Combat

In combat, strength, defense, and hitpoints interact about like this:

Step 1. When Dink or a monster hits the other, a number of hitpoints is randomly selected from the upper half of its strength range. In DinkC terms, you might write it like this:

int &hit_work = sp_strength(<hitting-sprite> , -1);
int &hits = math_mod(&hit_work, 2);
&hit_work / 2;
int &add_remainder = &hit_work;
&add_remainder += &hits;
&hits = random(&add_remainder, &hit_work);
&hits += 1;

While the above example is true for melee combat, the damage calculation works slightly different for missiles. When the missile's strength is an odd value, it's maximum possible damage potential will be one less than it's strength. In DinkC terms, it would look like this:

int &hit_work = sp_strength(<hitting-sprite>, -1);
&hit_work / 2;
int &hits = random(&hit_work, &hit_work);
&hits += 1;

Step 2. Now the defense of the sprite that got hit is figured in:

&hits -= sp_defense(<sprite-getting-hit>, -1);
if (&hits < 0)
{
    &hits = 0;
}

Step 3. Make sure the sprite cannot always get off scott-free (this algorithm is used in hurt() and when Dink gets hit; it does not seem to always apply to Dink hitting a monster, especially when he hits it with magic):

if (&hits == 0)
{
    &hits = random(2, 0); // random() returns 0 or 1
}

Step 4. Finally, apply the hit:

int &health = sp_hitpoints(<sprite-getting-hit>, -1);
&health -= &hits; 
sp_hitpoints(<sprite-getting-hit>, &health);
if (&health <= 0)
    die();          // note: Dink's die() is in script "dinfo"

The mock code above is only given to help show the interrelationships between strength and defense in battle. It must be noted that Dink's attributes are kept in variables: &strength instead of sp_strength(); &defense instead of sp_defense(); &life instead of sp_hitpoints().

Combat ​

Combat