Telengard

Telengard
Developer(s)	Daniel Lawrence
Publisher(s)	Avalon Hill
Platform(s)	Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit family, Apple II, TRS-80
Release date(s)	1982
Mode(s)	Single-player

An early example of the "dungeon crawl" video game genre, Avalon Hill's Telengard was designed in 1982 by Daniel Lawrence.^[1]

Description

Telengard features a 50-level/2-million room algorithmically created permanent dungeon, twenty different types of monsters to battle, and thirty-six spells that the player can cast.^[2] Players select randomly generated attributes for the single character of the game prior to the start of play such as strength, wisdom, and constitution. The interface is simple, allowing movements north, south, east and west through a walled dungeon, while progressing through character levels by amassing experience. Experience can be gained by finding treasure (gold, jewels, opening combination safes), and by defeating monsters with spells or armed combat. Movement from the surface level (the only level that contains Inns which allow the player to regenerate Hit Points and Spell Units to their maximum levels) to lower levels of the dungeon is done by falling in pits, use of stairs, and a Level 5 teleport spell. The graphics are extremey basic, and gameplay relys on text and keyboard interaction. Among other things, there are fountains from which to drink with varying results, a jeweled throne upon which to sit, an altar upon which to donate gold, and a misty teleport cube. Magic weapons, armor, rings, boots, scrolls, potions, and treasure chests are available to players who can find them.

There is no "final mission" and no way to "win" the game. The game simply provides a platform to play for enjoyment, or in competition with other players by comparing results (although only one player can play at once).

Platforms

Telengard appeared on the following platforms: Commodore PET, the Apple II+, the TRS-80, the Atari 400/800, the Commodore 64, IBM PCjr, and the IBM PC. Many ports and emulations are available for modern computers. The IBM PC version is available as a free download from the author's site.

In 2008, a fan remade Telengard for the Windows platform.^[3]

See also

• dnd (computer game)

References

External links

• Daniel Lawrence's homepage
• Images of Telengard's box, manual and screen