So... about those spores...

[ieattime20]

I had a ballistomycete infestation get sort of out of hand on D8 while I was running from and evading some uniques. Now, I had a ring of sustenance and plenty of time, so I set about trying to clear it up. It was going really well, I'd only got be-spored once and had killed many, many ballistomycetes. However, I spent so long on it, an OOD Yaktuar captain spawned and blew me to pieces.

So I know I might ought to have left the colony alone, but it was in between me and my stash in the Temple. Is this minigame conquerable, or should I have left it alone? If it's supposed to be beatable, there might need to be changes to how it works, because the spawning of OOD monsters puts a time limit on an absurdly long task.

[Tiber]

After a certain point, just forget it. More spawn before you can hunt them, and 500 exp just isn't worth your sanity. Come back when you can kill them quickly, if you really want revenge.

Oh, and from personal experience, distortion really sucks for killing them.

[calebnoble]

I don't know how the game decides when to start spawning OOD monsters, but it seems to me that if you're running around killing things, it should realize that you're not just stalling for time.

[GameKnut]

I don't know how the game decides when to start spawning OOD monsters, but it seems to me that if you're running around killing things, it should realize that you're not just stalling for time.

It's based entirely on how many turns you've spent on the level. 5k turns is about the point where you get centaurs on D:1, as a reference. Monsters stop generating entirely after 20k turns on a level.


Personally, I've never had a ballistomycete infestation get out of hand. One thing I've noticed is that in the console version, when you destroy a ballistomycete, a line in the mold will flash red, and if you follow that line to its end, you'll find other ballistomycetes (which are now active). It's a little silly, but a reliable way of tracking them down. I don't think there's an equivalent in the tiles version, which might be FR-worthy...

[galehar]

I don't know how the game decides when to start spawning OOD monsters, but it seems to me that if you're running around killing things, it should realize that you're not just stalling for time.

It's based entirely on how many turns you've spent on the level. 5k turns is about the point where you get centaurs on D:1, as a reference. Monsters stop generating entirely after 20k turns on a level.


Personally, I've never had a ballistomycete infestation get out of hand. One thing I've noticed is that in the console version, when you destroy a ballistomycete, a line in the mold will flash red, and if you follow that line to its end, you'll find other ballistomycetes (which are now active). It's a little silly, but a reliable way of tracking them down. I don't think there's an equivalent in the tiles version, which might be FR-worthy...

There's some green stuff on the ground in tiles to help locate them. I never had any trouble clearing them. It certainly didn't ever took me anything close to 5k. But D8 seems shallow for them. Maybe that's why the OP had some trouble with them.

[szanth]

Spores are like Boggarts: Soon as I see them, they are the most dangerous thing in my mind, and I must kill them immediately.

[Grimm]

I carry a pocketful of stones to whip at jellies and I always chuck them at spores the instant I see them. You want those bastards to pop far away so you don't lose foods.

[GameKnut]

There's some green stuff on the ground in tiles to help locate them. I never had any trouble clearing them. It certainly didn't ever took me anything close to 5k. But D8 seems shallow for them. Maybe that's why the OP had some trouble with them.

I'm aware of the mold covering the ground in tiles. What I'm talking about is when you destroy a ballistomycete in the console version, a line in the mold flashes red, and following that line will unambiguously lead you to another ballistomycete. In tiles, the mold simply doesn't flash red, so in those situations where mold is everywhere, you don't have a clear indication of where to head next. You can make educated guesses, but you aren't absolutely certain of which direction to head unless you're playing the console version.

[XuaXua]

I carry a pocketful of stones to whip at jellies and I always chuck them at spores the instant I see them. You want those bastards to pop far away so you don't lose foods.

I do a "t t" (yell) when they are resting to get them moving a few squares, or confirm they are moving before throwing.

Occasionally, I'd pop a spore and get a bunch of green stuff (TILES) but no ballys. Happened to be a couple times; scoured the entire level, but nothing. I want my 500xp for killing trees.

[Grimm]

I do a "t t" (yell) when they are resting to get them moving a few squares, or confirm they are moving before throwing.

Why do you do this? What is the advantage to having them moving?

[galehar]

There's some green stuff on the ground in tiles to help locate them. I never had any trouble clearing them. It certainly didn't ever took me anything close to 5k. But D8 seems shallow for them. Maybe that's why the OP had some trouble with them.

I'm aware of the mold covering the ground in tiles. What I'm talking about is when you destroy a ballistomycete in the console version, a line in the mold flashes red, and following that line will unambiguously lead you to another ballistomycete. In tiles, the mold simply doesn't flash red, so in those situations where mold is everywhere, you don't have a clear indication of where to head next. You can make educated guesses, but you aren't absolutely certain of which direction to head unless you're playing the console version.

Oh, I didn't know that. I'll try it in console and see if I can fix the tiles version. Thanks.

[XuaXua]

I do a "t t" (yell) when they are resting to get them moving a few squares, or confirm they are moving before throwing.

Why do you do this? What is the advantage to having them moving?

As I've said, a few times when I've hit them while they're sleeping, they don't generate any ballists/mushrooms, only green stuff on the floor (I play Tiles), and for some reason even though I have killed them, I am not allocated the 500XP for killing them. And yes, each time this has happened, I SCOUR the level (yelling constantly) looking for the spore/ballists. I am sick like that.

I prefer to get the spore moving to allow for a larger area to ensure at least one mushroom generates so I can get the XP. This non-appearance of mushrooms has happened a few times now; I realize this is a bug, I want that half-grand XP boost for just beating up a few trees. I kill them quickly, so I've never had any other spores spawn.

I also tend to try and explode the spore on top of other monsters; usually they are found with a few kobolds.

Link to issue in mantis probably related to my problem is here.

[Grimm]

Interesting. I've never encountered the no-mushies problem. Rather the opposite.

[Tiber]

I definitely have, but I never thought to try to get them out in the open to prevent it.

[mageykun]

I've encountered the no shrooms problem too, and before I knew it was a bug, it drove me insane. What happens is the green stuff doesn't disappear until the last shroom dies- so if no shrooms spawn, there's no way to remove it. What I assumed was that in order for the green to exist, there had to be a shroom somewhere, just out of sight (either the shroom appeared on the other side of a wall, or the spore got separated from the rest by a tele trap). This lead to much fruitless frantic scouring of levels for the missing colony.

[galehar]

One thing I've noticed is that in the console version, when you destroy a ballistomycete, a line in the mold will flash red, and if you follow that line to its end, you'll find other ballistomycetes (which are now active). It's a little silly, but a reliable way of tracking them down. I don't think there's an equivalent in the tiles version, which might be FR-worthy...

After having checked the source, I can confirm this. The red stuff is called glowing mold in the source, but we have no tiles for it. I'll put a request for it on mantis.
About the green stuff staying if you kill the spore before it can spawn a ballysto, I have found why and will fix it soon.

[XuaXua]

I have found why and will fix it soon.

{PIKEL} YOU BETTER! {/PIKEL}

{OFFTOPIC}Speaking of, has anyone noticed the slaves in trunk have become somewhat ineffectual in comparison to .7? Doesn't seem like they go out of their way as much to be helpful. Maybe that's just me and my heroic slaver-slaying expectations of gratitude. {/OFFTOPIC}

[galehar]

I have found why and will fix it soon.

{PIKEL} YOU BETTER! {/PIKEL}

done.

[gb]

i did have a colony get out of hand once, it was pretty fun though to try to hunt down all the fungi while battling OOD monsters