The Eyeball Mural

I only discovered the existence of this game a few months ago. It and its creator are fascinating to read about. I'd love to give it a go. I cobbled together a capture of a review for it that appeared in an issue of Electronic Games. The reviewer was a tad critical.

Yes, a big thank you to Bill Loguidice for the patient and thorough updates!

Just stopping by to say *bump* and encourage folks to support this project!

Don't give up! If you haven't yet read the instructions for those games make sure you do.

Here's a graphic showing the Tarmin map tile renders that are available on SketchUp's 3D Warehouse. These are linked from the Intellivisionaries page for Episode 10, or you can see them here: https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/user.html?id=1239298327011389285819623 If you are not a SketchUp user, no worries! You can view each model within its webpage. Navigate to the model's page, click the "axial rotation" button (red arrows icon, with mouseover text that reads "view 3d views of this model") and enjoy! The graphic I've included here is simply a quick and easy way to see the basics of the layouts and to compare them to one another.

Thank you very much! It's a real treat for me to talk to people who are Intellivision "insiders" and learn more about games I have played and loved for decades. Learning Mr. Loughry's insights into his creations is especially fun! I appreciate all of you for being so generous with your time and your knowledge.

Jr. Pac-Man gets my vote. Punishing gameplay.

Just in case anyone missed it, Tom Loughry's interview on Intellivisionaries 10 was fabulous. It covered Treasure of Tarmin thoroughly, though I still have some questions for Mr. Loughry if he grants another interview! I've been playing Tarmin since 1984 and I continue to learn new things about one of my most favorite games of all time. Here's some Tarmin tidbits to add to those above: ► After the treasure score is rolled (after 99,999 if my memory serves) ciphers begin to appear in the score board, i.e. the numerals are replaced by punctuation and such. I suppose this is a bug, and an unremarkable one at that, but interesting to see. ► The eyeball mural is very useful. It marks maze entrances, conveys the spiritual or warfare aspect of the maze level, helps the player remain oriented along the perimeter and within the maze, and shows along which path of travel the exits to the next level will be found. Ladders always lie along a line between two eyeball murals located on opposite sides of the labyrinth. ► When approaching or turning to face any item on the floor the item's sprite will sometimes render as a different object, or combination of objects, before quickly resolving into its true identity. Items in isolation seem to rarely do this (if ever), but items in proximity to other items in adjacent map tiles will "flicker" and appear to be one of those nearby items before rendering truly. This behavior can be used as a tool to divine what objects lie behind walls or closed doors. Since the eyeball murals exist outside the maze proper (while no other items are nominally found there), this reconnaissance can also be performed from the relative safety of the maze perimeter. Using this method to discover if a monster lurks behind a closed door, or if large bags or chests are lying in adjacent rooms, aids the player in making prudent and profitable decisions in the game. ► The special books (teleport, vision and midas) are usually found behind magical doors, but can also be found in common containers on the deeper levels. ► The magical doors (my friends and I used to call them enchanted doors or possessed doors) are referred to in the instruction manual as "other doors... endowed with weird powers..."! ► Although combat is turn-based, initiative also plays a role. The player can quickly attack first, or swiftly counterattack after being assaulted, and prevent further attack by slaying a monster before it uses its turn. ► The game does indeed get generous with minotaurs if you keep going deeper. More than once I've stood in a 4x4 room with three minotaurs and I taking up all the space in the room! ► Continuing past level 256 leads you back to level 1. I believe this means a new, randomly-generated level, not the same level 1 you started from, but I'm not sure. Anyone? ► 3D depictions of the Tarmin maze map tiles can be found here: https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/user.html?id=1239298327011389285819623 ► As mentioned above, maxing out on platinum and magic is a fun way to go. My friends and I used to become "The Platinum Knight of Tarmin." ► After gaining the power to see through walls via the vision book you will see the magical doors from all sides, not just the door-facing side, but they can still only be attacked from the door-facing side. The game seems to treat the glowing doors as it does monster or item sprites, not as a door sprite. In other words, you can see them from any side but always see the front view. There is no way to see the side or back of any monster or item, you always see the front, no matter which side you view from. The same goes for the magical doors. This also means that there is no way to peek behind the magical door and see if there is a special monster behind it. For all intents and purposes, the glowing door sprite is the monster sprite in that situation. ► If there is any way to pick up, open or otherwise interact with an eyeball mural I have not discovered it. I have always suspected there is a way, whether it is a glitch or an easter egg, but maybe I'm just being foolish. ► Mr. Loughry stated that the magical doors are inherent to the map tiles, and will always be found in the same location of a given tile. This has not been my experience, but maybe I am missing something. Any thoughts? ► I have always imagined that the eyeball mural was an orb like a crystal ball, mounted into the dungeon floor, half submerged. It seems like everyone I talk to envisions it as a sigil, a magical drawing or carving. Maybe this is poll-worthy?

Fabulous episode! Thank you very much for putting on the show, and especially for talking to Tom Loughry. I was in heaven listening to that interview. I've been wringing secrets out of Treasure of Tarmin since 1984 and count it among my most favorite games ever. Unfortunately I missed out on submitting questions for the show. Since you might be having Mr. Loughry as a guest again, I'm putting my Tarmin "follow up" questions here. Maybe you can squeeze them in if he's on the show once more. If not, thanks anyway and keep up the good work! ► Is the "multiple minotaur" occurrence (on levels past the selected game's designated "ultimate" level) a bug or a feature? It sometimes seems as if the game is trying to make winning easier by spawning so many minotaurs, like the game is weary and wants to quit. (More than once I've found myself in a 4x4 room where three minotaurs and I occupied all available space!) ► What exactly is the eyeball mural, in the context of the game world? Is it drawn or painted on the dungeon floor, like a sigil? Or is it intended to be a sort of crystal or metallic ball set into the floor? And what about the name? My theory is that the eyeball mural is not like a painted mural, but is in fact a mural instrument akin to those used in observatories. Mural instruments are fixed to meridians and enable precise celestial observations; the eyeball mural marks "meridians" across the maze layout and enables precise navigation to maze entrances and level exits. If the eyeball mural term uses the word "mural" as a post-positive adjective (like time immemorial, death eternal, or the body electric) then this could lend credence to my theory. But only Mr. Loughry knows for sure. How does he conceive of the eyeball mural in terms of what sort of object it represents? Did he come up with the name, or did the instruction manual creators do so? And what is the nature of the name? Thanks again!

Time well spent... 1978 = Coleco Telstar Arcade 1982 = Atari 2600 1984 = Intellivision II 1991 = Nintendo Entertainment System 1991 = Atari 7800 1993 = Super Nintendo Entertainment System 1994 = IBM PS/2 1998 = Playstation 1998 = Nintendo 64 2000 = Sega Dreamcast 2000 = Macromedia Shockmachine 2001 = Playstation 2 2009 = Stella 2009 = Nostalgia 2009 = MAME 2011 = Roku 2014 = Steam ► I also played on the Atari 5200, Commodore 64, Amiga, Game Boy, XBOX, XBOX 360 and PlayStation 3, but never owned them. ► I've always wanted to own a Vectrex and an Odyssey2 but have yet to get my hands on them. ► I began playing arcade coin-op games in 1978. ► I played very briefly on a Coleco Adam in 1987, but for many reasons I don't count it in my history. ► The only handheld I've ever owned that is worth mentioning is the fabled Pac-Man 2 by Entex. I really wish I still had that!

22/30. Harder than I expected!

I'd say the replay value is the same as the original Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man arcade coin-ops. For me that is high value, for others it's low. Pac-Man CE is short and sweet and always the same, but I enjoy it so much I consider the repetitiveness a benefit, not a detriment. The Roku edition has six versions (not sure how this compares to XBOX), all of which are timed at 10:00 or 5:00. But it plays pretty much like old-school Pac-Man: there are no upgrades or unlockables (except achievement badges). Just eat and run until time expires. It is what it is. I don't know much about the leaderboards because on the Roku edition they are tied to Facebook, and I am not a Facebook user.

Happy Canada Day! Thank you very much for all the work you put in, and your generosity!

On Atari Adventure (because it never gets old for me) Mountain King (because it is a strange little obsession of mine) Jr. Pac-Man (because I am a glutton for punishment) On Other Systems Strata (a nifty Zen puzzler, playing on Steam) Pac-Man Championship Edition (a serious addiction, playing on my Roku) Miner 2049er Again (my favorite version of Miner, playing on my PC)

blocky bots advance metal voices I can't hear intruder alert

I was a compulsive collector of many things when I was a youngster. One of those things was empty Kool-Aid packets. I kept them in a neat stack, rubber-banded, in a quiet corner of the kitchen, and instructed my mother to always add empty packets to my hoard. This drove her a bit nuts and she often encouraged me to trash my collection. I always told her that I might use them for something someday. Imagine her chagrin and my pride when the Kool-Aid Man cartridge promotion was announced! A few minutes with scissors and a jaunt to the post office and I was all set! I received my game and enjoyed it very much, but it did take a few months to reach me.