Basic playing Instructions for Dungeons of Daggorath - by Mr. Reaper (Aaron Oliver) 9-17-2003 Edited again 8-11-2017 & removed PC-Port-specific stuff www.tinyvast.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you wish to view the full playing instructions (*recommended*), try a web search. There is a lot interesting information in the full manual, plus the background story, which will help put you in the proper wizard-slaying mood. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ====== Basics ====== Well, you know how it goes... Some darn evil Wizard has moved in to the Dungeons under Daggorath Mountains, and is generally becoming a nuisance to the neighboring town, what with the cursing of the land and the summoning of all kinds of nasty monsters and all. So you've decided to take it upon yourself to save the town, because you have some hero complex or whatever, and you would do anything to impress the wenches. Ok, what do you want? Go find the full version if you want it to sound dramatic... I'm trying to be brief here. After you start the game, you will be able to view a short demo in which you can see a few of the things you might face in the dungeon. Press any key to start the game. You will be transported into the dungeon and will be equipped with a PINE TORCH and a WOODEN SWORD in your backpack. You can see your status bar along the screen, with your heartbeat indicator in the middle. The left and right sides will display what you are carrying in your left and right hands (they will both be EMPTY when you start). The screen will be completely dark, because you haven't lit your TORCH yet.... Your HEARTBEAT indicates how healthy and rested you are. Your heart will beat faster as you suffer damage or strain yourself physically. Any kind of physical activity can tax your heart, such as moving around wile carrying a heavy load of items, making attacks, or suffering damage from monsters. If your heartbeat becomes too fast, you can lose consciousness or die. Standing still, when you can, will allow you to rest and slow your heartbeat down, to recover from damage. As you kill monsters your heart will grow stronger. As you descend into deeper levels of the dungeon, you will face far mightier creatures.... The magical forces around you will become thicker and the air will become thinner the deeper you descend, making even moving around more difficult.... Don't climb down to a deeper level until you are sure you are ready! ======== Commands ======== To perform an action, you have to type in a command, and then press ENTER. You don't have to wait for one command to complete before you input the next one -- just type them in as fast as you like, and they will be buffered. Most commands can be abbreviated with one or two letters to replace each word. Each word on the same line has to be separated by a space. Many commands also require you to supply an item name. (items are described further down) COMMAND ABBREVIATION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MOVE (take one step forward) M MOVE BACK (take one step backward) M B MOVE RIGHT (sidestep to the right) M R MOVE LEFT (sidestep to the left) M L TURN LEFT (turn to face your left) T L TURN RIGHT (turn to face your right) T R TURN AROUND (turn completely around) T A CLIMB UP (climb up a ladder to the previous level) C U CLIMB DOWN (climb down a hole or ladder to the next level) C D EXAMINE (lists the things in your backpack and on the floor near you) E LOOK (go to dungeon view again after using the EXAMINE command) L GET LEFT item (picks an item up off the floor, into your empty left G L item GET RIGHT item or right hand. You must specify the item to get) G R item DROP LEFT (drop the item from your left or right hand D L DROP RIGHT onto the floor) D R PULL LEFT item (pull an item out of your backpack, into your empty P L item PULL RIGHT item right or left hand. You must specify what item) P R item STOW LEFT (place the item from your left or right hand S L STOW RIGHT into your backpack) S R ATTACK LEFT (attack using the object you are holding in your A L ATTACK RIGHT left or right hand) A R USE LEFT (use the item in your left or right hand. This is only U L USE RIGHT applied to a TORCH, FLASK, or SCROLL.) U R REVEAL LEFT (attempt to discover the true nature of the item R L REVEAL RIGHT in your left or right hand.) R R INCANT word (attempt to activate the power of a RING by INCANTing I word it with the correct magical word.) ZSAVE "name" (save your game to cassette, optionally with a specific name) ZLOAD "name" (load a saved game. optionally specify which one to load, by name) (if you're using an emulator, you'd have to set up a virtual cassette file. And keep in mind these operations can be slow. It may be better to use save state snapshots, if supported.) ITEMS ===== There are several classes of items you may find in the dungeon. Among each item class, there are also different types.... When you first find an item, you will know what class the item is, but not its specific type (the Evil Wizard has used magic to hide many things in the dungeon). To determine the item's type, you must use the REVEAL command while holding the item in your hand. Items that have not been properly REVEALed will not function correctly. You often won't be able to successfully REVEAL an item when you first find it -- try REVEALing it again later, after you have gained strength. Each item is listed below with its full name, and the shortest abbreviation you can use to specify that item. When specifying an item, you can either use its generic class, such as SWORD, or you can name a specific type, such as WOODEN SWORD. Using the generic form will cause the command to be performed on the nearest item of that class. For example, if there were both a a WOODEN SWORD and an IRON SWORD on the ground, the command GET RIGHT SWORD would just grab the nearest one... whereas GET RIGHT IRON SWORD would grab the nearest IRON SWORD. ----- TORCH T ----- You need a lit torch to be able to see in the dungeon. Further, you will need a magical torch to be able to see many hidden things.... Some magical monsters are invisible under normal light, and some walls are illusions, which can only be detected under magical light. As your torch grows dim, it will be harder to hit monsters when you attack.... To light a torch, hold it in your hand and USE it. This will light it and mount it on your backpack, leaving your hand free. When using the EXAMINE command, your currently lit TORCH will be highlighted. PINE TORCH - Provides basic lighting in the dungeon. Burns for 15 minutes. P T LUNAR TORCH - A bright torch that casts some magical light, lasting 30 minutes. LU T SOLAR TORCH - Very magical. Allows everything to be seen clearly for 60 minutes. SO T ----- SWORD SW ----- You need a sword in hand to effectively attack a monster. Some very strong monsters are resistant to non-magical attacks; some are even completely immune. WOODEN SWORD - This is what you start out with. I guess the town you are trying W SW to save is REALLY poor, and couldn't afford to equip you with a proper sword, so they just gave you a sharp stick.... IRON SWORD - Much better than the wooden one, but still non-magical. You'll IR SW definitely want to find one before venturing far into the dungeon. ELVISH SWORD - A very powerful magical sword. Only the strongest of warriors EL SW is able to wield this awesome weapon, but even then, attacking with this magical blade will cause quite a strain on your heart. ------ SHIELD SH ------ Carrying a shield in your hand can help absorb the force of a monster's attack. If you find yourself without a sword, you can also attack with a shield. Attacking with any other normal item is no better than using your empty hand.... LEATHER SHIELD - A standard, small shield. LE SH BRONZE SHIELD - A tougher, metal shield. B SH MITHRIL SHIELD - A magical shield very good at blocking enemy attacks. M SH It can also be used quite well as a weapon, which will even inflict some magical damage. Because of this, it's probably even more effective than the IRON SWORD as a weapon. ----- FLASK F ----- There are various types of FLASKs you may find in the dungeon. The effects of these magical potions will be left for you to discover on your own. Be careful drinking FLASKs randomly; although some can greatly aid you, others may contain deadly poison. To drink the contents of a FLASK, hold it in your hand and USE it. HALE FLASK H F ABYE FLASK A F THEWS FLASK TH F ------ SCROLL SC ------ You may also find magical SCROLLs within the dungeon. After you have REVEALed these, they can be quite helpful. To activate a SCROLL, hold it in your hand and USE it. VISION SCROLL VI SC SEER SCROLL SE SC ---- RING R ---- Hidden within the dungeon, you my find rings of great power. These rings contain potent attack magic. They are used by holding them in your hand, and ATTACKing with them as a weapon. Using one of these will put a great strain on your heart, but will cause tremendous damage to your enemy. Before you can release their power though, you will need to determine the proper INCANTation for each ring.... Attacking with a RING that has not been properly INCANTed will do no more damage than a bare fist attack. After you are able to REVEAL a ring, its name may give you a clue to the magical word you will need to INCANT in order to activate the RING's power. As an example, if you found a RING, then REVEAL it to be a STONE RING, you might be able to INCANT it with the magic word 'EARTHQUAKE' (by holding the RING in your hand, and using the command: INCANT EARTHQUAKE). The RING would then become a powerful EARTHQUAKE RING that you could use as a devastating weapon. However, a RING's power is not limitless, and after being used a few times, the RING will become completely drained of power, and revert to a non-magical GOLD RING. You must use your wits to determine the correct magical words to INCANT each ring with. This is the most vital part in completing your quest, for even the evil Wizard derives his power from a RING.... GOLD RING G R ======== Monsters ======== Monsters? We got monsters. We got Vipers, Spiders, Evil Knights, Smiling Blobs, Stone Giants, Scorpions, Wraiths, and Galdrogs. Each monster will make its own sound. Learning these sounds will help you determine what might be coming from around the corner, and how far away it is, according to how loud the sound is. As a general rule, the bigger the monster, the faster you should run. Some creatures are deceptively powerful for their size though.... And don't be fooled by similar-looking monsters you encounter on deeper levels of the dungeon. Just because you could easily defeat that Stone Giant from the last level, that doesn't mean his better-armed cousin from the next level won't be able to easily stomp you into pudding. You will just have to learn some things from experience (and by 'experience', I mean 'dying a lot'). Monsters will stalk you through the hallways, and will stop to pick up items from the floor. When you kill a monster, it will drop any items it was carrying. When you and a monster are standing in the same square, it will attack you. You will know when a monster hits you, because it will hurt a lot. What are you gonna do, cry about it? A better idea would be to ATTACK the monster, and then quickly run away before it can attack you back. Each monster you defeat will make you stronger. You will be able to deal more damage and withstand more attacks as you grow in power. If the big, bad monsters are beating you up, just go take out your frustrations on the smaller, wimpy monsters.... Build up those muscles picking on the weenies, and then go back and kick sand in the faces of those bigger monsters, just like in those old comic book body-building advertisements. There are ladders in the dungeon you can use to climb up a level, but for some reason, that really cheeses off the Wizard, and he will summon some really nasty monsters to come get you if you decide to climb up to a previous level. Coward. Also, before you ever get to the real Wizard, you will have to defeat a Demon that looks like the Wizard. The Demon is also wearing the Wizard's clothes. I don't even want to know how that happened. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok, I could probably go on, but I was TRYING to be brief.... :D I really do recommend finding and reading over the full manual. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------