Need help finding out an old Atari ST game

[Zap!]

I really don't have too much to go with here, but I'll do my best. I used to play this game on my STe with my nephew in the early 90's. I downloaded it from a BBS (it was PD/Shareware), so it might have been from the late 80's even.

 

It was set in a dungeon (certainly not Dungeon Master, which looked beautiful and was first person) or maybe even a mine. It was overhead, not first person. It looked a tad like Gauntlet, although more primitive. I'm almost certain that the screen moves only one screen at a time, not continuous. I'm about 60% sure that you can choose a character with different advantages and disadvantages. It is a maze and you fight bad guys and monsters. The graphics are sub-par, almost 8-bit looking. It is nothing professional, but was great fun.

 

Now, I have several Atari ST games on .lzh, but I haven't opened them up yet (nor do I have anything to open it with). None of them sound like they will be a match, except possibly one simply labeled hero.lzh. Any idea?

[Tillek]

http://www.atarimagazines.com/startv4n6/mysticrealm.html

 

Or...

 

http://theodor.lauppert.ws/games/ranarama.htm

 

 

Perhaps?

 

Just a SWAG

Edited October 2, 2014 by Tillek

[Zap!]

http://www.atarimagazines.com/startv4n6/mysticrealm.html

 

Or...

 

http://theodor.lauppert.ws/games/ranarama.htm

 

 

Perhaps?

 

Just a SWAG

 

Definitely not Ranarama. It really looks a lot like Mystic Realm in style, but I don't believe that's it.

[ParanoidLittleMan]

You can open and extract LZH archives with Total Commander, WinRAR, WinZIP ...

[Zap!]

You can open and extract LZH archives with Total Commander, WinRAR, WinZIP ...

 

Unfortunately, it's corrupted and won't open. I may have the files on a CD somewhere though.

[AtariGeezer]

Was it this one? http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-st-wolfenstein-3d_28676.html

[Tillek]

Corrupted on the PC or the Atari? I've recently had LZH files that won't open on any PC program I've tried but they work fine on an atari. Maybe you could e-mail them to someone who could help you out?

[Zap!]

Was it this one? http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-st-wolfenstein-3d_28676.html

 

Wolfenstein 3D? I hope you accidentally quoted the wrong game!

Edited October 3, 2014 by Zap!

[Zap!]

Corrupted on the PC or the Atari? I've recently had LZH files that won't open on any PC program I've tried but they work fine on an atari. Maybe you could e-mail them to someone who could help you out?

 

Well, it's actually in .arc format (I had thought it was .lzh). Here is the file. Guys, lemme know if it works for anyone here. Again, not sure if that's the game or not.

HERO.ARC

[galax]

I was able to extract it without any errors using ARCSHELL 3.1 which uses ARC.TTP. the extracted program seemed to run OK. Extracted files are here: HERO.zip

 

Maybe these will jog your memory?

 

 

I usually try to extract on the ST (or an emulator) as some ST LZH files don't seem to be quite made to standard, and PC archivers sometimes detect them as corrupted. This file contains ST software to make and extract ARC, LZH, MSA, ZOO, and probably more: COMPRESS.zip

 

Edited October 6, 2014 by galax

[Zap!]

I was able to extract it without any errors using ARCSHELL 3.1 which uses ARC.TTP

 

I've attached the zipped Hero files and ARCSHELL, and a couple of screenshots.

 

HERO.zip ARCSHELL.zip

 

Steem__00022.png

 

Steem__00024.png

 

Thanks so much. I'm at work so I'll try it when I get home. Did you get to see the game yet?

[galax]

I added some screenshots, and added all my ST de-archiving software to the post, in case you want to extract other files.

[Zap!]

That's it that's it!!! Oh wow I can't wait to get home! Thank you so much!

 

So the game is called Hero? I did a quick search and could not find anything on it. Did you ever hear of it?

[galax]

No, hadn't heard of it before. The file HERO.INS has some info and instructions:

 

H E R O !

V 1.0

Dan Winslow

1988

The program you have just downloaded was written in GFA

basic over the period of one and a half years. It represents

a lot of effort and patience, especially on the part of my

wife. It is also, as you may have guessed, that particularly

optimistic species of software known as shareware. If you

play this game, and if you like it, a donation of ten bucks

to the Winslow Programming Fund would be appreciated. Here

are the benefits of contributing :

1. You don't feel guilty while you are whacking away at the

monsters.

2. You get a free copy of the HERO Dungeon Construction Set,

in progress and due for release this time next year.

Design your own Dungeons to confound your friends. It

will not be uploaded to COMPUSERVE.

3. You enable me to provide some sort of justification to my

wife as to why she should put up with me huddling in

front of my computer every night.

4. You get a free copy of HERO hints, a booklet that will

reveal all of the awesome secrets of the dungeon, and

will tell you various techniques for doing things like

oh, say, living beyond level two...and how to kill that

pesky Baldur fellow.

Please send donations, comments, and bug reports to :

Dan Winslow

1201 Sunshine Blvd.

Omaha, NE 68123

Or leave comments at COMPUSERVE PPN [72637,1044]

And now for the good stuff!

*******************************************************************************

Running the Program :

1. HERO.ARC should de-arc into four files : Hero.prg,

Hero.lvl, Hero.spr, and Hero.ins. All four files must be

in the same directory for HERO to execute properly.

2. Double-click on the Hero.prg file and you should see the

HERO greet screen.

The greeting screen :

There are four options on the greeting screen: Play, Make,

Load, and Quit. to choose an option, move the mouse cursor to

the box desired and press the left button.

Play : This option initiates game play. The currently

loaded character will be inserted into the dungeon at the

starting room and level. If there is no currently loaded

character an alert box will appear to remind you to load a

character first.

Make : This option transfers you the character creation

screen. See that section for further info.

Load : This option brings up a standard file selector,

looking for *.HCR files in the current directory. Choose a

file in the normal manner and the character contained in that

file will be loaded as the current character.

Quit : This option exits to the desktop.

Character Creation Screen :

The idea here is to create a new character to be a Hero.

You have sixty five points to distribute among the five

attributes. By placing the mouse pointer over the two letter

acronym of the attribute you wish to affect, you can add or

remove points by pressing the left or right mouse buttons,

respectively. An attribute cannot have less than 0 or more

than 18 points, except for the Hit Points attribute, which

can go as high as you have points for.

Here is a brief description of the attributes and thier

functions.

Attribute Abbreviation Effects

Strength ST The stronger you are, the more damage

you will do to the monsters that you

manage to hit.

Intelligence IN The more intelligent you are, the

more damage you do when you cast a

spell. Intelligence also controls how

fast you get spell points back.

Constitution CO This attribute controls how well you

can take a blow and how fast you

recover your Hit Points.

Dexterity DE This attribute represents how 'agile'

your Hero is. It governs how often he

connects when he swings at a monster,

and also how fast he moves in

general.

Hit Points HP This is the most important attribute.

It represents your 'life-force'.

When a monster hits you, you lose

some Hit Points. When you run out of

Hit Points, you die. How many you

lose at one blow depends on the

strength of the monster, on the

quality of the armour your're

wearing, the level of Dungeon you

are on, and certain spells that may

be in effect.

Choose your distribution of points with care, as it can

greatly affect the lifespan of your character. Your first

impulse may be to load up on Hit Points at the expense of the

other attributes, but this is not the best policy. You can

expect to lose many characters at first, anyway, so you will

be able to try many combinations.

The options for this screen are as follows:

O.K. : Click this box to save the character and exit back

to the main menu.

You will be prompted to enter a name for the

character. The character will be saved to disk before you exit.

It will also become your current character.

REDO : Click this box to throw away the current distribution of points

and start afresh.

SAVE : This does the same as O.K. except that you stay in

this menu.

QUIT : This exits you without saving and without disturbing

the current character you may have already loaded.

*******************************************************************************

Playing the game:

Controls : The Hero is controlled with a joystick in port 1. The options are

selected and objects are identified with the mouse. Joystick mode is the

normal mode. Whenever you move the mouse, you are switched over to the mouse

mode, and the pointer appears. Game action stops completely while in mouse

mode. To choose a menu selection, point to the item with the mouse and click

the left button. To identify an object on the screen, point to the object and

hold down the left button until you are finished reading the description. To

return to joystick mode and restart game play, either click the right button,

move the joystick, or press the joystick trigger.

Attacking : To attack something, face the Hero towards it and press the

joystick trigger. The Hero will extend his sword and strike ( maybe )

whatever he is facing.

Identifying things : To identify an item or monster, move the mouse. The

pointer will appear and game play will stop. Move the pointer to the item

that you want to know more about and hold down the left button. The name of

the item will appear, and if it is a monster the Attack Damage and Hit Points

that the monster possesses will also be shown. Some of the more common items

are :

Scrolls and Potions : You have to GET these to find out what

particular spell they will cast when USED.

Armour and Weapons : You have to GET these to fully identify them. To

wear them, you must USE them. Armour types are ( in order of

protection afforded ) : Leather,Chain mail,Silver Mail,Banded Steel,

and Full Plate armour. Swords are rated by their 'Plus' factor, that

is, a +1 sword does twice the damage that a regular ( +0 ) sword

does. There used to be a rumour about some sort of magical armour

and weaponry somewhere inside the dungeon, but it has pretty much

been given up on. Remember to DROP your old armour after USEing your

new stuff.

Chests : You face a chest and GET the contents. If the chest is locked,

you have to OPEN it first, which takes a key, unless you have the

OPEN spell. Chests can contain pretty much anything, including

traps.

Water flasks and Rations : You will need these to keep from dying of

thirst or hunger.

Remember, everything on the screen can be identified, so when in doubt,

identify!

Getting around :

Doors : Connections between rooms appear as a blank spot in the wall.

Sometimes they are closed doors, which dissapear when OPENed. To move

from room to room, just walk into the blank spot. You will appear in

next room.

Stairs : Stairs are concave indentations in the walls, with a column at

each end. Stairs either go up or down to the next level. Going up the

stairs in room 0 of level 1 leads you back 'outside', ie the main menu.

Secret Doors : Well , this doesn't really apply now, since virtually all

of the Secret Doors have been found. But anyway, it used to be that

there were perfectly ordinary looking blocks of wall stone, that when

identified and carefully examined, were found to be Locked Doors,

leading to un-explored parts of the dungeon! Too bad there aren't any

left.

Spells :

There are lots of good spells. They are accessible through the CAST

menu or by USEing Scrolls or Potions. They cost Magic Points (see CAST)

and Hit Points. The higher the level of the spell, the higher the cost.

The cost to cast a spell also goes up as your Hero gains levels,

because his spells will have increased power, and thus use up more

stamina and energy. Too bad you left Hero school before you had a

chance to learn what all the spells do. Now you'll just have to

figure it out on your own. Except one : you do know that casting the

lowly PROTECT spell will increase the protection afforded you by your

armour ten-fold.

Object of the Game : The beautiful ( but not too bright ) Princess Pulchra

has been taken captive by the really naughty wizard Baldur. The King wants

her back, and you being a real Hero, have determined that you will rescue

her. in order to do this, you must find your way to the lowest section of

the dungeon and find the room containing the princess. She is held in a

cell in this room. Also in this room is Baldur himself. Good luck.

You must kill Baldur somehow, and open the door to the cell. The princess

will follow you wherever you go, but when going from room to room or from

level to level she must be within a certain distance from you in order to

follow. If she gets killed by monsters on the way up, all is not

neccesarily lost, providing that you have the spell-power to bring her

back to life. If you guide her out the front door of the dungeon, you win!

* * * GOOD LUCK, BUDDY * * *

*******************************************************************************

The Command and Status Display :

To the right of the Dungeon room display you will find a strip of commands and

status information.

Status Display items : ( From the top down )

ROOM This item shows the current room number.

LEVE This item shows the current dungeon level.

(Name) Below the LEVE item the name of the Hero will appear.

LE This is the Experience level of the Hero.

HP Current Hit Points left

IN Intelligence

ST Strength

DE Dexterity

CO Constitution

EX Experience points Gained. (See Gaining Levels and Experience)

ARMOUR Armour being worn

WEAPON Weapon being held

GOLD Gold carried

SPELL This shows the currently SELECTed spell. (See Menu item CAST)

Vertical purple bar : This bar shows the current Magic Points level. Each

time a spell is cast, it drains some from this bar. You cannot cast a

spell until this bar has regained its full height. (See menu item CAST)

Commands and Menu Items :

CAST : This initiates the CAST sub-menu.

USE : This initiates the USE sub-menu.

INVE : This command displays a list of the items you are carrying.

You cannot carry more than 15 items.

GET : This command attempts to add to your inventory any item you are

facing. If you are facing an open chest, you will GET the contents.

If what you are facing is not GETable, you will be informed.

OPEN : This command attemps to open any item that you are facing. It uses

up one key from your inventory. If you do not have a key, or if the

item is not a locked chest or door, you will be informed.

QUIT : This commands exits you back to the main menu WITHOUT converting

gold to Experience points OR saving the character. The ONLY way

to save a character is to walk out of the 'front door' of the

dungeon. ( The stairs in room 0, level 1 )

The Cast Submenu :

When you choose Cast from the main menu, the command strip will be dimmed,

indicating that they are no longer usable, and a new menu will appear

in the lowest portion of the status display. In addition, the current spell

and its level and drain will be displayed just above the new command strip.

The level of a spell is the Experience Level your character must obtain to

use that spell. The drain is the amount of Hit Point damage and Magic Point

Drain that casting the spell will cause. If a bell rings and the spell does

not take effect, it means that you did not have enough Hit Points or Magic

Points to cast the spell. If it says " CANNOT CAST THAT SPELL ", it means

that your Experience Level is not high enough to cast that spell.

Spells cast will have a varying effect according to Intelligence of the

caster. The IN your Hero has, the more damage the spells will do and

the faster you will get your Magic Points back.

Spells cast from scrolls and potions always operate at the highest

strength, and even a lowly First-level Hero can cast any spell he finds.

Since four spells have a duration, if one is in effect then a bar will

be displayed in one of four positions above the Magic Points indicator bar.

Each has a unique color and in addition the first letter of the spell

appears above the bar. When the bar dissapears, the spell is over. For

instance, casting the PROTECT spell will cause a green bar and a green

letter P to appear.

PREV : This command will rewind the spell list by one, showing the spell

just previous to the spell currently displayed. If the spell does

not change, then you are at the first spell.

NEXT : This command shows the next spell in the list after the currently

displayed spell. If the spell does not change, then you are at the

last spell.

CAST : This command casts the spell that is being displayed.

SELECT : This command selects the currently displayed spell as the battle

spell. This spell is shown in the status display under SPELL :

and can be cast at any time by pressing the space bar. This

eliminates the need for many tedious trips to the CAST sub-menu

just to cast the same spell during the heat of battle.

CANCEL : This command returns you to game play.

The USE Submenu :

This Submenu is pretty much the same as above, except that instead of

spells being displayed, this displays inventory items and the number that

you have.

PREV : Same as for CAST.

NEXT : Same as for CAST.

USE : This command USES the item that is display. If it is Armour or

weaponry, it becomes worn or held, and the old one appears in your

inventory. If it is a Potion or Scroll, the spell they contain

is cast. If it is water or rations, it is eaten or drunk. If it is

a key, it disappears. ( OPEN uses keys to open doors and chests )

DROP : This item removes the current displayed item and deposits at your

feet. This comes in handy as you can only carry a certain amount

of items.

CANCEL : Same as for Cast.

*****************************************************************************

Gaining Levels and Experience points :

Your Hero starts out as a first level. As he accumulates Experience Points,

he will eventually make second level. When he does this, his Hit Points

will increase, his attributes will increase, the damage he does and the

damage he can take all increase. He generally becomes a lot more powerful

than he was, and he also now gets to cast all the second level spells. By

the time he gets to third level, he can pretty much make mincemeat out of

anything he runs into. ( On the first dungeon level, that is ).

You gain Experience points by killing monsters. The more powerful the

monster, the more Experience Points you get. Experience points are also

affected by the ratio between the Hero's level and the Dungeon Level he is

on. A Third level Hero isn't going to make much headway by chopping up

monsters on the first Dungeon level, for instance. But if he were wandering

around on the third Dungeon level..or even lower...well, IF he survives he'll

get lots of Experience points. There is no limit to the levels you can reach,

but it takes more and more EP's the higher you go. You will make second level

at 2000 EP. After that, who knows?

The other source of Experience Points is gold. You get gold automatically

from dead monsters, and also you can find it in chests. When you exit out

of the front door of the dungeon, your gold is automatically converted

10-for-1 to EP's. You character is then saved. Remember, that is the ONLY WAY

to save your character. The menu item QUIT _WILL NOT_ save your character.

Notes on Monsters :

None of them are friendly. You will get to know the commonest types very

quickly. They get much stronger and deadlier with each Dungeon Level you

go down. Some of them shoot. Kill everything that moves except for the

princess.

Baldur has strewn 'generators' in strategic locations in the dungeon. These

are square, static spells that spew forth monsters of a certain type.

Each type has its own color scheme. They can be struck and killed, just like

a living object, although they are pretty tough. Go for any of these in a room

first, because they can generate monsters faster than you can kill them, and

you will quickly be overwhelmed. Some generators can generate any monster,

including other generators. These are the most dangerous and should be

destroyed at all costs.

Baldur is a wizard, and can cast spells. If strange stuff starts happening

while you are in a room with him, thats probably the explanation.

General Notes :

The dungeon will remain the same so long as you do not exit the game

entirely. Any changes you have made will remain in effect. If you get

nervous, go back out the front door. This will save your character. Then

simply click 'PLAY' again, and you will pick up where you left off.

If you happen to get killed, just click on 'LOAD' without leaving the game

and re-load your character. Any points or items that you collected since

your last save will be lost, but you will pick up again in the exact same

place that you got killed in, and all other things will be as they were.

If you exit the game, the next time you play all levels of the dungeon will

have been returned to thier original state.

*******************************************************************************

Have Fun !

Dan Winslow

[galax]

Found a reference to it in ST Report: 01-Mar-91 #709: http://www.atariarchives.org/cfn/08/09/03/0105.php

 

From J.ROY18 on Genie...

HERO! I've been waiting for this for while...I had left the author,
Dan Winslow, a message a few months ago, asking if Hero II would
someday support modem/MIDI connections, for simultaneously 2 player
play, when they can be in different rooms, or whatever. He told me
about his new program, HERO!, which will be commercially available
soon, and is much improved! Although there is no MIDI ability...there
is a modem option so you don't have to wait on your teammate.

Edited October 6, 2014 by galax

[galax]

Today might be like Christmas for you, it seems there was indeed a later commercial release of Hero, does support 1 or 2 players, cracked version of disks 1 and 2 downloadable here: http://www.planetemu.net/roms/atari-st-games-st?screenshots=true&page=H&startId=1

 

The cracked disk presents an interesting looking desktop, I like the renamed trash can . My first encounter didn't go well:

 

Edited October 6, 2014 by galax

[Zap!]

I want to leave work early just to get home and play. I can't thank you enough. I urge everyone to try this amazing obscure game.

[galax]

OK so I had to go to INVentory, put on some armour and a shield, and ReaDY my sword- gave me more of a chance in the next fight. It does seem pretty interesting, clearly not the sort of thing "The Alien" liked though:

[Zap!]

I just hope it's as good as I remember lol. I have a bunch of other "lost" games at home in an old directory. Maybe I'll upload them here soon.

[galax]

I just hope it's as good as I remember lol. I have a bunch of other "lost" games at home in an old directory. Maybe I'll upload them here soon.

How did you get on with Hero in the end?

[Zap!]

How did you get on with Hero in the end?

I tried it that very day via emulation, but needed a joystick, so I died on the first screen. My old laptop won't detect my joypad.

 

Just got a new computer yesterday. Gonna try it on that once it's all set up. If not, I'll have to wait until I order an UltraSatan. Can't wait to play!

[TheAtariKing]

Looks interesting. I love these old RPG games. Right now I am playing Phantasie III The Wrath of Nikademus. I even named one of my guilds on World of Warcraft PHANTASIE (Eitrigg Server), and I named my Gnome warlock Nikademus. I will play the Ultima series next, with my MIDI keyboard turned on for the beautiful music.

Edited October 19, 2014 by TheAtariKing

[galax]

I tried it that very day via emulation, but needed a joystick, so I died on the first screen. My old laptop won't detect my joypad.

 

Just got a new computer yesterday. Gonna try it on that once it's all set up. If not, I'll have to wait until I order an UltraSatan. Can't wait to play!

 

If you use Steem you can configure it so that the keyboard emulates a joystick, I think by default if you press Scroll Lock you can use the cursor keys and space bar as a joystick, or something similar:

 

Edited October 19, 2014 by galax

[TheAtariKing]

Or just get yourself a real Atari ST computer. Even an Atari 520ST with only 512k of ram can run this 8-bit looking game.

[TheAtariKing]

BTW, I do not like the name of the trashcan icon. The Commodore Amiga computer is a much nicer computer than the Atari ST. So, you should have some respect for the Amiga. I have always owned both the Amiga and the Atari ST computers, and I have never taken part in the stupid Amiga vs Atari ST war. I know that the Amiga is a better computer, but, I still love and enjoy using my Atari ST computers. Look at it this way- the Amiga can emulate an Atari ST computer at full speed, including most games, but, the Atari ST can NOT emulate an Amiga computer at any speed. This one fact proved to me, years ago, which computer was the more powerful.