[net.games.hack] Effect of phase of the moon

andrew@orca.UUCP (Andrew Klossner) (06/02/85)

Looking through the hack source is almost as much fun as playing.  The
parsimonious comments make for a real challenge.

The program appears to calculate the true phase of the moon based upon
the system's current date.  Here's what hack does differently during
full moon and new moon:

FULL MOON:

  -- You get an extra point of luck when the game starts.  There's a
     potential bug here:  it looks like you can start up a game during
     a full moon, then save/restore many times, and get an extra point
     of luck each time.  Twenty points is enough to guarantee hits
     against monsters.  I haven't tried this out.

  -- At night, you have only a one in six chance of successfully taming
     a dog.  Nighttime lasts from 10:00pm until 5:59am, regardless of
     the season.

  -- A dragon has only a 2d3 attack.  Normally a dragon has a 2d4
     attack.

NEW MOON

  -- If a cockatrice hisses at you and you're not carrying a dead
     lizard, you are always turned to stone.  (If there's moonlight,
     you get a saving throw.)

  -=- Andrew Klossner   (decvax!tektronix!orca!andrew)       [UUCP]
                        (orca!andrew.tektronix@csnet-relay)  [ARPA]