Eamon Adventurers Guild
June 1994
The Eamon Adventurers Guild
June 1994
News and Stuff
Not a whole lot going on in the Eamon world right now. We have a few Eamons in development. This issue marks the debut of a powerful new Eamon author, Frank Kunze.
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Tom Weishaar’s annual KansasFest convention in Kansas City has been transformed. Traditionally a developer’s conference, Kfest has been undergoing a gradual evolution into a general social get-together of the Apple II world. This year, the transformation becomes official, and the conference is now named ICONference. Sponsored by Tom’s new organization, the International Computer Owner’s Network, ICONference will consist of two days of presentations and demonstrations, and one “unstructured” day for simply hanging around with Apple folks.
Many attendees agree that the best part of these conferences may well be the nightly mayhem in the dorms, where you may see Roger Wagner doing something quite unlikely, or perhaps see the redoubtable Hangtime leading a squad of the Sysops From Hell, while other entertainment spontaneously appears all around you.
ICONference is July 21-23. If you go, I think you will be glad you did. Unfortunately, I have other obligations and can’t make it this year. I deeply regret this situation. Some of my very best friends are Apple people that I came to know at KansasFests past.
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Recently Frank Kunze sent me an upgraded version of Eamon #10 “The Magic Kingdom”. I have received such “upgrades” from various people in the past, and generally do not distribute them. I chose this route for several reasons: first, I’m rather uneasy about getting into somebody’s Eamon and making wholesale changes without their knowledge or participation. Second, releasing such an upgrade means multiple versions floating Out There in the Public Domain that will require parallel bug and revision tracking. Third, I can’t in good conscience release a major revision without doing major playtesting on it, which I am not really inclined to do. And last, if ProDOS versions of the adventure exist, I will be forced to perform ground-up 40-col. and 80-col. ProDOS conversions of the new disks.
Frank’s upgrade consisted mainly of fixes that bring it up to version 6.0 standards; something that would probably be a good idea if the Eamon in question hadn’t been in the Public Domain for 10 years already. But I have received a few from other people that incorporated wholesale changes to the original database to make it “better”. I don’t see any reasonable way to keep track of effectively different Eamon adventures that share the same name and number! And at the same time, the new version is too much like the original to earn a new number all its own.
I have never been happy sitting on other people’s hard work in this manner. If you think that we should find a way to release these upgrades, then I would be very happy to hear your thoughts on the matter. My current priority on this subject is consistency in the Public Domain, but perhaps this is the wrong perspective.
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EAMONAUT OF THE MONTH This time the award goes to Jim Grosshans, who has contributed a lot of Good Stuff over the past year, including the neat idea of putting the date on the bottom of each page. Jim gets 8 Eamons for his efforts. Send us your list, Jim!
In the same vein, we continue our new practice of bribing contributors by recognizing the fine, fine job that Frank Kunze did on his new Eamon adventure. Between several recent contributions and the very high quality of his Eamon, Frank is awarded any 10 Eamon adventures of his choice.
EAMON ADVENTURER'S GUILD
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If you would like to add your own Eamon adventure to the EAG list, send it on a disk to the above address. It will be assigned an Adventure number, and tested for bugs and other problems before release. An informal critique and disk with bug corrections will be returned. Once released, you will be given any Eamon Adventure of your choice in exchange, and may be awarded several Eamon Adventures if your Eamon is of superior quality.
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New Adventures
#225 Adventure in Interzone by Frank Kunze
Frank’s debut Eamon is a real winner. Your Quest is to find your way back from the Interzone, where Hokas threw you in a fit of anger. This Eamon has an exceptionally clean player interface and lots of little details that make it a treat to play. Reviewed in this issue.
Letters
Questions from Phil Moore…
Q: Can 2 monsters in different rooms wear the same artifact chain mail armor, or carry the same weapon (sword) even though it’s only listed once in the artifacts?
A: The standard MAIN PGM makes no provision at all for monsters to wear any kind of “real” armor artifact. If you want to do this, you will have to program it yourself. Monsters can carry any weapon or artifact, however; you could simulate worn armor by having the monster carry it so it would be available when the monster died, just like weapon artifacts are handled.
No, you can not give the same weapon to more than one monster! Not only does the monster data contain the Ready Weapon Artifact Number, but the location of that artifact in the Artifact data must say that it is in that monster’s possession. If the numbers don’t match, you will at the very least see screwy things occur and may see program crashes.
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Q: Under “wearable artifacts” in the DDD 7.1 manual, what happened to armor numbers 3 and 5?
A: The Wearable Artifact Armor Classes are derived from the standard stuff that you buy from Marcos in the Main Hall. Class 3 is Leather Armor Plus Shield. Class 5 is Chain Mail Plus Shield. And 7 is Plate Plus Shield.
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Q: I sure would like to know how you got CTRL-M to work for the EAG address in the program REM at the beginning of some programs.
A: You have to have an Applesoft editor to enter control-M in REM statements. GPLE and Program Writer have the capability. As you found, Typing control-M is the same as hitting the Return key, as both actions enter CHR$(13).
Dungeon Designs
The EAG Utilities Disk Program Descriptions
NOTE: most of these programs only work with Eamon version 4-6, as noted.
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FREESPACE/FILEDUMP (all)
A nifty little program with two user-specified options: FREESPACE modifies DOS 3.3 so that the CATALOG command lists free space at the top. FILEDUMP prints any text file directly to the screen.
Compatibility notes: FREESPACE prints a blank for free sectors on my enhanced IIe but works OK on my II+ and ROM1 GS. FILEDUMP works on my II+ and IIe but crashes into the Monitor on the GS.
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CHANGE EAMON NAME (v6)
A painless way to change an Adventure name or the Adventure number. Caution: make sure that the EAMON ADVENTURE #XXX program, the intro program, and EAMON.NAME are unlocked before running.
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LAST UPDATE INSTALL (all)
Back before the EAG took over Eamon library maintenance, Eamon adventures had a blank line in the catalog where the LAST UPDATE line is now. This program renames this “blank name” file to LAST UPDATE. This program will crash on Eamons that have the LAST UPDATE file.
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EAMON DOS REMOVER (all)
This program frees up an additional 32 sectors of disk space by deleting DOS from the disk. It also adds an alert message that prints to the screen when the disk is booted.
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LCASE KILLER (all)
BRUNning this program from a running Applesoft program will convert all of the text in the program’s PRINT statements to upper case.
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LC/UC CONV (all)
This program will convert any string to all upper case text, as noted in the DDD 7.0 Utilities Manual. To make it available, simply BLOAD it. To convert the string A$, use this command: CALL 768A$
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VERSION ANALYSIS (v1-6)
Can identify Eamon versions 1 through 6. Doesn’t recognize non-standard formats or 7.x. See UNIVERSAL CHECK FILES.
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ROOMS CONVERT (v4-5)
This program can change the record size of the EAMON.ROOMS data file. It reads in EAMON.ROOMS and writes a new file named NEW.ROOMS at the specified record length. You must then delete the original EAMON.ROOMS and rename NEW.ROOMS to EAMON.ROOMS to complete the change.The new record length is specified in Line 20 of the program, which you must modify to the length that you desire.
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ROOM NAMES CONVERT (v4-6)
ARTIFACTS CONVERT (v4-5)
These two programs work just like ROOMS CONVERT above and are used to convert EAMON.ROOM NAMES and EAMON.ARTIFACTS, respectively.
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ARTIFACT MAINTENANCE (v4-6)
Normally, using dead bodies greatly complicates modification of the Artifact database, as the dead bodies must all be together and should be at the end of the file. This program gives you a quick and easy way to insert extra “DUMMY” artifacts into any point in the artifact list. It will also remove excess artifacts that you want to get rid of to free up disk and memory space.
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REMOVE DUMMY ARTIFACTS (v4-6)
A common way to develop Eamon adventures is to stick a bunch of extra “DUMMY” artifacts in between the “real” artifacts and the dead bodies. Thus you can use the “dummies” to add more artifacts without having to monkey with the dead bodies. This program can be used to help you get rid of excess dummies once you are through with development.
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DESC EDIT (v4-6)
A very handy program for doing quick fixes of errors in the descriptions.
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UNIVERSAL CHECK FILES (v4-7)
Reports the version and structure of Eamon adventures. Recognizes all known non-standard formats. Verifies the integrity of the database files and reports any errors.
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ADD LIGHT TO ROOMS (v4-6)
Adds the “light” data to the room data (if it’s not already there) and sets all rooms to “lit”.
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DUNGEONAID (v4-6)
Lists the number and names and selected data fields for rooms, artifacts, or monsters. Can list to printer.
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LIST EAMON R.A.M. (v4-6)
Prints out the numbers and names of rooms, artifacts, and monsters. Can list to printer.
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ROOM ANALYSIS (v4-6)
Lists room numbers and names plus all artifacts and monsters in each room. Doesn’t recognize hidden or embedded artifacts. Can list to printer.
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QUICKY ROOM PRINT (v4-6)
Lists room numbers and names plus room exits. Does not print light. Can list to printer.
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FLEX DUNGEON LIST 2.1 (v4-6)
Prints out database in 40-col. format. Does not print light.
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DUNGEON LIST Z (v4-6)
This program combines features from several old Eamon utilities not found on this disk:
- Lists Rooms, Artifacts, Effects, and Monsters; makes cleaner printouts than DUNGEON LIST does.
- Room Analysis: same as described above.
- Walk-Through: enables you to go from room to room; does not recognize doors or non-standard room connections.
- The strength of this program is that it only loads what it needs to do the task you select, and retains that data in memor. Thus you can save a lot of time waiting on disk accesses, making it very useful for messing about in the database.
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DUNGEON LIST 6.0G (v4-6)
Basically the same as the DUNGEON LIST program on the 6.2 DDD, but with a couple of minorextras. Makes much cleaner printouts than DUNGEON LIST does!
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TEST BENCH (all)
Allows you to quickly start an adventure without using the Main Hall. You can define your test character’s basic stats, and play with a basic set of weaponry. Note: don’t use the “default” setting, which gives you a nearly helpless character.
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ADVANCED BENCH (all)
Similar to TEST BENCH, but permits you to specify more of the character’s stats. Gives you two mundane weapons and one 2D8 sword.
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EAMON CHARACTERS FILE MAINT (all)
A comprehensive CHARACTERS file maintenance program that enables you to change any aspect of the CHARACTERS database. You can also resurrect the dead, make copies, generate new characters, list the contents, and more.
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CHAR REBIRTH (all)
A simple program that will resurrect a “dead” character in the CHARACTERS file. Handy when you’ve been killed out of an adventure.
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START ADVENTURE (all)
This program is similar to the test benches above, but gets the data from that stored in the CHARACTERS file. Handy for quick startups because it is faster than using the Main Hall and doesn’t mark the character as “dead”.
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FRESH SAM (all)
Another program that starts Eamon adventures without having to use the Main Hall. This one uses a preset character (“Sam”), whose stats represent an advanced character who has earned reasonably high stats and decent weapons. I personally use this program for all of my Eamon playing.
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Bugs’n’Fixes
#10 The Magic Kingdom Date Fixed: 4/18/94
Problem: BAD SUBSCRIPT IN 9055 Fix: Delete Line 9052 9040 IF S$ = “KING” AND RO = 25 THEN PRINT “THE KING REFUSES YOUR OFFER.”: GOTO 300
Problem: BAD SUBSCRIPT IN 5067 Fix: Change Line 5067 from IF AN$(A) = “DOUGHNUT” AND … to IF AD%(11,4) = RO AND …
Problem: Giving money may trigger Inventory Fix: 9530 GOTO 300
Problem: You can attack the King even if he’s not present. Fix: Change Line 7020 from IF S$ = “KING” THEN … to IF S$ = “KING” AND RO = 25 THEN …
#132 Rhadshur Warrior Date Fixed: 4/18/94
Problem: The bug fix dated 10/3/92 was not done correctly, adding a control-I to the line, which generates a SYNTAX ERROR. You will not see this error unless you got the disk directly from the EAG.
Fix: Recopy Line 16090 to remove the hidden Control-I.
Adventure Reviews
#6 The Death Star by Donald Brown
Reviewed by Tom Zuchowski
MAIN PGM Version: 4
Extra Commands: TAKE-OFF, EAT, DESTROY
Deleted Commands: BLAST, HEAL, SPEED, POWER
Special Features: Ray-gun sound effects
Playing Time: 1-2 hr.
Reviewer Rating: 6.0
Average Rating: 4.0/8
Description: “As you left the Main Hall, you suddenly felt a queer wrench in your stomach, as if you had been turned inside-out, then right again. When things became clear again, you found yourself at the helm of a spaceship! You realize that you have gone through a reality shift!
“You are in a parallel universe. You must stay in this universe until you fulfill some quest. Although you have no access to your old gear, your body is the same. However, none of your old spells will work.
“By searching new ‘memories’, you find out your situation, which isn’t good! You are aboard the Millennium Falcon, which has just been dragged into the Empire’s evil machine of destruction, the Death Star! To escape, you will have to find and destroy the equipment in either the tractor beam machinery section, or the power machinery room.”
Comment: Eight people have rated this Eamon, and the ratings are all over the map, ranging from (1) to (7)! It is possible that many of the low ratings came from people who played Brown’s original version of the MAIN PGM, which was incredibly slow. The program speed was improved years ago, and it isn’t so bad now.
There are two other important downsides to the play: the lack of a HEAL command makes survival very difficult, and there are at least four no-warning death traps. Another downside for me personally was that nearly every room contains one to ten “soldiers” who must be killed. The soldiers are cardboard cutouts who are lousy fighters and die with a single blow, and I found it rather tedious to have to clean them out with every move to a new room.
So why did I rate it this highly? Except for the endless procession of soldiers, it is a pretty decent simulation of the Death Star portion of Star Wars, and I made vigorous use of the cheating methods described in the December issue! I must state for the record that if I couldn’t have cheated, I probably would have given it a rating of about (3).
Though the intro mentions a quest, there isn’t one other than simple escape. However, you can make your own quest by making it a point to rescue Leia, Chewie, and the ‘droids. Han Solo, Luke, and Obie-Wan are missing from the cast, so don’t bother looking for them.
The difficulty can vary dramatically, but I think that a rating of (8) may be close to what most people will see during play.
#10 The Magic Kingdom by David Cook
Reviewed by Frank Kunze
MAIN PGM Version: 4
Extra Commands: EAT, DRINK, FREE, RELEASE, READ
Deleted Commands: None
Special Features: Hi-res Olde English text intro
Playing Time: 30 min.
Reviewer Rating: 3.0
Average Rating: 4.0/4
Description: “Recently a local evil sorcerer was spying on you through his crystal ball. He overheared you talking about him and, having a short temper like most evil sorcerers, he instantly sent you to the Magic Kingdom thinking you would never return.”
Comment: I think that the above intro is a pretty good representation of the quality of the adventure. If spelling errors and bad grammar drives you nuts, you won’t be happy with this one. But if they don’t bother you all that much, this is a relaxing little dungeon.
The adventure is pretty simple. It does contain a quest, which is rescuing the daughter of a king who offers to send you home as a reward. But the way the map is laid out, you may have completed the quest before you ever find out about it!
The map is 40 rooms and very simple, with no hidden passages. The room descriptions aren’t too clear when you’re in a place where you can move up or down.
You can leave your bazookas behind on this one, as the monsters are few and not too powerful. You only get one worthwhile companion. I played it several times with an average character, using 2D8 weapons, and had no difficulty. There are two death traps, one easily avoided, the other just as easy if you are careful to EXAMINE things before doing anything with them.
While this is much too simple for my tastes, I found it to be a rather enjoyable play. the monsters are a very creative lot, including a “Semi-giant”, an insane baseball player, and a beer-guzzling orc. I would have rated it higher if there had been as bit more to it. Still, it’s worth checking out.
I give it a (2) for difficulty. I would say that this is a good pick for the Young Eamonaut.
One hint: a “princess” is a woman. ____________
#44 Escape from the Orc Lair by Jay Hinkelman
Reviewed by Tom Zuchowski
MAIN PGM Version: 5
Extra Commands: None
Deleted Commands: None
Special Features: None
Playing Time: 20-30 min.
Reviewer Rating: 4.0
Average Rating: 3.8/4
Description: “Boy do you feel good as you go looking for new adventure! Striding down a nearby dark alley, you feel so energetic that you almost don’t feel it when you are clubbed in the head by a group of orcs.
“You wake up some time later and, groggy as you are you hear part of one of their conversations.
Voice #1: ‘It won’t be long before we have enough captives!’
Voice #2: ‘I just hope we make enough ransom money, or I will have your head, Grishnakh!
“Unfortunately, you lapse into unconsciousness again, but you realize without much difficulty that it is your duty to escape and warn the Guild, before it meets certain ruin!”
Comment: This adventure is a Hack’n’Slasher’s delight. There are 2 potential allies and 60 bad guys. There are only a half-dozen artifacts that aren’t monster weapons!
This is a smallish, 48-room dungeon. You’ll want to LOOK in every room for unhinted secret exits. There are no puzzles nor complex actions to complete. Simply hack your way through the bad guys and exit the dungeon.
The bad guys aren’t all that tough, and this is a walk-through for anyone with decent stats and weapons. I give it a difficulty of (3); probably a good choice for the Young Eamonaut.
#153 Lost! by Nathan Segerlind
Reviewed by Phillip Moore
MAIN PGM Version: 6
Extra Commands: MUTILATE
Deleted Commands: None
Special Features: None
Playing Time: 1.5-2 hours.
Reviewer Rating: 3.0
Average Rating: 4.0/2
Description: “You were playing a polite little game of poker with Hokas when you were dealt a ROYAL FLUSH, SPADES. Having the temper he has, he yelled, ‘Why you little cheat!’ and casts a spell at you.
“You awoke in the Desert of Sands, a place as terrible as its name is stupid.
“You wandered for months, and now…”
Comment: The above is the complete introduction to the adventure. there is no quest or extra money at the end; just the standard treasure and weapon selling stuff. Some of the monsters are a little tough, but not super tough. I used a standard character straight from the Main Hall. I took no spells nor weapons but was able to find a weapon near the start.
It’s a Hack’n’Slasher’s dream–if it ain’t nailed down, go for it. There was one easy puzzle. I had some good laughs with the different monsters and descriptive locations. There are some death traps! Look for friends, as they will help in your struggle to kill monsters.
My rating is low because there was no quest, the poor screen pausing allowed stuff to scroll off before I could read it, the death traps slowed me down, and the one puzzle was relatively simple. I observed no profanity, although there was some implied stuff. Those who are tired of GUARD1, GUARD2, etc. will be pleased to know that there are no GUARDs.`
The ending, for me, wasn’t cute or fancy. It was different, but nothing to write home about. I would recommend this one for the young Eamonaut.
#225 Adventure in Interzone by Frank Kunze
Reviewed by Tom Zuchowski
MAIN PGM Version: 7 (heavily modified) Extra Commands: BOARD, CLOSE, RESUME, SHORT, QUIT Deleted Commands: None Special Features: Lower-case text Playing Time: 1-2 hr. Reviewer Rating: 8.0
Description: To make a long and amusing introduction short: while Hokas Tokas was away on a trip, you got into his stuff and drank all his best imported beer. When he returned, he cast you into the Interzone, to teach you a lesson-perhaps a permanent one!
Comment: Let me lead this off by saying that the above rating may well be on the low side. I downrated it for some details that didn’t hit me just right; if these same details catch your fancy, you are liable to rate it a good bit higher than I did.
Frank has crafted one of the most sophisticated Eamons ever done. The player interface is virtually flawless, with careful attention to every detail. It is all lower-case text, with optional all-caps display for II+ users who don’t have a lower-case chip or 80-column card installed. Text formatting is done on the fly, with none of the extra-space line padding (such as is used in this newsletter) that many people find irritating.
Though the map is only 54 rooms, there are 90-odd Effects, and the play is jammed with special events and plot developments. Frank has provided against all kinds of ways that you might find to go astray; as I read through the Effects after completing play, I was amazed to see some of the things he had planned for. In short, here is an Eamon in which the author worked “hard to make as perfect as he could, and it shows.
The play is a Puzzler’s delight. The puzzles are subtle and require careful reading and thought, often being presented as plot developments that require interaction with other characters to solve. Though there is very little combat for the Hack’n’Slasher in most of the map, there is a ton of combat to wade through at one point.
You are liable to get killed out several times before you solve the first major puzzle, which is to survive an assault by a gang of thugs. Let’s just say that you will need some help. Spell ability gets a workout in several places. And don’t forget the fine art of bribery!
I peg the overall difficulty at (8), due mainly to a couple of potentially deadly puzzles. But even if you’re not a puzzler, don’t miss this one. You’ll want to experience the excellent player interface, which is a significant upgrade from the one found in the standard version 7.1.