BMK BMK A shadow of a figure, namely Gothmog, cursed. He stumbled as he tripped over a small rock. "DAMN!!!" he cried. "WHY CAN'T WE TELEPORT?" He glanced angrily towards Zed. "You know very well why, Mr. Darkness!!" Zed replied, getting angry. "The longer we can stay hidden from Lord Chaos the more chance we have of surviving! Now shut up and hurry along!" "Why I oughta..." "Oughta what?" "Well perhaps I should show you....!" Gothmog reached forward and lifted Zed by the scruff off his neck of the ground, Zed started to reach for his dagger, "Why you miserable...." "Q U I E T!!!!!!!!!!!!" shouted Syra. "Can't you see what is happening? You're turning into animals!" Gothmog grunted. "Look at yourselves!" continued Syra, "Look at yourselves!" Gothmog turned back to the dangling Zed, the anger in his face turning to complete blankness after a moment. Slowly, he lowered Zed and stared at the frost-hard earth. 'What fools we have been,' he thought. 'Mindless, barbaric fools. Lord Chaos must be laughing at us this very moment.' He turned back to Zed, who was also questioning his foolishness. "Let's teleport," Zed calmly suggested. "Chaos obviously knows we're here." A matter of seconds later they were plunged into darkness as Gothmog completed his spell. Suddenly there was a yellow-white flash as Zed lit a torch. Syra shivered, but not from the cold, the tunnel was actually quite warm, she was frightened, frightened of Fear himself. The party started to take in their surroundings. They found themselves in a long, man made tunnel. Behind them they could see the large black doors of the entrance to the dungeon, tightly shut against the raging storm outside. A moment later they set off silently down the tunnel, the tunnel that would lead to their almost certain deaths... T H E B I T M A P K I D P R E S E N T S, A M U L T I - P A R T G U I D E T O . . . DDDDDD UU UU NNNNN GGGGGG EEEEEE OOOOO NNNNN DD DD UU UU NN NN GG EE OO OO NN NN DD DD UU UU NN NN GG GGG EEEEEE OO OO NN NN DD DD UU UU NN NN GG GG EE OO OO NN NN DDDDDD UUUUU NN NN GGGGG EEEEEE OOOOO NN NN MMMMM AAAAA SSSSSS TTTTTTTT EEEEEE RRRRRR MM M MM AA AA SS TT EE RR RR MM M MM AAAAAAA SSSSS TT EEEEEE RRRRRR MM M MM AA AA SS TT EE RR RR MM M MM AA AA SSSSSS TT EEEEEE RR RR Article by The Bitmap Kid We all know it takes a lot for a game to be popular. Sound, graphics, gameplay, plot and even game control are all important. Let's be truthful, Dungeon Master isn't really abundant in any of these. No fancy sound or amazing graphics, so why is it that donkeys' years on, Dungeon Master is still one of the most popular computer games of all time? Even today, many games are still based on Dungeon Master, or on the concept of it at least. Captive, Knightmare, Mystic Well and Eye of the Beholder all have taken the idea of DM and adapted it for a new game which, in most cases, is not a patch on DM. Only Eye of the Beholder 2 is worthy of real competition with it. As with most, if not all games, there is always a point where people will get stuck, DM is no exception. In later levels DM can be totally impossible sometimes, so a bit of help is always handy, which is where I come in! I'll try and give you a few pointers on the subject, over perhaps four articles, depending on what I can fit in. ******** PART ONE: C H A M P I O N S All the characters in the Hall of Champions are good in their own way, like real people they are all different and all have strengths and weaknesses, advantages and disadvantages. This means that there is no such thing as a best or perfect group. Not only does it depend on who you pick, but different players have their own way of playing. For instance, some players rarely touch magic, but yet others wholly depend on it. So of course you should select a party which is strongest in the way you play. However, don't think you'll get through the dungeon on magic or brute force alone, there will be many times when you will need both, and so there are a few main rules you should follow when selecting your party: It is a good idea to avoid choosing champions with low or even no mana, even if they are an 'Incredible Hulk'! Later in the game you'll need ALL your party contributing to magic spells, even your toughest fighter! I was on level four before I realised that choosing that hairy barbarian, Halk, with no mana was not too good an idea. To start with, get a good, all round champion (like Zed) and base your other champs around him. (He could be trained as one of your more fighting champs.) As I said before, later in the game you'll need all your party helping out with magic, so whoever you pick, make sure they have a decent amount of mana, and if possible basic magical skills. On the same note, make sure none of your champs are too weak, and have some fighting skills. The best party usually has two mainly fighting champs (who, of course can use magic as well) and two mainly magic users, one a priest and one a wizard (who can also fight when they need to). Have your two mainly fighting champs at the front line (the magic-users can cast over their shoulders if they need to). Never choose/not choose a champ because you like/dislike his portrait, it is better to have really annoying portraits than a bad party, and if you have Chaos Strikes Back you can change the portraits you dislike, even if you cannot draw too well! I'll explain a little later how to do this. On a similar note, don't go on equipment either, there is plenty of equipment through the dungeon to play with, so the equipment the champions start with does not matter that much. Remember that reincarnating your champs restores them with the same abilities as they had when they died, resurrecting brings them back with no skills at all. Both are good depending on your style of play and on which champs you choose. If a champ has good stats, but you would like them to have different skills, reincarnate them and train them (see training in a later article). To make your life a lot easier, and because I'm such a nice guy, I've listed all the champions' names, their equipment, statistics and of course, class in another file, this should help you find the champ you're looking for without having to look in each mirror when you start a new game. As you progress through the dungeon your champions will gain in experience and will be able to cast stronger and better spells, or fight with more dexterity and skill. The levels of experience are: 1 Neophyte 2 Novice 3 Apprentice 4 Journeyman 5 Craftsman 6 Artisan 7 Adept 8 Expert 9 Master 10 LO Master 11 UM Master 12 ON Master 13 EE Master 14 PAL Master 15 MON Master and 16 Archmaster. New impressions: If you're like me and have been playing DM for donkeys years, or just don't like the portraits, you are probably quite sick of the same old champs' faces all the time. If you have Chaos Strikes Back, there is an easy way to combat this. (If, on the other hand, you don't have CSB - get it, it's good!) First select the champions you want and go down the first flight of steps (taking all the items on the level first) to level 2. Now save the game and load the 'Chaos Utility disk'. Select 'Edit Champion Pictures', loading in your DM game. Now if you are any good at art you can change the portraits yourself. If, on the other hand, you're not a Tony Hart of the computer world, there are loads of portraits of the DM champions on the CSB Utility Disk to load. The champions will remain the same, but the old DM portraits have been souped up, making your DM champs look really good! - You don't even need to take the new portraits that relate to the characters you choose, i.e. you can have the new CSB face of Zed on say, Gothmog, if you want! You can now change the names and titles of your characters if you wish. Now save the game (DON'T SELECT 'make new adventure'). Go back to DM and restore the game. You will now have cool champ portraits on your DM game! ******** Let me take this chance to make it clear that am in no way an expert at DM, I am actually pretty-much a bad player, but I know lots about the game. Therefore, I would be very grateful if you would like to contribute to future articles in this series. If you have any suggestions, hints or comments on DM, please write in and tell me. Address 'em all to The Bitmap Kid, Dungeon Master Contribution at the normal SynTax address. Oh and if you have a question on DM, it is possible I might be able to help you, or I might put your question in a future article for a more talented DM'er to answer! ******** Next time I'll be telling you about mapping, training, spells, food, clothes, creatures and a run-down on the first level. BMK BMK