Skip to main content

Kingdom of Loathing, iWork Edition

Today's post comes live from my Control4 training course, via my MacBook Pro.  Obvs, this' a MSExcel blog, but today i'm using Apple's Numbers.  We'll see how it turns out, as i have little to no faith in Mac's approximation of MSOffice.  All the nerdery of being surrounded by fellow home-automators has got me playing my favorite browser-based, multiplayer RPG, KoL.

Me!

While completing the Me and My Nemesis quest in The Secret Tropical Island Volcano Lair, it became necessary for me to decode the Rave Disco Combos in order to make the ravers drop equipment (rave visors, baggy rave pants, pacifier necklaces, etc.) which would increase my Raveosity.

The Secret Island Volcano Lair

These combos consist of three discrete steps (Break it on Down, Pop and Lock It, and Run Like the Wind), and are randomized per player per ascension.  Since there're three steps, and each combo consists of each of the three, the total number of potential combinations is a permutation problem, 3! = 6 combinations.

Rave Combos

The preceding table is where i created the six combos (via a base 3 counting system), tested each on a raver, and eventually discovered Rave Steal, which enabled me to steal the Raveosity-raising equipment i craved!  Huzzah!

Pop-and-Lock Raver
 
[Side Note:  Apparently, Numbers doesn't have the ability to save spreadsheets as pictures (if anyone knows otherwise, please comment).  I also have OpenOffice running Calc in Windows Vista in Parallels, but unfortunately, that doesn't appear to give me the ability to save as a picture either.  So i exported the file from Numbers as a PDF, opened it in Adobe (Vista-side), took a screenshot, opened that in Apple Preview, selected, cropped, and uploaded.  Ta da!]

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Zombie Cafe Optimization

In this game, one has a stupid zombie staff that one gets to serve disgusting meals to idiotic customers.  Naturally, it was my favorite. Once a zombie chef finishes preparing a meal, they place the serving dish on a counter.  From there, zombie waiters can obtain one serving of a meal to deliver to a seated customer.  Since the amount of time it takes for a single customer to be served has a trickle down effect on the entire restaurant (quickly serving customers yields higher tips, rapid turnover increases profit and prevents customers from leaving angrily due to inadequate seating, extended service times increase the overall number of waiters needed to serve a steady flow of customers, etc.), obviously it is crucial to optimize this factor of game play. One element of the serving process that greatly affects service time is the location of the serving dish, since this modulates the amount of time for a stupid zombie waiter to obtain a disgusting dish, bring it t...

Kingdom of Loathing Crafting

This is me. Crafting is a large part of KoL (Kingdom of Loathing, a delightful browser-based, multiplayer role-playing game).  As a disco bandit, i am skilled at the art of cocktailcrafting.  There are many discoveries i've yet to make, so i need to keep track of what ingredients i need to acquire to make new drinks. The left column denotes the type of item i hope to discover. I've also got a Chef-in-the-Box which helps me cook fancy dishes. Green cells denote items i already have. Below is some of the equipment i possess, organized by type.  The "Handed" column refers to the number of hands required to wield a weapon.  Note that some weapons require three hands. Meat is the currency of the Kingdom of Loathing. If you combine some meat, you can make meat paste.  With meat paste, you can glue other items together, creating familiars, gear, usables, etc. The parenthetical statements following some of the items describe the quests, locations, o...

Find Yourself a Husband! (don't talk about the constitution)

Makeup--technically none of us need it, but so many of us use it.  Research shows that we primarily use it because we're anxious and insecure and want to appear less noticeable, or because we want to be more attractive, and have been taught that our natural, untouched faces are un attractive.  Cool! Not only is makeup crazy expensive, but it expires relatively quickly.  What's that you say?  "Expiration dates on my eye shadow?!  I ignore the expiration dates on medication, so there's no way I'm taking an expiration date from a company called e.l.f. seriously!" Sure, you seem credible. Well what if i told you expired makeup can cause breakouts; skin parasites; infections; loss of vision; puffy, red, and/or swollen eyes; styes; conjunctivitis; pink eye; and more?  Still want to put that shit on your face?  Didn't think so!  But how to track this? Let's start with the PAO (or "Period After Opening") symbol that's on most co...