Dudley's dungeon

Home Comments Archive Print


Friday, 10 November, 2006 by azgor
The waterDay after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere
Nor any drop to drink.
        [ The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor
         Coleridge ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
nymphA female creature from Roman and Greek mythology, the nymph
occupied rivers, forests, ponds, etc. A nymph's beauty is
beyond words: an ever-young woman with sleek figure and
long, thick hair, radiant skin and perfect teeth, full lips
and gentle eyes. A nymph's scent is delightful, and her
long robe glows, hemmed with golden threads and embroidered
with rainbow hues of unearthly magnificence. A nymph's
demeanour is graceful and charming, her mind quick and witty.

"Theseus felt her voice pulling him down into fathoms of
sleep.        The song was the skeleton of his dream, and the dream
was full of terror. Demon girls were after him, and a bull-
man was goring him. Everywhere there was blood. There was
pain. There was fear.        But his head was in the nymph's lap
and her musk was about him, her voice weaving the dream. He
knew then that she had been sent to tell him of something
dreadful that was to happen to him later. Her song was a
warning. But she had brought him a new kind of joy, one that
made him see everything differently. The boy, who was to
become a hero, suddenly knew then what most heroes learn
later -- and some too late -- that joy blots suffering and
that the road to nymphs is beset by monsters."
[ The Minotaur by Bernard Evslin ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
steals a dark green potionPOTABLE, n. Suitable for drinking. Water is said to be
potable; indeed, some declare it our natural beverage,
although even they find it palatable only when suffering
from the recurrent disorder known as thirst, for which it
is a medicine. Upon nothing has so great and diligent
ingenuity been brought to bear in all ages and in all
countries, except the most uncivilized, as upon the
invention of substitutes for water. To hold that this
general aversion to that liquid has no basis in the
preservative instinct of the race is to be unscientific --
and without science we are as the snakes and toads.
        [ The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
! ---------- |........| |...@n.... ###-........| ----------
@ "I've got to start paying more attention to what I'm doing."
                    
                    
                    
   ----------       
   |........|       
   |...@.....       
###-........|       
   ----------       
                    
@ "If I had been paying closer attention, I would have remembered to throw my daggers at that nymphA female creature from Roman and Greek mythology, the nymph
occupied rivers, forests, ponds, etc. A nymph's beauty is
beyond words: an ever-young woman with sleek figure and
long, thick hair, radiant skin and perfect teeth, full lips
and gentle eyes. A nymph's scent is delightful, and her
long robe glows, hemmed with golden threads and embroidered
with rainbow hues of unearthly magnificence. A nymph's
demeanour is graceful and charming, her mind quick and witty.

"Theseus felt her voice pulling him down into fathoms of
sleep.        The song was the skeleton of his dream, and the dream
was full of terror. Demon girls were after him, and a bull-
man was goring him. Everywhere there was blood. There was
pain. There was fear.        But his head was in the nymph's lap
and her musk was about him, her voice weaving the dream. He
knew then that she had been sent to tell him of something
dreadful that was to happen to him later. Her song was a
warning. But she had brought him a new kind of joy, one that
made him see everything differently. The boy, who was to
become a hero, suddenly knew then what most heroes learn
later -- and some too late -- that joy blots suffering and
that the road to nymphs is beset by monsters."
[ The Minotaur by Bernard Evslin ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
."
                    
                    
         #          
----   #@#          
...|   #            
....####            
...|                
----                
                    
@ "Time and time again, my inattention gets me into trouble."
                    
       -----        
       |...|        
       |...|        
    ###....|        
    #  |.@.|        
  ###  |....        
  #    |...|        
###    -----        
@ "Lack of attention is probably responsible for more deaths than any single monster."
The daggerIs this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
I see thee yet, in form as palpable
As this which now I draw.
[ Macbeth, by William Shakespeare ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
hits the waterDay after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere
Nor any drop to drink.
        [ The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor
         Coleridge ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
nymphA female creature from Roman and Greek mythology, the nymph
occupied rivers, forests, ponds, etc. A nymph's beauty is
beyond words: an ever-young woman with sleek figure and
long, thick hair, radiant skin and perfect teeth, full lips
and gentle eyes. A nymph's scent is delightful, and her
long robe glows, hemmed with golden threads and embroidered
with rainbow hues of unearthly magnificence. A nymph's
demeanour is graceful and charming, her mind quick and witty.

"Theseus felt her voice pulling him down into fathoms of
sleep.        The song was the skeleton of his dream, and the dream
was full of terror. Demon girls were after him, and a bull-
man was goring him. Everywhere there was blood. There was
pain. There was fear.        But his head was in the nymph's lap
and her musk was about him, her voice weaving the dream. He
knew then that she had been sent to tell him of something
dreadful that was to happen to him later. Her song was a
warning. But she had brought him a new kind of joy, one that
made him see everything differently. The boy, who was to
become a hero, suddenly knew then what most heroes learn
later -- and some too late -- that joy blots suffering and
that the road to nymphs is beset by monsters."
[ The Minotaur by Bernard Evslin ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
. .| .| ------+-- .| |.......| .| |.......| ..####@...n...| .| |.......| -- ---------
@ "From now on I'm going to play closer attention!"
You kill the waterDay after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere
Nor any drop to drink.
        [ The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor
         Coleridge ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
nymphA female creature from Roman and Greek mythology, the nymph
occupied rivers, forests, ponds, etc. A nymph's beauty is
beyond words: an ever-young woman with sleek figure and
long, thick hair, radiant skin and perfect teeth, full lips
and gentle eyes. A nymph's scent is delightful, and her
long robe glows, hemmed with golden threads and embroidered
with rainbow hues of unearthly magnificence. A nymph's
demeanour is graceful and charming, her mind quick and witty.

"Theseus felt her voice pulling him down into fathoms of
sleep.        The song was the skeleton of his dream, and the dream
was full of terror. Demon girls were after him, and a bull-
man was goring him. Everywhere there was blood. There was
pain. There was fear.        But his head was in the nymph's lap
and her musk was about him, her voice weaving the dream. He
knew then that she had been sent to tell him of something
dreadful that was to happen to him later. Her song was a
warning. But she had brought him a new kind of joy, one that
made him see everything differently. The boy, who was to
become a hero, suddenly knew then what most heroes learn
later -- and some too late -- that joy blots suffering and
that the road to nymphs is beset by monsters."
[ The Minotaur by Bernard Evslin ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
. .| .| ------+-- .| |.......| .| |.......| ..####@...!...| .| |.......| -- ---------
@ "There! See how easy this can be if you pay attention?"
What do you want to 
name the dark green 
potionPOTABLE, n.  Suitable for drinking.  Water is said to be
potable; indeed, some declare it our natural beverage,
although even they find it palatable only when suffering
from the recurrent disorder known as thirst, for which it
is a medicine. Upon nothing has so great and diligent
ingenuity been brought to bear in all ages and in all
countries, except the most uncivilized, as upon the
invention of substitutes for water. To hold that this
general aversion to that liquid has no basis in the
preservative instinct of the race is to be unscientific --
and without science we are as the snakes and toads.
        [ The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
? ------+-- |.......| |.......| ####....@...| |.......| ---------
@ "This isn't really so hard provided one isn't careless."
t - a potionPOTABLE, n.  Suitable for drinking.  Water is said to be
potable; indeed, some declare it our natural beverage,
although even they find it palatable only when suffering
from the recurrent disorder known as thirst, for which it
is a medicine. Upon nothing has so great and diligent
ingenuity been brought to bear in all ages and in all
countries, except the most uncivilized, as upon the
invention of substitutes for water. To hold that this
general aversion to that liquid has no basis in the
preservative instinct of the race is to be unscientific --
and without science we are as the snakes and toads.
        [ The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
called object detection. ------+-- |.......| |.......| ####....@...| |.......| ---------
@ "Well, at least some good has come of this experience."


http://dudley.nicolaas.net
Want to contribute? Write an email to dudley@nicolaas.net!
Powered by Nics
<< Previous<< First Random  Today >> Next >>

Rating

010111
Average rating: Excellent
Number of ratings: 13

Comments

Jac November 10, 2006 00:11
First comment: 26 May, 2006 48 comments written
Subtle.
Dav November 10, 2006 01:06
First comment: 26 June, 2004 147 comments written
Well done.
acheron November 10, 2006 01:10
First comment: 1 June, 2004 63 comments written
heh. took me a few seconds to get it.

my captcha: "which character represents a potionPOTABLE, n. Suitable for drinking. Water is said to be
potable; indeed, some declare it our natural beverage,
although even they find it palatable only when suffering
from the recurrent disorder known as thirst, for which it
is a medicine. Upon nothing has so great and diligent
ingenuity been brought to bear in all ages and in all
countries, except the most uncivilized, as upon the
invention of substitutes for water. To hold that this
general aversion to that liquid has no basis in the
preservative instinct of the race is to be unscientific --
and without science we are as the snakes and toads.
        [ The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
?"... I could have figured that out from the comic.
Alcari November 10, 2006 02:54
First comment: 11 September, 2006 93 comments written
It's taking me more then a few seconds to get it....
Nesman November 10, 2006 05:14
First comment: 4 January, 2005 112 comments written
If you're stuck, think of what a nymphA female creature from Roman and Greek mythology, the nymph
occupied rivers, forests, ponds, etc. A nymph's beauty is
beyond words: an ever-young woman with sleek figure and
long, thick hair, radiant skin and perfect teeth, full lips
and gentle eyes. A nymph's scent is delightful, and her
long robe glows, hemmed with golden threads and embroidered
with rainbow hues of unearthly magnificence. A nymph's
demeanour is graceful and charming, her mind quick and witty.

"Theseus felt her voice pulling him down into fathoms of
sleep.        The song was the skeleton of his dream, and the dream
was full of terror. Demon girls were after him, and a bull-
man was goring him. Everywhere there was blood. There was
pain. There was fear.        But his head was in the nymph's lap
and her musk was about him, her voice weaving the dream. He
knew then that she had been sent to tell him of something
dreadful that was to happen to him later. Her song was a
warning. But she had brought him a new kind of joy, one that
made him see everything differently. The boy, who was to
become a hero, suddenly knew then what most heroes learn
later -- and some too late -- that joy blots suffering and
that the road to nymphs is beset by monsters."
[ The Minotaur by Bernard Evslin ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
normally carries.
Jmadman311 November 10, 2006 06:54
First comment: 23 May, 2006 17 comments written
Very nice, I like it. :)
Veinor November 10, 2006 07:21
First comment: 1 November, 2006 12 comments written
snicker
Salix November 10, 2006 08:44
First comment: 10 November, 2006 1 comments written
Heh.

Now, who's willing to believe that I read the entire archives in a day? Kinda sad, actually.
A November 10, 2006 09:09
First comment: 24 October, 2006 70 comments written
Is it just me or is the voting system broken?
A November 10, 2006 09:10
First comment: 24 October, 2006 70 comments written
"rating system" I meant, not "voting system".
Janos November 10, 2006 09:42
First comment: 18 August, 2005 40 comments written
Huh? What does a nymphA female creature from Roman and Greek mythology, the nymph
occupied rivers, forests, ponds, etc. A nymph's beauty is
beyond words: an ever-young woman with sleek figure and
long, thick hair, radiant skin and perfect teeth, full lips
and gentle eyes. A nymph's scent is delightful, and her
long robe glows, hemmed with golden threads and embroidered
with rainbow hues of unearthly magnificence. A nymph's
demeanour is graceful and charming, her mind quick and witty.

"Theseus felt her voice pulling him down into fathoms of
sleep.        The song was the skeleton of his dream, and the dream
was full of terror. Demon girls were after him, and a bull-
man was goring him. Everywhere there was blood. There was
pain. There was fear.        But his head was in the nymph's lap
and her musk was about him, her voice weaving the dream. He
knew then that she had been sent to tell him of something
dreadful that was to happen to him later. Her song was a
warning. But she had brought him a new kind of joy, one that
made him see everything differently. The boy, who was to
become a hero, suddenly knew then what most heroes learn
later -- and some too late -- that joy blots suffering and
that the road to nymphs is beset by monsters."
[ The Minotaur by Bernard Evslin ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
normally carry?
shel November 10, 2006 11:16
First comment: 19 August, 2005 107 comments written
A: both, I think!
Roger Barnett November 10, 2006 11:49
First comment: 7 April, 2006 143 comments written
Nicely subtle :)
Eemeli November 10, 2006 13:29
First comment: 2 March, 2005 143 comments written
Ha, another great one! :D
Eemeli November 10, 2006 13:30
First comment: 2 March, 2005 143 comments written
The system broke down from too many excellent-ratings. =(
A November 10, 2006 14:45
First comment: 24 October, 2006 70 comments written
If I interpeted the PHP error message correctly I think Dion is using a text file to store the ratings and not some kind of database backend.
A database is probably a lot more stable to issues like several clients voting at once (if the code doesn't lock the file while writing it can cause the file to be left broken).

I'm not saying that Dion's code doesn't handle that or that it was this that caused it.
Dion: As I'm a geek I would be very intrested in some details about what caused the rating system to break. ;)
Rose November 10, 2006 19:17
First comment: 3 July, 2006 79 comments written
smiling :)
Grunt November 10, 2006 20:07
First comment: 25 July, 2006 36 comments written
What do you want to drink? t - a potionPOTABLE, n. Suitable for drinking. Water is said to be
potable; indeed, some declare it our natural beverage,
although even they find it palatable only when suffering
from the recurrent disorder known as thirst, for which it
is a medicine. Upon nothing has so great and diligent
ingenuity been brought to bear in all ages and in all
countries, except the most uncivilized, as upon the
invention of substitutes for water. To hold that this
general aversion to that liquid has no basis in the
preservative instinct of the race is to be unscientific --
and without science we are as the snakes and toads.
        [ The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
called object detection.

You feel a change coming over you.

You feel foolish! You haven't been paying attention.
Gamer_2k4 November 10, 2006 21:33
First comment: 10 October, 2006 13 comments written
Sorry guys, but apparently this was too subtle for me. Can someone please explain it?
SomeoneElse November 10, 2006 22:13
First comment: 11 September, 2006 143 comments written
Gamer_2k4: Nymphs carry potions of object detections a lot of the time, so players name potions they get from nymphs so they know what it is.

That potionPOTABLE, n. Suitable for drinking. Water is said to be
potable; indeed, some declare it our natural beverage,
although even they find it palatable only when suffering
from the recurrent disorder known as thirst, for which it
is a medicine. Upon nothing has so great and diligent
ingenuity been brought to bear in all ages and in all
countries, except the most uncivilized, as upon the
invention of substitutes for water. To hold that this
general aversion to that liquid has no basis in the
preservative instinct of the race is to be unscientific --
and without science we are as the snakes and toads.
        [ The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
, however, was stolen earlier from Dudley, so who knows what it could be?
Grey Knight November 11, 2006 05:32
First comment: 20 October, 2005 116 comments written
A: The culprit error is in ratings.lst, but it seems to be executing its contents, not loading them as some sort of flat-file database... Really, without knowing more about the internal workings of the system, there's not much help we can be :-(
Dion November 11, 2006 14:19
First comment: 2 February, 2004 100 comments written
Thanks for caring, guys. The rating system writes a PHP array to disk as a PHP include file, which can then be included to read it. However, somehow the file got truncated. I have a more or less complete file at home, but I'm not at home now. Don't expect ratings in the coming week :-(
A November 11, 2006 16:49
First comment: 24 October, 2006 70 comments written
Grey KnightHere lies the noble fearless knight,
Whose valour rose to such a height;
When Death at last had struck him down,
His was the victory and renown.
He reck'd the world of little prize,
And was a bugbear in men's eyes;
But had the fortune in his age
To live a fool and die a sage.
        [ Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miquel de
         Cervantes Saavedra ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
: Looks like I was right then. ;P

Dion: Maybe a database would be a good idea then, a common result of not seralizing write access is truncated files (because writing the data is not an atomic operation). Would be nice to see the source code in fact. (And if it is good maybe could be useful to other webcomics ;) ;P

Oh, and the captcha "Which character represents a boulderI worked the lever well under, and stretched my back; the end
of the stone rose up, and I kicked the fulcrum under. Then,
when I was going to bear down, I remembered there was
something to get out from below; when I let go of the lever,
the stone would fall again. I sat down to think, on the root
of the oak tree; and, seeing it stand about the ground, I saw
my way. It was lucky I had brought a longer lever. It would
just reach to wedge under the oak root.
Bearing it down so far would have been easy for a heavy man,
but was a hard fight for me. But this time I meant to do it
if it killed me, because I knew it could be done. Twice I
got it nearly there, and twice the weight bore it up again;
but when I flung myself on it the third time, I heard in my
ears the sea-sound of Poseidon. Then I knew this time I
would do it; and so I did.
        [ The King Must Die, by Mary Renault ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
or statueThen at last he began to wonder why the lion was standing so
still - for it hadn't moved one inch since he first set eyes
on it. Edmund now ventured a little nearer, still keeping in
the shadow of the arch as much as he could. He now saw from
the way the lion was standing that it couldn't have been
looking at him at all. ("But supposing it turns its head?"
thought Edmund.) In fact it was staring at something else -
namely a little dwarf who stood with his back to it about
four feet away. "Aha!" thought Edmund. "When it springs at
the dwarf then will be my chance to escape." But still the
lion never moved, nor did the dwarf. And now at last Edmund
remembered what the others had said about the White Witch
turning people into stone. Perhaps this was only a stone
lion. And as soon as he had thought of that he noticed that
the lion's back and the top of its head were covered with
snow. Of course it must be only a statue!
        [ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
?" is problematic as you can change that in .nethackrc... It didn't like the one I use for example. (I use a zero for boulders)
acheron November 11, 2006 19:50
First comment: 1 June, 2004 63 comments written
You can change any of the characters in the .nethackrc (or, I use win32, so defaults.nh), if you want. (I leave boulders as ', but I changed ghosts to 8 so I could see them.) It's obviously asking about the default characters. :)
Grey Knight November 11, 2006 21:20
First comment: 20 October, 2005 116 comments written
Dion: If you want to get a quick fix in before investigating a database solution, you can lock a file for access with PHP's flock() function. flock() has some problems in certain cases... a case in point is when the system implements it at the process level and two PHP scripts running in parallel threads aren't protected from each other (I've been bitten by that in the past). Another (more complex) solution is to create/remove a "lock" file when the script is writing to the include, and not read/write/including it unless the lock doesn't exist. The 'x' flag to fopen() will come in handy here.
Am Shaedan November 11, 2006 21:23
First comment: 18 May, 2004 49 comments written
Cute
Dion November 11, 2006 23:54
First comment: 2 February, 2004 100 comments written
PHP's locking is crap. But I don't have a database at my disposal, so I have to do it the primitive way. Until now I got away with a much simpler system, but I'm afraid I'll have to resort to Grey KnightHere lies the noble fearless knight,
Whose valour rose to such a height;
When Death at last had struck him down,
His was the victory and renown.
He reck'd the world of little prize,
And was a bugbear in men's eyes;
But had the fortune in his age
To live a fool and die a sage.
        [ Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miquel de
         Cervantes Saavedra ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
's lock file solution.
Thanks for the help!
Alcari November 12, 2006 21:49
First comment: 11 September, 2006 93 comments written
""As I'm a geek I would be very intrested in some details about what caused the rating system to break. ;)""

We all play nethack, Thus we're all geeks here :P
Fathead November 13, 2006 03:03
First comment: 1 April, 2006 1136 comments written
Too "deep", but I liked Grunt's comment.
Veinor November 25, 2006 03:07
First comment: 1 November, 2006 12 comments written
Subtle. I like.
Grognor April 20, 2007 08:30
First comment: 4 April, 2007 1161 comments written
I love genius comics!
Fredil April 17, 2008 04:12
First comment: 17 April, 2008 26 comments written
Ahahaha! Awesome!

http://dudley.nicolaas.net
Want to contribute? Write an email to dudley@nicolaas.net!
Powered by Nics
<< Previous<< First Random  Today >> Next >>