Author: professor6153

Caverns of Zoarre is a shareware offering that was written by Thomas Hanlin III and I was able to find these comments that he made about the game online:

“For what it’s worth, this started out as a TRS-80 game, Dungeon of Mirandor, which never quite made it out. The TRS-80 market fell off a cliff about the time I finished it. Mirandor owed a lot, conceptually, to the DEC VAX 11/780 version of Telengard, which I’d played extensively around ?1983?. Zoarre was an expanded version, finished painfully at intervals over the course of a year or so. The “fight” handler was unduly tedious to program, and balked me for too long. I wrote Zoarre using the IBM BASIC Compiler, a renamed version of one of Microsoft’s early BASICs. The compiler went through DOS and BIOS services for I/O, and was so unspeakably slow at updating the screen that I had to write assembly language routines for direct screen writes. Plus, it didn’t support the new DOS 2.0 features like subdirectories… albeit this wasn’t a major issue on the typical floppy-only system of the time. Anyway, the assembly language routines eventually made it out as a separate product, AdvBas, which was far more successful than Zoarre. AdvBas later went commercial, and started me on my career in writing tools for programmers. But, that’s certainly a great deal more than you wanted to know. Anyway, it’s nice to have a copy of Zoarre again. I’ll bet it cranks along very smoothly on a Pentium. :-)”

I have made quite a bit of progress since my last entry, thought it would appear ‘I have miles to go before I sleep’. When your character gains experience and increases in levels he has access to more spells. One of those spells was entitled Melt Wall and this led to the realization that every inch of map space is now put into play. Armed with this new information I went back and more thoroughly explored the first level.

The level is still not 100% complete but it doesn’t have to be because I was able to find stairs down to the next level. There is no inventory management in this game. You do not pick up or find objects other than gold pieces. You can only carry 4000 gold pieces at a time at which point you have to leave all gold you find behind. I was able to deduce that you gain experience points in two ways: 1) through combat and 2) by exchanging gold pieces for experience points when you climb out of the 1st dungeon level.

I still have no idea how many dungeon levels there are in this game. The dungeon locations and the things that you find in different areas of each level appear to be fixed so I believe that there is a purpose in place here. I currently find myself on the 3rd dungeon level and it has been a nightmare to map because of the numerous 10′ x 10′ rooms with multiple exits. You’ll find that you’ll have to sharpen your pencil often and I would have a straight edge handy. The maps are quite large.

The sets of stairs that lead up and down are very hard to find and the equivalent of discovering a great treasure. When I find a set of stairs that lead lower then I stop mapping the current level and descend deeper into the labyrinth.

There are some interesting special features that Hanlin includes as dungeon dressing. Sometimes as you pass certain areas, you’ll receive a message that reads; ‘You hear a scream in the distance’ or ‘A large *BOOM* echoes in the distance’ or ‘A black viscous material oozes from the walls’. It’s not a lot but it’s just enough to add some character to the game.

I have also discovered chests that contain gold and skeletons which become animated and attack you. I have discovered a fountain on each level that contains liquid of a random color ranging from violet to black to green and so on. Drinking from the fountain can be harmful or beneficial depending on the color. I have discovered a throne with numerous choices. You can sit on it, ignore it, pry jewels from it, move it, etc. On the third level I recently discovered an altar with the choice of praying before it, donating gold to it, or ignoring it. All of these small dungeon dressings help to add a little character to the dungeon and breaks up the tedium of mapping out these large levels.

There have been a couple of interesting transport options as well. I discovered an elevator which immediately transported me above the first level. I also encountered a transport booth which asks which level I’d like to go to. I am hoping that there is a point to this game because I have spent a considerable amount of time mapping out these dungeon levels.

If you like dungeon crawlers and enjoy mapping out levels via the old school pen and paper method this game packs quite the entertaining punch. My goal is to continue to map out the 3rd level and hopefully find a way down to a 4th level. I am hoping that I will have made more meaningful progress by the next post or even finished the game. Hopefully I will have something positive to report back to you with.

Until next time…

Greetings fellow dungeon crawlers and computer adventure game enthusiasts. When I sit down with my current role-playing game du jour, I wanted to share with you the mug that sits beside me filled with my favorite coffee.

Caverns of Zoarre certainly requires you to do some graphing by hand. It was developed by Thomas Hanlin III and published as shareware. Back in the day, for a $25 fee, you could write Mr. Hanlin who would then send you the manual. I searched high and low and could not find any evidence of the manual online. Fortunately, the game comes with a built in HELP page and is somewhat easy to figure out. What is not as obvious is the premise for playing the game nor do I know what the overall goal here is.

The character creation process is easy and routine. The computer rolls randomly for five attributes and then you decide whether or not you want to keep those scores. You then name your character and then choose between two classes: a fighter or sorcerer. I chose to go with a sorcerer and gave myself the name of Houdini – I was feeling a little whimsical. There is an odd moment during character creation where you are asked if you want to begin the game with a Freen. Not knowing what the hell a Freen was, I responded with a YES. As you can see down below, you seem to wear the Freen. One of the spells you achieve as you gain levels as a Sorcerer is Summon Freen. So, I am now assuming that maybe it is some kind of living pelt or familiar. I later discovered, during combat, that when you are attacked by something that has poison as a special attack ability, the Freen absorbs the poison damage. So thus far, it seems completely advantageous to equip yourself with a Freen.

You can see the full character sheet above and each time you exit the dungeon and return to the surface you’re able to get a full glimpse of your character statistics.

You can get a listing of the commands available to you by hitting the ? once you are in the dungeon.

The view here is reminiscent of the Temple of Apshai and all of the sequels which followed. I moved about using my numeric keypad with 8 for north, 2 for south, 4 for west, and 6 for east. On the 1st dungeon level I encountered the following creatures:

• a goblin warrior
• a wraith
• a Uruk-Hai orc
• a white wraith
• a forest wight
• a Uruk-Hai troll
• and lastly a giant spider

When you encounter a dungeon denizen you have the choice to (F)ight, (S)pell, or (B)ribe. I always choose to sling a spell, but I have had a couple of instances where the creatures have begged for their life, and they then offer you gold in exchange for their life.

It has been a real treat playing a sorcerer. There is quite a spell selection to choose from and I seem to have more interesting options than your run-of-the-mill fighter variety.

The many spells to choose from, as well as the variety, has made this a very enjoyable experience so far. One of the more interesting spells when you’re NOT in combat, is Melt Wall. This completely changes the complexity of the game and I’ll have to now go back to the first level and explore all of the areas that I artistically shaded in. I’ve since learned that whenever there is a space in your map, it can be explored via that spell.

It appears that obtain experience through combat and I’m trying to determine if your gold counts as experience as well. I’ll report more on this in my next blog post. There is a higher-level spell entitled Glyph of Recall and when I cast that it immediately transports me out of the dungeon. An extremely valuable spell to have but I also lost 1000 experience points and a level when I used it so I am choosing to only use it in case of an emergency.

I still have no idea how many dungeon levels there are in this game, or what my end goal is, but I am currently enjoying myself. I had mapped out much of levels 1 & 2 but then fell through a trap door and now find myself on the 3rd dungeon level. I am currently 4th level, have 40 hit poins, and 250 magical points. Each spell that you cast has a casting cost. When you walk around the dungeon your spell points regenerate. You have at your disposal the spells Cure Wounds and Cure Serious Wounds so it is a simple matter of healing yourself magically.

Here are the first two dungeon levels for Caverns of Zoarre but be aware they are both still a work in progress and in no way finished.

I am going to go and refill my favorite coffee mug now and then settle down to continue to map the 3rd dungeon level. Wish me luck.

Until next time…

The Black Onyx was developed and published in Japan in 1984 by Bullet-Proof Software. Henk Rogers, best known for Tetris, helped to sow the seeds for Japan’s entire RPG boom with a game that he wrote in 9 months. Having had some experience with Wizardry, he understood role-playing games but not the language. With the help of some native speakers, one of them his wife, Rogers released The Black Onyx for the PC-8801 personal computer and it went on to become the best-selling Japanese computer game of 1984. It racked up impressive sales and awards which paved the way for it be released on other systems. It was released for the MSX and FM-7 in 1985, the PC-6001 in 1986, and the SG-1000 in 1987. Today, RPGs dominate Japan’s sales charts.

We have had some experience with early Japanese role-playing games; the first generally regarded as The Dragon & the Princess in 1982. We also played 1983’s Bokosuka Wars and Hydlide from 1984. I was only able to play The Black Onyx because of a fan translation patch. This was my first experience hacking a rom with a fan translation patch but I was able to successfully get it accomplished with some help from the friendly folks on our Discord server.

The previous JRPGs mentioned were fun in their own right but they fall more into an arcade or action RPG classification. The Black Onyx is the closest thing to Wizardry that Japan was introduced to up to that point so it is no wonder that it sowed the seeds for an RPG boom over there. The game is not as good as Wizardry and lacks a spell system but I still found the game to be quite enjoyable.

The party consists of five characters and the only class available to choose from is that of fighter. There are no chests to open, locks to pick, or traps to disarm in the game and thus no need for a thief. There is no magic system or spells of any kind so magic using classes are out. The game rolls for strength, dexterity and health but you don’t get to see those scores unless you pay to examine your character in town; I’ll expound more on this later. The game does not have the complexities of Wizardry but it was the first multi-character, turn based, dungeon crawler in Japan and it did a great job at balancing combat and experience.

The characters begin the game in a town with no equipment and very little money. Unlike Wizardry, exploring the town and mapping out it’s locations takes some time and it is very much like its own dungeon level. There are 20 different locations and I have them all listed in a key on the map below.

There are four different shops where you can purchase equipment: Armor, Weapons, Helms, and Shields. When you first begin the game the only thing you can afford is a dagger. You gain gold and experience through combat in the dungeon which leads to the purchase of better equipment. The increased cost of the better armor and weapons is balanced well with your character progression and the deeper dungeon levels. You will need to explore lower and face fiercer opponents in order to gain greater gold to purchase better equipment. Character progression maxes out at seventh level.

The game goes out of its way to draw attention to character graphics. When you’re first creating your characters you can choose different wigs and assorted colors. When you purchase new equipment your character icons change to reflect the equipment change. It’s actually done quite well. Each character’s health is reflected by a health meter which increases in size when you gain levels.

When I finished the game, each character had progressed to full plate armor, a large shield, and brandished a broadsword. A horned helm would have greatly increased my armor class, but a bug kept removing the helmet from my characters. The toggle switch to put the helmets back on did not work for me and so I simply ignored the helms as part of my standard equipment.

There is a healing or physician’s quarter within the town that contains an examination room, a surgeon’s room, and a medical potions room. The examination room is a bit of a programming oddity. There is no way to examine your stats or character sheet unless you travel to this examination area and pay gold pieces for the privilege of doing so. The surgeon’s room is for healing and the rate is very reasonable. You pay a fee, and your health meter is completely restored. The medical potion room took a little bit of time to figure out. Each character can first purchase an empty bottle for 356 gold pieces (I didn’t realize that the bottle was EMPTY when first purchased). Once the bottle is in your possession you can then purchase healing does for 55 additional gold. The bottle can hold 5 of these doses. Each character can only carry one bottle and a max of five healing doses.

There are other areas of the town that are labeled but not accessible such as a temple, an arena, and the city gates. My understanding is that these features are meant to be explored in future sequels. There is a sequel that was made called The Fire Crystal with plans for a third game which was never made.

There is a cemetery that contains graves or holes which lead to mini-dungeons which allow you gain some much needed early experience and gold. Hidden in another quarter of the city, with a sign that reads Do Not Enter, is a secret door which contains stairs leading down into the dungeons.

The dungeon levels are pretty basic. There are no special encounters on any of the levels nor are there any messages to read. This was the one thing that really made Wizardry stand out. Those messages and special encounters on each level served to breathe life into the dungeon and give it a personality. There is nothing like that in this game other than mapping out each of the levels, encountering enemies, getting tougher, facing tougher enemies, buying better equipment, etc. This game, however, does all of that well. Each level is on a 15 x 15 grid with some of the rooms and corridors running off the edge of the map but then continuing on the opposite side. Once you’re used to this rubric mapping becomes much easier.

On the first two dungeon levels I encountered kobolds, goblins, skeletons, bats, zombies, ghouls, and orcs. Level four and five of the dungeon starts to introduce one way walls and teleports which can make mapping slow and confusing but the grid structure helps you to piece everything together properly. You need to be careful and save often because you can softlock yourself on many of these dungeon levels. If you go through a one-way wall you may find yourself trapped in an area of the maze and you are unable to progress further. It’s dastardly to be sure, so make sure you save often and with different save titles.

I was not aware of any backstory nor was I 100% sure of my reason for delving into the dungeon. From what I could gather online I was looking for the Black Onyx located somewhere in the Black Tower. It was clever how the game developer coordinated the Black Tower with the dungeon. On each dungeon level there is a large square area of blackness that I was not able to penetrate. It was only when I was on the deepest level of the dungeon, that I realized I was trying to get INTO the tower itself. The only way into the Black Tower is from the 6th level of the dungeon. Once inside the tower, you then have to climb your way back to the top of the tower.

Getting into the Black Tower is NOT easy. The sixth level of the dungeon is a dastardly and punishing puzzle in and of itself. I refer to it as the level of colors.

The Black Tower is located in the middle of this dungeon level and then it proceeds UP through the prior dungeon levels. This is the only floor that you can enter the tower from. You can only open the door and gain access to the tower if you move through the colored sections of this map in a particular order: YELLOW – RED – PURPLE – GREEN – BLUE – YELLOW – WHITE

It was a nightmare level that I spent a few afternoons on and then I read that a clue to solve the level could be found on the title screen. When you boot the game there is an animated sphere around the Black Onyx title and if you look closely the color bands correspond to the above sequence. Very dastardly. And once again I probably spent way too much time with one of these games.

Once you make your way into the tower, things become even trickier. I thought it would be a simple manner of climbing the tower to the top. However, I had a hard time finding the stairs on each level. If you venture too far outside of the black tower you are locked out again and have to go all the way down to the bottom of the dungeon and enter again. It was after a good three hours of experimenting and saving that I realized once you go into the Black Tower, do not immediately climb the stairs. Instead, situate yourself so that you are facing the stairs while looking north. The stairs are a spiral staircase up the tower. So, once you take the stairs to the next level, it is a simple matter of turning right, moving forward, turning right, and then moving forward and you will encounter the stairs to go up again. It is literally a spiral staircase. Once you follow this procedure up through six levels of the tower you will find yourself on a level that appears like you are looking at a nighttime sky or stars.

You will encounter giant cyclops on this level, but you should be 6th or 7th level with the best weapons and armor at this point so you should win through. Eventually you’ll find the Black Onyx.

Once you find the Black Onyx, you are immediately transported to the credits.

The game was tough but well balanced. I enjoyed the mapping of the complex and tower except for that COLOR level. There was a lot of grinding that had to be done on the 5th and 6th levels but I enjoyed it. I probably spent about 18 hours with the game but six of them were spent messing with that COLOR level. It was not Wizardry, but I can see why it sowed the seeds for an RPG boom in Japan. The Fire Crystal is the sequel to this game and it is on our slate to play.

Next up on the list is Tyrann. I must be a glutton for punishment this year because this game is in French. Wish me luck.

Until next time…

I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance.  It overcomes almost everything, even nature. – John D. Rockefeller

I wanted to start with Rockefeller’s quote on persistence because that is exactly what it took to beat this game. Xyphus challenges you with six scenarios and the manual warns that each scenario can take 3 – 12 hours to complete. While this is certainly true, I also had to contend with technical issues which caused me to have to begin the game all over again – TWICE! Each time I had been as far as the 3rd Scenario! The second time it occurred I almost threw in the towel and admitted defeat. My indomitable spirit would not let me quit. I played Xyphus using the WinVice emulator and I would encounter problems where my characters could not heal, or could not move in a particular direction. Nothing I tried corrected the issue. I noticed that when I used the game’s save feature it would ultimately corrupt my files and even prevent a new scenario from loading. I had to resort to using the Save State feature in the emulator and I had to make multiple backups of each new scenario in case my working file became corrupted again. These are the kinds of things you have to deal with when choosing to play these older titles.

When the game begins your party of four is assigned a task and then you set out to explore the world of Arroyo. Various items are scattered about the map. These might include weapons, spells, Xiphoid Amulets, or clues. Xiphoid Amulets are necessary for the casting of spells and have a finite number of charges. Once the energy in the amulet is spent, it shatters. Xiphoid Amulets can also be used as melee weapons which deal 2 points of damage upon a successful attack. Each scenario usually provides the opportunity to find two of these amulets which is a good thing because you go through them rapidly. Some puzzles or obstacles in a scenario might require the casting of a specific spell. The items on the map are represented by various icons that you can see so it’s a simple matter of traversing the map to get to them. The map itself uses a fog of war mechanic so you can only see surrounding terrain when you get close.

In the first scenario I found three Xiphoid amulets, a long sword +2 which my character, Hanuvar, actively used to the very end of the game, and a few spells. An intriguing area of the game are the different spells that you uncover in each scenario. Many of the spells are not in the game manual and it is up to you to experiment with the spells to determine what they do. While this should be an extremely enjoyable exercise in discovery, it is dampened by the fact that each Xiphoid Amulet only has a finite number of uses. The paradigm of discovering mysterious spells is a lovely one, but it is marred by the game’s mechanics.

Combat is turn based. Your options are pretty limited: you can fight, flee, or cast spells. Spells are not only limited by the number of charges in the Xiphoid Amulet, but they also have an endurance cost. Your spell casters may only be able to cast two or three spells before they have to rest. Characters become fatigued by physically attacking as well. Your endurance meter replenishes itself when you rest or walk. Characters begin the game with 12 hit points and these increase as you gain experience and go up in levels. When I beat the game each of my characters were fourth level. Death is permanent but you can save and restore your games on any hex. When I used the save game feature it would ultimately corrupt my files and make me unable to progress to the next scenario. So I stopped saving my game and instead used the save state feature in the emulator.

Physical attacks did a predictable amount of damage depending upon the weapon type. The character of Hanuvar found a longsword +2 and another character, Antires, found a Death Blade +3. These magical items helped to increase the amount of damage that was dealt.

The monsters that you encounter in the game seem straight out of the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. Cyclops, Centaurs, Ghouls, Goblins, Vampires, and even a Mimic are some of the creatures you encounter. There are also some original creatures that you encounter like toothpaws, sand asps, and an ice dragon.

While the game might seem like it is a “sandbox” style of play; it is not. Each scenario assigns you a given task and each of the encounters and objects that you find are all fixed. I played the first three scenarios three different times so trust me on this. The map of Arroyo is extensive but many of the areas remain blocked off and only open up when you access a new scenario. The entire game takes place outdoors except for the last scenario.

The game is incredibly hard. Each encounter is difficult and deadly. I had to restore my game often as death is permanent. The game does let you save your game anywhere which is a blessing. I would imagine that not many had the tenacity to finish this game. Traversing the map is difficult as well because there are hidden paths everywhere. Many areas do not allow movement and you have to move and experiment with four different characters until you find the proper way to go. When you complete each task assigned to you, you then make your way back to the garrison or fort and then the game will recognize that you’ve completed your task and you can then progress to the next scenario.

Impressed with your prowess and ingenuity, you are finally tasked with slaying Xyphus outright in the last scenario. The demon lord lies somewhere in the earth below. The last scenario moves from outdoor exploration into dungeon exploration. This last scenario is especially tricky. In order to defeat Xyphus you have to find the Heart of Xyphus which is located in the southwest portion of the dungeon. Only an elf can pick up this item. In the northwest portion of the dungeon is a crystal key which only a dwarf can get to and pick up. The manual did warn that you’ll need both an elf and a dwarf in your party in order to properly finish the game. The crystal key unlocks a stone gate far to the east. I became stuck when my way forward was blocked by an energy gate. The crystal key would not work upon it nor any spells. I explored the dungeon and couldn’t find anything that I missed. I went back to the gate and began trying different weapons on it and luckily found that the Xiphoid Amulet caused the gate to disappear when you attacked it with the amulet. Now, there is only ONE Xiphoid Amulet to discover in this dungeon level and the battles are harsh. The demon warriors, guards, and captains that you battle are extremely tough. Each blow only deals 2 to 3 points of damage to them which drains your endurance. If they hit you, you are poisoned which can only be cured by a Sana spell. So, the chances of you depleting your Xiphoid amulet and then being “soft-locked” from the end of the game are very high. If you’re going to play this one, make sure you are aware of this. Once I made it through the energy gate, I finally encountered the dreaded Xyphus. He basically stood there as I advanced upon him. I had my spell caster weaken him with a Hela spell and then my elven spell caster attacked and destroyed him with the Heart of Xyphus.

Once you beat Xyphus, you have to backtrack through the dungeon to the garrison. Only then are you awarded with an end screen. There is no text other than a picture of a crown, a treasure chest, and castle which must be your rewards for defeating Xyphus. There was cute music that accompanied the picture as well.

This was a grueling game that tested my patience and perseverance. I probably spent around 60+ hours with the game and it took up a lot of this year’s calendar. This places Xyphus in rare company in 1984 for the amount of gameplay that you get for your dollar. It’s not often you encounter a game that gives you 50 – 100 hours of play value. The outdoor hex map and different scenarios you’re tasked with add to its uniqueness. I would imagine that not many people had the tenacity to finish this game to the very end. In spite of the technical difficulties, I did enjoy my time with the game. I liked how the game handled experience and encounters and the constant thrill of discovery permeated most of the game. Hidden paths blocking overland movement and then having to deal with moving four characters around does test the patience here. Overall, a good experience from this 1984 offering.

Next up on the docket is The Black Onyx.

Until next time….

Xyphus was written by Robert Waller and Dave Albert and published by Penguin software for the Apple II in 1984. Versions for the Commodore 64 and Macintosh would be released in 1985. My time spent playing the game clocks in at 15 hours and still growing.

Gamers are extremely passionate about their table-top role-playing games. The way in which the games are handled and/or played can vary greatly. Players and gamemasters tend to be divided over how they want to experience the game. Those who belong in the first camp like a long campaign or story arc that consists of episodic adventures. These adventures are deftly interwoven together to form a cohesive story or mythology. Examples of this kind of play could be any of the Pathfinder Adventure Paths that exist today or any of the larger 5E campaigns such as Tyranny of Dragons. Some players are quick to criticize this style of play explaining that they feel railroaded or pressed to go in a certain direction dictated by the gamemaster. The players in the other camp prefer a sandbox style of play. Meaning they prefer a campaign that does not have a specific storyline but one where the GM sets up a world or at least a small section of one and the player characters are free to wander where they will and find adventure. It is all about freedom of player choice. Players in this camp like to consider themselves “old-school”. This style of play is also often referred to as a hex crawl. The GM uses a special kind of graph paper that consists of hexes which is a map of the geographic area. In this sandbox style of play the GM has placed many different Points of Interest or POI’s on the map. These may consist of dungeons, towns, and/or special encounter areas. The entire world is like a dungeon to explore. While they explore, the GM constantly rolls dice to see if random encounters are generated.

I am often fond of saying that the creators of computer role-playing games between 1978 and 1984 stumbled around in the dark. This is in reference to all of the different experiments that were tried in the translation of the table-top game to the home computer. Many of the early programmers were avid Dungeons & Dragons players. This was akin to a transcendent experience for many of them and they wanted to see if they could take that experience and translate it to a computer game that 100s or 1000s could enjoy. Some of these “experiments” were disastrous while on the other hand we also witnessed the birth of giants such as Wizardry and Ultima. These giants were starting to exert their influence into the industry resulting in games that both emulated their successful formula yet strove to be distinct.

This brings us to Xyphus. It is clear that the developers of this game were greatly influenced by the idea of a hex crawl.

The game is divided into six different scenarios which must be completed before you can move on to the next one. Each scenario gives you a specific task to perform and a new area of the overland map to explore. Movement is performed using a cluster of keys via the keyboard. You can press the TAB key to move the entire party at the same time or elect to move each character individually.

The game manual explains that each scenario can take between 3 to 12 hours to complete. This seems, in my experience thus far, fairly accurate. I am now through the third scenario and thus far the game takes place entirely outdoors. Outdoor exploration, as well as movement on a hex map, makes the game rather unique. It is reminiscent of Robert Clardy’s Wilderness Campaign or Randall D. Mastellar’s The Wylde. There are certainly games where traveling outdoors is a component but Xyphus might be the first game where all of the exploration and action takes place on the overland map.

The game manual that comes packaged with the game is well presented and contains information on the different types of spells you can cast as well as a list of monsters that you may encounter in your exploration of Arroya. I enjoyed the illustrated bestiary, a portion of which is shown below.

Your party consists of four characters however you can choose to play the game with only one character. The game does warn you during the creation process that you’ll need at least one elf and one dwarf in order to complete the game so you’ll at least need a party of two. When you create your characters you choose between dwarf, elf, and human races and you can elect to be either a fighter or spellcaster. You are not in control of any attributes or character options other than the naming of your characters. I often like to use literary inspiration when choosing my character names and decided there was no need to break convention. I chose the names Hanuvar and Antires from the incredibly excellent Lord of a Shattered Land (I highly recommend you support this author and read this one – you will NOT be disappointed) by Howard Anrew Jones for my two fighters and Mordred and Raistlin for the two spellcasters.

The party created, equipment in hand, I set out to explore the world of Arroya. In my next Xyphus installment, I’ll go over each of the scenarios I’ve completed and the trials and tribulations which ensued.

Until next time…

I have always been a fan of Stuart Smiths work. I have played each of his previous offerings in their entirety and found them to be highly enjoyable. When I wrote about Fracas, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and The Return of Heracles, I painted them in a favorable light. One of the very unique things that Stuart Smith has managed to do in all of his titles, whether it is Arabic folk tale, Greek mythology, or Mesopotamian mythology, is provide both educational and historical context. When enmeshed in one of his games I found myself constantly reading about Ali Baba or looking up Greek or Mesopotamian references. His material is always well researched, and it provides the player with yet another layer of immersion. His first game, Fracas, would foreshadow and set the pace for his later offerings. Combat in Fracas, as in all of Stuart Smiths games, is frenetic and always fun.

Stuart Smith’s Adventure Construction Set was released in 1984 for the Apple II and Commodore 64. It would be released in 1986 for the Amiga and in 1987 for DOS.

Since I am ensconced in the 1984 offerings, I chose to play the Apple II version using an emulator. The main purpose of the Adventure Construction Set is to allow players to create their own adventures which their friends can then play. It was very popular at the time and created many enthusiasts much like the Eamon engine did. There were web pages and newsletters all for the express purpose of swapping game creations made with the ACS engine. Here is an example of one of the fan pages that existed. Full disclosure: I’m really not personally interested in attempting to create my own game nor am I interested in playing one of the fan created offerings. Adventure Construction Set comes packaged with a full adventure known as Rivers of Light. It was written and created by Stuart Smith using his Adventure Construction Set engine. I am always going to jump at any opportunity to play a Stuart Smith game.

The premise of Rivers of Light is a highly original one compared to other games up to this date. It seems that rather than saving a kingdom from a maniacally evil wizard, you’re searching for eternal life. The game focuses on Mesopotamian mythology and more explicitly attempts to simulate the legendary exploits of Gilgamesh.

You begin the game by creating a character. You get to choose from an assortment of icons and you get to choose a name but not much else. The game randomly rolls all of your attributes for you until your starting character looks like this:

The name Fitz comes from Robin Hobb’s character Fitzchivalry Farseer from her outstanding Realm of the Elderlings series. He is thus far my favorite literary character and she is hands down my favorite author.

Rivers of Light is a much larger game than one might be led to believe. It is certainly larger than any of Smiths previous games and I would also rate it his hardest game. There are a few difficult puzzles to work through and one of the puzzles in particular frustrated many of his fans. It took me roughly 11 to 12 hours to beat the game and a good portion of that time was spent exploring and backtracking trying to find a solution to the puzzles in the game.

One of the other things that makes a Stuart Smith game very unique is that there are no generic wandering monsters like you encounter in Questron. NPCs that you encounter and monsters all have a specific role or purpose in the game. When you’re in combat, do not be surprised if another opponent joins the fracas (inherited from his first offering). Sometimes your two opponents will begin to fight each other rather than you. There are key opponents that are very difficult to beat who guard necessary items that you need to continue your quest. Most of them are ripped right from The Epic of Gilgamesh such as the Humbaba who guards the Cedar Forest. This epic beast guards the cedar poles which your hero will need later in his journey. The Shedu is another opponent ripped from mythology as well as Yam the dragon. You will find that in order to defeat some of these opponents that you will need to quest for special items to help you overcome them.

The games overall quest is divided up into five key sections. These sections of the game can be easily transitioned into via the overland screens as long as you have the appropriate items. The game is not linear so it is possible that you find yourself in front of opponents that you cannot beat or in a situation that you will not be able to solve. This might then involve you having to “backtrack” to discover what you may have overlooked.

The first section of the game involves you performing a series of quests until you have the swimming ability. Once you have the swimming ability you can then cross the Tigris River to the city-state of Great Assur. This section was exponentially harder than the last and starts to give you a glimpse as to the size and difficulty of the game.

It is in this second section that you’ll have to find a way to beat the Humbaba, Yam the dragon, and Shedu. When you defeat each of these “big bosses” you’ll find cedar poles, a partial tablet, and a key to the Royal Library. These are all important items to be used later. The tablet pieces are especially important. There are three in the game. When you put all three of the tablet pieces together, they give you instructions on how to pass through the three gates to eternal life. The Royal Library contains an important spell you’ll need for your foray into the desert. There are several spells or powers that you’ll uncover that have very specific purposes. There are also several tapestries with recorded messages for you to read.

The third section of the game involves you retracing the path of Gilgamesh. You’ll need to avoid invisible pits, wend your way through a maze, cross over an acidic lake (this is where the cedar poles come in handy) and fight your way through scorpion men.

You will find that many that you encounter do not think highly of your quest for eternal life.

It is from Utnapishtim that you learn of the Gray-Grow-Young bush and where to find it. You need to obtain the bush in order to trade it for the royal key later in the game.

The fourth section of the game involves the desert and you’re going to learn very quickly that there is economy involving your water supply. You’re not only going to have to find and obtain water, but enough of it to get you through the vast desert to the Pyramids.

There are several difficult parts of the game. In no particular order: making sure you have enough cedar poles to cross the acidic lake, finding (no I’m not making this up) a mouth so that you can give it to one of the spirits, making sure you properly go through the gates as instructed to from the tablet, dealing with the fires and denizens of hell, and knowing when to use the spells or powers at the appropriate time. I made liberal use of saves and still died often in this game. There are a lot of hints hidden in the many messages in the game, so it is to your benefit to take copious notes or screen shots of all of these messages. There are two particularly devious puzzles in the game. They are found in Hell and in Two Hero Valley. I found Hell to be particularly devilish – oh the irony.

Two Hero Valley offers up a very unique puzzle to date and also a very frustrating one. Once you reach this part of the game you will find that you need a second player to help you through this area. Every Frodo needs a Sam right? There are two ways to solve the issue. The first is to create a second character and build that character up from scratch to get them to where your original character lies. This would be grueling and take hours however I would bet that many went this route. The second solution involves you moving west before entering Two Hero Valley. When you move west it opens up and creates a transitional area between Great Assur and the Two Hero Valley areas. So, it becomes a simple matter to create a new character and quickly move to that area. Once they assist your original character you can retire them. I found this shortcut quite by accident merely because I decided to explore west first. Otherwise, I would have gone the former route.

Ultimately, I did finally make my way to the third gate and still there is an effort to deter me from my quest.

You will then have to move through a series of areas where the Spell of Luxom, your light spell, will have to illuminate the correct path for you to take. The other doors contain fearsome monsters that you’ll have to fight.

I am given one last chance here to turn back but I’ve accomplished so much and come so far that I felt there was no turning back now.

You finally find yourself before a sealed crypt that is protected by a ring of fire. Luckily, you found the spell of Extinguish Flames very early in the game and they work here to remove the fire for you.

I really enjoyed what would be Stuart Smith’s final offering. I thought the game was strong enough that it could have been sold on its own. The fact that it was pre-packaged with Stuart Smith’s Adventure Construction Set as an example of what you can do with the editor is mind boggling. Smith does a great job of introducing the player to Mesopotamian mythology and there is a lot of it. You’re walking the same path as Gilgamesh, meeting all the principal players and foes from his story, and solving many of the same puzzles. I probably spent too much time reading the story of Gilgamesh and looking up all of the names of the NPCs and foes, but it made my experience more immersive and hence more enjoyable.

Thank you, Stuart, for your art and for sharing it with the world. Thank you for Fracas, Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves, The Return of Heracles, and the Adventure Construction Set with the packaged Rivers of Light. They brought me many hours of enjoyment.

Next up on the docket is Xyphus.

Until next time…

Until a couple of weeks ago, when I chose to play Zyll from our 1984 chronology list, I had never heard of it. I suspect that it remains virtually unknown today.

Zyll was written by Scott Edwards and Marshal Linder and published by IBM for IBM’s short-lived PCjr. The game runs on any IBM PC compatible. Edwards and Linder were IBM employees who wrote the game during their office hours. They submitted the game to IBM’s employee submissions program and were one of only seven who were accepted.

The game’s premise is standard fantasy fare. An evil wizard, the notorious Zyll, has stolen the Great Treasures from your homeland, and used the power of the Black Orb to transform your beautiful country into a wasteland. You follow Zyll, via magical transportation, to a place near Castle Mitain, Zyll’s lair. Your mission is to capture the mystical Black Orb, take back the stolen Great Treasures, and transport back to restore your land to beauty.

Zyll is a very polished, well written, and innovative game for its time. It really is shocking that it was lost in the realm of obscurity and that I was not aware of this little gem. What makes Zyll so innovative? It has THREE different modes of play: Competitive Mode, Cooperative Mode, and Solitaire Mode. The game supports a second player! Hence the split screen as depicted above. You can either work cooperatively or compete against one another. The first player uses the function keys while the second player uses the number pad on the right of the keyboard. This prevents each player from interfering with each other and, along with the split screen, provides for clever, innovative play. The game has tremendous replay value as well because none of the objects in the game are fixed but instead dispersed randomly. I had to resort to playing in Solitaire Mode which allows for individual play.

The other facet of the game that stands out is that the game is played in real-time. There are wandering monsters outside of the castle and there are dungeon denizens that patrol or guard specific areas of the Castle and all of these opponents will follow you! If you stand for too long in one area while you contemplate what to do next, check your inventory, or try to map by hand, a wandering monster will likely appear to molest you. This creates a certain level of constant anxiety during gameplay reminiscent of Dungeons of Daggorath.

I give Zyll a high difficulty rating. The game has a number of interesting nuances and as a computer role-playing game archaeologist, I felt like I had to spend more than the normal amount of time with it.

When you first begin the game, you get to choose whether you want to play a Warrior, Thief, or Wizard. Each class provides a completely different playing experience. I, of course, had to try them all. One of the things that makes Zyll very difficult is that there are a lot of different items and treasures that you can find. You have to be able to discern which of those treasures are the Great Treasures that you need to take back with you, and which are merely expensive baubles. I mention this, because if you choose the Warrior class, it is definitely the hardiest. You will be able to stand toe to toe with many of the wandering monsters and you can absorb more hits as well. However, because of your need for armor and shield, your encumbrance is higher. This limits what you can carry, and you’ll find that playing a Warrior is an inventory management nightmare in this game. You are constantly having to choose between what to carry and what to drop.

If you choose the Wizard, the class is the weakest and slowest of the three classes AND you begin with no magic. There are scrolls and books scattered throughout the map that allow you to learn spells. The Wizard ends up being the most powerful of the three classes once all of the spells are learned. It is very satisfying to throw fireball after fireball and defeat Zyll in his tower. If you choose the Wizard however you will find it is very difficult to survive and you have to play the “long game” and do a lot of exploring in order to acquire all of the spells that you need.

The Thief ended up being my preferred method of play for a couple of reasons. First: there are many locked doors and locked gates. If you’re a Warrior, you have to find all of the different keys hidden around the map in order to gain access to other areas. If you’re a Wizard, you have to acquire the Open Locks spell in order to gain access. The Thief, however, can pick any lock that he comes across giving him carte blanche access to the entire map. Secondly, the Thief is weak but fast. Faster than all of the opponents you’ll come across. So, make it a point to run from everything. You won’t have to worry about filling any of your equipment slots with keys.

The map for Zyll is quite huge and can be divided up into seven different sections. There is the area outside of the castle that did not harbor any treasures however you find the entrance to the Mines after diligently mapping the outside environs. Remember that there is no specific walkthrough because all of the items are randomly placed about the map with each new game. Your ultimate goal is to find four of the five Great Treasures and reunite them with the Black Orb. Once you do so it will trigger the ending. You may find either a Great Treasure OR the Black Orb in the Mines.

The mines will ultimately lead you to the catacombs which are nothing more than a very confusing maze. Be prepared to drop items in order to correctly map this area. Users have claimed that nothing useful is found in the Catacombs but this is not true! I found one of the Great Treasures I needed hidden in the Catacombs.

From the Catacombs you can reach the Caverns. The Caverns can contain either Great Treasures or the Black Orb and they also lead to two major new sections: the underground waterway (which you’ll need the rowboat for) and the Castle Cellars. From the Cellars you can find several ways, both hidden and obvious, to access the first and second levels of the Castle. There are also two different Sorcerer Towers on accessed off of the second castle level and each tower has multiple levels.

Be prepared to have to move about the entire map at least three times as you search for items and hidden locations. The game will test your patience in this fashion.

The wandering monsters located throughout the different map sections are quite deadly and many are relegated to patrolling certain areas of the map. For example, a headless skeleton and a demon rat will plague you in the Cellar sections of the map whereas Zyll himself will pursue you through the Tower sections of the map.

The five Great Treasures that you’ll need to find are as follows:

• the Broadsword – best weapon in the game
• the Jeweled Crown – will reveal all hidden passages
• the Magic Shield – aids greatly in your defense
• the Ruby Pendant – if you drop it, and pick it up again, it randomly teleports you. Irritating
• the Scepter – in my mind, the most beneficial of the Great Treasures as it operates as a light source

Zyll runs in real-time. There is a running game clock on the screen that reminds you of this. There are torches that you can find but each torch only lasts for 30 minutes before going out. You can find Brass and Copper Lamps as well which last longer, but they can run out on you too. But if you find the Scepter and keep it in your inventory, you no longer have to worry about a light source.

I played Zyll through Dos Box and I spent roughly 10 – 12 hours with the game. I wanted to take my time to map by hand and I wanted to play each of the three classes. A lot of time was spent trying to determine just what to do to get a “win” and how to differentiate what is important and what isn’t with all of the items that you find. So, inventory management does become an issue. You accrue points for everything you do. You get points for the monsters you defeat, you get a point for every new location you explore on the map, you get points for the different valuables you uncover (if you keep them on your person) and you get 100 points apiece for each Great Treasure, which is a lot. When you find a Great Treasure, the computer emits a beep and your score increases by 100. These are two big clues that you’ve found something special. The Great Treasures were much harder to find than most of the valuables. The game being in real-time makes mapping very challenging, but it is an absolute necessity.

I really enjoyed this offering and find it hard to believe that this game made its way into obscurity. The 2-player cooperative and competitive modes were very innovative.

The writing and the descriptions in the game are reminiscent of Zork from Infocom. The real-time game mechanics, combat, point scoring, creativity, and plot were all top notch. The game was very challenging and it has tremendous replay value. If you have not played this game I highly recommend it.

Next up on the docket is Stuart Smith’s Adventure Construction set and the adventure River of Light found within.

Until next time…

Hydlide was developed and published by T&E Soft and released for the PC-88 in 1984. It was converted to the FM-7, PC-6001, Sharp X1 and MSX in 1985. An NES port would finally follow in 1989.

The Legend of Zelda had been released in 1986 and thus when the Nintendo version of Hydlide was finally released in 1989 many players thought it a very poor comparison, primitive, and a “rip off”. However, I would argue that Hydlide, in part, helped to influence the Zelda games. Many were not aware that the NES version was a conversion of a game that was released in 1984, BEFORE Zelda. However Hydlide has it’s own major influence and that was Namco’s The Tower of Druaga.

The Tower of Druaga was a 1984 action role-playing game developed and published in Japan by Namco. Controlling a golden-armored knight Gilgamesh, the player was tasked with scaling 60 floors of the titular tower in an effort to rescue the maiden Ki from Druaga, a demon with eight arms and four legs, who planned to use the artifact known as the Blue Crystal to enslave all of mankind. The game was a huge success. It attracted millions of fans and is known for its use of secrets and hidden items. It has been cited as an important game for the genre and laying down the foundation for future games. It inspired the use of guidebooks (selling strategy guides became a very common practice in Japan) and was hugely influential for many games to follow: Ys, Hydlide, Dragon Slayer, and The Legend of Zelda. Hydlide closely followed The Tower of Druaga and it’s look and influence (and use of hidden items) cannot be ignored. So while Hydlide is not THE influence upon which The Legend of Zelda was built it is a part of the tree. I suspect the developers, years later, were trying to capitalize on the success of the NES in North America hence the late port. The act of calling Hydlide a “rip off” or a primitive of The Legend of Zelda seems to stem then from ignorance as well as being unfair.

The Tower of Druaga was the first to take “Pac-Man like” maze exploration and add RPG elements (besides the hidden items). You can see this lite RPG “skinning” in things like experience levels and hit points in many games to follow. When I write about hidden items, I am referring to the fact that some essential items only appear when you kill certain enemies. This was a staple in The Tower of Druaga and you see its influence quite heavily in Hydlide in several places.

I chose to play the NES version of Hydlide simply because not only am I a NES fan, but I felt that if I was going to take my time with the game I might as well enjoy any graphical or mechanical improvements. As it turns out, graphically there is not much of a difference between the different versions but the NES port did add a magic system and a couple of the combat situations play out a bit differently between the PC-88 version and the NES version. I do actually own the Hydlide cartridge (though I never played it) but I chose to use an emulator so that I could take screenshots of my journey.

The premise of the game is as follows:

It took me roughly 13 hours to beat Hydlide which, embarrassingly enough, seems well above the average that it takes modern gamers to win out. More on this later, but one of the mechanics that took me almost 45 minutes to figure out was the infamous “bumping mechanic”. In Hydlide, the combat mechanics include distinct attack and defend modes. You attack enemies by “bumping” into them. You do damage to your enemies when you’re in defense mode and the damage that you receive is reduced. When you hold down the button on your gamepad or joystick, you go into attack mode. You deal a great amount of damage in attack mode and suffer much greater damage yourself as a result of going on the offensive. What took me quite a while to figure out, is that I could not fathom why my attacks were not consistent. Sometimes they were wildly successful and other times I was quickly killed. I soon came to realize that there is a “flanking” technique which you need to employ. If you “bump” into your enemies head on, it is likely you will take a great amount of damage yourself and possibly even perish when in attack mode. However, if you try to “flank” your enemies, meaning attack them from the side or from behind, your attacks are always successful, well executed, and less likely to be lethal. When I start a new game, I like to go into that game completely ignorant, trying to immerse myself as a player of that time period so I try to avoid reading any literature about the game. Thus, it took me almost an hour to realize the difference between the attack and defense modes and the importance of the “flanking” technique.

I found myself enamored with the graphics of Hydlide. Role-playing enthusiasts seem clearly divided into two different camps: you either love the crisp, vibrant colors and look of these JRPGs or you hate them with a passion. I liked the graphical representations of the creatures, castles, and landscapes and found them to be striking in depiction compared to many of the action RPGs we’ve played thus far.

The screen up above displays four different important meters. Your life meter represents the character’s power and displays the damage received. Each “hash line” is considered to be a level and thus you can max out at the 9th level of experience. The strength meter indicates “Jim’s” strength (more on the name later). The more powerful he becomes, the more damage the enemies receive. The experience meter represents levels and increases each time Jim destroys a monster. When Experience increases by 100, each level of life, strength, and magic increase by 10 points and then the experience meter resets to 0 again. Finally, the magic meter represents Jim’s magic power. Each type of magic requires different levels of magic power. When using high powered magic such as Wave or Flash, the magic meter decreases rapidly but it builds back up over time.

There are 10 different special items to find or acquire from enemies and you have to rescue three different fairies as well so there is quite a bit to do in order to rescue the captive princess Ann.

One of the things you’ll discover is that many of the dungeons that you find are bathed in darkness making them virtually impossible to explore. So, your first order of business seems to be to find a light source. The only dungeon that is lit and suitable for you to explore is unfortunately guarded by a vampire.

The vampire seemed impossible to beat. It was only after obtaining the cross that made it possible to face the vampire. The cross was in a chest I discovered by exploring the surrounding wilderness. The cross, in combination with the Turn spell, allowed me to finally beat the vampire. Once you defeat the vampire you are awarded with a lamp which now allows you to explore the other dungeons.

Once I had the lamp I found that my advancement occurred rather quickly. I explored the dungeon to the north of the vampire’s castle and there I uncovered a key. The key allowed me to open a chest found in the cemetery guarded by zombies. Inside the chest was one of the three jewels that I needed.

Later I rescued the 1st fairy which is accomplished by “bumping” into the trees in the forest north of the cemetery. The trees may also hide swarms of wasps that you have to battle so you’ll need to be wary.

In yet another dungeon I uncovered a shield and a ring which happens to be the second of the three jewels.

The second fairy was found by crossing a vast desert populated with giant desert worms and entering a forest of living trees. The trees can attack and the 2nd fairy was found by “bumping” into one of those vicious treants.

The 3rd fairy was very difficult to rescue. You had to travel the waterways and avoid the eels and make your way to an area of land populated by two wizards. These two wizards hurl fireballs at you and were extremely difficult for me to beat. Defeating one of them never works, you must defeat both at the same time. The only way to do this is to have enough magic to cast the WAVE spell. You need to be at least 6th level to do so which should be no problem at this point in the game. The trick with the Wave spell however, is waiting to unleash it when the wizards are lined up with one another, so that you can catch them both in the “wave” blast. This was another portion of the game that took me some time to master. Once they are defeated the three fairies lift you and transport you to the island where the Castle of Varalys is located. The problem is that the Castle is guarded by a dragon!

This posed another difficult challenge in the game. I discovered that by throwing a fireball at a tree in front of the castle that it hid an entrance into the castle’s dungeon (this was actually an accidental discovery made by hurling fire at the dragon not based on intellectual ingenuity). If you make your way into the dungeon, and avoid the dragon, you’ll find a tombstone on the 2nd dungeon level. If you break the tombstone, it drains the water from the waterway above. I found the dragon to be virtually impossible to beat, but the water in the waterway was the source of the dragon’s power. With the water drained, you can now return and face the dragon. When you finally beat the dragon, you win a Medicine which completely heals you to full strength when you die. This is an absolutely necessary item to have on hand before you face Varalys – especially for me with my feeble arcade/platform skills.

I had mentioned previously that Hydlide took me roughly 13 hours to finish. Well, 5 of those 13 hours were spent getting me to this point: the final showdown with the big bad Varalys. He is depicted as the giant blue demon above. He is accompanied by his minions: 2 skeletons and 2 black armors. It took me almost 8 hours of relentlessly trying again and again and again to finally defeat him. You’re allowed to save your game using a password system, so luckily I saved just before entering this room. I was literally almost pulling my hair out at the end and it was a test of my patience as I just didn’t have the arcade skills or reflexes to seemingly beat this opponent. When I went back and read to see if there were any tricks to beat this big bad, there were none. One thing I did discover however, is that all of those who did beat the game, claimed to beat Valarys you must use a hit and run technique. That, your hit points regenerate while his do not. Well, I’m here to tell you, in the NES version I played, his hit points kept seemingly kept regenerating as mine were. The hit and run technique was not working for me. And that’s when I made my discovery. I had kept saving my game with every successful hit upon him, but, I learned, that when I saved my game progress, possibly as a penalty for doing so, it reset Varalys back to full power. I learned that if you did not save your progress, you could indeed employ a hit and run technique, and that you would very slowly wear him down. It was not as easy as it sounds. Just slightly “bumping” and running reduced you to almost zero hit points – and then you’d have to run around and avoid his four minions while your hit points slowly regenerated. I constantly used the Flash spell, which eradicates the minions for a very short while and deals a little damage to Valarys, but you then have to wait for your magic points to regenerate along with your hit points. And then it finally happened, I was able to beat Valarys. The feeling of accomplishment at this point was indeed mighty.

Once you defeat Valarys, there is an animation sequence in which the fairies transform into Princess Ann and you are awarded with a “congratulations” screen.

There is no character creation in Hydlide. We all start with the same character and his name is Jim. I find this an odd name to give a character. It may be that it is a common name representing the common man able to achieve “hero-like” status and that the West views the name Jim as a very “common” name.

The creator Tokihiro Naito explained that the word Hydlide is a fantasy word made by combining the names of two constellations, though he doesn’t remember which two constellations they were.

I found this game to be very enjoyable and I like the style of play but got aggravated at my own ineptitude at dealing with the more rigorous reflex sections of the game. I guess I fall into the camp that doesn’t mind this style of game. I appreciate its historical context and its influence on other games that would come later.

Next up on the docket is Zyll.

Until next time…

I still find it hard to believe to this day that Eamon was a shareware title or public domain and not a commercial product. The allure of building up a character as you move from adventure to adventure is just too great. Donald Brown, the game’s creator, also gifted the masses with an editor, allowing them the power to create and publish their own adventures. Perhaps it was this grass roots decision to place the game in the hands of the masses that helped propel it to such popularity.

The Abductor’s Quarters is the 8th game in this venerable series and it allowed me to return to the character of Fost Longstrider and step into his boots for another adventure.

You learn that a friend of yours, Kathryn, is in trouble. She was trying to loot a nearby dungeon when she mysteriously disappeared. After careful research, you discover that the dungeon your friend went to is controlled by a mad adventurer known only as “The Abductor”. You must find your friend before it is too late.

The author of this adventure is Jim Jacobson. The dungeon is a rather large one and one to be explored rather than interacted with. There are 72 locations that comprise this dungeon.

There was not a lot of combat nor were there a lot of treasure or magic items to obtain. I found some rare coins and a large red ruby and not much else. There is one particular puzzle in the game, involving a brick wall which impedes your exploration into another area of the dungeon, whose solution I have to applaud and I found highly entertaining for an Eamon offering.

There is not a lot of combat in this particular offering but the battle with the big bad in his lair is quite the affair. You encounter not only The Abductor but two guards. While the battle ensues, more and more guards can randomly enter the fray up to a total of six! They are referred to as Guard1, Guard2, Guard3, etc. Guards 5 and 6 are particularly brutal and hard to beat. The Abductor himself is armed with a magical blade, much like your own if you still possess it from The Beginner’s Cave adventure – Trollsfire! If the weapon broke in a previous adventure, now is your opportunity to get said weapon back with the defeat of The Abductor and his minions. This is a very difficult combat. I was lucky in that I had a shepherd at my side which I had rescued from a cell in the dungeon. Even when you defeat The Abductor, there is the random chance that he may teleport in during one of your later encounters in the dungeon as a special event. This happened to me, much to my dismay, however he was killed with only one blow in this second encounter.

I did eventually find Kathryn which was your main objective for this adventure.

The next obstacle was merely trying to find your way out of this dungeon. Your previous exit had been blocked due to a cave-in and so you have to find another way out which I eventually did.

I enjoyed another excursion into the World of Eamon with my Fost Longstrider character. He was able to survive and so will be back in another thrilling adventure.

Next up on the docket is Hydlide. Until next time…

There are only three dungeons to be found in the game of Questron: the Mountain Catacombs, the Dungeon of Death, and Mantor’s Mountain. There may only be three dungeons but they are sprawling, trap filled, treasure laden affairs. The Mountain Catacombs and Dungeon of Death both consist of 8 levels. Mantor’s Mountain is a massive 17 level dungeon with the 18th level playing much like the exploration of the castle in the game.

The dungeons consist of wireframe graphics which you explore from a first- person perspective. The layout of each dungeon level is not randomized but static and thus can be mapped out. The monsters that you encounter in the dungeons are completely different from those you encounter on the outdoor map. I was amazed at the sheer variety of creatures that you encounter and at how well the wire-frame graphics for each were. The dungeons are also filled with deadly traps and I found myself constantly searching for traps at every turn. You do so by pressing X (for e(X)amine) on the keyboard. The moment you forget to do so I guarantee you will blunder into a trap that can cause thousands of hit points worth of damage and even blindness.

The main goal in the Mountain Catacombs is to find the safe located on the 8th level of the dungeon. Inside the safe is an iron key and it is then that you realize you’ve found the way to bypass the iron door so that you can enter the Dungeon of Death.

The Dungeon of Death I found to be a much deadlier affair than the Mountain Catacombs. The strength and brutality of the monsters encountered in this dungeon gets ratcheted up a notch.

The main goal in the Dungeon of Death was to apparently find the safe located on the 8th level. Inside the safe I found a diamond ring and I had no clue as to it’s purpose or how to use it.

When I left the Dungeon of Death and returned to the town of Snake Landing I found that I could purchase an eagle for transport and so I did.

I also failed to mention that I found a compass locked within a chest on the 1st dungeon level of the Mountain Catacombs. When you find the compass you’re then able to tell which direction you’re traveling within the dungeons making it an important item.

Besides the ability to purchase an eagle, I also discovered I gained enough experience to be able to purchase and outfit myself with a magic shield and a battle axe. The magic shield does a much better job of protection and absorbing damage than the plate mail does and the battle axe, while dealing more damage, also increases the “range” in which you’re able to use it. These were significant upgrades for me.

I would soon discover that I now possessed all that I needed in order to defeat Mantor. Now, astride my new aerial steed, I began to fly about and explore the Lands of Evil. I discovered four more towns much like Snake Landing: Devil Lake Post, Lizard Crossing, Bay Ridge, and Island View. There were no new or significant items to obtain from any of these other towns. I also discovered, in the northeast corner of the Land of Evil Map and just off the coast, a small island. Only accessible via my eagle mount.

On this remote island I discovered the game’s third dungeon and Mantor’s secret hideout, aptly named Mantor’s Mountain. In anticipation of this endgame, I had spent some time grinding and building up my character and resources. I kept going back to the Mountain Catacombs and Dungeon of Death and I kept battling creatures, amassing gold, and then purchasing hit points in Snake Landing. I judged that over 50,000 experience points should be adequate to begin my foray into Mantor’s dungeons. I also began to stock up heavily on Fireballs and especially Stone Spells. I like the Stone Spell because as you move into the deeper dungeon levels the game has the tendency to suddenly throw several monsters at you at the same time. The ability to “freeze” all of them for at least 10 rounds while you proceed to bash their face in is invaluable.

While grinding, I also discovered a couple of chests that contained a Magic Powder and urn that increased my Stamina by 10! Once I felt I had enough hit points and enough spells I began my descent into Mantor’s Mountain. It was then I discovered the value of the Diamond Ring that I found on the last level of the Dungeon of Death. You can only gain entrance to Mantor’s Mountain if the Diamond Ring is in your possession. Think of it like a key.

I initially thought Mantor’s Mountain would contain 8 dungeon levels like the previous two dungeons in the game. I was surprised to discover how wrong that assumption was the deeper and deeper I delved. It was during the exploration of level 17 that I was approached by an air elemental that offered to lead me to a safe for the entire 20,000 gold pieces I possessed. I’ve always been somewhat of an impulse buyer so I said ‘yes’.

The air elemental did indeed lead me to a safe and when I unlocked it, the safe revealed a hidden shaft down. I climbed down this shaft to the 18th, and what would be the final, level and found myself in Mantor’s stronghold. From this moment all the way until the very finish of the game represents an extremely entertaining finish. I’ll go so far as to say that no game up to this point has gone out of its way to end with such a dramatic flourish as Questron does here. In many games we receive only one line of praise for all of our hours of hard work. I do understand that much of this was due to the hardware limitations of the time, and the authors wanting to pack as much into the game as they could, but no other game to this point has a longer ending sequence or a more dramatic finish then the show that Questron puts on.

The 18th level of Mantor’s Mountain is not like the previous 17 wireframe dungeon levels. Now you find yourself in his secret lair and this plays more like exploration of the castle in the game. When you first reach the level Mantor is aware of your arrival and initiates the death device which is meant to destroy all of Questron. While you traverse this level you can hear through music and sound affects the countdown as it speeds towards completion. Your first problem will be getting through all of the minions he has stationed throughout the complex. I still had about half of my 50,000 hit points so I still felt confident at this point. It was fortuitous that I spent so much time grinding in preparation for the end game.

There were many minions to have to wade through but eventually far to the north I encountered two locked doors. One to the left and the other to the right. I used my gold key to unlock the door on the left first and discovered Mantor within his lair. Luckily, I saved at this point because I was defeated by Mantor quite easily until I realized I needed to use the Magic Powder that I found in the dungeon. Each round Mantor casts a spell which deals 500 damage to you. However, I discovered using the Magic Powder caused Mantor to stagger. If you walk all the way up to Mantor and then use the Magic Powder it destroys him!

Once you defeat Mantor you come into possession of the Book of Magic. I then took the Book of Magic and made my way over to the other door that had been locked (to the right). I used the gold key to unlock that door as well and found what looks to be a computer in the room.

It was then that I used the Book of Magic which in turn destroyed Mantor’s deadly device.

Once the machine was destroyed I was a bit confused as to what to do next. I had expected some kind of congratulatory note at that time but received nothing. I discovered that if I went back to Mantor’s throne room and used the Book of Magic there that it teleported me back to the castle.

I then made my way to the king and there was much fanfare. All of his soldiers lined up to salute me and the musicians played a long and pleasing song to me in tribute. He then made me a baron of all the lands within 10 days travel of Geraldtown and I was crowned Baron Fitz.

I was then told that Mesron wanted to speak with me. I sighed and went in search of Mesron and soon stood before him. He congratulated me as well but then told me that the book that I used to defeat Mantor is a vile, evil thing and must be destroyed, and that it was ultimately only me that could do so. I was then whisked away, with only the book and gold key in my possession, and then a blurb to watch for Questron II appeared on the screen.

I thoroughly enjoyed this game. If you’ve never played this one and enjoy old school dungeon crawlers and role-playing games I strongly suggest you do so. I think that it gets unfairly categorized as merely an Ultima clone however I feel that it really stands tall on its own merits.

I spent about 20 hours in total with the game and enjoyed every one of them. The overall plot, originality of the creatures, the pacing, the games of chance in each town, the way that hit points are handled, the fight with the big bad and the overall end sequence all serve to make this one a very solid and strong entry in my opinion. It is the only game I’ve played from the 1984 list but it already feels like it could be the strongest entry from the list. We’ll soon see.

Next up on the docket: I am returning to the wonderful world of Eamon and the character of Fost Longstrider as he tackles his 8th adventure in the series: The Abductor’s Quarters. Until next time…