Recharging torches

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slickrcbd
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Recharging torches

Post by slickrcbd »

I recall an old rumor that I never did bother to confirm.
The rumor was that if you put a torch that was low but not out into one of those torch holders, after a few hours time the torch would slowly recharge, but not to full, supposedly one notch down or so.
Different versions of the rumor said that it would only recharge to the maximum the current torch icon allowed, so don't let it burn down too much.

Now that people have disassembled some of the game code, is there any truth to that rumor?

I did not use torches much aside from occasionally in the beginning if I took a high-strength, low-mana party (my favorite as I'm a pack-rat), so I never ran out or needed to recharge. I did keep one or two on hand for if I am attacked by a monster while sleeping and find the light spell expired, but almost never used them after level 2.

I always meant to put a almost expired torch at that last holder before level 3 and then come back with The Firestaff, but kept forgetting to check it. Especially since I figured out the right way to beat the game (this was back in 1989 or 1990. I've fused Lord Chaos many times since then).

I only knew 3 other people with DM at the time, 2 with the IIGS version, but I never did figure out if two of them were having us on. I can't recall if the third boy (man now) had Atari or Amiga. I think the latter.
I know one of those two claimed he once made a FUL bomb, but could never figure out how he did it to do it again. I think now he made a VEN bomb and got distracted or confused.
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ChristopheF
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Re: Recharging torches

Post by ChristopheF »

Torches recharging while in holders is only a rumor. Just like making Ful bombs.
There is definitely no such behavior in the code of all versions I have studied (Atari, Amiga, PC, PC-98 and X68000).
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JETENGINE
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Re: Recharging torches

Post by JETENGINE »

Sadly, torches only ever recharge in DM2. They return to full instantly, even if they burn out.
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slickrcbd
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Re: Recharging torches

Post by slickrcbd »

Unfortunately, I have the Mac version of DM2, and my Mac has been non-functional since 2008. I'm tempted to try to pirate the PC version now just to see. However, I can state with certainty that I heard the rumor about torches recharging long before DM2 was released.

Out of curiosity, did you have to put them in the holder for them to recharge in DM2?
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JETENGINE
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Re: Recharging torches

Post by JETENGINE »

Yes, you did.
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slickrcbd
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Re: Recharging torches

Post by slickrcbd »

I wonder if they added that to DM2 because of the rumor about recharging torches?

Odd that I never noticed, but I never used torches much in DM2. You start outside where you don't need them and by the time you get inside and need them for the first time, even the champions with the lowest starting mana can cast LO FUL (assuming you've practiced).
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Re: Recharging torches

Post by Ameena »

I don't use torches at all...in DM I go down the stairs to Level Two but then refuse to move from that spot until I've got the light level maxed, which usually means a few goes of casting and resting until I've managed it - my characters are always reincarnated Hissssa and Wuuf so both can manage a Lo Ful without any extra mana-granting items (Hissssa needs to wait for full mana after casting Lo since Ful at that level will use the entire bar). I don't remember using torches in DM2 either and they're entirely unnecessary in CSB due to the characters' starting levels :).
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slickrcbd
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Re: Recharging torches

Post by slickrcbd »

Try taking a party of Halk, Stamm, Sonja and Leyla. While not my favorite party, it is surprisingly good. I prefer to take Hississa (can never spell his name) or Daroou instead of Leyla, but Halk, Stamm, Sonja, Hississa, and Daroou are the ones that can carry the most weight, so are my favories, I often just pick them at random.
Leyla is no weakling either.

I digress. With the above party of Halk, Stamm, Sonja and Leyla, nobody has enough mana to invoke FUL. Halk and Stamm have no mana, while Sonja has 2 mana (BARELY enough to cast YA, which requires 2 mana) and Leyla has 3 mana, which means you can cast LO YA all at once, or cast LO, then wait to regain a point and then cast VI.

You can easily run out of food and water trying to build up to let Sonja cast LO FUL.
Also, it will be a bit before you can get flasks, however you can still work on priest spells without a flask.
Have them cast LO YA, and keep trying until the spell fails. You get experience anyways, and keep trying until eventually you get a priest level.
Having Leyla cast LO VI until she cannot fail actually does better since it is a different skill and it takes even longer for LO YA to fail then, but with Sonja you don't have a choice.

However, in the mean time you [u]can't[/u] cast LO FUL, so I wind up using a torch or two until they are capable of doing so.
What I do do however is keep the torch when it goes down a couple of levels and start a new one, then when one of them finally gets enough mana, I switch to the old torch and have them cast a LO FUL to bring illumination up to full.
Of course, eventually I will discard the torches (but keep one full one around "just in case") once their spell casting gets "up to speed", but that isn't usually until after completing most of level 3, when I'm ready to open the doors to the final part that leads to level 4.

That was the point where I mention I'll leave one low torch in the holder at the end of level 2 (I always return to level 2 to top off the waterskins and have everybody drink a flask of water before proceeding to level 4.)
I just never remembered to check it the few times I tried bringing back the Firestaff as the game manual says was supposed to be your mission.
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Re: Recharging torches

Post by Ameena »

Hissssa - four Ss ;).

You can get mana another way, via some items, such as staves, wands, a moonstone (Chani starts with one), and I think one or two other things. Just equip those and the character's maximum mana will go up by a few points which should be enough to let them cast a spell if they couldn't already. I just can't be arsed with all that messing around and I like taking characters with cool portraits rather than boring human-looking types, hence my taking (reincarnated) Hissssa and Wuuf ;).
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Re: Recharging torches

Post by slickrcbd »

If you do not have Chani (moonstone provides +3 mana), or Nabi (his staff provides +2 mana), you cannot work on Halk of Stamm's spells until you get the Teowand in level 4.
The wand you get from the chest in level 3 (IIRC in The Vault) only provides +1 mana, which will let you queue up a LO, but you cannot invoke any elemental influences as the minimum is YA at 2.

I actually enjoy the party of Halk Stamm Sonja and Leyla. Although I like taking somebody with an even higher load capacity than Leyla like Daroou or Hississa instead.
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