Dragonmaster (David Berdan)

Title – Dragonmaster
System – Commodore 64
Authors – David Berdan
Publication – COMPUTE!, Issue 41, October 1983
Page Scans – 1 2 3 4 5
Preserved by – eboy71
Recommended Emulator – VICE

Download ROM

Loading the Game –

Mount the disk image (Compute 041 Dragonmaster.d64) in your emulator. In VICE, this is done by selecting File → Attach Disk Image
Load the app by typing LOAD”DRAGONMASTER”,8
Once loaded, type RUN to start

Game Instructions –

This game requires a joystick in port 2
After selecting your difficulty level, the game will begin with your player at the top of the screen.
To win, you will need to eliminate each of the red and black dragons; once they are gone, the phantom dragon guarding the castle can be killed and the game is won.
An evil wizard (the unhappy face) will follow you around the screen. If he catches you, you die. He moves faster as the difficulty levels increase.
Dragons can only be killed by moving beside their belly and hitting the fire button. If you move to a space adjacent to the top or front of their head, you will die.
New dragons occasionally reappear and also change positions. This happens more frequently as the level increases.

Article Text

In this fast-action adventure game, your mission is to maneuver through the countryside until you reach the castle and save the princess — if you can. There are all sorts of dragons you must first conquer and a wily, evil wizard in steady pursuit. The game has four difficulty levels. Written for the unexpanded VIC, versions are also included for the 64 and Atari. Joysticks are required.

This game involves three courageous knights who have returned home from war only to find that the countryside surrounding their castle is infested with dragons that were placed there by an evil wizard. Trapped inside the castle is the beautiful princess, who anxiously awaits the first knight who can rescue her. One at a time the knights try to slay all the dragons and enter the castle to save the princess.

The knights quickly discover the many dangers of the hunt. A dragon will eat anyone who comes near its head. The only way to get rid of one is to zap it in the stomach. Guarding the castle is a phantom dragon that can only be eliminated when all the others have been overcome. (The castle drawbridge will remain closed until he is conquered.) At times a dragon will appear from nowhere, and occasionally a dragon you thought you’d disposed of will reappear to have another try at the knight. And last, but certainly not the easiest of the perils, is the evil wizard himself, who chases the knights as they hunt the dragons. If the wizard catches a knight, the knight is destroyed.

How To Play

Maneuver your knight through the countryside with a joystick. You are allowed three knights at the start, but watch out – the knights can be consumed very quickly by a dragon.

When you encounter a dragon, you must act quickly. Using your fire button, aim at the dragon’s stomach. This is its only vulnerable point. You have no defense against the evil wizard except speed. You must be constantly aware of his distance from you. Remember if he catches you, your knight is destroyed.

Difficulty Levels

The first thing to appear on the screen is the instructions. You are asked to choose any of four skill levels by pressing the appropriate function key. The degree of difficulty is determined by how fast the wizard pursues the knight. The EASY level (F1) presents a real challenge to the newcomer. You can expect to be defeated quite often while you are learning the finer points of the game. The next levels, HARD (F3) and VERY HARD (F5), are progressively difficult. The IMPOSSIBLE level (F7) is only for the expert. You must be exceptionally alert and skillful with the joystick to get into the castle at this level.

Dragonmaster for the 64 and Atari

The Commodore 64 version of “Dragonmaster” runs much the same as the VIC version. However, the colors are somewhat different. You will find that you are a flashing figure in shades of gray, a feature which could not be implemented on the VIC due to the memory shortage. The pursuing wizard flashes all the colors of the rainbow (magic!) and, by his mystic powers, pursues you by always halving the distance between you. If at any point his leap brings him to within one square of you, you’re finished.

The dragons are the main obstacle in your chivalrous adventure. To eliminate a dragon, you have to move directly in front of his stomach and press the fire button. The dragon will disappear. The phantom dragon guarding the gates must be dispatched last. You will find that the dragons do move about and change color now and then, but this is only restlessness. In addition, a dragon will occasionally appear from nowhere to test your mettle.

The programming techniques involved in this version, as in the VIC version, are fairly straightforward. Programmable characters are used for dragons, castle, walls, knights, wizard, etc. The data for these characters is stored from 14336 to 16384, although the program uses only a part of this. The characters are put on the screen by POKEs, as are their colors (the color screen on the 64 is from 55296 to 56295). Simple sounds are created using two voices of the SID chip. Voice one controls dragon and the knights elimination as well as drawbridge noises; voice two maintains the movement noise.

The Atari version also employs programmable characters (the same data, in fact), located in the block of 512 bytes below the top of your available memory. The colors used are somewhat different. The castle and outside walls, the dragons, the wizard, and the knight each use different color registers, Graphics mode 1 is used to simulate the VlC’s 22-column display as closely as possible. The sound used is simple Atari sound. However, the program is basically the same as the VIC version in terms of play.

Editor’s Notes:

This appears to be the only game development credit for David Berdan.
It was originally written for the Commodore VIC-20 and converted to the Commodore 64 by COMPUTE!’s Programming Assistant, Chris Metcalf.