comet/meteor swarm

Mulley2 · Post by **Mulley2** » Sat May 15, 2004 6:21 pm

Ok, I'm a bit fuzzy on the intended logic here, but, I THINK this is a bug.

Comet: Makes a big lasting fire effect. Yet, if ANOTHER comet is cast in the same area, IT DOES NOT PROPAGATE. The 2nd Comet will ONLY propagate if there is a free (no fire spell occupying from the 1st comet) space to expand in. 2 Comets spawning from the same (fire covered) area = 1 comet filling the area it should, and the 2nd filling NOTHING until the first comet expires, then it expands a few squares and ends (appropriate for it's "active" time).

Now, let's advance to Meteor Swarm. The same logic from Comet applies still. ONLY the first Meteor (Comet) expands fully. The rest DO NOT propagate at all, until the FIRST one dies off. This makes for ONE "full damage area" attack, and a secondary attack that is, well... useless... like 10x10 at max, and lasts a second or 2.

I'm thinking this behavior is not intended. PERHAPS it was meant as a limiting factor for Comet, but the fact that Meteor swarm is a multiple-comet attack and is STILL bound by the same rules, I'm thinking this is a bug/unintended effect.

As it stands now, Comet and Meteor Swarm are equal in damage, but one takes MUCH more SP to cast.

ToxicFrog · Post by **ToxicFrog** » Tue May 18, 2004 2:16 am

Smells like a bug to me - at least, I'm fairly sure it didn't behave like this in 0.94 or 1.30.
Have to wait for the devs to reply for a canonical ruling, though.

Ryo · Post by **Ryo** » Tue May 18, 2004 7:06 am

Posted on development mailing list.
I'll paste reply when it comes :p

ToxicFrog · Post by **ToxicFrog** » Thu May 20, 2004 3:03 am

Based on the source, this /might/ be deliberate - but it might also be an unintended side effect of this limiter. The comment is ambigous about whether it means 'spell', 'spell effect', or 'casting'.

In server/spell_util.c:462

Code: Select all

	/* This is to prevent 'out of control' spells.  Basically, this
	 * limits one spell effect per space per spell.  This is definately
	 * needed for performance reasons, and just for playability I believe.
	 * there are no such things as multispaced spells right now, so
	 * we don't need to worry about the head.
	 */
	if ((tmp->stats.maxhp == op->stats.maxhp) && (tmp->type == op->type) &&
	    (tmp->subtype == op->subtype))
	    return 0;

This is part of the function ok_to_put_more, which returns 1 if it's ok to place a given spell effect on a given mapsquare, 0 if it's not.

ToxicFrog · Post by **ToxicFrog** » Thu May 20, 2004 3:23 am

Revision: I may be wrong; this code was present as far back as 0.94.3. Only checked maxhp and type, though, not subtype as well.

Zortan · Post by **Zortan** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 2:05 pm

Okay, people complained and it did get fixed.. To the point that a fireborne (me) got killed by a distant meteor swarm (I was on the edge of the explosion in a map with no exit, where I usualy fire meteor swarm and it does SOME damage but not that much)... I had no way to escape and saw my HP drop as fast as my warrior-characters do when he fights Gothwolthe (whatever)..

OUCH.. Maybe I missed it in MOTD, but now the damage is extreme.. It makes meteor swarm a spell you fire and leave the room till it goes away (which in some cases is impossible to do unless you recall)..

That reminds me.. the quest for WDSM may be more difficult now (as if it wasn't bad enough).. especialy the death-room (1st one)..Definatelly the quest for Unicorn Horn will be tougher if the angel lets off some meteor swarms...

I geuss now I have to carry lava potions.. hehehe..(please, don't mention *magic* damage..)

BTW.. anyone ever thought that since fireborne are creatures of fire, they would be in "heaven" inside a flame? I think maybe they should take -hp damage when hit by fire spell (ie: regenerate hp if hit with fireball, comet, etc, but still take magic damage and physical, if any, just regenerate +fire damage)..

Mulley2 · Post by **Mulley2** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 6:15 pm

Ehh ...

I've run across the "new" comet/meteor swarm fire damage recently, and I cannot say it's "out of line" at all. The fire damage @ 80% or so resist still hurts, but not really by that much, given regen attribs. from rings/items.

What DOES hurt is getting nailed by the "comet" balls. Meteor swarm casting that hits you w/ all the comets = 300+ hp gone in 2 seconds. That's all it takes.

On another note, if Comet/Meteor fire damage is so GREAT, why are cyclopses NOT getting dead via a lv 95 or better comet casting? Yeah, SOMETIMES they die if they're not hit by the comet, but not always, even if they're near the detonation point. Heck, even a lv 99 pyro doesn't always kill them w/out a direct comet hit. (yes, this is relating to the last couple days play)

Zortan · Post by **Zortan** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 2:55 am

I got killed by magic damage it seems as my fire (as a fireborne) is +100.. my magic is only +45.. Fireborne have a very hard time balancing equipment.. Rings of Ice are useful for ice protection but nothing else.. I have to carry TONS of potions which sucks.. hardly anyone else has to for small encounters (skulls even! I'm level 95!)..

Any who.. Meteor Swarm clears a room that used to take me 3-4 castings, just 1 casting.. same pyro level (70).. seems a bit overkill.. not much just a bit..