The DevTeam Office
| The DevTeam Office | |
|---|---|
| Location | Level 1 of The DevTeam Office |
| Bones | No |
| Mappable | No |
| Teleportable | No |
| Diggable floor | No |
| Diggable walls | No |
The DevTeam Office is a single-level dungeon branch in The November NetHack Tournament, added in 2018. It is accessible via a second up staircase on the Rogue level. It is the home of the dev team and the associated quest, and also serves as a convenient location to branchport wraiths to from the Valley of the Dead.
Map
The layout of the floor is as follows.
|%%%| -----
----------------------}}}----- |..r|
|++.....+.....+...|..........S###+..d|
|.|.#.#.|------...|..........| |..f|
|-------- ---....|-#--++--#-|--------
---.....--- |......|@..|..|..@|...+| ---------
--------.........----.....--...|..|...|...@| |}}}}}}}|
--........................--#..........|-+-------|}.....}|
|>...........{............+......&.....+........+.}..(..}|
--........................--#..........|-+-------|}.....}|
--------.........----.....--...|..|...|.....+| |}}}}}}}|
---.....--- |......|@..|..|..@|....@+| ---------
------- ---....|-#--++--#-|--------
--...|..........| |..f|
|...|..........S###+..f|
-----S---------- |..d|
|.)| -----
----
Mike Stephenson sits on a throne. The marked spellbooks are a spellbook of detect monsters, spellbook of light and spellbook of detect unseen, shuffled randomly and randomly assigned the names 'grep', 'ls' and 'htop'. Each has a 30% chance to appear. The marked statue is of a balrog named The RNG. The marked ) is a rubber hose, grappling hook and/or tin opener; each has a 30% chance to appear. The snack area contains a candy bar, an apple and a banana. The novel has a 20% chance to appear. In addition to the marked monsters, there may be a lizard named The Lizard of Yendor and/or a troll named MR SHOUTY placed randomly; all monsters are named and generated peaceful, and each besides the dev team has a 20% chance to appear.
The marked chest contains a guaranteed blessed scroll of identify and 1-2 random uncursed scrolls, but accessing it requires either teleporting it away from the disposal area or crossing the lava.
The DevTeam's quest
When chatting to Mike Stephenson, he will ask you to find three scrolls of missing code scattered around the Dungeons of Doom. These scrolls have the non-randomized label of 'PLZ RETURN TO DEVTEAM' and can generate in any open space, including corridors and shops. Chat with Mike again or throw them to return the scrolls. Once a scroll has been returned, he can also tell you on which level another scroll is hidden. Giving him all of the scrolls rewards you with the Really Cool Shirt, an artifact T-shirt, provided you did not personally kill Izchak[1].
Like all other scrolls, the missing code scrolls are susceptible to fire and water. Hiding them in a container is advised. Also, be very careful not to anger the devteam members; they are extremely powerful and can displace monsters like the Riders do. In addition, if a devteam member dies, the game immediately ends; life saving will not protect you.
Messages
- You hear a nearby typing noise.
- You hear people arguing about game balance..
- You hear a voice say "[next version]".
- You are on the Rogue level.
- You hear an infinite number of monkeys arguing about the script for Hamlet
- You are hallucinating on the Rogue level.
- You arrive to a place bustling with activity and excitement.
- You notice several people mumbling incoherently, something to do about 'the source code'.
- You enter the office.
History
In 2021, all objects and monsters marked on the map were guaranteed, and the chest contained two additional uncursed scrolls of identify instead of random scrolls. Most of them were removed to reduce the effect of this level on game balance and on how easy certain achievements were[2].
In 2021, only killing a devteam member yourself ended the game; instadeath did not occur if they somehow killed themselves or were killed by another monster[3].
Trivia
- The sequence of events that occurs when you kill a devteam member is probably a reference to the panic handler: 'Suddenly, the dungeon collapses.'
