07-17-2006, 11:23 PM
I just took the screenshot (back in November as you can see) and posted it here merely because of the irony of aquiring a scanner to play the game the "way it was meant to be played" - considering the game doesn't come with one. I have a scanner, I used to use it. I am sure that it was a great project for Moe and others who made them and I keep it just because it is a fine creation. I don't use it anymore because I learned, like others here, that it wasn't very useful. Not only that but I was much more paranoid and was prone to abuse instead of use it. Let's just say there can be a big difference between having a legit character and having a character that "scans" legit.
For example, I have two Soldier's Bastard Swords with identical stats on a mule. They were both droped in one game in in fact even dropped with the same duribilty (current/max). Obviously, I figured the game generated a dupe (plus it's junk), so after ID'ing them at Cain I dropped them - and was suprised to see them both fall to the ground with no dupe message.
This is not the way item data is stored. If it were the case, then there could only be 256 unique codes of any specific item (specific meaning exact affix values, etc), like only 256 unique 40/20 obsidian/zodiac rings ALL of which would only differ by one byte (Ok, technically it would be 768 since there are three "base" ring types). This is not the case. I can't tell you how many different unique codes there are for one specific item because I don't know how the routine that generates items works. It may be more or less than 256, but I am willing to guess that is a lot more, which means that I agree with you that it is extremely suspicious if two characters have an item with the same unique code.
What worries me, however, is how often I will be in a game and the game generates a dupe of some random item drop. I may see a sword drop and get a dupe message pop up, destorying one I certainly left behind before. I noticed it at least three times in the past few months with rings when I am playing low level characters through the catacombs and caves too - moderately helpful things like silver/strength or something.
If you won't mention the rarity of an obs/zod, I will: about 1 in 740 games. :)
For example, I have two Soldier's Bastard Swords with identical stats on a mule. They were both droped in one game in in fact even dropped with the same duribilty (current/max). Obviously, I figured the game generated a dupe (plus it's junk), so after ID'ing them at Cain I dropped them - and was suprised to see them both fall to the ground with no dupe message.
Quote:If I recall correctly, there are two hexidecimal bits, giving 256 outputs for a single item. With potions, this happens occasionally, sure. With rings? Say two Obsidian Zodiac. Obsid can be one of 10 different values, and Zodiac can be one of 5. This gives 5*10*256, or 12800 chances. Not to mention the rarity of actually finding one of such an item.
This is not the way item data is stored. If it were the case, then there could only be 256 unique codes of any specific item (specific meaning exact affix values, etc), like only 256 unique 40/20 obsidian/zodiac rings ALL of which would only differ by one byte (Ok, technically it would be 768 since there are three "base" ring types). This is not the case. I can't tell you how many different unique codes there are for one specific item because I don't know how the routine that generates items works. It may be more or less than 256, but I am willing to guess that is a lot more, which means that I agree with you that it is extremely suspicious if two characters have an item with the same unique code.
What worries me, however, is how often I will be in a game and the game generates a dupe of some random item drop. I may see a sword drop and get a dupe message pop up, destorying one I certainly left behind before. I noticed it at least three times in the past few months with rings when I am playing low level characters through the catacombs and caves too - moderately helpful things like silver/strength or something.
If you won't mention the rarity of an obs/zod, I will: about 1 in 740 games. :)