CSBuild delays

Discuss Chaos Strikes Back for Windows and Linux, an unofficial port of Chaos Strikes Back to PC by Paul Stevens, as well as CSBuild, an associated dungeon editor.

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terkio
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CSBuild delays

Post by terkio »

I saw delays cannot be more than 16/6 of a second.
Any value over 16 is replaced by that value modulo 16.
Why such a low upper limit ?
"You can be on the right track and still get hit by a train!" Alfred E. Neuman
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beowuuf
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Re: CSBuild delays

Post by beowuuf »

Its the original DM engine. There was only four bits assigned in the whole actuator string for delay if I recall correctly. For longer delays you chain through other actuators.

There's such a low upper limit because original DM didn't need anything longer, and storage space was at a premium - the game came on one disk and ran in 512MB memory! CSB has some delay chaining if I recall, as well as other clever tricks for stretching the engine with the same tools. They built the first custom dungeon rather than alter the engine :)
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terkio
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Re: CSBuild delays

Post by terkio »

I see, compatibility with FTL code running on 512K Ram machines.

What is "DM mode" in CSBwin menus ?
"You can be on the right track and still get hit by a train!" Alfred E. Neuman
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beowuuf
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Re: CSBuild delays

Post by beowuuf »

There were a couple of tweaks between CSB and DM. One was that reincarnation was handled differently. In DM you lost your levels but gained some stats as a trade off. In CSB that would be a broken, with uber-powerful champion stats, so what instead happens is you lose your levels AND you lose stats.

So for custom dungeons and running DM itself, you can choose DM rules so reincarnation is useful again with normal starting parties.


There might have been something else that impacts gameplay, but I don't recall it off the top of my head I'm afraid!
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terkio
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Re: CSBuild delays

Post by terkio »

Thanks Beo.
So a unchecked DM mode means FTL CSB mode.
I' ll try to remember that the main thing about DM mode is about reincarnation.
About other features....who knows ?
"You can be on the right track and still get hit by a train!" Alfred E. Neuman
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Paul Stevens
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Re: CSBuild delays

Post by Paul Stevens »

terkio wrote:I see, compatibility with FTL code running on 512K Ram machines.
There is no "Compatibility" involved. CSBWin is
simply the Atari, FTL Chaos Strikes Back code translated
to C++ for windows.

You would not call a good English translation of a Latin
text "Compatible" with the original. You would call
it "Accurate" or "Faithful to the Original".

I was quite surprised when someone found that my
code was able to run the Dungeon Master game. When
the reincarnation "bug" was discovered, I made that
small tweek to the code to help be 'compatible' with
the DM engine. But CSBWin really is the Atari CSB
engine. Hence its name is not 'DMWin'.
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