The Dungeon (2023 edition)
by John Baber TheDungeon.prg
https://www.mediafire.com/file/m7884650 ... n.prg/file
The Dungeon (deluxe edition with notes and programming concept scans)
https://www.mediafire.com/file/antldon4 ... 3.rar/file

I made this in 1985, trying to teach myself how to program the Zork Interactive Language (ZIL) in Commodore Basic. I figured out how to do "take all" pretty well, and had five treasures for the player to locate. Took 38 years of beta-testing to finally get this game into playable shape. I have no idea how Infocom play-tested their real games in order to make their deadlines.

The final bug-swatting was remembering that CLS (Clear Screen) is not the same as CLR (clear all variables)!

In memory of Justin Bertrand Galen Skywatcher, formerly known as Lynn Elmer Queen, who encouraged me to learn programming at Bethany College.

Fantastic! I've written a handful of adventures myself, so I'll very much look forward to playing this!

Congrats on finishing it! I will certainly take a look.

So you reproduced ZIL in BASIC? Wow, are there other ZIL games out there that could run on this "engine"?
The I is implementation BTW.

Thank you. To be accurate, I wanted to see how I could replicate complicated ZIL commands in C64 Basic. I learned how to parse an input two-word command "drop all", "kill troll" into a verb command and a noun/object command.

Consider what ZIL had to interpret for the "take all" command: It had to check if items were already in your inventory, whether they were in the room, whether they were in a monster's possession or in a box of some sort, whether the item was carry-able, and finally, whether you were already carrying too much to pick it up.

I made the adventure 55 rooms and had fun trying to figure out how the professionals put Zork I together. This 2023 version can be completely played through without problems. There is an additional challenge in seeing all the ways a player can die, testing those took the longest time.

I included a cheat code. Typing "rm=" will prompt you to input which of the 55 rooms you want to skip to. Room 38, for instance, has the blazing torch which doesn't go out. of course, this is only to aid jumping around, skipping essential rooms may kill you. The deluxe rar file includes my maps to show you where all the rooms are and what exits they have.

Enjoy this simply as a lesson in programming text adventures... thanks to Compute's Gazette magazine for the tips...

Also, remember that as with any basic program, you can tap the ESC key to break the program execution while it's in the middle of parsing your last command. Then list to see the Basic code.

Hi John,

I have tried to put The Dungeon on the magic desk cartridge but it stopped with out of memory error, do you have any suggestion to make it possible or can I compile your code with a basic compiler to gain memory optimization of some sort?

It's a standard basic program. Your download may be incomplete, try downloading again. I tested the download itself on the Hox 64 emulator as well as CCS64. I'm playing the download right now.
I am not familiar with your magic cartridge, sorry!

Respect!!! lol

Is being reviewed in Zzap issue #12

No way, I am honored for the review. Some general comments for your reviewer:

This is a terribly derivative version of Zork I. I was just a 15-year old trying to teach himself how to simulate what Infocom made with basic commands. In no way should this game be considered something worth paying for! But it is bug-tested and holds up well after all these years.

I am most proud of how you can type "take all", "drop all", and "f--- all". The last was made as a joke. Teenage humor.

Some odd commands: "Odysseus", "jump", "yell", "kill self" is a quick way of getting out of of a trap.

When you die, you randomly reappear somewhere in the forest.

The ways to die in the game: by a grue from a dark room, by red dragon breath, by throwing your burning sparkler, by troll, by pick up your boat while in the river (just being silly with that one), by flooding the dam, by visiting the waterfall, and by troll poisoning. You get several lives, so you can try out several of the deaths in one session.

The first time you die, you get a hint of looking for a knife to defend yourself. The next time you die, the hint is more specific. Should you manage to locate the blazing torch and die, it will be placed near the trapdoor in the house where you start.

Throwing water on the red dragon gives you a hint on what will kill him.

You cannot open the boulder door without having the opal key in your possession.

If you pray at the altar, you will be teleported out of the dungeon back to the house.

Hope that helps your Zzap review!

Issue #12 of Zzap!64 magazine (print or online digital subscription version) features a very kind review of my game here. You can buy their magazine here at Fusion Retro Books:

https://fusionretrobooks.com/collection ... 4-magazine

I wish my parents had lived to see my name in print recognized as a Commodore 64 programmer. I think many kids from the eighties like me dreamed of being famous programmers. It's a little late and I passed the half-century mark, but better late than never!