@callanh - THANK YOU! - Looking forward to the 'seed' feature appearing in a coming update. I've been playing Pathos nonstop for days and I am really, really enjoying myself. One question please: are 'pets' supported? I've been trying to throw tasty comestibles at dogs and cats to no avail. EDIT: No need to answer this. I just read your earlier post. Thanks! Thanks again Callan for a really fun and fast implementation of NetHack!
I think the poster is referring to a way of tipping you for your excellent effort! (Thus not referring to the other 'Donate' button which allows you to contribute funds to your god/altar.)
Oh I see! Well, the best way to support Pathos is to spread the word. I have a bit of a natural aversion to ads and in app purchases etc. I do this just for the love of the game. Great feedback (and good criticism) is what I need to continue the momentum.
iPhone 5/iOS 7.1.2... The game just shows the two sword logo thing, starts some music and then crashes back to the home screen... Is anyone else having this issue, or is it just my wonky phone?
I'm afraid I can't confirm or deny your issue with iOS 7.x. Seems that the simulators are no longer available in the current version of Xcode... I have tested on iPhone5 but only 8.x and 9.x.
That would be great! Just a way of giving you a tip to thank you, I'm enjoying this and would Iike to support you!
I've got some good news for those of you with iOS 8.x. I've successfully requested an expedited review from Apple and Pathos 1.8 is now available. This version includes the pets update. Perhaps the player who bombed Pathos with a one star review will reconsider his rating!
Well done mate. I'll be giving it a go when I can. Can't believe someone would be so cruel to lowball rate the game (well actually I can in this strange world). We're lucky to have this and the likes of you to bring it to us.
Totally loving this! I've always 'wanted' to like Nethack, but something always jarred and other roguelikes scratched the itch - but it seems I'm superficial enough to have it made pretty that I'll spend hours playing! Kudos dev, kudos! Ignorant question - equipment information - is that available somehow? For example, I picked up orcish armour as a ranger - I couldn't see how to tell what armour category my loot fell into? I can assume where it sits, but wanted to understand if there was something obvious I'm missing?
Hi @stbsteve. You are the third or fourth person to ask me this question today and I have not been asked before today. It seems that every time I implement a feature the 'next most important' feature just bubbles to the top of the list. Fascinating observations aside, the short answer is there no equipment information at the moment. You can only experiment with the character sheet open. I would like to build the equipment list for comparison into the HELP function. I'll keep you posted on any updates.
iOS7 issues App crashes on title screen (swords) in iOS7. You should be able to get an iOS7 simulator for Xcode: In Xcode, choose Xcode > Preferences. In the Preferences window, click Downloads. In Components, find the iOS7 legacy simulator version you want to add, and click the Install button. If this does not work, email me. Had lots of issues releasing my iOS RPG and I may be able to give you a heads up about some of the stuff that can happen.
One of the slickest, most enjoyable nethack implementations I've played. Ok, so I know part of the appeal of classic RL is the rudimentary ethstetics, but the current tile set is rough, would be great if there was alternatives, or even a way to import your own. Only aversion so far is that it seems to slow as game progresses, not sure it occurs every game or only under certain circumstances, save-restart seems to solve. Still, very enjoyable, and far more approachable that most classic RL's. And while it's "easier" to play, that's only due to the interface, otherwise this game is no pushover; in fact it's ruthless when it comes to the frequency of cursed items encountered. Realistically, this is quite logical, who would leave a perfectly good item just lying around a dungeon anyway, it's someone else's trash most likely. Problem is, noooooooothing is identified, not even merchant wares. Not even identification scrolls are identified, that is, of coarse, until, by chance, you identify them. However, even this is a risky proposition: blindly reading scrolls and quaffing potions, while seemingly the only option to discover their properties, is the surest way to die early. Example: testing things out I drank an unidentified blindness potion that lasted 350 turns. Attempted to play blind, and unbeknownst to me, I pushed a boulder around and sealed the stairs down, which unfortunately was in a corner; game over. Now that's truly rouge-like!
Please don't put any more info up than you'd get with Nethack, or keep a hardcore mode available. The value for me is very much as a playable mobile Nethack. If anything, I want some of the more esoteric options back. Like, scratching a wand into the ground and looking at the unique message returned is actually how you identify the wand without using it. Most of the magic items have an identifying trick like that associated with one of the extended options, but you have to preserve the "silly" stuff as well as the original return messages to make it work. Same with ambient dungeon messages--they often tell you which monsters are roaming. Don't leave anything out! It's all important no matter how unimportant it seems. Advanced play relies on it. You have a brilliant touch for intelligently organizing all these options so I see huge promise in enabling the full set. On another note, swipe movement would be really nice. It'd also be nice to expose run vs walk if you do so.
Fwiw, http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~damerell/games/nhid.html outlines how a lot of the less obvious options work for item identification. People interested in discovering Nethack as designed should *not* read this, but it'd be useful for a developer to understand what's blocked by not including certain features or text from the original. (Ugh, am on mobile app where there's no bbcode help and can't remember how to linkify :/)
I originally ported a huge amount of the Nethack codebase to C# as an learning exercise a couple of years ago. (Yes, I might be a crazy person). I had the hope that I could refactor it into a better shape. I even had it playable before it became really clear to me: the original code base is too compromised to be taken forward in a meaningful way. (let's hope I am wrong and good luck to Nethack 3.6 and beyond!) Disappointed, I had a long break from this project before deciding to start a new game engine. Using the Nethack code I had already ported to C# I imported all the assets (items, monsters, roles, races, skills, spells, and so on) into the new game engine. Through plenty of late nights, weekends and annual leave - we now have Pathos. In my humble opinion, the Nethack code base is in the state it is in _because_ of all the quirky details that were implemented over 25 years. There are huge expanses of switch statements implementing the same list of objects in slightly different contexts. Over and over again, it must be nearly impossible to know how to make a meaningful change. Anyway, this long and boring backstory only has one small point: I am focusing on implementing mechanics that are sustainable and maintainable. That is, the core essence of the mechanics. eg. I doubt I will implement diluted potions, etc.
On identification, I actually made Pathos easier than Nethack. All you have to do is use an item and you know what it is. Unlike Nethack where it was often ambiguous hence all the tricks with wands. But really, just zap your wand once and it is identified. Finding out the BCU status of an item is probably more important before you try something. Or know where you can remove a curse if you don't! A fun bit of trivia: the leading cause of death in Pathos is 'self-harm' by a fair margin. The most dangerous monster in the dungeon is you.
I have faith that the intricacy and the code structure don't need to be coupled. I think you're just looking at a few decades(!) of built up code. An acquaintance of mine just joined the Nethack team recently, and I know refactoring and cleanup are current concerns. Just from the bits of the code base I know, my guess is that refactoring towards clear and cohesive actors and taking an event-driven approach would clean up a lot of the spaghetti state machine switch statements. That said, I understand your desire for a simple design and I love what you've done. But I hope someday, either Pathos or otherwise, you might find a way to bring a full Nethack implementation to the table with the simplicity of the interface design you're establishing here. That full design and its surprises and quirks are what has kept me engaged with the game for nearly 30 years. I'd pay quite a bit for a native and streamlined UI implementation of it. Either way, mad props. I love this game.
I noted a progressive slowdown previously that now seems occur when the characters icon changes. Assumed the icon changed due to leveling up, but now I'm wondering if the icon changed and I'm slower because I was polymorphed. Thing is, new icon is very similar to original: a big barbarian, There's no game message or character status that indicates I was polymorphed, but how could I tell if I was, or am I just encountering an error?
You can see from the character sheet if you are polymorphed. You can also look at your SPEED rating as a clue. Around 10-12 is normal, lower is faster and higher is slower. Some monsters move slower and you inherit their speed when you are polymorphed. There also could be a bug! If you can give me any more clarity it would be appreciated.
