It's not a bug. Intentional design that's been a part of OG Spelunky but it's more finicky in the modern version of the game. Back then shopkeeper aggro would reset if the player didn't harm him at all for x number of levels, whereas in current-day Spelunky any source of damage isn't allowed to touch him for a while in order for deaggro to kick in.
That change alone practically makes it a random occurrence, mind you.
Yep. Take out the ghost and a lot of the mechanics in the game fall apart, including the punishing (but fair) difficulty. The pressure of its arrival is the glue that holds everything else together.
Just go really fast. And if you screw up, don't be afraid to quit and start over again immediately.
I'd say the hardest part of Speedlunky is Olmec. It's too bad you can't practice Olmec without at least going through the Temple. If you can get a good rhythm going with him you can take him down fast. (Especially if you're YamaYamaDingDong.) If you're lucky you'll gather enough bombs on the way and can cheese the fight in the end.
Here is a tutorial on pretty much every Olmec strat by spelunky runner krille71, with strats for tons of different resource permutations- no ropes, no bombs, five bombs, etc
This sounds like insane advice for Speedlunky, but some of the biggest advice I can offer is to slow down.
Eight minutes doesn't sound like much but if you've reached a point where you're good enough to be attempting Speedlunky, it's actually ages.
The mine you can make it through in around minute or less without much trouble, and the ice caves take 40 seconds if you've got a compass. That gives you something like 45 seconds each for all the levels in the jungle and temple - obviously levels like Olmec take a little longer but you've still got way more time to play with than you'd think.
When I did it, I spent a few extra seconds here and there going slightly off track to claim a bit of gold or a damsel. If you do that then often you'll have enough money to buy a compass when it appears (which saves incredible amounts of time in the ice caves) and bombs (which makes Olmec much quicker and easier to deal with). Obviously the alternative is to steal that stuff which is what the WR times will always do, but I was all about safety first when I did it, I'd probably lose more time (and die a lot) trying to avoid shopkeepers than I'd save.
The ultimate advice: practice, and don't give up! YOU CAN DO IT.
There's a lot more danger in the jungle so it's worth taking it a little slower, especially since a 1-2 restart can take ten seconds, whereas a 2-2 one generally takes over a minute.
I wanna like this game so bad, but I don't. I keep trying thinking it'll finally click with me but it never does. I think it's a mix of not loving the look and the controls not being as precise as I'd like. What is wrong with me
I wanna like this game so bad, but I don't. I keep trying thinking it'll finally click with me but it never does. I think it's a mix of not loving the look and the controls not being as precise as I'd like. What is wrong with me
I consider the last tunnel man challenge to be the actual tutorial of the game.
get the key from the mines through the end of the ice caves
to unlock
the temple.
Finish that and you will be a better Spelunky player for it.
That being said the Udjat Eye which is attained with the key and locked chest in the mines is used
mainly in the jungle to located the Black Market which contains 6 shops and a special item that revives you (and is used in another way as well).
Playing spelunky without robbing the shops is a waste. Shop items are absolutely necessary to complete the game as a beginner. My usual rule of thumb is I will always rob for anything more than 2 bomb boxes and ALWAYS for a jetpack.
Bombs with paste (which can be gained from shops or killing a spider) can be used to tier down. If you place them with a short delay between they will essentially dig a hole. If you also throw them in the same place the last one thrown will fall down below the target (useful for shop keeps).
This is how you should rob shop keepers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX_i7HNerOY
There is also a method that uses a bomb and a rope that puts you completely out of danger.
Know that not every enemy needs to be killed. If theres nothing on a side of a level you need just don't go there.
Enjoy
Eventually you/ll reach a point where you're playing for high scores and it becomes true: playing without robbing the shopkeepers is a waste. For new players though you want to do everything you can to not piss off the shopkeepers because you're adding an unnecessary layer of difficulty to an already difficult game which you're not good enough at yet.
An alternative to robbing shops is just collecting treasure. If you collect all the treasure you see in 1-1 and 1-2 (including smashing pots, etc) you'll almost always have enough for whatever the guy in 1-2 is selling, without having to ruin the rest of your game.
There are some good achievements to go for which help with practice. Saving x amount of damsels trains you well for carrying/switching items around*. Opening all the tunnels (is there an achievement for that?) as well. Ultimately the best advice is just to practice and practice until you're confident that you know how each enemy behaves. Once you've unlocked the shortcut to the jungle, start there for a while. You'll die in seconds but it's invaluable for learning the mechanics of the second world. Ditto the ice caves and temple. No death in Spelunky is wasted, everything that kills you has taught you how go a tiny bit further next time, so if you ever feel frustrated just remember that.
(*unless it's an emergency you're better off sacrificing damsels than saving them, once you've got the achievement for this.)
These days I only rob a shop when it has a lot of bombs. Up until then I usually buy small items or bombs as I need them. I also do it the painful way where I lose 1HP. I'm not good at the jump whip technique. So I just whip him when standing in front of him and quickly grab the gun. But a lot of the time my Xbox controller fucks me over with its springback and I don't turn around right or I turn back. Or I overshoot the gun. Or something else is in front of it. It's hard enough to aim for the gun and shoot quickly, to have to pick up and throw the shopkeeper first would be too much for me.
Sometimes I just grab the item I want and run out. Then take the shopkeeper out later to get his gun.
I also do it the painful way where I lose 1HP. I'm not good at the jump whip technique. So I just whip him when standing in front of him and quickly grab the gun. But a lot of the time my Xbox controller fucks me over with its springback and I don't turn around right or I turn back. Or I overshoot the gun. Or something else is in front of it. It's hard enough to aim for the gun and shoot quickly, to have to pick up and throw the shopkeeper first would be too much for me.
Sometimes I just grab the item I want and run out. Then take the shopkeeper out later to get his gun.
That's how I do it too. It costs 1HP but some of the "safe" ways of doing it feel a bit cheaty. Obviously they're not cheaty at all, really, but they just feel like exploits. If there's spikes or something nearby for him to kill himself on I'll just steal something and let him take himself out though.
Now that I play for score I pretty much always rob the first guy I see though, unless he has climbing gloves. Robbing the vault is going to aggro the shopkeepers anyway so you might as well have a gun for it first.
So does the direction you toss the shopkeeper in matter? That video says he gets stunned longer if you throw him upward but I usually just toss him away from me and it gives me enough time to get the gun as long as it doesn't land on top of another item with pickup priority (read: nearly every usable item).
Had the best Daily I've had in forever just now. Beat Olmec because I couldn't find the Black Market for August 22nd. Sucks. I was doing so well. So I just went ahead and made it the best run I could for $300,000+. Apparently #25 on the leaderboard. And by the time I finished looking at the leaderboard, #26. Not my best score by any means, but considering I haven't played much in a while and have only recently as of 2 days ago started having good runs again, (Beat Olmec the other day for the first time in forever. That time I lost my Ankh to an enemy and just went for Olmec. Also got $300,000 that time too.) I'd say I'm doing pretty good again. Maybe I'll get to Hell again soon. I would have done it tonight if I had found the Black Market. I never even saw the ticking.
It's like Minecraft. Sure it's not the huge hit it used to be, but it's one of those games you just crave one day and want to get back into. Plus people are still discovering the game.
Also I love that this isn't even the OT! We tried to keep the OT going when this thread came along but it didn't work. Somehow this one persisted and won out in the end.
Also, it has the benefit of not being in the Community forum.
Edit: Also, I learned that even if the damsel gets eaten by the worm accidentally (Without you going with it) it still counts as an exit and you get the health. Still learning new things. So I guess it means every single exit counts for the damsel no matter which one you go through personally. I was sure the worm wouldn't count if you didn't go with it.
It's like Minecraft. Sure it's not the huge hit it used to be, but it's one of those games you just crave one day and want to get back into. Plus people are still discovering the game.
Also I love that this isn't even the OT! We tried to keep the OT going when this thread came along but it didn't work. Somehow this one persisted and won out in the end.
Had the best Daily I've had in forever just now. Beat Olmec because I couldn't find the Black Market for August 22nd. Sucks. I was doing so well. So I just went ahead and made it the best run I could for $300,000+. Apparently #25 on the leaderboard. And by the time I finished looking at the leaderboard, #26. Not my best score by any means, but considering I haven't played much in a while and have only recently as of 2 days ago started having good runs again, (Beat Olmec the other day for the first time in forever. That time I lost my Ankh to an enemy and just went for Olmec. Also got $300,000 that time too.) I'd say I'm doing pretty good again. Maybe I'll get to Hell again soon. I would have done it tonight if I had found the Black Market. I never even saw the ticking.
Are you on PSN or PC? On PSN the entrance to the black market was right next to the exit of 2-1, it's impossible to miss it unless you didn't have the Udjat Eye!
Or does PSN still have that shit bug where everyone's "daily challenge" layout isn't actually the same?
It was PC. I wish I knew where it was. I had the eye definitely. If it had been anywhere along the path I would have seen it. I tried to explore as much as possible but it must have been in a weird location.
Rewatching my play of the Daily tonight, I am betting it was on 2-1. I didn't have paste and the entire left side and most of the bottom floor were blocked off and I stupidly didn't use a single one of my 25 bombs to explore the area. If I had paste I sure as heck would have gone in and found it.
Worst part is that I passed up getting paste when the spider level before the Jungle had a bad spider room layout with them in a terrible position so as I couldn't even kill one of them.
Plus, 2-2 had a shop with paste in it and I bought it. Too late. At least 2-2 gave me a cape i needed. I saw it when I entered and got sad that I didn't have paste. Then BAM. Right on level 2 there was the shop.
So the game was against me. But I still won in the end.
Rewatching my play of the Daily tonight, I am betting it was on 2-1. I didn't have paste and the entire left side and most of the bottom floor were blocked off and I stupidly didn't use a single one of my 25 bombs to explore the area. If I had paste I sure as heck would have gone in and found it.
Worst part is that I passed up getting paste when the spider level before the Jungle had a bad spider room layout with them in a terrible position so as I couldn't even kill one of them.
Plus, 2-2 had a shop with paste in it and I bought it. Too late. At least 2-2 gave me a cape i needed. I saw it when I entered and got sad that I didn't have paste. Then BAM. Right on level 2 there was the shop.
So the game was against me. But I still won in the end.
I got $60,000 alone on that level! Decided to buy the gloves and bomb box since I could afford them. Sadly I had $80,000 all ready when I got to the Jungle and wanted to spend it on the Black Market.
What kinds of shops did it have? Any jetpacks or at least capes? Bomb shops? (I found the cape in 2-2 which is the level that would have been replaced if I had gone to the Black Market)
I got $60,000 alone on that level! Decided to buy the gloves and bomb box since I could afford them. Sadly I had $80,000 all ready when I got to the Jungle and wanted to spend it on the Black Market.
What kinds of shops did it have? Any jetpacks or at least capes? Bomb shops? (I found the cape in 2-2 which is the level that would have been replaced if I had gone to the Black Market)
Though I'll tell you, 5-1 through 5-3 were trying their damnedest to stop me the whole way. Worse Hell layouts I've ever seen. I was surprised my bombs lasted. Thankfully Yama gives you a shitload of them for some reason. (Especially the two mini-bosses that don't even use bombs as weapons drop 24 of them.)
Funny thing is I bought a helping hand on 1-3 for $8000 and sacrificed him to get a cape. Then the very next level a shop had a jetpack in it, so I stole it. After that the game kept giving me jetpacks, including one in the Black Market and one in Olmec's room. (Which I crushed just for the hell of it. I would have done the lava destruction glitch if I wasn't going to Hell.) Plus it tried to hide the key to the chest in 1-2 in the top right corner behind a vault. Almost missed that and had to use a bunch of ropes to get it. Even had a really close encounter with a shopkeeper who almost killed me. And was hemorrhaging HP all the way through Hell with all the bats and vampires trying to knock me into the countless Tiki traps. Didn't even get invigoration, but thankfully I had the Kapala. And I went to the Castle for the first time in forever. (And only because the Black Market entrance wasn't around for 2-1 and 2-2.)
I consider the last tunnel man challenge to be the actual tutorial of the game.
get the key from the mines through the end of the ice caves
to unlock
the temple.
Finish that and you will be a better Spelunky player for it.
That being said the Udjat Eye which is attained with the key and locked chest in the mines is used
mainly in the jungle to located the Black Market which contains 6 shops and a special item that revives you (and is used in another way as well).
Playing spelunky without robbing the shops is a waste. Shop items are absolutely necessary to complete the game as a beginner. My usual rule of thumb is I will always rob for anything more than 2 bomb boxes and ALWAYS for a jetpack.
Bombs with paste (which can be gained from shops or killing a spider) can be used to tier down. If you place them with a short delay between they will essentially dig a hole. If you also throw them in the same place the last one thrown will fall down below the target (useful for shop keeps).
This is how you should rob shop keepers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX_i7HNerOY
There is also a method that uses a bomb and a rope that puts you completely out of danger.
Know that not every enemy needs to be killed. If theres nothing on a side of a level you need just don't go there.
Enjoy
Eventually you/ll reach a point where you're playing for high scores and it becomes true: playing without robbing the shopkeepers is a waste. For new players though you want to do everything you can to not piss off the shopkeepers because you're adding an unnecessary layer of difficulty to an already difficult game which you're not good enough at yet.
An alternative to robbing shops is just collecting treasure. If you collect all the treasure you see in 1-1 and 1-2 (including smashing pots, etc) you'll almost always have enough for whatever the guy in 1-2 is selling, without having to ruin the rest of your game.
There are some good achievements to go for which help with practice. Saving x amount of damsels trains you well for carrying/switching items around*. Opening all the tunnels (is there an achievement for that?) as well. Ultimately the best advice is just to practice and practice until you're confident that you know how each enemy behaves. Once you've unlocked the shortcut to the jungle, start there for a while. You'll die in seconds but it's invaluable for learning the mechanics of the second world. Ditto the ice caves and temple. No death in Spelunky is wasted, everything that kills you has taught you how go a tiny bit further next time, so if you ever feel frustrated just remember that.
(*unless it's an emergency you're better off sacrificing damsels than saving them, once you've got the achievement for this.)
This is one of those fantastic, ever-green titles that I can come back to again and again. Two years on, and it is still so fun to play. I'm not even particularly good, never reached Hell, but still find it so fun.
Strangest thing just happened, I opened the hole to the castle, but arrived in the black market! Must have been placed in the same spot. I'm going to blame my subsequent death on the confusion it caused.
Had a new bullshit death after two platinums and hundreds of hours:
If you get stunned by anything and come to a stop on an altar, they will accept you as a sacrifice and you die. I love that I'm still finding stuff like this. I also never noticed every "4th of July" alien has a jet pack behind him in the ground, like the pickaxe / snake pit.
Also, random question. Does the golden idol monkey ever stop shitting money? It would take forever, but you could set up a track and just farm money for hours, if you wanted.
Yeah getting knocked onto the alter is nasty. You can sacrifice teammates in coop if you feel like it, and it's sometimes worth buying slaves to sacrifice.
They're all worth the same as a damsel.
Also, random question. Does the golden idol monkey ever stop shitting money? It would take forever, but you could set up a track and just farm money for hours, if you wanted.
My favourite bit about this is that it'll still award you an item as if you'd sacrificed a damsel or something :lol
I've played Spelunky over 2,500 times and a few days ago, while carrying a rock, I spied a damsel nearby. I decided to grab him, and so placed the rock down on the ground... unfortunately the ground was an explosive crate and it blew up. It didn't even occur to me that that might happen. 2,500 times.
Had a new bullshit death after two platinums and hundreds of hours:
If you get stunned by anything and come to a stop on an altar, they will accept you as a sacrifice and you die. I love that I'm still finding stuff like this. I also never noticed every "4th of July" alien has a jet pack behind him in the ground, like the pickaxe / snake pit.
Also, random question. Does the golden idol monkey ever stop shitting money? It would take forever, but you could set up a track and just farm money for hours, if you wanted.
Explosive crates are a bit weird, i died on a recent daily pushing one into a skull, it works fine until the skull reaches a ledge, then the crate instantly explodes
Explosive crates are a bit weird, i died on a recent daily pushing one into a skull, it works fine until the skull reaches a ledge, then the crate instantly explodes
That's caught me one too many times, now I'm scared as shit whenever I push one.
My most hilariously frustrating death I've gotten is the wombo combo with rocks and the alien launchers. If you get underneath a rock they're juggling, you'll just have to sit there in infinite hitstun and watch your life slowly tick down. I had a hell of a hell run going and had to watch that shit for about 30 seconds, helpless.
Is Frozlunky viable now? It was a PC thing that let you play co-op over the internet back when, but it was really laggy.
Also... any word if they're patching the PS4 version? I want to play and stream it, but the input lag is fucking banaaanas. Going from perfect latency Vita to PS4 is infuriating. I'm thinking about picking up one of these, just so I can use a decent controller on PS4 and see if it helps:
That's... stupid. What's the point then, if rawdogging the idol into a shop or exit gives you the same amount? I guess so you can deactivate the boulder in levels with shopkeepers, but pfffft.
