question about modifying a characters stats

[question]

Hey.

I have decided to start playing Diablo 1 again (nostalgia being what it is) and I had a question.

I had created a character way back in the day and built it up. I obviously dont have the character anymore, but dont wish to spend the time to remake it as it was (the conventional way atleast). I'm not asking for places to download hacks, what I want to know is how I would go about using those type of programs to give my character the items, stats, and spells it had when i quit. (i found a list i made of everything the character had,... thats what spurred this little quest of mine). what programs i would need to modify my characters stats etc

Also, I'm really only interested in playing single player. That being said I remember only being able to play on "Normal" difficulty in single player mode. Was that ever fixed or should i create a multi-player character? what differences are there between the two in terms of leveling up, gameplay, items, etc?

Thanks for the help,
-- Jay

[Selby]

You don't want to download hacks and cheats, yet you want to build up a character without playing it. Only see one way how you would do that without a cheat program. Use a memory debugger and modify your character in memory. SoftIce was the big one years ago, Code Myster made his own little version that I enjoyed using. You can program your own in C++ using MFC as it has ReadMem\WriteMem functions in it, just need to find the handle of the program (simple to do). Of course, by the time you figure all of that info out, you might as well have just played to get there.

A level 40 character can be made in about a week of good solid playing. Level 30 is possible in a few days. It's 45+ that takes the longest (more experience to go from 49->50 than from 1->48 if I recall correctly). Chances are you will have found better items by the time you get to where you were again anyway. Just play multiplayer. More flexibility. Single player is fun for a romp every now and again, but multiplayer really is just easier to play with.

[danifilth]

A level 40 character can be made in about a week of good solid playing. Level 30 is possible in a few days. It's 45+ that takes the longest (more experience to go from 49->50 than from 1->48 if I recall correctly). Chances are you will have found better items by the time you get to where you were again anyway. Just play multiplayer. More flexibility. Single player is fun for a romp every now and again, but multiplayer really is just easier to play with.
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49-> 50 is as much as from 1-> 47

[Fragbait]

A level 40 character can be made in about a week of good solid playing.
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I doubt that that's possible without really playing heavily, i.e. over 4 hours per day. Most of us don't have the time to do so (apart from vacation), and I wouldn't just call that 'solid'. So an hour and a half every now and then isn't solid? Don't think so.
And I'm assuming that we're not talking about partying with higher lvl characters to profit from the shared experience here.

On the other hand, I found that getting the character up to lvl 40 over a lot of time and the whole thing of finding/evaluating items, changing tactics etc. was way more fun than just leveling later on and occasionally getting dropped an item that one really could employ with all the good stuff one usually wears at that late levels.
But maybe that's just me.


Greetings, Fragbait

[question]

What exactly are the differences between single and multi-player? I'm talking in terms of leveling up, items you find, etc?

i dont plan on playing online, i'm just debating between the two.

as well, Has any patch been released that allows a player in single player mode to change the difficulty level to nightmare or hell? I remebered only being able to play normal.

[Selby]

I doubt that that's possible without really playing heavily, i.e. over 4 hours per day. Most of us don't have the time to do so (apart from vacation), and I wouldn't just call that 'solid'. So an hour and a half every now and then isn't solid? Don't think so.

By solid I am referring to playing 3-4 hours a night for a week or so (10 days, 14 days depending on luck). And that's not even just playing through, but going for the places that give you the most experience per challenge.

And I'm assuming that we're not talking about partying with higher lvl characters to profit from the shared experience here.

Of course not. And it wouldn't matter anyways, you have to kill the monster to get the experience and you are capped to 200xclvl in your experience gained.

On the other hand, I found that getting the character up to lvl 40 over a lot of time and the whole thing of finding/evaluating items, changing tactics etc. was way more fun than just leveling later on and occasionally getting dropped an item that one really could employ with all the good stuff one usually wears at that late levels.

I agree, but the guy wants to get up to level 40 as fast as possible without cheating, so I gave him some advice on how I would do it if it were me. Years ago I used to play for hours on end and get there, but nowadays I don't care so much about the goal as I do about having fun in my gaming. About 18 months ago I started a rogue and went from 1 to 43 in about 3-4 weeks worth of time, playing a good 2-3 hours every other day or so (and maybe a good long Saturday or Sunday).

[aaa]

What exactly are the differences between single and multi-player?  I'm talking in terms of leveling up, items you find, etc?

I believe most everything is the same, except monsters have double the health. It's easy to adjust to, but Leoric and Butcher can be a slight pain (just level a couple more and no problem).
As for items you find: There is 0 chance of finding a Lightforge, and a handful of other "second-rate" uniques.

as well, Has any patch been released that allows a player in single player mode to change the difficulty level to nightmare or hell?  I remebered only being able to play normal.

Not "officially" but you can 'trick' the game into thinking SP is on a higher difficulty.
I think you have to start up a multiplayer game on a higher difficulty and then switch to SP, but that sounds too simple. Anybody? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

[Swiss Mercenary]

I think you have to start up a multiplayer game on a higher difficulty and then switch to SP, but that sounds too simple. Anybody? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

I do believe that you need to start a Nightmare/Hell multiplayer game, and then create a new singleplayer game. Viola.

[Brother Laz]

Differences between SP and MP:

- Save system. In SP you have to save manually and can't replay earlier levels without starting the whole game over. In MP, you can quit and rejoin and everything will have respawned. Much more fun IMO.
- Some shrines are missing from MP, but they're useless or stupid anyway, you won't miss them and it increases your chance of an Enchanted shrine. :)
- If you die in SP, reload the game. This sucks. In MP, dying causes you to item fountain and respawn in town, then you have to go back and retrieve your gear. The stakes are higher, and it rewards playing carefully instead of just endless save/reload [oops, killed by invisible hiddens... reload, flood room with guardians. oops, killed by mob of 20 goat archers in shrine room... reload, spam firewall through door. Zzzz]
- Missing quests. Half of the quests are missing in MP, but then again the quests that are missing merely give you a fixed item reward. Do you really need an Optic Amulet? The fun quests like The Butcher and Laz are still in.
- Monsters have double the hitpoints in MP. Means you can't one-shot everything with fireball anymore.
- NM and Hell difficulty in MP. You can 'fake it' in SP but you need a sufficiently high level MP character to do so, so just play MP instead.
- You can't buy jewelry. Makes it rare as it should be.
- General improved difficulty. Killing everything on the screen with 2 flame waves isn't fun in SP.
- You can keep leveling and improving your character in MP. In SP, playing the game a second time with the same character makes it very easy and boring. In MP, there is always a new level or difficulty that's 'hard' for your char, even if you are like level 40.

In short:
PLAY MULTIPLAYER DAMMIT!!!