...but some of them aren't even possible. Like there is no way you can beat AoPc or AoH on anything higher than HMP without save scumming or breaking the game in some fashion.
Oooh... Them's fightin' words! I'm tempted to do a Nightmare AoHu run just to spite you! :P
Oh dude I totally want that. I hate how all my blood is inside my head right now...
*Puts on a raincoat and opens an umbrella just in case*
For the record, I've won AoPc on Nightmare! (http://forum.chaosforge.org/index.php/topic,3876.0.html)
...twice! (http://forum.chaosforge.org/index.php/topic,4774.0.html)
--------------------------------------------------------------
DoomRL (v.0.9.9.1) roguelike post-mortem character dump
--------------------------------------------------------------
Tormuse, level 12 Hell Baron 1st Lieutenant, nuked the Cyberdemon.
on level 26 of the Phobos base.
He survived 17826 turns and scored 189828 points.
He played for 46 minutes and 7 seconds.
He opposed the Nightmare!
He killed 102 out of 809 hellspawn. (12%)
Who gave him the ticket to hell, anyway?
He was an Angel of Pacifism!
-- Awards ----------------------------------------------------
None
-- Graveyard -------------------------------------------------
###########################################################
...........................................................
...........................................................
...........................................................
...........................................................
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###########################################################
-- Statistics ------------------------------------------------
Health -11/80 Experience 8370/12
ToHit Ranged +4 ToHit Melee +4 ToDmg Ranged +0 ToDmg Melee +0
-- Traits ----------------------------------------------------
Ironman (Level 3)
Hellrunner (Level 2)
Tough as nails (Level 3)
Eagle Eye (Level 2)
Dodgemaster (Level 1)
Badass (Level 1)
Iro->TaN->Iro->TaN->Iro->TaN->HR->HR->DM->Bad->EE->EE->
-- Equipment -------------------------------------------------
[a] [ Armor ] nothing
[b] [ Weapon ] nothing
[c] [ Boots ] steel boots [1/1] (94%)
[d] [ Prepared ] nothing
-- Inventory -------------------------------------------------
[a] green armor [1/1] (28%)
[b] green armor [1/1] (76%)
[c] green armor [1/1] (36%)
[d] red armor [2/4] (42%)
[e] chainsaw (4d6)
[f] small med-pack
[g] large med-pack
[h] large med-pack
[i] large med-pack
[j] large med-pack
[k] phase device
-- Kills -----------------------------------------------------
10 former humans
10 former sergeants
5 former captains
31 imps
20 demons
15 lost souls
1 baron of hell
1 Cyberdemon
5 arachnotrons
1 former commando
1 arch-vile
2 mancubi
-- History ---------------------------------------------------
On level 2 he entered Hell's Arena.
He cowardly fled the Arena.
On level 6 he stormed the Chained Court.
On level 12 he ventured into the Halls of Carnage.
On level 15 he encoutered the Phobos Hellgate.
On level 23 he entered the Lava Pits.
He decided it was too hot there.
Then at last he found Phobos Arena!
He nuked level 25!
He defeated the Cyberdemon and found the TRUE EVIL!
On level 26 he finally nuked the Cyberdemon.
-- Messages --------------------------------------------------
John Carmack reloads his rocket launcher.
John Carmack fires! You dodge! You hear an explosion!
John Carmack reloads his rocket launcher.
You wear/wield : a chainsaw (4d6)
Run - direction...
Run - direction...
Run - direction...
Run - direction...
John Carmack hits you.
John Carmack hits you.
John Carmack hits you.
John Carmack hits you.
John Carmack hits you.
John Carmack hits you.
John Carmack hits you. Your green armor is completely destroyed! You
-- General ---------------------------------------------------
Before him 230 brave souls have ventured into Phobos:
202 of those were killed.
14 didn't read the thermonuclear bomb manual.
And 6 couldn't handle the stress and committed a stupid suicide.
Some rumours though, say that the Cyberdemon was killed already!
Is he immortal? 8 souls claim to have killed him...
2 sacrificed itself for the good of mankind.
5 killed the bastard and survived.
1 showed that it can outsmart hell itself.
--------------------------------------------------------------
(I don't know if the last one counts; I was dumb and used the nuke while invulnerable and then was unable to do anything to JC)
It takes a lot of patience and skill and luck, but AoPc is definitely doable at higher difficulty levels. Anyway, I think it's good to have something seemingly too hard to do so you always have something to aim for. I've never succeeded at AoHu Nightmare, but maybe I will one day...
I just did some digging through my old mortems out of curiosity...
--------------------------------------------------------------
DoomRL (v.0.9.9.2) roguelike post-mortem character dump
--------------------------------------------------------------
Tormuse, level 7 Hell Baron 1st Lieutenant, committed a stupid suicide
on level 13 of the Phobos base.
He survived 30242 turns and scored 142008 points.
He played for 45 minutes and 11 seconds.
He opposed the Nightmare!
He killed 379 out of 607 hellspawn. (62%)
He was an Angel of Humanity!
-- Special levels --------------------------------------------
Levels generated : 10
Levels visited : 2
Levels completed : 0
-- Awards ----------------------------------------------------
UAC Star (silver cluster)
-- Graveyard -------------------------------------------------
###########################################################
.....h#.....#.....#=====#..................................
..=====.....#...^.#=====#..................................
..==.===....#.....#=====#...}..............................
.====.#=....#.....#=====#..}.............h.................
.=====#.....#.0...#=====/.....}...c........................
...=.=#.....#.....###+#####.==###########/#################
......#0....#.....#......&====X.../}|}|.}|.}|........"|....
......#.....#.....#.......====..}.#.}}||h.|................
....../.....#.....#....%..=====%.%#.........h.h.i..........
......#.....#.....########====#################.###########
...0..#...../...../..}|}|==.==..........|.h===.............
......#.....#.....#.}|}}|=====...........}=====....h.......
...==.#.....#.....#.....|=====......}....======............
..==..#....^#.....#....========.=.......=.=====............
=====.#.....#..0..#...=====|.=========..==.===.............
====..#.....#.....#....====.....h..=}=...=.=...............
=.....#....}#.....#...=====......}h==...====...............
......#.....#.....#....===....%.|.......====...............
###########################################################
-- Statistics ------------------------------------------------
Health 0/10 Experience 21116/7
ToHit Ranged +4 ToHit Melee +4 ToDmg Ranged +2 ToDmg Melee +2
-- Traits ----------------------------------------------------
Tough as nails (Level 1)
Son of a bitch (Level 2)
Eagle Eye (Level 2)
Intuition (Level 2)
EE->EE->Int->Int->TaN->SoB->SoB->
-- Equipment -------------------------------------------------
[a] [ Armor ] red armor [4/4] (87%)
[b] [ Weapon ] modified combat shotgun (7d3) [5/5] (T1)
[c] [ Boots ] tactical boots [1/1] (89%)
[d] [ Prepared ] high power chaingun (1d9)x4 [20/20]
-- Inventory -------------------------------------------------
[a] plasma rifle (1d7)x6 [34/40]
[b] blue armor [2/2] (100%)
[c] blue armor [2/2] (100%)
[d] blue armor [2/2] (100%)
[e] blue armor [2/2] (100%)
[f] chainsaw (4d6)
[g] 10mm ammo (x96)
[h] 10mm ammo (x100)
[i] 10mm ammo (x100)
[j] shotgun shell (x29)
[k] shotgun shell (x50)
[l] shotgun shell (x50)
[m] shotgun shell (x50)
[n] shotgun shell (x50)
[o] shotgun shell (x50)
[p] shotgun shell (x50)
[q] rocket (x3)
[r] power cell (x50)
[s] power cell (x24)
[t] power mod pack
-- Kills -----------------------------------------------------
76 former humans
50 former sergeants
16 former captains
105 imps
22 demons
63 lost souls
12 cacodemons
9 barons of hell
8 hell knights
10 former commandos
4 pain elementals
1 arch-vile
2 mancubi
1 revenant
-- History ---------------------------------------------------
He started his journey on the surface of Phobos.
On level 2 he assembled a high power weapon!
On level 4 he stormed the Chained Court.
On level 9 he assembled a tactical boots!
On level 12 he witnessed the Wall.
Not knowing what to do, he left.
On level 13 he finally committed a stupid suicide.
-- Messages --------------------------------------------------
Fire -- Choose target...
You see : a former commando (unhurt) [m]ore | a plasma rifle (1d7)x6
You see : a former commando (unhurt) [m]ore | a plasma rifle (1d7)x6
[40/40] | floor
The missile hits the former commando. The missile hits the former commando.
The missile hits the former commando. The missile hits the former
commando. The missile hits the former commando. The missile hits the former
commando. The former commando dies.
You reload the plasma rifle with power cell.
Fire -- Choose target...
You see : a mancubus (heavily wounded) [m]ore | blood
The missile hits the mancubus. The missile hits the mancubus. The missile
hits the mancubus. The missile hits the mancubus. The missile hits
the mancubus. The mancubus dies.
You prepare the combat shotgun! The former sergeant fires! Argh!!! Lava!
You die!... Press <Enter>...
-- General ---------------------------------------------------
Before him 176 brave souls have ventured into Phobos:
158 of those were killed.
12 didn't read the thermonuclear bomb manual.
And 2 couldn't handle the stress and committed a stupid suicide.
Some rumours though, say that the Cyberdemon was killed already!
Is he immortal? 4 souls claim to have killed him...
1 sacrificed itself for the good of mankind.
1 killed the bastard and survived.
2 showed that it can outsmart hell itself.
--------------------------------------------------------------
I died because of a careless error; I'm sure I could've done it if I'd taken a break and come back to the game when I wasn't overtired.
EDIT: Admittedly, these are all in previous versions of the game, so the difficulty may be different now, but I still stand by my point.
I just did a HNTR AoPc speedrun and I found the Lost Souls at the anomaly easy to deal with; I just stood still for a couple seconds and let the Cacodemons hit me. Their splash damage finished off all the Souls with just a couple of hits, and then I went through the door and closed it behind me so the Cacodemons couldn't follow. I found the Bruiser Brothers trickier to get past in comparison, but Dodgemaster was a big help there.
And on a side note, I was four seconds shy of getting Pacifism Gold. *sigh*
--------------------------------------------------------------
DoomRL (v.0.9.9.6) roguelike post-mortem character dump
--------------------------------------------------------------
Tormuse, level 9 Hell Baron Lt. Colonel Scout,
sacrificed himself to kill the Mastermind on level 8 of Hell.
He survived 8149 turns and scored 35814 points.
He played for 10 minutes and 3 seconds.
He didn't like it too rough.
He killed 43 out of 478 hellspawn. (8%)
My, was he a wimpy chump.
He was an Angel of Pacifism!
-- Special levels --------------------------------------------
Levels generated : 11
Levels visited : 5
Levels completed : 0
-- Awards ----------------------------------------------------
Major Icarus Cross
Compet-n Gold Cross
-- Graveyard -------------------------------------------------
###########################################################
#>.........................................................
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#..........................................................
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#.................X......................................&.
#..........................................................
#..........................................................
#..........................................................
#..........................................................
#..........................................................
#..........................................................
#..........................................................
#>.........................................................
###########################################################
-- Statistics ------------------------------------------------
Health 0/70 Experience 1634/9
ToHit Ranged +0 ToHit Melee +0 ToDmg Ranged +0 ToDmg Melee +0
-- Traits ----------------------------------------------------
Class : Scout
Ironman (Level 2)
Finesse (Level 1)
Hellrunner (Level 2)
Juggler (Level 1)
Dodgemaster (Level 1)
Intuition (Level 1)
Running Man (Level 1)
HR->HR->DM->Fin->Jug->MRM->Iro->Int->Iro->
-- Equipment -------------------------------------------------
[a] [ Armor ] nothing
[b] [ Weapon ] nothing
[c] [ Boots ] steel boots [1/1] (75%)
[d] [ Prepared ] nothing
-- Inventory -------------------------------------------------
[a] Anti-Freak Jackal (5d3) [6/6]
[b] red armor [4/4] (100%)
[c] chainsaw (4d6)
[d] small med-pack
[e] large med-pack
[f] large med-pack
[g] large med-pack
[h] large med-pack
[i] large med-pack
[j] large med-pack
[k] large med-pack
[l] envirosuit pack
[m] technical mod pack
[n] technical mod pack
[o] bulk mod pack
[p] bulk mod pack
-- Resistances -----------------------------------------------
None
-- Kills -----------------------------------------------------
7 former humans
4 former sergeants
2 former captains
14 imps
1 demon
12 lost souls
1 cacodemon
1 hell knight
1 Spider Mastermind
-- History ---------------------------------------------------
On level 5 he stormed the Chained Court.
On level 8 he encountered the Phobos Anomaly.
On level 11 he found the Anti-Freak Jackal!
On level 14 he ran for his life from acid!
On level 16 he found the Tower of Babel!
Level 17 was a hard nut to crack!
He left level 17 as soon as possible.
On level 17 he invaded the Unholy Cathedral!
He fled the Unholy Cathedral seeing no chance to win.
On level 18 he stumbled into complex full of imps!
He left level 19 as soon as possible.
On level 19 he entered the Vaults.
He came, he saw, but he left.
On level 20 he was foolish enough to enter the Mortuary!
He managed to escape from the Mortuary!
He left level 21 as soon as possible.
On level 22 he entered the Lava Pits.
He decided it was too hot there.
Then at last he found Dis!
He nuked level 24!
On level 24 he finally sacrificed himself to kill the Mastermind.
-- Messages --------------------------------------------------
You enter the damned city of Dis... You advance to level 9! Press <Enter>...
Are you sure you want activate the thermonuclear bomb? [Y/n]
You use a thermonuclear bomb. Warning! Explosion in 10 seconds!
Warning! Explosion in 9 seconds!
Warning! Explosion in 8 seconds!
Warning! Explosion in 7 seconds!
Warning! Explosion in 6 seconds!
Warning! Explosion in 5 seconds!
Warning! Explosion in 4 seconds!
Warning! Explosion in 3 seconds!
Warning! Explosion in 2 seconds!
Warning! Explosion in 1 seconds!
Congratulations! You defeated the Spider Mastermind! Press <Enter>...
You feel relatively safe now.
Welcome to the Doom Roguelike... You enter Phobos, level 1.
-- General ---------------------------------------------------
112 brave souls have ventured into Phobos:
96 of those were killed.
1 of those was killed by something unknown.
15 souls destroyed the Mastermind...
3 sacrificed itself for the good of mankind.
7 killed the bitch and survived.
5 showed that it can outsmart hell itself.
--------------------------------------------------------------
EDIT:
I for one find the IWBTG series fun and relaxing. I am alone in that. None of my friends nor the very small selection of nerdy relatives I have are willing to get past the first screen. Only one is even wiling to watch me dazzle and amaze as I snake past well memorized traps and tricks. The rest break down sobbing or launch into profanity. One couldn't even get past the map screen. It was brutal.
Just thought I'd let you know that I tried it out the other day and got as far as the third screen. (at impossible difficulty) Maybe I'll try it again some day. :)
I just did a HNTR AoPc speedrun and I found the Lost Souls at the anomaly easy to deal with; I just stood still for a couple seconds and let the Cacodemons hit me. Their splash damage finished off all the Souls with just a couple of hits, and then I went through the door and closed it behind me so the Cacodemons couldn't follow. I found the Bruiser Brothers trickier to get past in comparison, but Dodgemaster was a big help there.
And on a side note, I was four seconds shy of getting Pacifism Gold. *sigh*
I tried it as well. "Beat" it on second attempt. I managed to make tactical armour before anomaly, so I simply outran the damn skulls. At worst you get a few nasty bites. I didn't beat the game though - on level 2 I tried my luck with a lever and got completely surrounded by imps and formers. Seeing no way out of the situation, I placed the nuke, only to see the formers blasted apart by an imp. I ran to the stairs and made it in the very last second. When I reached the mastermind, I had no nuke so I let her kill me. Awkward.
Oh, and it seems I would have gotten Pacifist Gold with time to spare if I didn't use up the nuke (and if I didn't have it already). I wasn't even trying for a speedrun and actually stopped for a few seconds to pet my cat =)
--------------------------------------------------------------
DoomRL (v.0.9.9.6G) roguelike post-mortem character dump
--------------------------------------------------------------
Klear, level 9 Arch-Vile Mjr General Scout,
let the Spider Mastermind pwn him on level 8 of Hell.
He survived 8611 turns and scored 28058 points.
He played for 7 minutes and 52 seconds.
He didn't like it too rough.
He killed 7 out of 422 hellspawn. (1%)
My, was he a wimpy chump.
He was an Angel of Pacifism!
-- Special levels --------------------------------------------
Levels generated : 11
Levels visited : 4
Levels completed : 0
-- Awards ----------------------------------------------------
None
-- Graveyard -------------------------------------------------
###########################################################
#>#####################................................####
######################...............####...............###
#####################.......####.....####.....####.......##
####################........####.....####.....####........#
###################....M...X.###.....####.....####.........
##################..........####..............####.........
#################..........................................
#################....####............................####..
#################...&####............................####..
#################....####............................####&.
#################....####............................####..
#################..........................................
##################..........####..............####.........
###################.........####.....####.....####.........
####################........####.....####.....####........#
#####################.......####.....####.....####.......##
######################...............####...............###
#>#####################................................####
###########################################################
-- Statistics ------------------------------------------------
Health 0/70 Experience 196/9
ToHit Ranged +0 ToHit Melee +0 ToDmg Ranged +0 ToDmg Melee +0
-- Traits ----------------------------------------------------
Class : Scout
Ironman (Level 2)
Hellrunner (Level 2)
Tough as nails (Level 2)
Dodgemaster (Level 1)
Intuition (Level 1)
Badass (Level 1)
HR->HR->DM->Int->TaN->TaN->Bad->Iro->Iro->
-- Equipment -------------------------------------------------
[a] [ Armor ] nothing
[b] [ Weapon ] nothing
[c] [ Boots ] nothing
[d] [ Prepared ] nothing
-- Inventory -------------------------------------------------
[a] green armor [1/1] (100%)
[b] green armor [1/1] (100%)
[c] green armor [1/1] (100%)
[d] blue armor [2/2] (80%)
[e] red armor [4/4] (100%)
[f] phaseshift armor [1/2] (35%) (A)
[g] Necroarmor [6/6] (100%)
[h] chainsaw (4d6)
[i] small med-pack
[j] small med-pack
[k] small med-pack
[l] small med-pack
[m] small med-pack
[n] small med-pack
[o] small med-pack
[p] large med-pack
[q] large med-pack
[r] large med-pack
[s] large med-pack
[t] phase device
[u] onyx armor pack
[v] blood skull
-- Resistances -----------------------------------------------
None
-- Kills -----------------------------------------------------
2 former humans
2 former sergeants
1 imp
1 demon
1 cacodemon
-- History ---------------------------------------------------
He nuked level 2!
On level 4 he stormed the Chained Court.
He left level 5 as soon as possible.
He left level 7 as soon as possible.
On level 8 he encountered the Phobos Anomaly.
On level 9 he assembled a tactical armor!
He left level 9 as soon as possible.
He left level 10 as soon as possible.
On level 10 he entered Hell's Armory.
He left the Armory without drawing too much attention.
He left level 15 as soon as possible.
On level 16 he found the Tower of Babel!
On level 17 he invaded the Unholy Cathedral!
He fled the Unholy Cathedral seeing no chance to win.
On level 18 he found the Necroarmor!
On level 20 he was foolish enough to enter the Mortuary!
He managed to escape from the Mortuary!
On level 22 he encountered an armed nuke!
He left level 22 as soon as possible.
Then at last he found Dis!
On level 24 he finally let the Spider Mastermind pwn him.
-- Messages --------------------------------------------------
There is a lever (dangerous) here.
You pull the lever... There is a lever (dangerous) here.
Run - direction...
Run - direction...
Run - direction...
You dodge! Boom! You dodge! Boom! You are hit! You dodge! Boom!
You are hit! You are hit! You are hit! You are hit!
You are hit! You are hit! You are hit! You are hit!
The Spider Mastermind hits you.
You dodge! Boom! You dodge! Boom! You dodge! Boom! You dodge! Boom!
You dodge! Boom! You are hit! You are hit! You dodge! Boom!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Can't run, there are enemies present.
You are hit! Your tactical armor is completely destroyed! You are hit! You
die!... Press <Enter>...
You need to taste blood!
-- General ---------------------------------------------------
738 brave souls have ventured into Phobos:
698 of those were killed.
5 of those were killed by something unknown.
17 didn't read the thermonuclear bomb manual.
18 souls destroyed the Mastermind...
3 sacrificed itself for the good of mankind.
12 killed the bitch and survived.
3 showed that it can outsmart hell itself.
--------------------------------------------------------------