New forum member (but DM-veteran) and some of his questions

Rex the Lizard King · Wed May 23, 2007 11:18 am

Hello everyone.

I am brand new to these forums but anyway, I'd like to give a big shout out to Mr. George Gilbert for coding RTC - outstanding achievement which I first started using when I was on late support shifts at one of my old jobs to kill the hours.

I've learnt a couple of new things from reading these forums, like I always thought Ya Ir was a magic shield, not a physical one, and I thought it was the same as drinking a Ya Bro potion. I was mistaken it seems.

I started playing Dungeon Master in... erm... can't remember, late eighties though, on my Atari 520 STFM. Absolute quality game, especially as I was growing out of Citadel Miniatures and playing wargames and roleplaying games.

Anyway, nowadays I sit in my office and if I'm not ready to go home yet or waiting on someone else, sometimes (!) I play a bit of DM. I've completed DM and CSB - never finished DM2 though as I could never deal with redirecting the fireballs on the top floor inside Skullkeep. Still bugs me, I figured everything was set up properly (furnace downstairs, mirrors facing right direction, etc). I am a sad bloke though, so I never grow tired of killing screamers and getting the 'perfect characters'.

Last time I restarted DM (I gave in to my lack of willpower whilst bored at work) I reincarnated Boris, Chani, Hiisssa and Sonja. They are now Seamus the Leprechaun, Lydia High Priest of Laal, Rex the Lizard King and Sonja Queen of the Amazon respectively. Rex (currently a master II fighter, expert ninja, journeyman priest and master I wizard) usually uses axes, Sonja (master II fighter, adept ninja, artisan priest and expert wizard) uses swords, Seamus (journeyman fighter, master I ninja, journeyman priest and master III wizard) uses bows and Lydia (craftsman fighter, journeyman ninja, master III priest and master III wizard) has a staff and a spellcasting sword. I've intentionally tried not to make them all super-characters, rather making them proficient in what their role in the party was. For example, everyone in the party casts spells, but Lydia makes all the potions and Seamus is the one with physical ranged attacks.

What's the best sword to use? I reckon Diamond Edge because of its anti-armour effect, but The Inquisitor has a berserk attack, so I'm not sure on that one. I made a pretty hardcore sword with the Editor, but it's not original so don't like to use it.

I have a couple of issues which I'll post here.

1. DM (not original version) - that moveable wall on Level 11 (or level 10 to most, depending if you consider the Hall of Champions a level or not) which opens the 3 doors to the spider rooms where you can get hold of the Helm of Lyte - it's activated by a small button near where the Materialisers are generated towards the end of that level. In the RTC version of DM, the button doesn't seem to move the wall - works fine on the original version though. Weird, eh?

2. I'd really like to be able to delete saved games. When you choose "Make New Adventure", you pick your champions from previous saves. I'd like to be able to flag some of these for deletion as the list can get quite long, especially if you've created dungeons and saved from in there.

3. Do shields help?

Cheers everyone!

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Wed May 23, 2007 1:18 pm

welcoem to the forums, nice to see another lover of DM find his way in!

2. The RTC sdaved games are saved in the module folder, so you can delete them - or move them out of the way - simply by moving those files in windows. The files havea .sv0, .sv1 etc extention, with the same name as the .rtc file.

3. In the DM engine shields did add a small amount to your internal armour score. I can't remember exactly, but I do believe that this si the same in RTC. The real queastion is, is that hand better for potion holding, and my answer is always 'yes'! Also, in RTC you can hold boost-giving items in the left hand and still gain the bonus. So that shield is looking miiighty boring right now!

Post by **linflas** » Wed May 23, 2007 2:08 pm

left or right hand ?
left hand in the interface is right hand in character's point of view, isn't it ?.. which means that all DM characters are left-handed.

Trantor · Post by **Trantor** » Thu May 24, 2007 5:52 pm

Welcome to the forums! It's always nice to see a new member here!

As for your questions:

1. The best weapon is indeed the Diamond Edge, it just deals the most damage over a certain period of time. Berzerk is the attack option with the largest damage potential, but it is also very slow. I think the Hardcleave actually deals slightly more damage, but that may be just me imagining things (plus, I tend to confuse original DM with RTC in these parts). A personal favourite of mine is the Rapier, it is very light, and I always loved Thrust, though Thrust doesn't seem to do as much damage in RTC as in original DM.

2. See Beo's answer.

3. I never ever use shields, I always put a flask in the character's off-hand. They are just much more handy in the heat of battle, and having them there generally require less clicking.

Tonari · Post by **Tonari** » Thu May 24, 2007 11:24 pm

This thread serves as a reference for strength of weapons.
http://www.dungeon-master.com/forum/vie ... hp?t=25428
I think the CHOP is not strong but balance though.
Hardcleave is used in an original dungeon at the end.

Shield has the same effect as one of the parts of the armor.
Shield can be used also by the right hand and the left hand. However, the effect is reduced by half in the right hand.

Adamo · Post by **Adamo** » Fri May 25, 2007 12:08 am

Hello Lizard King!!!
indeed, shields doesn`t give you much defence, but there`s a way to change it in custom dungeons by increasing shield`s properities in custom games!!
BTW, I always wear Shield of Dark (DM)/Dragon Shield(CSB) (*) if possible, cause it`s the only one powerfull shield in original dungeon!

(*) - it has armor strenght = 54 and sharp resistance =6 , so it`s relatively powerfull

Rex the Lizard King · Post by **Rex the Lizard King** » Fri May 25, 2007 5:27 am

Hey people, thanks for all the answers.

With shields, I use them because of the RP aspect - they're fighters with lots of armour, so I either wanted two weapons, which is maybe a little pointless, or a shield. I always wanted to see two-handed weapons in DM! 10kg swords, axes, partisans and stuff, with the graphic covering both hands!

Attack methods, I was always a fan of "chopping" - quite quick and can cause some serious damage, "thrusting" takes a little longer (although it's quicker than "melee"). Berserk is a slow attack and, since sometimes it misses, can be a pain. I like the rapier because of the "Jab" option, but you get that with the vorpal blades too. Delta is an excellent weapon.

One thing I noticed when I last read ChristopheF's DM encylopaedia - an excellent source (http://dmweb.free.fr/) - fighter levels are divided into things like "thrust" and "club" - I never knew this. However, how would you increase a ninja's "Steal" or a priest's "Identify" - is there a thread for this?

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Fri May 25, 2007 8:04 am

You mean new attacks under the RTC engine? I do not think RTC apes thee behaviours and has sub-skills, or if it does then any new attacks base themselves off of the attack you clone ( I think)