In engines starting with 2.0 (JtRH), the "
old"
'Neather graphic isn't available like in AE or robin's rendition of AE. It was a design decision to replace the 'Neather sprites with Citizen 1/2 sprites instead.
In addition, the 'Neather is not replaced by a scripted NPC by any means, but rather a hard-coded monster that is identical to how the 'Neather behaves in KDD Level 25.
In the 1.x engine and 2.x engine, he would provide a pop-up message upon stabbing, but in 3.x and more recent engines, he will indeed just scream and do nothing else.
In order for him to work properly, your room coordinates must be valid with KDD Level 25 room coordinates. This means that if you paste him into 3W of a level for instance, there was no 3W in Level 25, so he will indeed do nothing.
This was demonstrated with the famous hold Bad Evil Restaurant, where he is put in room 2N2W, but this does not correspond to any known Level 25 room.
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King Azb's Arena today!