Memorable Moments...

[Jan]

Perhaps it's "LOL, Ummm, Eeeek, Yep, Wimp, D'oh, MS-DOS and ZOO"?

[Babe Bridou]

don't you dare judge the localization team - I think they attempted it because the english symbols didn't really sound "magic" in French
VI sounds exactly the same as Vie, which means life
Mon is the possessive pronoun "My"

oh well let's not go there please, I'm already composing sentences in French with english runes
Ya Mon Vi Bro Oh Ku Des Zo Zo
And it's not a pretty spell

(phonetically,

Spoiler

"the reese my deel doh upp zee aass of these stoopeed people"

)

[Adrena1in]

Oh lordy, the memories this is bringing back for me, reading everyone else's thoughts and musings. I first played DM when it came out at the end of the 80s I guess?, and most of the memories already expressed are strong in my mind still, or flooding back, and it's great! Thanks everyone.

The different sounds of monsters lurking nearby was such an effective part of the game, and always scared me, (even though I was in my late teens, but I did like playing DM in the dark!), not to mention turning a corner and seeing something new, moments before it screamed or shrieked at you. Most memorable for me was probably level 3 or 4, (I can't remember all the names). I could hear a muffled shuffling sound as I stepped slowly down the dark corridor. Approaching a corner the shuffle noise got a bit louder. I slowed to a standstill, listening, waiting. <shuffle shuffle> The tension I felt was real. I turned the corner and, "Oh, it's just a pile of rocks...how am I going to get past them?", then a loud <BOODLE OODLE> as the Rock Monster reared up and nearly shocked me off my chair!!

Also, the first giggling little Thief I encountered several levels lower had a similar effect. I think it was because the <do dum> footsteps from him were so quick as he dashed up to me, unseen, then giggled and ran off into the darkness, too fast for me to catch him. Pesky little tike. (I took great pleasure in waiting until he was stood in the right place for me to step on a pressure plate, causing the floor to open and sending him falling to his death, then climbing down to collect my stolen booty.)

However, my absolute most memorable moment was finally learning all the spells. I said in my "Introduce Myself" post that I didn't have a manual when I first got the game, so I didn't know what the runes were called. I literally had to learn all the spells out of the 216 combinations of runes, noting them down and what the effects of the spell were. Mostly fizzled and died, but some did something, which wasn't always apparent. I'd practise and practise for hours, days even. For ages there was one spell that did something, but I knew not what...until, having recently cast it, I walked up to a door and could see through it. I was elated. (I used the spell at the entrance to the Dungeon's Hall of Champions, and saw the Wizard outside. That was what made me return there with the Firestaff once or twice, to see what would happen.)

[Skellimancer]

Throwing several items, from axes to screamer slices, down a corridor to kill those rock monsters. I love how they flew down the corridor like a shotgun with unusual ammo.

Finding the Screamer respawn point and thinking "I bet I am the only one who knows of this!".

Every glorious puzzle.

[MasterWuuf]

Since you mentioned the Screamer respawn point, where exactly is that?
I remember I would just walk to the 'now opened' wall (leaving the screamer room and turning right),
go down the stairs, then pop back up to 'rage, slice and dice' on some more of them.

[oh_brother]

I did not think there was a particular point/pressure pad that caused them to re-spawn, I thought it just happened given enough time. I could be wrong.

I also thought "I am the only one who knows this!" about that room though. In those days you were completely isolated from fellow players, except for friends or the odd relevant letter in "ST Action" or whatever.I was shocked when I came to this forum and realised that it was a classic.

[Zyx]

Have you experienced such memorable moments with custom dungeons?

[MasterWuuf]

Since I played DM all by my lonesome self, back when it came out on the ST (no internet),
I had to pretty much figure everything out with no chance to compare notes with others.

Still, one of my most memorable moments was when you 'fellow DM fans' told me about the false wall
before dropping to the cursed nights section. Ahhh...looky here...that unfound set of speed boots.

(stop here, to shed a tear, in honor of the making of one more DM memory for this 'platinum' blonde gamester)

[zhagsten]

Hello,

My first memories of DM come from behind the back of my father on STe, following him as he was running through the corridors of "have no idea how spells work" and fighting everything by throwing miscellaneous items of various size. Of course I remember the first jump when the first mummy attacked. I remember that he went through the game with the gen4 guide mentioned earlier in this thread, but never used other spell than the "zo" to open the door at 3rd level, and the "zo kath ra" for the gem. And he never used the normal melee attacks, he only used the hand icons for lightning/fireball enchanted items, bash the 4th level door and fluxcage Lord Slippy.

It took forever and a half for him to go through the game, making it very impressive in my memories. At that time, my brother and I didn't go that far. I remember my brother was stuck in the 4th level worm hell and I just passed it. We then moved on other games. I remember my father took Zed because he has a torch, Gando for his darts and Tiggy because she was supposed to be the best wizard, although not using her at all. I don't remember the other team member. My brother and I learned to use spells, so we were like "omg Tiggy is teh wizordz!!!1" which can explain why nowadays I HATE her. Also we both took Wuuf for his flask.


A few years ago I played DM again, using this wiki for the maps when needed (I always try things by myself before looking for the solution). Level 1 became level 0 and that confused me a little. I wanted to make a team of wizards mainly with the goal to cast Mon Ful Ir at a time. While choosing my characters (reincarnated this time), I started with Sonja as a decent fighter with a bit of mana to learn magic too. I wasn't aware of the War Cry trick. Then I decided to make a girl team and I completed with Chani and Syra as wizards in the back and Leyla to help Sonja in the front. Tiggy, you are NOT invited. Sonja was great to hack through the first mobs while the whole team was working on spells to raise their level. All in all when I reached the rat chamber, which I used to fill chests of food, my whole team was able to cast several Mon Ful Ir. I litterally BBQ'd the whole dungeon and didn't have to use melee attacks after the first levels.

The most difficult was with the spiders and ethereal vines, having to delete prepared fireballs to cast an anti-ghost spell instead. When reaching the last level, for the first time I used magical boxes and was really happy of the result. I remember taking my father's characters to try to kill the dragon (he didn't) by dodging and throwing things, but without success. This time I boxed the dragon like a pro, threw some poison bombs and cast a few poison clouds. I also cast a few other fireballs for the fun and it quickly died. The game became a lot easier than I thought, a lot shorter (6-7 hours taking my time) and a lot more familiar and comfortable.


Still I'll always remember my first fireball against a wall (oh sh-!), the horror of the first time dropping in a trap (and the sudden curiosity for Leyla and her rope), the surprise of being awaken by a rockpile that I thought was far, being trapped by hoards of purple worms, the joy of throwing ful bombs, chasing gigglers when of course light turns off, every new monster appearance...


The reason I'm here posting today is that I'm watching a "let's play" video on YouTube for Ishar 1 and I've seen a 20 mins run on CSBwin for DM as a result of my search for testimonies of a DM solo party. So I decided to bite and I started a solo party. I don't use a bulky fighter, I reincarnated Wu Tse. For the first time I'm using priest skills. Before, I thought Vi potions just healed the wounded parts of your character. So far it's fun throwing things at monsters like in the good old times. Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings, those are my favorite things... to throw!

[Bit]

...I litterally BBQ'd the whole dungeon

That one makes my day!
Very nice story - welcome to the forum!

[Jan]

Hello, Zhagsten, and welcome to the forums!

It was nice to read your post because it also brings back my memories - and those of everyone else on the forums.

Now, go and play Chaos Strike Back!

Also, remember that you can actually make a recording of your gameplay in CSBWin and share it with us so we can enjoy you toasting all the monsters from a comfort of our armchairs.

[beowuuf]

Welcoem to the forums!


Don't forget that on a solo run you can spin out of the way of thrown spells later in the game! Have fun!

[Ameena]

You can do that with a duo too, Wuffy .
Welcome to the forum, Zhagsten . It's always cool to hear stuff like this from newcomers, people who've just discovered this forum and that DM is still remembered, talked about, and played even though it'll be 25 years old later this year :O.
I think we're all interested to find out what happens to you when you play CSB - either take a team from DM through or recruit new chars from the CSB selection. And even if you get through that (after much running around, falling down pits, getting cornered by mobs, losing your stuff, getting teleported, walking through walls and getting lost again, etc), there's a few zillion custom dungeons to play . And then you could even create your own to torment other people .
Omg I just had an image of a Portal-based dungeon. Omfg how cool would that be...edit the "See Through Walls" spell graphic for portals or something .

[linflas]

great idea ! must be doable on DSB i guess !
oh, et bienvenue chez nous Zhagsten

[zhagsten]

Thank you all!

As I don't want to restart this precise solo run, I won't have CSBwin recording, but I will write about the experience in this thread.
Also I read that CSBwin rules aren't exactly the same as good ol' DM. Is that true? What are the differences?

[Jan]

CSBWin (Chaos Strikes Back for Windows) is "a very exact translation of the original Atari ST program" (http://dmweb.free.fr/?q=node/851). Perhaps you meant the RTC (Return to Chaos)?