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Tunnels of Doom... still capturing imaginations after all these years


MurdockScott

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So, my 7 year old son has been learning Basic on one of my TI99/4a units set up in our living room, and as he was having a friend over today, I suggested that we put the computer away. He adamantly asked to leave it out and told me he wanted to show her something. I thought he wanted to show her some of the programming he had been learning so I agreed.

 

Well, he kinda conned me... because when his friend came over he, started loading up Tunnels of Doom. I thought about putting the smackdown on this activity, but decided to see if she enjoyed playing. To my amazement, two first graders played TOD for well over an hour and loved it. They really had a great time! Like when they found a map and freaked out when they saw the locations of hidden rooms! It was really fun to watch and honestly, I didn't have to give them much, if, any help. Just when I was about to tell them that was enough screen time, they self regulated and started tearing around the house looking for other activities.

 

Who would have thought that a game from 1982 could provide so much fun for young kids over three decades later.

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What the game lacks in graphics, it more than makes up in imagination, and boy did we need a lot of that back then :) The beauty of it is that imagination is unbounded and transcends the necessary limitations of the physical world, in the end providing us with a far richer experience than what could possibly be conjured with set graphics alone, no matter how advanced they are.

This is dramatically evident in games like TOD, where I bet each of your first graders had a completely different visualization of the dungeon and monsters, essentially making it up as they went, hence their excitement. As adults, we tend to gradually lose a bit of that magical thinking as the demands of the real world creep in, much to our detriment.

OK I'm pulling out my TOD game now :D

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I remember drawing maps on graph paper. I didn't know it had mapping built in. I probably played that way for a couple months before I found a map in game, and then realized I should read the manual. F7 is your friend. :) I always enjoy the vault-mini-game. :)

 

If you don't want to fire it up, but just want to watch a little gameplay, https://goo.gl/photos/qSjBxjhupknDJDY9A ( This is running in speed 5 from the Geneve. )

Forest of Ruin ( made with Fritz442's windows based TOD editor http://atariage.com/forums/topic/238859-new-ti-994a-tunnels-of-doomtod-game-and-game-editor/ )

 

-M@

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I discovered the reboot a couple of years ago but never really got into it. Its still on my machine, I should try it again.

There is is also some fun information about the game linked from the reboot page that I remember looking over. Some notes on the music and a tribute site. I bet most people here have seen these sites but just in case... : )

 

http://www.dreamcodex.com/todr.php

http://www.webfeats.com/ToDR/

http://ridingthecrest.com/edburns/classic-gaming/tunnels/

Edited by MurdockScott
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I have a ToD cartridge, book, box and tape that came with a spare console I "needed" a year or so ago. I keep telling myself, "I should check it out", but truthfully, I've never gotten around to it. Someday maybe.

 

So, what do you guys suggest as THE best game to ever come out for it? Post the DISK image here and I'll really try to give it a look.

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Was certainly one of the first carts I looked for when I got back into the 4A...

 

It was easily my absolute favorite game for many years - until FTL software released Sundog on the ST...then a few months later, they released the now famous Dungeon Master. Couldn't believe the similarities with ToD! It was like they took my favorite game and added amazing graphics while keeping everything that made it fun to play intact.

 

Then, while surfing for something new to play a couple years ago, I discovered an indie s/ware house called « Almost Human Ltd. » and a game called Legend of Grimrock. If there are any ToD/Dungeon Master fans out there who haven't seen this game (and its sequel)...go find it NOW! It is what a turn-based dungeon crawler can look like in the age of modern GPU's.

 

It is an absolutely stunning 'remake' of Dungeon Master with brilliantly rendered creatures/locations, amazing lighting/sound and enough puzzles and secrets to befuddle the most experience Dungeon adventurer.

 

Highly recommended for anyone looking for a bit of classic dungeon crawling with a hi-rez graphics twist.

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Legend of Grimrock. If there are any ToD/Dungeon Master fans out there who haven't seen this game (and its sequel)...go find it NOW! It is what a turn-based dungeon crawler can look like in the age of modern GPU's.

 

 

Thats interesting. I also own Legend of Grimrock (I and II) and have noticed and delighted in the similarity to TOD. But were we differ, is that I went from the TI to Macs, so I got my fix for these types of games with Wizardry and Citadel Adventure of the Crystal Keep and never got to play Dungeon Master. I have to say I spent many years looking for something similar to TOD that would hold my interest in the same way and I agree, Grimrock is an excellent successor to the genre.

 

I will have to see if I can find a way to play Dungeon Master... since it will be new to me. : )

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I will have to see if I can find a way to play Dungeon Master... since it will be new to me. : )

 

Find yourself an Atari ST emulator (not sure of the Mac varieties) and find the following Automation disk images:

A_97: contains Dungeon Master

A_192: contains Dungeon Master II: Chaos Strikes Back

A_442b: contains the docs for Dungeon Master (not really required since you know the genre and it is control-identical to the Grimrock series.

 

There is another clone called Legend of Skulkeep, (you only control a single adventurer though) which was released for os9...not sure about osX compatibilities.

 

You may want to book a couple weeks holidays before you start (unless you have paid sick leave) because once you start a game, it will be very difficult to do anything else until you reach the end. I know it's a subjective thing, but to me Dungeon Master was the pinnacle of Atari ST gaming, just as ToD was for the 99, both setting the bar for their generation of machines.

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  • 1 year later...

Back in the early 80s my friend Justin and I would spend hours on end playing Tunnels of Doom. Waiting 200 seconds while a 10 floor dungeon was being built and stocked and listening to the game's perfectly scored theme song, then off into the tunnels fighting monsters, cracking vault combos, finding quest objects and treasure! Oh man, those were great memories. I am so happy to see people still talking about this game and sharing info to keep the legend of TOD alive.

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I just talked with Michael Veprauskas today on the phone. A few years ago, he sent me a copy of the really well made Halls of Lost Moria game he created with John Behnke's TOD editor. I asked him for permission to post it on here and he said OK but I can't seem to find a way to attach the file in the post. Can anyone help with this?

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I can't seem to find a way to attach the file in the post. Can anyone help with this?

 

When posting, the "More Reply Options" button should allow you to attach files. I just don't know if you have the ability to do so yet since you have so few posts in the forum.

Edited by chue
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Actually, that didn't work because it says I'm not permitted. Maybe someone can assist me?

 

There are only certain types of file extensions that pass muster (.txt, .pdf, .dsk, .jpg, .gif, .png, .zip, ...). You can always zip up any files that will not load. You can also rename any file to a “.zip” or “.txt” extension as long as you tell folks how to undo what you did.

 

...lee

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