Eamon Trivia 01: The Curse of Talon

Progress is going well on Eamon Deluxe 5.0 and I'm close to sending a Beta 3 copy to my testers and hopefully a public release in the near future. Until then I need a few fun distractions to take away from the tediousness that comes with parts of the revision process.

When converting Classic Eamon adventures to Eamon Deluxe, I get to see into every nook and cranny of that adventure and often find things the average player would be likely to miss or never even see at all. This can be due to a number of reasons, including obscure special events, erroneous code or the author's personal Easter eggs to name a few.

Although I haven't kept a list of what I have found over the years (and I wish I had), I usually left notes about anything interesting I found in that particular adventure's hint files. I thought it would be fun to make semi-regular blog entries to share some of these amusing oddities and include some screen shots as well. I'll list the Official Eamon Guild number and the Eamon Deluxe number, followed by the adventure name. So, here we go...


Today's trivia: EAG#SD156/EDX#09-3

THE CURSE OF TALON by Sam Ruby.

There is an unused room in The Curse of Talon called The Butt. I have no idea why it was there and will probably never know but I find it pretty amusing nonetheless. I converted that adventure several years ago and had forgotten about the Butt Room until recently when I was reorganizing The Sam Ruby Adventures for the Eamon Deluxe 5.0 revision. Apparently I found it amusing back when I converted it too because I expanded on it, placing "monsters" from the database that were no longer needed in the Butt Room and leaving an Easter egg that could be used to access it.

To enter the Butt Room in the Apple II version, use Control-C to break the program and enter the command shown in the screen shot. To leave the Butt, use the same method, but change "R2=51" to "R2=R3".

In the Eamon Deluxe version, simply cast your POWER spell to be teleported into the Butt. [snicker] Going in any direction will take you back to the room you came from. (Note: GIVE 5000 to a neutral monster in Eamon Deluxe to turn them into a friend.)

Eamon Deluxe 5.0 Beta sent out to playtesters!

I have just finished sending out the Windows installer to those who volunteered to play test Eamon Deluxe 5.0. If you were on my list, please check your email for a message from Eamon Deluxe that has the installer attached. If you were on my list and did not get a copy by now, please email me and I will send another. I currently have 20 play testers and have room for 10 more, if anyone is interested in trying out the last 10 Beta copies, send an email to eamondeluxe ( at ) gmail.com

Eamon Deluxe Beta 98% Ready to Go (and Other Info)

Eamon Deluxe 5.0 Beta status:

For those who are waiting to play test the beta version of Eamon Deluxe 5.0, it is roughly 98% ready to send out. I'm only about a month late for when I wanted it to be ready which isn't bad in the programming world and [fingers crossed] hoping to maybe even send it out tonight, so be sure to check your inboxes. Thanks again to the play testers, and yes, I still have openings if anybody else is interested. Just email me with your preferred OS info.
-Frank

Classic Eamon -> Eamon Deluxe converted adventures chart:

The most frequent questions I have been asked over the years all tend to involve "missing" adventures. Well, I actually got around to counting the number of Eamon adventures that have been converted to EDX for the first time ever and compiled a little chart (which I hope makes sense) and even I was impressed with the sheer volume. I think in a few more years ALL Classic Eamon adventures will have been converted. Note that I haven't really gotten the hang of text formatting on this blog right yet so the text wraps around in unwanted places which I am choosing to ignore. :-)

Eamon Deluxe Adventure Conversion Chart
Update: 25 JAN 2012

Adventure type codes:
EAG = Eamon Guild Numbered Official Eamons (Apple II only)
C&P = CLONES/PORTS/MISC (Unnumbered, Softdisk, Swordthrust, PC, Atari, etc.)
EDX = Eamon Deluxe Original Adventures

Format for conversion list:
Eamon Deluxe Adventure #/Total number of adventures in set
/(Conversion Notes (+)=converted, (-)=awaiting conversion), tech notes)

01: 06/00/01 = 07 (+06 EAG, +01 EDX)
02: 09/07/00 = 16 (+09 EAG, -07 C&P:SwordThrust)
03: 05/00/00 = 05 (+05 EAG with 50% New EDX-original Material Integrated)
04: 20/00/00 = 20 (+20 EAG technically the last 2 were EDX Originals First)
05: 05/01/00 = 06 (+02 EAG, -03 EAG, -01 C&P:Unnumbered)
06: 04/00/00 = 04 (+00 EAG, -04 EAG missing)
07: 03/01/00 = 04 (+03 EAG, +01 C&P:Softdisk)
08: 09/00/00 = 09 (+09 EAG)
09: 15/03/00 = 18 (+05 EAG, -10 EAG, +03 C&P:SoftDisk)
10: 07/00/00 = 07 (+07 EAG)
11: 19/00/00 = 19 (+19 EAG)
12: 15/00/00 = 15 (+02 EAG, -13 EAG)
13: 21/00/00 = 21 (+21 EAG)
14: 21/00/00 = 21 (+21 EAG)
15: 20/00/00 = 20 (+04 EAG, -16 EAG)
16: 20/00/00 = 20 (+00 EAG, -20 EAG missing)
17: 20/00/00 = 20 (+00 EAG, -20 EAG missing)
18: 14/00/00 = 14 (+10 EAG, -04 EAG missing)
19: 21/00/00 = 21 (+21 EAG)
20: 00/00/01 = 01 (+01 EDX)
21: 00/00/01 = 01 (+01 EDX)
22: 00/00/01 = 01 (+01 EDX)
23: 00/04/00 = 04 (+01 C&P, -03 C&P:Atari & unnumbered)

Total: 254/15/04 = 274
Converted: 164/05/04 = 173
-----------------------------
Conversions left: 090/10/00 = 101

(Conversions currently in progress: 05/01/00 = 06, leaving only 95 left to convert)

So there you go. 173 fully converted/EDX original, 6 in progress and 95 left to go.




Eamon Deluxe Updated Adventure List:

This is my most recent list which shows the current Eamon Deluxe Library (including "missing" chapters in their proper placement):

;(Lists updated: 25 JAN 2012)

LIST 1: EAMON DELUXE ADVENTURE LIST

Adventure # Eamon Deluxe Classic Adventure Conversion Sets
-------------------------------------------------------------
00 Eamon Deluxe 5.0 System Environment
01 Beginner's Adventures
02 The Donald Brown Adventures
03 The Jim Jacobson Adventures Deluxe
04 The John Nelson Adventures
05 The Tom Zuchowski Adventures
06 The Pat Hurst Adventures
07 The Frank Kunze Adventures
08 The Nathan Segerlind Adventures
09 The Sam Ruby Adventures
10 The Roger Pender Adventures
11 The Robert Parker Adventures
12 Best of the Classic Adventures
13 Classic Eamon Adventures, Vol. 1
14 Classic Eamon Adventures, Vol. 2
15 Classic Eamon Adventures, Vol. 3
16 Classic Eamon Adventures, Vol. 4
17 Classic Eamon Adventures, Vol. 5
18 Classic Eamon Adventures, Vol. 6
19 Worst of the Classic Adventures

Adventure # Eamon Deluxe Original Adventures
-------------------------------------------------------------
20 Journey across the Muerte Sea
21 Realm of Fantasy
22 A Runcible Cargo
23 The Lost Treasures of Eamon

Eamon Deluxe 5.0 Progress Update and More Screen Shots.

I'm happy to announce that the beta version of Eamon Deluxe 5.0 is nearly finished and I hope to be sending copies to the play testers very soon now. There is still room for a few more testers so email eamondeluxe (at) gmail.com and include a description of what OS you are using if you are interested. Here are a few more screen shots which show some newly added features.

Eamon Deluxe 5.0 Screen Shots

I took a few screen shots of my pre-test beta version of Eamon Deluxe 5.0 over the past few days so those that are following the progress can get an idea of what it will look like. Keep in mind that this is a rough unfinished copy with no icons or final design decisions yet but it DOES work perfectly in Windows so far and that is good news.

The following are shots showing Eamon Deluxe running on Windows 7 and Win XP and give samples of the revised Main Menu (no more bad color usage and awful 40-column text!), adventure selection menu, Graphic Main Hall, Beginner's Cave, and a couple comparison shots that show the new "VI Mode" setting which allows full compatibility for visually impaired gamers. VI Mode implements dual menus and extra descriptions to things those players previously missed while not sacrificing any convenience or visually-oriented special effects that caused problems in the past. Progress is still moving fairly well and I still hope to have those beta copies sent out very soon.

Eamon Deluxe v5.0 Progress Update.

I am very pleased to announce that late last night I managed to produce what I believe to be the first ever one-click fully installed and playable set of Eamon adventures in history. My installer worked perfectly on both the Win XP and Windows 7 64-bit computers I used to test them, complete with desktop icon, start menu shortcuts and an uninstall option. (Hmm... What form of lunatic would want to UNINSTALL Eamon adventures from their computer? I am providing that option merely for the sake of completeness.)

Production has been coming along much better than I ever would have predicted with merely finding the free time to get it done being my biggest obstacle so far. The Eamon Deluxe system was in much worse shape than I had thought and the perfectionist in me has taken over adding more to the workload. Nearly every program is getting some sort of revision and I also have several new submissions that have to be fine tuned and added as well. One of those submissions is a brand new Eamon Deluxe adventure by a first time author who has created what I can only describe as a masterpiece.

I am still taking requests for play testers, send a message to eamondeluxe ( at ) gmail.com and please include a brief description of your computer and Operating System as I need to know which installer package to send.

To those that have already volunteered to help with testing, thank you very much and as you can tell by this blog, you should be getting your Beta copies very soon.

Cheers!
-Frank

Needed: Playtesters for Eamon Deluxe v5.0

There is a new version of Eamon Deluxe very close to being finished and anybody who is interested in helping with testing it out for bugs, OS compatibility, or just has random opinions, suggestions, etc. is invited to email me and request a pre-release beta copy to play with. Send your request to: eamondeluxe (at) gmail.com

Right now I am especially looking for testers using Windows Vista, Windows 7 (32 bit), experienced Mac users and anyone with visual impairments who uses screen reading software.

There are too many details to list right now but I will say that a major overhaul and upgrade on the entire Eamon Deluxe system is being done and the upcoming release should run on any popular OS. All of the classic Eamon adventure sets will be included as well, albeit in a partially unfinished format for a few, but still playable. All in all I think I last counted about 20 previously unreleased Eamon conversions that will be included. There is also a VERY excellent Eamon Deluxe Original Adventure that I recently received and am in the process of playing and adding as well, but that will be the subject of a separate blog post soon enough.

That's all for now. Keep your swords sharp and I hope to hear from some of you soon,
-Frank