Magical attacks and some other attacks don't show damage dealed to monsters

[lea2501]

Hi! lately I've noticed that many spells as mage or necromancer don't show the damage that they dealed to monsters, i have the "Show damage player deals to monsters" option set to "yes".

For example, if i shoot and arrow to a jelly, i see the message:
"Your Bolt (1d5) (+0,+0) hits the blue jelly (15)."

but if i fire a nether bolt as a necromancer the message don't show the dealed damage, showing only:
"The blue jelly quivers in pain."

I think the damage dealed is very useful and i like to have it, but why not for spells?

[Nick]

Spell damage is more difficult because spells often hit multiple monsters. That said, it should be possible - I will file it as a change to be made.

[Pete Mack]

You just need to do the targeted monster. If none is targeted, don't bother with damage.

[lea2501]

Spell damage is more difficult because spells often hit multiple monsters. That said, it should be possible - I will file it as a change to be made.

Wow! i'll love to see the damage dealed to targeted monsters with my spells! thank you so so much!

[takkaria]

Yeah, show_damage is half-baked, that's my fault It seemed like it would be difficult to make the damage display show up well in the messages. The alternative is something like Sil's combat terminal, which would show you a list of all the damage dealt, then it wouldn't have to be in the main message text.

[Nick]

OK, I think my optimism was unwarranted here. While this would be technically possible, it would require a largish amount of code and would result in either a lot of message spam ("5 uruks cry out in pain" becomes 5 individual messages with damage amounts) or only recording damage sometimes. Summary: I don't think this is worth it, for maintainer or players.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

OK, I think my optimism was unwarranted here. While this would be technically possible, it would require a largish amount of code and would result in either a lot of message spam ("5 uruks cry out in pain" becomes 5 individual messages with damage amounts) or only recording damage sometimes. Summary: I don't think this is worth it, for maintainer or players.

Yes, that's what I remember of the conclusion you reached long-ago when you took on the gargantuan task of maintainer while we were play-testing the first new version.

[Pete Mack]

What might be better is having multiple health bars (like PCB.) Say, for your current target and the next 2 most powerful monsters who are attacking you.

[Tibarius]

damage shown for spells

+1 for the suggestion of showing the damage dealt to the targeted monster

Like Lea i would welcome it a lot to see the damage done with spells.

[archolewa]

What might be better is having multiple health bars (like PCB.) Say, for your current target and the next 2 most powerful monsters who are attacking you.

I feel like this risks being confusing, especially if you are fighting e.g. a group of Dreads.

[Grotug]

What if instead showing how much damage each of the 5 uruks received a sum of the total damage dealt to the 5 uruks? 5 uruks cry out in pain. 5 uruks suffer 144 damage between them.

6 dreads cry out in pain. 6 dreads suffer 352 damage between them.

[archolewa]

Could also give the average damage. Average damage is already used in several other places (particularly weapon damage and monster memory information), so I don't think players would find that particularly unusual.

"5 uruks took an average of 35 damage each."

[Werbaer]

You just need to do the targeted monster. If none is targeted, don't bother with damage.

This. But modified for bolt spells.

When using a bolt spell that doesn't beam, it would be nice to see the damage done to the monster that is hit, not (0) for the targeted monster.
Same for using a bolt spell without a target (with direction keys).

Average damage isn't usefull at all when casting a fire ball (or an Orb) on a unique monster with escorts.

[lea2501]

This. But modified for bolt spells.

When using a bolt spell that doesn't beam, it would be nice to see the damage done to the monster that is hit, not (0) for the targeted monster.
Same for using a bolt spell without a target (with direction keys).

Average damage isn't usefull at all when casting a fire ball (or an Orb) on a unique monster with escorts.

this its the most interesting i think, or at least, the one it can think will be more useful while fighting a tought monster or unique, i really like it!