Combat with Liches is "broken" in exult

[Netriak]

I have closely compared combat with liches in exult with the original black gate game in dosbox.
I came to the conclusion that combat with liches works differently in exult. let me explain the differences:

In exult:
The lich stands still shooting insta-kill bolts against which is no defence whatsover and small electric bolts at you.
Since it is impossible to survive the insta kill bolts the combat is over in two seconds, unless you kill the lich first.

In the original:
-The lich evades close combat by backing away
-The lich insta-kills way less often, and the bolt can be evaded if you move.
- The lich casts explosion spells.
- The lich cast invisibilty spells
- The lich teleports.
- The lich summons hordes of skeletons
- The lich creates flame fields in the area

All in all, the battle in the original game was, i think, a lot more fun. Would it be possible to implement proper battle ai for liches (and other spellcasters?) in a future version of exult?

[Wizardry Dragon]

I think Marzo may be grateful if something like this were implemented ^_~

~ Wizardry Dragon

[drcode]

Yes, it's possible. The one Liche example I remember is in the FoV; but I remember him just standing there and throwing bolts in the original, plus you can't get close to him. Is there another one that's easier to get to?

[Netriak]

I tested it with the lich on the isle of the avatar that spawned in a ring of fire, that you could get to. I jumped to it with F3. It is just below the shrine of spirituality, and in the original it doesn't just stand about.

[Netriak]

I just took a look at the FOV lich at the trial of courage.
You are right, that one doesn't move in the original. But it doesn't throw bolts either. All it seemed to do was casting some lightning around him, as if it were a ritual of some sort.
The mage there did teleport and cast multiple spells though.

[Wizardry Dragon]

There is a Lick in the Isle of the Avatar, I believe, and also one in Ambrosia.

My memory's sketchy as all ym interaction with Ultima VII lately has been usecode, but I believe that's correct.

--------
Peter M Dodge aka Wizardry Dragon
Lead Designer
Ultima VII: The Feudal Lands

[pak150]

There's also a lich in Silver Seed - Adam Dol or something...

[drcode]

I think the one in FoV is controlled by a usecode function. I'll try to find one of the others to test with.

[Crysta the Elf]

there's a lich in one of the parts of dungeon Wrong in BG too, i believe

[Neutronium Dragon]

The FoV lich definitely didn't attack in the original; he just sat there in the middle of whatever the ritual was that the baddies were conducting with/on him until you intruded. I don't recall whether there was a way to release him from it.

Neutronium Dragon

[drcode]

Yes, the one in FoV is a special case. I'm using the one in Ambrosia for testing. I just checked in a fix for a bug where hostile NPC's weren't always targeting party members, which in my savegame, caused him to just stand around. Now he casts lightning and fireballs. However, he'll cast all of one spell until it runs out of charges, then switch to the next. I can't remember if the original did that or if he randomly threw different spells. I also don't know about summoning or creating fire fields. That may be something we need to implement still.

[TdI]

I'm pretty certain that all magic users used the same fighting style in U7, only that Liches had more powerful spells. I'm also pretty certain that magic users cast random combat spells and don't use the same one until it runs out. I've seen magic users cast fire fields and teleportation (of course), but I'm not sure about summoning.

[drcode]

Currently, we have wisps and mages able to teleport during combat. I think we should add liches to that list, plus we also have to support 'summon' and 'invisibility' for certain types (guessing that it's liches and mages). Looks like these were all hard-coded in the game, since they're not in the 'monstinf.dat' file. I'm going to have EStudio support for these so they're not hard-coded.

[drcode]

In the next snapshot, Liches should teleport, summon, and become invisible. Dragons can also become invisible.

I also modified the way invisibility works, as previously, it pretty much made you (or an NPC) invincible.