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Game Discussion => Traditional Roguelikes (Turn-based) => Topic started by: MoriaRetro on January 24, 2015, 02:24:53 PM

Title: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: MoriaRetro on January 24, 2015, 02:24:53 PM
I have been under a ton of stress lately, so for some reason, to unwind, I went and found an old game I used to play over 20 years ago called Moria.  I have version 4.87 loaded up in old-school DOS and man, I forgot how much fun this game was.  I don't even know why it crossed my mind in the first place after all these years.

Anyway, I know there were later version, but I am playing 4.87.

Obviously, this is not a game that is going to be getting a ton of trending in 2015, but I was wondering if some of the rules I have read on here for later versions apply to 4.87?

Example - IS 1250 feet the best place to find attribute increase potions?

Also, does a complete index exist of items and monsters?

I found this - http://beej.us/moria/mmspoilers/items.html - and while it is very good, it still could explain more about spells, some items, and the nature and skills of various monsters.

Also, I should note that I'm not really all that familiar with D&D rules, and don't completely get some of the numbers that are listed without explanations (eg. what is the 50 in Strength 18/50, or the "level" of an item, etc...). 

Thanks, to anyone who actually remembers this game and has any advice.

At the moment, I'm a level 25 Half-Troll Priest.  No idea why I chose a half-troll.  Just got crazy in the moment I guess.



Title: Re: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: mushroom patch on January 24, 2015, 03:49:56 PM
Oh, man, moria. Good stuff. Man I played that in like 1988. Great stuff.

Unfortunately, I can't help you with spoilers. I just want to mention imoria, a variant that added a lot of cool stuff. It has a C linux port that's worth checking out. Everyone thinks of angband as the successor to moria, but there's this other branch of the moria lineage that goes in a pretty different direction.
Title: Re: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: awake on January 30, 2015, 01:54:12 AM
Well, NPPMoria exists now, if that's of interest.

http://www.roguebasin.com/index.php?title=NPPMoria
Title: Re: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: corremn on February 03, 2015, 11:02:16 AM
Ahh Moria, you always remember your first  ::)
Always surprises me how good this is.
I will have to give the NPP version a go.

here is my fav version. with colour and a few improvements but of course still plays like the original.
http://www.roguelikedevelopment.org/archive/files/executables/mor552c.zip
Title: Re: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: MoriaRetro on February 05, 2015, 12:23:26 AM
Thanks guys.

With these newer versions, is it possible to back your character up in another folder like with 4.87?

I remember back in the day, it was excruciating if there was a power outage while I was playing and then bam, my level 45 guy with Holy Avenger stuff is erased forever because the game designer thought I was trying to cheat.
Title: Re: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: mushroom patch on February 05, 2015, 01:07:20 AM
You have to remember, moria was written for systems on university campuses that didn't have a lot of downtime.
Title: Re: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: MoriaRetro on March 06, 2015, 01:46:16 AM
Well guys, thanks for the info.

I beat the Balrog, but saved my character before doing so, since I heard that was the end of the game once you kill the man.

Figure I'll just dive down to 10,000 ft to see what things look like and then probably retire, having closed the book on this game I didn't know I had subconsciously felt was unfinished business for decades.

Here's what my boy looked like before the final encounter with the Balrog.

Edit: Will post shortly.  Can't figure out how to copy text from a dosbox window.
Title: Re: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: MoriaRetro on March 06, 2015, 04:19:47 AM
Whatever, I'll type it out, just for posterity's sake...

Name: Sniffer  (eventually Sniffer the Magnificent)
Halfling
Mage
Wizard (8th)

Str: 18/100
Int: 18/100
Wis: 18/100
Dex: 18/100
Con: 18/100
Chr: 18/100

Lev: 38
Exp: 2,406,987
Mana: 102
MHP: 186
CHP: 186

AC: 102
Gold: 908,924

You are Currently Using:
a) Wielding: A Glaive (+11, +12) [+4] (HA) (+1 to STR)
b) Head: A Steel Helm [6, +9] of Infra-Vision (+5)
c) Neck: A Tiger eye Amulet of the Magi [+3]
d) Body: Full Plate Armor [25, +9] (RA)
e) Arm: A Medium Leather Shield [3, +10] (RF)
f) Hands: A Set of Gauntlets [2, +8] of Slaying (+3, +4)
g) Right Hand: An Emerald Ring of Speed
h) Left Hand: An Opal Ring of Lordly Protection (FIRE) [+5]
i) Feet: A Pair of Soft Leather Boots [2, +1] of Speed
j) About Body: A Cloack [1, +9] of Stealth (+3)
k) Light Source: A Wooden Torch with 3407 turns of light
l) Secondary Weapon: A Morningstar (+10, +9) (SD)

Only notable item in inventory:
u) Mace (+5, +9) [+8] (DF)


Long live Sniffer.

Title: Re: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: vultures on March 08, 2015, 02:49:04 PM
Another thanx, I'm having a blast with good ole' Morr. I've even started tracking newsgroups for fresh info on recent fan efforts.

Live long, Die Balrog. :)
Title: Re: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: MoriaRetro on March 12, 2015, 04:38:01 PM
Another question, random...

Does a Ring of Speed with more than +1 exist?

I found bad rings that went up (down) to -3, but never one that went above +1.
Title: Re: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: mushroom patch on March 12, 2015, 07:51:24 PM
Yes, at least last version I played (which was in the 90s). +2 speed rings exist.
Title: Re: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: Avagart on March 12, 2015, 08:03:00 PM
I cannot find satisfactory answer. What are main differences between Moria and Angband?
Title: Re: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: vultures on March 12, 2015, 10:12:31 PM
Quote from: Avagart
I cannot find satisfactory answer.
:) :) :)

Ready.
_



Btw, feel free to download Angband and read through its docs; I'm sure it explains how it picked up on Moria, or Rogue for that matter.


Cheers,
vultures.
Title: Re: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: mushroom patch on March 12, 2015, 11:01:06 PM
Moria is fairly primitive, with the original version written in the early 80s. There are a huge number of interface-related differences and differences in the scope of the game. Moria has a much smaller monster list, the monster you're out to kill begins to appear at dungeon level 50 instead of 100, etc. etc. If you play both games, you'll quickly get a feel for the differences and similarities.
Title: Re: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: Avagart on March 13, 2015, 04:29:24 PM
Quote from: Avagart
I cannot find satisfactory answer.
:) :) :)

Ready.
_

I'm sorry, I don't understand allusion/suggestion... ;>


Quote
Btw, feel free to download Angband and read through its docs; I'm sure it explains how it picked up on Moria, or Rogue for that matter.

Nope, in documentation is only the history of the creation different versions of Moria and Angband, but not about the differences between them.  It is about differences between earliel and later Angband.


@mushroom patch - Thank you very much :)
Title: Re: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: vultures on March 13, 2015, 09:58:03 PM
I'm overly impressed with new DCSS's changelog so beat me to smitherines for writing this -
 - even when neglecting readme portions of their docs, devs explain changes they've made through changelogs.

So there, compare both these ancient files and you're golden. :)
Title: Re: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: akeley on December 29, 2015, 05:59:01 PM
I`m trying to establish what the latest version of Moriais, for the Archive, it`s a bit of a headache though. According to wiki it`d be around 4.7 - 5.0

Seems that in some point it morphed into UMoria and people here and there started calling this version "Moria".

What I`d like to know, is UMoria an exact port of the original VMS Moria? Is the VMS version available anywhere for DOS/Win, or is this what UMoria is?

Title: Re: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: Ancient on January 01, 2016, 03:14:53 PM
No, UMoria is not exact port of VMS Moria, although it is the closest thing you can get without doing some nontrivial work. The reason for introduction of many changes is original Moria was in Pascal while UMoria is in C. Nonetheless it is basically the same thing from user perspective. In my opinion you can reasonably treat it as valid continuation of original game.

In order to have VMS Moria available on modern platforms you would need to create another UMoria or do what I have done with BOSS (a variant of VMS Moria) - port it to Free Pascal.
Title: Re: Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back
Post by: akeley on January 03, 2016, 11:52:17 AM
Thanks for clearing that up. It`s a tough call how to sort these often extremely tangled roots of the originators... For now I`ll just leave UMoria as a separate entity, with annotation that it is  "Moria" for those looking for the newest one.

Funny thing, there is actually no "Moria" if you`re looking from a strict archivist point of view (and I am :) since the original is actually called The Dungeons Of Moria. It seems that this here DOS version 4.87 is a straight port of the latest original, so it will go into DOS directory and by proxy it will be possible to play this original "Moria" on a PC.