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ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: CLOUDY MOUNTAIN cartridge
Guide (c) 2009 BlueGunstarHero
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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
[email protected].
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
[email protected].
