tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73226042024-03-14T05:57:32.243-04:00Eamon Adventurer's Guild OnlineThe Eamon Adventurer's Guild Online website is designed to be a comprehensive information source and archive for Eamon adventures. This blog consists of both news about Eamon and my random thoughts about Eamon and the Eamon website.Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477311598407527292noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-58594912347798765512020-04-26T20:08:00.000-04:002020-05-07T21:10:43.152-04:00Four New (or Newly Available) Eamon Adventures!<span style="font-family: inherit;">Between Keith Dechant's <a href="https://eamon-guild.blogspot.com/2020/02/eamon-is-turning-40.html">last blog post</a> and its subsequent comments, there was a suggestion of an incoming tidal wave of good news for Eamon in 2020. Well, that wave has made landfall, leading to the announcement of <b><i>four</i> </b>new (or heretofore unannounced) Eamon adventures across three platforms.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">All of the adventures represent the best of what Eamon can be: Each includes fantastic writing and storytelling; several are wide in scope and leverage lots of special modifications to the basic Eamon routine.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="font-weight: bold;">Malleus Maleficarum: </i>The first original adventure written for the <a href="https://eamon-remastered.com/">Eamon Remastered</a> system, Keith Dechant's <i>Malleus Maleficarum </i>sees the adventurer's friend Maya draw the player to the far-away land of Virrat. From Dechant's description, the adventurer travels</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; margin-bottom: 1rem;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">to a nearby land that has outlawed magic and is conducting a witch hunt against all magic users. Your quest is to rescue a friend's grandmother and investigate a militant anti-magic organization called the Cobalt Front... The Cobalt Front is a very lawful organization, at least when it comes to magic and magic weapons, and you can easily find yourself getting into trouble with the law if you're not careful.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; margin-bottom: 1rem;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are other things happening in the land of Virrat, too, and you'll find yourself battling some bizarre creatures as you learn what's really going on.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Malleus Maleficarum</i> relies heavily on interaction with non-player characters, as well, which helps develops the storyline. For playing the adventure and getting more information about it, the reader can consult the following links:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Malleus Maleficarum</i> can be played at <a href="https://eamon-remastered.com/">Eamon Remastered.</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The <a href="https://eamon.wiki/Malleus_Maleficarum"><i>Malleus Maleficarum</i> page at the Eamon Wiki</a> will undoubtedly be updated with further information on the adventure.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b><b style="font-style: italic;">Land of the Mountain King: </b>Several years ago, Kenneth Pedersen released <i>Land of the Mountain King</i> as an ADRIFT adventure and has now ported it to Michael Penner's <i>Eamon CS</i> system.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">While the adventure's scope is more constrained than the others described in this post, its writing and story are solid. From its introduction:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You are walking in the woods looking for prey when you are suddenly shrouded in a cloud of white smoke. The smoke is too dense to see through, but eventually, the smoke clears and you find yourself on a barren plain.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As you turn around, you see an old witch stand before you. "Listen carefully!" the witch whispers with a hoarse voice.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"I have summoned you here to help me clear this land from the evil mountain king, who lives in his castle up north. The mountain king terrorizes this land and must die so that peace can be restored around here. If you succeed you will be significantly rewarded.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Land of the Mountain King</i> is the first original adventure for Penner's <i>Eamon CS</i>, and the reader can use the following links for more information:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Land of the Mountain King</i> can be downloaded and played by installing <a href="https://github.com/firstmethod/Eamon-CS">Eamon CS.</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The <a href="https://eamon.wiki/Land_of_the_Mountain_King"><i>Land of the Mountain King</i> page at the Eamon Wiki</a> includes discussion, a detailed walkthrough, and maps for the adventure.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b><i style="font-weight: bold;">The Treachery of Zorag: </i>Derek Jeter's follow-up to the excellent <a href="https://eamon.wiki/Stronghold_of_Kahr-Dur"><i>Stronghold of Kahr-Du</i>r</a> for Eamon Deluxe, <i>The Treachery of Zorag</i> was nearing completion just as Frank Black was shelving development of the platform. Consequently, <i>Zorag</i> failed to receive a formal release or widespread acknowledgement (I hadn't even realized that it <i>had</i> been completed until last month). Undaunted, Jeter has made some modifications to the adventure and is hosting an online, playable <i>Zorag</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Like <i>Malleus Maleficarum</i>, interaction with non-player characters plays an equal role to combat, making for an engrossing adventure. From the introduction:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">A knight from the nearby city of Behlos arrives at the </span>Main Hall<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> to announce that </span>the king<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> is assembling a party of the land's greatest heroes to investigate the possible return of Zorag, an evil wizard imprisoned for many years and now feared to be free. The knight asks for the Guild's greatest warrior to join the party, and when your comrades all point to you, you accept the errand. The knight orders you to appear at the King's Hall in Behlos at sunrise on the second day to begin the mission.</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Long ago, I was blown away by an incomplete version of <i>Zorag</i> and it's fantastic that the full adventure can finally reach a broader audience. More can be found at the following links:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Derek Jeter's playable online version of <i>The Treachery of Zorag</i> is at <a href="http://www.dcsoftsys.com/eamon/toz/">http://www.dcsoftsys.com/eamon/toz/</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The <a href="https://eamon.wiki/The_Treachery_of_Zorag"><i>Treachery of Zorag</i> page at the Eamon Wiki</a> includes background, walkthroughs, and a map for the adventure.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>Assault on the Clone Master </i>Remake: </b>Forty years after its release, Donald Brown's <i>Assault on the Clone Master</i> has been reborn with a superbly-written, steampunk-infused remake courtesy of Keith Dechant. While nominally a remake, the adventure has been so deeply reworked as to warrant its being described as an all-new adventure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">By way of illustration, check out the introductory text <a href="https://eamon.wiki/Assault_on_the_Clone_Master">of the original <i>Clone Master</i></a>, and compare with the introduction of the remake:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; margin-bottom: 1rem;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You were traveling in the far-away land of Knieriem, a land with technology far beyond your own. You marveled at the towering cities and majestic arches and goggled at the wondrous metal vehicles and flying machines powered by the most exquisite clockwork.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; margin-bottom: 1rem;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But, all was not well in Knieriem. A day before you were to leave for home on a massive, steam-powered ship, word came that the harbor was being blockaded by the dreaded fire fleets of the infamous Clone Master!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; margin-bottom: 1rem;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Clone Master was known all over Knieriem and the surrounding kingdoms, feared for his vast armies made up of human clones!</span></div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Dechant's <i>Assault on the Clone Master</i> is worth checking out; more information can be found at the following links: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dechant's remake of <i>Assault on the Clone Master</i> can be played at <a href="https://eamon-remastered.com/">Eamon Remastered.</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The <a href="https://eamon.wiki/Assault_on_the_Clone_Master_(Dechant)">remake's page at the Eamon Wiki</a> includes background information and a detailed walkthrough.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
T Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02878252997070039887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-59006076715541089652020-02-02T02:58:00.000-05:002020-02-02T02:58:03.149-05:00Eamon is turning 40!
<br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
We don't know the
exact date the first version of the Main Hall and Beginner's Cave were created. This is largely thanks to the fact that Apple II's DOS 3.3 didn't keep timestamps on files, and authors didn't always record the dates in their file comments. Some knowledgeable people <a href="https://www.filfre.net/2012/04/my-eamon-problem/" target="_blank">have done some research</a>,
and estimated that development on the first Eamon adventures must have begun in
1979. The first specific
date we know for sure is January 30, 1980, the publication date of Adventure
#3, Cave of the Mind, which is now 40 years ago!</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
In honor of the
occasion, I thought I would take a look back at the history and how things have
changed over the years.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>The Apple II Era</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
1979-80: The first DOS
3.3 version of Eamon is released for the Apple II Plus. It supports 40-column text, all uppercase, and is designed to work on machines with 48k of RAM.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
1984-1989: Eamon
sees widespread distribution and over 150 adventures are published during this
time.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
1985: The Graphics
Main Hall is released, providing a richer experience and several
additional shops.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
1985: Thror's Ring
is the first adventure released with support for 80-column text.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
1988: Tom Zuchowski
releases v7.0 of the Main Program. This includes a small compiled program that
drastically sped up monster and artifact search routines. It also introduces
group monsters and revised combat logic that emphasizes Agility
as a primary combat stat.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
1990: <a href="http://www.eamonag.org/newsletters/EAG9003.TXT" target="_blank">Zuchowski begins converting several adventures to Prodos</a>, intending to make them easier to
play on the Apple //gs.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Mid-1990s: Authors continue submitting new adventures, even though the Apple II as a platform
is in decline. Zuchowski also manages to locate a number of older
adventures that had either languished on floppies since the 1980s, or had been
started and never finished.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>1999-2013 - Eamon
Deluxe</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
This is a port of
Eamon to MS-DOS by adventure author Frank Black. It has gone through several
revisions over the years, and about 200 adventures have been ported. Frank
upgraded most of the adventures, fixing bugs and broken room connections, as
well as updating the command parser and some of the combat logic.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Frank also wrote
some new content for several adventures, intending to make them a more unified
storyline. Several NPCs could now appear in multiple adventures, if they
survived the adventure where you first met them.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>2017-present - <a href="https://eamon-remastered.com/" target="_blank">Eamon Remastered</a></b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I
had always dreamed of making an updated version of Eamon that could run in a
web browser. In the 21st century, this seemed to be a good way to bring new
players to Eamon and to keep alive all the hard work done by dozens of
adventure authors.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
The original Eamon
was written in Applesoft BASIC, being a common, low-barrier-to-entry
programming language in its time. So, it only made sense to use today's common,
widely known language, JavaScript, for the rewrite. Data and file storage have
also come a long way since the 1980s, and Eamon adventure data seemed a good
fit for a relational database.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
So, in December
2015, I started planning the rewrite of the game engine. This meant a major
update in game features for some of the older adventures, which now all
have the updated commands and combat logic that the newer Apple-based
adventures and Eamon Deluxe had.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Since the official
release of Eamon Remastered in February 2017, 34 adventures have been ported to
Eamon Remastered. There is still a long way to go; there are currently about
275 total adventures, of which about 180 are actually playable on the original
systems (a prerequisite to porting them) and are of good enough quality to be
interesting.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>The Future</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
There are still many
things in store for 2020. I am currently working on a brand-new adventure titled
Malleus Maleficarum. In this one, the adventurer joins a friend from the Guild to
save her homeland from fanatics who are persecuting magic users.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Even more new
content will be coming soon as well. The next project will be a port of Derek
Jeter's unpublished adventure, The Treachery of Zorag, which Derek developed
for Eamon Deluxe but which was never included in any of the Eamon Deluxe 5.0
releases. This is a large, complex adventure with lots of special effects and
puzzles. It will be a great addition to the catalog.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Until next time,
happy adventuring!</div>
Keith Dechanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08984278215873575208noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-38231429746880294622018-02-02T19:00:00.000-05:002018-02-04T11:29:15.737-05:00Eamon Mystery - William Trent and the "Search for the Key"It's Groundhog Day! To celebrate, let's look back at a letter that Dr. William Trent wrote to the EAG way back in March of 1991:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Dear Tom,
One of my favorite games is a short game (only 20 rooms) called "Search for the Key" (#80) by Donald Brown. For the casual player this game probably doesn't do much for them. You cannot enter this game with a powerful character but as a beginner. I note that it is rated as a 2. My rating for it since it is such a challenge would be about 7. I have played it at least 200 times and have lost only about 5 times in the last 150 times. I would say that I know more about this little game than the author. Usually I lost because of broken weapons so that I had no way to eliminate the black panther. I usually finish up with $80,000 to $100,000 and four of the best weapons that money can buy. I don't know anyone who ever was able to get more than two weapons. At one time I was running it as the Eamon Challenge on our BBS offering anyone who could come out of the game with $40,000 a $25 prize. No one solved the mystery so I have not revealed it. I doubt if the author even realized the quirk in the game which allowed me to win this way. I wonder if you or any of the other adventurers can
figure out how I do it. - Wm. Trent
Wow. How do you do it, Bill? <grin> - Tom </grin></pre>
</blockquote>
<div>
Well, I've looked at the program myself and couldn't find out what he was talking about either. So, back in 2003, I wrote him a letter to ask for the solution. He responded in December 2003 as follows:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In 1983 I had an Apple computer which had very few
capabilities but it did have Eamon games which I played a lot. After a couple of years the Apple changed to
Macintosh and upgraded to a format which was not compatible to the Apple. As a result I became disgusted with them and
switched to an IBM computer and did not play Eamon games any longer.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<o:p> </o:p>At that time you had to write almost any program yourself
as there were very few except Appleworks typing programs. I wrote one Eamon game myself "A Trip to
Fort Scott" which was my home town in Kansas before I joined the
navy. (I'm a Pearl Harbor Survivor)</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<o:p> </o:p>That has been too long ago for me to remember anything
about my early computer years. I am
sorry but at age 84 I can't remember anything about the Eamon games. In fact one of the things that happens to you
when you get old is your memory goes.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<o:p> </o:p>I can go to a movie and a year later my wife will say,
"We saw that movie".</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<o:p> </o:p>I will say, "I never saw that movie."</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<o:p> </o:p>I am on the computer quite a bit but have to keep
reviewing to be able to remember the programs I use most of the time. I "bookmark" anything which I wish to find on line with
the computer and keep most of the program icons on my desktop so they are easy
to find.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<o:p> </o:p>I keep a very descriptive index of all the files I have
on the hard disk.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<o:p> </o:p>I am very sorry but I do not remember anything about any
of the Eamon Games.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<o:p> </o:p>Dr. William H. Trent, DDS (retired for 18 years)</blockquote>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<o:p></o:p></div>
So, my question for the Eamon community is, what was he talking about? The data file doesn't indicate that it's possible to have that many weapons or to earn that much money. The MAIN PGM is likewise rather mundane. Was it possible that he got some customized version from a non-EAG source?Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477311598407527292noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-86370289492653630142017-12-31T07:04:00.001-05:002017-12-31T07:04:37.249-05:00Eamon RemasteredKeith Dechant has done a great job porting Eamon to run on a web based platform with no need for emulators or other softwares. He has already ported 15 adventures from the EDX platform.<br />
<br />
Check it out at <a href="https://eamon-remastered.com/" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">https://eamon-remastered.com/</a>Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477311598407527292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-20134742909218927342015-03-31T21:06:00.000-04:002015-03-31T21:06:08.285-04:00Eamon database<span style="font-family: inherit;">Derek C. Jeter scoured the Eamon database and came up with this handy way to examine all of the Eamon Deluxe adventures. <span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">You can inspect each adventure's rooms, artifacts, monsters and effects. If you get stuck in an adventure, this is great place to find all the hidden doors and embedded artifacts.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Check it out at <a href="http://dcsoftsys.com/eab/">http://dcsoftsys.com/eab/</a></span><br />
<br />
<br />Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477311598407527292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-80632640222031728672013-12-26T20:30:00.002-05:002013-12-26T20:30:45.857-05:00Two Eamon-Related AGT Adventures<div style="text-align: justify;">
Recently, Michael Detlefsen, one of two individuals who ported Eamon to the Atari ST, has posted two Eamon-related items for the PC to the Internet Archive. Each is an AGT (Adventure Game Toolkit)-authored adventure game, playable on MS-DOS and hence (presumably) Windows. Detlefsen shepherded his Atari port by hosting it on GEnie, writing <a href="http://eamonag.org/newsletters/AtariST_newsletter_1987.txt">the single Eamon newsletter</a>, and manually translating several adventures to the platform. However, Detlefsen at some point abandoned Eamon development and embraced the AGT platform.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The first is an expanded version of Evan Hodson's <i>Quest for the Holy Grail</i>, a riff of the Monty Python film<i>. Holy Grail </i>was one of the Eamons Detlefsen ported to the Atari ST; after adopting the AGT platform, he made additional enhancements to the game by adding puzzles, rewriting descriptions, and making further changes. <i>The Misadventure of the Holy Grail</i>, the enhanced version of <i>Quest for the Holy Grail, </i><a href="https://archive.org/details/MisadventureOfTheHolyGrailThe1989MichaelDetlefsenAdventure">can be downloaded here</a>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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The second is a port of Detlefsen's aborted Eamon adventure <i>The Star Portal</i>. Detlefsen made a report on his progress in the Atari Eamon newsletter, mentioning that he has "blocked out" sixty rooms for the map, but never completed the Eamon version. After abandoning Eamon and adopting AGT, Detlefsen resumed work on <i>Star Portal</i>, winning an honorable mention in the Second AGT Game Contest. A review <a href="http://www.syntax2000.co.uk/issues/10/portal.rev.txt">can be found here</a> and the game itself <a href="https://archive.org/details/StarPortalTheV1.031989MichaelDetlefsenAdventureInteractiveFiction">can be downloaded here</a>.</div>
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T Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02878252997070039887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-44637774543966732013-12-22T16:38:00.000-05:002013-12-22T16:38:43.544-05:00Eamon Mapper at HackFest<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.kansasfest.org/">KansasFest</a>, the venerable Apple II gathering running for a quarter of a century, hosts a recurring contest called "HackFest." The winner this year was none other than <a href="http://eamononline.com/wiki/Margaret_Anderson">Margaret Anderson</a>, the author of four Eamons (<i>Peg's Place</i>, <i>The Beginner's Forest</i>, <i>Treasure Island</i>, and <i>The Pirate's Cave</i>), who submitted an "Eamon mapper" as her entry. While the site is not presently hosting a disk image of her winning entry, it appears that disk images of entries are posted from time to time at <a href="http://www.kansasfest.org/hackfest/">http://www.kansasfest.org/hackfest/</a>. </div>
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Margaret Anderson also wrote an article "Mapping the Unknown: An Adventure in Eamon" about her entry in the <a href="https://juiced.gs/index/v18/i3/">September 2013 issue of Juiced.GS</a>. I don't have a subscription to Juiced.GS, so I'm unable to describe the contents of the article. But I'd love to hear a synopsis in the comments (or see a disk image of Ms. Anderson's entry!).</div>
T Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02878252997070039887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-25213995939168020182013-12-13T20:23:00.000-05:002013-12-13T20:23:04.502-05:00Pat Hurst's Eamon Gazetteer<div style="text-align: justify;">
Pat Hurst, over the course of his universally highly regarded Eamon adventures, attempted to unify the details of the fictional planet Eamon, providing an coherent story concerning Eamon's geography, politics, and pantheon. The Main Hall, according to Hurst's continuity, lies in the city of Evenhold, on the coast of the Malphigian sea. Beyond his four adventures<b style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px; line-height: 19.18402862548828px; text-align: start;">—</b><i>The Pyramid of Anharos, Buccaneer!, Grunewalde, </i>and <i>The Dark Brotherhood</i><b style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px; line-height: 19.18402862548828px; text-align: start;">—</b>Hurst's ideas informed Mike Ellis' <i>Well of the Great Ones </i>(as well as <i>A Runcible Cargo</i>). Hurst's portrait of Eamon was made concrete by a sort of "series bible," the <i>Eamon Gazetteer</i>, mentioned several times in the EAG Newsletter. </div>
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Huw Williams<b style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px; line-height: 19.18402862548828px; text-align: start;">—</b>super sleuth that he is<b style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px; line-height: 19.18402862548828px; text-align: start;">—</b>was able to not only track down Pat Hurst, but also coaxed him into scanning a copy of the fabled <i>Gazetteer</i>, <a href="http://eamononline.com/wiki/Eamon_Gazetteer">a copy of which may be found at www.eamononline.com.</a> Both scanned and transcribed versions are posted. It's a very entertaining read and a very rich component of Eamon history, so make sure to check it out.</div>
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T Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02878252997070039887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-44183028363721460522013-12-01T02:27:00.003-05:002013-12-01T02:27:45.182-05:00Discovering Eamon for the first timeWhat's it like for someone to discover Eamon for the first time? Jalen Wanderer over at <a href="http://comparativecreation.blogspot.com/">http://comparativecreation.blogspot.com/</a> has come across Eamon and is considering writing a new adventure for the system. It's an interesting read for those of you who have known Eamon for years and years!Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477311598407527292noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-2592829304400275722013-11-28T21:46:00.001-05:002013-11-28T21:46:06.257-05:00SwordThrust Walkthrough<div style="text-align: justify;">
Chester Bolingbroke, author of the excellent blog <a href="http://www.crpgaddict.blogspot.com/"><em>The CRPG Addict</em></a> found at <a href="http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/">crpgaddict.blogspot.com,</a> has written a couple of posts on Donald Brown's <em>SwordThrust</em>, the commercial successor to <em>Eamon</em>. The <a href="http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2013/09/game-117-swordthrust-1981_20.html">first post</a> details the game and Bolingbroke's thoughts on it, while the <a href="http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2013/10/swordthrust-walked-through.html">second post</a> is more detailed, and even contains some insight by the only non-Don-Brown author of <em>SwordThrust</em>, Peter Wityk</div>
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Bolingbroke has also written an in-depth FAQ/Walkthrough of <em>SwordThrust.</em> The document is very thorough, documenting the history and gameplay of the system, as well as walkthroughs and maps for all seven adventures written for it.</div>
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The document has been posted <a href="http://www.gamefaqs.com/appleii/739435-swordthrust/faqs/68230">here</a> or may be found at:.</div>
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<a href="http://www.gamefaqs.com/appleii/739435-swordthrust/faqs/68230">http://www.gamefaqs.com/appleii/739435-swordthrust/faqs/68230</a></div>
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Also, I remind the reader that in general, <a href="http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/">crpgaddict.blogspot.com</a> is worth the time of any Eamon enthusiast.</div>
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More news to come. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.</div>
T Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02878252997070039887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-15072219749539941322013-10-22T00:20:00.001-04:002013-10-22T00:20:33.891-04:00The Conclusion of the Dr. Evil Laboratories Saga<div style="text-align: justify;">
Readers will recall a pair of posts concerning one of <em>Eamon</em>'s cousins, the Commodore 64 text adventure system <a href="http://eamononline.com/wiki/Imagery!"><em>Imagery!</em></a>. For those <em>not </em>recalling them, <a href="http://eamon-guild.blogspot.com/2012/09/imagery-for-commodore-64.html">part one</a> and <a href="http://eamon-guild.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-continuing-story-of-imagery-for.html">part two</a> will direct you to the blog of our comrades at Doctor Evil Laboratories, featuring a wonderfully written retrospective of the rise and fall of the company.</div>
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Well, I sadly missed it this last month, but the <a href="http://commodoreserver.com/BlogEntryView.asp?BID=22E95790589E42CF8BAA46C249B0FDE1&EID=D9C41E661770475E97BAD939A423F0AC">concluding chapter</a> of our friend Kent Sullivan's history of Dr. Evil Labs went up in September. You needn't be familiar with C64 jargon to enjoy the blog posts; Kent's writing really outlines a coming of age story that only <em>incidentally </em>contains C64 jargon. </div>
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There isn't a concise web address for the Dr. Evil Labs blog, but you can get to the blog by clicking <a href="http://commodoreserver.com/BlogView.asp?BID=22E95790589E42CF8BAA46C249B0FDE1">here</a> and you can read the last installment <a href="http://commodoreserver.com/BlogEntryView.asp?BID=22E95790589E42CF8BAA46C249B0FDE1&EID=D9C41E661770475E97BAD939A423F0AC">here.</a></div>
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T Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02878252997070039887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-2004804837310254552013-10-20T01:02:00.002-04:002013-10-20T01:02:57.547-04:00Eamon and the Xbox Crowd<div style="text-align: justify;">
One individual's discovery of the <em>Beginners Cave </em>recently <a href="http://r2.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/1omtk0/wellfuck/?limit=500">led to quite a bit of amusement on Reddit</a> a couple of days ago, making its way to the front of r/gaming and grabbing nearly a thousand comments. </div>
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While there's a bit of salty language, it's interesting to see the Xbox generation try to get their collective head around the notion of a text adventure. I certainly enjoyed reading the comments.</div>
T Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02878252997070039887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-35530032550536479472013-09-29T21:50:00.001-04:002013-09-29T21:50:04.114-04:00IF Comp 2013<h5 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}" style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.38;"><span style="font-size: small;">Eamon lovers might be interested in the Interactive Fiction Competition, running until November 15th, 2013. Should be worth your time...</span></span></h5>
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<a href="http://ifcomp.org/comp13/index.php" style="line-height: 1.38;">http://ifcomp.org/comp13/index.php</a></div>
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Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477311598407527292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-25595125298663134042013-06-24T15:23:00.002-04:002013-06-24T15:23:58.030-04:00Another Curiosity, the "Creative Adventure Disk"<div style="text-align: justify;">
This is just a short post to throw something out in hopes that some reader or other will have information.</div>
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I stumbled upon some unusual <em>Eamoniana </em>(I'm coining a term here) today while going through WorldCat: the "Creative Adventure Disk," Apple II software published in 1986 by an Australian company called Select Software. It is described as:</div>
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Create your own dungeons and dragons adventure game. Compatible with Eamon series. Suitable as an educational aid.</div>
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Select Software, it appears, distributed Eamon proper before releasing this, so this is presumably <em>not </em>Eamon. Moreover, the system spans four disks, so it's clearly robust.</div>
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The reference can be found <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/title/creative-adventure-disk/oclc/225973575">at WorldCat</a> with OCLC number 225973575. No libraries seem to have a copy. If you've encountered this software, I'd love to learn more about it.</div>
T Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02878252997070039887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-30334413668018226802013-06-13T00:47:00.001-04:002013-06-13T00:47:59.787-04:00"Lair of the Minotaur" for Jon Walker's Eamon<div style="text-align: justify;">
A further Eamon for Jon Walker's PC Eamon has been found lurking in the internets. While PC-SIG supported Walker's ports of <em>The Beginner's Cave</em>, <em>The Ice Cave</em>, <em>Assault on the Clone Master</em>, and <em>Quest for Trezore</em>---and released <em>Cronum's Castle </em>and <em>Lord of the Underland</em> independently---it never released his port of <em>Lair of the Minotaur</em>. Walker's port of <em>Lair </em>was distributed by his "Wisconsin Software Systems"; why it wasn't picked up by PC-SIG is unknown.</div>
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David Kinder at <a href="http://www.ifarchive.org/">www.ifarchive.org</a> was generous enough to fix the compressed files---updating them for modern systems---and to host this port of <em>Lair of the Minotaur </em>on the site as well <a href="http://www.ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archiveXgamesXpcXeamon.html">here.</a> He has posted <em>Cronum </em>and <em>Underland </em>to the archive as well. Hence, the Walker PC Eamon library stands at:</div>
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<i>The Main Hall/ Beginner's Cave</i> by Donald Brown (ported by Jon Walker)</div>
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<i>The Ice Cave</i> by Jon Walker</div>
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<i>Assault on the Clone Master</i> by Donald Brown (ported by Jon Walker)</div>
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<i>Quest for Trezore </i>by Jim Jacobson (ported by Jon Walker)</div>
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<i>Cronum's Castle</i> by Matt Ashcraft and Richard Tonsing</div>
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<i>Lord of the Underland</i> by Justin Langseth</div>
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<em>Lair of the Minotaur </em>by Donald Brown (ported by Jon Walker)</div>
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<em>Dungeon Designer</em></div>
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All of these files can be conveniently found at <a href="http://www.ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archiveXgamesXpcXeamon.html">at the PC Eamon page</a>. Many thanks to David Kinder for his help.</div>
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There will soon be some announcements concerning the Micro-Adventure Contest. If you haven't submitted something yet, we still welcome contributions, though the competition itself has closed.</div>
T Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02878252997070039887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-59728151578850289272013-05-15T00:42:00.005-04:002013-05-15T00:42:59.817-04:00Eamon Revolutions, Database Editor for Windows, and Contest Reminder<div style="text-align: justify;">
So <a href="http://eamononline.com/wiki/Huw_Williams">Huw Williams</a> isn't the only one making sweeping contributions to the Wonderful World of Eamon. Derek Jeter, author of the exceedingly well-crafted <a href="http://eamon-guild.blogspot.com/2012/12/reviews-for-newest-eamon-adventure.html">Stronghold of Kahr-Dur</a>, has recently released (in alpha in one case) some great Eamon-related software.</div>
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First off is the very promising <a href="http://www.dcsoftsys.com/er/index.html">Eamon Revolutions</a>, a web-based update of Eamon. A number of enhancements have been made by Jeter, details of which can be found <a href="http://eamononline.com/wiki/Eamon_Revolutions">at the Wonderful Wiki of Eamon entry</a>. It is presently in alpha and <i>The Beginner's Cave </i>is the only adventure thus far ported but it looks to be a lot of fun, as well as a good way to introduce folks to the joy of Eamon from any web browser.</div>
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But there's more... Jeter has also put together a Windows-based GUI dedicated to editing Eamon Deluxe databases, the <a href="http://www.dcsoftsys.com/edxedit/">EDX Adventure Database Editor</a>. For aspiring Eamon authors with a Windows machine, this software appears to make the editing of an Eamon Deluxe adventure a smoother process.</div>
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With that being said, I'll remind readers of the blog that the deadline for the <a href="http://eamon-guild.blogspot.com/2013/03/eamon-micro-adventure-contest.html">Eamon Micro-Adventure Contest</a> is fast approaching. With the <a href="http://www.dcsoftsys.com/edxedit/">EDX Adventurer Editor</a>, there's really no excuse <i>not </i>to secure for yourself the eternal glory and esteem that comes with writing an Eamon adventure. So put together a few rooms and send them to us by <i>June 1st</i> at tfeamon[at]gmail.com or eamondeluxe[at]gmail.com.</div>
T Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02878252997070039887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-37957380358911456422013-04-24T01:32:00.001-04:002013-04-24T01:32:58.250-04:00Announcing the Wonderful Wiki of Eamon<div style="text-align: justify;">
Over the past year, the intrepid <a href="http://www.huwtopia.com/">Huw Williams</a> has worked tirelessly--though quietly--to lay the foundations for an extraordinarily comprehensive, online Eamon encyclopedia. Recently, this work has become open to the public.</div>
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<a href="http://www.eamononline.com/">The Wonderful Wiki of Eamon</a>, which can be found at <a href="http://www.eamononline.com/">www.eamononline.com</a>, is a wiki edited and curated by members of the extended Eamon community. Anyone can log in and begin lending a hand, whether it's by creating a page for an missing topic or by adding material on an existing one. Every area of the Eamon universe is touched on and what Huw has put together is nothing short of phenomenal.</div>
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As a great example of the potential of Huw's project, check out the page for <a href="http://eamononline.com/wiki/Lair_of_the_Minotaur">The Lair of the Minotaur</a>. Included are summaries of the plot, reviews, and a section detailing how its characters and geography relate to the larger Eamon universe. Even the <a href="http://eamononline.com/wiki/The_Lair_of_the_Minotaur/MAIN_PGM">original MAINPGM in BASIC</a> has been included. While not all Eamon adventures have received this exhaustive a treatment, you're invited to pick your favorite Eamon adventure and assist in giving it the same treatment.</div>
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So head over to <a href="http://eamononline.com/wiki/The_Wonderful_Wiki_of_Eamon">the Wonderful Wiki of Eamon</a>, whether it's to check out the content or to contribute to the project.</div>
T Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02878252997070039887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-49286044250902689292013-04-03T00:26:00.004-04:002013-04-03T00:31:10.096-04:00Eamon Adventure Nominated for Interactive Fiction Award (and other news).<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our very own Thomas Ferguson has had his debut Eamon adventure, <a href="http://eamon-guild.blogspot.com/2012/03/new-eamon-announcement-and-review.html" target="_blank">A Runcible Cargo</a>, nominated for the XYZZY IF Games award(s). If you haven't played Runcible, you should. And if you have a spare moment, you can show your support by voting for it at the <a href="http://xyzzyawards.org/games.php" target="_blank">XYZZY Awards page</a>. Voting ends on April 15th.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A Runcible Cargo is included with the <a href="http://www.eamonag.org/pages/eamondx.htm" target="_blank">Eamon Deluxe 5.0</a> package and also available in a <a href="http://www.eamonag.org/pages/eamondx.htm#DL_EDX_Stand_Alone_Adventures" target="_blank">stand alone</a> format for Windows users.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>In other Eamon news...</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Work is nearly finished on an old French Eamon that was unearthed (as a very damaged Apple II disk image) last fall. Originally a version 6 Eamon, "Le H.L.M. Maudit" (or "Tenement of the Damned") has been translated into English, converted to Eamon Deluxe, and is now being backported (as a version 7 style Eamon) to a new Apple II disk image. The salvaged adventure is a short, but well executed (and rather humorous), hack'n'slash romp that was recently reviewed in the March 2013 Eamon Deluxe <a href="http://www.eamonag.org/pages/newsletters.htm" target="_blank">Newsletter</a>. Both the Eamon Deluxe version and the Apple II disk image backport will offer the option of being played in either English or French.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">A new adventure is currently being tested and debugged: Eamon Deluxe #25 - The Treachery of Zorag by Derek C. Jeter includes active monsters that players can talk to, ask questions of, and otherwise interact with on a much more advanced level than that found in standard adventures. Among other special features, it also has a <b>very</b> large map which includes over three hundred rooms that cover multiple different settings and types of terrain. Derek is the very skilled Eamon author who's debut adventure, "<a href="http://eamon-guild.blogspot.com/2012/12/reviews-for-newest-eamon-adventure.html" target="_blank">Stronghold of Kahr-Dur</a>", was released to favorable reviews last fall and "The Treachery of Zorag" is going to be one that Eamon fans will not want to miss. Its predicted public release date is late April or early May of 2013.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">It has come to my attention that the "plain text" editions of the Eamon Deluxe Newsletter are not easily readable on non-Windows computers, nor can they be displayed without plugin workarounds on any web browser except Internet Explorer. With the release of Eamon Deluxe 5.0, a primary focus of modern Eamon development is <b>accessibility</b>. This means that new material should designed for cross platform flexibility <i>and</i> 100% compatible with the screen reading software used by vision impaired fans. The plain text newsletter editions, which are currently available as Rich Text Format documents, are soon going to be replaced with simple HTML versions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Likewise, this blog itself has been reported to have compatibility issues with screen readers and, among other problems, doesn't allow vision impaired readers to post comments. Currently I'm considering the option of re-posting all blogs on a more compatible mirror site, but if anyone has an easier solution or any suggestions as to possible workarounds for this problem please contact me. In the meantime, vision impaired users can email their comments to either Matt Clark (eamonag [at] gmail.com), Thomas Ferguson (tfeamon [at] gmail.com), or myself (eamondeluxe [at] gmail.com) for posting.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Two previously unavailable newsletters have been added to the Guild archive page. Both originally published in 1987, the <a href="http://www.eamonag.org/pages/newsletters.htm#Other_Publications" target="_blank">new additions to the archive</a> include a newsletter by Kent Sullivan regarding the C64 Eamon cousin, Imagery! and a loosely written publication describing an Atari ST port of the original Eamon system.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">There is quite a bit more Eamon-related material currently in development or awaiting final polish. Among the copious collection lingering about the Guild workspace like a mimic in the Beginners Cave: a set of working, fully playable Apple II disk images containing the short lived "Eamon Pro" system; updates to the Guild's classic Eamon disk image library which will once again be bootable (via emulator) and patched with fixes from the EAG's list of known bugs/issues; new additions to the Eamon Deluxe adventure pack, "The Lost Treasures of Eamon", which include "Beneath Mount Imagery" (converted from the C64 Imagery! system) and "Crypt Crashers-- The Tomb of Horrors" (from an excellent Atari ST Eamon port); additional Eamon Deluxe adventure packs updated and made available for the new 5.0 system, including "The Donald Brown Adventures", "The Roger Pender Adventures", "The Robert Parker Adventures" and "Classic Eamon Adventures Volume One"; and... many more items of interest to Eamon fans.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span>Frank - Eamon Deluxehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05016434140873556147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-66618602573299296602013-03-23T19:41:00.001-04:002013-03-23T19:41:50.101-04:00A Trifecta of Eamon News<div style="text-align: justify;">
Three things which will surely interest readers of the blog:</div>
<br />
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Bill Martens' website <a href="http://www.callapple.org/">www.callapple.org</a> put up a <a href="http://www.callapple.org/2013/03/22/eamon-adventures-now-playable-online-on-virtual-apple/">post yesterday</a> detailing a completely painless way to play Apple II Eamon online---no emulators, no hassle. Frank Black's Eamon hard drive has been adapted at the <a href="http://www.virtualapple.org/">Virtual Apple ][</a> and it runs a host of ProDos Eamons flawlessly. To try it out, go to <a href="http://www.virtualapple.org/eamonfkdisk.html">www.virtualapple.org/eamonfkdisk.html</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Chester Bolingbroke has written a piece detailing Eamon in his awesome blog, <a href="http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/">The CRPG Addict</a>. The blog is fascinating and well-written and features a very lively (and equally fascinating) comments section. The relevant post can be read at <a href="http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/">www.crpgaddict.blogspot.com</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The <a href="http://eamonag.org/newsletters/acrobat/Eamon_DeluXe_NewsletterV3n01_03-2013.pdf">March 2013 issue of the Eamon Deluxe Newsletter</a> has been posted, filled with all sorts of reviews and articles. The .rtf version has been produced and will be posted alongside the .pdf version soon. </li>
</ol>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Eamon Deluxe Newsletter, by the way, isn't necessarily devoted to merely Eamon Deluxe. All platforms, past and present, of Eamon are dealt with and represented. (Indeed, in the present issue, we feature reviews of adventures and systems for the Commodore 64, Apple II, Atari ST, <i>and</i> Eamon Deluxe!) We also welcome any contributions you may have, whether they be letters, comments, reviews, articles, or otherwise.</div>
T Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02878252997070039887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-64121323396969387532013-03-18T17:30:00.000-04:002013-03-18T17:30:00.480-04:00Catching up<br />
Finally tackling some of my Eamon to-do list...<br />
<br />
I've added two reviews to the website that Thomas Ferguson sent me way back in January of 2011... Yes, over two years later, although in my defense, I was just starting my MBA back then. Anyway, mosey on over to <a href="http://www.eamonag.org/columns/Reviews251-300.htm">http://www.eamonag.org/columns/Reviews251-300.htm</a> to read his reviews of Eamon #253 The Prism of Shadows by Wade Clarke and James Anderson and Eamon #254 Dawn of the Warlock by Wade Clarke.<br />
<br />
Uploaded a fixed version of #144 Gartin Manor that Wade Clarke sent me back in December of 2011.<br />
<br />
Posted the review from <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.796875px;">Dark@xgam.org, only two years later.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.796875px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.796875px;">Sigh. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.796875px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.796875px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.796875px;"><br /></span>
Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477311598407527292noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-41456672626290379982013-03-11T00:06:00.003-04:002013-03-11T00:08:33.322-04:00Review from a new Eamon fan<div class="tr_bq">
Bad Matthew. Dark@xgam.org sent me this post for the blog in January of 2012 and I meant to publish it much earlier. I'm only now sorting through my old emails and found it. Sorry for the delay! </div>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A new Eamon fan.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For many people, Eamon will be a
matter of nostalgia, something they played 20 years ago.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For myself however, my acquaintance with Eamon actually began in 2008.</span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Indeed, while I found some great if titles (Worlds apart, Pytho's mask and
Babel to name a few), it seemed that four out of five games I tried I'd find
myself running around getting frustrated as I’m told something like "I
don't know how to put" or "you can't use that."</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right from the age of about three,
I've been interested in computer games, however being visually impaired game access is, of course, an issue. Using screen reading software, most standard
text in windows will be quite readable. Thus games like interactive fiction,
muds and browser based mmorps are quite playable or can be made so with a little adaptation.<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(Audio only computer games that output exclusively in sound also exist, for more
information please visit <a href="http://www.audiogames.net/">www.audiogames.net</a>).</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What has always been of interest to
me most in games is exploration, being able to wander around an unknown area,
become truly immersed in the setting, become part of an epic story, or at the
very least get to explore a new environment different from everyday life. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So when I first got to university in about 2002 and found games that used text
that I could play on my PC, I went on something of a spree, trying out
everything I could.</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The problem was that I quickly found
each type of game had it's limitations.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Browser based mmorps tended to work
very much on a competitive basis, focused almost exclusively on bettering your
characters stats in order to compete with other players, ---- indeed many were
heavily focused upon player vs player combat. This wouldn't be so bad in itself, accept that in the vast majority of games it
seemed that little or no effort had been spent on the setting or the
description, and most of the game actions would boil down to hitting the
explore button until you found a monster (often just defined as a single
name), then hitting attack until the monster's hp got to zero.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even those few games such as legend
of the green dragon that employed some questing often worked on a hit a button
until you get a result sort of basis, with little actual exploring to be done
and often very repetitive game play.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Then there was interactive fiction,
which certainly had lots of wandering around and reading descriptions, not to
mention plot and objectives. However since most if games used puzzles as their
primary method of moving the game along, and since most had a very large parser (subject to program limitations), guessing the solutions to puzzles, or indeed
guessing how the game wanted you to write solutions could be quite frustrating.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, combat in interactive fiction
games was at a minimum, and it was always a little disappointing to realize that
you couldn't actually pull out a sword and have at it with the evil troll or
reduce the robots into scrap, since while certainly not all problems can be
solved with violence, it does make for a good dramatic confrontation, or a way
to give you a nice high tension break in the middle of mapping a maze or
thinking out a riddle.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, it seemed text rpgs fell between too stools. Either it was if, had ridiculous puzzles and zero combat, or it was
a browser based mmorp, with repetitive grinding and little or no description or
exploration. The Eamon system however offers a really nice compromise. Enough combat
mechanics to allow confrontation, and enough of a parser to allow puzzles though
not so broad as to be ridiculous.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd heard about Eamon on various if
sites along with some of the few other text rpgs (usually old dos ones),
available like Fallthru or Westfront, but since a screen reader can't interact
with emulated text due to lack of the windows graphic toolkit, I'd given up
hope of trying it. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That was until in 2008 I ran across Eamon deluxe, which obviously ran in a dos
style environment and thus had readable text.</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, in some ways the system was
slightly archaic, for instance I couldn't use x for examine as in most if
games, and some of the behavior of the parser was a little clunky, and I
sometimes missed being able to get further information by examining monsters or
items. Yet despite these problems, despite being twenty years old the thing still worked! The mimic was still a surprise, treasures were still fun to get, it was fun to
use spells and it was great to gather allies and see them fight on my side.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As I tried several of the earlier
adventures in Eamon Deluxe, I also realized something else about Eamon which
probably makes more difference today than it did back in the 80's and 90's.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eamon does not take itself
seriously!</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even adventures with a serious theme
where you are saving the world, rescuing some doomed individual or confronting
diabolical evil have a rather easy going attitude. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Demons are clobberable, treasures
can be sold for cash and good will pretty much always win.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Though pretty obvious in the time it
was created, today, with every hero being a gruff angst ridden scumbag, and
every villain having some sort of tragic past, the old fashioned values of
heroes who slaughter their way confidently through hoards of nasties, and evil
overlords simply reeking of the essence of badness is just down right
refreshing!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Even the mild sexism in the form of
the many rescued damsels doesn't come across as over the top (particularly
because quite often in the Eamon system, the damsels can grab up a weapon once
rescued and start smacking away).<br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only problem of course was that
the initial Eamon Deluxe was not perfect. It took some wangling to run
successfully, indeed some visually impaired people wouldn't try it for this
reason, had one or two bugs and didn't contain all of the adventures (I was
sorry that Sam Ruby's were missing since from the reviews those sounded awesome).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However now Frank and Eamon deluxe
are back many of these problems are being fixed, and more Eamons will be
playable, which is good news all around, Perhaps even some new adventures will
be written just for Eamon deluxe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite those in the IF community
that criticize, I am certain Eamon very much has it's place today, since it
fits a role that few other games do, that of an exploration rpg which can
manage combat or puzzles, plus many of the classic games have quite a
different take on fantasy than we see in fashion currently.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For these reasons, I very much hope
Eamon deluxe will help bring in some new players to Eamon just as it did with
me, since in a lot of ways it is unique, and the fact that it persisted for so
long and so many games shows that even if not the most modern system, it still
has a lot to offer. </span></blockquote>
<br />
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Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477311598407527292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-60564554834542759032013-03-05T02:00:00.000-05:002013-06-15T00:44:04.346-04:00Eamon Micro-Adventure Contest<div style="text-align: justify;">
The March 2013 Newsletter has been completed and will be posted soon. In the meantime, enjoy another preview of its contents: an Eamon micro-adventure writing contest!<br />
<br />
If you've read through the old NEUC and EAG newsletters, you've undoubtedly run across one of the contests held years ago. (This is why there are about a billion Eamons mentioning a "Life Orb.") They tended to produce some pretty solid adventures. Of course, actually sitting down to <i>write </i>an Eamon is a pretty daunting task. While it's certainly a lot of fun, to write an entire adventure requires some investment of time. So here's the compromise:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Consider a large Eamon dungeon in the shape of a tower. The challenge is to write in approximately <b>ten rooms </b>a miniature dungeon making up one floor of the tower using either <i>Apple II </i>Eamon or <i>Eamon Deluxe</i>. You can add monsters, treasures, secret doors, and weapons... whatever your mind can generate, so be it. Frank and I will string them together into a (dis)continuous whole and judge on the basis of pure awesomeness.<br />
<br />
The winner will receive a plaque on the glorious Wall of Fame (in Frank Black's <i>Waiting Room </i>micro-adventure) to be memorialized for all eternity. (We'll throw in a free subscription to the newsletter as well.)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
You, reader, are afforded the opportunity to make your mark on the Wonderful World of Eamon without taking three months of spare time to do so. Grab a few beers and a pencil, fire up the Adventure Designer, and in <i>an evening</i> you too can be part of Eamon history.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Here are the rules:</div>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The target is around <b>ten rooms</b>. If you want to dip your toes in, we'll accept fewer. If you're an old hat, we'll accept more.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Dungeons must include a <b>staircase leading up </b>and a <b>staircase leading down </b>at some point in the dungeon so that we can weave the entries together.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><b>No special programming. </b>Frank has equipped Eamon Deluxe with enough built-in functionality that you can produce a number of effects without hassle.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">If you want to go all <b>House of Ill Repute </b>on us... well, please don't. A few salty allusions are one thing but bear in mind that there may be children writing entries. For some reason, I'd feel awkward leaving <b>Sesame Street</b> and climbing the stairs to <b>Return to the Cat House</b>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Submissions must be written in either <b>Eamon 7.x or 8.x</b> for the <b>Apple II</b> or <b>Eamon Deluxe 5.0 </b>for other platforms.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">As a special feature, entering a value of 1 in the User #1 value of a monster will ensure both that the monster's friendliness doesn't change and that the monster is invincible.</li>
</ol>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And that's all. If you want to keep in a medieval motif, feel free. If you want to go all high-tech, feel free. If you want to recreate your local Starbucks Coffee, replete with that cute barista who hooks you up with free mochachinos, go ahead (just bear Rule 4 in mind).</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you would like to participate but want assistance, you can write me at <b>tfeamon [at] gmail.com</b> or Frank at <b>eamondeluxe [at] gmail.com</b>. We'll be glad to help.<br />
<br />
<strike>Submissions may be sent as disk images (for Apple II entries) or compressed folders (for EDX entries) to the above addresses by <b>June 1st, 2013</b> to be considered.</strike> <b>While the competition has closed, we still welcome any additional contributions while the entries are combined. </b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
T Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02878252997070039887noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-77446814519705769442013-03-04T02:00:00.000-05:002013-03-04T02:00:32.385-05:00Eamon Deluxe 5.0 for vision impaired Linux users.<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As DOSBox doesn't actually output "text" screens (rather it draws a flawless picture of what the text screen would look like), it is currently not compatible with screen readers. I've talked to the creator of DOSBox and am confident that, given the time and energy, I can create a custom build that solves this problem.<br /><br />In the meantime, there is an alternate way for vision impaired players to run the Linux version of Eamon Deluxe 5.0. I suspected this method was possible but didn't get a chance to test it before public release. Thanks to <b>Trenton Matthews</b> for forwarding the following instructions which he found on the <a href="http://audiogames.net/db.php?id=Eamon+delux" target="_blank">Audio Games forums</a>:</span><br />
<br />
"The following is from a user on the AudioGames.net forums, who goes by the name of "fastfinge". It is a set of instructions on how to play Eamon Deluxe on Debian-based distros of Linux (including Ubuntu).<br /><br />First, log in to your Linux system via SSH. If you are running on a server (like Linode) the way I am, you already have to do it this way. If you are running Linux on your local computer or on VMWare with Gnome, you will need to set up SSHD and log in to your system with SSH; if you do not do this, the DOS emulator will try to start up XWindows, and nothing will be accessible.<br /><br />Once logged in via SSH and in your home directory you can install and play Eamon Deluxe:<br /><br />1. wget http://www.eamonag.org/programs/EamonDX/Eamon_Deluxe_50_Beta4-X.zip<br />2. unzip Eamon_Deluxe_50_Beta4-X.zip.<br /><br />If this command gives you an error, use "sudo apt-get install unzip" and then try the command again.<br /><br />3. sudo apt-get install dosemu<br /><br />This will ask if you want to install a bunch of stuff. Say yes.<br /><br />Once Eamon Deluxe and DOSEmu have been installed, you can skip to step 4 whenever you want to run Eamon Deluxe:<br /><br />4. dosemu<br /><br />This command will give you some errors. Just press enter until they go away, and you get a c: prompt.<br /><br />5. D:<br />6. cd Eamon_Deluxe_50_Beta4-X<br />7. cd edx<br />8. cd C<br />9. EAMONDX.BAT<br /><br />At this point, you should now be running Eamon Deluxe! You'll get some first-run information that you need to press enter to bypass. When asked if you want VI mode, be sure to press Y and then X.<br /><br />This is as far as I've gone, and I've never played these adventures before under DOS or anywhere else, but it does seem to be working. So...now I'm off to spend my entire evening adventuring! Best of luck, everyone."<br /><br />Frank - Eamon Deluxehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05016434140873556147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-26751315023372739202013-02-02T23:30:00.000-05:002013-02-02T23:30:01.486-05:00The problem with the RPG element So, just some musings to pass the time until the next version of Eamon Deluxe is released...<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
The problem with the RPG element </div>
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I've often compared Eamon to a nascent version of the interactive fiction community with an RPG twist. That RPG twist made Eamon somewhat interesting, but lets face it, it also made it something of a pain as well. Here you are playing along with a well cultivated adventurer when *BAM*. You get killed by a sudden death trap. *BAM*. You lose a battle to some suped up boss monster (here's looking at you Guardian from Tomb of Molinar). Your character dies, and you have to start over from the beginning. Except you don't. You have three options. 1) Start over from scratch, Burly Irishman, Beginners Cave, Trollsfire, etc.; 2) Restore your character off the main hall and try again, or 3) Just simply use the plain vanilla approach of Fresh Sam to play your adventures. Thus, you either get to continuously rebuild your character over and over (if you're playing the honest way), play with the character you want (with subsequent restorations), or play a generic Fresh Sam. None of these are truly satisfying. <br />
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My point is that here we have one of the few things that distinguishes Eamon from the rest of the Interactive Fiction genre, yet actually utilizing the RPG features is tedious. Even Tom Zuchowski stated back in the March 1997 newsletter "Use the FRESH SAM program to play Eamon and don't use the Main Hall at all.
That's what I have done for 10 years." But I don't give a damn about Sam. He gets killed a million times. He breaks his favorite sword. He drinks a potion and loses all of his charisma and agility. Doesn't matter.<br />
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How to fix this? Sam Ruby figured this out and wrote at least two adventures
(Elemental Apocalypse and Boy and the Bard) where he provides the
character to the player. The primary advantage of this is that it makes it much easier to balance the play to the player. You don't get some guy waltzing through with 1000 hd points and a 500x4342 sword, slaughtering everything in sight. Instead, you have a consistent approach to how things will be handled. The designer knows that to expect and can probably produce better programs for it.<br />
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But once you go down that path, how different is this from other interactive fiction? The player in Infocom's Planetfall is also the same every single time you play. While that player ultimately "advances" to Stationfall, he doesn't carry over the RPG experience. To compare this to Eamon, you're only going to be walking around The Shopping Mall with Trollsfire if you've actually generated a character and gone through the Beginner's Cave. Fresh Sam addicts don't get that choice.<br />
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The other option (and one that should be included if possible) is to just allow the player to start that game over without having them go back to the Main Hall. While this fixes some of the RPG element, the designer is still left with some of the game play balance issues. <br />
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So, what are your thoughts? Do you like the RPG element, or are you quite frankly annoyed with it? Do you still use the Main Hall? Fresh Sam? Have you modified your Fresh Sam to the characteristics that you would prefer? What approaches do you think would work best from a game design prospective? I'm interested to hear your thoughts!Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477311598407527292noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7322604.post-89040746451361584932013-01-31T00:26:00.000-05:002013-01-31T00:26:05.526-05:00Congtratulations!Congratulations to our very own Frank Black, designer of the Eamon Deluxe system, on his recent engagement. How exciting!Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477311598407527292noreply@blogger.com2