/=============================================================================/
| AKALABETH: WORLD OF DOOM "Quick Win" Walkthrough v1.00 |
| (C) 2008 Jason Kuntz (X_Loto) |
| x_loto@hotmail.com |
| Based on "Akalabeth: World of Doom" |
| (C) 1979 California Pacific Computer (Apple ][) |
| Start Date: 03/19/2008 |
| Latest Submission Date: 03/19/2008 |
/=============================================================================/
This is where my trademark Japanese slogan goes. This game is American. Meh.
/=======================================/
| Table of Contents |
/=======================================/
1. Foreword/Mission Statement . [1FOR]
2. "Quick Win" Walkthrough . [2WAL]
3. Version History . . . [3VER]
4. Credits/Thanks/Legal . . [4CRE]
/==1.===================================/
| Foreword/Mission Statement |
/===============================[1FOR]==/
Nearly thirty years ago, a man working in a computer store designed a short,
simple game for the Apple ][ computer system. How could he have known that it
would one day explode into the RPG franchise known as "Ultima"? I assert here
that he could not have known, O Inquisitive Readers, and yet apparently he did.
The title screen of "Akalabeth" actually heralds it as "Ultima I," the Roman
numeral suggesting that he expected to make more, and the game eventually
exploded into a nine-episode series, along with various spin-offs and chapter
after chapter of a very popular online game! Even the name "Ultima" suggests a
grandiose plan, being a Latin word meaning "furthest" or "last," often with the
connotation of "best" as well.
This is where I enter the story, as minor as my part is. These games have
intrigued me for some time, although I have yet to play the majority of them in
any version. I have now begun that "Ultima-te" quest, although I had not set
out intending to create any walkthroughs. However, due to the simplicity of
this unofficial "zeroth" game in the series, I have been inspired to write one
after all--and to share the fruits of my labors with you, O Lucky Readers!
Therefore, I am providing this "Quick Win" walkthrough of the Apple ][ game
"Akalabeth" so that you can see along with me how to abuse the game's systems
to your "Ultima-te" advantage! (And it just seemed like a good idea, since it
appears that no one else has written anything similar yet!)
Well, that's enough for this long introduction, O Intrepid Readers. It is my
sincere hope that you enjoy this guide, and perhaps even find it useful!
/==2.===================================/
| Walkthrough |
/===============================[2WAL]==/
Before I even begin, I must note that this walkthrough and the methods
described within are only valid in the Apple ][ version of the game, and not
the PC version released with the "Ultima Collection." I have not yet checked
that version to see how it works, but I have verified that the terrain
generation is different, so this walkthrough may not be valid for it at all.
Also note that this walkthrough relies heavily on the sequence of random
numbers used by the game. If it doesn't agree with what you see, it might be an
emulation issue...I used Applewin v1.8J. Also, just for trivia, I wanted to
mention here that until two days ago I had never sat down to play this game
before. I came up with all this on the fly, and was amazed at how well it
worked!
So, here we go. Due to the game's "Lucky Number" feature, this is more of a
method than a literal walkthrough. What I'm going to do is try to show how the
game can be won at any difficulty level, with any lucky number, and _without
save states._ To that end, I first ask you to play along with me as I use my
own lucky number, so I can show you how I came up with this.
Okay. I doubt that you're playing this on a real Apple machine, but if you are,
good for you! Boot it up! :-D Otherwise, start up your emulator. Are we ready?
Yes? Ah, well, it doesn't matter anyway, as it seems the game doesn't really
care, heheh. Read through the instructions (it helps if you know how to play,
and besides, I'm not covering it here--it's _in the game!_) and enter your
lucky number--actually, no, wait. Enter _my_ lucky number instead: 17. Now,
select your level of play. 1 is okay for starters, but why not start with 10,
just to show you how effective this method is? No, really--let's start with 10.
Next, say "N" to the first set of character stats; continue to say "N" until
you have 24 Gold, which appears to be the maximum. This illustrates Point One:
________--------¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ POINT ONE ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯--------________
Begin the game with 24 Gold. You will need it
for food. All other stats will soon become
_utterly insignificant._
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯--------________ ________--------¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Now that we have that out of the way, press "M" to select a Mage. The game is
much easier with the Magic Amulet in the player's complete control (although it
is possible to use this method with a Fighter as well, just more time-
consuming), which brings up Point Two:
________--------¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ POINT TWO ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯--------________
The Magic Amulet completely _breaks_ this game.
We are going to abuse it so bad it'll have a
suite of complexes for the rest of its life.
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯--------________ ________--------¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Now that your character is set, buy a Magic Amulet and spend the remainder of
your cash on food. Your first task is to find the castle: It's to your right.
After getting your first assignment, you must find a dungeon: There's one
further right and a ways up--just go east all the way to the corner and then go
north. (When using your own lucky number, you may want to spend all the money
on food on the first run, to make sure you can find Lord British's castle and a
suitable dungeon without starving.)
The next step is to explore the uses of this Magic Amulet. The reason is
explained in Point Three:
________--------¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ POINT THREE ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯--------________
The random number generator (RNG) is re-seeded
with your lucky number _every time_ you exit
and re-enter a dungeon. If you do the same
thing the same way, the same result will occur.
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯--------________ ________--------¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Enter the dungeon. Now, press "A" to start an "Attack," and then "M" for the
Amulet. You have four options; we are interested in the "Bad??" one. Use it.
...Oops, that didn't work very well. And it broke, too, didn't it? Dang it....
Okay, go ahead and reboot. Sorry, but we gotta do it again.
Back in the dungeon with me? Good. Now, instead of looking at the Amulet just
yet, press "A" for Attack, but now press "H" for Hands instead of using the
Amulet. Do this one more time. This replaces one usage of the Amulet in the RNG
sequence, which accesses it twice: 1) to determine whether it broke, and 2) to
determine the result.Now is the good part. Bravely open up your magic menu by
pressing "A," then "M," and then use "4" to tempt fate again. If you're still
following me (and getting the same results I did), then this time wasn't good
either, but at least it didn't break. Now, the point here is to do it again...
and again...and again...until you are turned into a Lizard Man! With the number
17 that I gave you, you'll have 4 failures before you achieve success, and the
Amulet will still not break. Those 4 failures correspond to 8 numbers out of
the RNG sequence. Adding in the 2 numbers we used up for those wasted attacks,
that makes 10. After those 10 numbers in the sequence come the 2 that gave us
the Lizard Man effect. What this means to you is that, as long as you waste
_exactly_ 10 numbers out of the RNG, the Amulet will work in your favor _every
time._ Let's try it out. Oh, and you should reboot again before we do. I'll
wait. ;-)
Oh, good, you're back again already. You're getting faster. ;-) Let's head into
that dungeon again now. As soon as you enter, attack the darkness 10 times.
Now, use the Amulet. Nice, huh? ^_^ But that's just luck, right? Not so! Exit
the dungeon, re-enter, and try it again: Attack 10 times, then cast the "Bad??"
spell. Again, the Lizard Man!
Keep doing this until you are strong enough to kill anything in one blow with
your bare hands--1000+ in the Strength and Dexterity departments should be
plenty, 5000 tops. Don't be greedy. For one thing, you'll need to make sure you
have enough food to explore the dungeon to raise money to buy more food.
Another consideration is that although it is possible to raise your stats to
1,000,000+, I've had the game reset on me when I tried to attack with those
stats. Apparently the processor and/or code don't like them to get that high.
And there you have it: a method that should allow the player to win rather
quickly with any lucky number, on any difficulty level. All you have to watch
for is Gremlins, which steal huge amounts of food. Theoretically, this method
could even work with a Fighter instead of a Mage, but it would take more tries
to get the desired result from the Magic Amulet. I'll outline the major steps
below.
1. Enter the dungeon and use the Magic Amulet repeatedly, keeping track of the
results until you become a Lizard Man. If it breaks before you get that far,
reboot and try again, replacing that point in the sequence with two normal
attacks. (You may have to do this several times to reach the favorable
outcome.)
2. Once you know when you'll become a Lizard Man, begin to play the game. For
every failure in the sequence, attack twice.
3. When you reach that point in the sequence, let fly with an Amulet and voila!
Instant Lizard Man!
4. The next part I can't help you with. This is where you explore the dungeons
to find your prey. Even with no challenge at all from the monsters, the
crawling and mapping can still be fun! (Of course, if you're a Mage you could
even skip all that by saving money for extra Amulets, using them for the
"Ladder Up" and "Ladder Down" functions. ;-)
/==3.===================================/
| Version History |
/===============================[3VER]==/
v1.00--Initial release
Started playing 03/17/2008
Finished game 03/18/2008
Submitted 03/19/2008
Planned for future versions:
Attempt to use the method of this walkthrough in the PC version, and note
differences.
...That's probably all.
/==4.===================================/
| Credits/Thanks/Legal |
/===============================[4CRE]==/
Credits:
Guide and layout by Jason Kuntz (X_Loto).
Thanks:
ASchultz, whose review and walkthrough for this game taught me about a couple
of its finer points (such as the lucky number's use as a seed for the
random function).
GameFAQs.com, for hosting all this mess!
Richard Garriot, for creating this monster! ;-P
Legal:
Guide and layout (C) 2008 by Jason Kuntz. Use this guide however you like for
your own personal use, but please do not republish it in an altered form, and
please do not take credit for it. If you use part of this guide in your own
work, please send me an email and let me know; my address is at the top. I
can't think of any reason I wouldn't let you, so just tell me.
An up-to-date version of this file may always be found at GameFAQs.com. And
don't forget: JUST SAY NO TO PLAGIARISM!
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| EOF |
/===============================[5pp.]==/
Call California Pacific Computer at (415)-569-9126 to report this amazing feat!
