much from each member.

Also, could we put some info in the OP about how to make this thing work? I have DCSS, but I assume I'll have to download or configure something to play it online and/or declare my team.

may have been close to getting one before getting crushed in the Elven Halls.

The Elven Halls are very hard. The upper levels can tear up a midgame character, and even lategame characters can have trouble with the vaults on the bottom floor. (3rd level, I think.)

Usually, it's best not to go there until you've got a rune or two already.

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