Brickman
Level: Goblin
Rank Points: 17
Registered: 07-07-2004
IP: Logged

Gremlins are small, mischevious creatures that are almost impossible to catch. The way this translates into the game: when you hit a gremlin with your sword, he will attempt to reapear 2 spaces to the left or right (five move rule?), the the other side if that fails. Then he will try to appear one space to the side. If this fails, he is dead. Thus, the only way to kill one is to "trap" him in a narrow hallway, or get him with a hazard if none exist. Or get him stuck in a swarm.

Left and right are relative to the direction he's facing. He moves around your sword, possibly even acting brained even without one present. He will not reappear if there is anything between him and the target square (aka not on the other side of a wall, pit or enemy).
What do you think?

AlefBet
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 979
Registered: 07-16-2003
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So he moves like a brained goblin? What are the rules for which direction he faces? (Especially on turns where he doesn't move because he can't.) This is pretty important since it governs when he is killable.

The idea sounds interesting, but I usually don't like suggestions of monsters that move brained without a brain. For one, it's often harder to make intricate puzzles out of them where they don't all come at once. For another, it suggests the question, "What do they do different when there _is_ a brain?"

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Brickman
Level: Goblin
Rank Points: 17
Registered: 07-07-2004
IP: Logged

Maybe they shouldn't move like brained. And by "move around your sword" I meant that if your sword is between you and him he will step around it instead of standing still (Roaches don't move around your sword, but I think everyone who isn't either a roach or a roach with a different sprite will).

AlefBet
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 979
Registered: 07-16-2003
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(Roaches don't move around your sword, but I think everyone who isn't either a roach or a roach with a different sprite will).

Brained monsters pretty much all go around your sword (if they move at all), but I actually don't know of any non-brained monster that will go around your sword. Wraithwings won't. Goblins won't even approach your sword. (If backed against a wall, I suppose they will.) Brains and Tar Mothers, of course, don't move. And Serpents go right through it. So I don't quite follow you.

By "move around your sword" I meant that if your sword is between you and him he will step around it instead of standing still

So, looking at the question of which way he typically faces, I'm guessing he faces in the direction he last moved, but if he doesn't/can't move, he faces towards Beethro? Do I have that right?

____________________________
I was charged with conspiracy to commit jay-walking, and accessory to changing lanes without signaling after the fact .

++Adam H. Peterson

Brickman
Level: Goblin
Rank Points: 17
Registered: 07-07-2004
IP: Logged

You're right, I had formed this incorrect thought watching guys sidestep my sword when it was pointed diagonally, which they all do, even roaches. I think that, even though there should be some monsters smart enough to walk around your balde with no brain, a reason just occured to me for why it shouldn't be these: these guys can only be slain in one or two spots in a given room, and something making it harder to move them there is a bad idea.

It also just occured to me that they need to not let him move on the same turn he reappears (otherwise, if its one space away you always die). Just wanted to say that before someone else who was more critical.

DiMono
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1181
Registered: 09-13-2003
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I actually like this idea. It's fairly easy to navigate a Goblin down a narrow passageway to kill him, because he'll stay away from your sword, and if the passage is his only "escape" route that's where he'll go. I think it would be interesting to have a monster that you need to actively pursue, stabbing it at just the right time, because he's also trying to advance on you.

I think it would be interesting to see how this monster interacts with other monster types, i.e. is it playable? Gremlin and a swarm of roaches in open space could be deadly.

Edit: What if the Gremlin's facing diagonally? Does it move 2 over and 2 up?

[Edited by DiMono on 07-12-2004 at 07:38 PM GMT]

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Brickman
Level: Goblin
Rank Points: 17
Registered: 07-07-2004
IP: Logged

Well, yeah, it moves 2 over and two up/down. It wouldn't be too hard to program, right?

Hey, would you look at that? My first two proposals on this forum were both good ones! I'm on a roll. Better not let it get to my head, thats the most direct way of ruining this type of streak.