User:Stephen Shaw/sandbox

TUNNELS OF DOOM

Tunnels of Doom was a 1982 module made by Texas Instruments for the TI99/4 computer and was created by Kevin Kenney. The module contained code which required the loading of game data from cassette or disk. A sample adventure was sold with the module on disk or tape but subsequent adventure databases were developed by individual users using back-engineered editor programs.

The module did not have an immediately playable game when you plugged it in, it required you to load a database from tape (slow) or from disk which was somewhat expensive (at the time) as costly peripherals were required which were not widely owned.

A UK computer game magazine was unimpressed and only gave the module three stars out of five, but it has proved popular with TI owners and has remained in play with quite a number of user written adventures being made available. The game has been so popular it has been recreated in java.

Java: Tunnels of Doom Reboot (http://www.dreamcodex.com/todr.php) by Howard Kistler (with Kevin Kenney's agreement), also has a conversion tool to allow the older third party adventures to be converted.

Main gameplay was through the module, while game items- names, values, powers, graphics - were stored in the external databases and could be edited using verioud programs which were developed by third parties.

An online manual is held by the Museum of Adventure Game History at https://www.mocagh.org/loadpage.php?getgame=tunnelsofdoom (click the pdf icon) with another copy at 99er.net: http://www.99er.net/download2/index.php?act=view&id=155

Although the Wizard character (or equivalent- the name could be amended) had limited defence capacity, the base coding left a gap for the Wizard - or any other player- to have armour with a rating of up to 37. How to do have increased shield protection...

One player way: 1. Leave the shop without armour or shields but retain enough cash to buy some! 2. Go to an empty room (kill enemies, pick up things but if there is armour, go to a different room. 3. Select T (Trade)and select Opt 4 Shields, and Who? = self 4. Congratulations you now have armour with a value of zero 5. Select T (Trade) Opt 3, Armour and you are about to get rid of armour with a value of zero: 6. Give to? Just press ENTER which will drop your armour.

Two ways beckon now: Route A: i. Who? Select SELF ii. Too much!!! Drop what? The armour with a value of zero. iii. Go to the shop and buy any old armour. iv. Go back to the room you dropped your worthless armour in.

OR Route B (from 6 above): a. T (Trade) shields, Who? Self b. You have armour value 0 again and the room has armour value 0. c. Leave and reenter.

now from route A or B: 7. Who? Self 8. Too much to carry- drop? Drop the armour value 0 or whatever you purchased in Route B 9. You now carry armour with a value of 32, even if you are a Wizard.

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OR Multiple players- say two players A and B. 1 One player must not purchase armour, the other player should purchase armour in the shop. 2 Go to empty room (see solo point 2) 3.both players Trade - Shields- Self 4.both players Trade - with other player- Armour 5. Both now have armour=32.

Armour=32 can be increased to 37 using eg Repair Scroll etc.