Slash'EM Extended: Difference between revisions

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''SLASH'EM Extended'' contains several new roles and races for the player to choose from, several new special levels, a lot of new monsters, and other changes. The main dungeon is even longer in ''Slash'EM Extended'' than in ''SLASH'EM'', with the upper Dungeons of Doom being 50 levels in length followed by 50 levels of Gehennom, meaning that Moloch's Sanctum is on dungeon level 100. After claiming the Amulet of Yendor, the player also needs to complete a 100-level bonus dungeon before the actual ascension run begins, greatly increasing the length of the game.
''SLASH'EM Extended'' contains several new roles and races for the player to choose from, several new special levels, a lot of new monsters, and other changes. The main dungeon is even longer in ''Slash'EM Extended'' than in ''SLASH'EM'', with the upper Dungeons of Doom being 50 levels in length followed by 50 levels of Gehennom, meaning that Moloch's Sanctum is on dungeon level 100. After claiming the Amulet of Yendor, the player also needs to complete a 100-level bonus dungeon before the actual ascension run begins, greatly increasing the length of the game.


But where many variants of ''[[NetHack]]'' tend to run with a different aspect of its [[Fantasy Kitchen Sink]] full of [[Anachronism Stew]] - such as [[EvilHack]]'s focus on difficulty and adapting traits from [[Advanced Dungeons and Dragons]] - ''SLASH'EM Extended'' focuses on a few ''other'' things:
But where many variants of ''[[NetHack]]'' tend to run with a different aspect of its [[Fantasy Kitchen Sink]] full of [[Anachronism Stew]] - such as the later [[EvilHack]]'s adapting traits from [[Advanced Dungeons and Dragons]] and [[FIQHack]] increasing monster/player congruency - ''SLASH'EM Extended'' focuses on a few ''other'' things:


# ''Nothing is off limits.'' If Amy overhears an idea she likes, she'll [[Throw It In]].
# ''Nothing is off limits.'' If Amy overhears an idea she likes, she'll [[Throw It In]].
# '''''Nothing''' is off limits.'' No matter how unusual, unorthodox, or downright weird, if she wants to add it, she'll find a way.
# '''''Nothing''' is off limits.'' No matter how unusual, unorthodox, or downright weird, if she wants to add it, she'll find a way.
# ''[[Difficulty Spike|Harder is better.]]'' The game is designed with the idea that the player should be in danger of dying at any moment, even in the late stages of the game.
# ''[[Difficulty Spike|Harder is better.]]'' The game is designed with the idea that the player should be in danger of dying at any moment, even in the late stages of the game - but SLEX's philosophy handles this far differently from something like EvilHack.
# ''Unfair =/= unbalanced.'' Not every game will be 100% winnable; Amy is something of a stickler for preserving the more chancey elements of the game and considers SLEX players being screwed by the [[Random Number God]] fair play, since a similar element of risk exists in the base game.
# ''Unfair =/= unbalanced.'' Not every game will be 100% winnable; Amy is something of a stickler for preserving the more chancey elements of the game and considers SLEX players being screwed by the [[Random Number God]] fair play, since a similar element of risk already existed in the base game.
# ''Unbalanced =/= unfair.'' On the other hand, she also does her best to make it so that the player has as many viable options as possible without one being overwhelmingly stronger than any of the others - traps and monsters with the most dangerous and game-ruining qualitieis are ideally extremely rare until the late game.
# ''Unbalanced =/= unfair.'' On the other hand, she also does her best to make it so that the player has as many viable options as possible without one being overwhelmingly stronger than any of the others - traps and monsters with the most dangerous and game-ruining qualities are ideally extremely rare until the late game.
# ''You can never have enough fleecy bundles.'' [["Not Making This Up" Disclaimer|No, really.]] [[Author Appeal|Amy isn't shy about showing off her interests]], as players will quickly discover.
# ''You can never have enough fleecy bundles.'' [["Not Making This Up" Disclaimer|No, really.]] [[Author Appeal|Amy isn't shy about showing off her interests]], as players will quickly discover.



Revision as of 06:14, 18 January 2021

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SLASH'EM Extended - sometimes written as Slash'EM Extended, and also known as "Sadistic Levels of Endless X-Citement" (or SLEX for short) - is a variant of SLASH'EM version 0.0.7E7F2, created by the user known as Bluescreenofdeath - alternately known as AmyBSOD, or just Amy.

SLASH'EM Extended contains several new roles and races for the player to choose from, several new special levels, a lot of new monsters, and other changes. The main dungeon is even longer in Slash'EM Extended than in SLASH'EM, with the upper Dungeons of Doom being 50 levels in length followed by 50 levels of Gehennom, meaning that Moloch's Sanctum is on dungeon level 100. After claiming the Amulet of Yendor, the player also needs to complete a 100-level bonus dungeon before the actual ascension run begins, greatly increasing the length of the game.

But where many variants of NetHack tend to run with a different aspect of its Fantasy Kitchen Sink full of Anachronism Stew - such as the later EvilHack's adapting traits from Advanced Dungeons and Dragons and FIQHack increasing monster/player congruency - SLASH'EM Extended focuses on a few other things:

  1. Nothing is off limits. If Amy overhears an idea she likes, she'll Throw It In.
  2. Nothing is off limits. No matter how unusual, unorthodox, or downright weird, if she wants to add it, she'll find a way.
  3. Harder is better. The game is designed with the idea that the player should be in danger of dying at any moment, even in the late stages of the game - but SLEX's philosophy handles this far differently from something like EvilHack.
  4. Unfair =/= unbalanced. Not every game will be 100% winnable; Amy is something of a stickler for preserving the more chancey elements of the game and considers SLEX players being screwed by the Random Number God fair play, since a similar element of risk already existed in the base game.
  5. Unbalanced =/= unfair. On the other hand, she also does her best to make it so that the player has as many viable options as possible without one being overwhelmingly stronger than any of the others - traps and monsters with the most dangerous and game-ruining qualities are ideally extremely rare until the late game.
  6. You can never have enough fleecy bundles. No, really. Amy isn't shy about showing off her interests, as players will quickly discover.

The GitHub repository for SLASH'EM Extended shows all the individual changes applied since version v97. It can be played online at em.slashem.me and at hardfought.org; the former server also offers BIGslex, which is basically the same game as regular SLEX but with huge dungeon levels. SLASH'EM Extended can be downloaded for Windows via this link here.

The subreddit can also be used for discussion about the game, and Freenode has the channels #em.slash.me and #slashemextended among a few others for SLEX discussion. Amy herself can usually be found in NetHack IRC channels as well, and is more than willing to guide new players.

Slash'EM Extended has a "sub-variant" named SlashTHEM.

Tropes used in Slash'EM Extended include:
  • Acquired Poison Immunity: Enhanced so that having both an intrinsic and extrinsic source for a given property or resistance "doubles" it, making that effect stronger.
  • Author Appeal: The variant author has many loves that she inserts into the game, but among her foremost ones are fleecy things and high heels. The latter's even a weapon you can use!
  • Department of Redundancy Department: Invisible invisible badguys are just one example of many.
  • Everything Trying to Kill You
  • Harder Than Hard: Not to unplayable levels, but you'll develop a grudging respect how committed the Random Number God can be to screwing you when it wants to.
  • Invisible Monster: A far wider variety than before, and monsters can become "double" invisible, requiring multiple sources of 'see invisible' to uncover them.
  • Joke Character: An overwhelming amount of monsters in the game that weren't ported from another series or else already present in NetHack and SLASH'EM were added for the sake of humor.
  • Kamehame Hadoken: The #kamehameha command lets you use the actual technique at the cost of some magical power.
  • Loads and Loads of Races and Roles: Holy shit, are there ever!