Dragon by Craig Dutton

Review reebar

Great quest hard to get started, is there a walkthrough available for this game.
the loc given by Craig in 2012 not able to find. forum > quest games > dragon walktru

Comment Naraku666

where is this walkthrough????

Comment cempedak

Wow! very interesting game. I like it. Almost to the end.

Review DaNiX88

A great game, though I relied on the walkthrough from the start. I did manage to find many things on my own, but in order to not reach a dead end, I checked with the walkthrough before I made any decisions. I really wish there were more hints in-game, or at least subtle warnings.

I really enjoyed the pictures included in this one, and the black background with white text was a nice change of pace.

All in all, a fun game to play!

Review danaburgerrr

this is a good game, even if at times it's a little cumbersome; there's not much happening and the characters as well as the world are sort of one-dimensional. but I do love the little supernatural things you've incorporated. I did find myself using the walkthru a lot, and I think it's because there's just a lack of good hints given throughout in the text. while gameplay gets relatively linear if the right items are acquired, I don't necessarily think that it's all super logical, which creates frustration. the entire thing could have used a little more description and a little more writing, but that's mostly just what I prefer when playing TA games, so don't let my little opinion discourage you. as always your imagination has run wild in a very good way, and although I found it a bit difficult this time around, it ended up being pretty fun in the end.

Review Charles Scott

Wow. Very difficult! I had to resort to the walkthru two or three times, and I managed to fall into all the dead ends (broke the dagger before I could use it, frightened the princess before she gave me the item, crossed to the island without enough protection) so it's a good idea to do lots of 'saves'. A great story, though, with some terrific twists, and I thought the simple but atmospheric graphics were very effective and added a lot to the ambience. Craig's imagination must be a complex and extraordinary thing!

Comment Charles Scott

Craig: thank you for your help -- and thank you for explaining the problem; it's really interesting to see how a master-games-writer goes about constructing an adventure. I'll head back to the desert now and see how I get on.

Comment Craig Dutton

Correction on the second return direction from the tomb to chasm:

*SPOILER ALERT*
From the chasm to the tomb: N, W, N, W, S, S.
From the tomb to the chasm: N, N, E, S, E, S (reversed directions) or simply: N, W, S, S.

Comment Craig Dutton

Charles S

Thanks for telling me about the error. I forgot all about it at the time of testing. What is was is that each desert location has two correct exits allowing you to go from the chasm to the tomb and vice versa. The other two directions were supposed to loop back to the same location so you become totally lost. However, that didn't work and produced the 'OnEnterRoom' error.

The way I fixed it was to create a 6th desert location with ALL the wrong direction links from the other five to this new one. Then any of the directions on this 6th one will go back to the first desert location (north of the chasm.)

So, the way now to travel through the desert is to notice how the compass directions are arranged. If they stay the same showing 'north, south, east or west' then you are on the right path. If it changes to 'west, east, south or north' then you're in the new 6th desert location and have gone wrong. Just go south twice to get back to the chasm. But it's also a quick way to get back to the chasm from the tomb.

Have fun. If you still don't like it then:

*SPOILER ALERT*
From the chasm to the tomb: N, W, N, W, S and S.
From the tomb to the chasm: N, N, E, N, W and S (reversed directions) or simply: N, W, S, S.

Craig.

Comment Charles Scott

Craig, I've just started this game (like the graphics!) but when I get to the desert on the far side of the chasm, wherever I try to move I get the response "error: no parameters passed to OnEnterRoom function". I've tried on both the down-loaded and the on-line version. Has a gremlin got into the system?
Charles

Review Sagi Gush

I like it alot :) the Imagery is awesome and it is generally fun. I don't see a reason why not giving a full 5 score

Review Alexandre Torres

Positive points:
-Graphics
-Nice storyline.
-Good Puzzles.
Negative points:
- Dead ends (such as giving the mouse to the princess).
- Objects must be used on a predefined order, or the game can't be finished. (dagger!)
- Too specific commands and too much dependency on interaction with scenic (not listed) objects.
- Much of the difficult is to find out the right command, the name of the object or dealing with replays.
- reminds me of the main defects of 80's adventures. At that time I liked, but nowdays, I don't have that patience.

Review sarah4

Another absolutely brilliant game, great storyline, fun and challenging puzzles and great characters and locations, and, just like your previous games, an absolute masterclass as to how text adventures should be written! One of the very best writers on this website, can't wait for your future games!

Comment Craig Dutton

For a complete walkthru it can be found at the Forum > Quest Games > Dragon Walkthru.

Comment sarah4

Hi Craig, thanks, as usual, for all your help! I've got much further now, in fact I managed to find the dragon but had no weapon in my inventory that would seem to work on him. I presume to get the necessary weapon I must find the gold arrow for the elf (have looked everywhere in the witch's tower to no avail) and maybe do something for the queen in the cell guarded by the dwarf, but I can't figure out what she wants. I don't think I've left any other puzzles unsolved. Sorry for all these questions but thanks for your patience.

Sarah.

Review Gregory Waukey

i have no idea i got stuck at the princess i accidently showed her the dead mouse what should id do complete walktrough please?

Comment Craig Dutton

Hello Sarah,

Here are some answers to your many, many, many... queries.

1) To get from the east side of the chasm to the ruins: N, W, N, W, S, S. And do the exact opposite to return: N, N, E, S, E, S. (in the old days of text advs. dropping objects in 'maze' locations would help you solve them to know if when you're leaving a location, are you just looping back to where you just left - in this game it does happen.)
2) The dagger also has a use on the pillow you found on the jester's bed.
3) There's no glitch regarding the dwarf's hammer. It's a sneaky timer puzzle I put in. When you blow the whistle you have a few seconds to pick up the hammer (you only have one chance) - don't hang around otherwise he takes it back for good (it's mentioned in the text, I think?!). Also if he catches you carrying it ,i.e on a return visit, he will take it back instantly. You don't need the hammer NW of the Dwarf's room so drop the hammer in the tunnel before entering the dwarf's room at all times - the hammer is very important to have near the end of the game, so best not to lose it. The hammer is quite useful on breakable urns.
4) I've not worked out how to cross the abyss either? The clue to this place is 'supernatural presence'. Use a lamp here to summon the presence. The lamp is in the tower. To light it use it like you did with the orchid and then use the fire crystal. Still nothing. There are two puzzles that require you to drop objects. One was with the hammer and the other is with... guess?!
5) Open the grille with the coin found in the pillow to find a lever to pull and use the cog in the mechanism in the cube (after unlocking the cube with the gold key belonging to the Dragon-King who hates fire). The silver key to the tower is being held by the princess. She prefers emeralds.
6) Crossing the lake requires a battlehorn to summon something special. It's hidden in the library.
7) Read the symbols on the obelisk then learn to read them at the library. Eventually you'll find a cog and an emerald.
8) The jester

Comment sarah4

Sorry, have got a bit further, I eventually found the tomb in the desert, got the shovel, used the rod to lever the stone slab out of the way, went into the tomb and used the orchid on the blood and opened the coffin and spoke to the mummy, dug the chest up out of the soft ground and took the sceptre to the jester and took the pillow left behind on the bed in his cell, now I really do seem to be stuck so would love some help!

Comment sarah4

Just an update from my last message as I have got a tiny bit further, I've managed to knock the beehive down and have got the bear to lead me to the patch of soft ground which I presume I need to use the shovel on but I still can't find it in the desert, any help would be greatly appreciated!

Comment sarah4

Hi Craig, very much looking forward to playing another of your games now I'm getting the hang of Quest 5 a bit more. However there are a few things I wondered if you could help with please, they're probably really obvious but I can't figure them out:
I can't find my way back to the skeleton and tomb hidden in the desert, I found it once but haven't been able to since, despite wandering about in every direction.
When I did manage to get to it I couldn't open the tomb with the shovel and can't find anything else to use.
Do I need to use the dagger for anything else before I break it trying to get the ruby out of the stone block?
I can't find any way of getting to the bee's nest.
When I blow the whistle and cause the dwarf to drop his hammer there seems to be a glitch. I pick the hammer up and it is definitely in my enventory, but as soon as I move back into the room where I found the whistle the hammer disappears again.
I can't figure out how to cross the abyss.
I can't find any keys/ways of opening the gold cube in the temple, the door to the tower, the urn in the ice king's cavern or the tomb.
I can't figure out what to do with the pedestal.
I can't figure out what to do with the orchid I grew.
I can't find any way to cross the lake.
I can't figure out what to do with the fish.
Am I meant to do anything with the books in the palace?
Do I need to do anything with the bed in the tower?
Where do I find the staff for the jester?
What do I need to find for the king?
I can't find any wheels to fix the cart.

Sorry for all these questions, any pointers you could give would be greatly appreciated.

Sarah.

Comment Craig Dutton

Dear Kristianstill

It just occurred to me that a variation on IF, that I grew up on, is Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks (http://www.fightingfantasygamebooks.com). They started back in 1982, stopped for a bit in 1995 but republished in the early 2000s and still (just about) going. It's also their 30th anniversary with co-creator Ian Livingstone releasing a new book this autumn called Blood of the Zombies.

The books where YOU are the hero inspired me to write adventure games in gamebook (self plug - see on the www.fightingfantasygamebooks.com - Amateur Adventures Nov 2011, Orb of Souls) and computer IF.

Presuming you're not aware of them - give them a go. Although, I think they are aimed more at an older teenage reader as horror and killing monsters are the more scarier themes. It depends on the maturity of the reader as I don't know if there is an 'age guide' to these books.

Comment Craig Dutton

The imagery was created by a program called Bryce 5.5 - a free bit of software that came with UK magazine PC Utilities a while back. I had to register with www.daz3d.com who created Bryce to run it and to get future updates. They don't offer this anymore, but there is Bryce 7 Personal Learning Edition for PC and Mac which is free via http://download.cnet.com and you don't need to register to get it.

The software itself took a bit of getting use to and practically only works in creating landscapes - a bit of imagination and frustration allowed me to create the indoor scenery. Bryce 7 PLE might be better - I haven't got around in downloading it yet so I don't know all of its features.

As for writing IF for younger readers, I'll think about it and let you know, thanks for asking.

Review Kristianstill

So far so good. Enjoying the game and love the imagery. How is that created BTW.

Together with Alex Warren we are trying real hard to find games authors that may consider writing for reading ages 6-12. It is our belief that IF can really engage young poeple and help them develop a love of reading, albeit in a new form to most of them.

This has a secondary opportunity, helping teachers assist their students to write IF. Possibly 18-24 months down the road. Is this something you may consider?

Comment Craig Dutton

You make open ended (non-linear gameplay) seem like a bad thing. Once you have the objects you need it's linear all the way to defeat the dragon and claim the treasure. More scenery descriptions have been sorted out to give a better response, in version 1.1.

Review tight lips

Excellent imagery. It feels very open ended. I tried to look at the moss but couldnt though.