Top Down View Games: 1979 (Akalabeth is released)
1972-1978|1979|1980
Temple of Apshai (TRS-80/Commodore PET, 1979/C64, 1985 (Remake))
Subgenre: Dungeon Crawler RPG
Perspective: TD View
Other: Turn-based/Real-time hybrid (If the player doesn't make any input for a while, the enemies continue to move and attack in set intervals regardless), Shops, Character creation
-Ranged weapons
-Fatigue mechanic (the more damage you take, the more stamina/fatigue each action spends)
-Can be found by an NPC if you're knocked out unless you were eaten by a monster (these tend to take some of your items in exchange for saving you)
-No map
-No save
-No fast travel
-Monsters don't follow you between rooms
-Can listen for monsters in adjacent rooms (Q key, random chance of success)
-Talk command
-Hidden doors (search with E (success based on intuition stat), no visual clues as to where these are?) and traps
-Monsters appear one at a time
-Some bugs
Video Analysis
Akalabeth (PCs, 1979)
Subgenre: RPG (mainly a Dungeon Crawler)
Perspective: First Person (FP) view dungeons/Top Down (TD) overworld exploration,
Other: Tile-based movement, Enemies move when you do (no separate battle screen), Shops
-Character creation (rolled stats which can't be altered while keeping the same total; strength, dexterity, stamina, wisdom; fighter or mage class; name your char when meeting lord british in the beginning)
-Basic overworld and a single dungeon
-Multiple towns and multiple entrances to the dungeon
-Randomly generated world based on a seed number ("lucky number" picked when starting out)
-Hunger mechanic
-Compass feature
-Difficulty options (1-10)
-Thieving enemies and a chest mimic enemy
-Enemies can run away at low HP and can get stuck between you and another enemy since they can't move through each other
-4 spells which can also be cast via the amulet items (blast to get past some walls, two ladder spell which let you go up or down one floor, random transformation spell - can turn you into a toad (bad) or a lizardman (good), ) - these degrade when used
-Respawning enemies
-Wisdom works in an odd way (determines how many monsters you need to kill in your main quest chain and how strong the ones you start out facing are, you'll want to have it low to have a better chance early on)
Temple of Apshai (TRS-80/Commodore PET, 1979/C64, 1985 (Remake))
Subgenre: Dungeon Crawler RPG
Perspective: TD View
Other: Turn-based/Real-time hybrid (If the player doesn't make any input for a while, the enemies continue to move and attack in set intervals regardless), Shops, Character creation
-Ranged weapons
-Fatigue mechanic (the more damage you take, the more stamina/fatigue each action spends)
-Can be found by an NPC if you're knocked out unless you were eaten by a monster (these tend to take some of your items in exchange for saving you)
-No map
-No save
-No fast travel
-Monsters don't follow you between rooms
-Can listen for monsters in adjacent rooms (Q key, random chance of success)
-Talk command
-Hidden doors (search with E (success based on intuition stat), no visual clues as to where these are?) and traps
-Monsters appear one at a time
-Some bugs
Video Analysis
Akalabeth (PCs, 1979)
Subgenre: RPG (mainly a Dungeon Crawler)
Perspective: First Person (FP) view dungeons/Top Down (TD) overworld exploration,
Other: Tile-based movement, Enemies move when you do (no separate battle screen), Shops
-Character creation (rolled stats which can't be altered while keeping the same total; strength, dexterity, stamina, wisdom; fighter or mage class; name your char when meeting lord british in the beginning)
-Basic overworld and a single dungeon
-Multiple towns and multiple entrances to the dungeon
-Randomly generated world based on a seed number ("lucky number" picked when starting out)
-Hunger mechanic
-Compass feature
-Difficulty options (1-10)
-Thieving enemies and a chest mimic enemy
-Enemies can run away at low HP and can get stuck between you and another enemy since they can't move through each other
-4 spells which can also be cast via the amulet items (blast to get past some walls, two ladder spell which let you go up or down one floor, random transformation spell - can turn you into a toad (bad) or a lizardman (good), ) - these degrade when used
-Respawning enemies
-Wisdom works in an odd way (determines how many monsters you need to kill in your main quest chain and how strong the ones you start out facing are, you'll want to have it low to have a better chance early on)