Algodon's Pyramid of DOOM!

A programmer's nightmare: the syntactically indented "pyramid of doom."

Zone Writers

Cognitasne and Valaria (c. 1997)

Extension: Anton (c. 2011)

From the .zon file:

**************************************************************************
*    This zone was written by Cogitasne and Valaria in August of 1998.   *
*          Tis our gift to the PowerMUDding addicts of JediMUD           *
*                  The equipment will make them drool.                   *
*                      The mobs will make them die.                      *
*                                A lot.                                  *
*                  The contorted zone will make them cry.                *
*              The multitude of portals will make them shriek.           *
*                                                                        *
* May God have mercy on their souls... heavens know _we're_ not going to *
**************************************************************************

Directions:

To Crystal Beach:

2n w s 2w 2s w s 3w nw nw w nw nw 2w nw nw nw 2w nw 2w (Skara Brae Docks)

To Portal:

n w nw e nw u (Crystal Beach)

Reset Time:

Lower Levels (.zon 236) 30 minutes (occupied)

Upper Levels (.zon 238) 0 resets per uptime

History:

Algodon's Pyramid of Doom is probably named after the programming term "pyramid of doom."

In computer programming, the pyramid of doom is an issue that arises when a function call uses many levels of nested indentation. It is commonly seen when checking for null pointers or handling callbacks in conditional if statements in object-oriented programming.

Algodon's Pyramid of Doom is a special perpetual quest zone for mortals levels 21-30.  Players levels 1-20 are restricted from entering, for their own protection, and players level 31+ are restricted from entering in order to protect the integrity of the quest (to prevent IMM scouting).  Many items of unrivaled power load in DOOM, but only the bravest (or most foolhardy!) dare to accept the challenge.  Are you among them?

General Zone Strategies:

The nurse tending the gravely wounded minotaur in the Infirmary, Sieged Castle, provides a clue to the location of the plain key.  Find the minotaur's brother in either Abandoned Ship and Deep Forest, Ofcol, Dark Haon Dor, Floodlands, Midgaard, Ravenna, Darkspine Mountains, Star Wars, or select other zones in the World.

Once you have the plain key, go to the entrance gate to Doom, located northeast of the Crystal Beach in the Fenshire Swamp.

The featureless hallways in the initial maze after entering the gate are !magic.  Unlock the secret door east in the first room.  Continue to the gate room and determine which gate will take you to the second gate room.  This gate will lead you through another gate to a north and west hallway and another locked door.

Some mages will block exits.  Mages shrug damage and have a daunting save_spell. The lizardmen triple hit and swarm. They also janitor, meaning that they will pick up items on the ground.  Grey Ooze will fido. Scarlet Deathblossoms inhabit !exit trap rooms and triple hit.

Beleaguered Knights are resist phys.

When they are not in !magic areas, the hooded mages throb, meaning a full entropy (removes all buffs and glow).

There is an assembly item in here, the Doom Belt or Wide Belt .  Combine thin gold wire rings from the Thieves with golden plates from the Beleaguered Knights and Rogue Minotaurs with the cracked leather belt from the Trapped Forest Nymph.

Mobs of Note:

Algodon (Spiked Plate Mail, Golden Torques , Double Standard, Tam's Kender Traveling Cloak ), Algodon's Apprentice, Bob ( Gloves of Mysticism ), Algodon's Guard (Gilded Golden Stilts , Golden Plate Mail Leggings), Stout Cleric (Armlets of Asclepius , Golden Bewitching Amulet), evil war goat (Golden Paragon of Alamists ),  Beleagued Knights (Steel Ring Mail, Boots of Power, Sword of Damocles, Titanium Shield, Gold Plates ), Lord Despoiler (Armor of Assassination , Ring of Causes ), Thieves (Executioner's Mask , Thin Wire Ring), Rogue Minotaurs (Gold Plates ), Swamp Nymphs, Scarlet Deathblossoms, Grey Ooze (eats corpses).

Equipment:

A Special Note About DOOM!

In order to support loads rarer than 1%, the writers of this zone implemented tiered mob loads using the stochastic W circleMUD .zon mob load command.  For example, there are several different Lord Despoiler equipment configurations depending on the version of Despoiler that loaded per uptime.  Each Despoiler version below bears an assigned letter, A-E.

ITEM	TYPE	MOB	LOAD %	DISPLAY
Golden Bewitching Amulet	neck	Cleric	7.0%	mL 25 !rests 3 cha 30 mana
Gloves of Mysticism	hand	Bob Algodon's Apprentice	3.0%	mL 25 !wt 20 mana 5% mnR
Mage Gloves	hand	Bob Algodon's Apprentice	25.0%	mL 25 ms! 20 mana 5% mnR
Mage Gloves	hand	Bob Algodon's Apprentice	32.5%	mL 25 ms! 20 mana 5% mnR
Mage Gloves	hand	Bob Algodon's Apprentice	28.0%	mL 25 ms! 20 mana 5% mnR
Armlets of Asclepius	arm	Cleric	10.0%	mL 25 cp! 1 dam 10 mana
Boots of Power	foot	Beleagued Knight	7.5%	mL 25 mcrb! 1 dam 10 mana
Executioner's Mask	head	Thief	7.0%	mL 25 !mb e! 10 ac 1 dam
ring mail, steel	body	Beleaguered Knight	10.0%	mL 25 wasb! !gn 1 dam 10 hp
Sword of Damocles	hold	Beleaguered Knight	1.8%	mL 25 !mctnsb 6D4 15.0 avg 2 hit 4 dam
Ring of Causes	ring	Lord Despoiler E 23711	3.0%	mL 25 apbw! !n 2 dam 1 str
Ring of Causes	ring	Lord Despoiler C 23866 50%	6.1%	mL 25 apbw! !n 2 dam 1 str
Ring of Causes	ring	Lord Despoiler A 23692 25%	7.5%	mL 25 apbw! !n 2 dam 1 str
knee-high riding boots	foot	Algodon's Guard	15.0%	mL 25 asrb! !g 2 dam
Armor of Assassination	body	Lord Despoiler E 23711	3.7%	mL 25 t! 1 dam
Armor of Assassination	body	Lord Despoiler D 23819 50%	7.3%	mL 25 t! 1 dam
Armor of Assassination	body	Lord Despoiler B 23740 35%	7.9%	mL 25 t! 1 dam
leggings, golden plate mail	leg	Algodon's Guard	2.3%	mL 25 tpas! !n 2 dam -1 str
shield, titanium	shield	Beleaguered Knight	1.3%	mL 25 !mctrb 2 dam -1 dex
Golden Torque	neck	Algodon	2.3%	mL 25 !mc !n 2 dam -2 str
cracked leather belt	waist	Trapped Swamp Nymph	10.0%	mL 25 !rests
Double Standard	light	Algodon	15.0%	mL 25 !rests
Mage Gloves	hand	Algodon's Apprentice	25.0%	mL 25 !rests
Tam's Kender Traveling Cloak	about	Algodon	15.0%	mL 25 !rests
wire ring, thin gold	ring	Thief	5.0%	mL 25 !rests
Golden Paragon of Alamists	neck	evil war goat	15.0%	mL 25 !mc !n 2 dam -6 int
stilts, gilded	foot	Algodon's Guard	15.0%	mL 25 !g 2 dam -6 dex
gold plate	assembly	Rogue Minotaur	35.0%	mL 0 !rests
gold plate	assembly	Beleaguered Knight	17.0%	mL 0 !rests
breastplate, tarnished iron	body			mL 25 snj! 30 ac 2 dam 1 str
Wings of a Demonlord	about	Lord Despoiler		mL 25 war! e! 10 ac 2 dam 1 str
Wide Belt	waist	assembly		mL 25 !rests 5 ac 2 hit 2 dam
tarnished iron sabatons	foot			mL 25 !mctwpanjsr 2 dam 1 cha
Magician's Cowl	head	Mage		mL 25 !ctwpan !n 4 ac 1 int 15 mana
Mask of Illusion	head	Mage		mL 25 e! 1 dam 1 wis
plate mail, spiked	body	Algodon		mL 25 wanr! e 2 dam -3 dex

Maps

• 
  The expanded, but still pathetic Doom map.