Making yourself play carefully

[Confidence Interval]

Sometimes - if you're a player of little skill, like me - you find something that you know is going to lead to an early death; by which I mean not something awful, like some cursed item, but something good that's going to kill you through overconfidence. Wow do you deal with this and make yourself play carefully and thoughtfully?

For example, in my current game I'm a XL10 MiBe. I've found two rings of slaying, +4 +5 and +5 +5. Very handy. I've had similar experiences before and my tendency is to become overexcited and hold down Tab because *I'm an unstoppable killing machine, look at me!* - only to find out that although I'm good at killing I'm far from unstoppable.

Any tips for how to encourage oneself to be cool calm and collected in one's play?

[Stormfox]

If you can't tell the difference between your manual movement and autoexplore, you're going too fast.

(Disclosure: I'm in the same category of awfulplayers that you are, so my advice isn't worth much.)

[ebarrett]

Sometimes - if you're a player of little skill, like me - you find something that you know is going to lead to an early death; by which I mean not something awful, like some cursed item, but something good that's going to kill you through overconfidence. Wow do you deal with this and make yourself play carefully and thoughtfully?

That's the dumbest piece of "common knowledge" that gets thrown around everywhere - if you found something good, the game just got easier, that is not a +8 triple sword of acting like a moron. Crawl is 99% assessing threats properly, there's no reason to ever stop doing it. You can hold down tab if you know that it is the proper action, but really, in doubt, just don't do it ever until you have won a few times if you actually care about winning - if you are always "dying to good things" you must be doing something horribly wrong, how can you even get overconfident if you are in a situation that always gets you killed?

[crate]

All your characters are bad. If you assume this, you will play much more carefully.

[Confidence Interval]

That's the dumbest piece of "common knowledge" that gets thrown around everywhere

Still getting those kicks, huh?

[ebarrett]

That's the dumbest piece of "common knowledge" that gets thrown around everywhere

Still getting those kicks, huh?

Of course. Not here though, it is honestly the dumbest thing.

[Grimm]

Speaking as a non-arrogant player, a lot of it is just time in. The appearance of an orc priest used to be a cause for alarm; now that I've seen dozens - hundreds maybe - and died to them often, I know exactly what to do when I see one. Early game: tabbable. Nowadays the appearance of a tormentor or Pan lord is cause for alarm. By the same token, I used to get pretty thrilled when I saw that D:1 CPM. Now, not so much. I know it's play not gear that does the trick.

Boots of running are still pretty exciting though.

[Confidence Interval]

I know it's play not gear that does the trick.

I appreciate your non-arrogance. What I was drawing attention is the effect - on me, since I can't speak for anyone else in this - of finding "good stuff" in that it can, if one is not careful, lead to overconfidence, e.g.:
"Orc high priest and a bunch of orc knights? I'd usually be worried but now I'm just going to hold down tab and - wait, why am I staring at the inventory screen?"

I recognize that ebarrett is correct in suggesting that one should always play carefully but my point is that one's judgement can be flawed based on... well, hubris.

[rebthor]

Set your auto-fight warning to be 50 or even higher. Then you have a lot more time to extricate yourself from a situation that hasn't gone south yet.

[Blade]

I think that one common mistake regarding the tab key is the idea that you should hold it down to become an "unstoppable killing machine." Would you ever hold arrow keys down? No? Then stop holding tab down. Just tap it like you would anything else.

[bobross419]

I usually just go ahead and "play it like I stole it" if I find the uber item early. Sure I'll likely die (but that will probably happen anyways), so why not just enjoy the hell out of MOAR TAB while I have the opportunity. Play to have fun... and while winning is fun, it can also be pretty damn tedious sometimes. Enjoy the experience of steamrolling everything while you have the opportunity so that you can get it out of your system for more "serious" play later.

[ebarrett]

Speaking as a non-arrogant player

Speaking as an arrogant player, just win 50+ times and you won't get overexcited anymore, see, it could be worse

[cerebovssquire]

now that I've seen dozens - hundreds maybe - and died to them often, I know exactly what to do when I see one. Early game: tabbable.

how are early orc priests tabbable, and how was "tab" the solution to your former problems

Speaking as an arrogant player, I die all the time early on.

[Grimm]

how are early orc priests tabbable, and how was "tab" the solution to your former problems

Speaking as an idiosyncratic player, the answer to both questions is "yes".

[cerebovssquire]

how are early orc priests tabbable, and how was "tab" the solution to your former problems

Speaking as an idiosyncratic player, the answer to both questions is "yes".

touche

[Grimm]

Japing aside, "Early game: tabbable" means that I now move (as a MiBe, natch) through the early game pretty quickly, since I am aware of pretty much everything that can happen at that stage, instead of creeping trepidatiously around each corner as before. "Tab" is a consequence of the solution, not the solution itself.

[XuaXua]

Then-again, your Deep Dwarf with 9 in Slings who just found the Sniper longbow probably shouldn't switch.

[Southpaw]

I set my auto fight stop to be at 75% health. This way, if I am in a situation where I'm tabbing things and I come across something that actually can hurt me, I am told immediately and have to play manually (and consequently, much more slowly) until that is defeated. Often, that means running away or trying to find a better position to fight in.

[BlackSheep]

I never touch tab, and I still die a lot early. That may be a consequence of being terrible at playing Ogres, but stubbornly trying to win one.

[ebarrett]

relying on the game to tell you when to stop tabbing isn't good threat assessment, just saying

[bobross419]

relying on the game to tell you when to stop tabbing isn't good threat assessment, just saying

Very true. Real men disable the low hp warnings completely. Its just an annoyance, as are traps breaking my auto explore.

[evilmike]

relying on the game to tell you when to stop tabbing isn't good threat assessment, just saying

But how else will you clear special rooms by holding down tab???? (this is fun, everyone should try it)

[One-Eyed Jack]

"Real men" are bad at roguelikes, though

[Patashu]

Sometimes - if you're a player of little skill, like me - you find something that you know is going to lead to an early death; by which I mean not something awful, like some cursed item, but something good that's going to kill you through overconfidence. Wow do you deal with this and make yourself play carefully and thoughtfully?

For example, in my current game I'm a XL10 MiBe. I've found two rings of slaying, +4 +5 and +5 +5. Very handy. I've had similar experiences before and my tendency is to become overexcited and hold down Tab because *I'm an unstoppable killing machine, look at me!* - only to find out that although I'm good at killing I'm far from unstoppable.

Any tips for how to encourage oneself to be cool calm and collected in one's play?

If you can't help but play fast, FORCE yourself to be a bit slower.
-Play online, of course. Use the server with the lowest amount of latency, since you just want to be slightly buffered, not irritated.
-Force yourself to slow down with some force_mores. force_more_message on things coming into view is my favourite, since unless my character is very buff it demands a re-evaluation of the situation. http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=hA3BAvEz
-Set your HP warnings low:

  Code:

hp_warning = 51
# mp_warning = 0
hp_colour = 99:yellow, 51:red
mp_colour = 99:yellow, 51:red
# stat_colour = 1:lightred, 3:red
autofight_stop=50

-Turn these on so you won't be irritated by eating:

  Code:

prefer_safe_chunks     = true
easy_eat_chunks        = true
easy_eat_gourmand      = true
easy_eat_contaminated  = true
auto_eat_chunks        = true

[galehar]

-Turn these on so you won't be irritated by eating:

  Code:

prefer_safe_chunks     = true
easy_eat_chunks        = true
easy_eat_gourmand      = true
easy_eat_contaminated  = true
auto_eat_chunks        = true

Getting off-topic here, since it has nothing to do with playing carefully, but unless you have saprovore, you should seriously consider removing easy_eat_contaminated from this list. Since nausea, eating contaminated chunks can sometimes be useful, but I think eating them systematically would cost you nutrition.

[Patashu]

Getting off-topic here, since it has nothing to do with playing carefully, but unless you have saprovore, you should seriously consider removing easy_eat_contaminated from this list. Since nausea, eating contaminated chunks can sometimes be useful, but I think eating them systematically would cost you nutrition.

It is sub-optimal play but you probably won't starve due to it. (Feel free to press charges if you starve as a result of my bad advice )

[bobross419]

I used to be worried about Nausea from contaminated chunks, but it turns out that unless I'm spamming a high hunger spell while simultaneously channeling or have a very fast metabolism that it isn't a problem... Especially if you eat the contaminated chunk at hungry instead of near starving.

[crate]

I always just eat contaminated chunks if I have them and it has never caused me any problems.

[BlackSheep]

Agreed, now that there's next to no risk of losing stat points from contaminated chunks, I just eat them like clean ones. When the Hive was removed, I worried that perma-food would run short, but I hardly ever need to touch it.

[yogidabear]

Even after 15 wins (most are easy combos and repeats) I still consider myself pretty bad at this game. One of the big things that helps me though is breaking up one game into several different playing sessions. If I play for four hours straight I am sure to die to something stupid. Maybe it's concentration failing, overconfidence, boredom or any mixture of these. It may seem simple but take breaks and only play when you are fully awake. Also, lately I have been going more under the strategy of "level up safely" rather than "collect runes as early as possible" and it has been helping.

[Lantar]

What Yogidabear is so true. I, for my part, have stopped playing hours long. I now use 30 minute game sessions, and believe it or not, the life span of my characters has considerably increased.

[njvack]

Speaking as an arrogant player, I die all the time early on.

Well, this is because you're trying to get from D:1 to Lair:8 in under thirty seconds

[tasonir]

What Yogidabear is so true. I, for my part, have stopped playing hours long. I now use 30 minute game sessions, and believe it or not, the life span of my characters has considerably increased.

I think that's going to be more up to the individual...I prefer to play in long multi-hour stretches. I find if I quit and come I back I lose track of where I have been, where I am going, exactly what is in my inventory, what I have left behind on the ground, etc. All of this is fairly easy to find again, but I generally force myself to sit still for 5 minutes and just re-read my character screen, inventory, dungeon overview, etc., before taking any turns. I tend to lose characters right after getting back to them because I just resume O and tab without thinking too much.

I love O/Tab too much to streak

[Southpaw]

What Yogidabear is so true. I, for my part, have stopped playing hours long. I now use 30 minute game sessions, and believe it or not, the life span of my characters has considerably increased.

I think that's going to be more up to the individual...I prefer to play in long multi-hour stretches. I find if I quit and come I back I lose track of where I have been, where I am going, exactly what is in my inventory, what I have left behind on the ground, etc. All of this is fairly easy to find again, but I generally force myself to sit still for 5 minutes and just re-read my character screen, inventory, dungeon overview, etc., before taking any turns. I tend to lose characters right after getting back to them because I just resume O and tab without thinking too much.

I love O/Tab too much to streak

Just open your char dump before resuming the game and annotate dungeon levels with items of interest you've left on them.

[Laraso]

Even though I had a very good grasp on the game and its mechanics, I still always had trouble surviving things.

What helped me become a much better player overall, was that I started to become proactive in my use of consumables. Before, I only used consumables as a total last resort option. If I had teleport scrolls, I would only use them if I was at critical health levels with no way of escape. If I had wands, I would only use them after I had started a fight with a powerful monster.

Now, if I run into Nessos, I immediately use my wands of paralysis or other inhibiting effects against him before I even take one step in his direction. If I just started, and I turn a corner and find 3 orc priests and 4 orcs, I immediately use a teleport scroll, to avoid any possible disasters.

That strategy boosted my performance by tremendous amounts.

[Roderic]

Time of play and the hour of the day or night affects dramatically if you have not properly rest or you are not awake enough.

Edit: hiding/avoiding conflict, running away and checking very often your inventory may help you and avoid facepalms when the game identifies your possessions.

[XuaXua]

If I just started, and I turn a corner and find 3 orc priests and 4 orcs, I immediately use a teleport scroll, to avoid any possible disasters.

That strategy boosted my performance by tremendous amounts.

Take that one step back and then use the scroll, but only if they follow. 3 orc priests is death in one round for a starting character. If they were sleeping, area exclude each of them.

[Laraso]

If I just started, and I turn a corner and find 3 orc priests and 4 orcs, I immediately use a teleport scroll, to avoid any possible disasters.

That strategy boosted my performance by tremendous amounts.

Take that one step back and then use the scroll, but only if they follow. 3 orc priests is death in one round for a starting character. If they were sleeping, area exclude each of them.

I know that. I was trying to keep the sentences simple so they didn't sound like step-by-step instructions.

[BlackSheep]

If I just started, and I turn a corner and find 3 orc priests and 4 orcs, I immediately use a teleport scroll, to avoid any possible disasters.

That strategy boosted my performance by tremendous amounts.

Take that one step back and then use the scroll, but only if they follow. 3 orc priests is death in one round for a starting character. If they were sleeping, area exclude each of them.

I know that. I was trying to keep the sentences simple so they didn't sound like step-by-step instructions.

Admittedly, it's a fine point, but it emphasizes that just walking away is often your best escape tool.