Acid Spray, and player breaths

[Chud]

In the current nightly versions, I'm not completely clear on the mechanics of the mage spell Acid Spray, and similarly for other cone-shaped player attacks (! or - of dragon breath, dragon scale mail breath, etc.).

Does the damage done decrease with range, and if so, by how much? It seems like it does, but my sample size is too small for me to really be able to tell what I'm seeing... thanks!

[Nick]

The way all cone-shaped spells and breaths work is that it is as if they are a slice (shaped like a piece of pie) out of a ball centred on the caster/breather. They fall off in strength starting a given distance away from the caster. This distance starts at 40 feet, which means three grids because it counts the casting grid. It is then adjusted as follows:

Powerful monster            : multiply by 3/2
Arc narrower than 60 degrees: multiply by 60/(degrees of arc)

This means we have

• Acid Spray - 60 degree cone, starts falling off after 3 grids
• Player breath (DSM, wand, etc) - 20 degree cone, starts falling off after 11 grids
• Monster breath, standard monster - 30 degree cone, starts falling off after 7 grids
• Monster breath, powerful monster - 30 degree cone, starts falling off after 11 grids

I'm pretty sure this is correct, although I should actually test it at some point. I feel like maybe monster breaths should fall off earlier; I've tweaked it a couple of times, but I'd be interested in opinions.

[Derakon]

How does the falloff work when the target isn't standing directly in the center of the cone? Or does only distance to caster matter?

[Nick]

How does the falloff work when the target isn't standing directly in the center of the cone? Or does only distance to caster matter?

Just distance from the caster - maybe my pie description wasn't as good as I thought