Ratings and Reviews by jgerrie

With the help of Alex Dijktra from the solution archive, I was finally able to complete this classic piece of 8-bit Basic code. This original story is one of the finer examples of Basic adventuring from the early 80s. The story is very compelling. Instead of just defeating aliens, you actually have to figure out how to befriend them, and overcome a war to boot. It's no easy task. There are plenty of puzzles and mysteries in this game but all of them make sense (in the end) and none of them involve completely arbitrary actions like pushing random objects in random rooms to reveal hidden passages, etc. However, there are some red herrings to keep you on your toes. There are also a few possibilities of death, but they make complete sense and can be avoided with some reasonable actions. The descriptions and vocabulary are on the slightly richer side for your typical early 80s game and when put together they manage to provide a very powerful narrative experience that is somehow much greater than the sum of its 16k's worth of limited parts. Kit Domenico is surely one of the greats of the early 8-bit Basic game phenomenon. I especially like the way he cleverly uses some of the standard tropes of Science Fiction to lay the traps of some of his more devilish red herrings. About my only complaint was a lack of a game save feature (not unusual for games of this type). I played the game on the TRS-80 MC-10 from code ported from the TRS-80 Coco. Perhaps the original TRS-80 Model 1 version had such a feature, but I am unable to confirm this. This game is well worth examining by anyone who is interested in early 8-bit Basic interactive fiction.

This simple two-word parser is a typical 8-bit Basic adventure. However, it is not one of the better games of this type and shares all the traits of the worst of its kind. The puzzles are very difficult and verge on the arbitrary. The deaths are largely arbitrary. The 7 item limit means you waste a lot of time shunting objects about to different locations. There are no other living characters except Fifi (who can hardly be described as living). And of course the entire premise is sexist and can only have appealed to the teenage boy who, like so many 8-bit Basic adventures, was probably its creator. The premise could have, perhaps, been redeemed by some subtle satire on the sterotypes it draws on--something Leisure Suit Larry managed to carry off. I had hoped that it might be an example of such for the 8-bit Basic adventure genre. Unfortunately, it basically plays its central premise straight up (lit), right to the bitter end. The best you can say about Madame Fifi's is, at least it's not a haunted house.

I found the source code for this on an Atari site that has archived a whole bunch of published materials for early 8-bit computers. There seems to be something about the Atari crowd that inclines them to programming activities. Their collective efforts to support this inclination are also helpful for the rest of us 8-biters. One interesting book they have maintained in digital form is Tim Hartnell's classic Creating Adventure Games on Your Computer. In the course of porting "Chateau Gaillard" to the TRS-80 MC-10 I found a few errors in the original listing. For example, the way the code originally worked the weapon you chose seemed to have no effect on combat. There were elaborate routines for reporting and selecting which weapon you would use, but when it came right down to it, the value entered was not used in the combat routine. There were also some other bugs, such as the interaction with the Dwarf (Spoiler - click to show)(misreported the objects he was willing to accept during negotiations) and the fact that you could simply "go up" back to the surface from the initial room you fall into, contrary to the message that "there is now no way back." On the whole, the combat routine just seemed overly punishing and I found the game difficult to complete, so I adjusted it. Also, when you moved an excessive number of points were randomly subtracted from your statistics. I changed it so that only your strength is randomly diminished as you explore, and at a much lower rate. Now you at least have a chance of finding the healing potion and replenishing your strength. I also added a routine to allow you to re-roll your character stats at the beginning of the game until you get a reasonably fair dispersal. As with most Basic two-word parsers there are some quirks. There is no shorthand N, S, E, or W for moving. The closest you can get is GO N, GO S, etc. Otherwise, three letters is all you need for either word to register. However, I added a single word "INVENTORY" command, because I didn’t like seeing an inventory automatically with every new screen. There are lots of arbitrary deaths in this game from traps, so you’ll just have to play it multiple times and map it enough to learn where not to go. That being said, some meager clues are given to help you avoid some of these deaths. (Spoiler - click to show)The basic object of the game is to find the two keys, which are needed to allow you to escape two rooms that otherwise lock you in. Once you get the right keys for the right rooms, you can use them to unlock all the doors in those rooms, which will allow you to find a stairwell back to the surface. On the whole, it is a fun little 8-bit Basic dungeon romp. The combat routine is quite unique in the way it allows you to choose which vital statistics you will draw on in your combat against the different creatures (which have some very creative names) and their distinctive vital stats. (Spoiler - click to show)In brief you should try to select your highest stats while selecting the lowest equivalent stats of your opponent. Various clues about how to overcome dangers are also sprinkled throughout the maze, which is a nice touch.

I was killed by an alien wielding a #4 refreshment! This fact alone should reveal some of the completely alluring whimsy of this classic from the 8-bit age of Basic computer adventures. Apparently the game started out as an overhead view maze quest on a ZX-81/Timex 1000, but the Klein brothers kept working at it until it had morphed into a 3D perspective dungeon crawl on the PC, with a unique science fiction twist. The Lumpies are at the same time cute and somewhat terrifying, as are their choices of weapons. These range from the already mentioned #4 refreshment to 5/16th wrenches, to the more traditional, but not necessarily more deadly bombs. The game requires some skill at navigating and mapping a maze of passages and selecting when and when not to engage in combat with the Lumpies (with their incredible ability to turn anything to hand into a weapon). In the end you must free as many prisoners as possible and discover where the communications room lies, and then figure out what you need to do to get a distress call out to the people back on Earth. Along the way you must also find weapons and enough food to replenish yourself for more run'ins with the Lumpies. The mazes can become a little monotonous, but they demonstrate some clever use of the limited graphics capabilities provided by Basic on early 8-bit machines. You'll feel a satisfactory sense of accomplishment when that distress call finally brings rescue from Earth.

It's been a while since I played this game, but my recollections are that it was one of the more interesting 8-bit two-word-parser-under-16K adventures. Several versions of this program seem to exist. I think there is an original TRS-80 version, a port to the TRS-80 Color Computer and the MC-10 port that I did from the Coco source and possibly some others I think I recollect being mentioned in other retro-computer forums.

The scenario is ostensibly medieval, but the feel is more of a dream state (and a weird Freudian dream state at that, or perhaps an Alice in Wonderland Carolesque variety). The presence of a handy cigarette lighter, gives away the unreality of the Medieval landscape. Surreal elements pepper the landscape, although I have to admit I am still unsure whether they are meant to be there or whether some of them are simply programming errors of the type which are so common in early 8-bit basic adventures. (Spoiler - click to show)For instance, when you dig a hole it always takes you to the same generic room, meaning that if you drop items there you can, wherever digging is possible, dig them up again other places.

Despite its quirks, or perhaps because of them, this simple early Basic text adventure seems to have endeared itself to many.

I think the single feature of note in this game is its use of some fairly interesting graphics images presented in the ultra low res grayscale block graphics of the ZX-81. However, we're not just talking simplistic cartoon images or figures. The images are quite elaborate (and perhaps even a bit terrifying for, say, a 6 or 7 year-old). I wouldn't go so far as to call them "art" but in terms of the limits of the ZX-81's graphics capabilities, they're really quite impressive achievements. Besides these occasional images the game is a fairly standard primitive parser dungeon crawl. You are playing against the clock (the rising of you-know-who), which adds an element of tension. Death can come quite suddenly and the combat is fairly arbitrary. The interesting block graphics are probably the reason it was ported to other beginner low-ram machines like the VZ200 and the MC-10 (which also had the ability to input such block graphics directly via the keyboard). If you wish to experience some of what the earliest forms of "graphic" adventuring were like, this one would be a worthwhile example to explore.

In the first installment of Loriciels' Citadelle series (which I ported from source code ported to the Sanyo PHC-25 from an Amstrad CPC port, which was taken from an Oric Atmos original, or so I believe) you will come up against a range of monsters, such as Bugbears and Orcs. The games is interesting in the way it combines the format of two-word parser with RPG combat. Not only must you figure out the puzzles--you must manage your dwindling strength in the face of the denizens of the (limited but coherent) world you are exploring. As mentioned, this is only the first part of a three part series. The next part is called "The Swordfish of Kranz" (if my French skills haven't failed me). I suspect the three part format is actually a legacy of the RAM limitations of the original platform that the game was developed on. I suspect that breaking the game into three parts allowed for a more comprehensive story to be "fit" into a machine with less than 16K. It's a creative solution.

Despite these limitations the author has managed to fit in quite a number of puzzles. Some of them are a bit tricky, but if you pay extremely close attention to every detail of the descriptions none of the solutions is completely beyond some possibility of recognition. All the rooms should be EXAMINED and SEARCHED and occasionally LOOKED at in detail.

The combat system allows for a number strategies in facing and, hopefully, defeating your opponents. (Spoiler - click to show)In the version I ported the monster's have a a random number of hit points, armour class and strength assigned at the beginning of each combat, so retreating might not be a good idea. Retreating takes you back to the previous room you were in. When you re-enter the room all the conditions for the monster will be reset. This might be a good thing if the monster is really strong and you’re getting pasted. Going and coming back in might make for a weaker monster. However, it might be worse! Choosing Defence rather than attack reduces your chances of being hit, but also reduces your chances of hitting the monster. Spells are powerful but fickle. The monsters are deployed in a fixed locations. (Spoiler - click to show)However, if they don’t "disappear" at the end of combat random monsters will be spawned at random in one of the rooms. If you have the sword and the armour, the monsters are pretty easy to defeat.

In terms of criticisms my only major one is that the "treasure hunt" component of the game seems a little underdeveloped. Also, there is little provided in the way of background to give the situation or characters (Oran?) much depth. I suspect, again, that this is likely a result of RAM limitations and was probably offset in the original by a helpful manual with background story. This game has a reputation as being a favourite of early French 8-bit basic adventurers. I can understand why.