tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post8583499599364103624..comments2024-03-28T08:17:48.059-04:00Comments on The CRPG Addict: Game 214: Cavequest (1985)CRPG Addicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-56872798725638912642023-02-17T13:46:11.968-05:002023-02-17T13:46:11.968-05:00I put LanHawk's screenshot in the article abov...I put LanHawk's screenshot in the article above. Thanks for tracking down the source of the issue.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-789549913888505272023-02-12T20:02:37.905-05:002023-02-12T20:02:37.905-05:00To satisfy my own curiosity on the display issue, ...To satisfy my own curiosity on the display issue, I emulated a IBM XT (5160) using PCem. I can confirm that it is indeed most likely a codepage issue. The walls do look like some textured pattern. (not ASCII characters) I can send Chet a screenshot if he wants to add it here for historical comparison.<br /><br />I believe there were certain glyph changes done in the 437 codepage over time. This would also account for why it would run on later machines but not look right. DOSBox doesn't emulate a true IBM XT so it can't produce era accurate displays for programs like this using glyphs/textures.LanHawkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11073207178889909708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-53054791743840232492019-10-19T22:53:06.724-04:002019-10-19T22:53:06.724-04:00I played this a lot as a kid.
I recently acquir...I played this a lot as a kid. <br /><br />I recently acquired an original IBM PC, model 5150, with an original IBM CGA graphics card and IBM color monitor. Tonight I put CAVEQUEST v1.1 on it. The walls do not look like ASCII, but rather a jumbled repeating pattern that resembles 'brown rock', something perfectly appropriate for a game titled CaveQuest.<br /><br />Its possible/probable that the programmer was somehow using/abusing the BIOS text display routines to render those rock walls, and DOSBox isn't properly emulating it. The only time I saw 'real' ASCII characters is when a secret door is discovered. The door panels appear as the '#' character after they are discovered.<br /><br />Speed wise, the game was clearly designed for a 4.77MHz PC/XT class system. It is quite playable, and believe it or not, rather enjoyable on this ancient floppy disk based system.<br /><br />Trapgatenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-72800887194939254542016-05-13T23:46:27.010-04:002016-05-13T23:46:27.010-04:00I appreciate your era-accurate recollections.I appreciate your era-accurate recollections.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-85361529315366193842016-05-11T20:35:50.891-04:002016-05-11T20:35:50.891-04:00I played this game extensively when it came out. I...I played this game extensively when it came out. I even exchanged mail with the author (I was a kid with no money and was trying to try a free copy of the next version of th game that was promised on the registration screen). These screens look EXACTLY like they did when the game came out. There is no DOSBox setting to blame. It was a painful game at times due to stamina refresh delay, but I must admit that I really enjoyed it as a quick diversion from other games I was still playing at the time (wizardry 1, ultima 3, perhaps bards tale 1). One thing to note is that the magic system is a little more in depth than you covered and some of the objects do fun things, but it is all optional I'm the end and often boils down to hack and slash. I really wish the game had an ending. It did have a goal to find the arena on level 5 which was kinda fun since you fought unlimited tough monsters there, but with no real quest and an author who wouldn't send me the next version for free I got tired after a while and moved on. Nice walk down memory lane, thouh.King Tutnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-48298886170318648982016-03-19T02:25:34.778-04:002016-03-19T02:25:34.778-04:00I second the comments about the graphics; they loo...I second the comments about the graphics; they looked like normal walls when I played it as a kid. Also perhaps of note is that the combat was also way too fast even at the time. You pretty much had to have memorized exactly where an antman (or 4) was going to come rushing at you from so you could face that way and hold down the attack while the room loaded. It was only an issue on the most difficult parts of the game tho; the early monsters were easy enough.Xnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-81994985265062473892016-03-18T12:23:54.499-04:002016-03-18T12:23:54.499-04:00Ah, Keypunch Software, King of Shovelware. We'...Ah, Keypunch Software, King of Shovelware. We'll see them a lot in 1986.<br /><br />I'll consider the additional games, but I might save them for yet another re-run of the early 1980s, lest I lose momentum. If no one thought to put them on MobyGames or Wikipedia, I doubt they're lost gems.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-65876811074480900212016-03-18T00:40:55.253-04:002016-03-18T00:40:55.253-04:00Having just searched through all of the RPGs liste...Having just searched through all of the RPGs listed on Atarimania and playing a whole bunch of them, I think there are only eight games that might be RPGs that are not on Addict's list.<br /><br />I've dropped him a mail in case he wants to consider any of them in the future.Joe Pranevichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12997014242774219758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-86135641457332808622016-03-17T22:37:25.912-04:002016-03-17T22:37:25.912-04:00But what about the slim chance that an imporant pi...But what about the slim chance that an imporant piece of RPG history resides somewhere amongst those dozens of clones :-"Tristan Gallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16769219573533545742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-37340411849414784092016-03-17T13:47:06.028-04:002016-03-17T13:47:06.028-04:00He'd probably be way more annoyed if he knew h...He'd probably be way more annoyed if he knew he could go to Atarimania, go to the Advanced Search and change the genre to Adventure - RPG (2D) and Adventure - RPG (3D) and find tons and tons of stuff.<br /><br />I'm not entirely sure how worth it most of them are, but if there's trouble finding a particular game on another platform it might be found there. I need another site for PC and Commodores like that.<br /><br />I'll sure keep looking for more Quest1 clones, though.<br />Austinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04392929433544603494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-13452798271472320842016-03-17T13:40:17.727-04:002016-03-17T13:40:17.727-04:00Oh boy, Mr. Addict is going to love you. (And me. ...Oh boy, Mr. Addict is going to love you. (And me. But he's already annoyed with my helpfulness. ;) )<br /><br />Disk image is here: http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-quest-for-gold_4226.html<br /><br />Some scanned stuff: http://www.mocagh.org/loadpage.php?getgame=adventurepak-alt<br /><br />The game looks like another Quest clone. Zooming in on the disk sleeve on MOCAGH, it's copyright 1985. Joe Pranevichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12997014242774219758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-48446715585209949532016-03-17T13:19:59.136-04:002016-03-17T13:19:59.136-04:00See the discussion below. Your memory may be corre...See the discussion below. Your memory may be correct.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-72475660529584135002016-03-17T13:19:34.405-04:002016-03-17T13:19:34.405-04:00Every once in a while, while exploring Cavequest, ...Every once in a while, while exploring <i>Cavequest</i>, the graphics snap to something that looks like actual bricks, but then it glitches to random characters as soon as the screen transitions. I think Tristan might be right, or at least close. It's possible that the issue has to do with the way DOSBox is interpreting the code and the game looked better in the original.<br /><br />I hasten to add that replacing the random characters with bricks still wouldn't make for a great set of graphics, but they'd be marginally better.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-37607505630109795392016-03-17T13:17:20.296-04:002016-03-17T13:17:20.296-04:00You're right. Taking another look at the early...You're right. Taking another look at the early <i>Dunjonquest</i> games, it seems likely that the author of the original <i>Quest 1</i> was trying to mimic that experience in a simpler game. I didn't highlight the <i>Dunjonquest-Quest</i> similarities enough in those posts.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-49073445037175727602016-03-17T06:58:04.406-04:002016-03-17T06:58:04.406-04:00That 400 lines got around. I find another one on t...That 400 lines got around. I find another one on the Atari 8-bit called Quest for Gold, if that helps.<br />Austinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04392929433544603494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-61946269309862725722016-03-17T04:35:50.536-04:002016-03-17T04:35:50.536-04:00The foreground looks like a terrible dark red to m...The foreground looks like a terrible dark red to me.<br /><br />I believe the developer was merely trying to make the game look dark since it's supposed to take place in a cave but... wow. Less morbid, more horrid.Kenny McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01553499727945099493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-23870894304875976142016-03-16T21:50:54.153-04:002016-03-16T21:50:54.153-04:00I may be pointing out the obvious, and the graphic...I may be pointing out the obvious, and the graphics aren't going to win any rewards either way, but the contrast between foreground (bright red) and background (black) is fine for most of us... Morschnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-65939947677383135732016-03-16T18:45:45.728-04:002016-03-16T18:45:45.728-04:00The title "Cavequest" sounds like a made...The title "Cavequest" sounds like a made-up name they'd use on a TV show to avoid any copyright issues. Like "Bonestorm" from that one Simpsons episode. It's just the right combination of generic and goofy.<br /><br />Also, for whatever reason the actual sprites for the player and the spooky skeletons mixed in with the ASCII art is really funny to me. Like, what, you couldn't afford to implement a -WALL- graphic? "We gotta make sure that we have that stickman and skeleton in there, but woah, hold on, a GRAY BLOCK? What do you think this is, Wizardry? That game from like four years ago? Why, Jim had to spent a whole 15 minutes writing that backstory - the budget is stretched thin enough as it is!"Zinkraptorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13375523407961506337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-9306039772612791162016-03-16T17:25:41.577-04:002016-03-16T17:25:41.577-04:00*have, I mean.
And the reason for "Ugh" ...*have, I mean.<br />And the reason for "Ugh" is that previous games' sluggish pace made them a pure torture for me.Silicon Darwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13468904778094751143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-43268370076586848092016-03-16T17:10:00.947-04:002016-03-16T17:10:00.947-04:00I can clearly see Dunjonquest roots in this one. S...I can clearly see Dunjonquest roots in this one. Same core elements: stamina, health in percentage, monsters appearing one at a time, distinction between arrows and magic arrows (spears added here). Ugh... I still had Upper Reaches of Apshai ahead, can't postpone it forever.Silicon Darwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13468904778094751143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-39042984731136240392016-03-16T14:45:43.535-04:002016-03-16T14:45:43.535-04:00I don't think it's a code page problem. Th...I don't think it's a code page problem. The lines on the early screens were drawn properly. I think the author just tried to use random characters to evoke rough cave walls.Peternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-44572827754431762522016-03-16T12:58:34.236-04:002016-03-16T12:58:34.236-04:00I suspect the problem isn't the video mode but...I suspect the problem isn't the video mode but the code page. (Getting accented characters such as ç instead of box-drawing characters is the most common symptom of this.) For English games the best code pages to try would be 437 and 850. Unfortunately, I have no idea how you'd go about setting them in DOSBox. It could be as easy as typing "chcp 850" at the command prompt, or it might involve adjusting some configuration files, or maybe something entirely different. (The DOSBox manual seems to talk about code pages only in the context of changing the keyboard layout, not the video character set.)Tristan Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02343561400375555412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-41588787936330954952016-03-16T11:59:53.514-04:002016-03-16T11:59:53.514-04:00I remember playing this game! I agree that the ye...I remember playing this game! I agree that the years have not been kind to it; even by CGA standards it's a homely beast. <br /><br />In my memory the walls looked more like walls and less like an extended ASCII table threw up, but that was probably 30 years ago(!) so I might be giving it too much credit.<br /><br />Thanks once again for playing these games so that we don't have to :) I hope for your sake you're back to some classics or hidden gems soon.Stephen Tannerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15870830727459657131noreply@blogger.com