Diwic
Level: Roachling
Rank Points: 12
Registered: 03-07-2007
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I like this game very much, as well as I enjoyed DROD. I'm glad I remember some "tricks" from when I played that game.

However, one thing is somewhat unclear, and can matter in some cases.

What decides which roach (or other enemy) that moves first?

As an example, picture this: "R R x P" (Roach, Roach, Empty tile, Player). Now if the leftmost roach moves first, it will detect that it cannot move, then the rightmost roach will move towards the player, so the result will be "R x R P". However, if the rightmost roach moves first, it leaves an empty spot for the leftmost roach to occupy and the result is "x R R P".

So, what decides which roach moves first? And do certain kinds of enemies move before other kinds?

Another unclarity is preference of direction, such as the following situation:
R x x
x O x
x x P

R = Roach, O = Obstacle (a wall, water or anything the roach cannot cross), x = empty tile, P = Player.

What decides whether the roach moves south or east in this situation?

Jeff_Ray...
Level: Smitemaster

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Depends on which order the maker of the quest puts the monsters.

As for the other one, i guess it moves S if it can, otherwise it moves east. Or the opposite...

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coppro
Level: Smitemaster
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It might not be the same in DROD. It's been awhile since I played, and I'm running on Linux so I can't go and check, but IIRC roaches prefer EW movement over NS. As for movement order, I'm not sure. It's quite possible that it was implemented by running through each square and checking that monster's movement, or it could be like DROD.

googa
Level: Moderator

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Press F11 to check the monster's movement order.

The roaches movement order is clockwise, starting north.

In this case the roach would move east.

R x x
x O x
x x P

Movement order:

1) - Hero.
2) - Elementals.
3) - Hero special. (Boomerang, for example)
4) - Ray Casting.
5) - Rafts (starting from upper left to bottom right).
6) - Balls.
7) - Evaluate Monsters movement.
8) - Move monsters.
9) - Bombs.
10) - Check Pressure plates (for the next turn).
11) - Ray casting again.
12) - Saves game (if over shed).

Another useful key: Press rcontrol for an easier level navigation.

---

[Last edited by googa at 03-08-2007 05:25 PM]

Diwic
Level: Roachling
Rank Points: 12
Registered: 03-07-2007
IP: Logged

googa wrote:
Press F11 to check the monster's movement order.

Nice feature

googa wrote:
The roaches movement order is clockwise, starting north.

In this case the roach would move east.

R x x
x O x
x x P

Thinking a bit harder about this, it is interesting that the roach chooses to "change direction" to get closer to the player whereas the situation

x x x
R O P
x x x

does not allow the roach to move northeast or southeast to avoid the obstacle, which would actually be the same thing.

googa wrote:
Movement order:

1) - Hero.
2) - Elementals.
3) - Hero special. (Boomerang, for example)
4) - Ray Casting.
5) - Rafts (starting from upper left to bottom right).
6) - Balls.
7) - Evaluate Monsters movement.
8) - Move monsters.
9) - Bombs.
10) - Check Pressure plates (for the next turn).
11) - Ray casting again.
12) - Saves game (if over shed).

Another useful key: Press rcontrol for an easier level navigation.

Thanks for the explanation. Interesting that the movement of monsters has two phases, whereas the others have not. What consequence has this two-phase movement?

Right control does nothing here, what I can see. I'm on level 7 currently, so perhaps this will work better in later levels?

googa
Level: Moderator

Rank Points: 282
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x x x
R O P
x x x

does not allow the roach to move northeast or southeast to avoid the obstacle, which would actually be the same thing.

In this case the roach wold move NE.

About the RControl key:

When you press it the keyboard delay time is set to 0. This way you won't have to wait a few milliseconds between the key pressing to the hero movement.

Diwic
Level: Roachling
Rank Points: 12
Registered: 03-07-2007
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googa wrote:

x x x
R O P
x x x

does not allow the roach to move northeast or southeast to avoid the obstacle, which would actually be the same thing.

In this case the roach wold move NE.

Err...no? In this case the roach does not move at all, it is not smart enough to move around objects. (I vaguely remember a DROD level where roaches were that smart though.) But if the object and the player is in diagonal position (as in my first example), the roach walks around the obstacle choosing the clockwise direction.

About the RControl key:

When you press it the keyboard delay time is set to 0. This way you won't have to wait a few milliseconds between the key pressing to the hero movement.

It seems to be the left control here (on my Swedish keyboard). Useful nonetheless!

// David

googa
Level: Moderator

Rank Points: 282
Registered: 09-20-2004
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Err...no? In this case the roach does not move at all, it is not smart enough to move around objects. (I vaguely remember a DROD level where roaches were that smart though.) But if the object and the player is in diagonal position (as in my first example), the roach walks around the obstacle choosing the clockwise direction.

You're right. It only moves NE if there's a brain in the room.

It seems to be the left control here (on my Swedish keyboard). Useful nonetheless!

You're right again, it's the LControl not the RControl that does that.