jamesg71: I have cast Haste before a couple of battles and it seems like it doesn't take effect until the first turn / round. When last I played (which was on a Commodore 64) the haste was always active as soon as the battle started. I think prayer is acting similarly too. Is this a PC bug or just something I am not doing right?
Thanks in advance
There are number of differences between PC and C64 versions. The one you encountered is just one of them. C64 had quite limited RAM so they had to be a bit creative in how to implement certain mechanics in comparison to other platforms (like amiga). You had limitations on when to activate/deactivate certain items like girdles, gauntlets, swords with special effects, etc. because effects were loaded from disc. Lots of other small differences including the one you mentioned here. Haste activates BEFORE the first round in combat while prayer works as it did in C64 version. Its no biggie, just engine differences.