Delay()

The Hermit humbly requests that this page be rewritten or expanded. This page should be converted to a be historical note about delay(), with remaining turns_spent_in_zone conditions in Conditional Adventures instead.

What is Delay()?

Delay() is the name for a function that is designed to slow down certain encounters that are important for quests.

• The sum of all delay() over an ascension is unknown, and is the same for everyone.
• While delay() used to be random, Jick has since stated that it is has been set to 5 for all remaining instances.
• When an encounter is delayed that encounter will not happen until delay() is over. This is true regardless of whether the quest adventure was superlikely, non-combat, or combat.
• Functionally delay() is a condition on an encounter which says that the encounter cannot occur unless turns_spent_in_zone is greater than or equal to the delay() value (all zones record how many turns have been spent in them during the run). The counter is not attached to individual adventures, so the delay for adventures with other conditions can be "decremented" before the other conditions are satisfied.
  • Example: We'll All Be Flat requires you to have read your father's MacGuffin diary, but the 5 turns to satisfy delay() can be spent beforehand and will still count.
• It is unknown exactly which encounters are affected by delay() and which are not. For the most part, however, delay() is assumed to affect almost all quest adventures that cannot be skipped by softcore pulls.
• Skipping non-combats does not increase turns spent in a zone, but started combats count as a turn even if they do not cost any adventures. E.g. free Mini-Hipster fights count for turns spent, and free runaways like using a tattered scrap of paper.
• Delay() was implemented to provide a hard floor that would stop new items or strategies from breaking the softcore game. Jick has stated that he does not like this mechanic and that he is working on a better solution to this problem.
• Delay() is being phased out, many instances of it have been removed.

What Adventures are Delay()ed?

• The Spooky Forest has 5 turns of delay before the first Arboreal Respite.
• The Outskirts of Cobb's Knob has 10 turns of delay before the Code Red adventure.
• Cobb's Knob Harem has 10 turns of delay before the A Stalker in the Locker adventure.
• Copse of the Deep Fat Friars has delay of 5 turns to force each noncombat in each zone, if they aren't found sooner.
• The Haunted Library: Neither NC (Take a Look, it's in a Book! (Rise) or Take a Look, it's in a Book! (Fall)) can appear until delay() has been burned.
• Spookyraven Manor, Second Floor has Delay of 5 turns in each zone, for it's quest progressing noncombat, or in the case of The Haunted Bedroom, releasing elegant animated nightstands into the zone
• The Valley Beyond The Orc Chasm: the first rampaging adding machine has delay().
• The Penultimate Fantasy Airship: Cumulative delay() on all of the Immateria. First one can't be found before turn 5, second one can't be found before turn 10, etc. But there's no cooldown period; they can be found back-to-back.
• The Castle in the Clouds in the Sky (Ground Floor) has 10 turns of delay before the adventure which unlocks the top floor will appear.

History

• Castle: Wheel in the Clouds in the Sky, Keep On Turning had delay() before the adventure was retired by a quest revamp.
• The Haunted Bedroom: wooden nightstand. had delay() before the Spookyraven revamp.
• The Haunted Conservatory: Polo Tombstone had delay() before the Spookyraven revamp.
• The Haunted Pantry: The Manor in Which You're Accustomed had delay() before the Spookyraven revamp.
• The Haunted Billiards Room: Minnesota Incorporeals had delay() before the Spookyraven revamp.