The Dungeon (2023 edition)

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Baber64
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The Dungeon (2023 edition)

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The Dungeon (2023 edition)
by John Baber

TheDungeon.prg
https://www.mediafire.com/file/m7884650 ... n.prg/file
The Dungeon (deluxe edition with notes and programming concept scans)
https://www.mediafire.com/file/antldon4 ... 3.rar/file

I made this in 1985, trying to teach myself how to program the Zork Interactive Language (ZIL) in Commodore Basic. I figured out how to do "take all" pretty well, and had five treasures for the player to locate. Took 38 years of beta-testing to finally get this game into playable shape. I have no idea how Infocom play-tested their real games in order to make their deadlines.

In memory of Justin Bertrand Galen Skywatcher, formerly known as Lynn Elmer Queen, who encouraged me to learn programming at Bethany College.


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Re: The Dungeon (2023 edition)

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I'm told this game was reviewed in ZZAP! 64 Micro Action Issue #12. I am honored and a bit horrified as this is just a BASIC training session where i reverse engineer Zork. This is a terribly derivative version of Zork I. I was just a 15-year old trying to teach himself how to simulate what Infocom made with basic commands. In no way should this game be considered something worth paying for! But it is bug-tested and holds up well after all these years.

I am most proud of how you can type "take all", "drop all", and "f--- all". The last was made as a joke. Teenage humor.

Some odd commands: "Odysseus", "jump", "yell", "kill self" is a quick way of getting out of of a trap.

When you die, you randomly reappear somewhere in the forest.

Aside from locating the treasures, the other goal is to see how many ways you can perish. The ways to die in the game: by a grue from a dark room, by red dragon breath, by throwing your burning sparkler, by troll, by pick up your boat while in the river (just being silly with that one), by flooding the dam, by visiting the waterfall, and by troll poisoning. You get several lives, so you can try out several of the deaths in one session.

The first time you die, you get a hint of looking for a knife to defend yourself. The next time you die, the hint is more specific. Should you manage to locate the blazing torch and die, it will be placed near the trapdoor in the house where you start.

Throwing water on the red dragon gives you a hint on what will kill him.

You cannot open the boulder door without having the opal key in your possession.

If you pray at the altar, you will be teleported out of the dungeon back to the house.

Hope that helps!
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Re: The Dungeon (2023 edition)

Post by Baber64 »

Issue #12 of Zzap!64 magazine (print or online digital subscription version) features a very kind review of my game here. You can buy their magazine here at Fusion Retro Books:

https://fusionretrobooks.com/collection ... 4-magazine

I wish my parents had lived to see my name in print recognized as a Commodore 64 programmer. I think many kids from the eighties like me dreamed of being famous programmers. It's a little late and I passed the half-century mark, but better late than never!

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