Dungeon Crawl
<div class="IPBDescription">A game without graphics o.0</div> well, games without graphics might not sound appealing but Dungeon Crawl is different. Similar to Diablo, it's levels are randomly generated, and there are some levels that do not change, however, what Dungeon Crawl has that Diablo and other RPGs don't have are no graphics. none. zilch. zip. zero. Only ASCII characters and Keyboard letters/symbols are used to represent monsters, loot, magic, and everything else from the walls to floors to doors and items.
Now, a game with only keyboard characters as graphics might seem like a totally borring game but for what it lacks in graphics it makes up for in gameplay. I mean, this thing is complex and intricate. it has <b>26</b> races from everything from the human to mythical beasts and <b>28</b> classes of all sorts from A to Z. Lots of magic spells and potions, as well as a plethora of equipment. Also, something that makes Dungeon Crawl unique is that Potion and Scroll names are always randomized when you start a new game; a healing potion in game 1 might be "a blue potion", while in game 3623 it can be "a sedimented grey potion", and scroll names are jumbled letters but once you read/drink a potion you know EXACTLY what that potion/scroll does the next time. No more drinking those potions of Degeneration and Poison! (yes, there are dangerous items!)
the game is controlled only with the keyboard. numpad with numlock off will move you (5 will let you "rest" and observe your surroundings at the same time. resting recovers HP/MP. Shift-keypad[#] is like doing that action, but for a longer time. Shift+keypad 8 would make you walk up for a long distance; shift-keypad 5 will make you rest for quite a while (usually +10 hp))
When you first start the game you will be asked to enter a name; dont spend too much time on this because you character will probably die within 5 minutes on the first level (i know mine did!) then choose your race and profession, and you're in! some tricks that you can use to survive are:
1- Keeping your head in battle. Think. only 1 enemy can attack you in the narrowest of corridors!
2- Keep scrolls handy at all times. Scrolls of teleportation move you to a random position nearby, but can sometimes backfire by sending you into a crowd of enemies or if you activated it too late it'll send your corpse, instead.
3- Most enemies are as fast or FASTER than you are, so <i>try</i> to outrun them. if you can out run them, do so. if you can't, run anyways; you'll take less hits and it'll give you time to think of your next action.
4- For spell casters, 0 MP will quickly mean 0 HP, as well. A mage without magical power is as good as a wand without a charge.
5- Don't use the "I think i'll put this on to identify it!" way. There ARE <b>NASTY</b> cursed items in the dungeon... -5 Plate armor, anyone? yes, it bonds to your skin for all time until you can remove it with a spell and YES i did find this out the hard way. NOTE: Stockpile Curse-removal scrolls and better yet, get a curse removal spell in your spell book! Or just use "detect curse" scrolls to avoid that entire trouble (works on the ENTIRE inventory! <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> ).
There are also some "special" things you can find in the dungeon to either aid you if you can get to them (hidden doors! something i wish diablo had...) and some things to try to kill you (bloody warping traps and poison darts) and some spells can even alter the dungeon itself (dig lets you, well, dig. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> ) . . to find a hidden door you have to rest. to open the door you "bump" into it. hidden doors often have shortcuts into another room or a entrance to a entirely different room or part of the dungeon on that level . . traps are there to harm you or slow you down, and they dont get triggered by monsters. if you think there is a trap nearby press keypad 5 afew times to "observe" your surroundings while you rest.
traps come in all varieties; magical traps sending fire your way, or a plain old arrow trap (i've never encountered a pitfall trap, fyi, but dont rule out the possibility...) . . the spell "Dig" will let you knock out one tile of dungeon wall for each time you cast it. you can make your own little tunnle with this baby, so i suggest you keep any of these spells you find. they can also be the easy way into a vault full of treasure (there is a spell of dig, so you COULD cast dig for all eternity and never find a bloody thing)
There's a whole lot of other stuff like praying to a god of your choice to get abilities/etc and stuff like alters, racial weapons, sub-areas of the main dungeon, and much, much more, but i'll leave those for you to find out.
the goal? Get the orb of Zot and trek back up to the surface. if you go up one level on level one that character will leave the dungeon forever and never return. if you go up with the orb of Zot you win, and can never return with that character. If you save and quit, your character's position and possesions will be saved for you to continue the next time you play. If you just plain quit, your character will commit suicide. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> your characters only have 1 life in Dungeon Crawl. and once they're dead, there's no going back. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> And no, you can't load the game and "try again". It'd be too easy if that was possible. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
Alright, enough of my long-windedness. <a href='http://www.dungeoncrawl.org/' target='_blank'>"Let me play the D*** game already!"</a> you're saying. One final thing: If you're having trouble attacking, "bump" into the enemy by walking onto it's tile to hurt it. Thats for melee weapons. For ranged weapons you must press t, then the numpad * and then the letter associated with the item you want to throw/shoot. arrows/darts/needles work better if you have a bow or blow gun weilded, btw. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> you can leave the game running and it wont advance a single step; every time you press a key associated with a movement action (looking into inventory excluded) you "advance one turn". if you walk 5 steps, you've advanced 5 turns. shift-keypad 5 resting advances you 100 turns.
Keep trying. You'll get there eventually. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> Post how long you lasted if you want to and what killed you. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
Deepest i got was level 8 in 1 hour. D*** Zombie Wyverns and Eyes (Eyes paralyze you) Human character. Read the Crawl.txt if you want a full game description + manual. Discuss Dungeon Crawl or other non-graphical games of a similar type here.
Now, a game with only keyboard characters as graphics might seem like a totally borring game but for what it lacks in graphics it makes up for in gameplay. I mean, this thing is complex and intricate. it has <b>26</b> races from everything from the human to mythical beasts and <b>28</b> classes of all sorts from A to Z. Lots of magic spells and potions, as well as a plethora of equipment. Also, something that makes Dungeon Crawl unique is that Potion and Scroll names are always randomized when you start a new game; a healing potion in game 1 might be "a blue potion", while in game 3623 it can be "a sedimented grey potion", and scroll names are jumbled letters but once you read/drink a potion you know EXACTLY what that potion/scroll does the next time. No more drinking those potions of Degeneration and Poison! (yes, there are dangerous items!)
the game is controlled only with the keyboard. numpad with numlock off will move you (5 will let you "rest" and observe your surroundings at the same time. resting recovers HP/MP. Shift-keypad[#] is like doing that action, but for a longer time. Shift+keypad 8 would make you walk up for a long distance; shift-keypad 5 will make you rest for quite a while (usually +10 hp))
When you first start the game you will be asked to enter a name; dont spend too much time on this because you character will probably die within 5 minutes on the first level (i know mine did!) then choose your race and profession, and you're in! some tricks that you can use to survive are:
1- Keeping your head in battle. Think. only 1 enemy can attack you in the narrowest of corridors!
2- Keep scrolls handy at all times. Scrolls of teleportation move you to a random position nearby, but can sometimes backfire by sending you into a crowd of enemies or if you activated it too late it'll send your corpse, instead.
3- Most enemies are as fast or FASTER than you are, so <i>try</i> to outrun them. if you can out run them, do so. if you can't, run anyways; you'll take less hits and it'll give you time to think of your next action.
4- For spell casters, 0 MP will quickly mean 0 HP, as well. A mage without magical power is as good as a wand without a charge.
5- Don't use the "I think i'll put this on to identify it!" way. There ARE <b>NASTY</b> cursed items in the dungeon... -5 Plate armor, anyone? yes, it bonds to your skin for all time until you can remove it with a spell and YES i did find this out the hard way. NOTE: Stockpile Curse-removal scrolls and better yet, get a curse removal spell in your spell book! Or just use "detect curse" scrolls to avoid that entire trouble (works on the ENTIRE inventory! <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> ).
There are also some "special" things you can find in the dungeon to either aid you if you can get to them (hidden doors! something i wish diablo had...) and some things to try to kill you (bloody warping traps and poison darts) and some spells can even alter the dungeon itself (dig lets you, well, dig. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> ) . . to find a hidden door you have to rest. to open the door you "bump" into it. hidden doors often have shortcuts into another room or a entrance to a entirely different room or part of the dungeon on that level . . traps are there to harm you or slow you down, and they dont get triggered by monsters. if you think there is a trap nearby press keypad 5 afew times to "observe" your surroundings while you rest.
traps come in all varieties; magical traps sending fire your way, or a plain old arrow trap (i've never encountered a pitfall trap, fyi, but dont rule out the possibility...) . . the spell "Dig" will let you knock out one tile of dungeon wall for each time you cast it. you can make your own little tunnle with this baby, so i suggest you keep any of these spells you find. they can also be the easy way into a vault full of treasure (there is a spell of dig, so you COULD cast dig for all eternity and never find a bloody thing)
There's a whole lot of other stuff like praying to a god of your choice to get abilities/etc and stuff like alters, racial weapons, sub-areas of the main dungeon, and much, much more, but i'll leave those for you to find out.
the goal? Get the orb of Zot and trek back up to the surface. if you go up one level on level one that character will leave the dungeon forever and never return. if you go up with the orb of Zot you win, and can never return with that character. If you save and quit, your character's position and possesions will be saved for you to continue the next time you play. If you just plain quit, your character will commit suicide. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> your characters only have 1 life in Dungeon Crawl. and once they're dead, there's no going back. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> And no, you can't load the game and "try again". It'd be too easy if that was possible. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
Alright, enough of my long-windedness. <a href='http://www.dungeoncrawl.org/' target='_blank'>"Let me play the D*** game already!"</a> you're saying. One final thing: If you're having trouble attacking, "bump" into the enemy by walking onto it's tile to hurt it. Thats for melee weapons. For ranged weapons you must press t, then the numpad * and then the letter associated with the item you want to throw/shoot. arrows/darts/needles work better if you have a bow or blow gun weilded, btw. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> you can leave the game running and it wont advance a single step; every time you press a key associated with a movement action (looking into inventory excluded) you "advance one turn". if you walk 5 steps, you've advanced 5 turns. shift-keypad 5 resting advances you 100 turns.
Keep trying. You'll get there eventually. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> Post how long you lasted if you want to and what killed you. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
Deepest i got was level 8 in 1 hour. D*** Zombie Wyverns and Eyes (Eyes paralyze you) Human character. Read the Crawl.txt if you want a full game description + manual. Discuss Dungeon Crawl or other non-graphical games of a similar type here.
Comments
Exactly. Nethack has been around for what, 10 years? Not very revolutionising but thanks for the game tip anyway <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
Began as a Centaur Ice Elementalist on Nov 22, 2003
Succumbed to poison
. . . on Dungeon Level 3.
The game lasted 01:00:08 (3061 turns)
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#4 on my Best Crawlers list. Didn't know that there were varrying levels of poison. Got into the red and died instantly because of low, low hp.
Aye, Nethack is a sweet game, indeed. But i like what Dungeon Crawl has to offer abit more than nethack, even if they are similar. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
also, aparently characters that you have made can come back as [ghosts] wi[th] all the things they held or the spells that they can cast. o.0
This isn't DOS based ist it? Because XP isn't very good with DOS (ie, I have no idea how to run DOS games on this comp). Under closer scrutiny, it seems to work fine with the Windows 95+ download. However, there's no in game help or documentation on the website.
And yes, the Win 95 version is what you want to be using. If you have any problems right-click on the crawl.exe and select properties. Select the tab labled "Compatability" or something similarly named. mess around with the options here, until the game works. note: the game has no sound, so dont worry if you dont hear anything.