broncoman Posted September 13, 2002 Share Posted September 13, 2002 has anyone ever finished it ? i got close many years ago is there any screen shots of the end ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted September 13, 2002 Share Posted September 13, 2002 If you are talking NES, yeah I beat it years ago, as I recall the end was mega weak (about as good as the "intro") You get a few screens in your view window of the final boss defeated and a meek celebration and that is about it. The game is so-so in terms of fun, you really have to be engrossed by it to enjoy it (cause if you stop and restart playing, entering all of those damned passwords gets annoying), and the satisfaction comes more from finishing it than from any kind of "ending." I have it pretty completely mapped and complete items lists and all, if I get time this weekend I'll beat it again and let you know. Sorry, no digital camera, so I won't be able to supply pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broncoman Posted September 13, 2002 Author Share Posted September 13, 2002 sorry i meant the intellivision version Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicJoke Posted September 13, 2002 Share Posted September 13, 2002 Heh, I loved that game! That was my favorite game for the old Intellivision! I am pretty sure I beat it back in the early 80's, but, I can't remember if there was much of an ending!? I hope someone here knows, because I would like to know too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted September 13, 2002 Share Posted September 13, 2002 Try this Google post from 1998: S&S Ending I was frustrated by the ending as well, as you'll read in that post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espire8 Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 (edited) Heh, I loved that game! That was my favorite game for the old Intellivision! I am pretty sure I beat it back in the early 80's, but, I can't remember if there was much of an ending!? I hope someone here knows, because I would like to know too. Try this Google post from 1998: S&S Ending I was frustrated by the ending as well, as you'll read in that post. I know this is very late late info but I decided to post this for anyone who come across this tread looking for the final answer to that age old question. I found this article while researching the game and found very funny --the reaction the original programer got from two desparate gamers. I can't really blame them. I might have gotten PO'ed myself if I spent my hard earned money as a kid on a game where the serpent's big secret were just the programer's initials :!: It would be nice if a 2600 version of S&S were homebrewed with an actual dramatic endding! ------------------------------------------------------------------- ASK THE BLUE SKY RANGERS! Gary writes: Hey, I played Imagic's Swords & Serpents a lot, I mean really a lot. Was there an end to the game? All we ever found were 3 initials inside the dragons lair, that we assumed were the initials of the guy who wrote the game. Was that it? We always wonder if we missed something. Thanks for any closure. Brian P. Dougherty, creator of Swords & Serpents, tells us: Yes, that was it. Brian says that in 1982, a few months after the game was released, he was awakened by a phone call in the middle of the night. Two teenage boys were on the line. They had been playing Swords & Serpents for days on end, had worked their way repeatedly to the final level, but couldn't figure out how to defeat the dragon. Brian's name was listed in the instructions, so the frustrated duo called information for Mountain View, California, home of Imagic, and asked if there was a Brian P. Dougherty listed. Getting the number, they called him immediately and begged for the secret of killing the dragon. Sleepily, Brian confessed to them that there was no way to kill the dragon. He had run out of room in the cartridge, so there was no climactic battle, just uncovering the "treasure": his initials. Brian says there were a few seconds of silence on the line, then the teenagers let loose with a string of obscenities. They called him every name in the book, then hung up. Brian now has an unlisted number. Edited November 16, 2006 by espire8 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Soldier Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 Nice background history on S and S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toucan Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 Does anyone know if there is a relationship between the NES and Intellivision Swords and Serpents games? I know they were by different companies, but couldn't help but notice the same titles. They both are RPG games and deal with a dragon and collecting treasures. Did somone at Interplay/Acclaim see the original Imagic version and decide to create one on the NES? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espire8 Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 Interesting observation. I don't think the Imagic and NES games are related, though the name is the same. I guess since the plaforms are different, people could'nt confuse them -esspecialy since NES being a total RPG while Imagic is more arcady. I actually perfer the latter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbellanca Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 OK, so I know this is an old thread, but wanted to put in my 2¢ with my experience with Intellivision Swords & Serpents. My Dad and I would play Swords & Serpents in the evenings after dinner for hours - him as the white knight and myself as the wizard. Finally after what seemed like months - I was 9 or 10 at the time - we got to the final level with the dragon! But then we found out that there was only some treasure to pick up, and the initials "BPD", but you couldn't actually fight or defeat the dragon at all, no matter what we tried. So, I wrote a letter to Imagic, asking how to defeat the dragon, like the scene in the catalog with the knight fighting the dragon! Unfortunately, I don't have the original letter I sent, but my Dad did keep the letter I got in return. The personal response at the bottom of the letter, from Kathleen Boothe, answered the question: "To answer your question about the picture in the catalog: that picture is what was originally planned, however due to limited memory in the game system the game designer, Mr. [brian P] Dougherty, was unable to include it in the game. In fact, it was so limited that there was no way to even program a fight between the Knight and the Serpent and that is why there is no way to kill the serpent." 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cvga Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Great story! Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfy62 Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 OK, so I know this is an old thread, but wanted to put in my 2¢ with my experience with Intellivision Swords & Serpents. My Dad and I would play Swords & Serpents in the evenings after dinner for hours - him as the white knight and myself as the wizard. Finally after what seemed like months - I was 9 or 10 at the time - we got to the final level with the dragon! But then we found out that there was only some treasure to pick up, and the initials "BPD", but you couldn't actually fight or defeat the dragon at all, no matter what we tried. So, I wrote a letter to Imagic, asking how to defeat the dragon, like the scene in the catalog with the knight fighting the dragon! Unfortunately, I don't have the original letter I sent, but my Dad did keep the letter I got in return. The personal response at the bottom of the letter, from Kathleen Boothe, answered the question: "To answer your question about the picture in the catalog: that picture is what was originally planned, however due to limited memory in the game system the game designer, Mr. [brian P] Dougherty, was unable to include it in the game. In fact, it was so limited that there was no way to even program a fight between the Knight and the Serpent and that is why there is no way to kill the serpent." Wow! that is exactly what happened to me. what a dissapointment that was at the time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Ragan Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 This sounds like so much bullshit. Was this the same game that had the scroll reading "Those who read this are doomed?" If you read it (and how would you know not to?) you'd be trapped in a tiny, inescapable room until you reset. I'm guessing the many frustrations in this game had as much to do with good old fashioned sadism as memory limitations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cvga Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Wow! that is exactly what happened to me. what a dissapointment that was at the time. Did they send you a Swords and Serpents poster also? If so, do you still have it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeM_Intellivision Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 I would love a Swords & Serpents poster if someone has one for sale or trade please PM me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cvga Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 I would love a Swords & Serpents poster if someone has one for sale or trade please PM me. I'm looking for one too. Do you have any other Imagic posters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeM_Intellivision Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 I have Atlantis poster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cvga Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 I have a few Imagic posters but need Swords and Serpents plus a lot of others. It would look really good with this... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeM_Intellivision Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Nice - is that a store promo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+5-11under Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Note to self: Respond to this thread somewhere between 2018 and 2022. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cvga Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Nice - is that a store promo? Yeah, it's an old counter display. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeM_Intellivision Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Pretty damn sweet - always loved that game. Never "beat" as a kid but did it when I was like 19 with an old girlfriend. I already knew about the non-ending so I was prepared. Still like game a lot though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfy62 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 OK, so I know this is an old thread, but wanted to put in my 2¢ with my experience with Intellivision Swords & Serpents. My Dad and I would play Swords & Serpents in the evenings after dinner for hours - him as the white knight and myself as the wizard. Finally after what seemed like months - I was 9 or 10 at the time - we got to the final level with the dragon! But then we found out that there was only some treasure to pick up, and the initials "BPD", but you couldn't actually fight or defeat the dragon at all, no matter what we tried. So, I wrote a letter to Imagic, asking how to defeat the dragon, like the scene in the catalog with the knight fighting the dragon! Unfortunately, I don't have the original letter I sent, but my Dad did keep the letter I got in return. The personal response at the bottom of the letter, from Kathleen Boothe, answered the question: "To answer your question about the picture in the catalog: that picture is what was originally planned, however due to limited memory in the game system the game designer, Mr. [brian P] Dougherty, was unable to include it in the game. In fact, it was so limited that there was no way to even program a fight between the Knight and the Serpent and that is why there is no way to kill the serpent." That letter makes the bad game ending not so bad after all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cvga Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 My best friend had an Intellivision and I had an Atari when I was a kid. We played Swords and Serpents for days until we reached the Dragon. We couldn't figure out how to make him fight and I don't recall even seeing the initials. I wish we would have contacted Imagic. Instead I think we just moved on to the next game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nilrem Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 This sounds like so much bullshit. Was this the same game that had the scroll reading "Those who read this are doomed?" If you read it (and how would you know not to?) you'd be trapped in a tiny, inescapable room until you reset. I'm guessing the many frustrations in this game had as much to do with good old fashioned sadism as memory limitations. IIRC the Intellivision scroll would sometimes read: To read this scroll is a fool's folly. That would take you to the boxed in room but Nilrem may have a spell to destroy the wall. Other scrolls were either spells, I think, or paired teleports: Ye read, ye move. Funny, I haven't thought about this for 30 years. Lover the site, guys. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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