kieran
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Posts: 2,437
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jan 8, 2022 13:41:01 GMT
Why is the Redneck's Shields score so high anyway? It's equal to that of the Starfire Valioog's despite that being a massive spaceship while the Redneck drives a space go-kart. If it was 4 or 6 it would be a lot more realistic whilst making that battle much less deadly. To take into account a greater manoeuvrability and it being a smaller target? Suppose that makes sense. That would also explain why the Starfire Valioog's score is relatively low for its bulk. Maybe it needs a better term than Shields though.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 8, 2022 22:13:56 GMT
I'm trying to do both SL and EftS, but I probably won't get the latter finished in time. SL For SL SKILL 9 STAMINA 21 LUCK 12 RATING 4 I've never played this before,
Short and bitter: scraped through battle with Redneck then immediately get smashed by Auto Drone Assumed that I'd chosen badly (or at least unluckily) but I see that I was matching Champskees's walkthrough.
Question: in the potion room early on in Escape you're told that you can take only 3 potions with you (0-3 of the three kinds). But can you knock back a couple in the room? There doesn't seem to be a reason why not. EftS SKILL 12 STAMINA 19 LUCK 10
At cut-off point, currently battling a crocodile mutant. Have learnt the Asuran language. (Final death weapons factory.)
Inventory: +4AS sword, 2 x Skill potion for combat (+2 AS), 1 Luck potion (initial), shield, razor-sharp beak Provisions: 3 (2 of them beer) Gold: 20
Kill count: 2 guards Lizard man and 2 trolls Sabre-toothed tiger 2 lizard men 3 guards Puflin 2 crocodiles (Crocodile mutant)
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,437
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jan 8, 2022 23:46:54 GMT
then immediately get smashed by Auto DAssumed Assumed that I'd chosen badly (or at least unluckily)Did you note the rule that your Shields restore after winning a space battle? If so, you were indeed very unlucky because the auto drone is fairly weak.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 9, 2022 0:10:42 GMT
I'm trying to do both SL and EftS, but I probably won't get the latter finished in time. Which one are you counting for the contest?
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,437
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jan 9, 2022 1:02:25 GMT
I haven't played Freeway Fighter in a while so wasn't sure I would remember the route... ...but I mostly did and guessed well at the times I was shaky so a success to report here - I also saved Sinclair if that counts for anything.
Stats: Sk9 St29 Lu10 Fi12 Ar34
Combats: Red Chevvy Motor Cycle Yellow Ford (survived the 4 rounds and won them all) Chariot Duellist (in that I survived the round even though I lost it) Jeep Station Wagon (survived the 3 rounds though lost two of them) Doom Dogs x2 (they came very near to killing me)
Items: Handcuffs Iron Bar Wire Cutters Plastic Tubing Bullet Proof Vest 2 Fuel Cannisters plus refilling one of them
Information: Don't stop at Joe's The bike gang is at Rockville Watch out for landslides
Didn't use a guide
Edit: I think I erroneously assumed the iron bar counted as a crowbar so I shouldn't have been able to get the bullet proof vest and may not have then survived against the Doom Dogs so I guess this may have been a failure after all. I'll happily concede to anyone who beats the book less controversially!
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 9, 2022 1:26:53 GMT
then immediately get smashed by Auto DAssumed Assumed that I'd chosen badly (or at least unluckily)Did you note the rule that your Shields restore after winning a space battle? If so, you were indeed very unlucky because the auto drone is fairly weak. I'm not sure, possibly not. I don't think I was approaching it in the right frame of mind really given its reputation. Getting hit with a fairly stiff and tedious vehicle combat immediately with the annoyance of 'your stat is the same as his, therefore you are at a significant disadvantage' and then getting another straight away made me sort of wish for death. I'm trying to do both SL and EftS, but I probably won't get the latter finished in time. Which one are you counting for the contest? Definitely EftS. That seemed to be going quite well, though largely because of having Skill 12 as so much of it is combat (I realise that may count against me).
I've edited in my kill list. I died just a few minutes pretty soon after posting above so I've included the croc mutant in brackets and likewise listed my final location as the weapons factory in brackets.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 9, 2022 13:25:08 GMT
Nobody won an adventure in week 1, so there's a bonus for whoever got closest to success. It looks to me like a choice between schlendrian (reached the door, didn't know what to do) or nathanh (didn't get so far, but seems to have been better informed). If anyone who knows Escape better than I do wants to say who they think did better, please speak up.
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Post by schlendrian on Jan 9, 2022 15:19:36 GMT
I did have knowledge of the language which I neglected to mention, but nathanh, did have some additional clues and managed to defeat more foes with a character of comparable strength, so I think he did a little better.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 9, 2022 16:29:57 GMT
There's a separate bonus for highest kill count. Except in adventures where victory depends on killing the maximum possible number of enemies (are there any others besides Blood of the Zombies?), I don't think number of kills per se should determine who got closest to success.
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CharlesX
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Post by CharlesX on Jan 9, 2022 16:34:45 GMT
There's a separate bonus for highest kill count. That would heavily affect the more sandbox (coincidentally, easy) adventures such as Scorpion Swamp, and more interestingly, Forest Of Doom, where I imagine PCs (those who roll good Avatars, anyway) would race around trying to maximise their kill count like a video game before their victory. I get number of kills wouldn't necessarily determine the victor, but again to take the example of Scorpion Swamp, if identical Avatars took on Grimslade's quest, the winner would be the one who killed Grimslade instead of taking the money? If one Avatar killed the Dire Beast, would they be considered better for having killed an enemy (one which possesses treasure, too), or worse for not having taken the true path?
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Post by a moderator on Jan 9, 2022 16:39:39 GMT
Repeatable combats only count once, so you can't rack up points by looping round and killing the same enemies over and over again. I suppose it's still possible to take the risk of exploring everywhere, but there is still the possibility of pushing your luck (or your Luck) too far and losing out on the points for a win by trying too hard for the body count bonus.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 9, 2022 16:53:24 GMT
to take the example of Scorpion Swamp, if identical Avatars took on Grimslade's quest, the winner would be the one who killed Grimslade instead of taking the money? If one Avatar killed the Dire Beast, would they be considered better for having killed an enemy (one which possesses treasure, too), or worse for not having taken the true path? You could claim the points for victory by either killing Grimslade (after completing his quest) or taking the money. Taking the detour to fight the Dire Beast would improve your odds of getting the kill-count bonus (though the consequent rematch against the Sword Trees wouldn't count towards that goal), but it wouldn't be taken into consideration when determining other scores.
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Post by schlendrian on Jan 9, 2022 20:18:46 GMT
There's a separate bonus for highest kill count. Except in adventures where victory depends on killing the maximum possible number of enemies (are there any others besides Blood of the Zombies?), I don't think number of kills per se should determine who got closest to success. Fair enough, then I guess it would be of interest whether nathanhs additional clues would have gotten him past the door.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 10, 2022 13:42:01 GMT
I haven't played Freeway Fighter in a while so wasn't sure I would remember the route... ...but I mostly did and guessed well at the times I was shaky so a success to report here - I also saved Sinclair if that counts for anything.
Stats: Sk9 St29 Lu10 Fi12 Ar34
Combats: Red Chevvy Motor Cycle Yellow Ford (survived the 4 rounds and won them all) Chariot Duellist (in that I survived the round even though I lost it) Jeep Station Wagon (survived the 3 rounds though lost two of them) Doom Dogs x2 (they came very near to killing me)
Items: Handcuffs Iron Bar Wire Cutters Plastic Tubing Bullet Proof Vest 2 Fuel Cannisters plus refilling one of them
Information: Don't stop at Joe's The bike gang is at Rockville Watch out for landslides
Didn't use a guide
Edit: I think I erroneously assumed the iron bar counted as a crowbar so I shouldn't have been able to get the bullet proof vest and may not have then survived against the Doom Dogs so I guess this may have been a failure after all. I'll happily concede to anyone who beats the book less controversially! The iron bar and the crowbar are distinct items, and lie on mutually exclusive paths. I know it's hard to judge after the event, but do you think that if you hadn't had the bullet proof vest you'd have killed one or none of the Doom Dogs in that final fight? While combats which aren't necessarily to the death are uncommon in FF, we do need a ruling on how they should be treated as regards the kill-count bonus. Winning less than half the rounds definitely doesn't constitute a win, so you get nothing (beyond the opportunity to play on) for surviving against the Duellist and Station Wagon, but winning every round against the Yellow Ford is more of an achievement, so I'd count that as a combat victory. That leaves the question of how to judge non-lethal fights in which the player fares better than the opponent, but still incurs some damage. I'm inclined to exclude them from the point-scoring, but if anyone wants to argue otherwise, make your case.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,437
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jan 10, 2022 14:22:01 GMT
I know it's hard to judge after the event, but do you think that if you hadn't had the bullet proof vest you'd have killed one or none of the Doom Dogs in that final fight? I think I almost definitely would have beaten one but probably not both. I dispatched the Skill 8 one fairly quickly but the Skill 7 one put up more of a fight. Since I survived with only 7 Stamina left, chances are a lower Skill going in would have meant losing another 2 or 3 rounds which probably would have been enough to finish me off.
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Post by nathanh on Jan 10, 2022 17:56:04 GMT
There's a separate bonus for highest kill count. Except in adventures where victory depends on killing the maximum possible number of enemies (are there any others besides Blood of the Zombies?), I don't think number of kills per se should determine who got closest to success. Fair enough, then I guess it would be of interest whether nathanhs additional clues would have gotten him past the door. I did a bit of exploring after I died and I think I wasn't far from a certain failure no matter what I chose, so you probably did better.
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Post by peasantscribbler on Jan 10, 2022 18:04:37 GMT
I had a go at Freeway Fighter. I stubbornly refused to use a rocket on the Red Chevvy, and this reduced my Armour to the point that I couldn't afford any mistakes in the Blitz Race. Alas, I couldn't remember what to do, and I basically killed myself by ramming into my opponent. Oh well, at least I freed Sinclair.
Starting Stats: Skill=12, Stamina=27, Luck=7, Firepower=10, Armour=29
Enemies defeated (3): Red Chevvy (sic) Highway Man (sic) Motor Cycle (sic)
Items gathered: knuckle dusters handcuffs petrol wirecutters 350 credits
Information learned: Not really anything of note. I found a map that led me to Sinclair.
Didn't use a guide.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 10, 2022 19:30:18 GMT
Results after week 1 1st: nathanh - 7 (stats bonus 2 + highest kill-count bonus 5) 2nd: schlendrian - 6 (stats bonus 1 + closest to victory bonus 5) 3rd= kieran - 4 (stats bonus 4) 3rd= peasantscribbler - 4 (stats bonus 4) 5th= greenspine - 2 (stats bonus 2) 5th= terrysalt - 2 (stats bonus 2) 5th= thealmightymudworm - 2 (stats bonus 2) 5th= vastariner - 2 (stats bonus 2)
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Post by The Count on Jan 11, 2022 1:47:33 GMT
The iron bar and the crowbar are distinct items, and lie on mutually exclusive paths. Yet they can easily be confused as being the same thing if you aren't familiar with the book, or discovered it after the error ridden later books where items change name every few paragraphs
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,437
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jan 11, 2022 9:41:30 GMT
The iron bar and the crowbar are distinct items, and lie on mutually exclusive paths. Yet they can easily be confused as being the same thing if you aren't familiar with the book, or discovered it after the error ridden later books where items change name every few paragraphs I think what confused me is when you pick up the iron bar it's to use it as a crowbar.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 14, 2022 12:50:47 GMT
I had a go at Fortress Throngard. Sk 12 St 23 L 11.
Initially I did well, not using a guide, but remembering where I went wrong on previous attempts, and managing to find the bow and arrow that make the Dragon a lot less of a challenge. Then I got myself recaptured, got out again, and discovered that even though there are several ways of winding up back in your cell, the adventure isn't designed to handle that situation very well. Still, I racked up a decent kill-count: Guard 3 Chefs Vampire Bat Butler 2 Guards 2 Statues Dragon 2 Guards (not the same as the previous 2) 4 Guards (another new lot)
The confiscation of all my equipment when I was imprisoned the second time round, plus the near impossibility of acquiring anything on a second pass through the dungeons, meant that at the end I only owned a set of dungeon keys (and got killed by a horde of guards for trying to use them in the wrong lock).
Information learned: Words of Command, Dragon-slaying tips, Vampire-slaying tips, how to recognise a Warlock's associates. Just over 35 hours to the deadline for week 2.
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Post by nathanh on Jan 14, 2022 15:03:20 GMT
A short attempt at Fortress Throngard. Skill 7 Stamina 21 Luck 11. Good rolls except for one...
I wandered around a bit, killed a GUARD, wasn't really enjoying the quest so ran into a room with four more, killed one, died.
Items: Magic shield
Discoveries: By Grek and Bolizar I conjure you – Hold!
Kills: two GUARDs
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Post by a moderator on Jan 15, 2022 1:42:30 GMT
Schlendrian and the almightymudworm have a little over 22 hours to post their week 2 results, as do any latecomers who want to join in. At this stage it should still be possible to catch up with a bit of luck.
Firing up the randomiser again...
Week 3
This century - Six-Gun Friday (Fighting Fantazine 13) Last century - Moonrunner (Conrad is a bit of a special case, so you may include every time he comes back if you wind up with him on your tail)
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Post by schlendrian on Jan 15, 2022 8:51:54 GMT
I don't have either of this week's adventures.
As most of my FF collection resides at my parents' house, I will in general not be able to participate every week. But that's alright, I will chime in whenever possible and be competing for the best run that week rather than the yearly high.
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Post by schlendrian on Jan 15, 2022 9:02:09 GMT
Different topic: I'm of course fine with every scoring system, but doesn't the fact, that everyone gets stat boni, while kills and progress only score if you have the most of them, favour having low stats over actual progress in the adventure? It just looks a bit like that from first weeks scoring board, as some participants are ahead of others simply for rolling lower in the beginning...
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Post by terrysalt on Jan 15, 2022 9:56:40 GMT
My first win. I went with Moonrunner and rolled skill 11, stamina 18, luck 8, gold 18. If it matters, I took Acrobatics, Climb, Disguise and Lock Pick as my skills. Enemies fought: 4 inmates, 2 rounds against Hogg and Kilmarney Inventory: letter of introduction, angevin shroud, skull of mora tao, hand of glory, rosy chalice brooch, 56 gold, 8 provisions Knowledge: Location of weathern mill, inmates are freed, rotkod, q'yann Again, if it matters, I lost all my special abilities during the final battle. I used Nathanh's guide because I knew I'd forget which artifacts blocked which abilities and didn't want to actually solve the code to claim the mask.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 15, 2022 17:43:30 GMT
Different topic: I'm of course fine with every scoring system, but doesn't the fact, that everyone gets stat boni, while kills and progress only score if you have the most of them, favour having low stats over actual progress in the adventure? It just looks a bit like that from first weeks scoring board, as some participants are ahead of others simply for rolling lower in the beginning... Things have been skewed by the lack of wins in the first couple of weeks. Despite what the earlier books used to claim, there aren't many that can realistically be beaten with low stats, and every win gets points (more than the maximum possible stats bonus), so the low rollers are unlikely to fare so well whenever a tough but beatable title comes up.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 15, 2022 23:34:59 GMT
Played Freeway Fighter, (again for the first time) ended in desert. Final Adventure Sheet:
Skill 12 Stamina 16/18 Luck 10/12 Firepower 10 Armour 24/30 Medkit: 9 Credits: 550 Inventory: knuckle-dusters, handcuffs, map with Rockville marked, heavy duty wire-cutters, grenade
Notes: don't stop at Joe's Garage, Sinclair taken prisoner [subsequently released]
Combats: Vehicle: Red Chevy, Motorcycle Gun: Highwayman,
I knew turning into the desert with no extra fuel was probably stupid, (even made a note of that before doing it) but having turned down the option once I wondered whether I was just failing to bite the bullet. Possibly wasted those stats a bit.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 16, 2022 14:33:35 GMT
Week 2 scoring 1st: kieran - 7 (stats bonus 2 + closest to victory bonus 5) 2nd= greenspine - 5 (highest kill-count bonus 5) 2nd= terrysalt - 5 (stats bonus 5) 4th: peasantscribbler - 4 (stats bonus 4) 5th= thealmightymudworm - 2 (stats bonus 2) 5th= nathanh - 2 (stats bonus 2) 5th= vastariner - 2 (stats bonus 2)
At least, presuming that thealmightymudworm didn't notice the rule about Stamina being 2d6+24 in Freeway Fighter. Otherwise he gets disqualified from this round for using non-standard dice that can roll minuses.
Running totals 1st: kieran - 11 2nd: nathanh - 9 3rd: peasantscribbler - 8 4th= greenspine - 7 4th= terrysalt - 7 6th: schlendrian - 6 7th= thealmightymudworm - 4 7th= vastariner - 4
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jan 16, 2022 18:45:03 GMT
...presuming that thealmightymudworm didn't notice the rule about Stamina being 2d6+24 in Freeway Fighter. Otherwise he gets disqualified from this round for using non-standard dice that can roll minuses... Oh yes, it's good to throw in a couple of those for the direct route through Spectral Stalkers...
OK so that means I've managed to misread the rules twice in two weeks which even allowing for time constraints seems to suggest that I'm a bit of a wally.
But... how utterly random! That must be a misprint, surely? The new rules for ARMOUR bleeding back into STAMINA?
"Ian Livingstone? He's that guy who's weirdly overgenerous with STAMINA. For example he realised (during playtesting) that your character might die after being shot with a gun a mere 3 times if you were very unlucky and thought 'Not nearly enough!'."
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