*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
= CRYSTALS OF ZONG =
* COMMODORE 64 *
= FAQ / STRATEGY GUIDE =
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
Author: Sashanan
Date: 21 September 2005
Version: 1.2
DISCLAIMER
This document is a copyright of Peter "Sashanan" Butter, 2003-2005. All
rights reserved.
You are granted permission to make copies of this FAQ (electronical or
physical) for your own, personal use. Furthermore, non-commercial, freely
accessible websites are allowed to upload a copy of this FAQ as long as it is
posted in its full, original form (including this disclaimer) and credited
to Sashanan.
You are not authorized to upload this FAQ on a commercial website and/or
charge for its viewing, or make money off it in any other imaginable way,
without my explicit written permission. Furthermore, you are not allowed to
edit this guide in any way, use it as a basis for your own guide, or post it
without giving proper credit. This is considered plagiarism.
This FAQ is protected by international copyright laws and failure to
comply with the terms in this disclaimer will result in legal prosecution.
=================
TABLE OF CONTENTS
=================
[1] About this FAQ
[2] The basics
[2.1] Level layout
[2.2] Items
[2.3] Monsters
[2.4] Controls
[3] Treasures
[4] Scoring
[5] Playing tips
[6] Revision history
[7] Final words
===========================================================================
[1] ABOUT THIS FAQ
===========================================================================
If it's a treasure hunting game you're after, the Commodore 64 offers few
better titles than Crystals of Zong. It's an easy enough game to pick up,
but actually mastering it takes a lot more effort. There'll be a lot of
hours spent between first playing and finally "mastering the mummies", as
the game puts it, in the eighth and final level.
Never fear, though! Unlike those who went before you, you're not going in
without help. This FAQ will familiarize you with all of the game's basics
and rules, give an overview of the treasures, their values and their
effects (if any), and then tops it off with a supply of valuable playing
tips which are bound to improve your performance. I'll also be welcoming
any user input on the playing tips, so if you're out there and reading
this, be sure to share what works for you, as well.
===========================================================================
[2] THE BASICS
===========================================================================
"I *prefer* the term 'treasure hunter'!"
-- Locke, Final Fantasy 6
This chapter describes the basics of Crystals of Zong: the layout of the
levels and the items and monsters that will be found there.
------------------
[2.1] Level layout
------------------
Every level in Crystals of Zong consists of nine rooms arranged in a 3x3
square. The upper left room is numbered 1, and the numbers increment from
left to right. The bottom right room is 9. At the beginning of each level,
the player starts out in the center room, 5.
-------
|1|2|3|
-------
|4|5|6|
-------
|7|8|9|
-------
Level layout
Every room covers one screen, and has exits to all adjacent rooms. For
instance, from room 1 you can go right to room 2 or down to room 4. From
room 5, you can go up to room 2, down to room 8, left to room 4 or right
to room 6. Each room consists of several walls and passages, and a
treasure vault in the middle. The treasure vaults are all locked, and you
must find the key to each of them if you wish to enter them.
Every room has one sword in it and one key, which randomly fits one of
the treasure vaults. Furthermore, each room is populated by four monsters.
More details on the items and monsters follow in a bit.
One randomly chosen room has a torch in it as well. This torch is replaced
when taken. Monsters respawn whenever you leave a room. Swords and keys
disappear for good after you pick them up.
The actual layout of each of the nine rooms is exactly the same, although
the number of exits varies between 2-4. If there is no adjacent room in
any direction, there's a blind wall where the exit would be.
-----------
[2.2] Items
-----------
Not counting the treasures, there are only three items to be found in
Crystals of Zong.
SWORD
At the start of each level, a sword is placed in a random location in
every room. Picking up the sword gives you a limited time (roughly ten
seconds) to fight the monsters in that room. Every slain monster yields
points, however, once you leave the room all slain monsters will respawn
when you enter the room again. So it only gives you temporary respite, and
most of the time you will have to evade your enemies instead.
When you pick up the sword, all enemies will turn bright red to indicate
they are now vulnerable. For once, *you* are deadly to the touch now.
When the sword is about to run out, the enemies will turn dark red. You
can still kill them now, but be quick about it, and don't risk it if
you're not so sure of yourself. The enemies will revert to their
original colours without further warning when the sword time runs out.
Note: level 4 and 8, the stages with the mummies, have no swords except
for the Magic Sword treasure (see chapter 3). You will have to rely
completely on your wits to evade the enemies in these chapters.
KEY
Every room has a key placed in it which fits one of the nine treasure
vaults. In order to collect the treasures, you will have to find these
keys. As soon as you pick up a key, a number appears in your 'keys'
inventory at the bottom of the screen indicating which keys you have
collected. You can open the vaults of the corresponding room numbers. For
example, if you have the keys to the vaults in rooms 1, 4, 7 and 8, your
keys display would read:
KEYS: 1 4 78
Which key is in which room is completely random. Sometimes the key might
fit the vault in the same room, but usually it will be another one,
sometimes completely on the other side of the level.
TORCH
You start each level with a fresh torch which gradually burns out. This
is indicated by the "Torch time" indicator at the bottom of the screen.
As your torch starts to burn up, the white bar gradually fills with black,
and when it is fully black, the torch burns out. The only effect of this is
that all monsters lose their original colour and now become a dark grey.
This doesn't seem so bad initially, but you'll soon notice that it costs
you a lot of your general awareness. You tend to notice monsters much
later now, when they come close to you. Sometimes too close.
In order to keep your torch from running out, there are two things you can
do. The temporary solution is to find a new torch. There is always one in
any of the nine rooms, placed randomly. As soon as you collect it, your
torch time is completely refilled, and a new torch is placed randomly in
any of the other eight rooms. Note that if you die while the torch is in
the same room, it will disappear, but in this case it will also respawn
in any of the other rooms. There is always a torch waiting to be picked up.
The permanent solution to your light problem is to collect the Lantern, one
of the nine treasures (see chapter 3). It will provide limitless torch time
for the duration of the level.
--------------
[2.3] Monsters
--------------
Treasure hunting is tricky business, as the treasures in Crystals of Zong
are all guarded by monsters. Every room in the game has four monsters of
the same type in it, and what type that is depends on the level. In the
first four levels, you will face four different monster types in the
following order: snakes, bats, spiders and mummies.
In level 5-8, you will go through the same monster types again, except
this time they all move twice as fast, making them a lot nastier. If you
manage to complete level 8 - a very challenging task as the fast mummies
are extremely deadly - this level will repeat itself endlessly until you
lose your last life.
Contact with any monster is deadly, as is being hit by a mummy's fireball.
If killed, you will be picked up by a passing angel, and assuming you have
any lives left (you start with five), you will reappear just under the
treasure vault. The game is merciful and only lets you reappear if no
monsters are nearby. If there are, you will not reappear until they move
away to a safe distance.
Here follows a closer look at the monster types:
SNAKES
The basic snakes are fairly slow and big, and easy to spot out of the
corner of your eye. Assuming you don't allow them to surround you or get
too close, you shouldn't have any real trouble evading them. They also
have a lot of randomness in their movements, and will often break away
and not take the opportunity to attack.
BATS
Definitely trickier, the bats aren't any quicker than the spiders but they
seem to be a notch up in AI. They are more likely to cut you off or to
surround you, and because they're so much smaller, you might overlook them
until they get close. This is especially true if your torch runs out, so
in this level specifically, try to keep that from happening.
SPIDERS
Spiders are quicker than snakes and bats, which makes them a lot more
dangerous. You will need to see them coming and act accordingly, because
they are also smart and work well together. Often, one spider will try to
chase you right into the arms of one or two of its brothers, and somehow it
seems like it's always the purple one doing this. It might be just me, or
it actually has different AI from the others. (This was, for example, true
in the original PacMan arcade game: the red monster "Shadow" would always
stalk you while the purple one would always try to cut you off, and they
made a deadly combo.)
Imagined or not, the spiders are definitely a bit smarter than the bats
again, and quicker as well. Beware.
MUMMIES
The ultimate challenge, mummies are every bit as quick and devious as the
spiders, and have the added ability to hurl balls of fire at you. Whenever
a mummy is moving in your direction, he will do so, and unless there are
any walls to block it you should move out of the way at once. Fireballs
travel quite a bit more quickly than you do, at least until you pick up
the Fairy Boots treasure (see chapter 3), and often when you see a fireball
coming it is already too late. You should watch the mummies closely and
evade them before they get a chance to fire. Of course, this gets
increasingly difficult when there is more than one after you, and becomes
a true nightmare in level 8 where they all move so disgustingly fast (and
their fireballs do as well).
To top it off, there are no swords in the mummy stages except for the
Magic Sword treasure, and even if you have that, you can still be killed
by fireballs. All in all, the mummy stages have a very different feel
from the first three, and you'll spend most of your time running and
hiding, and hoping you'll find the key to the exit soon.
--------------
[2.3] Controls
--------------
Crystals of Zong is played with the joystick in port one. Controls are
as follows:
Starting a new game: fire button
Moving around: push the joystick once in the desired direction. Your
character will start moving in that direction and keep moving until you
give new input, or until he hits a wall. You can turn around in the middle
of a corridor, but you cannot stop moving unless you hit a wall.
Entering a vault: only if you have the proper key (the locks on the vault
with flash with a blue light if this is the case), you can enter the vault
by holding down the fire button and tapping the joystick in the proper
direction. Leaving the vault is done in the same way.
Touching: the game considers you to have touched an item, treasure or
monster if you come into direct contact, even with a light brush.
- If you touch an item or treasure, you will automatically pick it up.
- If you touch the exit, the level instantly ends and the next one begins
as soon as you press the fire button on the level intro screen.
- If you touch an enemy and you are currently wielding a sword (a regular
one or the Magic Sword treasure), the enemy is killed.
- If you touch an enemy without a sword, but you are currently under the
effect of the Green Potion, the touch is not counted and you can pass
through the enemy unharmed.
- If you touch an enemy without a sword and without the protection of the
Green Potion, you die. An angel will come down from the top of the screen
to carry you to heaven, and if you have any lives left, you will reappear
just below the treasure vault.
- If you touch a mummy's fireball, it will pass through you harmlessly if
you're under the effect of the Green Potion, and kill you if you aren't.
A sword offers no protection.
===========================================================================
[3] TREASURES
===========================================================================
"Someone stole your treasure? How awful! Was it gold or gems?"
-- Valanice of Daventry, King's Quest VII
Every key you collect fits the treasure vault in one of the nine rooms,
allowing you to get at the contents. One of the treasure vaults contains
the exit to the next level, but the other 8 all contain a treasure of
sorts. Some of these have special effects which will help you complete the
level safely. Others don't actually *do* anything, but are valuable (in
other words, you get many points for them). Depending on if you wish to
score as many points as possible or to reach the highest level you can,
you might wish to make for the exit right away, or do your best to
collect all treasures first. In either case, it will be good to know
which treasures have what special effects to bestow on you.
The nine treasures (including the exit) are placed randomly, so you will
have to find out for yourself which is where in every level.
BROWN POTION
The Brown Potion gives you one shot at teleporting to any room you desire.
After you have collected it, you can activate the potion using the function
keys. Press F3 and keep pressing it to cycle through the nine rooms of the
level - you will be able to see which treasure lies in each, and if you
have the key to this room. Once you find the room you want to teleport to,
press F7 and you will instantly appear in that room, directly under the
treasure vault. The Brown Potion can help you to get to the exit or a
desired treasure quickly and safely. If it isn't used, it is lost when
you reach the next level.
There is no visual indicator of having collected the Brown Potion.
CHEST
The Chest is undoubtedly full of gold and other valuables, as it gives
your score a huge boost. It does not have any special effects, however.
CROWN
The Crown is the second of three treasures which give good points, but
bestow no special effects.
DIAMOND
Third and last of the score-boosting but otherwise useless treasures.
EXIT
This is where you'll want to go eventually, as this will lead you to the
next level. Whether you want to go for it right away or after you have
collected all the treasures (and used all the swords to slaughter as many
monsters as possible) is up to you.
FAIRY BOOTS
Definitely the most useful item among all the treasures, the Fairy Boots
double your walking speed. Among other things, this allows you to:
- Get through rooms much more quickly;
- Evade monsters easily and snatch items;
- Catch up with and defeat monsters with the sword before time runs out.
Your life is made significantly easier by finding the Fairy Boots, so
you should locate them as soon as possible and then head for them straight
away when you find the proper key. Especially in the last four levels when
the monsters are as fast or even faster than you, finding the Boots is
essential.
GREEN POTION
The Green Potion temporarily makes you invulnerable. Until you leave the
room you collected it in, no monsters can harm you; you can pass right
through them. The Green Potion is not as useful as it sounds as it only
works until you leave the room, but it *is* fun to just wander through
your enemies for a while, particularly if it's the mummies you're up
against. Their fireballs are also completely harmless while you're under
the Green Potion's effect.
There is no visual indicator of the Green Potion being in effect, but
trust me, it works. :)
LANTERN
The Lantern is a much more reliable source of light than torches are, and
once you collect it, your "torch time" will stand still and no longer run
out, regardless of how long you take to complete the level. You will need
a torch to light the lantern, however, so it will not light up the room
if your torch has run out completely when you collect it. Soon as you pick
up a new torch, though, all's fine.
The Lantern is only moderately useful because you will usually find
enough torches to last you, and even if they do run out, being in the dark
is only a minor nuisance. It's not as though the entire room blacks out
(if you ask me, missed opportunity).
MAGIC SWORD
If you want your one minute of pure vengeance, this is your treasure. As
soon as you collect the Magic Sword, you can slay the enemies in the room
just like you can with a normal sword; except the Magic Sword doesn't have
the ten second time limit on it, so you can take as long as you like to hunt
them all down and chop 'em to pieces. The Magic Sword is also the only sword
you will find in the mummy levels, so if you feel like unravelling a couple
of them, this is your chance. But do so carefully, as they still have their
fireballs and the Magic Sword does nothing to protect you from those.
===========================================================================
[4] SCORING
===========================================================================
Reaching the highest score possible in Crystals of Zong is the main goal
of the game, unless you set a different goal for yourself (such as passing
as many levels as possible). Points don't actually *do* anything on the
gameplay level. There are no bonus lives to be gained, for instance.
The following activities give you the following number of points:
- Completing the level by reaching the exit yields 2000 points.
- Collecting any of the "valuable" treasures (the Crown, the Chest or the
Diamond) nets 1500 points.
- Collecting any of the "utility" treasures (Brown Potion, Green Potion,
Lantern, Magic Sword, Fairy Boots) gets you 500 points.
- Defeating an enemy with a regular sword or the Magic Sword earns you
200 points.
- Picking up a sword or a key is worth 100 points. A torch is worth 50.
A little math gets us the potential points to be gained in each level:
- 2000 for completing the level;
- 3 x 1500 + 5 x 500 = 4500 + 2500 = 7000 points for collecting all
treasures;
- 9 x 100 for all keys and another 9 x 100 for all swords, 1800 points;
- 40 is the maximum number of monsters we can kill (4 with each of the
9 regular swords, and another 4 with the Magic Sword), for 40 x 200 =
8000 points;
- any number of torches for 50 points each, the number is unlimited.
Not counting the torches, which won't have such a huge impact, we come
to 18800 points per level. This does require you to kill all enemies
every time. A more realistic figure is killing an average of 3 enemies
with every regular sword. This can be easily done if you time picking
up the swords right (i.e. enemies are near) and you collect the Fairy
Boots before you start picking up swords and slaying enemies. You miss
out on 200 points (1 enemy) with every regular sword then; with the
Magic Sword, getting all four is easy. Our realistic score per level,
then, comes to 18800 - (200 x 9) = 17000.
This figure is good for the snake, bat and spider stages, but you won't
have any swords against the mummies (subtract 900 points), won't be
able to kill those 3 enemies per sword (subtract 3 x 9 x 200 = 5400
points), and it's really not worth the risk to try and kill any with
the Magic Sword (subtract another 800). So even if we're going to be
brave and collect all the treasures even in the hazardous mummies
stage, our realistic score for that level would be 17000 - 900 - 5400
- 800 = 9900.
So, our final figures for realistic score, if you don't skip any
treasures and do your best to hunt your enemies, are as follows:
LEVEL SCORE
1 17000
2 34000
3 51000
4 60900
5 77900
6 94900
7 111900
8 121800
Few people indeed will be able to finish level 8 and collect all the
treasures there - most will be able, with enough practice, to complete
level 7. Any score over 100000 suggests a good Crystals of Zong player,
but only an expert will be able to reach 120000 or more. (This *can* be
done before reaching level 8 if you do a good job with defeating as many
enemies as possible.)
===========================================================================
[5] PLAYING TIPS
===========================================================================
"When in doubt, appear professional."
-- Source unknown
- First and foremost, take it slow and play carefully. There is no time
limit (apart from your torch time, but that's only a minor worry), but
you only have five lives and there's no way to get any more. If you need
a few minutes to get through a room safely, take a few minutes.
- Choose if you wish to set a high score or reach the highest level you
can, and act accordingly. If you're going for points, milk every level
for the treasures before you exit. Also pick up the swords to kill your
enemies, as this is also a good source of points. If you're going for
the highest level, pick up the swords for self defense but don't go after
the enemies with them, and take the exit as soon as you can.
- Even if you're playing for points, you may find it is a good idea to
go for the exit straight away in the mummy level. Many players are quite
capable of defeating the snakes, bats and spiders even in the high speed
levels 5-7, but lose their lives quickly against the mummies in level 4
(not to mention 8). If you're one of them, better to go through the 4th
level quickly so you have enough lives left to face the next three levels.
Of course, if you're a die hard and/or you have friends nearby to impress,
feel free to school the mummies as well.
- The most deadly spots in every room are the corners and the isolated
corridors near the southwest and southeast corners. This is where you'll
get surrounded most easily. Also, being near a wall where there's no exit
to another room is risky. Whenever you go to a spot like this, keep a
close eye on the enemies and make sure you don't put yourself in a
position where they could surround you. Snakes might, bats could, and
spiders will.
- Against the mummies you need to be even more aware of their relative
position. Just giving one a line of sight to you is a death warrant if
you can't dodge around a corner immediately. And just because they're
deadly individually doesn't mean the mummies don't work together as
well as the spiders do!
- Level 8 is next to impossible to complete. If you're going for points,
you'll want to maximize your profits in level 1-7. Learn to destroy as
many monsters as possible in every level, and to collect all the treasures
even in the first mummy stage, level 4. You'll manage that long before
you become good enough to get through level 8 and live to tell to tale.
- Your first priority in any level, apart from reaching the exit if that's
what you're after, is to locate and secure the Fairy Boots. They make
everything a lot easier.
- I prefer to collect only the key on the first visit to a room, and
leave the sword for when I come back for the treasure. This is not
always possible because the sword and the key might spawn together in
one spot, but usually you can do it. It's also a good idea to leave the
swords until you have the Fairy Boots, as well - with them, it is much
easier to chase the monsters down and kill them.
- Try to let the monsters come close before you grab the sword, so you
can kill most or all of them before your sword time runs out. Don't take
too many risks hunting after monsters when they've already turned dark
red and your sword is about to run out. They are worth some points, but
not nearly enough to risk losing a life over.
- The Magic Sword can be collected at any time, whether or not you have
the Fairy Boots. You have unlimited time to kill the monsters with it,
so get them all.
- Obviously, don't collect the Sword and the Magic Sword on the same
visit to the room. Get one, kill monsters, come back so they respawn,
get the other one and kill them again.
- In the mummy stage, think twice about going after them with the Magic
sword. Their fireballs can still kill. If you want to be brave (or you
have an audience to impress), the best way to kill mummies is to ambush
them at a corner. Chasing after them is risky as they might turn around,
and attacking head on equals fiery suicide.
- Don't forget the Brown Potion! Teleportation is extremely handy to
reach the exit or the Fairy Boots quickly, and you can also use it when
you are surrounded and about to be killed. Keep in mind, though, that
you can only teleport once. You'll find this item to be particularly useful
in the mummy stages where just getting from one room to another can be
quite hazardous.
- If you enter a room and the monsters are uncomfortably close, leave
through the same door you came and come back immediately (do allow the
rooms to "load" completely, i.e. wait for the monsters to come in view).
Every time you enter the room, the monsters appear in random locations,
so you should exit and reenter until they are in favorable positions.
- Monsters getting uncomfortably close and you're nowhere near an exit? If
you have the key to the treasure vault, you can pass through it to put
some distance between you and them. You can also keep hiding in the
treasure vault until the monsters move away, as they can't enter it. Note,
however, that the spiders and the mummies in particular will probably
start circling around the vault and not move away as easily as the more
erratic snakes and bats will.
===========================================================================
[6] REVISION HISTORY
===========================================================================
v1.0: (31 Mar '03) First version of the FAQ.
v1.1: (8 Apr '03) Scoring section added, and some minor updates to the
Basics and Playing Tips chapters.
v1.2: (21 Sep '05) Updated contact info.
I've pretty much exhausted my knowledge on the topic, I believe. However,
if I receive any reader input (one can always dream!), I will certainly add
any useful insights. If you got something for me, drop me a line.
===========================================================================
[7] FINAL WORDS
===========================================================================
Well, another Commodore 64 FAQ sees the light, and undoubtedly it will
have as small an audience as the ones that went before it. That's quite
alright, though. Were I to write for a Metroid or Zelda title, then many
more people would read it, but I'd also have a dozen or more other FAQs
to compete with, and quite possibly better ones. What use to write
something that several other people have already written? A FAQ like this
one, at least, fills a gap. I've never seen a Crystals of Zong FAQ
anywhere, and if by providing one I help only one gamer out there somewhere
on this planet, my duty is done.
For this document, thanks go to my sister Ineke, with whom I have spent
quite a few hours on this rare gem of a game, as well as my brother René
and my father. All of us remember the effects of the Green Potion and
the trickiness of mastering the mummies, and it's the great memories of
all playing the same game that brought this FAQ about. In addition, thanks
go to old school reviewers and FAQ writers Andrew Schultz and Falsehead, for
showing me that I'm not the only one who still remembers the Commodore 64
fondly. Their example has, as always, been inspiring.
For questions, comments, suggestions, praise and criticism, please contact
the author, Sashanan, at
[email protected]. This e-mail address is for
FAQ feedback only. Whatever you wish to share about this document or Ace,
chances are I'll want to hear it. Any serious mail will be answered.
Additions to the playing tips section in particular are always welcome. If
you have something to share, please mail it in. Any usable reader
suggestion will be added and, of course, fully credited.
If you wish to do anything with this FAQ except for just reading it, check
the Disclaimer section at the top of the FAQ to find out what you can and
can't do. When in doubt, you can always mail me.
This document is a copyright of Peter "Sashanan" Butter, 2003-2005. All
rights reserved. Disclaimer at top of document.
