AD&D Treasure of Tarmin Gameplay

[IntellivisionDude]

I did not own this game back in the day. First time i ever played was in the HSC last year. I finally decided to play it again. This game is great. I still don't everything about it and still learning.

 

But i do have a question. Is it random which level the Minotaur is in? And is it possible to go down a ladder to soon and go past him? Or would he respawn elsewhere?

 

 

[+Gemintronic]

My memory is fuzzy but I think he starts spawning after a certain amount of floors. You can indeed ignore him and keep delving. Me and my cousin got past the 100th floor.

[+SoulBuster]

Depending on the level of play you chose, the minotaur always shows up on the last visible level. When you drop below the visible levels, he can show up on any level there after.

[Intellivisioner]

Thanks for sharing your gameplay, Dude!

 

It´s one of my favourite games, which I did not get back in the 80´s, but in the 90´s from TELEGAMES UK.

 

Actually the Minotaur is always on the last level on the map, where the treasure is shown.

Never knew about a respawn...this is new to me at all.

[+SoulBuster]

A couple of items to be aware of. Nothing is random except the pattern you start with. If you hit the same pattern, the levels and items are identical. Levels are divided up into quarters. Each quarter is a repeating pattern of quarters. I cannot recall how many different ones there are, but it is between 10-20. If you get a key of a better color, you can drop the lower color. Keys do not break, all weapons break.

 

When you are on lower levels, you can resurrect if you die, once for each level down. When you resurrect you lose everything in your pack, keep what is in your hands. When on tough levels, lay your high end equipment on the floor in the outside corridor, that way when you resurrect, you still have them.

 

Use retreat only when you are sure you will not back up into a position where a monster you cannot kill is located. You cannot retreat twice, and you lose your turn when you retreat. You can always throw a trinket at a monster to make him lose interest in you and you can walk away.

[+wongojack]

You can always throw a trinket at a monster to make him lose interest in you and you can walk away.

 

That is one that I did not know!

 

I totally leave my stuff in the outside corridor. In addition to not losing it if you die, It helps give reference points.

[Intellfan]

Here is a video I did a couple of years ago . I love this game . I used to leave my Intellivsion on for days playing it . My Brother and I went down all 256 levels . My favorite is getting all the magic books and fighting magic doors

 

[+SoulBuster]

My favorite is getting all the magic books

I like the teleport book and the one that lets you see through walls. I discontinue the use of doors and just repeatedly teleport through everything.

Edited March 18, 2014 by SoulBuster

[IntellivisionDude]

Here is a video I did a couple of years ago . I love this game . I used to leave my Intellivsion on for days playing it . My Brother and I went down all 256 levels . My favorite is getting all the magic books and fighting magic doors

 

 

Awesome video. This game is complex. They put a lot of time and thought into making it.

[BydoEmpire]

One of my very favorite Inty games, although it's been a long time since I've gone down in those dungeons. Certainly one of the most ahead-of-its time games ever. Tom Loughry was my hero.

[Intellfan]

I like the teleport book and the one that lets you see through walls. I discontinue the use of doors and just repeatedly teleport through everything.

Yes that is the best when you can see through walls and teleport all is good

[atari5200dude82]

I love this game. One of my favorites. very complex. Some i see the mintour on the higher levels like 5 or 7 etc. So i take it it is random. I play the medium level. It also have different color gates in the pathway, to gain in strength, or spirtual. . I like the magic doors. Some are very tough. I avoid it unless you have the white weapons

[HunterZero]

The enchanted doors will always give you a magic book - either the teleport, vision or midas book (that allows you to turn weapons and armour at your feet platinum). Although very powerful, the white platinum crossbow breaks way too easily. It is often better to keep a gold crossbow gold if you find one.

 

We used to aspire to be 'platinum warrior' - max platinum armour with purple ring, all three special books, blue key, platinum large shield and platinum crossbows/purple books. And max stats, using the purple books that increase your max war and spiritual ratings.

 

Minotaur is on level 2 on easy, 4 on med, 8 on hard and 12 on very hard. If you avoid the minotaur and go down a level, the minotaur then doesn't seem to appear again for a few levels.

 

- J

Edited March 19, 2014 by HunterZero

[roberto]

"Open!", "Pick up!", "Swap hands!" for a while I thought you were playing by issuing actual voice commands! Loved it!

Edited March 19, 2014 by roberto

[+SoulBuster]

Minotaur is on level 2 on easy, 4 on med, 8 on hard and 12 on very hard. If you avoid the minotaur and go down a level, the minotaur then doesn't seem to appear again for a few levels.

 

- J

[intvnut]

I like the teleport book and the one that lets you see through walls. I discontinue the use of doors and just repeatedly teleport through everything.

 

My faves too. Get both of those books and "WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH! turn... WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!"

 

I always got annoyed when you got to the lower levels, and every 2nd door had a Minotaur behind it.

[atari5200dude82]

Is it Me or other people noticed it also. Everytime i play it, On level 2 . it seems really difficult on finding the ladder. You seem to go around in circles for awhile. lol. On the med level.

Edited March 19, 2014 by atari5200dude82

[+SoulBuster]

Easy way to find the ladders. look at the map and make note if there are two ladders or one. Left is West, right is East. if there are two ladders either entrance from the north or south side, the ladder is in line with the entrance door. If only one ladder, stand at the north or south entrance on the West or East depending on ladder location. With a teleport book, you can whoosh right to it. If not it is in the 3rd row from the east or west.

[HunterZero]

 

I always got annoyed when you got to the lower levels, and every 2nd door had a Minotaur behind it.

 

Oddly enough, the minotaur isn't the nastiest monster in the game. He's pretty challenging and will be the nastiest monster you've seen so far if you encounter him on the first level he appears, but he is not too hard to kill after that. You can knock him off and just not pick up his treasure. Certainly not as nasty as the orange shielded ghouls, wraiths and giants you see later on (especially on hard and very hard levels). It's pretty funny when you see two minotaurs at once, and they both drop a yellow treasure box!

 

Remember to use the midas book to change treasures platinum as well as war weapons and armour for maximum points.

 

On harder levels of the game, you can move horizontally between levels by moving through gates (one way trip!). These gates appear in the outer maze allow you to see more mazes and give you more opportunity to boost your stats from fighting and resting, but some gates skew your stats by reducing one of your stats and boosting the other. Eg war mazes are green, the green gates will reduce your spiritual stat and boost your war stat. Blue gates boost your spiritual stat at the expense of your war stat. Tan dungeons are mixed, and will leave your stats unchanged.

 

- J

Edited March 20, 2014 by HunterZero

[intvnut]

 

Oddly enough, the minotaur isn't the nastiest monster in the game. He's pretty challenging and will be the nastiest monster you've seen so far if you encounter him on the first level he appears, but he is not too hard to kill after that. You can knock him off and just not pick up his treasure. Certainly not as nasty as the orange shielded ghouls, wraiths and giants you see later on (especially on hard and very hard levels). It's pretty funny when you see two minotaurs at once, and they both drop a yellow treasure box!

 

I guess my biggest annoyance was that I had to remember not to reflexively pick up the treasure. That, and it felt like a bug that there were so many Minotaurs around, each with the treasure.

 

 

 

 

On harder levels of the game, you can move horizontally between levels by moving through gates (one way trip!). These gates appear in the outer maze allow you to see more mazes and give you more opportunity to boost your stats from fighting and resting, but some gates skew your stats by reducing one of your stats and boosting the other. Eg war mazes are green, the green gates will reduce your spiritual stat and boost your war stat. Blue gates boost your spiritual stat at the expense of your war stat. Tan dungeons are mixed, and will leave your stats unchanged.

 

Yep, I remember the gates. And, with interesting timing, so does Tuesday's Zippy, kinda... *chuckle*

 

[mr_intv]

My 10 yr old son watched me play this tonight and according to him this game is super cool! It was comical to see his reaction the first time I reached the minatour and it stole every item we had. My son was saying things like " he can't do that" and " that's not fair". I couldn't help but laugh. I think the weaponery had enough similarities as Minecraft to keep his interest, at least he seemed to be able to tell me what most of the items were and that I probably needed to find a key to open those boxes. he's already asked to play it tomorrow. Which is fine by me, maybe we will also tackle Tower of Doom.

[sharkcharmer]

This was my favorite one player game. OG first person shooter!

 

1) Flipped the game on disc level a few months ago:

 

2) If you look closely, you can see the bottom menu / stat bar profile burned into my TV. . .

[The Eyeball Mural]

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?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[+nurmix]

Thanks, The Eyeball Mural. Some useful tips here for sure!

 

I didn't know the eyeball murals marked the ladder locations like that.

 

I don't think I ever noticed the rendering "glitch" either, and if I did, I didn't put it to use.

 

As for what Tom Loughry stated in the interview about the "magical doors"... I followed up in email with him because as I listened to and edited the interview, I realized he thought I was referring to the HIDDEN doors, not the "magical doors". He actually forgot about those! Here's what he said in email:

 

"Oh those! Yes, I thought you were referring to the hidden doors... They are hard to kill, but that was a fitting price for getting those wonderful books. They were too valuable to start just putting them in containers. My guess (I don't remember exactly) is that what you can attack them with and what they attack you with depends on their color, with one accepting either type of weapon and the other two colors attacking/being vulnerable to only one type."

 

And by the way, I forwarded your other questions to Tom.

 

 

 

► 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.

 

► 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?

[The Eyeball Mural]

Thanks, The Eyeball Mural. Some useful tips here for sure!

 

And by the way, I forwarded your other questions to Tom.

 

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.