Author: professor6153

Warrior of Ras, Volume Four: Ziggurat is the crown jewel and conclusion to Randall D. Masteller’s four game series. It was published by Screenplay in 1983 for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and Commodore 64. I played the Commodore 64 version of Ziggurat on an emulator and it took me roughly six hours to finish.

Whereas The Wylde took place completely outdoors, Ziggurat concerns itself with the exploration of the famed Ziggurat of RAS, tomb of the wretched king whose reign of horror reduced prosperous lands to poverty. In this game you immediately enter the tomb in search of the Sapient Scepter of Sirocco. Masteller is obviously a great fan of alliteration. Unfortunately for you, the Zombie King’s soul is trapped within the pyramid and stands guard over the Scepter that you seek. He is said to devour the minds of would-be-looters, leaving their crazed bodies to roam the tunnels and hallways.

The game starts out much like its predecessor where you are allowed the opportunity to purchase equipment and supplies for your trek into the pyramid. You can purchase a standard pack or each of the supplies individually. A couple of notable differences in the equipment list: torches which you’ll need to light the way throughout the tomb and a pick. The pick is a unique addition to the game that allows you to break through walls in order to find hidden rooms and passages.

I really enjoyed this installment of the series. The graphics are crisp and the gameplay is extremely smooth. There are five dungeon levels which comprise the ziggurat and they are connected by tunnels that go up and down. Each of the different tunnels deposit you in different locations and different levels all of which can quickly become very disorienting.

The introduction of the pick as an inventory item is a nice feature. You choose the command PICK followed by a compass direction to excavate a particular wall.

You can see areas in the map above where I’ve excavated and taken out portions of the wall. The pick is a necessary item because the scepter you’re looking for is in a secret room that is only accessible through excavation. The scepter is also guarded by the dreaded Zombie King who is your fiercest adversary.

In order to beat the Zombie King you’re going to need to purchase the magic sword for 3000 gold pieces. This is much in the same vein as Warrior of Ras, Volume III: The Wylde which had five mummies representing the “big bad”. They could only be defeated with a magic weapon as well. The Zombie King is a tougher opponent but you do find quite a variety of magic items to help you in this endeavor.

There are quite a variety of foes which you face in the game. Lower-ranked opponents include dogs, ghouls, zombies, and skeletons. Higher-ranked foes include Wraiths, Vampires, Dalyazas (demons), Golems, and the meanest of them all, the Zombie King.

Combat is exactly the same as Masteller’s predecessor except that the tactical combat screens have been improved upon. They are smaller and terrain obstacles have been removed making for a more expedient combat experience.

Combat also takes place in turns which is pulled straight from table-top Dungeons & Dragons. Turns are emphasized even more so than in The Wylde and encumbrance and magic items such as Potions of Haste play large roles. On the subject of magic items there are quite a few to find which have different mechanical implications on the combat experience. I had in my possession a Wand of Withering, Wand of Lightning, and Wand of Paralyzation. A Ring of Shield III was a very cool magic item as it gave me six points of magical protection from foes.

Combat remains sophisticated in this game. You still have complicated attack and defense values and can choose to hit specific body part targets. I still prefer the strategy of going for the opponent’s neck. It is harder to hit but has fewer points of protection and it is an expedient way to overcome a more powerful opponent.

When you defeat the Zombie King and obtain the scepter you then have to make your way out of the complex and back to where you started. When you accomplish this task you get the following message depicted above. What would have really “sent me over the moon” is if there had been some key room descriptions or bits of text for flavor in the dungeon.

I found this quartet of games, all published quite quickly one after another between 1982 and 1983, to be extremely strong offerings. You could see the improvement from one game to the next as new features were added with each new entry in the series. There were several impressive features that were unique at the time. A sophisticated combat system that allowed you to pinpoint the body part which you’d like to strike was original and a first during this period. The third and fourth games in the series switched to a tactical combat screen only seen in two other offerings: Tunnels of Doom and Ultima III. There were a myriad of foes to face and a slew of magic items; each uniquely affecting combat mechanics. The games were “bug-free” and ran quickly and smoothly.

Alas Masteller never produced another role-playing game of any kind. He did some work for Microprose and ported other author’s games to other systems such as F-15 Strike Eagle and Silent Service. So we close the door on Randall D. Masteller and I certainly appreciated playing his particular version of the art form. My current feelings are that Warror of Ras, Volumes III and IV are under appreciated and I’m surprised they are not mentioned more fondly by those who grew up with these games or by historians who have gone back to play them.

I have a home like any other individual, except for the secret wall panel behind my bookcase. When I pull Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time the bookcase swings open to reveal a staircase leading down into darkness. I descend these stairs as I’ve done countless other times and step into a secret workroom. I move familiarly to an old desk and open the large tome resting upon its surface. Using my finger I scan down the list located on the yellowed page; ‘Ahhh – next up on my list of games to play is Warrior.’

Until next time…

Warrior of Ras, Volume Three: The Wylde is the third of a four game series that were all written by Randall D. Masteller and published by Screenplay. It was released in 1983 for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and Commodore 64. I played the Commodore 64 version using an emulator and it took me about 6 hours to beat.

Masteller wrote and released all four games in the series in a relatively short time period between 1982 and 1983. The first two games in the series were Warrior of Ras, Volume I: Dunzhin and Warrior of Ras, Volume II: Kaiv and my reviews on both were very favorable. The Wylde builds upon the previous two games by adding more features as well as improving on the combat system.

Those who have played Kaiv, the second installment in the series, will recall the fate of Grimsweord the Warrior. He returned from his venture into the Kaiv ragged and lame and was taken to the castle of the mighty Wizard. Sadly the wizard’s magic proved powerless against the warrior’s terrible wounds. You have volunteered to venture deep into the Wylde and find the Truculent Tonic of Tabanid as the Wizard claims it is the only thing that can save him now. Lord Doserror (haha) gives you 2000 gold pieces for supplies and wishes you luck.

It is at this point that you use your 2000 gold pieces to supply yourself for your adventure. You can type in @ here to receive a standard pack for 1970 gold pieces which basically outfits you with everything but the magic sword or you can purchase all your supplies individually. The entire adventure takes place outdoors so there are no torches or light sources that you have to worry about.

There are two other trading posts located on the outdoor map where you can also purchase supplies. In the sessions that I played there was also a bounty on bears and thus if I did encounter any bears I could sell their pelts for additional gold at either trading post. I suspect that the bounties are random but with three different characters I kept getting bears as my bounty animal.

You begin play in the lower left hand corner of the outdoor map and ultimately you’re going to find that which you seek all the way up in the upper right corner of the map. You get to move 9 spaces each turn and the game keeps track of time and weather for you. There are random events which may occur on the map as well such as a rainstorm, snowstorm, intense heat (where you must remove your metal armor or take damage), rotting corpses, tracks of wolves, etc. You’re going to want to ultimately amass 3000 gold pieces so that you can purchase the magic sword. Five undead mummies guard the treasure you’re looking for and they can only be affected by magic weapons.

The game plays very much like a table-top dungeons & dragons wilderness adventure. You move about the map and deal with random encounters.

You gain experience and your level increases as you defeat more and more foes. You gain greater protection and defensive scores for each of your body parts as you gain experience and level up. Your attack values will also improve as you gain levels and experience.

The encounters become deadlier as you move from the southwest corner of the map towards the northeast corner. The closer you get to the treasure which you seek, on the opposite end of the map, the greater the rank of your foes you’ll face.

Dogs, Wolves, Bears, and Skeletons are examples of some of the low-ranked foes you’ll face. Wyverns, Trolls, Wraiths, Vampires, and Mummies are examples of the higher-ranked foes you’ll face. The powerful undead opponents can only be damaged by a magic weapon which is why you MUST save enough gold to purchase the magic sword.

Combat for such an early series is very sophisticated. You can choose several different target areas when attacking your foes:

• Left-leg
• Right-leg
• Right-arm
• Left-arm
• Left-foreleg
• Right-foreleg
• Left-hindleg
• Right-hindleg
• Head
• Chest
• Neck
• Body
• Abdomen

You can also choose an AIM command where you spend a round studying your opponent carefully and thus increasing your chances to hit OR you can choose a FORCE command that has you attacking with an almost berserker rage. If you’re attacking with FORCE you can inflict much greater damage but your chances of hitting are not as good. Once I began to gain experience and increase in levels my favorite technique was to use FORCE and always go for my opponent’s NECK as that area seemed to have less protection than other areas. I found I could quicky take out a powerful foe this way if my attack was successful. There is also a BRIBE and HIDE command and terrain comes into play as well during your tactical battles.

When combat ensues the game switches to a different tactical screen as shown above. We’ve seen this before in Tunnels of Doom and Ultima III. A different tactical screen as well as specific target locations you can choose to strike at; combined with a myriad number of magic items that affect mechanics, is all very impressive in 1983.

There are a number of different magic items that you can acquire from your encounters. There are many different types of rings, wands and potions. For example, as depicted in my inventory shown above, my character found a Ring of Fireballs, Ring of Invisibility, Ring of Teleportation, and a Ring of Healing. All of the magic items were fun to experiment with to see how they impact mechanics.

The treasure you seek is located up in the northeast corner of the outdoor map. It is guarded by five mummies whose touch can drain you of a level! You cannot defeat these enemies without the magic sword. Once you defeat the five mummies you can then obtain the magic item which you’re questing for.

Once you have the item in hand you then make your way all the way back to the starting point after which you’ll receive the following message shown above.

The third offering in the series does not disappoint. It builds on the previous two installments and is quite impressive for it’s time. The game ran smoothly and kept my attention the entire time. In my opinion it is a step above Robert Clardy’s Wilderness Campaign and subsequent adventures and probably THE best example of an outdoor fantasy campaign of it’s time; yet’s Clardy’s works garnered way more recognition.

If you fancy yourself a historian or fan of these earlier games and you’ve not yet played The Wylde I suggest you make the effort to play it.

Next up for me is going to be Warrior of Ras, Volume IV: Ziggurat where’ll I’ll be concluding the four-game series and, alas, my time with Masteller.

Until next time…

Ultima: Escape From Mt. Drash was written by Keith Zabalaoui and published by Sierra On-Line for the Commodore Vic-20 in 1983.

Keith Zabalaoui was a childhood friend of Richard Garriott. Keith was part of Garriott’s gaming group in high school and he also received credit on Akalabeth, Ultima I, and Ultima II. Perhaps Garriott was extending his friend an olive branch by allowing him to apply the Ultima name to this particular game. Why am I prefacing this article with this bit of background knowledge? Well…because I am not sure what I was expecting with this particular game before I sat down to play it…but I wasn’t expecting THIS !

It is obvious that either Sierra On-Line, Zabalaoui, or both were hoping to cash in on the Ultima franchise with this particular title.

I played Ultima: Escape From Mt. Drash on a Commodore Vic-20 emulator and it took me roughly two hours to complete. Mt. Drash was one of the dungeons found in the Ultima I game.

In Escape From Mt. Drash you are a prisoner of the evil, wretched Garrintrots (an interesting play on Garriott’s name) whose stronghold is high atop the treacherous Mt. Drash. The mountain is honeycombed with old mining tunnels that have long since been abandoned by humanoid life. The Garrintrots have stocked the caverns with all manner of creatures and now use the caverns as gaming arenas where you are the main attraction.

I am not sure how you’d classify this game. It’s certainly not a role-playing game. You have 15 levels of tunnels that you need to make your way through – represented by a 3D-maze. Some of the levels have gems that need to be collected before you are allowed to leave the level. You encounter different enemies on each of the levels along the way.

The first four levels are relatively easy.

In the upper left corner of the screen depicted above you can see an overhead view of the maze as you move about. You always begin in the lower right corner of the maze and your exit is in the upper left corner. Your enemies are represented by an X and as you move about the maze you can see them closing in on you.

Combat is a strange affair. When there is an encounter the screen switches to a side view of you and your opponent. Your enemy will then move towards you and the speed of this movement increases at higher levels. Your three fighting moves are a thrust, counterthrust, and a ready position. When your opponent gets close enough you have to try and time your thrust. If your timing is off you are instantly killed. The combat featured in this game is reminiscent of that found in the Crown of Arthain. You have three lives at the start of the game.

The different monsters that you encounter are a bit silly and range from a Gremlin to a Dancing Demon to Purple Slime to name a few.

Levels 5-12 introduce two gems on each level and you have to collect one of the gems before you can exit the level.

When you reach level 7 the overhead view of your map disappears to make things harder.

When you reach level 9 the monsters can no longer be seen.

When you reach level 11 your character icon disappears from the overhead map in an effort to disorient you since it is impossible to tell which direction you are traveling in. You’re only visual aid is your 3d view of the maze you’re traversing.

When you reach level 13 you now have to acquire BOTH gems before you can exit to the next level.

Level 15 is the last level and you are almost blind. You have no sense of direction, have to acquire both gems, and there are many monsters on this level. I found combat to be extremely frustrating and it was difficult to time your thrusts correctly.

There are special function keys you can use in the game. Pressing B on the keyboard will unleash a Blast Spell which can destroy a section of the wall in front of you and create a new passage.

Pressing S on the keyboard unleashes a Sleep Spell which will induce sleep upon your opponents who will then nap for a short period while you make your escape.

If you press T on the keyboard you can Teleport yourself to a different location on the same level. You can never be killed as a direct result of using this spell.

This was more of an arcade or adventure game that I was not very impressed with but at least I was able to experience this obscure piece of gaming history.

Keith Zabalaoui would later found Atomic Games and create the strategy games in the V For Victory and Close Combat series.

Next up on the docket is Warriors of Ras Volume III: Wylde

Until next time…

The Return of Heracles was written by Stuart Smith and published by Quality Software in 1983 for the Apple II and Atari 8-bit and in 1985 for the Commodore 64. You may remember Stuart Smith from his previous efforts: Fracas and Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves.

My prior playthroughs and reviews of Smith’s earlier games had been very positive and thus I was eager to play this latest effort and I was not disappointed. Like his earlier efforts gameplay is nonlinear and its scoring system gives it some replay value.

The game takes place in ancient Greece and allows you to control up to several different characters. Some of these you play at the same time if you form a group while others you’ll play if your current character dies. The latter is a strength of the game. You’re not likely to lose the game through loss of life as you can immediately leap into the body of another character from Greek mythology should you perish. This development decision thus places the game’s focus on exploration and interaction with the environment. The characters which you might play includes quite a list of classical heroes; each of them have their own strengths and weaknesses.

The game also doubles as an educational primer for Greek mythology. If not completely accurate it stimulates you to do some reading and research of your own. The main quest involves completing 12 labors for Zeus. Some of you may recall the twelve labors of Hercules and wonder if this game’s title was a way to avoid copyright problems. In actuality the true name of Hercules WAS Heracles and it was later changed to Hercules by Roman literature.

In the Greek Mythos Heracles is performing these twelve labors at the service of King Eurystheus but in the game Smith has his characters performing these labors at the behest of Zeus. You can visit the Oracle of Zeus who will assign you the task of completing a specific labor or you can explore the game world and complete them during your travels. You can visit the Oracle of Delphi for hints.

The twelve labors that you have to complete are:

1. Slay the 12-headed Hydra
2. Kill the Nemean Lion
3. Find and recover the Golden Fleece
4. Slay the Minotaur
5. Kill the Stymphalian birds and recover the Stymphalus Treasure
6. Solve the Riddle of the Sphinx
7. Rescue Penelope
8. Recover the Cattle of Geryon
9. Rescue Helen of Troy and lift the gates to the city
10. Rebuild Thebes
11. Slay the Mares of Diomedes
12. Find the Golden Apples of Hesperides

The game world is huge and your screens shift from an overland view to a city-wide view and even to single room. All of these places are connected by portals and when you enter a portal you’ll find you are then at a different location. The map is so large it did require that I visit the Oracle of Delphi a couple of times to receive clues. Sometimes clues might include a marker or location that is close to your task you’re to undertake to help you better get your bearings.

This is the game’s greatest strength. It’s huge nonlinear map with all of the locations and the non-player characters and wandering foes is just pure enjoyable chaos. This landscape is absolutely deadly and survival is extremely difficult. The game would be extremely hard if you were not able to jump from character to character. I still struggled mightily in the beginning of the game until I arrived in Colchis near the Golden Fleece. It was here that others wanted to join my party and I ended up with a party of four. This made all of the random encounters and fixed boss battles much more manageable.

The combat is mechanically handled. You can close with an opponent and switch to a dagger (you’re both then occupying the same square) or you can fight with your sword (at which point you’re adjacent to your opponent). Where the game becomes pure enjoyable chaos is that each of the wandering monsters, Greek heroes, and non-player characters all have a will of their own. Events continue to transpire on the screen outside of your party’s actions. Monsters may engage with and fight other monsters while non-player characters may be working with you or against you. The NPCs can even take treasure from the area that you may have had your eye on. It’s all quite a bit of fun and what you would expect from a Stuart Smith game. The documentation has over 250 different monsters and foes with their statistics listed. There are many NPCs, monsters, and mythological creatures that you’ll encounter during the course of this game.

Once you complete your final task you are given a congratulatory screen.

You also get a very cool depiction of Zeus:

The Return of Heracles is another reminder how much fun Stuart Smith’s games are. The game took me about 10 hours to complete and it was probably my favorite of the three different Stuart Smith games that I’ve played. I believe I’ll get to experience Stuart Smith one more time with his Adventure Construction Set that was released in 1984.

Next up on the docket is Ultima: Escape From Mt. Drash. Thanks to William Hern, my technical engineer and production designer, I was able to get Escape From Mt. Drash working.

Until next time…

Monsters & Magic was developed and published by Prickly Pear Software in 1983. It was released for the Commodore 64, TRS-80 Color Computer, and Dragon 32/64. I played the Commodore 64 version using an emulator and it took me roughly 2 hours to beat the game. It definitely sports some amazing fantasy cover art; some of the best I’ve seen in this young era.

In Monsters & Magic you have to enter a dungeon with the purpose of destroying the evil Dungeon Lord. In order to face the dreaded Dungeon Lord you have to face the other denizens of the dungeon first. An interesting twist is you get to specify how many monsters there are in the dungeon ranging from 1 to 50. Once the requisite number of monsters have been faced then you are immediately thrust into a showdown with the Dungeon Lord. Thus if it is a shorter game that you’re after then merely choose a low number of monsters to face. I felt guilty thinking about choosing only 1 to 3 monsters but I’m not a fan of self-immolation either so I decided to choose 10.

Character creation is a rather simple affair. You do not get to choose a class type and the game rolls between 6 and 18 for standard Dungeons & Dragons game attributes. You can choose to hit R on the keyboard to reroll the stats if you’re not happy with the results. Once satisfied you then choose a name for your character, random hit points are assigned between 1 and 16, random gold is bestowed, and then you can purchase armor and weapons. I had enough gold to purchase chainmail, a shield, a helmet, and a sword. Character creation now complete you can start on your quest to defeat the Dungeon Lord.

Once you enter the dungeon, everything is randomly generated and then inserted into your room description.

In the example above your location is randomly determined. Whether it be a chapel, a narrow passage, a high gate, or a monster lair; the room descriptor is randomly determined and then inserted.

Then there is a random description that is generated and inserted. In the above example the random descriptor is: the floor is cracked. There are many other descriptors such as: Sees a large jar, or There is hot food on the table.

The rooms that you traverse may or may not have a monster in them depending on how many monsters you selected to populate your dungeon. A Black Pudding, Ogre, Hill Giant, and Hobgoblin were some of the monsters that I faced. When combat ensues you and your adversary roll a 1d6 for initiative to see who goes first. Then each of you take turns rolling a 1d20 to see if you hit. If you do hit then you roll for damage based on the weapon type that you are using. Some of the more powerful monsters get multiple attacks on you. Combat was often a lengthy affair. When you defeat your opponent you are awarded with experience points and extra hit points. Experience points allow your character to level up or increase in levels. The higher the level of your character the greater your damage multiplier in combat.

In each room you enter you have the same 8 options to choose from. All of the options depicted above are self-explanatory. The SEARCH option generates random results which can be either good or bad. There seemed to be an equal chance for both; so later in my travels I avoided the search option completely. If the room’s descriptor contains something that can be opened; then you get a second random generation roll with the same probabilities of something good or bad. Sometimes you can find a magic sword or magic armor or even have one of your attributes raised. Or…you may set off a rust trap that destroys all of your weapons and armor, encounter an evil cleric that turns all of your weapons into clay, or see one of your attributes lose points.

Once you have defeated all of the monsters that populate the dungeon you are then thrust into a battle with the evil Dungeon Lord.

The Dungeon Lord is a tough encounter but once you defeat him then you’ve won the game.

Monsters & Magic represented a nice afternoon RPG diversion and will likely be one of the easier role-playing games I’ll play from 1983.

Prickly Pear Software would go on to develop and publish two more role-playing games: the Scepter of Ursea in 1984 and Darkmoor Hold in 1985. I will hopefully, with a good Luck roll and good Constitution roll, be reporting to you on those games in the far future.

Next up on the docket is the Return of Heracles and then hopefully I will have also solved my technical problems getting Escape From Mt. Drash to work for me.

Until next time…

“There was a certain kind of magic about my life during the early days that makes the first three Ultimas very special. I did those entirely on my own, and there was something magical about them being utterly my own creation, utterly my own vision. I really lived to work on those games.”

– Richard “Lord British” Garriott

Ultima III was the first game to be published by Garriott’s new company; Origin Systems. The previous Ultima had been released by Sierra On-Line. Richard Garriott moved back into his parent’s house and set up residence in the loft of the family’s three-car garage. He gathered about him a close-knit collection of friends who could help create and sell games and Origin Systems was born.

Ultima III: Exodus is the third game in the series and the last installment of what has become to be known as the “Age of Darkness” trilogy. It was released in 1983 for the Apple II, C64, Atari-8 bit, and IBM PC. Later ports with enhanced graphics would follow for the Amiga, Atari ST, and Macintosh.

The amazing Ultima III box art was painted by veteran Ultima artist Denis Loubet. However, the cover was originally to feature art by Helen Garriott, Richard’s mother, which is featured below.

The other “furnishings” inside of the game’s box were also of outstanding quality. Included with the game were: The Book of Play, The Ancient Liturgy of Truth, The Book of Amber Runes, a Player Reference Card, a cloth map of Sosaria, and an advertisement for the Secrets of Sosaria.

I think more than any other game I’ve played thus far, it was important to go through and carefully read and study all of the game materials found in the box. The Book of Play was 22 pages long and contained a foreword as well as instructions on how to play the game. Topics in this book included Moongates, Towns, and a Bestiary. The writing by Margaret Ellen Weigers and Roe R. Adams is top notch.

The Ancient Liturgy of Truth is an 18 page book, containing numerous illustrations, detailing the spells of the Cleric.

The Book of Amber Runes is an 18 page document that details the various spells of the mage.

The beautiful cloth map included in the box features artwork from Richard Garriott’s mother Helen.

Secrets of Sosaria, which was advertised in the box, was a 48 page long clue book written by “Lord Robert”, which is the alias of Robert Garriott, Richard Garriott’s brother. It originally retailed for $12.95.

An Ultima III 550 piece jigsaw puzzle was sold in Japan with the finished picture being the map of Sosaria which was also included in the box itself.

Pony Canyon also sold Exodus T-Shirts and a Wrist Watch as promotional items in 1988 for the MSX-2 port.

Ultima III was the first Ultima to feature a party of characters rather than a single character. I believe Garriott was influenced by the success of Sir-Tech’s Wizardry games in this decision. There are five different races to choose from and eleven professions. An oddity in Ultima III was the ability to choose a race known as a Fuzzy. This was the only Ultima that would feature this race as a playing choice. A Furry is furry bipedal race. They can sport a high dexterity or intelligence so would make good Thief or Wizard characters.

There are eleven professions to choose from in the game: fighter, barbarian, lark (synonym for bard), paladin, ranger, thief, illusionist, alchemist, wizard, druid, and cleric.

I decided to go with an old school fighter, thief, cleric, and wizard quartet. I have never played any of the Ultima games other than the previous installments and wasn’t sure what I was in for. You’ll notice from my choice of character names that I’ve just recently finished Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Times series (which I highly recommend).

I had enjoyed Ultima II: Revenge of the Enchantress but the game for me was akin to John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China. It had everything thrown in but the kitchen sink and seemed a “wild romp”. In comparison to Ultima II, this newest iteration seemed much more developed to me. It had a seriousness to it which resonated with me. A lot of the science fiction elements had been stripped out in favor of a more fantasy-oriented plot. I found this much more to my liking.

Ultima III: Exodus is hands down my favorite game in the series thus far. In my opinion the series turns a corner with this latest installment and there are two major changes which help it to accomplish this.

The biggest change to the game is that the dungeons are suddenly meaningful. There are seven different dungeons in the game and each of them have their own distinct personality.

There are very specific items that you need to obtain from the dungeons that are necessary to win the game. In previous installments the dungeons had merely been “window dressing” and a means to gain hit points and now exploration of these dungeons is a necessity.

Each of the dungeons contains eight levels and the foes you encounter become tougher as you move deeper into the dungeons. There are trapped spaces in the dungeon that cause each of your party members serious injury should you step on that space. It is thus absolutely necessary that you map out each of the dungeon levels so that you can avoid these traps. There are other areas where a wind will blow out your torch and you’ll have to light another. This is a serious issue because torches are not only expensive but can only be purchased at select locations on the map. Gremlins are also prominent in key locations that serve to strip you of your food. If there is any flaw with the game it is that the management of food is so crucial as to almost become a distraction. There are also magical fountains scattered throughout the dungeons that can either do you harm or heal all of your hit points. A few of the dungeons do overlap each other in that the items that you seek can be found in multiple dungeons. The Dungeon of Time is an absolute necessity to complete. You must encounter the Time Lord in the lowest level of the dungeon as he will have clues as to how to defeat Exodus.

The second significant change in the game and for the series is that it is important that you take your time to talk to every character in each of the towns. There is actually quite a bit of text throughout the game and if it comes to a point in the game where you are stuck or not sure what to do it is likely that you haven’t talked to enough people or the right person.

It is from Britain and Castle British that you learn general game details and hear the first rumors of marks and cards. In each of the towns you explore you’ll find that the rumor or text shines a spotlight on another nuance of the game or an important clue. So there is a lot of “sleuthing” and recording of information to be done. This lent a seriousness to the game and a cohesiveness that the prior games lacked.

There are other unique changes in this Ultima sequel. In many cases on the map you are limited to line of sight only and a fog of war comes into play. Once combat is initiated the screen changes to a tactical format which would have a great influence on the Final Fantasy franchise and many other future games. Each of the characters can be moved and choose to Attack or Cast Spells and some strategy becomes involved at higher levels.

One aspect of the game that caused me to become “stuck” more than once was the ( O )ther command. This command allows the player to enter a command not given in the normal list of keyboard commands. So when you hit O on the keyboard you’re asked which player and then it drops to a prompt. Now the Book of Play gives you examples to type in such as Jump or Kiss (which are never used in the game) I offer that you consider the commands Dig and Pray. It will save you a lot of time and heartache.

Food and gold are not easily obtained in this game. The encounters serve to deplete your hit points and your food depletes with every step you take. You are constantly struggling to obtain gold. Food, healing, better weapons and armor, and raising your attributes all compete for your hard earned coin. Thus you will find you are constantly grinding so that you can increase all of these things.

There is a lot of grinding that you’ll need to do in this game. You’ll want to have each of your characters at about 2500 hit points and your cleric and wizard with enough spell points to cast the highest level spells before you venture into Castle Exodus. You will want to have eight different magical or special items in your possession as well as both exotic armor and exotic weapons. There are also mystical shrines that you can find to boost the attributes of your characters – but you will have to tithe quite a bit of gold.

Castle Exodus and the encounters within are extremely difficult. Items that you found in the dungeons and elsewhere in your journeys must be brought into the castle with you. There are 10 different necessary items that you’ll have to have in your possession in order to be victorious. The final encounter with Exodus and the realization of just what Exodus is; is a pretty interesting reveal too.

There was one bug or flaw in the game that I encountered that became somewhat frustrating. Once I had completed the game I did some internet sleuthing and discovered that many others had experienced the same issue. I was almost ready to believe that there was something wrong with my copy of the game and that I was going to be unable to finish. Here is what happened: late in the game you’re going to realize that you must get your hands on a ship in order to complete the game. You cannot buy a ship or raft like in previous versions. The only way to obtain a ship is to randomly encounter pirates, defeat them, then take their vessel. Late in the game there was some issue with the aquatic “spawning” and there were just not any creatures or ships being spawned. To make matters worse the whirlpool moves about the game at a high rate of speed on these new machines; possibly destroying the ships that do get spawned. When you exit your ship and explore the countryside; much of the time these ships are destroyed by the whirlpool even though they are “parked”. So late in the game I must have wandered about at least 10,000 turns and spent quite a bit of gold on food just looking for a ship. Just as I was about to throw my hands up in the air, I finally encountered one and was able to move on. I probably spent at least two real hours of time wandering about waiting to encounter a ship. This does seem to be an issue with all versions so be aware of it.

This is definitely my favorite Ultima game thus far. It checked a lot of boxes for me. The dungeons were fun to explore and very relevant to the game this time. Rather than dealing with one character you’re dealing with a party of four and the new tactical combat screen would go on to influence the entire genre and industry. The great amount of text in the game and the great number of clues and sleuthing that was involved also resonated very strongly with me ( I spent hours going back over everything trying to figure out how to get by the serpent to Castle Exodus ). The game sold very well for Garriott’s fledgling company and allowed them the luxury and time to work on future installments of the series. This was the first game as well to direct winning players to mail the company to receive a completion certificate. Here is an example of someone’s completion certificate that I found on the internet.

I purchased the game from GOG and played the game on my PC. It took me well over 25 hours to beat and now stands as my favorite game in the series. I purposefully avoided providing any maps or spoilers or specific walkthrough for this entry because this is a game that is still easily accessible and I am hoping that many decide to take the time to finally play it. There are many other sites out there who have already created maps and walkthroughs and probably have already done a more exhaustive job than I could have. I think I’ve shined a spotlight on some of the more important aspects as well as firmly establishing my opinion of it. I did feel a sense of dismay that I never made the effort to play this one when I was much younger.

Next up on the docket I am going to continue to run with the Ultima theme and play Ultima: Escape from Mt. Drash. Until next time…

It should be no secret by now that I’m a huge Gary Bedrosian fan. His prior offerings: Lords of Karma & Empire of the Over-Mind were both bestowed awards for Game of the Year for their category in 1978 and 1979 respectively.

It stands to reason then that I was eagerly anticipating playing this 1981 offering.

Documentation packaged with the game included a short story as well as a Galactic Federation Naval Officer’s Manual.

The short story is well written and serves as a prelude to the beginning of the game. Speaking of beginnings, G.F.S. Sorceress sports one of the more original starts to date. You begin the game in a space suit, stranded, and floating in space!

The Officer’s Naval Manual which also comes included in the documentation is very well done. The manual contains information on the stardrive as well as a planetary guide. The manual also contains eight supplemental writings that you are not supposed to read until you encounter them in the game. This takes a page from Dunjonquest: Temple of Apshai and it would be something that you see in the SSI Gold Box games that come much later. The information contained within the documentation is an integral part of the player’s experience. Familiarizing yourself with the stardrive fundamentals will help you with one of the early puzzles in the game.

Soon you’ll find yourself on the G.F.S. Sorceress and not much later in command of it. What then ensues is a planet hopping quest in an attempt to uncover the conspiracy against you and absolve yourself of all criminal charges.

I was surprised, that unlike his previous two offerings, this game seemed a much more linear experience. The puzzles in Bedrosian’s newest offering were fairly straight forward as well and thus it took me less time to finish.

Once you engage the hyperdrive there are five different planets that you can visit. Because we’re talking interstellar travel, the distance between planets is great enough that you’re going to have to constantly place yourself in cryogenic sleep to slow your aging process. One of the larger puzzles in the game is learning the proper order with which you should visit the planets. It’s possible to create a softlock if you choose incorrectly. A softlock is an instance where the game remains in a playable state but progressing further becomes impossible.

Each planet presents a particular puzzle to work though. On Tau Ceti you have to deal with quicksand and a spider. Examining your surroundings carefully will help you with these particular puzzles.

On Epsilon Enidani V you have to deal with a large sand worm which channels imagery from Dune.

On Rigel X you have to explore frozen ruins found within a glacier and solve the mystery of the robot insurrection which seems to channel Asimov’s I, Robot.

Altair IV is the most difficult of the locations and will involve you having to discover not one but several hidden rooms to obtain your objective.

When you’re completely finished with your planetary adventures you should have enough evidence to attend your own proceedings and attempt to exonerate yourself.

I was surprised in that I did not find it necessary to map G.F.S. Sorceress by hand. The ship’s layout was very straightforward and each of the planet adventures had small and virtually linear areas to explore. The puzzles took longer than mastering your surroundings but all of them were pretty straight forward and very fair. If I had not recently just played Zork II and dealt with the red sphere puzzle I would have had a much harder time with Altair IV. It is all I’ll say on the matter.

Once again the author’s creativity stands out here. This stands out as the first true interplanetary space adventure and the introduction of hibernation or cryogenic sleep in the game was highly original. The writing and documentation that came with the game were of high quality and well done and is a precursor to many of the later Infocom games that would hit the store shelves.

The story may have been a bit more linear and the puzzles a little easier than Bedrosian’s previous two games but the creativity and originality are standouts here. If there is any kind of negative here at all, subjectively, I felt the relationship with Selena seemed a bit forced. It appears that the plan was that this would the first in a series of adventures but it must not have done well enough commercially because, alas, there were no sequels released. This would actually be the last big game product produced by Gary Bedrosian. I wish that Mr. Bedrosian would not have given up creating games but other work beckoned him. Gary Bedrosian has a Ph.D. from CalTech and does research in aerospace systems and electromagnetic pulses. I knew Gary was a very smart guy.

I enjoyed my experience with this one and have loved this author’s art and labor.

Next up on the docket is Ultima III: Exodus

Until next time…

I am about to seriously tackle the computer role-playing games that were published in 1983 and I’m likely going to start with Ultima III: Exodus. I wanted to return to the world of interactive fiction before embarking on that particular campaign and that takes us back to 1981. I perused my interactive fiction “to do” list from that year and I thought what better place is there to start than Zork II?

Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz was written by Dave Lebling and Marc Blank and published by Infocom in 1981. The game was ported and available on all major platforms and widely accessible. I played the DOS version using DOSBox and it took me roughly 10 to 12 hours of actual playing time to beat the game. I stress “actual playing time” because it is much harder to quantify the amount of time my mind spent working through the puzzles while I wasn’t in front of the game. I thought about the puzzles while cutting the grass, driving in the car, and doing other “real life” things. I would choregraph in my mind the different things I would try when I had time to sit down with the game again. I am sure, dear reader, that you have had a similar experience.

Zork, in it’s original form, was released in 1977 for the PDP-10 mainframe computer. It was split up and expanded into three titles which were then later released commercially for home computers. It was a massive success for Infocom and collectively the three episodes sold more than 680,000 copies through 1986.

The commercial version of Zork II plays like a true sequel. Zork I ended with you having reached the Barrow and this is your starting point in Zork II. You once again take up your trusty lantern and sword and you are on your way.

I want to relate my thoughts and experiences with you regarding Zork II but this is NOT going to be a walkthrough nor intentionally contain any spoilers. I know in many previous games I have provided spoilers and screenshots. My belief though is that there are probably a great many people who still want to experience Zork II for themselves, as I did, and I do not want to ruin that experience for anyone.

Zork II took me by surprise a bit because in all honesty I thought it was going to be more of the same. Meaning I thought there might be an obligatory maze followed by more treasure hunting and then storing them in a particular location for points. What I encountered instead was a game that had an actual story or plot that succeeded in pulling off a clever twist on the treasure hunting trope.

I do have a recollection of a “high-school” version of myself attempting to play Zork II and failing miserably. I remember thinking that it was extremely hard. Perhaps I’ve developed some “adventuring chops” during this epic endeavor because I fared much better the second time around.

The puzzles in Zork II are diverse and wide ranging. Two of the puzzles encountered in this game have been historically labeled with “two of the worst puzzles in adventure game history”. The irony, in my experience with this game, is that I didn’t have much of a problem with these two particular puzzles. It was a couple of the other puzzles found within that had me pulling my hair out. While I understand the “labels” placed on these two puzzles don’t let them deter you from trying this little gem out. These labels created such a negative stigma that I found myself having great trepidation even before starting the game. My own childhood experience the first time around did little to ease that trepidation.

What I want to warn future adventurers about is that there is a “time” component to the game. No matter how hard you try; certain solutions will not present themselves until you’ve solved the puzzles in a particular order.

The very interesting thing about Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz is that the first half of the game does deceptively seem to be nothing more than an extension of the first game. I greatly enjoyed the locations and descriptions found in this second installment; much more so than even those found in the first game. The locations and puzzles seemed to have a tighter cohesiveness and design to them than the previous game. As much as I was enjoying myself exploring the GUE (Great Underground Empire), I kept wondering “what is the point” or “where am I going to deposit these treasures”?

As I mentioned previously, you’re meant to tackle these puzzles in a particular sequence. One thing leads to another and suddenly you’re presented with a plot twist that completely changes things. The game turns the treasure hunt trope upside down on it’s head in a very clever way.

The player learns through descriptions of items and areas that the Great Underground Empire was ruled by the Flatheads. You also learn about the Wizard of Frobozz, once a respected enchanter, was exiled by Lord Dimwit Flathead when his powers began to fade. It is this very wizard that keeps appearing randomly before you throughout the game. However now he is senile and has forgotten all of his spells except those that begin with the letter F. When the wizard randomly appears he cast spells upon you that have a variety of effects. Most of them humorous. When the wizard appeared the first few times that I was playing, I found his appearance, because of the great descriptions and clever humor used by the authors, highly entertaining. Then as the game wore on the wizard really began to irritate the hell out of me and I found myself wanting to punch him in the nose.

I tried to catalog all of the different spells that the wizard threw my way. I am sure this is not a comprehensive list: fall, float, freeze, fence, fierce, fear, fumble, fantasize, fireproof, and fudge. I’ll leave it to you to discover what these different spells do. I realized, unfortunately, late in the game that the wizard’s presence and his spells really serve to diminish the battery life on your lantern and I had to start the game all over again.

I wanted to comment on the bank puzzle while avoiding spoilers. When I attempted to map it out the first time and solve it’s central puzzle, I decided to come back to it later in the game. When I later decided that I would dedicate all of my time and energy to solving the thing – I did so quite by accident. Only after solving it by accident did I deduce what might be going on. I brazenly went back to an earlier saved game and tested my theory and it worked. It was a good thing that I did test my hypothesis otherwise I may have later become trapped in the bank. So while many claim the bank puzzle as completely unfair, at least it is a puzzle you can solve quite by accident.

The puzzles that gave me the most problems were a magical well and also obtaining the red sphere beyond the well. I also had the location of where to use the brick completely wrong to the point of tunnel vision. I spent a considerable amount of time wrestling with these particular puzzles.

I greatly enjoyed my time with Zork II and beating the game checked a mighty big box for me as far as games in my journey I was eagerly anticipating playing. I suggest saving often and I also suggest, only after saving, that you try these various things in the game. The authors’ use of humor is quite clever.

Try giving the guardian lizard a crystal sphere

Read the newspaper from the gazebo.

Set the carousel spinner on high and then go back and enter it.

Attack the princess

Read the Wizard’s degree from GUE tech

Take the serpent out of the tank

Float all the way out of the top of the volcano

Drop your zorkmid in the well and say make a wish

Burn the zorkmid bills

Play around with the wand when you get it and try casting all of the various F spells

** once again, before doing any of this, SAVE lol **

I am now greatly looking forward to the sequel: Zork III: The Dungeon Master.

Next up on the docket is G.F.S. Sorceress by Gary Bedrosian. This is another game I’ve been looking forward to as I’m a huge Gary Bedrosian fan. I really enjoyed Lords of Karma and Empire of the Over-Mind and both of these games won Retrogamestrove.com awards.

Until next time…

Dungeon of Danger was published as code in Howard Berenbon’s second Book of Mostly BASIC. It was presented as 12 pages of code that an individual could type in and then play. Depending on which version of the source code you purchased; there was code available for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, and TRS-80. I played the TRS-80 version on an emulator and spent roughly two hours with the game.

When the game begins you get to choose a difficulty level and then you are teleported into the Dungeon of Danger. The dungeon consists of two levels and there are 64 rooms on each level. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to collect as much treasure as possible and then get the hell out.

There is no character creation other than that you get to choose a name for your character. There is no inventory management nor any items that you find that you can use to your advantage.

The game is text-based and combat completely random. There are however 38 different creatures that you can encounter in the game which is a tremendous amount of variety for the time.

The above list are all of the different monsters that you can encounter with their hit points and maximum damage that they can cause.

The only graphic in the game is a special encounter with a good wizard. He gave me additional hit points and 105 gold pieces. Nice guy! There are also trap doors that drop you to the second level and pools of water that have magical effects.

The dungeon is presented in an 8 x 8 grid with enclosed edges. The M represents one of the thirty-eight monsters you might encounter. Once you vanquish the dungeon denizen then that square becomes empty. EW represents an east-west corridor. You can only exit or move to the east or west. NS represents a north-south corridor and the same movement rules apply. UP represents a stairway and C represents a Cavern. When you enter a cavern you may find a random potion, a pool, a dark wizard, or a friendly wizard. Each of these random encounters will either be beneficial or threatening. The ? may represent a thief or a trap door. The checkered square represents the character’s location.

You move about the map with the N, S, E, W keys on the keyboard. The U key represents UP and it is how you move from dungeon level one to two or from the first dungeon level to the exit outside.

The H key will display your current hit points.

The G key will display your current gold.

The M key will display the map for you.

Combat is done in the background and blows are exchanged randomly. You have no input other than to choose to (F)ight or (R)un. Once you choose to fight you and your opponent keep exchanging blows until one of you is defeated.

You can only move between dungeon levels by finding enchanted keys. A key is found in each level and will only be rewarded to you after you have defeated a random number of monsters on each level. The key will then suddenly become part of the spoils after you’ve vanquished one of the random creatures. You’ll need a key to escape dungeon level 2 back to dungeon level 1 and you’ll need an enchanted key to be able to use the exit out of the dungeon. When you climb from level two back up to level one you will also regenerate any lost hit points.

If you cannot find a copy of the game to play you can play the Commodore 64 version RIGHT HERE

I was able to survive both dungeon levels and escape with my life intact.

Next up on the docket is Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz.

Until next time…

Sword & Sorcery II was written by Barry L. Adams and published as a “type in” program in the August 1980 issue of 80 Microcomputing magazine. This is an odd game and plays more like a “pick your own adventure path” than a CRPG however your combat ability does increase when you defeat an opponent.

Most of the game is text based and it does sport some minor graphics. When combat with the dragon ensues the game switches from text to an arcade mode.

The premise is standard fantasy fare. An elf princess has been abducted by an evil necromancer and placed in a dungeon in the Old Forest. Your quest is to rescue the princess and along the way you’ll face multiple dangers.

When the game begins there is a random chance that you are presented with the option to have a dryad accompany you. I recommend you ALWAYS choose to have her join your quest because she helps you choose the most beneficial path to take. If you choose the wrong path then the following ensues:

There are no combat options. If you choose the wrong random path you are automatically eaten by a giant spider and the game then ends. I cannot tell you how many times I had to start the game over from the beginning. I died again and again and again. If it wasn’t from the arachnid then it was from the dragon which I’ll expound upon later. I also died multiple times from one-on-one combat with a troll warrior.

Once you’re given the possible option of a dryad companion you’ll then be asked if you’d like to consult the Oracle. You are told there are three paths through the forest however only one path is true. If you answer YES that you want to consult the Oracle; he will then shockingly ask you how many virgins you’d like to sacrifice. You have to walk a tightrope here – if your respond back with a number that is too small the Oracle will become offended and refuse to help you. If you respond with a number that is too high you’ll please the Oracle but offend the Dryad who will cast a curse upon you and then leave. I found that 2 to 3 virgins seemed to please both parties though I found the sacrifice of virgins lamentable.

Once the Oracle sets you on the right path; I believe it slightly increases your luck for the random results. The dryad will also help you when you come to multiple forks in the forest. You may ask her advice and most times she will give it. Sometimes she is also perplexed by what choice to make.

There are multiple random encounters or obstacles between you and your ultimate goal of rescuing the princess. You can find a Magic Sword which increases your combat skill, encounter a snake, a pack of rats, satyrs, and even a hot dog seller. You can also fall into a pit and if you are unable to climb out on your own you’ll have to call for help. Whether you successfully climb out of the pit or not is completely random. When you have to resort to calling for help; who helps you is completely random as well. Sometimes you luck out and are saved by a little old lady and other times you are enslaved by goblins and forced into combat against a troll warrior to escape.

The combat with the troll warrior is long and quite humorous. If you win, and again your success or failure is completely random, then you can move on and continue your quest. The writing and descriptions for all of these locations and encounters are very well done and quite funny.

The encounter with the dragon is what had me pulling my hair out in frustration.

If you encounter the dragon the game switches to an arcade mode and your character is then placed at a random distance away from the dragon. You use the . key and the ; key to move away from the dragon or towards the dragon while it constantly breathes fire at you. You have to avoid it’s dragon breath and get close enough to stab it. If you’re hit by the dragon breath you die instantly and have to start the game all over again. I learned to despise this loathsome beast and I awarded it with the evil moniker of MOTHER-IN-LAW.

When you do finally reach the dungeon you have to try and sneak past the sleeping guard and if you’re discovered you then have to hope that you randomly win the combat to get inside.

Once you do finally get past the guard and rescue the princess you are finally awarded with the screen depicted above. It took a lot of patience and perseverance to continue to restart this game in the hope of making it to the end. It just barely qualifies as a CRPG. Once you defeat the dragon in combat your combat skills go up significantly so that when you do encounter a troll in the Old Forest, which is often, you have a much greater chance of winning the combat.

This is one of the things I love the most about what I am doing here. Unearthing and encountering these very early and older CRPGs is a real treat. It is a lot of heartache getting some of them to work but you just never know what it is you’re going to get. While Sword & Sorcery II might not be for everybody, you have to remember that many early home computer purchasers were role-playing game enthusiasts. They were like desert nomads in search of water. So every very early fantasy offering that came out like a drop of water for a parched throat.

Next up on the docket is Dungeon of Danger.

Until next time…