The BBC and Master Computer Public Domain Library

DUNGEON ADVENTURE

 

 

Professional, Originally Released On Cassette Only

BBC Game Made Compatible With Electron With Slogger MRB

Plus Jafa Mode 7 Adaptor/Simulator (Optional)

 

Game Type          : Text Adventure

Author             :

Standalone Release(s)  : 1983: DUNGEON ADVENTURE, Level 9, £9.95

Compilation Release(s) : None

Stated compatibility    : BBC

Actual compatibility    : Electron With MRB, BBC B, B+, Master 128

Supplier            : LEVEL 9 COMPUTING, 229 Hughenden Road, High Wycombe, BUCKS

                    HP13 5PG

Disc compatibility     : Unknown

 

 

Instructions

"Magical Treasures abound in the cavern fortress of the defeated Demon Lord. Can you use them? A sense of humour is essential in this massive, pure text adventure with over 200 locations, 100 puzzles and lots of very weird creatures.

 

Level 9 Computing specialise in adventures. Big adventures. We have developed sophisticated techniques for cramming huge games into 32K and now produce versions for many popular computers.

 

Our games are designed much like novels, with detailed backgrounds and interesting storylines: the result is much more enjoyment for you. And don't worry if you get stuck. Just write to us for a clue sheet that will tell you almost everything you could ever want to know about a game.

 

Jubilation reigns in Minas Tirith! At Sunset yesterday the city was besieged by a sea of orcs and it seemed that the defenders were doomed. But at sunrise, the watch looked out over an empty plain - the attackers had fled when on the point of victory. The first reaction was stunned amazement, but gradually a rumour began to spread: "The Demon Lord is dead!"

 

A two week carnival was announced and the population proceeded to enjoy themselves as you would expect. But you were wiser. Clearly, with the Demon Lord out of the way, there would be rich pickings amongst the ruins of His fortress...

 

Now, eight days later, you stand on a sandbank beside a great river. North of you are the dungeons of the Demon Lord. You are cold and wet, but determined to brave the hidden dangers of the caves. But then a shiver runs down your spine: a brooding presence is watching. Perhaps the demon is still alive, and waiting for you.

 

DUNGEON ADVENTURE completes Level 9's MIDDLE EARTH trilogy, along with (1) COLOSSAL ADVENTURE and (2) ADVENTURE QUEST."

 

Jubilation reigns in minas Tirith! At sunset yesterday the city was besieged by a sea of orcs, with more arriving every hour, and it seemed that the defenders were doomed. But at sunrise, the watch looked out over an empty plain - the attackers had given up the assault when on the point of victory.

 

Initially, the only reaction was stunned amazement. But gradually a rumour began to spread: first whispered in quiet corners, lest the telling should make it untrue. but eventually shouted in every street...

 

"The Demon Lord is dead!"

 

When this was confirmed by the Wizard's council, a two week carnival was announced - the provisions hoarded against a long siege were lavishly dispensed and the population proceeded to enjoy themselves as you would expect.

 

But a few people, yourself included, thought along different lines as follows:

 

1)   The Demon Lord must have been very rich;

2)   If He really is dead, His treasures may be unguarded;

3)   When the orcs marched south they cut a swathe of destruction through the countryside but they moved too fast to completely loot the area;

4)   So, if I were to ride swiftly north, I'd have no problem in finding provisions and could probably reach the Black Tower in ten days. The wizards would never have repaired their teleport system by then, so I'd very likely be the first person there; and

5)   This could make me incredibly rich.

 

You gather together all the lethal weapons you can get your hands on and leave within the hour.

 

All goes well. You have taken a team of horses and make very good progress indeed (aided by Horseshoes-of-Speed, a Staff-of-the-Seasons for fodder, night-sight goggles etc 'donated' by a cavalry barracks) and after eight days are nearing the Black Tower, lair of the Demon ex-Lord.

 

Then, about a mile from the tower itself, you are riding through a seemingly deserted forest when a spell is cast! Your anti-magic defences spring into action but too late...you fall to the ground asleep.

 

Some time later you wake, cold and wet, on a sandbank north of a wide river. All of your weapons and magic are lost. It seems that you were robbed and then your body thrown into the river but that, rather than drowning you have survived long enough to be washed up on the shore.

 

The only problem is, what to do now? Can you take on the Dungeons of the Demon Lord unaided? It seems you have little choice as this is where the game starts...

 

"Good Luck! You'll need it!"

 

The Game

DUNGEON ADVENTURE is a full scale text adventure game with well over 200 individually described locations, 700 messages, about 100 objects etc, etc. You will have to solve a very large number of puzzles while collecting the treasures left by the Demon Lord!

 

To play DUNGEON ADVENTURE, load it from cassette and then simply enter English phrases to tell the computer what you want to do (e.g. MOVE NORTH, FILL THE POT, CLIMB THE CLIFF, LOOK AROUND). The program will act as your eyes and ears (and NOSE!) to describe your surroundings.

 

In fact, DUNGEON ADVENTURE is amazingly easy to play - you don't need to be able to find the cursor keys blindfold or hammer the space-bar for hours. But it will probably take weeks (or months) to complete! Fortunately you can use the SAVE command to store the current state of the game and return to everyday life for a while, resuming play later.

 

How to Load and Start

DUNGEON ADVENTURE is a 32K program which uses most of the computer's memory. Everything needed is included in one file on cassette. To use it, enter *RUN and play the tape. The game can't be restarted without loading it again so don't press <BREAK> or <ESCAPE>.

 

Getting Started

Unlike our other games, Level 9 Adventures contain few instructions within the programs (though there are a lot of hints in room descriptions etc). We feel that this type of game is very easy to play and that the space is better used for more rooms and puzzles etc.

 

The program asks "What next?" whenever it expects you to enter another command. Simply type an English phrase to tell it what you want to do and press <RETURN>. The program will act on your request, ask you for the next command, and so on.

 

The program has an extensive vocabulary of English words (over 200) and looks at your entered command, picking out the words it knows and 'guessing' your meaning from these. It only uses two or three words from each phrase so you are advised to keep instructions simple.

 

In practice, this works well and you should find it is simple to state what you want to do. If the program goes not understand just rephrase your request.

 

DUNGEON ADVENTURE provides considerable freedom in possible commands, but to help you get started some possible instructions are summarised below:

 

INVENTORY                             [What am I carrying?]

MOVE EAST                             [Move east]

NORTHWEST                             [Move northwest]

WALK INTO THE MOUTH                   [Move in]

TAKE THE WOOD                         [Take something]

DROP THE CORPSE                       [Drop something]

GIVE MONEY TO TROLL                   [Give a bribe]

SEARCH THE HAYSTACK                   [Search for hidden things]

WEAR BELT                             [Wear something]

WAVE WAND                             [Wave something]

PUSH BUTTON 1                         [Push button 1]

NIBBLE THE MUSHROOM                   [Eat something]

WALK DOWN THE SLIPPERY SLOPE          [Move down]

WHAT'S MY SCORE?                      [How well am I doing?]

EXAMINE SWORD                         [Look closely at object]

 

These are only a small sample of the words known by the program. To save typing, words can be abbreviated (e.g. EAST to E and NORTHEAST to NE).

 

There are also three special commands that you need to know. These are:

 

Command      Meaning

QUIT         Abandon the game (you have to answer a Y/N question to check that you mean it, and are given the chance to start over again)

 

SAVE         Save the current state of play on tape. This is like the ordinary SAVE command.

 

RESTORE      Restore (restart) a previously saved game so that you can carry on with it. This is similar to the ordinary LOAD command.

 

Scoring

You score points for collecting treasures and leaving them in the store room. There are also bonuses for getting rid of undesirable beings (though, to discourage massacre, only the worst enemies give you a bonus).

 

On the debit side, you lose points if you manage to get yourself killed.

 

Hints

Almost everything in DUNGEON ADVENTURE has a purpose, and you can get an idea as to what this is likely to be by EXAMINing an object.

 

Resurrection is possible, and uses a machine which is initially situated very close to where you start the game. By default it only works while you remain close to this machine, and you must register your body pattern for it to work at all.

 

The setting for DUNGEON ADVENTURE is a cave network that was originally the headquarters for the Demon Lord. Some parts are now blocked off by rock falls but it may help you to bear in mind the original functions (if you can guess them) of the accessible parts.

 

In response to user requests, there are several ways of carrying a lot of objects at once!

 

Implementation

DUNGEON ADVENTURE is written in Level 9's own super compact language known as 'a-code'. To give you an idea of the compaction possible with this, a typical BASIC statement is equivalent to four bytes of a-code (approximately). A-code is also faster than BASIC.

 

The text messages are compressed to about half their normal size for storage (and we get further size reduction b only having one copy of messages such as "You are").

 

Together, these methods of size reduction allow a huge amount of program and text to be squeezed into a small space.

 

DUNGEON ADVENTURE is based around the D&D magic system as modified and used by the Cambridge University Wargames society in the mid 70s. All items and architectural features can be made under this system (or equivalent ones including extensions for demon-produced items), and if you are a D&D player you might like to work out how this can be done.

 

Note that knowledge of this magic system will not provide any real help with solving the game, however, as it merely provides a theoretical framework.

 

 

Instructions' Source   : DUNGEON ADVENTURE (Level 9) Back Inlay and Mini-manual

 

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