icetique

I removed my maps and scripts from the server. For anyone interested and for preservation, I included them in the ZIP file attached to this post (you can also find the script that reads all the variables from the files, so you can examine them by yourself). Meanwhile you can wait for ballyalley to complete his thread. I am probably moving to Zork series, though I will probably wait for Morloc's Tower to appear. I was able to run it on Atari emulator, but it's not working properly (as ballyalley mentioned in the Morloc's Tower thread). maps_scripts.zip

Yes, but for 20 "minutes" gameplay is really enough. I was able to finish it all within 17 minutes without fighting too much, with fighting with every monster it might not be possible.

I checked the dump thread, but it seems forgotten (after a few tries). Any chances on this?

Thanks for the map. Yes I can confirm there is no more secret doors and rooms, didn't check traps, but I am not going there again. Nice catch with the content reuse thing!

Here is the data from magical cottage. It seems that everything is present. However please notice that nonexistent room 41 has "teleport" to non existent room 32, but this is probably a bug (dev leftovers). https://nayee.net/data2.php

I don't see any treasure names in the DOS game data (not trilogy). BASIC do not contain any treasure names neither do LVL and SHP files. If you are able to get LEVEL and BASIC files from Atari's Curse of Ra I can check there also, but Trilogy is impossible to check without debugging I think.

Even if it was possible, there is no way that somewhere exists Treasure 10, as simply there is no way in the code to set up different Treasure than it is in the TR array (in my opinion). Edit #1: I have updated the website with TS, TW and TC arrays. TW = weight, TC = price, however I am not sure what is the TS array. It seems that the treasure 10 was planned somehow. I only see in the game code that TS with value > 100 increases the stats (in this level none), and TS != 0 is impossible to drop. Edit #2: Ok, I found it. It seems that different values from 1 to 11 are doing different things and also all above 100 are doing different things. The value "6" in treasure 10 sets SA(10) = 1, KB(19) = KB(19)+1 and both of these values are related to character data (not sure which one, but it's not that important as the treasure 10 cannot be found anyway).

Thanks to the BASIC source code and plain-text level data, I am now quite sure there is no Treasure 10 and no Rooms 36 and 37. I recreated the code from the game to read the file data, it was quite hard as the game has lot of data and the variable names are very short like TR, TX, TD, TA (probably saving disk space?). I was able to get out of the file two important arrays called: NO and TR. The first one keeps the connection between rooms (top, right, bottom, left) and the second one keeps the connection between rooms and treasures. There is no connection to room 36 or 37 and there is no treasure 10 in level data files. You can see them by yourselfs: https://nayee.net/data.php I also checked if TR is somewhere possibly hacked but there is only one place in the code and this is probably the place, where you leave the treasure on the floor so it become available to take away. The NO array is nowhere written in source code, so this one is probably final too. Also, the game was prepared for up to 60 rooms.

I spent some time trying to find some pattern in the LEVEL5.SHP and I found one. In the beginning on the file, there is: 40 20 I checked this and this sequence is very regular across the file, each sequence contain 52 items. I call this sequences "tiles" for now. There is a total of 12 "tiles" and after the 12th tile there is non-ASCII character, and after this there is only four values left: -16141 13056 960 24 So, I put the tiles side by side: https://nayee.net/temple1.php And it is clearly visible that the tiles from 8th to 12th are identical, so they may be not used for this level. I will try to find more patterns and compare different levels, but maybe you guys have an idea too what's going on and why 12? Update: anyway, I just realized that the original Temple of Apshai for DOS is written in basic, so I may be able to see what's going on in the code. So maybe this will be easier.

Yes, I agree, after those years they probably remember nothing about the game, but it is worth a try! I will try to reach other members in the nearest time, but disassembling/reviewing source code is worth a try. The greatest possibility I see for now is to use DosBox debugger, which is quite comprehensive (although I am able to do almost nothing there). I downloaded the original DOS version of Curse of Ra, and the interesting thing there is that the level details are almost in plain text: LEVEL5.LVL (almost in the end there is a non ASCII character) - https://pastebin.com/BPPWH203 LEVEL5.SHP (same here) - https://pastebin.com/chs2u0rQ However, there is no COM or EXE file, there is only BOOT.BAS file, it probably needs QB64 to run, but I didn't test it yet. However I bet, QB64 doesn't have so comprehensive debug. But, it seems that SHP is the shortcut of SHAPE, so there is probably written room data and LVL is of course shortcut of LEVEL, so probably it has monsters, treasures, doors or other stuff written inside it. I would say, the SHP should tell us if Room 36 and 37 exist and LVL should tell us if Treasure 10 exists. I also tried to run the Trilogy version in DosBox Debugger and what I found is that level data is no longer written in plain text, but in binary files. There are two files that are responsible for this level: LEV12.BAD LEVEL12.LVL I was able to read from DosBox debugger that LEV12.BAD is loaded on the start of level 5, however I have to try it on another computer as mine (Surface Pro) does not have Pause button which is quite helpful to switch between game and debugger (this doesn't work for me in DosBox, I am not sure why). I have 10+ years of experience in programming, but I never focused on assembler and debugging such an old games, but I always wanted to learn both of these things, so maybe it is worth a try now! I realize that these forums are Atari forums, but the game is the cross-platform mystery, let's use everything we have to find or deny the existence of these rooms and treasure. At first, I will try to find the pattern in this LEVEL5.SHP, as far as I can tell right now, there is no room number inside this file, only some kind of coordinates, however it is very hard to check without running game (with running game I could possibly edit some values and see what they are changing), so I will probably try to run it in this QB64, but I do not even know if the game is complete, as this BOOT.BAS seems too small for the game!

In the meantime of your offtopic, I was able to contact Jon Freeman, who started the series, but sadly I got the reply: Finding contact to Jon was pretty difficult and I think I will not be able to find Tim, Mark or Andrew, they have so much common names that I think it is almost impossible to find the exact person. I will try some day maybe.

Yes, it is quite challenging, but I would say, that was the best thing you did to not include the last level map as I was able to truly enjoy the game, never knowing what coming next! I suggest anyone who want to try this games to try it without maps, although it may be quite challenging especially when your character has no experience in the beginning. I think the hardest level was 1-4. I tried DOS version first and I was very disappointed, I would face the truth - they are probably bugged (at least the trilogy). Later I saw your conclusions on DOS versions and I was happy that I didn't play them longer (although I was able to run Trilogy only, not the first versions). I tried Atari version to check this T10 and I enjoyed it, seems as much playable as Commodore version! I didn't try Amiga/Atari though and probably I am not going to. It seems this one was not so popular as the first part. Too bad they didn't release Hellfire Trilogy. I was able to run it under emulation, started fighting with Giant Ant or something similiar, but I will probably give it up, it's not so responsive as the Trilogy 1985. Can't wait for this, your work is brilliant! I was laughing at myself that you probably didn't release the last one description because you are still looking for T10, but now I see I was partially right! Wow, being so overwhelmed by examining the walls I didn't notice the lack of 36-37! This definitely has something in common with the missing treasure! Good to hear you examined all of the walls so I do not have to do it myself. I think we have two possibilities, either reassemble the game and try to find the room data there, something that will give us the clue or go the easy way and try to contact the authors to give us some clue which can reveal the mystery behind it. I wonder which game is the easiest one to disassembly, I already tried the C64 version, but it contains packed data into PRG files, without deep knowledge of the C64 and assembly itself it is hard to do something. I will try some day with DOS version I think (although it is magically (as you said) bugged (as I said), so there is a chance that the answer isn't there!). Sure, can't wait for your thread to be a complete, best guide available on the web! You really put a lot of effort and probably love into it. Actually this game is better than some new games once you get into it. I also had a lot of fun with Akalabeth (Ultima 0), going deep into dungeons, it was hard to start playing, but once you find the way it is more than enjoyable. I think I tried to run the Trilogy for two days finding the best playable version. To understand the atari tapes, cassettes and BASIC was quite challenging too as it is hard to find info on the internet on such old systems. I bet we are. Missing T10 could be a bug, but connecting it with missing rooms 36-37 it seems like game magic to me.

The manual says about T10: At the head of the statue you find, embedded in the wall, with light pouring through it, a large ruby. OHHHHHH! It must by an eye. You remember seeing it from below. Which suggests, that the T10 should be in rooms 38-42, as the manual says: Room 38-42 - Imagine that! The thing is hollow with intricate and tricky passages leading up the legs and into the chest and head! My bet is, it should be in the Room 41 as this room is in the top (which suggests head, not chest) and also it has the wall on the side visible from bottom. I checked the wall and all the room, also checked other Rooms, but I could not find anything. Did you pass this level with all Treasures? I also tried the non-trilogy version a few minutes before and also there is nothing there.

Hello everybody. First of all, thank you @ballyalley for these wonderful maps and descriptions. I followed them one by one and they are brilliant. However I wanted to finish the trilogy and I ended up on the last level. I am playing Commodore 64 Trilogy version and I was able to find all the rooms, but I am unable to find Treasure #10. I cannot find it anywhere, dunno if it is a bug in the Commodore 64 version or the "magic" itself as you mentioned couple of times. I even created my own maps of the last level to check if I am doing somewhere an error in my research. X1 DUST TRAP X2 CEILING TRAP X3 CEILING TRAP X4 CAVEIN TRAP X5 CAVEIN TRAP X6 CAVEIN TRAP X7 FLAME TRAP X8 DUST TRAP X9 SPEAR TRAP X10 CAVEIN TRAP