Question about weapon weights in Angband

Dragget

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Join Date: Apr 2014

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#1

Question about weapon weights in Angband

April 11, 2014, 23:55

I may not be a medieval weapons expert, but weapon weight in this game seemed off to me. After a brief search, I turned up this:

How much did a samurai armor weigh? - Answers

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_did_a_Medieval_knight%27s_armour_weigh#slide=1

ANSWERIts about 20Kilograms or 45 lbs if made by tempered steel.It depends heavily on which period you are talking about, as the design of such armor varied across the times.What we think of as a Knight Suit of Armor is more properly called Full Plate Armor. It is a full-body covering, made of shaped steel plates, commonly using some sort of leather and/or chain mail backing to facilitate flexible joints. Such a suit is incredibly heavy - most wearers of such armor would have to be literally lifted into the saddle of their horse by a small crane, and only the largest and strongest horses could be used. A Full Plate Armor suit could employ steel up to several millimeters thick in places, and typically weighed at least 150lbs (70kg). Needless to say, movement in such a heavy suit was very limited - the wearer could not effectively walk, and thus, should they be unhorsed, was immobilized.The other typical medieval armor suit of the Knight was what we commonly refer to as Plate Mail these days. This was a combination of lightweight chain mail, leather backing, and several large steel plates covering critical sections of the body, but not providing near-total coverage like Plate Armor. In general, probably only about 50% of the wearer's total body surface would be covered by steel plates in such a suit. This suit was much more flexible, and weighed significantly less than Full Plate, and allowed for the wearer to fight effectively on foot. However, it still significantly reduced the flexibility and mobility of the wearer. Depending on design and construction, such Plate Mail could weigh anywhere from 40 to 75 lbs (20 to 35kg).

Seems that most of the weapons are *way* heavier than is reasonable. Is there a specific reason for this? The game has been around for decades so it seems unlikely to be a simple oversight, as someone would surely have pointed this out... So what is the real reason?
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Rydel

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Join Date: Jul 2008

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April 15, 2014, 13:35

A lot of the weapons are way off (a problem a lot of video games have for some reason). Unfortunately, the weight of a weapon is used in calculations like Crit chance and throwing distance, so you can't just change the weight without altering game balance. You'd have to change some of the game's calculations too.

I'm trying to think of an analogy, and the best I can come up with is Angband is like fishing for sharks, and Sil is like hunting a bear with a pocket knife and a pair of chopsticks. It's not great. -Nick
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Question about weapon weights in Angband

Question about weapon weights in Angband

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