From: grabiner@zariski.harvard.edu (David Grabiner)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: rec.games.moria Frequently Asked Questions
Date: 16 Apr 92 23:11:39 GMT
Expires: 15 May 92 00:00:00 GMT

These are the questions in the Moria Frequently Asked Questions list.
Quick answers are given in parentheses; more detailed answers are in the
list which follows.

The answers below are separated by form feeds, so that in most news
readers, you can get the answer you want without looking at the rest of
the spoilers.  Each question is repeated before its answer, so you can
search for the questions.

Many of the answers are only correct for Umoria versions (4.87 and 5.x);
I don't know much about the other versions of Moria.

Please send any corrections or other suggested questions to me at
grabiner@zariski.harvard.edu.

How do I get the Moria sources/executables/documentation? 
(FTP from kukulcan.berkeley.edu)

I'm playing Moria version V; how does that compare to the current version?
Is it compatible?

How do you kill an ancient multi-hued dragon?  (Usually, you don't.)

On what level do you find X?  (Level 25 is best for gain stat potions.)

What is the grape jelly trick?  Does it work in Umoria 5.x?  (No.)

I don't like haggling; can I change the source code to turn it off?

What are the special abilities of ego weapons? Crowns? Amulet of the
Magi?

How does resistance work?  Are two items of resistance cumulative?  (Not
if both are worn items.)

How much damage do spells and wands do?

What does spell Y do?

How do you create objects in wizard mode?

How do I get the Moria sources/executables/documentation? 

The following Umoria files are available by anonymous FTP from
kukulcan.berkeley.edu (IP address 128.32.121.190):

/pub/wilson/umoria_5/(machine name)
Executables for the Amiga, Atari ST, IBM PC, and Mac; look at the README
files in these directories for more information.  Some of these files
may need to be transferred in binary mode; type "binary" before
transferring the files.

/pub/wilson/umoria_5/um5.4.tar.Z
A compressed tar file containing the entire source, for use on any
system; if you have tar on your system, this is probably the file that
you want.  (If you don't have compress, you can ftp it as well; it is
/pub/wilson/compress.tar.)  This file must be transferred in binary
mode; type "binary" before getting the file.  Once you have the tar.Z
file, type "zcat um5.4.tar.Z | tar xf -" to extract the files, and
read the README files for help in installing.

/pub/wilson/umoria_5/um5.4.shar
A shar file containing the source.

/pub/wilson/umoria_5/umoria
The source distribution in plain text.  If you need just the
documentation, copy the files in the directory /pub/wilson/umoria_5/doc;
if you need the auxilliary files (help files, high scores), copy the
files in /pub/wilson/umoria_5/files.

I'm playing Moria version V; how does that compare to the current version?
Is it compatible?

Moria versions:

Umoria 5.4.0: This is the current version of Umoria.  It will accept
characters from all Umoria 5.x versions.

Umoria 5.3.1: This is essentially identical to 5.4.0, and compatible
with it, although 5.4.0 fixes a few bugs.

Umoria 5.2.2/5.3.0: These are in good condition, and compatible with the
current version.  One bug: don't rest more than 10,000 turns in place,
and leave the level if you start seeing lots of "Compacting monsters..."
messages, or the game may lock up.

Umoria 5.2.1: This is playable, but has no high scores file; you
probably want to upgrade if possible.

Umoria 5.1.0-5.2.0: These versions can be played, but are somewhat
buggy.  If you run into an invisible, invincible monster which doesn't
move or attack, get off the level.  If you can FTP the sources or
executables, you should upgrade.

The U is often omitted from the names of the following Umoria versions.

Umoria 4.87/PC-Moria 4.87x: This version is based on the old VMS Moria.
It is relatively bug-free, but it doesn't have the features of the 5.x
versions, such as monster memory.  The save file format is incompatible
with 5.x, and several people have failed in attempts to write a
conversion program.

Umoria 4.85: A moderately buggy version, also based on VMS Moria.

Umoria/PC-Moria 4.83: An extremely buggy version, based on VMS Moria.
This version is essentially unplayable (see invisible doesn't work,
stores all close after 32768 turns, etc.)

The following versions are not compatible with Umoria, and Umoria
spoiler files may not apply to them.  I don't know much about these
versions.

UB Moria 5.0: Also known as VMS Moria 5.0, this is the current version
of VMS Moria.  It has more monsters, a Black Market, and other features.

Imoria 4.9: This is apparently a very good game, with new character
classes and other features, but it hasn't been released outside of UW.

Amiga Moria 3.0: Although this version was originally based on 4.85, it
has many added monsters, features, and bugs (including items which make
you virtually invincible).

BOSS: This game changes the setting of Moria, but keeps many of the
items.  It is based on VMS Moria 5.0.

How do you kill an ancient multi-hued dragon?

Usually, you don't want to try; one gas breath from a full-strength AMHD
does 693 damage, with no resistance.

If you can get to speed 3 (one permanent speed item, and either another
permanent speed item or a haste self spell or staff), you can try this
technique.  First, create (or find in a maze room) a wall with one open
space on all four sides.

   .
  .#.
   .

Stand on one side, with the dragon on the other side.  When the dragon
moves adjacent to you, attack it once, and then hide behind the pillar.
The dragon can't see you, so it won't breathe, and will instead chase
you to another side.  Now attack once, and hide again, and so on until
the dragon is finished.

On what level do you find X?

Where important objects are found:

In 4.87, 1/20 of items are chosen as if you were on level 50.  In 5.1
and all later versions, 1/12 of items are chosen as if you were on a
deeper level, which has (current level/50) chance of being level 50, and
is always level 1 in the town.

Items become somewhat less common as you go deeper than the indicated
levels; however, if you can survive down there, this is compensated for
by the fact that there are more treasures on deeper levels.

Item type			Level
Ego weapons, special armor,	Progressively more common as you get
boots, gloves, helmets		deeper, all the way to level 55
Healing potion			12
Gain stat potions		25
Restore mana potion		25
Invulnerability potion		40
Gain experience potion		50
Genocide scroll			35
Destruction scroll		40
Rune of Protection scroll	50
Mass Genocide scroll		50
Amulets of wisdom, charisma	20
Gain str/int/dex/con rings	30
Amulet of the magi		50
Ring of speed			50
Staff of speed			40
Staff of mass polymorph		46
Staff of dispel evil		49
Staff of destruction		50
Wand of clone monster		15 [2 in 4.87]
Wand of drain life		50

What is the grape jelly trick?  Does it work in Umoria 5.x?

The Grape Jelly trick is a spoiler/workaround/trick which is no longer
necessary in 5.1 and later versions.  

In 4.87, when your intelligence and constitution changed, your mana and
hit points did not change.  Thus, in order to get the benefit of the
increased values, you have to let a grape jelly (or other creature, but
grape jellies are otherwise harmless) drain you to a low level, and then
drink restore life levels potions to go back up with the increased
stats.

I don't like haggling; can I change the source code to turn it off?

If you have the source code for any 5.x version, you can turn off
haggling with a simple change.  Here is the change you would need to make.
(Note: This is *not* an official patch.)

In the source file store1.c, this is the routine for determining whether
you need to haggle.  You can change the function, or simply change the
return(flagnoneed) to return(1) to eliminate all haggling.

int noneedtobargain(store_num, minprice)
int store_num;
int32 minprice;
{
  register int flagnoneed;
  register store_type *s_ptr;

  s_ptr = &store[store_num];
  flagnoneed = ((s_ptr->good_buy == MAX_SHORT)
		|| ((s_ptr->good_buy > 3 * s_ptr->bad_buy + 20) &&
		    (minprice < 1000)));

  return (flagnoneed);
}

What are the special abilities of ego weapons? Crowns? Amulet of the
Magi?

All version-dependent changes are marked in brackets.

(HA) Holy Avenger   +(1-4) str, +(1-4) AC, (SE), (SU), sustain stat,
                    see invisible.
(DF) Defender       stealth, regeneration, free action, see invisible,
                    feather fall, RF, RC, RL, RA, +(6-10) to AC
(SM) Slay Monster   Damage (x 2) vs. monsters, see invisible. [found in
                    4.87 only]
(SA) Slay Animal    Damage (x 2) vs. animals, [does not exist in 4.87;
                    has see invisible through 5.1.4]
(SD) Slay Dragon    Damage (x 4) vs. dragons.
(SE) Slay Evil      Damage (x 2) vs. evil monsters.
(SU) Slay Undead    Damage (x 3) vs. undead, [see invisible in 5.1.5 and later]
(FT) Flame Tongue   Damage (x 1.5) vs. monsters harmed by fire.
(FB) Frost Brand    Damage (x 1.5) vs. monsters harmed by cold.

A HA which is +1 to strength sustains strength; +2, intelligence; +3,
wisdom; +4, constitution (not dexterity).

Crown of the Magi     +(1-3) int, (RF), (RC), (RA), (RL)
                      [In 4.87, it had see invisible instead of RL]
Crown of Lordliness   +(1-3) wis, chr.
Crown of Might        +(1-3) str, dex, con, free action.
Crown of Seeing       see invisible, +(10-25) searching.
                      [+(2-5) to seach in 4.87]
Crown of Regeneration Regeneration.
Crown of Beauty       +(1-3) charisma.

Amulet of the Magi    free action, see invisible, searching, +3 AC.
                      [no searching bonus in 4.87]

Regeneration lets you recover mana and hit points at 1.5 times the
normal rate, but also makes you use up food much more quickly.

Free action prevents you from being slowed or paralyzed by monsters.

How does resistance work?  Are two items of resistance cumulative?

Resist heat/cold potions and spells give temporary resistance to heat or
cold.  All other resistance items give permanent resistance.  Two
permanent resistances are not cumulative, and two temporary resistances
are cumulative only in duration.

Fire and cold do 1/3 damage if you have single resistance, 1/9 if you
have double.
Acid does 1/2 damage if you have any armor to corrode, 1/3 if you have
resistance but no armor, and 1/4 if you have resistance and armor.
Lightning does 1/3 damage if you have resistance.
There is no resistance against poison gas.

How much damage do spells and wands do?

Spell Name              4.87 damage     5.1.0 and later damage
Magic Missile           2d6             2d6
Stinking Cloud          8               12
Lightning Bolt          3d8             4d8
Lightning Ball          24              32
Frost Bolt              4d8             6d8
Frost Ball              32              48
Acid Ball               40              60
Fire Bolt               6d8             9d8
Fire Ball               48              72
Wand of Drain Life      50              75 [in 5.1.4 and later]

In 5.x only, a wand of wall building will do 4d8 damage to any creature
buried in the wall (except one that moves through walls), and will kill
any immobile creature.  On the creature's next turn, it will attempt to
move out of the wall, and if it is unable to do so, it will take 10d8
damage and dig its way out.

Everything below is the same in all versions.
Wand of Light/Staff of  2d8 (if sensitive)
Starlight               
Orb of Draining         3d6 + caster's level, double to evil creatures
Dispel Undead/Evil      1-60 from scroll or staff; 1 up to triple
                        caster's level from spell
Holy Word               Dispel evil for 1 up to quadruple caster's level

Notes:

All mage spells in 4.87 do the damage listed in the table above if cast
from a wand, and 1 point more if cast by a mage.
All ball spells do full damage for a direct hit, half damage one space
away, and 1/3 damage two spaces away.

What does spell Y do?

Non-obvious spell effects:

Mage spells:

Phase Door: short-range teleport.
Find Hidden Traps/Doors: also detects stairs.
Sleep I: sleep one monster in a given direction.
Recharge Item I: fewer charges than Recharge Item II, and more likely to
		 fail. 
Sleep II: sleep all monsters adjacent to player.
Sleep III: sleep all monsters with a line of sight to player (including
	   invisible ones). 
Word of Destruction: obliterates everything within 15 spaces of the
		     player; Balrog will teleport to another level.

Priest spells:

Bless: +2 to AC, and +5 to chance to hit (equivalent to +1-2/3 bonus on
       weapon) for a short time.
Blind Creature: blinded creatures wander around confused until they recover.
Portal: medium-range teleport.
Chant: double duration Bless.
Sanctuary: sleep creatures adjacent to player.
Protection from Evil: prevents any evil creature of the player's level
		      or lower from attacking the player.
Earthquake: causes random walls and ceilings in the area to collapse,
	    possibly injuring anything nearby.
Turn Undead: all undead of the player's level or lower, and some of
	     higher level, will be temporarily confused.
Prayer: quadruple duration Bless.
Dispel Undead/Evil: affects all undead/evil within line of sight (even
		    invisble ones in 5.x versions), damage is from 1
		    up to 3x player's level, 1-60 from scroll or staff.
Glyph of Warding: creates a glyph which monsters cannot enter, but have 
		  a small chance of breaking.
Holy Word: heals player completely, cures poison and fear, and dispels
	   evil for 1 to 4x player's level. 

How do you create objects in wizard mode?

You will need the source; if you have only executables, get the source
files constant.h and treasure.c from kukulcan.berkeley.edu, which
contain the necessary definitions.  This is an explanation of some of
the parameters.

Tval: This is defined in constant.h; it is the value for the item type.
For example, TV_WAND is 65.

Tchar: The character used to represent this object; it should usually be
proper for the item type.

Subval: This identifies the specific item.  If you are duplicating an
item from the item list, use the same subval (and tval) as that item;
otherwise, don't.  Use subvals 0-63 for items that shouldn't stack,
64-127 for items that should always stack (potions and scrolls), 193 or
more for items that are generated in a group, and should stack as that
group (arrows).

Weight: In tenths of a pound.

P1: Used for all special bonuses which don't appear elsewhere:
bonus to stats/searching/stealth/speed, which stat to sustain (warning:
constitution is 4 and dexterity 5), tunneling value, food value, light
value of a lamp, torch, or flask of oil.  For missiles, different values
of P1 distinguish different groups of missiles; use small negative
numbers if you create groups as a wizard.

Flags: A hexadecimal number which contains:
for wearable items, all special effects (bits beginning with TR_ in
constant.h).
for chests, trap flags (CH_ bits in constant.h) and treasure flags (CM_
bits in constant.h).  The CM_WIN flag is cleared when you open a chest,
so you can't create a chest with that bit set in order to get an instant
win.
for potions/scrolls/staffs/wands, the effects of using the item (see the
items in treasure.c).  Many potions have multiple effects (cure light
wounds also cures blindness). 
for books, which spells are in the book (spell 1 is the units bit).

Level: Level on which the item would be found.  This affects the
difficulty of using wands and staffs.

The object will have no name, except for the inscription {wizard item},
and possibly a type name, such as "Potion of"; you can change the
inscription.

-- 
David Grabiner, grabiner@zariski.harvard.edu
"We are sorry, but the number you have dialed is imaginary."
"Please rotate your phone 90 degrees and try again."
Disclaimer: I speak for no one and no one speaks for me.
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria