Going Rogue - Part 12

oh shit they got the Devil.

New hire?

Turns out it wasn't boughs of holly, it was bos of holly! Heyoo

Vinny's devil voice perfectoooo haha :')

That devil voice reminded me of 80's cartoon villains :)

Hail Satan

I really need to hear Vinny say "the diamond in the rough" in that voice

I legit want to play Rogue now

oooh i hope Vinny gives it 13 runs if Ben fails

is it me?

CURSED?! ALREADY?

I have changed my avatar in memorial

These videos stop after around 5 minutes for me, then I have to refresh and scrub back...just this series, very weird. Anyone else?

@ak1mbo:

Yead had that happen too, and now this page loads run 11 instead of 12.

the video pauses and ends early randomly, today it took about 7 minutes. Like @ak1mbo mentioned. It's been doing it the entire series but I thought it was an issue just with my system. I'm guessing it's related to hiding the running time.

using chrome 88.0.4324.104 and html5 player

I've been watching in the "Download" player to avoid that problem but now even that isn't working

e: switched to progressive player and it works fine

@ak1mbo: Me too, has been really frustrating.

Rogue is $3 on Steam, for anyone else wanting to play now but who hadn't cared enough to look it up yet (like myself).

@ak1mbo: happens to me as well randomly. sometimes multiple times per episode

I'll get you next time gadget

rip

There are also completely free versions available for almost anything, the game's Wikipedia page is a good starting point. Though if you want the genuine Giant Bomb Going Rogue experience, three bucks isn't a bad price.

with all the chats tips I'm actually going to start this baby up and give it a go.

If anyone in the comments is looking to play rogue, it is on steam, but also I really suggest download dungeon crawl stone soup, it's like rogue but with just more and tiles.

if I was playing this game I would simply have beaten the game on the first run. I appreciate building up the drama to beat it on the last run though.

@ak1mbo: I have been having this exact issue as well. Randomly stops the video and hitting play again will load the previous episode.

@ak1mbo: Yep, the video stops like it's complete every 5 minutes or so for me as well.

@ak1mbo: Same, the videos keep stopping and have to refresh in order to resume.

Dr. Claw has entered the chat.

I need Vinny to say "Gadget" in his Frank Welker voice

I could swear he did this on a podcast as recently as last year.

I believe in you Ben.

That “Terry Delicious” joke flew way too low under the radar. One of the best so far in 2021.

The Devil sounds like Dr Claw from Inspector Gadget.

If, like Vinny and Ben said in this video, watching has made you actually interested in playing Rogue, I suggest you try the Shiren the Wanderer game that recently came out on Switch. It's a game that plays by a lot of Rogue's rules, but (at least for the main storyline dungeon) doesn't subject you to as many unidentified items that might have negative effects. Actual graphics might help you better analyze dangerous situations too! Oh, and it's on Steam too!

Is there an explanation for the accuracy of weapons and AC of enemies? Like is the mace just horrendously underpowered against centaurs, or might they have some damage resistance? Seems like Ben has been getting really unlucky on hitting them.

I started off this series thinking, "I would probably hate playing this game, and would probably be terrible at it, but I sure enjoy watching Ben and Vinny play it." Now, I find myself thinking, "I would almost certainly be terrible at this game, but I might enjoy being terrible at it."

Also, that Game Genie bit was pure gold. I miss Ben already.

The guides I could find for game mechanics in Rogue are shockingly shallow most of the time, but this one seems to have the fewest shortcomings:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/580055-rogue-1983/faqs/9646

From what I've read the game pretty much lifts the basic attack/AC system from AD&D. Regarding hit chance:

Your strength in Rogue dictates how much extra damage you do to a monster, or how many bonus modifiers you have to hit one. Rogues with little strength have a more difficult time hitting monsters. For each strength point below 7 they have, they have -1 to hit and damage. Rogues with a large amount of Strength get and increase to hitting and damage. With a strength of 17 or 18, a Rogue has +1 to hit. With 19 or 20 a Rogue has +2 to hit. From strength 21 to 30 a Rogue has +3 to hit, and the modifiers max out at 31 strength with +4. With a strength of 16, a Rogue gets +1 to damage. At 17 strength you get +2. With strength 18 and 19 a Rogue gets +3. At 20 and 21, +4. Damage modifiers peak at +5 from strength 22 to 30, and maxes at +6 at strength 31. You also receive a +4 bonus to hitting monsters if you are using a vorpalized weapon of monster slaying against the appropriate monster. You also receive +4 damage against such monsters with such weapons. If a monster is sleeping or held, you also receive +4 to hit.

Whenever a player or monster tries to attack a monster of player respectively, a complex equation is run to determine a hit or miss. Whenever something attacks something else, the attack is calculated as the result of 1d20 + 1 + any to hit modifiers. The defenders total defense is calculated as 20 - the attackers level - the defenders armor. If the attack is greater or equal to the defense, the attack succeeded.

It's a lot of words to say "more Strength increases both your hit chance and damage, also enchant your weapon more to gain hit chance and damage." Sadly, understanding the system doesn't help give much of a strategic edge. You just always want higher numbers for your stuff, and I'd guess that for endgame you want a strength of like 20-22?

Centaurs are pretty much where the game gets serious. The +1/+1 mace isn't all that bad. It would be nice if the game gave you a better weapon or some enchant weapon scrolls by the time you find centaurs. Sometimes it just doesn't because the game is RNG as hell and I don't think there is anything guiding random drops to make sure the experience is at all fair or balanced.

@ben before you leave,

You will send this game Packing.

In you, I believe.

@bisonhero: cool, thank you. It also seems that Ben has gotten severely unlucky with d20 rolls at times, which happens to the best of us.

Just saying: if folk are looking for a great roguelike consider Tales of Maj'Eyal. Fails some of the Berlin Interpretation checks but does a great job of making each run feel meaningful, has some cool class variety (including one that is basically a parasite where you take over boss characters and play as them), and has like 1700 steam achievements because that is hilarious.

@ak1mbo: Same here. Have to watch in Progressive mode and it works just fine then.

Hellbent made his pact and now rests while doctor claw narrates his story.