Eamon Adventurers Guild
December 1995
The Eamon Adventurers Guild
December 1995
News and Stuff
MEMBERSHIP EXTENSION!!
The EAG treasury has piled up enough excess funds for me to extend everyone’s membership by one issue. You’ll find that the expiration date on the envelope label has been changed!
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Lots of recent bad news in the Apple II publishing world. Quality’s “II Alive” magazine is now a 20-page newsletter, and will be shutting down in another few issues. “GS+” magazine is gone. The 8-bit version of Softdisk is history (NOTE that Softdisk has not gone out of business! You can still purchase all Apple II back issues and subscribe to Softdisk-GS).
On the up side, Joe Kohn’s “Shareware Solutions II” newsletter is doing well; see more inside.
GEnie’s A2 RoundTable is showing steady growth as the Word gets around that it is the place to find used hardware, software, answers to your questions, and fellow travelers in Apple II computing. If you aren’t yet on GEnie, then you should give it some serious consideration.
Any external modem will work on your serial-port-equipped Apple II (the Apple II+ and IIe will need a Super Serial Card or clone.) Used external 2400-baud modems go for $30 now. While 2400 isn’t much by today’s standards, it works very well for the Apple II (I use 2400 modems on my IIe and II+) and lets you get your feet wet inexpensively. Or if you are really cheap and have lots of spare time, 1200-baud modems are going for about twelve bucks. (Don’t bother with 300-baud modems, even if they are free–they are far too slow to be useful.)
I received a letter from an upset II+ user about the new adventures announced in the Sep’95 EAG newsletter. He was distressed that three of the four titles required an 80-col. display.
I assure you all that this is NOT a trend in new Eamons. It was merely a coincidence and a product of Softdisk’s request for Eamons to publish. I am not aware of any new Eamons presently in development that are 80-col.-only.
Let’s look at the Eamon list. Not counting the Softdisk titles, there are exactly three Eamons among 236 titles that require 80-col. display. Not exactly the End Of The World!
As for ProDOS titles, all ProDOS requires is 64K of RAM and Applesoft. ProDOS will run on any old Apple II+ (or any Apple II with Applesoft ROMs) if it has a 16K RAM card installed. Any version of ProDOS up through v1.9 will work on these machines. Used 16K RAM cards can be had for about $10-$15.
All 60 of the EAG’s 80-col. ProDOS titles will work on any II+ that has a Videx-compatible 80-col. display card. Such cards can be had for no more than perhaps $20-$30.
If you are interested in acquiring some hardware but can’t find anything locally, let me know and I can check around on GEnie for you.
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IMPORTANT CORRECTION
The review of “Curse of Talon” in the Sep’95 EAG incorrectly described it as Softdisk #159. THIS IS NOT CORRECT. It is on Softdisk #156. Please make this change to your Sep’95 issue!
BIG thanks to Robert Zelenka for pointing this out. He is our Eamonaut of the Month and has won any 10 Eamon sides of his choice. Send me your list, Robert!
EAMON ADVENTURER'S GUILD
Membership/subscription fee for 4 issues:
US-Canada: $7.00; foreign: $12.00; in U.S. funds
This newsletter is published 4 times per year, in March, June, September, and December
We are always looking for new material! If you would like to publish your own letter or article in this newsletter, feel free to send one in. We make quarterly Eamon adventure giveaways to the best contributions.
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.
BACK ISSUES:
NEUC 'Adventurer's Log':
Mar'84, May'84, Aug'84, Oct'84, Jan'85, Mar'85
May'85, Aug'85, Oct'85, Jun'86, Jan'87, Oct'87
EAG back issues: 1988: -Jun, Sep, Dec
1989,'90,'91,'92,'93: Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec
1994,'95,'96,'97: Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec
1998: Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec
Quantities of 1-5: \$1.75 each
Quantities of 6 or more: \$1.25 each (NEW PRICE!)
non-members: $2.00 each
New Adventures
235 Vaalpa’s Plight by Henry Haskell 236 Search for Mack by Clayton Roth
235: The kingdom of Vaalpa is in a bad way. Its emperor has gone insane and is spending money wildly and raiding his neighbors. You have been commissioned to capture or kill him. Reviewed in this issue.
236: The Princess has summoned you. Her cat has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom by an evil king of a rival kingdom. You have been hired to kill the king and recover the cat. Also reviewed in this issue. ___
Public Domain Update
A couple of months ago, I sent out inquiries to all of the old Eamon vendors with an offer to send them a complete set of updated Eamons. To date I have received replies from Caloke and Kula, who took me up on the offer and now have a brand new set of updated EAG Eamons, including the entire set of DOS 3.3 Eamons and the sixty 80-col. ProDOS Eamons.
If any of you have any news about Eamon sources, please let us know!
There is now a complete set of all DOS 3.3 and ProDOS Eamon titles available on GEnie, which continues to grow as a major center of the Apple II world. I’ve also tried uploading them to CompuServe, but the traffic is so low there that they were being automatically deleted after a few months, so I gave up.
I recently mailed an Eamon set to Steve Nelson, Apple II sysop on grind.isca.uiowa.edu. He was excited about getting them and promised to put them online for us.
Joe Kohn’s “Shareware Solutions II” newsletter is doing very well. Joe is gathering many orphan products to his fold and seems well on his way to becoming an important software vendor for us. Don’t be fooled by the name; SSII talks about everything that relates to the Apple II, and has a special emphasis on Internet use and online connectivity which is becoming increasingly important to The Apple II community.
With the recent events, SSII is now the sole surviving national general-interest paper publication for the Apple II, and it is in our interest to see SSII flourish and survive. To assist in that end, here is an updated press release of information:
SHAREWARE SOLUTIONS II: AN EXCITING APPLE II JOURNEY INTO THE FUTURE
Shareware Solutions II is the highly acclaimed bi-monthly newsletter that focuses on the magic that is the Apple II computer. Written, edited and published by Joe Kohn and Dr. Cynthia Field, former Contributing Editors to inCider/A+ Magazine, and Steve Disbrow, former publisher of GS+ magazine, Shareware Solutions II has received rave reviews from the Apple II community.
Since its debut in 1993, Shareware Solutions II has been read and well received by Apple II users in all 50 states and in more than 20 foreign countries. Each 20-page issue is filled with a valuable mix of information and news of the Apple II world, along with hints and tips, how-to articles, reviews of freeware and shareware, and exclusive money saving deals that are available, only to newsletter subscribers, on hardware and commercial software. Freeware and shareware that is reviewed is made available to subscribers at low cost through the mail. If As other outlets dry up, SSII seems on its way to becoming a major Apple II software vendor.
Each issue of Shareware Solutions II contains information about the Apple II in an easy to understand format that has been praised by Apple II novices and “power users” galore.
Written, printed and published entirely on Apple II computers, Shareware Solutions II even comes with a money back guarantee; cancel at any time, and get it a refund for any unmailed issues.
Shareware Solutions II has several different subscription options available (Please note that all issues are mailed by First Class Air Mail):
1) A One Year, 6 Issue Subscription: This subscription starts with the current issue of Shareware Solutions II. The cost is $25 for US or Canadian delivery; $40 for delivery anywhere else in the world.
2) The First 12 Issues (2+ years worth of newsletters): This subscription begins with the Premiere July, 1993 issue and runs through Volume 2, Issue 6 (due to appear in late-1995). Included are all of the back issues published to date. This 12 issue subscription is available for only $35 to subscribers in the US or Canada, and $50 for International subscribers.
3) The First 18 Issues (3+ years worth of newsletters): This subscription includes all the back issues published to date, and will run through Volume 3, Issue 6 (due to appear in late-1996 or early-1997). This subscription is available at the discounted rate of only $55 to subscribers in the US or Canada, and $75 for International subscribers.
Make all checks or money orders out to Joe Kohn. US Funds Only. Sorry, no charge cards, purchase orders or COD orders will be accepted. Send your subscription to:
Joe Kohn Shareware Solutions II 166 Alpine Street San Rafael, CA 94901-1008 USA ___
Dungeon Designs
The “Speed-up Mods”
The old pre-7.0 versions of the Eamon MAIN PGM used programming techniques that made clean and proper code, but caused the program to run very slowly, especially in large Eamons. A set of modifications evolved that came to be known as the “speed-up mods”. Many Eamons have received these mods, as was indicated in the September issue’s Eamon Listing.
If you have GPLE or Program Writer, the speed-up mods are very easy to make, and can be done in just a few minutes. If you don’t have an editor and must make the mods by hand, they are still fairly easy to accomplish if you are familiar with the method of using the IJKL or arrow keys to recopy program listed lines. In most cases, the mods will result in a quite noticeable improvement in execution speed, vastly reducing those annoying delays.
Since the MAIN PGM was constantly evolving over the years, we can’t simply give you a set of the mods to make. There are three cases where the mod cannot be made as illustrated:
1) the mod is already made 2) the code resides at different line numbers 3) the code is so different that the mod cannot or should not be made.
Instead, we must teach you how to recognize the old, slow code and how to change it by showing you both the original code and the modified code. In this way you can see for yourself what was changed and why.
YOU SEE original code: 130 IF ( INT (V%(ROOM) / 2) < > (V%(ROOM /2) THEN... 140 IF ( INT (V%(ROOM) / 2) = (V%(ROOM /2) THEN... 150 FOR M = 1 TO NM: IF MD%(M,5) = ROOM AND MD%(M,15) THEN PRINT MN$(M);" IS HERE.": PRINT 160 IF MD%(M,5) = ROOM AND NOT MD%(M,15) THEN PRINT DK$;"READ EAMON.DESC,R";M + 300: INPUT A$: PRINT DK$: PRINT A$: MD%(M,15) = 1: PRINT 170 NEXT M: FOR A = 1 TO NZ: IF AD%(A,4) = ROOM AND AD%(A,9) THEN PRINT "YOU SEE ";AN$(A) 180 IF AD%(A,4) = ROOM AND NOT AD%(A,9) THEN PRINT DK$;"READ EAMON.DESC,R";A + 100: INPUT A$: PRINT DK$: PRINT A$: AD%(A,9) = 1: PRINT 190 NEXT A: FOR A = A TO NA: IF AD%(A,4) = ROOM THEN PRINT "YOUR ";AN$(A) + " IS HERE." YOU SEE modified code: 130 VZ = ( INT (V%(ROOM) / 2) = (V%(ROOM /2): IF NOT VZ THEN... 140 IF VZ THEN... 150 FOR M = 1 TO NM: IF MD%(M,5) < > RO THEN NEXT: GOTO 170 155 IF MD%(M,15) THEN PRINT MN$(M);" IS HERE.": PRINT 160 IF NOT MD%(M,15) THEN PRINT DK$;"READ EAMON.DESC,R";M + 300: INPUT A$: PRINT DK$: PRINT A$: MD%(M,15) = 1: PRINT 165 NEXT 170 FOR A = 1 TO NZ: IF AD%(A,4) < > RO THEN NEXT: GOTO 190 175 IF AD%(A,9) THEN PRINT "YOU SEE ";AN$(A) 180 IF NOT AD%(A,9) THEN PRINT DK$;"READ EAMON.DESC,R";A + 100: INPUT A$: PRINT DK$: PRINT A$: AD%(A,9) = 1: PRINT 185 NEXT 190 FOR A = A TO NA: IF AD%(A,4) = ROOM THEN PRINT "YOUR ";AN$(A) + " IS HERE."__________________________________</div> PICK FOE original code: 320 FOR M = 1 TO NM: IF MD%(M,5) < > RO OR MD%(M,15) = 2 THEN 490 370 FOR M2 = 1 TO NM: IF MD%(M2,5) = ROOM AND... 400 FOR M2 = 1 TO NM: IF MD%(M2,5) = ROOM AND... 490 NBTL = (FD%(1) < TD%(1)): IF NBTL THEN NEXT M PICK FOE modified code: 320 FOR M = 1 TO NM: IF MD%(M,5) < > RO THEN NEXT: NBTL = (FD%(1) < TD%(1)): IF NOT NBTL THEN M = NM: NEXT: GOTO 500 325 IF MD%(M,15) = 2 THEN 495 370 FOR M2 = 1 TO NM: IF MD%(M2,5) = RO THEN IF... 400 FOR M2 = 1 TO NM: IF MD%(M2,5) = RO THEN IF... 490 NBTL = (FD%(1) < TD%(1)): IF NOT NBTL THEN M = NM 495 NEXT__________________________________</div> MONSTER PICK UP WEAPON original code: 7420 FOR A = 1 TO NA: IF AD%(A,4) < > ROOM OR AD%(A,2) < 2 OR AD%(A,2) > 3 THEN NEXT: RETURN MONSTER PICK UP WEAPON modified code: 7420 FOR A = 1 TO NA: IF AD%(A,4) < > RO THEN NEXT: RETURN 7425 IF AD%(A,2) < 2 OR AD%(A,2) > 3 THEN NEXT: RETURN__________________________________</div> It's also worth adding a line to the "RESTART" code. This code can usually be found at 19000, 29000, or 30000. Add this line (29000 example): 29005 POKE 216,0
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Typically, I will add a few other minor fixes if they are merited. The most common one is that the DROP code may not check to see if the object is actually being carried.
Also, I will often scan for special-programming lines that check for room numbers. Usually, these lines will use AND in this manner:
510 IF ROOM = 10 AND AD%(12,4) = ROOM THEN...
Changing AND to THEN IF can radically reduce the number of comparisons made per turn:
510 IF RO = 10 THEN IF AD%(12,4) = RO THEN...
Note that the above change can ONLY be made in those cases where nothing happens if the first comparison fails. If you are not confident that you can determine this, then you should not attempt this particular mod.
Bugs’n’Fixes
#28 The Tower of London (DOS 3.3 only) Date Fixed: 9/29/95
Problem: Runs VERY slowly. Fix: Delete FRE(0) statement from Line 120
Adventure Reviews
#28 The Tower of London by Fred & Sandy Smith
Reviewed by Tom Zuchowski
MAIN PGM Version: 4.0 Extra Commands: Deleted Commands: None Special Features: None Playing Time: 1 hour Reviewer Rating: 4.0 Average Rating: 5.5/3
Description: “Past and Present often meet in the old historic streets of London. However, people still stare at you strangely. You clank as you walk and the weapons you carry are centuries out of date!
“Because you’ve heard rumours of an impending attempt to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London, you decide to go there…
“To prevent the theft? “Or to steal them for yourself!!”
Comment: This is decidedly what you would call an “educational” Eamon. It is a tour of the Tower of London. And I do mean “tour”. I had the strong feeling that it closely paralleled an actual trip that the Smiths had taken.
It’s well written, with lots of detail. I found it easy to visualize the things they described. So why the poor rating? First, it is loaded with other tourists and ghosts who decide to tag along with you. By the time you’ve explored 50 rooms, you literally have a screenful of companions. This being a very old Eamon with no screen pauses, it was a pain to catch the room descriptions before they scrolled off the top.
Second, it is aimless. There was no plot to steal jewels that I saw anywhere. Nobody cared who I attacked or what I took. The READ and DIG commands don’t do anything at all.
Still, it was a pretty good play, and I must point out that the other people who rated it gave it a (6) or better. I just wasn’t very entertained. I give it (3) for difficulty.
Be sure to check the Bug Fixes in this issue for an important playability enhancer for this game! ____________
#30 The Underground City by Steve Adelson
Reviewed by Tom Zuchowski
MAIN PGM Version: 4.0 Extra Commands: INSER Special Features: None Special Features: None Playing Time: 1 hour Reviewer Rating: 4.0 Average Rating: 3.0/2
Description: “A short, chubby man approaches you. In a heavy French accent, he says, I hear zat you are looking for ze adventure. I have juz ze zing for you. Zer ez a crack in ze earth many miles from here. Zer ez zed to be much treasure zer, but alzo much danger.”
Comment: This was a nicely conceived adventure that fell down somewhat on execution. It consists of aimless wandering about an abandoned underground city in search of an exit.
The setting has a strong SF orientation, with androids and such wandering about. Many of the room descriptions are clever and engaging, but the city has been abandoned and has a large number of empty and uninteresting rooms to wade through as well.
In short, this is a typical “Kill’n’Loot’ example of an early-era Eamon. I found the map interesting to explore, but little else rose above the mundane.
Though the intro warns that it is for powerful players only, the combat was pretty easy going. I give it a (7) for difficulty, for a large maze that must be negotiated to escape. ____________
#31 The Gauntlet by John Nelson
Reviewed by Tom Zuchowski
MAIN PGM Version: 5.0 Extra Commands: READ, PRESS Special Features: None Playing Time: 20 min. Reviewer Rating: 5.0 Average Rating: 5.0/2
Description: “You had heard of a new and strange place that sounded intriguing. There are rumors that some kind of god lived there as well as other very powerful creatures.
“It was said that one had gone in and returned with twice his former strength and agility.
“After searching a week you finally stumble upon a place that matches the descriptions. The air seems charged with magic here.”
Comment: This Eamon is basically a “Monty Haul” outing for character stats. If you are already using a very powerful character, then the specials here might actually diminish your stats, but if you are using a newbie character with low numbers, then this is a way to pump things up quickly.
It is a classic John Nelson Eamon, with umpteen signs to read and other specials that are fun to get involved with. Though the map is small, there are a lot of things to discover here, and your playing time could easily exceed my estimate if you get wrapped up in finding and solving every little thing.
The difficulty is a bit hard to judge, depending on the character you use and how many of the specials you discover, but a (6) is close.
Two hints for this one: what goes around comes around, and the bird can be given directions. ____________
#235 Vaalpa’s Plight by Henry Haskell
Reviewed by Tom Zuchowski
MAIN PGM Version: 7.0 Extra Commands: SEARCH, CAPTURE, SWALLOW, KISS Deleted Commands: SAY Extra Commands: hour Reviewer Rating: 5.0
Description: Pyotr Baranov, the emperor of Vaalpa, has gone insane, borrowing and spending money on a wild spree to pay for his huge palace and military, which he is using to oppress his people and raid the surrounding lands.
The banker Shylock and others are doing much to aid the underground resistance, but things are going badly. Therefore Shylock has hired you to enter the kingdom and capture or assassinate Baranov.
Baranov’s soldiers are expert at recognizing members of the Resistance. You will have to enter the city unarmed and unarmored, and find your way to a cache of locally-made weapons that will be waiting for you.
Comment: This little foray has a few interesting specials, but is otherwise unremarkable, though it is quite competently written. One such special is that you can read the intro text in lower-case or upper-case text, at your option. The adventure itself is all upper-case, and everything is 40-column text.
The map is coherent and logical. The monsters, however, seem over-armored for the weapons you are provided, with most melees taking dozens and dozens of rounds with only slight damage being incurred every third or fourth round. They seem closely matched to your own fighting ability, which is no doubt realistic, but can be rather tedious to play. It soon gets old to see a seemingly endless series of BLOW BOUNCES OFF ARMOR messages during combat.
You start out with no weapons or armor and must make do with what you find in the adventure. But don’t worry about your good stuff that you brought from the Main Hall. You will get your original armor back, and your original weapons will be made available on your way back to the Main Hall.
This is a comparatively easy, relaxing play, but the combat is closely matched and needs careful watching during play, making this a good pick for the Hack’n’Slash crowd. I give it a (6) for difficulty, for the combat.
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#236 Search for Mack by Clayton Roth
Reviewed by Tom Zuchowski
MAIN PGM Version: 7.0 Extra Commands: None Deleted Commands: None Special Features: Non Extra Commands:: 5.0
Description: You receive a message from the Princess: “I need a favor. As you know, the Sicilians have been at war with us for many years. We have now learned that King Charles has implemented monsters in his garrison.
Two days ago, the monsters infiltrated my father’s castle, and kidnapped the royal Cat, McKenzie. They are now holding him for ransom.
Rescue Mack, and your payment will be 5000GP.
Your mission then is:
- Infiltrate Castle Charlast, and get McKenzie.
- Kill King Charles and as many of his monsters as possible.
Comment: Clayton submitted this Eamon over a year ago with a severely damaged EAMON.DESC file. I told him about it, and awaited a fix. He fixed it all up, then inadvertently deleted his only copy. He was too dispirited to start over again, and quit, asking me to fix it up and release it for him.
I had to invent the descriptions for all the monsters and the Effects. I am quite sure that some of Clayton’s intended specials are missing, but I don’t know what he wanted to do and had to leave them out. I suspect that my version is somewhat easier than his would have been, also.
In any event, the resulting Eamon is a relaxing play, with no puzzles and no particularly life- threatening combat. I confess that I enjoyed it rather more than I normally do Eamons of this level. I peg the difficulty at (4). The only downside I saw was that the room descriptions use confusing terminology, but if you make a map while exploring you will have no trouble.
It appears that you do not get any gold at the end as promised. However, you do get a very enthusiastic reward from the Princess that pushes this Eamon into at least a hard PG13 or soft R rating and may not suit female Eamonauts.