Many modern games today provide new digital content that a player can install on top of a video game. Known as a DLC you can think of them as expansion packs or “add-ons” that developers create that contain new stories, new levels, new characters, new costumes, etc.
In 1982 a DLC had not been conceived yet however each successive game in the Dunjonquest line could have been considered a precursor to this idea that would add a signifcant amount of content. Games in the Dunjonquest series like Upper Reaches of Apshai and Keys of Acheron were merely expansion packs requiring their parent game to play however they were physically sold separately and at what was considered a full price.
There was no attempt to update the game engine or the graphics from 1979 to 1983 so each scenario merely supplied the player with a new plot and new dungeon levels to explore; much like DLC’s do today for several modern CRPGs.
This is where we find ourselves with Danger in Drindisti in 1982. There are technical “flaws” that were now creating a bit of a negative experience for me after so many offerings in the series. In order to get Danger in Drindisti to work; you have to boot up your Hellfire Warrior disk. When the games asks if you want to re-enter a saved level you have to type in YES. You will then be asked to insert the game with the saved level. It is at this time that you insert your Danger in Drindisti disk and choose which level you want to play; 6, 7, 8, or 9? However the order of difficulty, according to the manual, is as follows: Level 7, Level 6, Level 9, and then Level 8. So why is the level of difficulty between levels 6 through 9 not sequential but rather in that odd order? The answer, disappointingly, is that Hellfire Warrior didn’t use room descriptions on odd levels so neither can the Danger in Drindisti game. Rather than improve upon existing releases they instead chose to trick the Hellfire Warrior program into believing that Danger in Drindisti was it’s disk. This is how they chose to introduce new content. The developers want you to play the levels in the order of 7, 6, 9, and 8 so that they can use room descriptions on Level 7 and Level 9 which Hellfire Warrior is constrained to.
I found these technical “flaws” or inadequacies to be both frustrating and confusing; I found that each time I started play again I’d have to consult the manual and special documentation again to make sure I didn’t insert the wrong disk or press the wrong key. What might be the worst of the technical “flaws” is that when you complete each quest or level in Danger in Drindisti and return to the Innkeeper there is no recognition in any way that you’ve been successful or have completed your quest. There is no celebration or congratulatory recognition in any way. Only by diligently following along in the manual and using your imagination are you aware that you have achieved a winning condition or victory in the story. I had forgotten about this and so after completing the first scenario and then making my way back to the innkeeper nothing happened. It is really quite a let down.
Lastly, no improvements have been made to improve the graphics or the game engine. While one can certainly map out each dungeon level (I strongly suggest you do so) it is not easy to draw the map to scale like it is in a Wizardry game. This makes mapping of the game a bit more tedious and subjective. A lack of scale has always made mapping the games in the Dunjonquest series a bit frustrating.
The strength of this offering, and what I did enjoy, was the creativity of the scenarios themselves and the written descriptions of the rooms in the accompanying manual. Once again, Automated Solutions now known as Epyx, have done a masterful job creating a high quality game manual.
Danger in Drindisti has four dungeons or missions for you to complete: The Glass Wizard, The Abode of the Illusionist, The Temple of the Demonmaster, and The Realm of Mist.
The first scenario was unique in that this Glass Wizard you must deal with lives in a cave with his numerous apprentices and his magical glass creatures. In order to get to the Glass Wizard you have to make your way through his Glass Maze. While you’re making your way through the maze you’ll encounter several glass statues. These were opponents that the Glass Wizard turned to glass and left standing as a warning to intruders. All of this is very original and it checks a fantasy/role-playing box for me. Wandering around the “Glass Maze” however and constantly bumping into invisible walls that you couldn’t see (the glass) however was less than fun. Combat continues to be random AND frequent and so while you’re trying to navigate yourself through the glass maze you’re spending quite a bit of time fending off opponents. Eventually I made my way to the Wizard and dealt with him, taking his Book of Spells I was tasked to find, represented by a numbered treasure within the manual. Again, once I returned to the innkeeper with the book there was no winning or congratulatory screen. I was merely asked if I wanted to go back into the dungeon. The only way I knew I obtained my objective was by carefully reading room and treasure descriptions. This was unique and much like a tabletop session of Dungeons & Dragons in 1979 however by 1982 the convention now feels strained.
Any enjoyment I derived from this latest Dunjonquest installment was rapidly dwindling once I started playing the second scenario; Abode of the Illusionist. Here we are not dealing with a glass maze but instead illusions and repeating rooms and halls. I never even bothered to map this scenario out. I just bumbled and stumbled around until I accidently came up on the Illusionist. Your mission objective is to take his staff. But wait, being an illusionist, there are four of them to find. Since you don’t know which one is the real one you take all four with you back to the innkeeper who doesn’t even recognize that you have them.
The Temple of the Demonmaster was my favorite scenario of the four. The map of the temple that you’re exploring makes a lot of sense and the room descriptions in the manual are excellent. There are secret doors and chapels that you have to find but I didn’t mind this as part of the mapping exercise because it made a lot of sense where both map and scenario were concerned. The battles with the demons were tough and there is a battle with an animated idol that leers over an altar that is extremely hard. I found this entire scenario redeemed much of the negative feelings that I had while slogging through some of Danger in Drindisti’s parts.
The last scenario went backwards for me again. Rather than rest on the laurels of writing and creativity like the last scenario we’re back to maze trickery like that of the Glass Maze, or Abode of the Illusionist, or even from the Lair of the Minotaur from the last expansion. Having to navigate through “mist” or a “glass maze” merely to lengthen the playing experience doesn’t do it for me now at this juncture. By the time I reached the altar in this last scenario and had to pray for the Demigod to appear so I could do battle with him, I also found myself praying for release from this game.
Because the developers have not bothered to update the Dunjonquest engine in any way; but merely have spent time putting a new shade of lipstick on each offering; the series is losing it’s luster for me. The formula which I had so much fun with in previous installments is now losing it’s luster and charm. I have one more offering with the Dunjonquest engine, Curse of Ra, which was also released in 1982. This one is not a sequel to Hellfire Warrior but to Temple of Apshai. There is one more in the series which was released in 1983 where I hear the engine received a complete overhaul. I am sure we will get to that one eventually.
Next up on my docket is a game known as DeathMaze 5000. Until next time…