![]Eamon Adventurer's Guild Online](../images/EAGonline2-inverse.gif){kind=small}
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MAIN PGM Version: 7 (heavily modified) Extra Commands: ENTER, BUY, SELL, TALK, ASK, RESUME, QUIT Deleted Commands: BLAST, POWER, SPEED, SMILE, REQUEST Special Features: Requires 80-col. display; accepts lower-case input; standalone, does not use Eamon Master. Playing Time: 2-3 hours Reviewer Rating: 9.5
Description: It all started when you returned home from a long adventure to discover that a huge dragon was terrorizing the countryside, eating the livestock and stealing anything valuable. The king's wizards and warriors had been soundly trounced by the dragon, who roamed at will with confidence because a prophecy said that he would die in his sleep, not in combat.
You hatched a plan to cast a huge golden statue, and let the dragon "steal" it, while you hid inside. That night, you would emerge from the statue and kill the dragon as he slept.
To make a long story short, the plan goes badly. The dragon gets the statue, but you don't kill him and barely escape with your life. The king, hardly amused at losing so much of his gold, convicts you of Treasonous Negligence of the Highest Degree, and sells you into slavery.
As the adventure opens, you have escaped from the Slavers. After running for three days, you arrive penniless at the gates of a small village in another kingdom. You quickly discover that they have a dragon problem as well. Dragons have fabulous treasure hoards; if you kill this one you will have the means to repay the king. Can this be the means to your redemption?
Comment: Nobody can do Eamon like Sam can, and he proves it again with this excellent offering. Presented by the Softdisk people with a 100K limit for the entire adventure, he still managed to stuff a complex storyline, varied map, plot development, numerous puzzles and special combat into this (for him) small space. Furthermore, Sam tailored this adventure for newcomers to Eamon, taking special effort to make it wonderfully forgiving and easy to play without compromising the depth of the puzzles or encounters.
This adventure hinges on the new TALK and ASK commands. Most of the play revolves around interacting with many of the characters, finding out what they know, learning how to approach people in power, earning money, gaining secret knowledge, obtaining your equipment and maps. It all is deeply interlocked in the ways that Sam does so well.
This Eamon adventure requires an 80-column display, and may not work on a II+ without modification. (Softdisk presently requires 64K and everything on issue #137 will work on a 64K machine. However, some time in the next few months they will begin requiring 128K.)
This is in my opinion the finest single-disk Eamon that Sam has ever done, and in many ways could be argued to be his best work of any size. I found it to be an immensely good play. Hack 'n'slashers may be disappointed, but anyone who enjoys complex Eamon scenarios will not want to miss this one! I give it a (7) for difficulty.
This Eamon adventure is commercial software. You can not obtain it from the public domain but must buy it from Softdisk. Non-subscriber price is $10.95 plus $4.95 shipping charge. Ask for Softdisk issue #137.
Credit card orders can call 1-800-831-2694
Mail orders should write: Softdisk Publishing P.O. Box 30008 Shreveport, LA 71130-0008
MAIN PGM Version: 7 (heavily modified) Extra Commands: ENTER, BUY, SELL, TALK, HOLD, SEARCH, RESUME, QUIT Deleted Commands: BLAST, POWER, SPEED, SMILE, REQUEST, READY Special Features: Requires 80-col. display; accepts lower-case input; 10 directions; standalone, does not use Eamon Master. Playing Time: 2-3 hours Reviewer Rating: 9.0
Description: "While searching for treasure, you were surprised by an evil conjuror and his warriors. In the ensuing battle, you managed to break both your swords and lose your shield to a conjured Fire Giant. Faced with imminent demise, you pulled out a little talisman that is your only remaining hope, and spoke the magic word.
"Suddenly you were falling! You prepared for the inevitable thud but all you got was a SQUISH! You landed in...what? Bananas? BANANAS! The next thing you heard was an alarm being raised. The next thing you saw were the soldiers...
"You find yourself under arrest for Trespassing -- and 'Destroying Magic Bananas'. They've got to be kidding! Finally you are taken to the leader, who says: 'The Banana Republic is facing its darkest hour. Once we were the most powerful and important nation on this continent, but now we face destruction from our enemies.
"'Our stores of magic bananas have, until now, kept the balance of power in our favor. But our enemies have started their own biological weapons programs. We have developed a new crop of extremely powerful bananas, but the seeds have been stolen by the four powers that oppose us.
"'In our orchards is an ancient tree that bears a single Time/Space Displacement banana that can return you to your own world. Return our seeds, and we will give it to you.'
"'Right,' you say, 'I'm on the job. For starters, I'll need some string, a Holocaust Cloak, a wheelbarrow, and...'"
Comment: Well, of course you don't get anything that you ask for. But the Pres does start you out with a sword, some fragmentation bananas and a sling to throw them with. From there, you are on your own (as usual!). It should go without saying that the above description is shortened from Sam's original.
This Eamon is a Softdisk sequel to Sam's very excellent "Redemption" that Softdisk published a year earlier. Though it only has 49 Rooms, it encompasses an astonishing range of interesting stuff to keep you entertained for the hours you will be playing.
"Banana Republic" is quite a bit simpler than "Redemption", and is perhaps the simplest top-quality Eamon that Sam has ever done. Once again, you must use the TALK command to discover things you need to know. From there, you must solve a succession of small puzzles and battle quite a few imposing enemies before you finally recover all of the seeds. It is not as deeply interlocked as many of Sam's top Eamons, and a careful selection among the many special-purpose bananas will be very helpful in dispatching the bad guys. It is fairly forgiving and has an excellent SAVE command. Between the smallish, symmetrical map and the logical layout, I found it easy to play with no paper map and few notes.
It requires an 80-column display, and probably won't work on a II+ without some modification. Softdisk assumes that you have 128K; though the adventure doesn't itself require 128K, you may find that other Softdisk features won't work on 64K machines.
Like all of Sam's best stuff, this is not an Eamon to be missed. I found the play to be much fun and very relaxing, and highly recommend it to puzzlers and hack'n'slashers alike. I give it a (7) for difficulty. This Eamon adventure is commercial software. You can not obtain it from the public domain but must buy it from Softdisk. Non-subscribers can purchase it for $12.95 + $1.50 S&H. Ask for Softdisk issue #152.
Credit card orders can call 1-800-584-7638
Mail orders should write:
Softdisk Publishing P.O. Box 30008 Shreveport, LA 71130-0008
MAIN PGM Version: 7 (heavily modified) Extra Commands: CAST, RESTORE, QUIT, MODE Deleted Commands: HEAL, BLAST, SPEED, POWER Special Features: Requires 80-col. display; accepts lower-case input; standalone, does not use Eamon Master; too many others to list! Playing Time: 3-6 hours Reviewer Rating: 9.0
Description: To shorten Sam's usual long and convoluted intro, you and a small band of worthies are tasked to recover the long-lost Rod of Talon, needed to nullify a curse that is laying waste to the countryside.
Your companions will include a Cleric, versed in the healing arts and in spellcasting, a Scholar, steeped in knowledge and lore, a Fighter of no small strength, and a Squire to serve as helper.
Comments: This Eamon is good. I mean, really good. Virtually every aspect of Eamon gaming has been greatly enhanced, adding tremendously to the overall texture and experience.
Each of your companions has special abilities that you will need to fulfill the quest. The usual list of exits has been expanded to reflect the situation in combat. Sam used his wonderful "ACE" encumbrance system that involves holding things in one or both hands to use. Your companions' capabilities are nearly as complete as your own. There are many dozens of specials so that every new area you explore is an entirely new experience, and you never know what a new artifact or monster might invoke.
By the halfway point, I had tentatively decided to give this Eamon a (10) rating, something which I thought I would never do, but the new and special stuff is that good. In the end, I dropped it to a (9) for two reasons: first, the squire is a young kid who tends to make silly, even stupid comments during combat; the comments quickly wore thin, and some are anachronistic.
Second and much more importantly, Sam loaded the end game with combat. Once I had acquired the Rod, it took me over an hour to win my way through about 30 previously-explored rooms back to the entrance. I found myself playing the same two or three battles over and over and over as I waited for the random results of combat to let me and my companions survive the battle intact. Frankly, I was quite bored long before I finally completed the game. Thus, my (10) fell to a (9), and I give it a difficulty of (9) as well.
But don't let the above griping put you off. This is an incredible Eamon that should not be missed by anyone who appreciates the Best that Eamon has to offer!
It requires an 80-column display, and probably won't work on a II+ without some modification. Softdisk assumes that you have 128K; though the adventure doesn't itself require 128K, you may find that other Softdisk features won't work on 64K machines.
This Eamon adventure is commercial software. You can not obtain it from the public domain but must buy it from Softdisk. Non-subscribers can purchase it for $12.95 + $1.50 S&H. Ask for Softdisk issue #156.
Credit card orders can call 1-800-584-7638
Mail orders should write:
Softdisk Publishing P.O. Box 30008 Shreveport, LA 71130-0008
MAIN PGM Version: 7 (heavily modified) Extra Commands: BOARD, CLOSE, EAT, EQUIP, BUY, REQUEST, TALK, QUIT, RESUME, SAVE Deleted Commands: HEAL, BLAST, SPEED, POWER, READY, SMILE, WAVE Special Features: Requires 80-col. display; standalone, does not use Eamon Master; Reviewer Rating: 9.0
Description: You are about to become Edgar E. Blevins. One night when Edgar was walking home from his job at a local convenience store he was surrounded by a strange blue light and thick green steam.
Edgar wakes up to find he is aboard a strange alien spaceship and that several blue-skinned aliens are preparing to dissect him!
Your ultimate goal in Edgar's Adventures is to defeat the aliens and escape the spaceship. What happens next you'll have to find out for yourself.
Comments: Frank sold this Eamon to Softdisk shortly before they shut down publication of their Apple II side. Frank did not have a subscription to Softdisk and does not know if this Eamon was ever published. In any event he never received anything from Softdisk to indicate that it was published.
Because of "Edgar’s" uncertain situation, it has been added to the list as a Softdisk title, but without a number.
Frank is undoubtedly one of the top three programmers to ever write an Eamon adventure. This Eamon is extremely well crafted, with a flawless, sophisticated user interface and quite an ongoing plot line. Edgar did indeed have some interesting adventures!
I played it through for validation purposes before adding it to the CD, and I did not need to bother with a map or even much in the way of notes. But it was a very interesting, mildly challenging play from start to end. I give it a (9) rating, and a (7) for difficulty.
"Edgar" is a real treat to play. Be sure to check it out!
Reviewed by Frank Black
New commands: KISS, WAIT, ORDER
Playing time: 1-2 hours
Reviewer rating: 7.5
(Note: I received this adventure in the summer of 2004. After exchanging some emails with the author about a few bugs that needed to be worked out, I lost contact with him. I finally decided to go ahead and debug it myself. No major changes were made to the story, puzzles, or general game play.)
Description: There is a rather long and encyclopedic intro in a fashion reminiscent of some of Sam Ruby's bigger works, particularly Elemental Apocalypse. To make a long story short, you are sent on a quest to find the ingredients for a "Control Potion" so that it can be slipped to a ruthless and powerful dictator before he starts a global war.
There is an amusing segment where you receive the mission from "General Zuchowski" (after entering the secret EAG headquarters through the freezer in the Main Hall's kitchen) that I enjoyed.
Comment: The game takes place on a medium sized ocean map with three islands that you can land at, each island having an element you need to complete your quest. There are several puzzles to solve at each island (well two of the islands anyway), as well as on the ocean. There are clues scattered about for each of these puzzles, so don't be too quick to use the HINTS. There are lots of embedded artifacts in this adventure and many of them are important, so make sure to try and EXAMINE things mentioned in descriptions.
The new commands are each only needed in one or two places. Once you've found the use for each you can forget about it.
This is more of a puzzler's Eamon with a small amount of combat, mostly involving wild animals. I found it to have a fairly consistent and fun setting and enjoyed the flavor of it very much. The descriptions were interesting and often amusing as well. All in all this is an excellent adventure for a first time author.
I would have rated it a little higher, but it has an unfinished feel to it, as if the author had planned to add a lot more. It didn't even have an actual ending until I added one to it. I also had to tie up some loose ends myself and do a lot of debugging so my rating reflects mainly on the author's material and not what I added. Difficulty of (7) if you don't use the hints, (5) if you use the hints sparingly.
Also, Frank wrote: "Journey Across the Muerte Sea" is Eamon Deluxe adventure #20 because all the previous collections were considered "adventures" in and of themselves. Like the Beginner's Cave is EAMON adventure #1, "Beginner's Adventures" (which is a collection of all the classic Eamon adventures with that theme) is EAMON DELUXE adventure #1. There are 19 Official collections, or adventures, after which new adventures come. Muerte Sea is the first new EDX-specific adventure so it falls into line at #20. The first section of the EDX adventure lists shows the names and numbers of all EDX adventures.
Extra features (since commands in not applicable here):
Training for weapons, armor, spells; the ability to increase Hardiness, Agility, Charisma; a Casino, and other fun stuff.
If we had ratings for Master diskettes, this would receive a 10! Congratulations to the author, Rick Volberding.
When I received this diskette, I saw ‘Graphics Main Hall’ I thought another version of the master - no big deal. NOT SO!! This master is very well done and was lots fun to explore! I thoroughly enjoyed taking my little guy wandering around the Hall looking for trouble.
The fist stop, I had to get a weapon and some armor. The graphics shoved the little guy carrying the weapon and I thought he was so cute (Until I realized it was me!) When I bought a shield, I looked so much more experienced and ready to go out and tame those dragons!!
After gambling away all that earned in the Casino, I started getting hooked on the new master and decided it was the one for me.
I discovered a lot more than the standard features found at the Main Hall. There is a warlock that teaches applied spellology. This is the science of becoming more proficient at casting spells you know. You must first hire Hokas to teach you the spell. Then there is a witch that will mystically enhance your hardiness, agility or charisma, but she is very expensive. Once you get oodles of gold, maybe you won’t mind.
One of my favorites was the friendly giant who teaches armor training. He’s good at thrusting and parrying and can really put you to the test. I was knocked down many times before I started getting the hang of it.
Some of the fun is discovery, so I won’t go into some things found in the new Main Hall. You’ll enjoy finding them for yourself.
I tried everything I could find (and afford) and was very impressed. This is going to be MY new master from now on.
The Beginner’s Cave for this master is the standard (unexpanded) one, and is text. Transfer to and from the Beginner’s Cave went without a hitch. I borrowed the same horse and went down the same road I had in previous lives.
All-in-all, I think the Graphics Master is the nicest addition to Eamon since DDD 6.0 (and maybe better.)
This page last updated on 03/02/2005.