Old Classic Retro Gaming | Apple II Game: Dunjonquest- Temple of Apshai (1979 Automated Simulations, Inc.) @oldclassicgame | Uploaded September 2022 | Updated October 2024, 3 days ago.
An RPG game that is rogue-like, but you cannot see the whole level, except your surroundings. The level maps are not randomized like in Rogue. Still, the gameplay has a lot in common with Rogue and other early dungeon crawls: A solo character explores a monster-infested, multi-level dungeon to grab some treasure, everything in top-down view.
The game starts at the Innkeeper by creating a new character (if you already played the game, you can use characters that you created). You get different stat values (in Dungeons & Dragons style) as well as an amount of money that you can spend on weapons, armor and other equipment. Alternatively, you can just enter the stats to "import" characters from other role-playing games (this is also used as a primitive "save / load game" mechanism).
After character generation, you enter the dungeons. On the left, the current room of the dungeon is displayed; the character status and other info are displayed on the right. One thing that sets Temple of Apshai apart from other rpg is that the manual contains detailed room descriptions for each room (that may contain hints about traps or treasures), to create atmosphere despite crude graphics.
You move about and perform actions like opening doors, firing arrows, examining walls for secret doors etc. by pressing key commands. Moving is also done without cursor keys: You turn your character into the direction you want to go and then move him forward by 1 to 9 steps, also selectable by single keystrokes. But take care of fatigue: If you keep running all the time, your fatigue rises, and if it reaches 100%, you cannot move or act for some time -- which can be deadly in the presence of, say, a Giant Bombardier Beetle.
Each room may contain treasures to pick up (sometimes just trash, sometimes gold, sometimes useful items), secret doors which lead to hidden parts of the dungeon and traps, which obviously should be avoided (you can try to search for them). Of course, you will also encounter monsters -- a variety of undead or giant insects -- which you have to fight using turn-based combat. Apart from the normal attack, there is also the thrust (which is more effective, but risky), and you can also fire arrows at distance or parry. To avoid a fight, you may also try to speak to them.
If you return to the Innkeeper, you gain experience, which increases your stats. Still, if you quit the game, the only way to save your character is to write down the stats on paper and re-entering them the next time you play.
An RPG game that is rogue-like, but you cannot see the whole level, except your surroundings. The level maps are not randomized like in Rogue. Still, the gameplay has a lot in common with Rogue and other early dungeon crawls: A solo character explores a monster-infested, multi-level dungeon to grab some treasure, everything in top-down view.
The game starts at the Innkeeper by creating a new character (if you already played the game, you can use characters that you created). You get different stat values (in Dungeons & Dragons style) as well as an amount of money that you can spend on weapons, armor and other equipment. Alternatively, you can just enter the stats to "import" characters from other role-playing games (this is also used as a primitive "save / load game" mechanism).
After character generation, you enter the dungeons. On the left, the current room of the dungeon is displayed; the character status and other info are displayed on the right. One thing that sets Temple of Apshai apart from other rpg is that the manual contains detailed room descriptions for each room (that may contain hints about traps or treasures), to create atmosphere despite crude graphics.
You move about and perform actions like opening doors, firing arrows, examining walls for secret doors etc. by pressing key commands. Moving is also done without cursor keys: You turn your character into the direction you want to go and then move him forward by 1 to 9 steps, also selectable by single keystrokes. But take care of fatigue: If you keep running all the time, your fatigue rises, and if it reaches 100%, you cannot move or act for some time -- which can be deadly in the presence of, say, a Giant Bombardier Beetle.
Each room may contain treasures to pick up (sometimes just trash, sometimes gold, sometimes useful items), secret doors which lead to hidden parts of the dungeon and traps, which obviously should be avoided (you can try to search for them). Of course, you will also encounter monsters -- a variety of undead or giant insects -- which you have to fight using turn-based combat. Apart from the normal attack, there is also the thrust (which is more effective, but risky), and you can also fire arrows at distance or parry. To avoid a fight, you may also try to speak to them.
If you return to the Innkeeper, you gain experience, which increases your stats. Still, if you quit the game, the only way to save your character is to write down the stats on paper and re-entering them the next time you play.
![Atari 2600 Game: Combat [Aka Tank Plus] (1977 Atari)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lldMjtjNLrM/hqdefault.jpg "Atari 2600 Game: Combat [Aka Tank Plus] (1977 Atari)
A 2-player tank game. Is one of Ataris launch titles. This game is where where the players attempt to shoot each others tanks or planes. Hitting the enemy vehicle pushes it back and gives the player one point. The game contains 27 levels, each of which has different rules and playing field layout. On the tank levels, the players have a selection of two different mazes or no walls at all, while on the plane levels, the players can choose to play with clouds that obscure part of the screen. The Atari 2600 difficulty settings can be used to change the range of a players missiles, as well as the speed of ones airplanes in levels 15-27. All games have a time limit of 136 seconds.
The levels include:
1-5: Tank levels. Levels 3 and 5 are straight missile levels where the players projectiles simply fly forward. On the guided missile levels (1, 2, 4) the projectiles can be controlled with a joystick after firing.
6-9: Tank-pong levels, where the players missiles bounce off walls. In the billiard hit levels (8 and 9), theres an additional rule that a missile must bounce at least once before it can hit the enemy tank.
10 and 11: Invisible tank levels, where the tanks only become briefly visible when they shoot, bump into a wall, or are hit by a missile. Both of these give the players guided missiles.
12-14: Invisible tank-pong levels. Levels 13 and 14 use the billiard hit rule.
15-20: Biplane levels, where the players fly planes that are constantly moving forward and wrap around to the other side when they fly off the screen. Levels 15 and 19 use guided missiles; 16 and 20 use straight missiles; on 17 and 18, the players use rapid-fire machine guns. Additionally, level 19 is a 2 vs. 2 level - both players have two planes each that move and shoot together - and level 20 is 1 vs. 3, where one player has three planes while the other has a single large plane.
21-27: Jet fighter levels. The jet planes move faster than biplanes, but other than that gameplay remains similar. 22, 24, and 27 are straight missile levels, the rest are guided-missile levels. Additionally, 25 and 27 are 2 vs. 2 levels, while 26 is a 1 vs. 3 level.")
