INTV Tower of Doom question

[+thegoldenband]

Does anyone know if there are "official" names for the monsters and magic items in Tower of Doom? The general item type is named in the manual (Ring, Large Scroll, etc.), but it doesn't supply names for the individual examples of each item, i.e. what one might call a "Ring of Protection".

 

The manual also doesn't name the different monsters, and while some are easily inferred, in other cases it's not clear whether it's a lizard or a dragon, a bat or a stirge, and so forth. (After all, how many of us would've otherwise guessed that the alien bunny thing in Cloudy Mountain was meant to be a demon?)

 

Finally, if anyone knows of any strategy guides, disassemblies, or other secondary sources of information about the game, it'd be great to hear about it. I'm putting together a strategy guide of sorts, since there seems to be nothing on the web about it, and would like to avoid reinventing the wheel wherever possible.

[jeremysart]

Does anyone know if there are "official" names for the monsters and magic items in Tower of Doom? The general item type is named in the manual (Ring, Large Scroll, etc.), but it doesn't supply names for the individual examples of each item, i.e. what one might call a "Ring of Protection".

 

The manual also doesn't name the different monsters, and while some are easily inferred, in other cases it's not clear whether it's a lizard or a dragon, a bat or a stirge, and so forth. (After all, how many of us would've otherwise guessed that the alien bunny thing in Cloudy Mountain was meant to be a demon?)

 

Finally, if anyone knows of any strategy guides, disassemblies, or other secondary sources of information about the game, it'd be great to hear about it. I'm putting together a strategy guide of sorts, since there seems to be nothing on the web about it, and would like to avoid reinventing the wheel wherever possible.

 

 

I have had no luck finding any official names of the monsters either, which is a surprise with how thought out and complicated this game is.

I would say its safe to assume you could give them names.

 

I remember the first time I played this game, I couldn't believe how many skill levels and players you could choose from. I was also amazed by the randomly generated dungeons, the map, all the different potions and items, and the fact you even had an inventory with a cursor. The first time I played Diablo, I immediately felt the influence of Tower of Doom at work.

 

What a fun game! It always bugs me when people dismiss the Intv as a bad console, when it has such great games to offer, like Tower of Doom, Thunder Castle and Utopia, complex games not seen on other consoles, and nothing like it for almost a decade to come!

Edited January 8, 2010 by jeremysart

[ed1475]

I've wondered what the monsters are called too.

 

I've got a gameplay video on Youtube played on the Wizard Hunt level. Starting at 7:45 are monster battles. A total of 11 monsters plus the wizard. Really great monster graphics.

 

 

Edited January 9, 2010 by ed1475

[S1500]

How the heck did they jam so much into an Intv game?

[Bruce Tomlin]

Wow, I'm impressed by how well the gameplay flows, even with a separate close-up battle mode. Nothing like the ponderous JRPGs that force random encounters on you (no indication that you're approaching something) every 30 seconds or so and take a minute or two per battle turn.

 

For what it's worth, here's a scan and a .html of the instructions that I made a while back. Nothing about monster names.

towdoom.zip

Edited January 11, 2010 by Bruce Tomlin

[ratfink]

I've always considered this game to be a roguelike and it probably deserves to be credited as the first roguelike on a console. It has most of the characteristics of a roguelike: randomly generated dungeons and loot, permanent death, the goal is to reach the bottom (or is it the top?) of the dungeon. Even some of the starting classes are ripped straight from roguelikes, including the really weak ones (like the Waif) for those looking for a serious challenge. Diablo, too, was inspired by roguelikes, and Blizzard have admitted as much in interviews. I think it's important to preserve video game history and give credit where it's due. This game really deserves a place in video game history.

[Lord Thag]

I've always considered this game to be a roguelike and it probably deserves to be credited as the first roguelike on a console.

 

I completely agree. I've said the same for years. Tower of Doom is one of the best games I've ever played on a classic system. It's also more fun than Rogue itself, due to the many more interesting objects, ranged weapons, artifacts, far more interesting dungeon layouts, traps ... you name it.

 

This game, along with both of the other AD&D games, and a few others make the Intellivision my second favorite console of the era, outside the VCS. There is nothing else like the library for this system for the entire console era. Some of the sports games were not equalled in complexity until the *genesis* era (Chip Shot, Slam Dunk etc).

 

Amazing game on an amazingly overlooked system.