Advanced Dungeons and Dragons - the Original -

[Numan]

I’ve been playing more Intellivision due to new releases but this was the game back in the day.  It is still worth a look.

 

What is the worst nuisance monster for you (bat, blob, spider)?  It’s the spider for me because at the hardest level I am always short on arrows.

 

How many people found the warp on the map back then?  It was probably the first Easter egg for me, that or the initials in Swords and Serpents.

The game appeared in two versions in catalogs before its release.  Both appear to be artists rendering with the second one similar to the first, which is so different from the released version.  Has any programming similar to the first ever been discovered?

 

[Sinjinhawke]

There is a warp?  Neato!

[wolfy62]

The Bats always drive me....Bats,because I'm trying to take my time and silently creep through the mountain. 

Then they force me to try and run away far enough from them that you don't hear their wings flapping. 

And inevitably, I run smack into a Dragon,Snake or Demon  trying to shake off the Bat. Instant death!!!

[mr_me]

The spider is annoying. If you go through it you lose an arrow, if you shoot it you waste an arrow.  The blob is worse.

 

I thought the warp is a program bug rather than an easter egg.

[Popeye]

Great game. When I was a kid I used to hate the Snake. The very noise before appearing was terrifying...

I don't like the blobs at all. For me they where a mistery...

I attach an old image (the attachment is larger)

[+cmadruga]

Blobs were annoying. 

I found that they could be accidentally cloned. Meaning: one could become two.

That happens sometimes if they are close to the screen border, and you move them in and out of the screen rapidly. I suppose it's a bug associated with monster spawns.

I was never able to do that with other monsters.

[+DZ-Jay]

It’s hard to narrow down which specific critter annoys me the most, since they are all annoying in their own way — a testament to the visionary game design.

 

• Spiders do not kill you, but steal an arrow from your quiver.  Killing them takes one arrow — as long as you don’t miss; so that could be a wash.  They are slow, though, and enough to walk around to avoid them.

 

• Bats don’t steal arrows but they make noise which prevent you from hearing a nearby monster.  You can easily walk around them, but … the noise!  So in practice you really want to shoot them, but that takes one precious arrow.

 

• Lizards (or are they rats?) are annoying because they make a loud and shrill noise — worse than a bat — and are somewhat fast, which makes them hard to avoid.  Their erratic movements make them hard to hit, so you end up wasting more than one arrow trying to get them out of the way.  Oh, and by the way, they bite you so they can slowly inflict damage, compelling you to waste arrows trying to kill them.

 

• Snakes make noise, can run faster than you, and can kill you on contact.  Disposing of them takes two arrows, which you must attempt, or risk getting killed by it — or worse, driven unwittingly into the liar of a dragon!

 

• Then there are blobs.  Slow critters, make no noise, but they can block your way — and they are deadly.  You can’t kill them, and if you try, they will just gobble up your arrows.  Overall, not too bad on their own, but there are few things worse than being chased by a snake or rat on a narrow corridor blocked by a stupid blob.

If you make me pick one as the worse, I would say it is the rat (lizard?).  I hate that shrill squeak, and their haphazard movements has made me waste more than one arrow when trying to kill them. 😡

 

   dZ.

[alevin16]

WHere is this warp?  I do not know if I ever encountered it.

[Numan]

Upper left corner, you walk through it.  I did test it out with a less than full team and it did not work.

[HunterZero]

On the hardest mode, the most important strategies are finding and conserving arrows, and locating the sleeping cave guardian monsters without waking them. Definitely the spiders and bats are the most annoying in this regard - the spiders take your arrows, and the bats hide the sounds that indicate a sleeping monster (snoring sleeping dragon, hissing snake) is nearby. On the hardest difficulty they move at such a speed that they are a real problem.

 

It's really important on the hardest level that you don't wake up the sleeping guardian monsters (rats, demons, snakes, dragons, winged dragons), so you can track their location and get that important 'free' first hit on them when they are asleep.

 

Spiders and bats don't sleep, so always move while on screen, even when in the dark. Spiders are especially annoying when exploring and revealing the smaller rooms, as they are likely to appear out of the dark and steal an arrow or two if you are not careful. Sometimes when exploring, backing up a bit and pausing to give spiders enough time to show themselves from a dark room ahead is a wise idea.

 

The best way to deal with spiders and bats (and blobs to a lesser extent) is to kite them by running back into explored areas where you can try to lose them in those areas. Shoot them only when there's no other option, and when there's no chance of waking up another nearby sleeping cave monster by firing an arrow.

 

Once you have killed all the monsters in a cave system that are tracked by sound, then the bats aren't an issue any more - apart from the annoying sound!

 

Every cave system has exactly one unguarded quiver of arrows - the grey mountains have a second quiver as the cave treasure, guarded by a rat.

 

- J

[TeddyBear89]

I'd like to hear a little more about this warp thing.....is it a way to directly proceed to Cloudy Mountain at the start of the game?

 

A few times while down to my last life and possessing less than three arrows I successfully performed a "suicide" run on the winged dragon when needing the second piece of the crown.  Just run into it full speed and hope you push the pick up object button in time before you're dead meat.  Hearing that loud "twang" and seeing the image of the completed crown on the map is one of gaming's all-time great highlights.

[+DZ-Jay]

3 minutes ago, TeddyBear89 said:

Hearing that loud "twang" and seeing the image of the completed crown on the map is one of gaming's all-time great highlights.

Agreed, right there with blowing the the Death Star in Star Strike, the fireworks celebration when saving the city in Bomb Squad, and reaching the top in King Of The Mountain.  I love those!

 

   dZ.

[Numan]

3 hours ago, TeddyBear89 said:

I'd like to hear a little more about this warp thing.....is it a way to directly proceed to Cloudy Mountain at the start of the game?

 

A few times while down to my last life and possessing less than three arrows I successfully performed a "suicide" run on the winged dragon when needing the second piece of the crown.  Just run into it full speed and hope you push the pick up object button in time before you're dead meat.  Hearing that loud "twang" and seeing the image of the completed crown on the map is one of gaming's all-time great highlights.

Not directly at Cloudy Mountain, but near it. 
 

 

[IMBerzerk]

I've begged a million times already, and I'm happy to beg a million more....

 

I really wish someone would do another version of this game with more/new monsters and more quests.  

 

This has to be is the best game in the classic Intellivision lot!  It deserves a Part II 

 

And it was bats for me.  So freakin' annoying!!

[wolfy62]

4 minutes ago, IMBerzerk said:

I've begged a million times already, and I'm happy to beg a million more....

 

I really wish someone would do another version of this game with more/new monsters and more quests.  

 

This has to be is the best game in the classic Intellivision lot!  It deserves a Part II 

 

And it was bats for me.  So freakin' annoying!!

I agree and would also love a sequel!

After playing Operation Cloudfire, TNT Cowboy, Star Mercenary, etc.

I'm convinced that the great programmers are around that are able to pull it off.👍🫰🙏

[IntyFanMatt]

My favorite game on the system, and the reason why I chose an image from it for my avatar. Still one of my all time favorite games on any system.

 

For me, the bats are the most annoying, because I really want to listen for the monsters. And if I can’t hear them, I’m going to be even more scared traveling through the dungeons. The game is scary enough as it is! Which makes it great, of course.

 

Would love to see a homebrew update of the game someday, with new dungeons, new monsters, bigger maps, etc. That would be amazing!

Edited April 27, 2023 by IntyFanMatt

[Rickster8]

Microsurgeon has my name embedded in the game.....  

 

 

Yes in AD&D it's the bats and spiders that are the most annoying because they make the game harder for the player. The blob sucks too because as you are travelling through a mountain at top speed to make sure you got everything you can sometimes run head first right into them..... 🙄

 

 

[+DZ-Jay]

9 hours ago, IntyFanMatt said:

My favorite game on the system, and the reason why I chose an image from it for my avatar. Still one of my all time favorite games on any system.

 

For me, the bats are the most annoying, because I really want to listen for the monsters. And if I can’t hear them, I’m going to be even more scared traveling through the dungeons. The game is scary enough as it is! Which makes it great, of course.

 

Would love to see a homebrew update of the game someday, with new dungeons, new monsters, bigger maps, etc. That would be amazing!

@artrag was working on one.  However, I believe he put it aside to work on TimePilot.  Hopefully he will pick it up again.

 

If anybody can make a great new version, it would be him.

 

[Zendocon]

On 4/26/2023 at 2:59 PM, TeddyBear89 said:

I'd like to hear a little more about this warp thing.....is it a way to directly proceed to Cloudy Mountain at the start of the game?

 

On 4/26/2023 at 10:53 AM, alevin16 said:

WHere is this warp?  I do not know if I ever encountered it.

 

On 4/26/2023 at 8:32 AM, Sinjinhawke said:

There is a warp?  Neato!

 

Here's what you do:

1. Move the expedition to the visible northwest corner of the map.  You can always do that from the beginning of the adventure.
2. Press 1.  The expedition will disappear.
3. Press 1 again.  The expedition will appear in the center of the map, but will actually be located near the southeast corner.
4. Press any valid key until the expedition appears in their actual new location.

On 4/26/2023 at 2:59 PM, TeddyBear89 said:

A few times while down to my last life and possessing less than three arrows I successfully performed a "suicide" run on the winged dragon when needing the second piece of the crown.  Just run into it full speed and hope you push the pick up object button in time before you're dead meat.  Hearing that loud "twang" and seeing the image of the completed crown on the map is one of gaming's all-time great highlights.

 

I've done that before too.

 

On 4/25/2023 at 11:02 PM, Numan said:

How many people found the warp on the map back then?  It was probably the first Easter egg for me, that or the initials in Swords and Serpents.

 

There is more than one Easter Egg in Cloudy Mountain.  Give this one a try:

 

On the second controller, hold the disc in the WNW direction and the Clear, 0, and Enter keys, and press Reset.  Watch what happens when you start the game.

[+DZ-Jay]

2 hours ago, Zendocon said:

 

 

 

Here's what you do:

1. Move the expedition to the visible northwest corner of the map.  You can always do that from the beginning of the adventure.
2. Press 1.  The expedition will disappear.
3. Press 1 again.  The expedition will appear in the center of the map, but will actually be located near the southeast corner.
4. Press any valid key until the expedition appears in their actual new location.

 

I've done that before too.

 

 

There is more than one Easter Egg in Cloudy Mountain.  Give this one a try:

 

On the second controller, hold the disc in the WNW direction and the Clear, 0, and Enter keys, and press Reset.  Watch what happens when you start the game.

Thanks for posting this!  I had no idea about his or any other Easter egg.  I shall try it next time I play.  👍

 

    dZ.

[Numan]

Took awhile, but I got the second Easter egg.  Thanks Zendocon!

 

[Zendocon]

10 hours ago, Numan said:

Took awhile, but I got the second Easter egg.  Thanks Zendocon!

 

Happy to help.  I found that while disassembling the game and adding it to my ROM hacks.  I don't think it was documented anywhere else.

[Illtiger1]

This game still absolutely rules.  When I was very young, my dad had an Intellivision and it was my first experience playing videogames.  It was my dad's favorite game along with football which he always said/says were both way ahead of their time. Whenever I have friends over and break out the Intellivision, this is one I always have everyone try and they are always blown away by how good it is.  Bats are the most annoying, but I hate the blobs most.

[Popeye]

6 hours ago, Illtiger1 said:

This game still absolutely rules.  When I was very young, my dad had an Intellivision and it was my first experience playing videogames.  It was my dad's favorite game along with football which he always said/says were both way ahead of their time. Whenever I have friends over and break out the Intellivision, this is one I always have everyone try and they are always blown away by how good it is.  Bats are the most annoying, but I hate the blobs most.

The game has not lost its greatness through the ages. My son, 15, accostumed to cinematic graphic and VR games on the latest versions of the PS, absolutely loves playing the game whenever I switch on my Inty.

As I used to do with my friends once, my kid and I play it together, alternating at the controller one mountain each until the Crown.

My everlasting gratitude goes to the programmers of this masterpiece.

[Walter Ives]

On 4/26/2023 at 5:55 PM, IMBerzerk said:

I really wish someone would do another version of this game with more/new monsters and more quests.

The original game had additional cave systems and monster types that had to be discarded to fit it into a 6K cartridge. (This was the first game that was allowed 6K). The plan was to restore these features in a running change when 8K cartridges became economical.

 

WJI