No Save Challenge

The role-playing games (I-X) that started it all and the various spin-offs (including Dark Messiah).
Jacobe
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No Save Challenge

Unread postby Jacobe » 05 May 2012, 02:03

Recently, I played MM7 as a solo sorceror -> lich as an attempt at a challenge game. However, I found I was using save state abuse in order to spoil the game for myself and make things easy.

Here are some of the things I did:

1) Saving before viewing a group of hirelings in Emerald Isle until I get a factor and a scholar on the first day
2) Saving before looting trash piles in Harmondale until they gave me the best possible armor (for extra cash early on).
3) Saving before entering shops in Avlee, Bracada, and Deyja to get top tier equipment.
4) Saving before looting the corpse of Wromthrax until he gave Ethric's staff
5) Saving before using expensive ores until I had a full set of very nearly perfect equipment
6) Saving before looting each treasure chest until my expert perception caused my character to dodge it, or my resistances made the damage negligible.
7) Saving before trying to do something stupid and unlikely until it went well
(IE: trying 8 times to run invisibly past the guards in Markham's manor -- or -- saving and loading again and again in the breeding zone to kill or get past all of the behemoths at the end)

Having spoiled the game for myself this way, I am going to try a game challenge where no save abuse is possible because no saving and reloading is allowed at all. The only time I will save is when I take a break from playing. Then, I will pick up from the save state exactly where I left off. When I die, I will let myself die and respawn at Emerald Isle/Harmondale. Obviously, this means that I will avoid situations that might cause me to die at all costs. My goal is to play through with as high a score and as few deaths as possible, but I am going to be honest, and will not reload if I die.

If people have interest in this, I would encourage people to try playing the game this way and post their final score and the number of deaths that they had.

To start things off: here is how I am intending to play

MM7 -- Party: Knight/Thief/Cleric/Sorcerer (in all of its overpowered, stereotyped beauty) -- alignment: good
additional restrictions: no learning skill, no blaster skill, no genie lamps.

Spin
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Unread postby Spin » 05 May 2012, 05:59

Sounds interesting. But really you'll most likely be taking the safe route and keeping it simple. I didn't find it too hard to die in any of the MM games, the only time where it was really risky was when you were in a dungeon and tried to sleep but got encountered.

I reckon you'll go extremely far in the game, i don't think you'll win it at the end (especially without blasters), but the first 60% of the game should be fairly easy. When you choose good/evil is when it will get difficult.

Good luck! Perhaps you can set yourself a reasonable time limit too (either game time or real time) to avoid grinding against lower level enemies all the time.

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GreatEmerald
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Unread postby GreatEmerald » 05 May 2012, 11:18

Spin wrote:Sounds interesting. But really you'll most likely be taking the safe route and keeping it simple. I didn't find it too hard to die in any of the MM games, the only time where it was really risky was when you were in a dungeon and tried to sleep but got encountered.
Why would you ever rest in a dungeon? There is always an inn nearby. And, more importantly, a shop.

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Arret
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Unread postby Arret » 05 May 2012, 16:09

As long as you have preservation+regen on at all times and you get body building for your knight (more hp to run away with), you shouldn't run into any major problems.

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Tress
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Unread postby Tress » 05 May 2012, 16:17

I reckon you'll go extremely far in the game, i don't think you'll win it at the end (especially without blasters), but the first 60% of the game should be fairly easy. When you choose good/evil is when it will get difficult.


For default team I somehow feel it is contrary. As I see it, team can die once it have some freedom of movement and you start to try to bite harder dungeons than supposed to. Like trying to save dwarves as first thing, by outrunning oozes. Or you try to open chests you are not supposed to yet. Basically with rellatively good knowledge of game, you should be able to pick dungeons and monsters which does not posses big threat.
Once you have chosen alignment you have necessary arsenal to never die. Basically on second half game, only effects like paralysis, insta death, etc are dangerous. But once you get GM body and protection, that solves itself, and makes encounters that are potentiality dangerous like Tolberti, very doable. Also first spells you get as light side is paralysis which pretty much trivializes 90% of encounters. Sure master swordsman are hard, but against spells like that they are powerless. Without priest(and wizard on top of that) in team I would agree that such iron man game would be extremely challenging and would require extra thought.
Basically only challenge once you align yourself is mana drains from devils/vampires or storming pit with queens head on. Other than that, consider you take all precautions, you cant die outright which always, allows to retreat.
Well theoretically you might die extra time with really unlucky entry into Lincoln, as you are against basters, and you are unarmed entirely, but that also should be rare case.

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koval321
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Re: No Save Challenge

Unread postby koval321 » 09 May 2012, 14:35

Jacobe wrote:The only time I will save is when I take a break from playing.
Ok it sound interesting, my team will be four sorcerers evil, and my challenge will be even more nasty: When all characters die I will end play game. My score will be amount of experience levels. Probably I will never finish game but want to see how long will survive with this fragile team. Am guess game should be more exciting, it actualy boring me after play it so much times, but with challenge, yes it may be something...

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Tress
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Unread postby Tress » 09 May 2012, 17:04

Imo such team will be extremely painful due to lack of disarm, which is needed for promotions.
Considering you can avoid need for disarm(but still get promotions), only place that imo would not be realistically possible without exploits is Robert the wise fight.
As for iron man challenge, mm6 would be much more challenging in this department due to much higher complexity of game, and lack of possibility to avoid insta deaths and invisibility.

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koval321
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Unread postby koval321 » 10 May 2012, 06:11

I will disarm traps by telekinesis and elemental protection should give me chances when something explode nearby. Game is more interesting this way, already survived island and continue.

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koval321
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Unread postby koval321 » 12 May 2012, 07:05

Am level 14, most fear is about trap in chest so I dont open any, telekinesis is after wizard promotion but it require open chests to get golem parts. So my tactic is to search anything which give bonus to health and magic resistances, unless am not save/load so its really hard to find something good in schop.

Tactic of playing four mages is simple: best defence is offence am kill monsters before they reach me, each is master in one element (every skill points invest in one magic element) My npcs are healer and master +4 bonus to elemental magic.

About game feeling: Everywhere is challenge, its no situation like before where I feel to have undestructable team at some point of progress. By mistake I killed peasant but dont load and go to jail for year. In some way like this style of playing its difficulty but not that boring as previously.

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tolich
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Unread postby tolich » 12 May 2012, 08:07

koval321 wrote:Am level 14, most fear is about trap in chest so I dont open any, telekinesis is after wizard promotion but it require open chests to get golem parts.
Expertize your Perception, it really helps to avoid trap damage. It's skill points that you tear from an Elemental skill though.

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koval321
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Unread postby koval321 » 13 May 2012, 12:39

My first party death was in nighon tunnels by minotaur lord, party level 21
I probably should try to kill them but used invisibility and in middle it turn off by touch somebody and surrounded by minotaurs no chances, after second invisible run I was able to get trough it, then learn master water and return by town portal
Chests traps are not problem like i thought at begining, survived many of them without telekinesis, just good elemetal resistances

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Arret
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Unread postby Arret » 19 May 2012, 20:52

Chests in general don't really do a lot of damage most of the time. The only ones that give problems are the ones on Emerald Isle (due to characters having low hp) and the ones in the Walls of Mist. When you get in trouble is opening a string of chests back to back (Haunted Mansion) but that can be avoided by just healing after each one.


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