bloomer_au

Last night I went looking through the index file of the Asimov archive
for an rpg/maze game I believe was called Dragonfire. I used to have a
(pirate) copy of this on a 5.25 floppy, but the disk rotted and I
threw it away in the days before I realised how easy it was to clean
these discs.

In the archive, the only game called Dragonfire was a 1985 action game
by Imagic which I've never previously played. So the possibilities are
-- I have the name wrong, or the game is in the archive under some
corruption/alternate version of its name (I searched every incidence
of the word 'dragon'), or it is not in the archive at all.

In hopes that someone may recognise or have this game, I will describe
it here.

The game randomly creates a new dungeon when you begin to play. The
maze is presented as a lo-res graphic, your character a four pixel
square. You move around with the keyboard, entering on the right, and
every time you move through a door, the game cuts to the text screen,
where it describes the room you have entered, and where you will
usually fight some kind of monster. This was randomised rpg stat
combat. There weren't many options you could choose.

At the beginning of the game, you could choose a class. I have a
memory of the choices including hunter (huntress for a female
character) and wizard, or some kind of mage.

I forget how you move between levels, but I seem to recall every move
you made drains something… perhaps your stamina, perhaps food. And
running out of this resource was the main threat to your life, rather
than the combat.

In the copy of the game I had, I never won, because after a few levels
the game would crash and possibly reboot.

I have a feeling the game might have been written in Integer Basic,
though I can't remember exactly why.

Thoughts of wanting to play this game again (it was very addictive)
made me look for it in the archive, with the thought that maybe there
would be an un-damaged copy there --- assuming that the reason it
crashed was actually because it was corrupt. It's not impossible that
it was a game that only work properly on pre-IIGSes or something.

I am absolutely certain that the name began with Dragon, and pretty
sure about Fire or Maze (and that it was one word?), though I
investigated every Dragon title in the archive, and none of them was
this game.

Does anybody know what the game is? Better yet, does someone have a
copy?

Thanks

-Wade

Sean Fahey

The only Dragonfire (I and II) I'm familiar with was a Dungeons and Dragons DM aid, for rolling up characters, managing monsters, etc.

Does this '81 game sound like what you want?

http://www.mobygames.com/game/dragon-fire

xorxif

The game you are referring to is Dragon Fire by Rod Nelson. It was
published by Dakin5 / Level-10. It had sound effects when you battled
monsters in the rooms described in text (when you went through a door.)
It was a lo-res game, very similar to Super Dungeon published by
Programma (also by Rod Nelson.) You probably think it was written in
integer basic because I think Super Dungeon was.

I remember the options when you entered a room were Fight, Fight to
death (where the text would flash at random places around the screen as
to what was happening in the battle, but there were no sound effects,)
and Run. I never finished the game, nor did I ever figure out what had
to be done to get to the end. I have always been curious about it.

The title screen had the words "DRAGON FIRE" centered and inverse on the
text screen. You probably thought of Dragon Maze because the graphics
for it are very similar, and was widely distributed in early Apple II
game packs published by Apple. The wider distribution of the Apple II
port of the Imagic Atari 2600 game of the same name also has made
finding the game difficult.

I have been also looking for this game for years. I have looked through
the Asimov archive over and over, as well as various sources across the
internet, without success.

I believe the game is on the Asimov want list. Its always good that
someone else remembers it because it might motivate a renewal in the search.

- xorxif

bloomer_au

Thanks a ton xorxif. That's definitely the game.

I guess if you've been looking for years, it's unlikely someone who
follows this group has it, but still, fingers crossed someone may read
this and be able to help.

- Wade

Sean Fahey

Not my auction.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Appl...-/380385284468

bloomer_au

On Nov 14, 9:46*am, Sean Fahey <a2...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Not my auction.
>
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Appl...oftware-Game-D...

Hehe, nice work.

I did an ebay search myself but I admit I find it can be hard to
excavate all the apple ii stuff. For instance, I hit this guy's Space
Quarks auction, but didn't find his shop.

Where do you live, xorx? The seller's based in the USA. I'm in
Australia. If you're in the USA I'd advise you to go for it over me.

- Wade

Steven

On 11/13/11 4:49 PM, bloomer_au wrote:
> On Nov 14, 9:46 am, Sean Fahey<a2...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> Not my auction.
>>
>> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Appl...oftware-Game-D...
>
> Hehe, nice work.
>
> I did an ebay search myself but I admit I find it can be hard to
> excavate all the apple ii stuff. For instance, I hit this guy's Space
> Quarks auction, but didn't find his shop.
>
> Where do you live, xorx? The seller's based in the USA. I'm in
> Australia. If you're in the USA I'd advise you to go for it over me.
>
> - Wade
The auction appears to been removed.

--
The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today?
(c) 2011 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot in Hell Co.

magnusfalkirk

On Nov 13, 7:11*pm, Steven <diespamm...@ikillspammers.com> wrote:
> On 11/13/11 4:49 PM, bloomer_au wrote:> On Nov 14, 9:46 am, Sean Fahey<a2....@hotmail.com> *wrote:
> >> Not my auction.
>
> >>http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Appl...oftware-Game-D....
>
> > Hehe, nice work.
>
> > I did an ebay search myself but I admit I find it can be hard to
> > excavate all the apple ii stuff. For instance, I hit *this guy's Space
> > Quarks auction, but didn't find his shop.
>
> > Where do you live, xorx? The seller's based in the USA. I'm in
> > Australia. If you're in the USA I'd advise you to go for it over me.
>
> > - Wade
>
> The auction appears to been removed.
>
> --
> The only good spammer is a dead one!! *Have you hunted one down today?
> (c) 2011 I Kill Spammers, Inc. *A Rot in Hell Co.

The auction is still there, with 29 days to go. I've got it on my
watch list.

Bill Garber

"Steven" <diespammers@ikillspammers.com> wrote in message news:j9pprt$u8m$1@dont-email.me...
> On 11/13/11 4:49 PM, bloomer_au wrote:
>> On Nov 14, 9:46 am, Sean Fahey<a2...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>> Not my auction.
>>>
>>> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Appl...oftware-Game-D...
>>
>> Hehe, nice work.
>>
>> I did an ebay search myself but I admit I find it can be hard to
>> excavate all the apple ii stuff. For instance, I hit this guy's Space
>> Quarks auction, but didn't find his shop.
>>
>> Where do you live, xorx? The seller's based in the USA. I'm in
>> Australia. If you're in the USA I'd advise you to go for it over me.
>>
>> - Wade
> The auction appears to been removed.

Click on the link in Sean's post. Or better still:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Appl...-/380385284468

Bill

bloomer_au

Does anyone want to cooperate on buying this game? The guy who said he was looking for it for 9 years never returned to this topic and he has no contact information. (I hate incommunicados!)

I haven't been looking for 9 years but I am keen on playing this again, andit's on the asimov wanted list.

There are a number of reasons I don't feel like buying it outright myself.

- $50 for this alone is more than I can afford on a luxury item that may end up not working.
- My IIGS is currently down without a monitor anyway.
- I'm in Australia (less important, but still, I figure it may be safer to have it shipped locally - the USA)

The game is US$50 and is untested.

Anyone with a tiny bit of Apple II skill should be able to crack it, thanksto the work of the Hardcore Computist archivers. The crack is on this page:

http://computist.textfiles.com/ISSUE.42/page-15.jpg

Anyway, unless someone with some money to splash feels like buying it outright, I wondered if we could cooperate. 5 people throwing $10 each via paypal to the buyer, or 10 throwing $5 each, and have it delivered to someone who'd be happy to deal with it in the USA? What do you think?

- Wade