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Not quite archaeology
Jan. 5th, 2021 19:52Blame childhood nostalgia, but in the past few weeks I've been carving time to pore over an early BASIC source code to a version of Temple of Apshai for the TRS-80 Model I to examine the underlying game mechanics. The game is not 100% abandonware, as a later (bugged) PC port of the corresponding trilogy is available on Steam, though its trademark was cancelled in 1993 and the trademark for Dunjonquest was abandoned in 1999.
I've found the mechanics to be intriguing, as there were decisions that were made that were unlike D&D or later Rogue-likes, like hit points not increasing with level. There also seems to be a tiny amount of dead code, like a treasure (a magic shield?) that was apparently left incomplete and unreferenced in the game.
I've found the mechanics to be intriguing, as there were decisions that were made that were unlike D&D or later Rogue-likes, like hit points not increasing with level. There also seems to be a tiny amount of dead code, like a treasure (a magic shield?) that was apparently left incomplete and unreferenced in the game.
