Idle Explorers (Spelunky, um, thumbs)

[elmuerte]

Barely reached the jungle. I think that second to last hit by the zombie was unfair.

[Justin Leego]

Congrats Hammerpants, you're well up the leaderboards for today!

 

Have to say that the mines were ridiculously easy for this one. That makes the Black Market error all the more grevious -- I'm sure I wasn't the only one to

anger the exploding frog instead of taking out the tiki trap.

Silly, silly.

[hammerpants]

I did a mistake, and the ghost ate me.

 

[elmuerte]

I encountered a new foe in the ice caves today. Jungle didn't go very well for me, but a frog saved me from big fall.

[Professor Video Games]

When I threw a bomb at that big spider in 1-2 it bounced off that bat (I think...or I just missed) and blew up the alter. What a disaster. I should try figuring out how to record these things. My ineptitude would probably be at least a little entertaining. Actually speaking of ineptitude, I've been wondering...do you guys normally rob the black market if you get there? Every time I've tried has ended...poorly.

[Badfinger]

Yes, although lately I've had a lot of difficulty with it. In today's run (pretty sure it was the daily) an exploding frog blew up immediately somewhere off screen and everyone came after me before I had even started setting up. Very sad.

[hammerpants]

Yeah I almost always rob the black market. There are occasions where I'll have enough money to buy the ankh plus all the items I want from the black market, but that usually involves ghosting early levels which comes with its own risks.

 

Hell vanquished again today. This time with more mothership!

 

[Trip Hazard]

Well done Hammerpants, envious of your skills. I can play the game perfectly well, I think, but I am prone to making awful decisions and taking dumb risks. 

 

Eg.

 

[elmuerte]

I first tried to get to the worm level thingy, but I didn't know I had to jump into the mouth or something. So then I decided to go to the mothership. But I had no idea how to get out of that one (Also I forgot I had sticky bombs). Also, the jungle levels were quite horrible. 2-3 had a terrible opening, and 2-4 was even worse.

[hammerpants]

I first tried to get to the worm level thingy, but I didn't know I had to jump into the mouth or something. So then I decided to go to the mothership. But I had no idea how to get out of that one (Also I forgot I had sticky bombs). Also, the jungle levels were quite horrible. 2-3 had a terrible opening, and 2-4 was even worse.

 

That green snake in a pot on 3-1, literally laughed out loud. That was something like out of a Saturday morning cartoon.

 

You did a really good job dodging everything in the mothership. I think using some ropes at the end might have helped you get up to the exit. It's the only level where the exit is at the top of the level. 

 

Edit: I guess other than yama's room. That's also at the top of the level.

[hammerpants]

I ended up with enough money to buy the ankh and decided to just go ahead and do that and play it safe today. Beat hell again! 

 

[Professor Video Games]

Ok I gave recording this a shot. I disregarded the advice given here and didn't rob the black market because I'm a big baby, but whatever because I made it to the temple which I've done maybe once before.

 

 

Edit: apparently this is the one for the 7th, not the 6th. Didn't realize when it changed over...

[hammerpants]

I just watched Chris Remo's daily.

 

Super sad that I missed a jetpack in a mystery box.

[elmuerte]

I was doing ok, but decided to check out what the worm level was. I don't think I will do that again.

[Trip Hazard]

Still don't really know the best way to go about plundering the black market. Even if I did, that still may not prevent me from hopping down into a pit full of buckshot. 

 

[Nachimir]

The best way I've found to raid the black market is below. It uses a lot of bombs.

 

 

Collect enough loot in the earlier levels that you can buy stuff instead of robbing shops on the way to the Black Market (unless you see a jetpack and climbing gloves).

Once you get there, fire a rope up outside the entrance on the top level.

Scout it all to see what stuff you want, and maybe buy a bomb box or two if you're low.

Bomb out the left hand side platforms to funnel shopkeepers down to the lower levels.

Bomb out the right hand side platforms to funnel shopkeepers into the bit with the Ankh. I usually throw another rope between any ladders on that side, just so I have an extra thing to grab in the air (Don't bomb out above the Ankh just yet, because that'll rage them). Clear any tiki traps that might inconvenience you, but not if they're likely to kill shopkeepers.

Get on the rope you threw up near the entrance earlier, then either fire into, throw a boomerang in, or a bomb at the first shop entrance. Jump the fuck up the rope before any shopkeepers have a chance to fire.

Most shopkeepers run out of their shops and into the pits you've created.

Walk through the top level once you're sure the shopkeepers will be out of the way (ideally both ran left so you saw them head downward).

Get on the ladder outside the entrance to the shops on the next level down. Stay high so no jumping shopkeepers or stray shotgun blasts will catch you. Throw bombs down and to the right to clear out blocks above the Ankh. Eventually, you'll plant one right on a shopkeeper and take out most if not all of the ones that are stuck down there. Repeat until you're sure it's cleared, though probably enough of it will be bombed out that you can creep down for a look without any shopkeepers being able to get back out of the hole.

Go down, retrieve shotgun and ankh. Fire as fast as you can walking through the second level just in case there are more shopkeepers. They only fire once you're in a certain range, so your pellets should catch and disarm them. Fuck saving the pug, most times it'll get you shot.

Go back to the Ankh shop when ready to leave. Bomb downward to the exit. Usually, the bottom level will have killed any shopkeepers that got down there all by itself.

 

 

I estimate it works about 60% of the time for me, and often when it fails it's because a random creature angered them while I was still scouting/prepping. Sometimes it falls flat due to seeds that are very low on bombs in early levels and the BM. Bombing out the platforms either side means that the shopkeepers can never work their way back to upper levels. If the ghost turns up, it also means you generally have the top two levels clear to manoeuvre around it. With jetpack and climbing gloves you can not bother with the rope, and even get away without the prep sometimes. If you have a shotgun before getting there, you could also just make your way over the top floor shooting, but if there's a pug or any hired hands the bodies will block shotgun pellets. That works slightly in the shopkeepers favour, because it increases the chance of them getting into the same space as you so they can jump around and melee.

[hammerpants]

I missed the chest and key because I didn't have enough bombs to get them both. I watched Chris play this challenge after I did mine and it kind of struck me how crazy this seed was. I've really never seen so few bombs.

I watched baertaffy play this daily after I had finished streaming mine as well, and he had the right strategy for getting the chest and key with so few resources (he took the mattock instead of the shotgun with him from 1-2 to 1-4) but he died to shopkeepers at the end of 1-4, which would have been much easier to deal with if he had taken the shotgun.

Really curious to see if anyone found the black market. I know people did, because I can see people on the leaderboards that made it to hell, but I'd love to see a video of someone finding it to see what strategy they employed.

 

To quote Chris Remo, "What a fucking bonkers seed."

 

[elmuerte]

So... you cannot place bombs next to an explosive crate.

[Bjorn]

Gotta admit, I chuckled at that elmuerte.  Everyone has to learn that little oddity at some point. 

[20ozMonkey]

I did my second successful Olmec run earlier today on a regular adventure mode. Then I died on 1-2 to an arrow trap during the daily challenge. Barf.

[hammerpants]

I babysat an eggplant for a short while. And then I went to the mothership.

 

[elmuerte]

ffs.. I was called during my daily run (annoying standby). Anyway, I hit myself in the face 3 times with the same rock in 1-3 or something. Eitherway, I recovered, I bought the surprise package and received the jetpack. I decided to apply Nachimir's tactics and hit the black market. The first level of the black market went ok, the second level didn't. The damn shopkepers wouldn't leave. Anyway, I died there. Better luck next time I guess.

 

Anyway, no video yet because I need to edit it.

[Nachimir]

Yeah, the method I've found is far from 100% perfect, sorry. Hammerpants' video above your post also shows that you can use far fewer bombs than I normally do (I'm wary of the way shopkeeps sometimes bounce their way back up narrow gaps).

[hammerpants]

Oh god, did I turn a jetpack into an eggplant? Moops.

[hammerpants]

Not my finest hour.