Questions regarding THAC0 in OAUA!

[Alma295]

So, hi! This marks my first post in the forums too, though I've been a lurker for much longer than that.

Anyways, I'm Alma, been interested in the OAUA Worldhak for a while and am making a simple and basic module with it (since it will be my first design; just having fun with the editor!). That said, with the pleasantries out of the way...

I've noticed how the player characters have a much better THAC0 than normal right out of the gate, which is especially jarring if they are low levels. For example, if I go create a new level 1 bushi, her THAC0 displays as 20.




However, after creating that bushi, when I go to check her stats, her THAC0 has changed to 4.




I was wondering whether this is intentional or if I botched my installation of the OAUA somehow. I swore I followed the installation instructions correctly in installing a second, fresh copy of Unlimited Adventures, installing the OAUASetup, running the oapat13.exe in DOSBox, and then as an extra, I installed the basic version of UAShell (UAShellB) after OAUA has been fully installed. Everything else in the OAUA works correctly as far as I am concerned, it is just the THAC0 values changing.

My greatest apologies if this is actually a simple question to answer, though I do appreciate some insight!

[hans]

Nǐ hǎo, Alma!  Welcome! 

I never noticed it, but that does seem to be the way OAUA normally works.  So, I don't think you botched anything. 

Does seem odd, but I can't say that it's not intentional.  I contributed some art, but the programming was done by Brian O'Donnell, who sadly passed away a few years ago.  Darius Whiteheart helped shape the project, and IIRC managed to correct some discovered bugs himself, so he might know more, but he hasn't been active since July 2, 2014. 

If I further remember correctly, in TSR's Oriental Adventures (on which OAUA is based) a Bushi could specialize in a particular weapon at the start of their careers, so maybe the dramatic jump in THACO was meant to approximate that...? 

Wish I knew more on this point, but at least it should ease your mind that your copy of OAUA is working normally. 

I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying the project!   

[Alma295]

I see, I am glad to hear my copy of OAUA works correctly then! Thank you very much, Hans!

And it is unfortunate to hear what has happened too in regards to Brian and Darius. You have my condolences in respect to Brian's passing.

And of course, regardless, I will enjoy dabbling in and continuing to use OAUA for the foreseeable future; some of the high level content for the classes and spells and monsters that is on the documentation has intrigued me greatly. (And on a slightly off topic note, working with OAUA kinda makes me want to start dabbling in Dungeon Draft too.)

[hans]

BTW, Alma, I don't know if you know about these two early hacked UA mods of mine but that you might be interested in: 

"Fire and Water" (FnW.zip) is color-cycling combat icons demo-mod.  Athough it's in the pc/demos folder of Rosedragon, it's a fully playable mod with a pre-made party and six easy combats.  It was my first mod, and why it might be of interest to you is that the milieu is more Chinese than Japanese.
http://frua.rosedragon.org/pc/demos/fnw.txt
http://frua.rosedragon.org/pc/demos/fnw.zip

"Unspoken Dream" (Unspoken.zip) is a single-pre-made-player mini-mod (one dungeon, one combat) and plays very quickly (although that one fight is on the tough side).  Why it might be of interest is that it is a Japanese pseudo myth/fable mod that pre-dates the OAUA Worldhack.
http://frua.rosedragon.org/pc/modules/u/unspoken.txt
http://frua.rosedragon.org/pc/modules/u/unspoken.zip

[Alma295]

Oh, thank you Hans! I'll check them out when I am able to. :)