Hi there,
I’ve noticed that when using magic combat spells, the projectile speed and the time damage gets shown could be inaccurate. I’m not sure if there was a quality of life update somewhere in 2005 or 2006 that changed this.
How it currently works is: Let’s say we use a blast spell from a distance. The animation of casting completes first, then the projectile travels, and then the projectile hits a target and finishes it’s own animation (the blast) first, then AFTER this the damage get’s shown.
However, it used to be that, when casting from a distance, the damage is shown before the final animation (the blast) and right after that the blast animation plays, as seen here (earth blast): https://youtu.be/jmdW_pMXQnc?t=59
From close distance, it seems like the damage and blast animation appear simultaneously.
Also, currently the magic projectile travels a little to fast from far distances.
It used to be (atleast for wave spells I think) that it starts with a base speed, and after some ticks (if the projectile did not hit a target) it increases it speed as it nears its target. I am not 100% sure for this one though, perhaps this was only true for wave spells or something.
Maybe someone can look into it 
EDIT: After looking into the github repository, I found a video from 2005 that validates that the current behaviour is actually valid: https://youtu.be/eEdE0mvglM4?t=2m10s
I stand corrected I guess? This means that this was changed somewhere between 2005 and 2006.