Moria for DOS v4.87 - Going Way Back

[MoriaRetro]

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.

[mushroom patch]

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.

[awake]

Well, NPPMoria exists now, if that's of interest.

http://www.roguebasin.com/index.php?title=NPPMoria

[corremn]

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

[MoriaRetro]

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.

[mushroom patch]

You have to remember, moria was written for systems on university campuses that didn't have a lot of downtime.

[MoriaRetro]

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.

[MoriaRetro]

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.

[vultures]

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.

[MoriaRetro]

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.

[mushroom patch]

Yes, at least last version I played (which was in the 90s). +2 speed rings exist.

[Avagart]

I cannot find satisfactory answer. What are main differences between Moria and Angband?

[vultures]

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.

[mushroom patch]

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.

[Avagart]

I cannot find satisfactory answer.

Ready.
_

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

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