Castle of Riddles

[davidn]

I've been rediscovering old BBC Micro games again.


You are standing south of the wizard's
castle which stands on a hill above a
vast forest to the south. Paths go
northeast and northwest around the
castle walls, and a dark gateway leads
north into the castle. The castle
walls are unclimbable, but there are
ledges and ramparts visible far above.

:N
As you move north, a portcullis
crashes down behind you, blocking the
exit
It is pitch dark

:N
You got eaten by the warlock's spider
in the dark
Oh dear, you're dead
You have scored 0 out of 250
Would you like another game?
?BOG OFF



Even this, however, doesn't come anywhere near the level of condescension of Granny's Garden, which I should remind everyone featured this exercise in interactivity:


Can you see a cave?
> NO

Yes you can.
Do you want to go in?
> NO

Yes you do.

Comments

[deviant-gent.livejournal.com]

I got eaten by manticores on a daily basis. Good times.

[davidn]

Even when I was about eight years old, I remember being annoyed with Colossal Cave and how, if you didn't have the lantern, it would just make up "pits" that otherwise weren't mentioned in the room you were moving into.

[deviant-gent.livejournal.com]

Especially if you were in geographically awkward places for pits to exist, like the top floor of a house.

I thought it was a stroke of genius for a puzzle in Zork Zero to involve filling up all the Colossal Cave-esque pits, but in doing so you release the Grues unto the GUE.

[davidn]

I never really played the Zork games, but I've meant to because I think I would enjoy their sort of self-aware sense of humour... my dad had something called DUNGEON.EXE that many years later I realized must have been the first Zork under a different name, but all I remember about it was that I used to be scared of flooding the dam.

[rakarr.livejournal.com]

For some reason, I had it in my head that if your torch goes out in Shadowgate you somehow fall down and break both your legs. Actually, I got it confused with another death that does involve falling and breaking both your legs, but letting your torch go out (or deliberately extinguishing it) makes your character flail around and... "Smash!! You fall face first to the floor!!" That's a game over.

[davidn]

Seeing as the protagonist in Shadowgate dies from things like looking at a sword in the wrong way, it's no great surprise that he can kill himself by stumbling around in a darkened room even if there's nothing really hostile in it! I remember that other death you mentioned, as well - climbing down a perfectly intact-looking ladder results in you just running out of ladder below the cutoff of the screen, and plummeting at least seven inches to the ground below.

There are some things about classic games I don't miss.

[kjorteo]

Eaten by manticores? Are we talking A Triangle Morning's Which-Way Adventure now?

[davidn]

You had to ask! I have bad memories of that :)