Source:Eamon Adventurer's Guild Newsletter, March 1990

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Description	The Eamon Adventurer's Guild Newsletter, March 1990 issue.
Source	Eamon Adventurer's Guild Newsletter Archive
Date	March 1990
Author	Eamon Adventurer's Guild; Tom Zuchowski (editor)
License	Permission has kindly been granted by the copyright holder for this copyrighted item to appear in the not-for-profit Eamon Wiki website. Permission granted by Matthew Clark in email with Huw Williams on 22 November 2012.
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The Eamon Adventurer's Guild
March 1990

News & Comment

by Tom Zuchowski

GEnie/ProDOS update: Things are progressing on GEnie. One of the librarians who is a hard-core //gs power-user has convinced me that running Dos 3.3 on many //gs's is a lot of trouble and we will find more exposure if we make some Eamons available in ProDOS. I have done a few of these conversions; they were sometimes very difficult because of the limitations of ProDOS but in other ways the adventures were somewhat improved. I have concluded that ProDOS is a system for idiots if all you have is 5.25 drives, but I can see that it would be Good Stuff if you have larger drives. I only have a II+ and 5.25 drives and ProDOS is a difficult to use, crippled system compared to my normal setup of Diversi-Dos.DM and GPLE.LC. I have been told that there are utilities that will ease this considerably, but they all require aux-card memory, so they won't work on my Saturn-protocol 176K II+.

The flip side of this is that certain configurations of the //gs are as difficult to use in Dos 3.3 as my II is in ProDOS. I don't intend to do a lot of conversions personally, but intend to concentrate on "the best of Eamon". However, one of our members is doing quite a few for Public-Domain houses who want them. I do intend to keep track of what's out there and if the response merits it will start up a regular ProDOS library to supplement the Dos 3.3 one. At present there are no plans to abandon the official Dos 3.3 library and all future Eamons will be available in Dos 3.3, even if I have to convert them from ProDOS.

The GEnie librarian has tentatively decided to stick with ProDOS Eamons, so all future Eamon uploads will be ProDOS, making GEnie a good source for them, if you are interested. The typical Eamon download takes about 10 minutes at 1200 baud, which translates to a cost of $1.00 if you are on a local node.

Financial report: The EAG finances for the year 1989 were as follows: we began the year with a starting balance of $120.94. We took in $935.50 in memberships, updates, back issues, and gifts. We spent $823.94 on supplies, copier charges, and postage. We ended 1989 with a balance of $232.50 for a net income of $111.56 for the year. It would appear that we are running with a positive cash flow. If enough money accumulates I would like to blow it on a magazine ad, but I am open to other suggestions if anyone has a good idea. I thought that we might be able to use it for contest rewards, but participation in contests is generally so low as to make this practice questionable.

Contest Results

Well, it turned out that the extension was only marginally worthwhile; only one of four expected entries has come in. Too bad, because I fully expected one or two of the missing to place very well because of who the authors were. Alas. Meanwhile, Robert Parker has managed to complete yet another entry!

The final entries were #184, 185, 187, 188, & 194. And the winners are:

First place: #194 Attack of the Kretons by Nathan Segerlind. Nathan was the one with the computer problems, and it appears that the extra time that he had to review and revise his entry was time well spent. This is a very funny adventure that shows the best work that Nathan has ever done. The story flows very well and the puzzles and effects are very well done. Nathan will receive the $50.00 first prize and a 1-year extension to his membership.

Second place: #185 Quest for Orion by Pat Gise. It was a close call between 2nd and 3rd but well written descriptions and overall game quality from a first-time author gave Pat the edge. Pat will receive an Eamon binder that is perfect for storing the newsletters in, and a 1-year extension to her membership.

Third place: #188 Encounter: The Bookworm by Robert Parker. This has the most complex plot that Rob has done to date and was a pleasant play. Rob will receive any 3 Eamon adventures of his choice and a 1-year extension to his membership.

Andrew Geha, not currently a club member, will receive this issue of the newsletter for his entry.

Eamon Adventurer's Guild

Thomas Zuchowski, Editor

Membership/subscription fee for 4 issues:
US-Canada: $7.00; foreign: $12.00; in U.S. funds

The Eamon Adventurer's Guild is published 4 times per year in Mar., Jun., Sep., and Dec.

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. If you would like to add your own Eamon adventure to the 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.

Expiration Date

The usual reminder: be sure to check the expiration date next to your name on the address. If it is "MAR 90" and highlighted in yellow, this is your last issue. All of you who were charter members of the EAG, take note!

Back Issues

Apple-based back issues of the formerly Apple-based NEUC's Adventurer's Log are available from us:
   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: Jun'88, Sep'88, Dec'88, Mar'89, Jun'89, Sep'89, Dec'89

All issues are $2.00 each.

Adventure Updates

You may obtain updated versions of your Eamon adventures from the EAG. Send in a copy of the adventure to be updated and $1.00 per copy to cover our cost, and an updated copy will be returned to you. You must include a copy of each adventure for which you wish an update.

We want to improve Eamon all we can; this includes getting authors to use the latest and best version. Therefore, the version 7.0 Dungeon Designer Diskette and the 7.0 Multi-Disk Supplement may be obtained from us for $1.00 each (US & Canada; foreign $2.00 each).

New Adventures

188	Encounter: The Bookworm	by Robert Parker
189	The Ruins of Belfast	by David Sparks
190	Shift Change at Grimmwax	by David & Andrea Sparks
191	Enhanced Beginners Cave	by Don Brown; enhanced by John Nelson
192	Mean Streets	by Tom Tetirick
193	The Creature of Rhyl	by Robert Parker
194	Attack of the Kretons	by Nathan Segerlind
195	The Training Ground	by Charles Hewgley

In Encounter: The Bookworm you must seek out and deal with the insidious Bookworm, which is destroying all of the books in Eamon. It marks a new direction in Bob's Eamons in which puzzle solving becomes a more important part of the play.

You wander among The Ruins of Belfast as the underground war with the British is still going strong. This is a small adventure that lacks a strong sense of purpose.

In Shift Change at Grimmwax, you enter the old waxworks to see what you can see. Reviewed in this issue.

The Enhanced Beginner's Cave is the upgraded Beginners Cave from the Expanded Eamon Master, now given its own number to distinguish it from the original. Reviewed in this issue.

The Mean Streets are mean, indeed. You must enter an inner city area to find the Mayor's daughter and rescue her from an evil pimp. The impact is reduced by the sameness of a grid-like map of orderly city blocks. Has some interesting effects.

The Creature of Rhyl is an adaptation of a small adventure from Dragon magazine. Though the map did not translate especially well, it is still an interesting foray.

Attack of the Kretons is a genuine quality offering from Nate and may well be his high water mark for some time to come. Reviewed in this issue.

The purpose of The Training Ground is to provide a place where a player can get his attributes pumped up "honestly" in a hurry. Lots of ways to get your character enhanced and several hefty weapons are available. A "Monty Haul" for character stats.

Letters

Dear Tom,
I would like to offer another solution to the problem of possibly no slot 6 drive on IIgs. Rather than eliminate the slot and drive references, make them input variables. I was intending to do this anyhow on my copies of the various programs, so I could use more then one drive, but had not gotten around to it. However, since you have done all the time consuming part in this month's newsletter, by indicating which lines have slot and drive references in them, I went ahead and made the changes today. I don't have a IIgs. However it works fine on my current setup of a IIe (enhanced) with a 5 Mhz Rocket Chip accelerator and drives in slots 6 and 7, so I think it will work fine on a IIgs too. If you would like to use them, here they are:

In Version 7.0 MAIN PGM:
In lines 32540, 32550, and 32900, replace ,S6,D1 with ,SL$,DR$

Add these lines:

32535 SL$ = "6": DR$ = "1"
32536 HOME: PRINT: PRINT "EAMON MASTER:  SLOT = ";
      SL$;", DRIVE = ";DR$: PRINT: PRINT "PRESS 'S' TO
      CHANGE SLOT": PRINT "PRESS 'D' TO CHANGE DRIVE":
      PRINT: PRINT "PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE": GET A$:
      PRINT A$
32537 IF A$ = "S" THEN INPUT "CHANGE SLOT TO ==> ";SL$:
      GOTO 32536
32538 IF A$ = "D" THEN INPUT "CHANGE DRIVE TO ==> "DR$:
      GOTO 32536

In DUNGEON EDIT and DUNGEON EDIT 7.0:
Add/change these lines to the ORIGINAL version of these programs (before the changes listed in the Dec.'89 issue):

  30 DK$ = CHR$(4): HOME: VTAB5: PRINT "     EDITING AN
     ADVENTURE FOR EAMON": PRINT: PRINT "     INSERT
     DISKETTE WITH ADVENTURE": PRINT: GOSUB 8000: PRINT
     "        ANY OTHER KEY TO CONTINUE...";: POKE
     - 16368,0: GET A$: PRINT
8000 PRINT "     PRESS:": PRINT: PRINT "        'S' TO
     CHANGE SLOT (NOW ";SL$;")": PRINT "        'D' TO
     CHANGE DRIVE (NOW ";DR$;")": RETURN

—Steve Bernbaum

Steve: As you are aware, the "slot", "drive" option has always been available as an undocumented feature of DUNGEON EDIT. Readers, Steve's changes to this program merely add a screen prompt. The changes to MAIN PGM are all new. Note that all of this code is intended to be added to the old programs that do not have the "S6,D1" deleted as was outlined in the Dec.'89 EAG issue. I don't see a need to add these lines to the program, but am printing them here for the benefit of anyone who might want to use them.
—Tom

Dungeon Designs

Designing your descriptions for 40/80 adventuring.
by Tom Zuchowski

It is not clearly described anywhere in the manual how to properly design for and use the 40/80 column option of version 7.0. This article will attempt to demonstrate just how this is done.

The Introduction program: when the intro asks whether 40 or 80 columns is to be used, it POKEs either a 40 or an 80 into an unused memory location, so that this information can easily be passed to the MAIN PGM.

The Main Pgm: the MAIN PGM PEEKs this number from memory and sets the variable CP to this value. CP is used by the line-counting routine to decide if a description will take (for example) 6 40-column lines or 3 80-column lines.

That's it! With the addition of code to turn off 80-columns at the end of the adventure, that is the entire programming for the 40/80 column option.

But it's not quite that simple from the author's point of view! Each and every room, artifact, and monster description and all the effects must be carefully designed to look good in both 40-column and 80-column modes. This isn't difficult to do, but can be tedious, depending on just how good you want your descriptions to look.

Definitions: the following explanation refers to "odd-numbered" lines and "even-numbered" lines. Referring to Figure 1a, the "odd-numbered" lines begin with THIS, HIGHLIGHTS, and BREEZE, and the "even-numbered" lines begin with POLISHED, LAMP, and ABOVE.

The standard method of writing 40-column Eamon descriptions is to pad the end of each 40-col. line with spaces so that the text will have good line breaks and be left justified. Figure 1a gives an example of this. However, when this same description is displayed in 80-col. mode, a huge gap appears in the center of the text, as shown in Figure 1b. This looks awful and is very distracting, resulting in less player satisfaction and lower ratings for your adventure.

The answer is to spread the extra spaces out along the entire line so that there is never more than a single space at the end of the line. Figures 2a and 2b give an example of this technique. Here are some guidelines that will help you design good-looking text:

1. The extra spaces are less noticeable following punctuation and next to large words. First put spaces after punctuation before sticking them elsewhere. You can get away with 3 spaces after a comma or a period and still look good.
2. The odd-numbered lines must never have more than one space at the end of the line. These lines will be the left half of each 80-col. line.
3. If an odd-numbered line works out to exactly 40 characters so that there is no room for a space at the end, then the following even-numbered line must begin with a space. When these two lines are combined for 80-col., there must be a space between them or else the two words in the center will be run together.
4. The first line can have paragraph-like indentation at the beginning, as has been done in Figures 2a & 2b. If this indentation runs more than 3 spaces then possibly some of the spaces should be spread through the rest of the line.
5. You can treat the even-numbered lines as if they were 40-column only. These lines make up the right half of each 80-col. line and extra spaces at the end don't matter. However, you may want to spread some of the extra spaces into the text to keep it from looking "heavy" on the right side of the 80-col. line if there is a lot of padding in the left half of the line. Try to balance the line so that the odd-numbered half and even-numbered half are equally dense looking.
6. Try not to put many spaces near short words. The text can get real sparse looking which is unattractive.

OK, now we have filled the huge gap presented in Figure 1b, but Figure 2b still presents a "gap-tooth" look because all of the spaces are in a straight row, giving a "two-column" look that is not aesthetic to look at. And when several descriptions are run together, as in a large special effect or the appearance of several new monsters, the two-column look becomes quite pronounced and is distracting to read.

The way to fix it is by designing the text so that at least one but no more than two of these middle-of-the line spaces come at the beginning of an even-numbered line instead of at the end of an odd-numbered line. Figures 3a & 3b demonstrate this technique. Yes, the left margin is ragged using this method, but it's not that noticeable and is a lot less noticeable than a line of spaces down the center of your 80-column screen.

That's all there is to it. It takes a little practice and you may have to re-edit a few times before you get it looking good. A paperback Thesaurus is absolutely essential for finding alternative words when you just can't get that darn description to fit the lines right. Also, a Thesaurus is very valuable in helping you avoid overusing a given word when describing (for example) several successive rooms that are very similar.

80-columns on the Apple II and II+: The Apple II+ uses a variety of aftermarket 80-column boards, since Apple did not offer an 80-column option for this machine. The Videx board was by far the most successful, and most all other II+ 80-column boards conform to the Videx "standard". For the most part it will work fine when you use VTAB, HTAB, POKE 1403, and PEEK 37. However, it does not properly support the HOME command. For HOME to work on a Videx board, it must be followed by a CHR$(12), the Form-Feed character. The technique that I recommend is to set the variable FF$ = CHR$(12); and when clearing the screen use the double command HOME:PRINT FF$ (This will be invisible on a //e or in 40-col. mode). Try to avoid fancy CALLs that clear to end-of-line or do other things, because they won't affect the Videx screen at all. If you need to do such a thing it can be done by printing a line of spaces.

INVERSE and FLASH also do nothing on a Videx.

80-column input on the II and II+: Since the II has no shift key, the 80-column board must be able to keep track of the case being used and convert the II's upper-case input into lower-case when required. This is done by sending keyboard input to the 80-column board before it goes to the Apple so that the character can be converted if need be. Also, the Videx uses CTRL-A for shift-key and caps-lock and must be able to intercept this keystroke. All this means is that you must use GET and INPUT and can't PEEK the keyboard data directly.

Adventure Reviews

#146 The House of Horrors

by Dan Cross

Reviewed by Tom Zuchowski

MAIN PGM version: 6.0
Extra Commands: DIG, USE
Deleted Commands: none
Special Features: multiple-monsters
Playing Time: 1 hour
Reviewer Rating: 6.0

Description: "Long ago, a committee of concerned citizens and officers of the now defunct National Eamon User's Club closed the book, temporarily? on perhaps one of the darkest pages, (the infamous House of Ill Repute) of Eamon History.

But lately things haven't been right in the wonderful world of Eamon. The most timid of animals attack humans on sight. The fields are ravaged one-by-one at night. Distribution once again of said repute has been allowed to infest our decent community. The K.E.C. (Keep Eamon Clean) committee endeavored to restore order but recently was robbed of its campaign contributions.

Your mission: Resist temptation. Avoid staying overnight. Recover the campaign funds and help the K.E.C. correct the problems..."

Comment: The above is the text of the introduction. Basically, your mission is to re-enter the House of Ill Repute (that was cleaned out in adventure #32), find the stolen funds, and return them. The house is no longer the den of immorality that it once was; your opponents will be primarily wild animals of various sorts that have moved into the now-vacant building.

There are a couple of very unforgiving puzzles that will do you in, and here are hints for them: 1) the Killer Bees will kill you very quickly unless you resort to a command that sometimes aids you in times of greatest need; 2) don't head north from the room where you left your horse without finding it first.

The puzzles were pretty good and Dan has made good use of embedded artifacts. I found this new revision to be somewhat more pleasant to play than the old one because of the text improvements, too. I give it a (7) for difficulty.

#190 Shift Change at Grimmwax

by David & Andrea Sparks

Reviewed by Tom Zuchowski

MAIN PGM Version: 4
Extra Commands: OPEN, PUSH, THROW
Deleted Commands: none, no Save
Special Features: no killing
Playing Time: 1-2 hours
Reviewer Rating: 7.0

Description: "As you leave the Main Hall, a dark gentleman sidles up to you. 'Arrgh,' he says. 'There's them hereabouts that would pay plenty to know what goes on at the back building of the Grimmwax Waxworks! I wonder, are you man enough to go find out? Of course, getting past the guards will be your first problem. And your last! Har! Har! Har!' His cold, sardonic laughter lingers in your mind as you close the door on the Main Hall and step out into the mid-afternoon sun."

Comment: The above is the text of the introduction. It doesn't exactly give you a quest but does charge you to find out what is going on at the waxworks. This adventure has quite a few puzzles of medium difficulty which must be solved to progress.

An interesting variation on combat is that no one is ever killed, but is knocked unconscious instead. For your purposes this amounts to the same thing because they do not revive during the adventure. However, the player does revive if knocked out, and once he finds where his stuff was stashed, can continue.

There definitely are Things Going On at Grimmwax to be discovered. The emphasis is on puzzles, not on combat. Recommended for puzzle fanciers.

#191 Enhanced Beginners Cave

by Don Brown; enhanced by John Nelson

Reviewed by Tom Zuchowski

MAIN PGM Version: 6.0
Extra Commands: none
Deleted Commands: none
Special Features: for beginner-level characters only
Playing Time: 30 minutes
Reviewer Rating: 5.0

Description: This is an expanded version of the original Beginners Cave adventure on the master disk. This is the adventure that is offered on the Expanded Master by John Nelson & John Heng. Besides the contents of the original Beginners Cave, it has 11 more rooms, 11 more artifacts, and 10 more monsters. It uses the version 6.0 MAIN PGM which accepts some abbreviations and has a larger command set than the version 4 original.

Comment: I thought long and hard before assigning this adventure its own number, but one-third of the database is new and it has a completely new MAIN PGM, and in the end it seemed that it would be easier to track bugs and revisions if it was listed separately.

If you have seen the original, you haven't missed much if you haven't seen this one. It is after all an adventure for beginners and is very simple. The rating reflects this; if it was judged as a normal adventure it would not rate quite as well. I give it a (3) for difficulty.

#194 Attack of the Kretons

by Nathan Segerlind

Reviewed by Tom Zuchowski

MAIN PGM Version: 7.0
Extra Commands: TALK
Deleted Commands: PUT, LIGHT, POWER, SPEED, BLAST, REMOVE, WEAR
Special Features: none
Playing Time: 1.5-2.5 hours
Reviewer Rating: 9.0

Description: "This adventure is loosely based on the Groo comic books by Sergio Aragones. I can't tell you much other then that they're the funniest comic books on the market and they are a good influence on young children, with lots of slaying and pillaging. Remember, the game is >loosely< based on them, so you can't buy them all in hope of some hints!

The most confusing part of the game is in the beginning, as you have no actual quest at this point. Well, you are in a nigh-helpless city under attack by barbarians. This should pose as a problem for any normal person. Just find out what you can do to help. That's the whole point of the game. It's important to keep your companions alive, also. Some play crucial roles in the game, then again, some don't.

  The Saga Begins...

You've been searching for the villain who's been spreading carnage and death across the land like a plague for almost five months now. In an almost random fashion, towns and villages have been looted, burned, and some leveled to the ground. Nobody has seen any armies, and mages claim that no magic is at work in the land.

You finally wound up in the hick town of Oigres. You searched the town, but all you could find besides basic fare was the unusual dependency the populace had on cheesedip. In fact, the town was cheesedip mad. A bowl of cheesedip accompanied every meal and a watered version was drank.

You were on your way out of this bowl of stagnation when a horrified cry broke the monotony! 'Barbarians! A horde of them! Storming the city walls!', cried a sentry. The ill-equipped guards barely closed the gates in time. Peasants scrambled in and many fell outside the gates. You lent your hand with a bow and shot several of the invaders. They were fat, short, and obnoxious. The dreaded Kretons of Kraut! The most bloodthirsty killers on the planet! After a short fight, the Kretons fell back and surrounded the city, closing off the only road out of this dump."

Comment: The above contains selected portions of the introduction text. It does a pretty good job of summing up this adventure.

Combat has a minimal role here. There are many puzzles of medium difficulty that are well done. The plot develops nicely in a series of mini-quests as you work from one to the next, not really knowing where it is all going, but not really caring either. This is a very funny adventure and it is unquestionably the best Eamon that Nathan has ever done. I give it a (7) for difficulty.

One hint: don't proceed to the final confrontation unless you have both wands.

Bugs 'n' Fixes

Nearly all Eamon adventures use the Dos 3.3 command options "S6,D1" in several places in the MAIN PGM's "DONE" code. This causes problems for //gs owners who normally have their 5.25 disk drive in slot 5; for compatibility's sake "S6,D1" should be removed from all lines in the programs, since it is unnecessary anyway. Besides the "S6,D1" fixes listed here, you can fix most adventures yourself easily enough. Unmodified version 5 and 6 Eamons will have the "S6,D1" in MAIN PGM lines 2540, 2550, & 2900. If you find them at these lines then you will probably have cleaned them out. Some modified Eamons will have the "DONE" code moved to higher numbers that will pretty much correspond to the old numbers; for example #124 had them at lines 32540, 32550, & 32900. Other Eamons and old version 4's will have the offending lines at a variety of line numbers, but only in the "DONE" code, which should be the only routine that you have to check if the MAIN PGM contains all of the code. If the MAIN PGM passes to other programs with names like QUIT or POSTLUDE you will have to check them too. If you have a global line editor, it is easy to do the purge by searching out all instances of "S6".

Here are some more "S6,D1" purges:

Graphics Main Hall (11/8/89)
  SETUP Lines 160, 180
  NEW CHARACTERS Line 40
  MAIN.0 Lines 10, 680
  MAIN.1 Lines 20, 760
  MAIN.2 Line 20
  VILLAGE.0 Line 20
  VILLAGE.1 Line 10
  VILLAGE.2 Line 10
  PRACITCE.0 Line 10
  PRACTICE.1 Line 10

#1 – Master Disk & Beginners Cave (11/8/89)
  WONDERFUL WORLD OF EAMON Lines 320, 340
  NEW CHARACTERS Line 40
  MAIN HALL Lines 30, 6010

#77 – Temple of the Trolls (1/1/90)
  MAIN PGM Lines 2540, 2550, 2900

#78 – The Prince's Tavern (12/24/89)
  MAIN PGM Lines 2540, 2550, 2900

#114 – Thror's Ring (11/8/89)
  MAIN PGM Line 31560
  POSTLUDE Lines 1050, 1080

#124 – Assault on Dolni Keep (11/8/89)
  MAIN PGM Line 31560
  POSTLUDE Lines 1050, 1080

#129 – Return to Moria (1/6/90)
  MAIN PGM Lines 2540, 2550, 2900
  QUIT Line 100

#147 – The Dark Brotherhood (11/28/89)
  MAIN PGM Lines 2540, 2550, 2900

#150 – Walled City of Darkness (12/6/89)
  MAIN PGM Line 2540
  POSTLUDE Lines 1050, 1080

#169 – The Black Phoenix (12/21/89)
  MAIN PGM Lines 2540, 2550

Dungeon Designer Disk 7.0

Program: LC/UC CONV
Date Fixed: 12/24/89

Problem: doesn't convert first character of string.

Fix: This was fixed on 10/19/88 and the EAG Utilities disk was corrected, but somehow the DDD got missed. There are two ways to fix this (you can do one or the other; don't do both):

Method #1: Use FID or other file transfer utility to transfer LC/UC CONV from the Utility disk to the DDD.

Method #2: Enter the Monitor by typing CALL -151, then type this line:

300:20 E3 DF A0 00 B1 83 85 E0 C8 B1 83 85 E1 C8 B1
    83 85 E2 A0 00 B1 E1 C9 61 90 04 29 DF 91 E1 C8
    C4 E0 D0 F1 60

Type CTRL-C to exit the Monitor, and type: BSAVE LC/UC CONV, A768,L37

To check your own copy, perform these steps:

1. Type BLOAD LC/UC CONV
2. Type CALL -151
3. Type 300.324 (a list will print to screen)
4. Compare the list to that printed above
5. Exit the Monitor by typing CTRL-C

EAG Utility Disk

Program: CHAR FILE MAINT
Date Fixed: 2/11/90

Problem: crashes if all characters are deleted except character #1 and the file is condensed; or if CHARACTERS file is empty or nonexistent.

Fix: add/change these lines:

   20 REM REV.2/11/90
  205 ONERR GOTO 215
  210 PRINT D$"OPEN CHARACTERS,L150": PRINT D$"READ
      CHARACTERS,R0": INPUT NC: PRINT D$: POKE 216,0:
      GOTO 220
  215 POKE 216,0: PRINT CHR$(7): INVERSE: PRINT
      "UNABLE TO LOAD CHARACTERS FILE": NORMAL:
      PRINT: GOTO 440
  235 IF NC = 0 THEN 420
 9040 IF ADD THEN PRINT D$"OPEN CHARACTERS,L150":
      PRINT D$"WRITE CHARACTERS,R0": PRINT NC:
      PRINT D$
 9165 PRINT D$"CLOSE"
10050 GOTO 410

#1 – Master Disk

Program: EAMON CHARACTER FILE MAINT
Date Fixed: 2/11/90

Problem: crashes if all characters are deleted except character #1 and the file is condensed

Fix: See fix for EAG Utility Disk above.

#114 – Thror's Ring

Date Fixed: 12/12/89

Problem: Some problems with names & descriptions.

Fix: Name of Artifact #87 should be DEAD GUARD CAPTAIN
Room #67 2nd EAST in room desc. should be WEST
Redone Room Names that were trashed or missing:
  #51 IN A NARROW E/W PASSAGE NSEW   #67 AT A 4-WAY INTERSECTION NSEW   #68 IN A N/S TUNNEL (NSW)   #70 AT A 4-WAY INTERSECTION NSEW   #71 IN AN E/W TUNNEL (SEW)   #73 AT A 4-WAY INTERSECTION NSEW   #74 IN A N/S TUNNEL   #76 AT A 4-WAY INTERSECTION NSEW   #77 IN AN E/W TUNNEL

#129 – Return to Moria

Program: INTRODUCTION (LC)
Date Fixed: 1/6/90

Problem: Halts prematurely

Fix: Delete Lines 2610, 2620

#146 – House of Horrors

Date Fixed: 2/1/90

Dan sent in an updated version that cleans up some messy text and text errors, and changes multiple monsters to list the number of live ones instead of dead ones. This is a minor upgrade that improves playability but fixes no bugs.

#160 – Monty Python & the Holy Grail

Date Fixed: N/A

We received a report of a bad variable name in Line 20330 of the MAIN PGM. The library copy does not have this error; possibly it was fixed but not logged. Check Line 20330 for the variable AD%(A,5). This is wrong and might cause a BAD SUBSCRIPT error; it should be A%(A,5).

Terminological Inexactitudes

(Any resemblance to real people or events in this column is purely coincidental. Well, not entirely coincidental. On purpose, actually, but that doesn't mean that they are true.)

Our intrepid anatomist, Robert Parker, has taken to heart the criticisms of his educational Eamon adventure The Body Revisited. Pinpointing difficulty in mapping as the major stumbling block, he is even now preparing the soon-to-be-released Anatomy of the Frog for those who find mammalian anatomy too complex. And for the total newcomer, he is well along on the mapping of Anatomy of the Sea Urchin, which will contain but a single room.

Eamon Adventure Listing

Ratings are given on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 highest. Format is R/N, where R = the adventure's overall rating, and N = the number of people who have rated it.

Note key:

a: version 4 or older
b: version 5
c: version 6
d: version 7
e: (not used)
f: contains a quest
g: science-fiction

h: contemporary setting
i: 40/80 column capability
j: 80-column only
k: 40 & 80 col. versions
l: 2-disk adventure
m: 3-disk adventure
n: 4-disk adventure

1.	Main Hall & Beginners Cave	D. Brown	4.0/4	a
2.	The Lair of the Minotaur	D. Brown	4.7/3	a
3.	The Cave of the Mind	Jacobson/Varnum	2.2/3	a
4.	The Zyphur Riverventure	J. Jacobson	5.8/4	a,f
5.	Castle of Doom	D. Brown	4.5/4	a
6.	The Death Star	D. Brown	3.5/4	a,f,g
7.	The Devil's Tomb	J. Jacobson	4.8/4	a
8.	The Abductor's Quarters	J. Jacobson	6.0/1	a,f
9.	Assault on the Clonemaster	D. Brown	5.0/1	a,f
10.	The Magic Kingdom	D. Cook	3.0/1	a
11.	The Tomb of Molinar	D. Brown	3.0/2	a,f
12.	The Quest for Trezore	J. Jacobson	7.0/1	a,f
13.	Caves of Treasure Island	Genz & Braun	2.5/2	a,f
14.	Furioso	W. Davis	4.0/1	a
15.	Heroes Castle	J. Nelson	5.0/1	a
16.	The Caves of Mondamen	J. Nelson	8.0/2	a,f
17.	Merlin's Castle	R. Hersom	4.0/1	a
18.	Hogarth Castle	K. Nestle	4.0/1	a,f
19.	Death Trap	J. Nelson	7.5/2	b
20.	The Black Death	J. Nelson	7.0/1	a,f,h
21.	The Quest for Marron	J. Nelson	7.5/2	b,f
22.	The Senator's Chambers	J. Plamondon	5.3/2	b,f
23.	The Temple of Ngurct	J&R Plamondon	7.0/2	b,f
24.	Black Mountain	J. Nelson	7.5/2	b,f,h
25.	Nuclear Nightmare	J. Nelson	6.5/2	b,f,h
26.	Assault on the Mole Man	J. Nelson	6.5/2	b
27.	Revenge of the Mole Man	J. Nelson	7.0/2	b
28.	The Tower of London	F.& S. Smith	6.0/1	a,h
29.	The Lost Island of Apple	D. Brown	2.0/1	a
30.	The Underground City	S. Adelson	2.0/1	a,g,h
31.	The Gauntlet	J. Nelson	5.0/1	b
32.	House of Ill Repute	Anonymous	2.0/2	a,h
33.	The Orb of Polaris	J. Nelson	7.5/2	b,f
34.	Death's Gateway	R. Linden	6.5/2	a,h
35.	The Lair of Mutants	E. Hodson	6.5/2	a,f,g
36.	The Citadel of Blood	E. Hodson	6.0/2	a,h
37.	Quest for the Holy Grail	E. Hodson	7.0/2	a,f
38.	City in the Clouds	E. Hodson	7.0/1	a,f,g
39.	Museum of Unnatural History	R.Volberding	6.0/2	b,f
40.	Daemon's Playground	R.Volberding	4.5/2	b
41.	Caverns of Lanst	R.Volberding	6.0/1	b
42.	Alternate Beginners Cave	R.Volberding	5.0/2	b
43.	Priests of Xim!	M & E Bauman	5.0/2	b
44.	Escape from the Orc Lair	J. Hinkleman	3.8/4	b
45.	SwordQuest	R. Pender	7.5/2	b,f
46.	Lifequest	D. Crawford	2.0/1	b,f
47.	FutureQuest	R. Pender	7.3/3	b,f,g
48.	Picnic in Paradise	J. Nelson	7.0/1	c
49.	The Castle Kophinos	D. Doumakes	7.0/1	b,f
50.	Behind the Sealed Door	T. Berge	4.0/2	a
51.	The Caves of Eamon Bluff	T. Berge	7.0/1	b
52.	The Devil's Dungeon	J. Merrill	5.5/2	a,h
53.	Feast of Carroll	D&J Lilienkamp	5.0/2	a
54.	Crystal Mountain	K. Hoffman	5.0/1	b
55.	The Master's Dungeon	J. Allen	6.0/2	a
56.	The Lost Adventure	J. Allen	6.0/1	a,h
57.	The Manxome Foe	R. Olszewski	4.0/1	b
58.	The Land of Death	T. Berge	6.0/1	a
59.	Jungles of Vietnam	J. Allen	2.1/4	a,h
60.	The Sewers of Chicago	J. Allen	3.3/4	a,h
61.	The Harpy Cloud	A. Forter	4.0/2	b
62.	The Caverns of Doom	M. Mullin	3.0/1	b,h
63.	Valkenburg Castle	J. Weener	2.0/1	a,f
64.	Modern Problems	Anderson/Barban/Thompson	6.5/1	a,f,h
65.	The School of Death	K. Townsend	5.0/1	b,f,h
66.	Dungeons of Xenon	S. Bhayani	5.0/1	a,f
67.	Chaosium Caves	S. Bhayani	–/–	a,f
68.	The Smith's Stronghold	A. Porter	6.0/1	b,f
69.	The Black Castle of NaGog	D. Burrows	7.0/1	b,f
70.	The Tomb of Y'Golonac	R. Romanchuk	4.0/1	a,f
71.	Operation Crab Key	J. Vercellone	1.0/1	a,h
72.	House on Eamon Ridge	T. Berge	3.0/1	b
73.	The Deep Canyon	K. Blincoe	6.0/1	a
74.	DharmaQuest	R. Pender	9.0/1	b,f
75.	Temple of the Guild	D. Doumakes	7.0/1	b
76.	The Search for Yourself	D. Doumakes	8.0/1	b,f
77.	Temple of the Trolls	J. Nelson	8.0/1	c,f
78.	The Prince's Tavern	R. Davis	9.0/2	b,f
79.	The Castle of Count Fuey	D. Brown	5.5/2	a,f
80.	The Search for the Key (80a)	D. Brown	3.0/1	a,f
81.	The Rescue Mission (80b)	D. Brown	7.0/1	a
82.	Escape from Mansi Island	S. Starkey	5.0/1	b,f
83.	The Twin Castles	J. Tankard	5.5/2	c,f
84.	Castle of Riveneta	R. Karsten	–/–	b,h
85.	The Time Portal	E. Kuypers	5.0/1	a,g
86.	Castle Mantru	S. Constanzo	6.0/1	c,f
87.	Caves of Hollow Mountain	J. Nelson	6.0/1	c
88.	The Shopping Mall	A. Porter	1.0/3	b,h
89.	Super Fortress of Lin Wang	S. Bhayani	4.2/3	c,f
90.	The Doomsday Clock	J. Tankard	6.0/1	c,f,h
91.	FutureQuest II	R. Pender	8.0/4	b,f,g
92.	The Fugitive	D. Doumakes	7.0/1	c,f
93.	Flying Circus	R. Krebs	7.0/1	b
94.	Blood Feud	R. Krebs	5.0/1	b,f
95.	The Maze of Quasequeton	B. Kondalski	3.0/3	a,f
96.	The Chamber of the Dragons	B. Kondalski	2.0/2	a
97.	The House of Secrets	G. Gunn	6.0/1	a
98.	Slave Pits of Kzorland	R. Hersam	–/–	a
99.	In the Clutches of Torrik	J. Nelson	6.0/2	c,f
100.	Sorceror's Spire	J. Nelson	7.9/4	c
101.	Ground Zero	Sam	1.0/2	a,g
102.	The Eamon Railroad	Sam	2.0/3	a,h
103.	Top Secret	Sam	1.0/1	a
104.	The Lost World	Sam	1.0/1	a,g
105.	The Strange Resort	Sam	1.0/1	a,h
106.	Camp Eamon	R. Slemon	7.0/2	b,f,h
107.	The Last Dragon	R. Pender	7.5/2	c,f
108.	The Mines of Moria	S. Ruby	8.3/3	c,f
109.	The Forest of Fear	S. Ruby	6.5/2	c,f
110.	Fire Island	G. Gioia	5.0/1	c,f
111.	A Vacation in Europe	D. Smith	4.5/2	c,h
112.	Hills of History	D. Smith	6.0/2	c
113.	The Life-Orb of Mevtrelek	R. Volberding	7.0/1	c,f
114.	Thror's Ring	T. Zuchowski	9.0/4	c,f,i
115.	The Ring of Doom	S. Ruby	5.0/1	c,f
116.	The Iron Prison	S. Ruby	5.5/2	c,f
117.	Dungeon of Doom	D. Knezek	8.0/2	a,f,k
118.	Pittfall	S. Starkey	8.0/1	c,f
119.	Grunewalde	P. Hurst	6.5/2	b,f,l
120.	Orb of My Life	J. Nelson	9.0/1	c,f
121.	Wrenhold's Secret Vigil	R. Davis	8.3/2	c,f
122.	The Valley of Death	S. Ruby	4.0/1	c
123.	Wizard of the Spheres	M. Elkin	5.0/1	c,f
124.	Assault on Dolni Keep	T. Zuchowski	9.3/3	c,f,i
125.	The Mattimoe Palace	J. Actor	3.0/1	b,f,h
126.	The Pyramid of Anharos	P. Hurst	6.5/2	c,f
127.	The Hunt for the Ring	S. Ruby	7.0/1	c,f
128.	Quest of Erebor	S. Ruby	7.0/1	c,f
129.	Return to Moria	S. Ruby	8.5/3	c,f,l
130.	Haradwaith	S. Ruby	7.0/1	c,f
131.	Nucleus of the Ruby	K. Somers	6.0/1	c,f,j
132.	Rhadshur Warrior	R. Pender	8.3/2	c,f,h
133.	The Final Frontier	R. Slemon	5.0/1	c,f,g
134.	Pyramid of the Ancients	J.& R. Pirone	4.0/1	c
135.	The Tomb of Evron	M. Greifenkamp	2.0/1	b
136.	The Mountain Fortress	M. Greifenkamp	3.0/1	b,f
137.	The Ruins of Ivory Castle	M. Greifenkamp	6.0/1	b
138.	Starfire	E. Phillips	6.0/1	c,f
139.	Peg's Place	M&A Anderson	7.5/2	c,f,h
140.	Beginner's Forest	M. Anderson	5.0/1	b
141.	The Infested Fortress	M&P Hamaoka	3.0/2	c
142.	The Beermeister's Brewery	J. Actor	6.5/2	b,f,h
143.	The Alternate Zone	J. Actor	6.0/1	b,f
144.	Gartin Manor	G. Gioia	5.0/1	c,f,h
145.	Buccaneer!	P. Hurst	8.3/3	c,f,l
146.	The House of Horrors	D. Cross	6.0/1	c,f,h
147.	The Dark Brotherhood	P. Hurst	9.0/2	c,f,l
148.	Journey to Jotunheim	T. Zuchowski	8.3/3	c,f,i
149.	Elemental Apocalypse	S. Ruby	7.8/4	c,f,n
150.	Walled City of Darkness	T. Zuchowski	8.7/2	c,f,i
151.	Eamon S.A.R.-1 (Deneb Raid)	D. Crawford	3.5/2	c,f,g
152.	The Computer Club of Fear	N. Segerlind	5.5/2	c,f,h
153.	Lost!	N. Segerlind	5.0/1	c
154.	A Trip to Fort Scott	W. Trent	7.0/1	c
155.	Tomb of the Vampire	Trent/Grayson	6.0/1	c,f
156.	The Lake	N. Segerlind	4.0/1	c
157.	Pathetic Hideout of Mr. R.	N. Segerlind	5.0/1	c,f,h
158.	The Lair of Mr. Ed	N. Segerlind	7.0/1	c,f,h
159.	The Bridge of Catzad-Dum	N. Segerlind	6.5/2	c,f,h
160.	Monty Python & Holy Grail	N. Segerlind	7.0/1	c,f
161.	Operation Endgame	S. Ruby	9.0/3	c,f,h,m
162.	Eamon 7.0 Demo Adventure	T. Zuchowski	(N/A)	d,i
163.	The Sands of Mars	T. Swartz	5.7/3	a,f,g
164.	A Real Cliffhanger	T. Swartz	6.0/1	a,h
165.	Animal Farm	S. Ruby	5.0/1	c,f,h,l
166.	Storm Breaker	S. Ruby	8.5/2	c,f,m
167.	Expedition to the Darkwoods	G. Gioia	3.5/2	c,f
168.	The High School of Horrors	M.Haney/A.Hunt	4.5/2	a,h
169.	The Black Phoenix	R. Pender	7.8/3	c,f,g
170.	Ragnarok Revisited	N. Segerlind	7.8/3	c,f,i
171.	The Pyramid of Cheops	R. Parker	5.0/1	b
172.	The Mountain of the Master	M. Dalton	5.0/1	a,f
173.	The House That Jack Built	R. Parker	2.0/2	b,h
174.	Escape from Granite Hall	R. Parker	3.5/2	b
175.	Anatomy of the Body	R. Parker	3.0/1	b,g
176.	Dirtie Trix's Mad Maze	R. Parker	3.0/1	b,h
177.	Shippe of Fooles	R. Parker	3.0/1	b
178.	The Alien Intruder	R. Parker	4.0/1	b,g
179.	The Wizard's Tower	R. Parker	4.0/1	b
180.	Gamma 1	R. Parker	3.0/1	b,g
181.	The Eamon Sewer System	R. Parker	1.0/1	b
182.	Farmer Brown's Woods	R. Parker	1.0/1	b,h
183.	The Boy and the Bard	S. Ruby	8.3/2	c,f
184.	Quest for Orion	P. Gise	5.7/3	d,f,i
185.	The Body Revisited	R. Parker	5.0/3	d,f,i
186.	Beginner's Cave II	J. Nelson	–/–	c
187.	Batman!!	A. Geha	2.0/1	b
188.	Encounter: The Bookworm	R.Parker	6.5/1	d,f,i
189.	The Ruins of Belfast	D.Sparks	3.0/1	a,h
190.	Shift Change at Grimmwax	D&A Sparks	7.0/1	a,f,h
191.	Enhanced Beginners Cave	Brown/Nelson	5.0/1	c
192.	Mean Streets	T.Tetirick	4.0/1	c,h
193.	The Creature of Rhyl	R.Parker	7.0/1	d,f,i
194.	Attack of the Kretons	N.Segerlind	9.0/1	d,f,i
195.	The Training Ground	C.Hewgley	5.0/1	c
Dungeon Designer Diskette Version 7.0
DDD 7.0 Multi-Disk Supplement
Dungeon Designer Diskette Version 6.2
Eamon Utilities Diskette
Graphics Main Hall

The Hacker

I recently read a fictional book about computer hacking that I thought was really good. The title is The Hacker, by Chet Day, Pocket Books. It is in paperback and is listed as "Horror", but for my money it's straight Science-Fiction. It's about a psychotic killer who hacks a BBS and goes about killing off the BBS members. Lots of computer & BBS jargon and a good read; I read it in two sessions. You may have to order it as it is not widely carried in bookstores. I had no problems getting it through B.Dalton. —Tom