Exult Forum

Hello!

I'd like to understand what Exult is.

Is it an exact reverse engineered implementation, like I believe ScummVM is, or is it an approximation of the original game?

And now to some... bugs? Or features:

* I cannot put more than one bag in any backpack.
* A lot of cloud shadows remain stationary, until you walk near them.

Oh, heck, I'll sneak in a feature request as well:

Smooth scrolling! I'd like to ne able to choose 30fps, and then have the screen movement interpolated. The current system is a bit headache inducing.

Yes, it's a reverse-engineered implementation like ScummVM.

Not sure about those bugs.

And we might work on smooth scrolling after 1.2 is released.

Whoop, while waiting for a reply, I found the FAQ... it said the following things:

Combat works differently. We don't have any hard data or formulae that tell us how combat worked in BG/SI, so Dr.Code put something together.

We don't know what all the data in 'weapons.dat' and 'ammo.dat' means, so hit points and damage don't work as well as in the original game.

---

So which one is it? Guesswork or original algorithms?

Original algorithms based on guesswork. We're probably fairly close now.

I figured out the cloud shadows. I use a larger play area than normal, so I probably see newly spawned clouds which don't animate until the normal, 320x240 play area is near them.

I wonder if it will be the same way with monsters...

Normal area is 320x200. And yes, wierd stuff can happen if you play with a larger area.

Ok, thanks for the info.

Might the spawn (or hatching, if it uses eggs as I remember U6 did) distance be calculated according to the playfield size in the future as well?

Also, was I alone in the backpack bug? Not being able to place more than one small bag in my backpack? All the companions are also affected by it. I use Black Gate + Forge of Virtue with Exult v1.1.10rc2.

I am fine. I even have bags in other bags.

(Is that a bug? Naah, it's a feature

- Wizardry Dragon

Eggs have, as part of their data, the distance at which they're supposed to be hatched. That's one way playing with a larger window can be strange, since that distance is usually set so monsters are spawned off-screen. The larger window means that you may see monsters magically appearing as you approach.

I'll also add this, in previous versions of Exult we did have some of the Eggs hatch at a range that was dependant on screen size. However, this seriously broke aspects of Forge of Virtue so we can't do it.

As I recall, you could only fit two bags into a backpack in BG if you had virtually nothing else in the backpack. SI allowed you to fit three in with a tiny bit of space to spare.

Neutronium Dragon