Source:Eamon Adventurer's Guild Newsletter, October 2001
| This page is a verbatim reproduction of original source material and should not be edited except for maintenance. | |
| Description |
The Eamon Adventurer's Guild Newsletter, October 2001 issue. |
|---|---|
| Source | |
| Date |
October 2001 |
| 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. |
| Previous item | |
| Next item | |
The Eamon Adventurer's Guild
October 2001
This is the first "online" issue of the EAG newsletter. It is the result of the arrival of two "new" Eamons from Geoffrey Genz, of the "Genz & Braun" Eamon author team. They date from the very early days of Eamon, having come to me numbered in the teens! Even so, they are very good plays. You'll find them reviewed within this issue.
Eamon Adventurer's Guild
Email: tzuchow@attglobal.net
This document is released to the Public Domain. Any part of this newsletter may be reproduced without permission. Please honor the privacy of the members listed herein, and ask their permission before distributing their names or addresses.
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. An informal critique and disk with bug corrections will be returned for your final comment, action and approval before release.
Our mail-order Eamon vendor:
Kula Software
2118 Kula St.
Honolulu, HI 96817
http://www.angelfire.com/hi/kulasoft
Eamons are available online. I recommend these sites:
- ftp://ftp.gmd/de/if-archive/games/appleII/eamon/guild/
- http://ground.ecn.uiowa.edu/eamon/
- ftp://ground.ecn.uiowa.edu/eamon/
Here are some more:
- http://www.ecnet.net/users/mumbv/pages/eamon/index.shtml (also has emulators)
- ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/doc/misc/if-archive/games/appleII/eamon/guild/
- ftp://babylon.caltech.edu/Zocalo/pub/apple2/8bit/games/eamon/
- http://www.lysator.liu.se/eamon/
Last but far from least, http://www.wbwip.com/a2web/ has links to just about every Apple II site that there is.
Eamon Walk-Through List
| 7 | The Devil's Tomb | Dec00 |
| 19 | Death Trap | Mar98 |
| 62 | The Caverns of Doom | Mar97 |
| 74 | DharmaQuest | Mar00 |
| 77 | Temple of the Trolls | Mar99 |
| 107 | The Last Dragon | Dec99 |
| 114 | Thror's Ring | Dec96 |
| 116 | The Iron Prison | Dec99 |
| 120 | Orb of My Life | Sep98 |
| 126 | Pyramid of Anharos | Jun98 |
| 127 | The Hunt for the Ring | Dec98 |
| 129 | Return to Moria | Jun99 |
| 132 | Rhadshur Warrior | Jun96 |
| 145 | Buccaneer! | Dec97 |
| 147 | The Dark Brotherhood | Sep96 |
| 150 | Walled City of Darkness | Mar96 |
| 161 | Operation Endgame | Jun97 |
| 194 | Attack of the Kretons | Jun00 |
| 206 | Curse of the Hellsblade | Dec00 |
| 220 | Catacombs of Terror | Sep00 |
| 239 | Idol of the Incas | Sep99 |
| SD137 | Redemption | Jun00 |
Here is a list of Eamons that have been considered but not done in this column because they have solutions either in standalone programs, or "online" as you play. This is not a complete list!
| 165 | Animal Farm |
| 166 | Storm Breaker |
| 183 | The Boy and the Bard |
| 204 | Sanctuary |
| 240 | Heart of Gold |
Always check your Eamons for bonus programs on the disk! Several of the better authors have been known to do this on occasion.
Adventure Reviews
#244 The Caverns of the Sphinx
Reviewed by Tom Zuchowski
| MAIN PGM Version: | 4 |
| Extra Commands: | USE, OPEN, DRINK, QUIT
|
| Deleted Commands: | None |
| Special Features: | unusual save |
| Playing Time: | 1-2 hours |
| Reviewer Rating: | 6.0 |
Description: "You read a news item: 'Archeologist needs great person to retrieve artifacts from the famous Eamon Sphinx. Will pay handsomely, plus other benefits.'
"Intrigued, you found an elderly scientist specializing in ancient history. He explained to you the nature of the quest. The Eamon Sphinx, it seems, had been created by a wizard in ancient times. He made it for a museum of all the strange and rare beasts of the time. This wizard was defeated by stronger, evil wizard who had died a few hundred years before. Rumors claim that an acolyte remains. The major obstacle, however, is the variety of strange and magical monsters that abound. The most valuable artifact is the necklace that is rumored to be worn by the Sphinx himself. It is a pure mithril. Many have tried this task, but none have returned with anything of value. Many have not returned at all.
"After telling him you were willing, he wished you luck and told you where the Sphinx was. He also mentioned that there was only one known exit, although more were suspected."
Comment: this Eamon adventure is pretty much a straight "hack'n'slash" romp. It is well written and well crafted, and I thoroughly enjoyed my outing. The monsters were not overly difficult, and I didn't use my heal spell at all. There were a couple of puzzles related to the new commands, but they were straightforward and I did not have to think hard to solve them. The map is rather large, with 91 rooms, so the biggest portion of the Eamon play is simply mapping your route.
Several of the monsters are interesting specials in their own right, sometimes coming alive as the result of your actions. There were a few secret passages, but all normal room connections were properly described in the descriptions. I remember seeing one death trap. On the whole I think this Eamon rates a (4) for difficulty.
This Eamon is far older than the standard version 6 SAVE command, and in its place it has the QUIT command. This command exits the adventure in much the same way that the SAVE command does, with one exception. When you restart the game, you have to give your adventurer's name in order to resume the save game. This feature works well and is a worthy substitute for the standard SAVE command.
If you enjoy mapping an Eamon adventure as I do, I think you'll find this a worthwhile play.
#245 Dracula's Chateau
by Paul Braun
Reviewed by Tom Zuchowski
| MAIN PGM Version: | 4 |
| Extra Commands: | READ, DIG, SHOOT, HOLD, OPEN, UNLOCK
|
| Deleted Commands: | None, no SAVE
|
| Special Features: | None |
| Playing Time: | 2 hours |
| Reviewer Rating: | 6.0 |
Description: After a rather silly introduction, you find yourself in the basement of Dracula's chateau, and you will be facing many classic movie monsters. Along the way you'll find several artifacts that will help you defend yourself.
Comment: this is a very old Eamon that dates from the early days, but it has many excellent additions and specials. It is very large with 99 rooms, but the mapping is very straightforward except for two locked door puzzles. Because of the large size of the map and low content in spots, it would be an ordinary and even somewhat tedious "kill'n'loot" scenario except that there are enough specials and cool effects to keep you interested and having fun. If you can keep your map straight, the difficulty is no more than (5).
Some of the puzzles and events here are obscure enough that it surely rates a few hints:
Nearly all of the monsters have random friendliness, and you can't tell friend or foe from the descriptions. Any time you encounter someone new, try going in the direction you just came from before you do anything else. If the stranger is an enemy, you will be prevented from leaving the room because there is unfriendliness about.
Eventually you may run into a bad guy named Belg. You'll quickly find that he is far stronger than you in battle. Do not cheat your way to a win. He is supposed to defeat you. You won't really die, and a special effect will be triggered.
The POWER spell has several additions that mainly have to do with enhancing your personal abilities, but it is not required at any point in the adventure. There is a bug somewhere in the program that "resurrects" Belg if the spell's resurrection routine is triggered. This is pretty much a disaster for you if it occurs in any room but the room you meet Belg in. Therefore, it might be best to leave the POWER spell alone.
Dracula's flaming sword, Goldenwrath, is a very heavy weapon when it is not flaming, but it is weightless when it is aflame. You can relight Goldenwrath by saying FLAME ON.
I'll save you a lot of time and trouble by telling you that there is only one place worth digging, and that is on the beach by the rocks. There is no shovel. When asked if you want to dig with your hands, answer YES.
I didn't have too much trouble killing Dracula with Fresh Sam's Crystal Sword, but if you are finding him too much to deal with, there is an artifact that will make him flee from the room if you hold it up to him.
The glass wall is passable with the right magical help.
There is only one movie monster that can be killed by a silver bullet, and you only have one bullet, so don't waste it.
That pretty well sums it up. Have fun!
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||