08-22-2003, 01:12 PM
There is no sprite limit like that mentioned at all. HOWEVER,ther is a limit on the number of ongoing spell effects (well, arrows for this purpose are "spells" too). The game keeps an internal table of all ongoing effects and that table has a maximum of 127 entries (or close to 127). Chain lightning is especially troublesome since it consumes a LOT of spell effects. First, each "stream", leaving your sourcerer (even if many might be on top of each other) is an invissible spell effect that travels from the cater outwards until it hits a wall or something else stoping it. On the way, this invisiblle effect will spawn a (stationary) lighting bolt in each new location it enters. It doesn't matter if another stream has allready created a bolt there, so multiple bolts from different streams can exist in the same location. Each such bolt is also an ongoing spell effect with a certain duration (all this gives the impression of moving bolts emerging from the caster travelling along untill it hits a wall, but the actual bolts thus, acutally don't move at all :) ).
At high spell levels, and with many targets closeby, there will be many streams and with each one creating quite a few bolts, the game very soon hits the 127 limit. The best way is to stand close to wals on the side of you so that one minimzie the number of bolts in "bad" directions where they won't hit anything so that there is more free slots for bolts in the direction where there is actually monsters close that you can hit with no wall in-between.
By the way, even such a things a a Mana Shield is an ongoing spell effect. And as I said, so is each arrow or other missile which is why it can at times get hard to cast spells when there is lots of witches casting blood stars or even worse, those mages (cabalists??) that fill the room with charged bolts which can also quickly consume the 127 effect limit.
As noted from the above, monsters and players share the slot limit. If one want to see it in effect, cast a whole bunch of long lived firewalls (each flame is an effect) and go see some spell casting monsters, they won't do much. On the other hand, a sorcerer can't do much either, nor a rogue using a bow.
And finally, yes, charged bolt IS bolts moving arround :)
At high spell levels, and with many targets closeby, there will be many streams and with each one creating quite a few bolts, the game very soon hits the 127 limit. The best way is to stand close to wals on the side of you so that one minimzie the number of bolts in "bad" directions where they won't hit anything so that there is more free slots for bolts in the direction where there is actually monsters close that you can hit with no wall in-between.
By the way, even such a things a a Mana Shield is an ongoing spell effect. And as I said, so is each arrow or other missile which is why it can at times get hard to cast spells when there is lots of witches casting blood stars or even worse, those mages (cabalists??) that fill the room with charged bolts which can also quickly consume the 127 effect limit.
As noted from the above, monsters and players share the slot limit. If one want to see it in effect, cast a whole bunch of long lived firewalls (each flame is an effect) and go see some spell casting monsters, they won't do much. On the other hand, a sorcerer can't do much either, nor a rogue using a bow.
And finally, yes, charged bolt IS bolts moving arround :)
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