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/dev/null/nethack Tournament 2001
bakunin writes: "Tonight (Halloween) at midnight Pacific U.S. Time, /dev/null's third Annual NetHack Tournament opens. As with past years, the Tournament is open to anyone who'd like to play. We're also open to anyone who'd like to volunteer to run a game server, since (though we have a T1 hosting the main game server) play can be slow across the transoceanic links." /dev/null is calling for volunteers to run a server; you only need a modest machine but must have good bandwidth. See below for more information.
bakunin continues: "/dev/null is a loose association of networking geeks, unincorporated and noncommercial. We make no money from this; we just do it for giggles.
The prize structure going in, as we're open to suggestions to change this during the Tournament, is:
Prizes
The "standard" prizes will go to:
- Highest Score
- 1st, 2nd and 3rd Highest Score in each class
- Most Ascensions
- Lowest Scored Ascension
Since we'd appreciate volunteer servers to help speed the game play up for folks not near Oakland, California, here's roughly what you need to host:
Server Requirements
Remember, before volunteering, that anyone with admin level access to a game server box is not allowed to compete. So don't volunteer to host if you want to be a contender.
- a multi-user NetHack installation (thus, probably, a Unix of some sort; the /dev/null server is an OpenBSD system)
- sufficient speed/disk/memory to support 250 player accounts and 25 concurrent players (ours is a P133 with 64M of memory and 2.5G of disk)
- a dedicated Internet connection (our is on a T1)
- since NetHack needs real user accounts, we'd recommend that it be a dedicated system (the players will need to be entered in /etc/passwd to play on the box)
If I can't see it in Lynx I'm not interested.
I would play, you see, but I was walking along when I put on this strange ring I found, and suddenly I found myself transformed into an acid-slime, so I ate the ring (since it's metal, you know), and then I turned back into a person, but occasionally changed into a golem. While I was a golem, I killed off a monster that would normally turn me to stone, but you know I was stone already, so I picked him up to use as a weapon...
I don't remember much after that; although I slightly recall using my dog to go steal stuff from the supermarket for me...
If you're going to try this seriously, make sure you read all the spoilers and FAQs. There's a ton of good information in there.
-Ted
About two minutes after this posted,the web server with the Tournament site on it kernel pacicked with an out of memory error.
;-)
It has 3/4G or real memory and over 1G of swap. I think it mis-handled something there. It's booting, so we'll see how long it lasts this time.
-robin
Of course, there's a better chance at getting some of the better goodies when the difficulty is higher, so it might be worth trying...
"Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
"I can see my house from here!" - ST:
I would join if I could kill a week of just playing NetHack. and i've done it too. Because right now, I don't have the 8 hours dedicated to just gem sorting and poly-piling required before i climb the top stairs... heh
The only major question i have is how do they make sure that they are all using the same version with the same options? I mean, someone with -W access can do some serious damage, as well as any server that tweaked the magic lamp distribution number.
Gonzo Granzeau
"Nothing the god of biomechanics wouldn't let you into heaven for.." -Roy Batty
Your choice. I personally find it highly satisfying to loot the corpse of some player who got killed stupidly without me even helping. =)
-- B.
This sig does in fact not have the property it claims not to have.
Hi,
I'm going to unabashedly karma whore for a second because Nethack is my favourite game ever. I can't tell you the number of hours I wasted playing this (or other rogue-like games, such as rogue, larn, adom, or omega).
Here are some links to get you all started:
Nethack.org
One of the first and best Nethack pages, from the legenday Boudewijn Waijers
another Nethack homepage
A newer Nethack page
QT Nethack
An impressive graphical Nethack
The google Roguelike directory entry
the classic rec.games.roguelike.nethack
Happy hacking!
Most Stupid Death. :)
Given how viciously rich NetHack can be when it comes to getting killed, this ought to be fun. =)
-- B.
This sig does in fact not have the property it claims not to have.
http://www.devnull.net/nethack/
This one works!!
www.Beyond7.com Insane modern art water sculpture.
Wow! Tonight is Halloween AND full moon. How does NetHack handle that? Does it make it THE best possible night to be playing NH? :)
-- B.
This sig does in fact not have the property it claims not to have.
This is already a problem with a few MMPORPGs.
What do the Mighty Morphing POwer Rangers have to do with it?
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
It's a good idea. Tournament games need to be like this, making sure than random events don't influence the outcome more than skill. In fairly random games you need to make sure that they influence everyone equally.
The problem with displaying the seed beforehand is that it'd be possible to predict what you'd get if you polymorphed a specific pile of stuff, and not do it unless you'd get something good out of it, etc.
Of course, you could do the same thing anyways, but if you weren't running the server it'd be harder. (There are still ways though to figure out what seed was used.)
As to the bones and save files... They could be exported into a text file, something platform independant. In fact, some XML-ish format would probably be the best. That way other games could implement import and export features for Nethack characters, keeping as much as they can and translating items into close equivalents.
There's no real issue of cheating because
1) You can already cheat, you just need to edit a binary file.
2) You can sign the text file, and put the user into 'no score' mode if the signature doesn't match. (Cheatable though, see #1)
3) Wizard mode is available, so it's not like anyone is trying to stop newbies from exploring.
I personally think it's a great idea. In fact, I'll make a note about looking at the source and seeing if it's within my skill.
Here's a clue for you folks who might ever submit an article: don't do it if you're running a default BSD kernel.
;-)
After booting a few times and getting killed immediately, I booted with no net connection and built a kernel with maxusers, NMBCLUSTERS and NKMEMCLUSERS goosed beyond any reasonable amount and it seems to be holding up now.
I had not anticipated _that_ many immediate requests from an article ablout NetHack.
-robin
Welcome bakunin the Invoker - More -
.
Be careful! New Moon tonight!
You see here a large webserver - More -
The server appears to be running normally.
You hear some noises in the distance.
Slashdot hits! Slashdot hits! - More -
Slashdot hits! Slashdot hits! - More -
Slashdot hits! Slashdot hits!
X
What do you want to transcribe? f
You read the spellbook of Instant Hardware Upgrade. The spellbook crumbles into dust!
#pray
A Large voice booms: "You have angered me mortal! " - More -
"I demand a sacrifice!"
Q
Do you want your possessions identified? [y/n]?
n
Goodbye bakunin.
You were BSD-aligned.
You were chaotic.
You were ambitious.
You did not survive the Slashdot effect.
--- Hot Shot City is particularly good.
If you can find a recent version that is native for your machine, it might be easier to do that. If you can't do that prepared to spend some time figuring out how to make it work for your particular configuration. I don't know if you can do a compile under Code Warrior. You would be better off using a command line compiler like gcc.
Compiling NetHack isn't easy, but it can be done by the general computer savvy public. I know, I did it and everyone says that I'm a dumbass.
Good luck and have fun!
The middle mind speaks!