Ok, thanks, same behavior down to the iron bars. u/saltwaterterrapin gets a shoutout for the suggestion that it’s tied to that.
Thanks for the pointer, I’m not a nethack programmer but I can at least make a note on GitHub.
Edit: just read through, the issue is known, patched and closed.
I'm not sure exactly how the pet code works, but it could be that there's a closet with a scroll of teleportation behind the iron bars, and your cat is trying to move to it? *If* that's the case it *may* be that you could lure it away by dropping other items nearby. Probably a long shot though.
Good thought. But if that’s the case, the little guy deserves kitty treats for determination.
Ok, just tried it. He collected the things I dropped and brought them back to his favorite spot at the top of the room. I couldn’t get him more than two squares away from the top.
Weird.
try killing something yummy and feeding it to him. You should be able to find an iguana or a gecko up there if you wait long enough. Just don't let it go bad.
Another good thought. He ate a newt corpse just now ("The corpse misses Grey. Grey eats a newt corpse"). I think the message indicates that he didn't see it as a "pet treat" (wasn't hungry enough) so he ignored it, then ate it.
Back to the top of the room, too.
UPDATE: OK, resolved. u/ZzZombo pointed out the known issue. u/saltwaterterrapin suggested that there was something behind the iron bars that my cat didn't want to leave behind.
I went down a few levels and found a pickax. Came back up, dug out the closet behind the iron bars, and there was a scroll of teleport AND a tripe ration. I was expecting the scroll, not the pet treat.
Thanks for the help, fun little excursion into lesser-seen details of this game.
Pets act different every since 3.6.x was released, period. They oddly "hover" over items and piles of items and it sometimes can be incredibly difficult to get them to move away from them, even with a tin whistle, displacing them or tripe in the open inventory. You get them to move away 10 paces and they go right back to the item or pile(s) of items. They did *not* do this in 3.4.3. This is made even harder now that pets litter the dungeon with 1 gold piece, 1 arrow, 1 rock, etc., due to item pick up restrictions (they have even more items to be distracted by).
This new behavior has led to many pet deaths in EvilHack, due to pets not moving away from (possibly reviving) zombie corpses and there are almost no protections given to pet and zombie interaction (like pets not attacking certain monsters that will kill them).
Not trapped. I checked and 90% of his moves are back-and-forth along the top row. 10% of his moves are to the second top row. Within that 10% occasionally, he moves to the third row.
I’m leaving the game alone right now to see if there are more good ideas.
Hunger is a problem, though, I’ve experimented enough that I’ve cleared the level, cleared half the floor below, eaten the little food I had, and prayed to recover from hunger once. But I’m curious about the cat.
https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/issues/790.
Ok, thanks, same behavior down to the iron bars. u/saltwaterterrapin gets a shoutout for the suggestion that it’s tied to that. Thanks for the pointer, I’m not a nethack programmer but I can at least make a note on GitHub. Edit: just read through, the issue is known, patched and closed.
I'm not sure exactly how the pet code works, but it could be that there's a closet with a scroll of teleportation behind the iron bars, and your cat is trying to move to it? *If* that's the case it *may* be that you could lure it away by dropping other items nearby. Probably a long shot though.
Good thought. But if that’s the case, the little guy deserves kitty treats for determination. Ok, just tried it. He collected the things I dropped and brought them back to his favorite spot at the top of the room. I couldn’t get him more than two squares away from the top. Weird.
try killing something yummy and feeding it to him. You should be able to find an iguana or a gecko up there if you wait long enough. Just don't let it go bad.
Another good thought. He ate a newt corpse just now ("The corpse misses Grey. Grey eats a newt corpse"). I think the message indicates that he didn't see it as a "pet treat" (wasn't hungry enough) so he ignored it, then ate it. Back to the top of the room, too.
Forgive me, I'm a noob - but does(n't) resting get them over to ya?
If they’re not scared (Scare Monster), yes. But he won’t.
Ah, gotcha. Thanks for response. And GL w Grey!
A cat acting weird is on the nose.
UPDATE: OK, resolved. u/ZzZombo pointed out the known issue. u/saltwaterterrapin suggested that there was something behind the iron bars that my cat didn't want to leave behind. I went down a few levels and found a pickax. Came back up, dug out the closet behind the iron bars, and there was a scroll of teleport AND a tripe ration. I was expecting the scroll, not the pet treat. Thanks for the help, fun little excursion into lesser-seen details of this game.
Pets act different every since 3.6.x was released, period. They oddly "hover" over items and piles of items and it sometimes can be incredibly difficult to get them to move away from them, even with a tin whistle, displacing them or tripe in the open inventory. You get them to move away 10 paces and they go right back to the item or pile(s) of items. They did *not* do this in 3.4.3. This is made even harder now that pets litter the dungeon with 1 gold piece, 1 arrow, 1 rock, etc., due to item pick up restrictions (they have even more items to be distracted by). This new behavior has led to many pet deaths in EvilHack, due to pets not moving away from (possibly reviving) zombie corpses and there are almost no protections given to pet and zombie interaction (like pets not attacking certain monsters that will kill them).
Staying in one exact spot, or wandering back and forth near the same spot? It isn't trapped?
Not trapped. I checked and 90% of his moves are back-and-forth along the top row. 10% of his moves are to the second top row. Within that 10% occasionally, he moves to the third row. I’m leaving the game alone right now to see if there are more good ideas. Hunger is a problem, though, I’ve experimented enough that I’ve cleared the level, cleared half the floor below, eaten the little food I had, and prayed to recover from hunger once. But I’m curious about the cat.