The game "Temple of Apshai" (ToA) was published in 1979 as part of the Dunjonquest series. This was an instance of the (then nascent) genre of Computer Role Playing Games (CRPGS). Unlike, for example, "The Bard's Tale" series, this game and the engine behind it, has largely been forgotten,
This is suprising, as the Dunjonquest games are probably the first example of a commercial game engine. That is, of a piece of software that - albeit with minor changes - supported multiple titles.
This top selling series had five standalone games and four expansions, as well as a console spin off game. They were ported to many of the 8-bit ( and later 16-bit ) platforms of the 80's. Details can be found https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunjonquest
One reason for the lack of interest in the Dunjonquest series is that these games have not dated well. Here's a screenshot from the Apple ][ version ( thanks to https://www.scullinsteel.com/apple2/ ) of ToA - its "hi-res" graphics making it one of the better looking of the early versions. Its a crude affair to modern eyes, but this was in 1979; Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) - the pencil and paper game that ToA atempted to emulate - was only a few years old at this time. The sort of experience that ToA offered was totally novel outside of well-resourced academic institutions. It was definitely my first exposure to the possibilities of video games.
What did you actually do in the game ? The game trys to emulate a classic D&D experience - at least the kind D&D experience that was common in the 70s-80s. Players are motivated by the desire to the desire for wealth, which they hope to acquire during the exploration of a dangerous trap and monster populated mega-dungeon.
What's in the Box?
This advert from 1980 gives an idea of what to expect. Unlike modern games, this game came with a substantial manual ( the "Book of Lore" ) and a summary card. The manual holds 50 pages of densely packed text. This contains an introduction to the concept of role playing games ( still novel in 1979 ), detailed play instructions, a short story and textual descriptions of the locations in the dungeon. Players were expected to read these as they explored the dungeon. The description for the room 1 ( the room in the screenshot above ) reads:
The smooth stonework of the passageway floor shows that advanced
methods were used in its creation. A skeleton sprawls on the floor just
inside the door, a bony hand, still clutching a rusty dagger, outstretched
toward the door to safety. A faint roaring sound can be heard from the far
end of the passage.
Which sets the scene adequately. The text was not purely cosmetic and the player needed to use it to parse the abstract on-screen presentation. The rotated equals sign in the image above is a treasure / point of interest and by reading this text, the player is expected to interpret it as most likely corresponding to the skeleton.
Looking at the code of the game, I was amused to notice that there are fewer lines of code in the programs that make up the game than there are lines to text in the manual. This seems ridiculous, especially given that this is not some game typed in from a book or magazine, but the first installment in a commercially successful franchise. Given that this it is also historically interesting by virtue of ( prehaps ) being the first game engine to be written, I though I'd go through the code line by line....
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