Conflux III discussion thread - potential spoilers

[Chaos-Shaman]

I could make a nerfed version with little inversion from my side to allow for a faster experience. Originally perseverance was meant to be a main component of certain victories. Nowadays time is becoming a scarce resource, and I didn't mean the players to surrender their life to Conflux to reach the endings... what do you say?

LOL, but it's worth it.

[Paul Stevens]

I don't even think I'm close to half way through

Oh, dear.

Well, don't put up with any engine problems. I'm happy to investigate
and attempt repairs.

You can playback a Dungeon Master game in three or four seconds.
But Conflux makes such heavy use of lengthy DSAs that any speed-up
is limited not by the units of time but by CPU. I would like to
somehow optimize the DSA processing but it would be many weeks
of intense effort. Not worth the price in my humble opinion.

I do hope you can finish your game. Let me know if I can help.

[Zyx]

Hello Antman! I'm too intensively busy in March to do anything. I'll check the dungeon in April, at least to prevent the bug for future users! Thank you Paul for investigating!

[Phoenix]

The biggest issue I have with wip008 is that I can place my champion in front of any red scorpion and take 0 damage. It will still give me a disease, but thorns and all attacks miss. The charge attack will do damage, but once it's next to the champion nothing. This started with wip007. It's only the normal red scorpions too. The yellow scorpions and Morpanthrax attack normally.

[Zyx]

Ok, noted!

[Antman]

Thanks Paul, the engine has been working fine, haven't encountered any other issues.

And thanks Zyx, still enjoying playing Conflux after all this time!

I don't think I'd gotten up to any red scorpions yet, but I'll watch out for the bug.

[Zyx]

Just starting to get at it, will work slowly through the next days, lots of other things in the doing. I'll use this thread to chat or muse out loud a little in the meanwhile, if it's OK, just to keep you in mind.

@Antman, I'm glad for the opportunity to collaborate at the creation of such a space to people like you. Which reminds me that I should have, since a long a time, properly thank you all for keeping this level and kind of interest into Dungeon Master's stuff. The wiki, this site, the encyclopedia, the art, the clones, the sharings, the videos, etc.

I understand each time more clearly that it is our activity, as people, which gives dimension and quality to life. It seems to me that one of the main latent prowess of our species in this time is our extraordinary capacity for deep exploration, imagination and communication (let's call these DEIC qualities). We have exploratory brains (and bodies). We have so many, so richly structured neurons that we give life to what we explore, we reshape our experiences and take them to another level of meaning and deepness.

At the same time I learned that things that matter are so fragile, because they rest entirely on our shoulders. ^ ^' Having friends to share them helps a lot, and I value the resilience of a community such as this one.

Most of us here have lived quite a bit now. Not all videogames open a space in our mind to develop DEIC qualities. Our generation was lucky to find (or be found by) fun and deep playful experiences which opened a space for DEIC, such as Dungeon Master. And a relation to time which allowed immersion. Maybe we could share, which other different games had the same effect? I remember being sucked in by several games (and books and movies), but now that the dust of turmoil has settled, one that comes to mind is the story behind Star control 2. Fun and deep, still alive deep down in my flesh!

Out and over

[Chaos-Shaman]

Having friends to share them helps a lot, and I value the resilience of a community such as this one.

this is and always will be true

Maybe we could share, which other different games had the same effect?

A wish upon a star

extraordinary capacity for deep exploration

All ideas, even impossible ones lead to the imagination of the possible extraordinary future outcomes.

We have so many, so richly structured neurons that we give life to what we explore, we reshape our experiences and take them to another level of meaning and deepness.

Spoken as a shaman, deep thought

Maybe we could share

Thoughts from a wise one

If there is a way to help, count me in.

[Phoenix]

I've figured out the red scorpion problem. I normally play a single champion, but I started a game with all four guides. When a red scorpion attacks, the tail strike is always directed to the second rank. The front two champions are never attacked, so if you are playing a single or two champions you are basically invulnerable to red scorpions.

[MasterWuuf]

I decided to read through this thread. ZYX. I could barely read your small stuff (unable to retrieve my magnifying glass from DM. Ha).
I must admit that I'm in the dark about some of the hints here. Too bad I became too busy to keep up with my original attempt at Conflux.
I fear my saved games are on my last XP computer, which has gone the way of the 5.25 disk.

P.S. Have you updated to Conflux III? And was I actually playing Conflux II?

[Joramun]

After all those years... Finally having a go at WIP8 with just 1 character.

Spoiler

I just found the epitaphs.

I had beaten some endings with the 4 guides (I think WIP5) so it took me some courage to dive back in.

[MasterWuuf]

So I finally decided to start up a new Conflux game. Checked a large number of comments but the hints on getting my first flask haven't worked for me. I understand I need to find a stairway in the RAT/Scratched Walls area. I found a ladder (of course). Mr. Goldfinger (Bond, James Bond); 'minotaur with a hammer and an attitude' is up there. I've checked everything I could find in that area but haven't found that final item for the combination to get the flask. Grrr. Anyone have a flask for sale? Give me a good price, including shipping.

[Phoenix]

After you defeat the minotaur, there's a puzzle at the north end of the map near a fountain that will throw a rock at you when you try to use it. Throw rocks until a passage opens to the mildew area. At the first crossroad, go west to find the last requirement.

[MasterWuuf]

I defeated the minotaur earlier. Went back and threw rocks until the gate opened in front of the pit. I must be missing something.
I also tried jumping in all of the pits. Just using one hero/wimp right now. Whew! The water areas are a real challenge.

[Paul Stevens]

but haven't found that final item for the combination to get the flask.

I have been very lazy. I have a Conflux playback file that was sent to me
over a year ago. I have intended to publish it. I'll force myself to
do that in the next day or so.

You could watch it and see how someone else solved the problem.

[MasterWuuf]

It's the Kath Vinegar. I killed the minotaur (Beta Bill on hormones) in the maze. I understand I'll find the item in this area. I'll keep searching. Falling down the various pits didn't seem to help.

[Phoenix]

It sounds like you're in the right area, but haven't completed the puzzle. You need to keep throwing rocks until there is a complete path to behind the gate. The pit in front of the gate and one ajacent to it never close, but each time you get a rock to the right pad a wall will open.
Then look for tiny buttons behind the gate and a passage north will open. It will be next to an alcove with clothing and a shuriken. I wouldn't recommend entering those pits to the sewers until you have a flask.

[MasterWuuf]

Thanks Phoenix. That was fun. I must have thrown 100 rocks. Pounded all the walls. Those screamer trees are a challenge. Found a shuriken too. And get this...the runt elves/thieves stole my shuriken before I could get back to a safe place! Bless their little, ornery hearts. At least they 'sought me out' soon, so I could poison the life out of them and regain my precious shuriken. Great game. Don't know how I went so far in it the first time.

[Paul Stevens]

As promised - I have posted Phoenix's complete Conflux game.
It includes three batch files to play the game at three
different speeds; 13 minutes, 45 minutes, and 18 hours.

You can get to it via:
http://dianneandpaul.net/CSBwin/Games/C ... ption.html

Anyone else willing to go through the pain of saving the recordings
of a complete game? I can help.

[MasterWuuf]

Thanks Paul. I'll probably check it out later. 18-hours? If that is the actual time he took to play it, I tip my hat to Phoenix.
In my first attempt, which I didn't finish, I must have spent 200-hours or more. I found a safe haven, with plenty of food and water close to hand, but don't even know where I saved the game.

What a wonderful game! My deepest appreciation goes out to all of you who helped make Conflux available to us.

[Paul Stevens]

Yes....18 hours is real-time. But I assume that he restarted multiple
times when things did not go well. You'd have ask him about that.

[Phoenix]

The play-through takes all four guides to the Dark Councilor's ending. It actually took more than 18 hours real-time, but that's how long that playfile is. I have yet to complete a game of Conflux without having my party killed at least once. I make an attempt to play through mistakes, but sometimes there just no way to prevent disaster. The Sudden Death and the Balrog can easily wipe out champions with 999 health. In one game, my champion wasn't even at apprentice level when the Nightmare triggered. The grell killed him with one attack before he could even turn around. I recommend saving often.

I'm still working on a full game playfile, but I lost a full day of journal entries to a system crash. I just haven't had the time to work on it lately.

[MasterWuuf]

That nightmare dude (he can be beaten, right, with a definite way to leave?). I was unable to even look behind me and see him for at least eight or more nightmares. I'm using one champion, which may be a mistake. I started with only one because I chose four the first time I played Conflux, which meant I had no option to get Wuuf. At this point, I'm wandering around the mine area after clearing the place (except for the repopulating of worms necessity) and stepping on the four pressure plates in proper order. I finally found the stairs to the spider room, making sure I left ZoKathRas at both sides of the entrance to the skeleton troop/immaterial ghost/reaper section. Guess I should take the time to memorize the various names for each room but at least you know where I'm 'enjoying my stay' in the dungeon.

Question: Should I continue on with one champion, or start over, planning to take two champions before getting where I currently reside?

[Phoenix]

Yes, the nightmare can be beaten provided your champion(s) have at least 100 health, which my champion at the time didn't. The nightmare can activate anytime you sleep, so it was just a matter of chance/bad timing. I reloaded my save and it didn't occur until much later.

Before starting your existing game, you can choose the hint oracle. It will, most of the time, tell you the name of the level and what monsters you will face. While there are 64 levels not all of them are named. The top level is called Guilds and then there is Cellar, Temple, Sewers, Mines, Crypt, Spiders, Council, Emerald, Ros, Dain, Neta, Ku. Conlfux doesn't promote going too deep to quickly. At the start, you need to find Guild keys to progress and then find items to solve the Guild riddles. It's possible to unlock all the Guilds and complete the riddles without going below Crypt, but the path to that goal is different depending upon which guide(s) you start with.

The choice of number of champions is really up to you and how difficult you want it to be. It's recommended for first time player to use the four guides becuase they will tell you various secrets and warnings as you travel. Besides difficulty, the only reason to use one champion initially is so that you can get access to the four guildmaster endings(Ros, Dain, Neta and Ku).
Even with the four initial guides it is still possible to use the "Gaze of Fate" emerald to swap out one champion, so you still could have added Wuuf to that party. It's hard to explore Conflux with one champion, but it's not impossible.

Which champion did you start with and how advanced is he? How many Guild doors have you opened?

[MasterWuuf]

Zed, I believe. I don't usually resurrect my guys/gals. I renamed him.
Fighter-Craftsman
Ninja-Artisan
Priest-Journeyman
Wizard-Craftsman

I don't remember how many Guild doors I've opened. I think I always saved my game before opening any, thinking I should save the item.
I may have done the free ZoKathRa door, however.

I was actually pleased when I met the first scorpion (spider room. With one hero, I took very little damage, so I was able to bang around on him until he relinquished his life (a very rewarding feeling, by the way). I don't recall that particular monster at that location, the first time I played Conflux. Is it possible they added it in an update, since it was a few years back that I played the first time?

[Phoenix]

Zed's currently my least favorite guide. Did you start with two monk staffs? He's true to his description in the documentation. If you're at artisan ninja, you only need one more shuriken to open the ninja Doorway of the Pretender. After that you can access Wuuf. Sounds like you're at the riddles for the others. All of the riddle items can be found on first five levels. Don't worry about using the guild keys, there are at least six extra of each one beyond those necessary to open all the guild doors, unlock the guild champion mirrors and solve the guild item puzzles.

I don't know which scorpion you are referencing, but the red ones tend to miss the front row in the last two versions. I try to avoid the majority of the spider level until my champion is at least UM master in all guilds.

[MasterWuuf]

I found one shuriken, but I'm somewhere in the vast unknown in the OZ/ZO? pit.

I noticed a 'spell unlocked' feature, which I don't recall seeing before. I was hoping my fireball-fizzle spell might be activated. No such luck. How does a person figure out which spell has been unlocked? Trial and error?

It's been a challenge, getting used to poison spells doing most of the damage. I've been a fireball kind of guy, loving the sound of the blast in the face of the enemy. I guess the poison spells worked in DM for a number of foes, however. Wish I had a few fireballs to 'share' with those skeletal warriors (great look, by the way), however.

[Phoenix]

The only way to know if a spell is unlocked is to cast it and it doesn't fizzle. Fireball, lightning and magic shield(not fireshield) are the only "standard" spells that are locked at the beginning. Once you open the wizard guild's Doorway of the Pretender you will be able to unlock fireball. You have to complete the Test of the Burning hands in the Temple to get thunder(lightning).

While exploding fire(fireball) is good against skeletons, poison cloud really is a more usefull spell in Conflux. Several monsters are highly resitant to fireballs, but not to poison. Gigglers, leprechauns, wasps, ants and munchers are very vulnerable to poison. Spiked maces and maces of order work well against skeletons and zombies.

[MasterWuuf]

Guess I'll have to keep going until I find a way back to the Guilds. At this point, I try keeping the Vorpal Blade (DM name) at hand. It works fairly well on skeletons, plus it keeps the immaterials at bay. I seem to building up a good number of monk staffs. Slowly exploring the many fake walls in the reaper/skeleton/water elemental area. The way the creatures gang up on a person is amazing. Arrogance has no place in the Conflux universe. Ha.

[MasterWuuf]

Spent time bashing away at the spirits/mummies/etc. and found out the door for the shortcut was closed again when I returned for water. Oh yeah, and filled my water jug only to then find out I've either shown up at the wrong 'safe' spot, or the shortcut has totally disappeared. Now that was just ornery, ZYX.