Cursor #15: Dungeon (BASIC 4 Fixed)

by: Brian Sawyer

Publication date: 1979

Topics: commodore, pet, basic, dungeon, roguelike

Language: English

Brian Sawyer's Dungeon, published in Cursor #15 in 1979, doesn't run properly on later Commodore PETs. Robin at 8 Bit Show and Tell decided to fix that: A Pre-Rogue-Like: Fixing 1979's DUNGEON for the Commodore PET. This is the fixed version that should run without screen corruption in your browser.

Original description/instructions:

DUNGEON... The evil magician Trent has transported you into the depths of a set of dungeons filled with various bloodthirsty creatures. There is a way to escape: you must find (and take) all the gold hidden there (which is protected by those beasts mentioned before). However, the magician who constructed the dungeons was particularly fiendish: some of the rooms have no way in (except through the walls). Those rooms may have gold in them, too. The entire dungeons are surrounded by a completely impenetrable wall.

On the screen you will see a display of the dungeons. Your position is marked by a dot. Gold is marked by a 'G', and creatures by runes of various sorts. Open space that you've been to is white, and walls are black. (Anyplace you haven't been is black, too, even if it is open.) The doors between rooms are marked by a grey square. (The doors have spells on them preventing creatures from passing through them.) The impenetrable wall is shown as a checkerboard pattern. At the top of the screen is a line showing your ‘hit points', your experience, and how much gold you've found. Hit points are a measure of strength; the higher your hit points, the stronger you are. You go up in experience as you defeat the creatures that lurk about. (You die if one of them defeats you.) Equally, the more experience you have, the stronger a creature you can defeat (assuming you have the necessary hit points). To move, use the number pad in the usual way: 8 means up, 3 means down and right, and so on. To move through a wall (this is magic we're talking about here, remember) hold the SHIFT key down when you press a number key. Naturally, moving through walls takes more of your strength than moving through rooms. Also, it is possible to rest, and recover your strength. Pressing '5' (no movement) allows you to rest for one turn. Be careful when and where you rest: the beasts have no mercy, and will attack you even if you do nothing. To throw yourself on the mercy of the evil magician, press 'Q' (for Quit).

Downloaded from: 8bitshowandtell.com/prg/dungeon40.prg