_______________________________________________________________________________ =============================================================================== ____ _____ _____ _ ____ _____ _____ \\ \ \\ \ \\ \ \\ \ \\_ \ \\ \\ \\ \ \\___\ \\ \ \\ \ \\___\ \\\_ \ \\ \\___ \\ \ \\ \ \\ \ \\ \ \\ \ \\ \_\ \\ \\ \\ \ \\ \ \\__/ \\_/ \\ \ \\ \ \\___ \\___ \\__/ ____ __ _ _ _ _____ _____ ___ _ _ _____ #### ## # #\ # ##### ##### ### #\ # ##### ##### ## # ##\ # ## ##___ ##### ##\ # ##___ ##__# ##__# ##### ## ## ##### ##__# ##### ##### ##### ##### # \## ##__# ##___ ##### # \## ___## #### ### # \# ##### ##### ### # \# ##### ____ ____ ___ _____ ___ _ _ _____ #### #### ### ##### ### #\ # ##### O ##### ##__# ##__# ## __ ##### ##\ # ##___ \_ ##__# #### ##### ## ## ##__# ##### ##### (/\ ##### ## ## ## # ##__# ##### # \## ___## #### ## ## ## # ##### ### # \# ##### ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: CLOUDY MOUNTAIN cartridge Guide (c) 2009 BlueGunstarHero _______________________________________________________________________________ =============================================================================== Version 1.0 Contents: *Use "Ctrl+F" on the bracketed [] text to jump to a section* 1. Introduction [INTD] 2. Skill Level [SKLV] 3. Navigating the Overworld [NGOW] 4. Navigating the Caves [NGCV] 5. Monster List [MNSL] 6. Survival Tips [SVTS] 7. FAQs [FAQS] 8. Thanks and Legal [TKSL] \\\___________________________________________________\ /// 1. Introduction [INTD] / Lo, there, brave adventurer! Doest thou haveth the cunning and stamina to embark on this noblest of quests to retrieve the Crown of Kings! Let thine courage be thy guide as ye shall face many perils, overcome great obstacles, and smite thy enemy in the name of glory and, um... OK, so that's hard to keep up. Welcome to Advanced D&D! One of the most exciting experiences around for the Intellivision and one of the earliest examples of the action/adventure genre. In this game, you'll be tasked with navigating your party of three heroes across a large overworld to reach the Cloudy Mountain, by accessing labyrinthine caves, finding useful items, and defeating monsters with your trusty ricocheting arrows. There aren't any fair maidens to rescue here, so leave your charisma points at the door...you won't be needing them. This game is a lot of fun to play, and the great news is, the world changes each time you power on, so you'll never have the same play experience twice! \\\___________________________________________________\ /// 2. Skill Level [SKLV] / When you first boot up your Intellivision, you'll be able to select the game difficulty. Higher difficulties will make the path to Cloudy Mountain tougher, make the monsters speedier, and will lower the amount of arrows you receive. Pressing these buttons will start the game on the following skill level: 3: Easy 2: Medium 1: Hard DISC: Very Hard \\\___________________________________________________\ /// 3. Navigating the Overworld [NGOW] / Your party will begin at the black house on the far left of the screen, and will be tasked to move to the large mountain on the far right (the one with the big white dragon on it). I assume the map isn't drawn to scale, as the house seems to be larger than the small mountains that populate the screen, however this is a fantasy game, so why not. Controls -------- Your three-man party (represented by the three white dots) can move in the four cardinal directions, as well as in diagonals by using the number pad. up: [2] down: [8] left: [4] right: [6] Up-left: [1] up-right: [3] down-left: [7] down right: [9] You enter caves by pressing the [ENTER] button, and can check your inventory of arrows by pressing [0] Map Legend ---------- Only by understanding the lay of the land will you be able to progress to Cloudy Mountain. Here is a quick breakdown of everything you will find on the Overworld screen. Black House: Your point of origin. Not much to do here but leave. Fields: Solid green areas. No obstacles will block your party, and you are free to move through them at any time. Black Mountains: These mountains contain cave systems that you can access to get through. When approaching the mountain it will turn either grey, blue, red, or purple. The last four caves you complete will remain free to walk through, however as you complete new caves, the older ones will be "reclaimed by monsters" and will need to be completed again if you wish to pass through. Brown Mountains: These mountains contain no cave systems, and are not passable. You'll need to go around. Rivers: Blue lines that can divide the terrain that you may need to get past. You will need to locate the Boat to cross them (found in blue caves). Forests: Cloudy brown and green areas that may also act as an obstacle. In an effort to make this the manliest game ever, you can't just walk around the trees, you must chop your way through with an axe (found in red caves). Black Walls: Straight from Mordor, these walls contain a small rectangular gate that can be passed through only if you have the key (found in purple caves). Cloudy Mountain: Final cave level, found on the right. This giant mountain is home to the terrifying Winged Dragons! \\\___________________________________________________\ /// 4. Navigating the Caves [NGCV] / There's no getting around this, in order to progress, you'll need to go through a few caves. But hey, that's no problem, the caves are the most exciting part! Instead of being represented by a triangle of blinking white lights, you'll now take control of, well, for lack of a better description, a walking letter P. For the caves, your three man party will be whittled down to one (perhaps only one can squeeze through at a time), and the others will act as your extra lives. Controls -------- You will be able to move in any direction with the controller disk, while the number pad will now be used for shooting arrows. up: [2] down: [8] left: [4] right: [6] Up-left: [1] up-right: [3] down-left: [7] down right: [9] Pressing the lower action button on the side along with the disk, will allow the player to run. Counting arrows is still with [0], but now [CLEAR] will allow you to pick up an object, and [ENTER] will allow you to exit the cave (but only when your player is standing by the ladder). Health and Arrows ----------------- Your player will start out as colored black, however his color will change as the player takes damage from monsters. Here is the Health meter as it decreases: Black \\ Blue \\ Red \\ Dead No matter what difficulty, your party will always start out with 3 arrows, however quivers of arrows can be found in the caves. The number of arrows found depends on your skill level. Easy: 11 Medium: 9 Hard: 7 Very Hard: 5 Arrows seem to fly for about 1 second then disappear. It's important to know that they bounce off cave walls, so you should be able to bank a few shots off some diagonal borders to keep you out of harms way. Careful though, your arrows can also bounce back and hit you! Cave Guide ---------- All caves will function in the same way. They are all mazes that have their paths revealed to you as you progress. When you get close enough to the continuing path, the next area will reveal itself to you. As more and more of the maze is filled in, you'll need to use your smarts to figure out where you haven't been yet. Similar to Pacman, or all-range mode in StarFox, the maze world loops in all directions, so you won't be coming across any dead ends. Each cave has an exit, marked by a ladder. This ladder is always guarded by a monster (typically the hardest monster available in the level). To leave the cave, stand on the ladder and press [ENTER]. You will also find a quiver of arrows in each cave (pick them up by pressing [CLEAR]). Caves are ranked in difficulty by the color of their corresponding mountain. There are also specific items that you may need to progress that can only be found in a cave of a specific color. Grey - The easiest of the caves. you won't find much out of the way of rats and bats inside. Outside of a quiver of arrows, there aren't any tools or items to pick up. Blue - A cave of medium difficulty, you'll likely see your first Snake in one of these caves. With Blue mountains, you should be able to locate the boat, which will help you get across rivers. Please don't ask how the boat is transported through the caves when only one person can fit through the caves at a time. Red - Hard difficulty.Tougher enemies like Demons will inhabit these caves, but if you go here, you can retrieve the Axe, which will get you through those thick forests. Purple - This is the hardest cave to complete. Here, the Dragons are a guarantee. You won't come across this mountain until you're at least halfway across the overworld screen, so a fair amount of arrows should be needed to get through unscathed. The item you receive from these caves is the Key, that allows you to pass through the black walls. Before you enter the purple caves, I'd strongly advise that you check the overworld to see if you can reach Cloudy Mountain by any other route, as some overworlds don't require you to pass through the gates. Cloudy Mountain --------------- Once you reach cloudy mountain, you are taken to yet another cave system, this time, tasked with finding the Crown of Kings. Unfortunately, it has been broken in half, and both pieces are guarded by the Winged Dragons! As their breathing can be heard everywhere in the maze level, you won't know when you're about to come across them. Also, make sure you have enough arrows to kill them (each dragon takes three arrows). Once you defeat the dragons, and reassemble the Crown of Kings, you win the game! The screen will go back to the overworld, and you will have the crown. Guess that means you're King now. \\\___________________________________________________\ /// 5. Monster List [MNSL] / Monsters you come across will differ in color, ability, and in the number of arrows it takes to bring them down. Some can kill you quickly, while some just act as a general annoyance. While the cave mazes unfold to you as you go, you can pick up on sights and sounds that can clue you in to what kind of monsters might be coming up. Bat --- Color: red Arrows: 1 Indicator: sound Bats fly around with an annoying flapping noise. Although they don't hurt you, they follow you around and their noise clouds your hearing, so you may not hear the sounds of a stronger enemy coming up. Spider ------ Color: black Arrows: 1 Indicator: none Like Bats, Spiders also don't hurt you, but they do something far worse: they steal your arrows! If a spider touches you, you may hear a small tick sound, that means that one of your arrows was just taken away. They have no indicators to tell you they're nearby, but they are fairly slow moving and can be avoided. Rat --- Color: black Arrows: 1 Indicator: tracks The rat is the likely the first enemy you'll come across that can hurt you. It won't make any sounds till you reach them, but you should be able to see their tracks before finding them. Rats are marked by the small dotted footprints they leave. Snake ----- Color: red Arrows: 2 Indicator: sound You'll likely see plenty of these as you progress. Snakes can be heard prior to loading their location, as they'll make a hissing sound. The hissing sound that snakes make... You'll know it when you hear it. Demon ----- Color: blue Arrows: 2 Indicator: tracks Demons are a strange little bunch of pixels that hop around and chase you. They're commonly found guarding items and exits and can kill you fairly quickly. You can tell their whereabouts by the tracks they leave: they look like little Y's on the ground. Blob ---- Color: blue Arrows: n/a Indicator: always visible Have you ever heard the phrase "Nothing can stop the Blob?" Well, it's true here. You won't be able to kill these strange gelatenous masses that slowly crawl all over the maze. Fortunately, you're much faster than they are, and you can see them from far away. They're the only enemy that can be seen outside of the previously accessed maze areas. Dragon ------ Color: purple Arrows: 2 Indicator: sound They're dragon's, but I don't know, they look like upright bears with lizard heads to me. They're pretty savage, and will kill you quickly. You'll Know they're closeby when you hear their breathing. Winged Dragon ------------- Color: purple Arrows: 3 Indicator: none If dragons look like upright bears with lizard heads, these are upright bears with lizard heads and butterfly wings. They behave the same as dragons, but require an extra arrow to kill, and you won't be tipped off to their locations (since their breathing can be heard all over Cloudy Mountain). \\\___________________________________________________\ /// 6. Survival Tips [SVTS] / To make your journey to Cloudy Mountain as painless as possible, it is advisable to adhere to the following guidelines: Plan Ahead ---------- Use the overworld map to your advantage. See where having the required items will prove the most useful, and take advantage of any possible shortcuts and hidden diagonal movements. Also be sure to check the color of all nearby black mountains to see what your options are. And remember that the most direct path to Cloudy Mountain is not necessarily the easiest. Proceed With Caution -------------------- Inside the caves, don't just rush everywhere thinking you can just turn and run upon seeing a monster. The larger monsters (especially on higher difficulty levels) will continually chase you. If you're being chased, keep in mind you'll also need a couple seconds of standing still to pick up an item or exit the cave. Navigating the caves is best completed one small step at a time. Use Your Senses --------------- It's important to be aware of what kinds of monsters may be around each corner. Keep your eyes and ears open for incoming sounds and tracks. Also be aware of the maze areas you have already visited. You will eventually be able to notice where gaps in the mazes will be, based on the large spaces of unloaded areas. Be Mindful of your Ammo ----------------------- A quiver of arrows can be found in each cave, but arrow count will vary depending on which skill level you're playing at. You will need to walk a fine line between conserving your ammo and being ready to shoot at will, so remember what type of cave you're in. If you're in a grey cave, for example, perhaps you don't need to shoot the bat since it's only covering up sounds of weaker monsters. Take Advantage of Angles ------------------------ Arrows will keep traveling for their regular amount of time, no matter how many walls they hit. There are several maze areas that allow for a U-shaped shot that can be used to hit monsters from a good distance. You can also bounce shots into unknown areas that you suspect will have an enemy to wake them up. Once they wake up, they'll come down to where you are for a safe kill shot! \\\___________________________________________________\ /// 7. FAQs [FAQS] / In this section I wanted to address any of the questions that may come up when playing this game. If you do have any additional questions, please email them to me at just_dave@juno.com. Q: What are those black skulls for in the caves? A: as far as I can tell, they don't correspond to a specific enemy. They may perhaps be there just to scare you. One thing I've found about them is that they can be useful as a reference point when mapping out a cave maze. Since the mazes loop, it can sometimes be hard to tell where exactly you are and where you need to get to. These can be an indicator of a familiar area. Q: What's the real name of this game? A: The first release of the game was title "ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS cartridge," however it was changed to "ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS CLOUDY MOUNTAIN cartridge" when a second D&D game came out for the Intellivision (Treasure of Tarmin). Also of note, the ALL CAPS Title, along with the word "cartridge" was required as part of the deal with TSR hobbies. Q: Is this game on any Intellivision compilation disks? A: It is, however not under it's actual name. It may be referred to as "Adventure," or "Crown of Kings" while the other D&D game may be called "Minotaur." Q: Do I need all three items to get to Cloudy Mountain? A: It is a possibility, however you may be able to skip certain items, if the overworld map allows it. Some maps, for example, allow you to bypass the black walls, so you may not need to go to a purple mountain to get a key. Q: Can I use the items more than once? A: Once you obtain an item, it stays with you for the remainder of the game, and you are free to use any number of times. Can't really explain how you travel through all these caves carrying a boat, but you can. Q: What are those misshapen blue things that chase you? A: I believe the official ruling is that they're demons, but yeah, they don't really look like anything too recognizable. Q: When do I get to fight that big white dragon on Cloudy Mountain? A: Sadly, that big bird is just there to look cool. The winged dragons that are there aren't much bigger than you are. \\\___________________________________________________\ /// 8. Thanks and Legal [TKSL] / So thank you very much for reading my FAQ. This was my first guide, hopefully one of many more to come, and I hope it's been bearable. I thought it fitting that this be my first guide, as this was one of the first games I ever got to play, and it's still one that I love to revisit now and again. I'd also like to extend my thanks to the following: Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson, and TSR Hobbies - for the excellent world of D&D Mattel - for giving us the Intellivision Tom Loughry - for programming the game www.intellivisionlives.com - for telling me so and keeping the system alive. www.gameFAQs.com - for being such a tremendous resource for gaming All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. This guide may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. If you have any questions regarding this guide, please email me at just_dave@juno.com.