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Ever since I purchased the Atari 80-games-in-one I have been trying to understand these Swordquest games. I have gone to the website that has the solutions for all three games, but I still don't understand how a person can figure out which item has to be in which room. Earthworld is the only one of the three games that the comic book is included on the CD ROM. I have read through that thing ad nauseum and I still don't see where it shows that the short sword needs to be in the Virgo room or the lamp in Libra. I'm sure that some trial and error is necessary, but if all of it is trial and error then I guess I understand why this game is hated so much.
Then with Fireworld, the solution says that you need to have one item in a room and four items in another room to trigger one of the word clues. How the hell can a person figure this out by reading the comic book? I guess I am hoping that there is a particular pattern that I can figure out, but for the life of me I can't.
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The Swordquest series
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bjk7382 
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Posted Fri Jun 25, 2004 11:49 PM
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I have heard that waterworld is the statistically the easiest to solve. I have never beat any of them, but I did give waterworld a try after I got my cartrige, but I got pissed off and quit.
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NE146
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Posted Sat Jun 26, 2004 12:47 AM
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Forget about it.. there's no way as far as I'm concerned that those things could be figured out on their own.
 Kind of reminds me I had a suggestion a while back to holding a "live" Swordquest event. Just get a set of office cubicles. Then just get a bunch of random items (like a watermelon or baseball) and scatter them around the various cubicle tables. Then you just get some contestant to walk around and see if he can figure out what items to put on what table using an old Batman comic book as a guide and it will be just like Swordquest!  Of course there would be other details like having to solve some puzzle or task (crossword puzzle, hopscotch, whatever) before the guy can enter a room to get the chance to put his items in the cubicle. And maybe some cubicles would be blocked or unblocked depending on the item placement. But hey, it'd work right?
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Nathan Strum
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Posted Sat Jun 26, 2004 2:08 AM
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NE146 said: Just get a set of office cubicles. Then just get a bunch of random items (like a watermelon or baseball) and scatter them around the various cubicle tables. SwordQuest: CubeWorld? Actually, that sounds like a lot more fun than playing the games. Of course, beating yourself over the head with a fungo bat is a lot more fun than playing the games. 
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Cootster
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Posted Sat Jun 26, 2004 3:01 AM
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NE146 said: Forget about it.. there's no way as far as I'm concerned that those things could be figured out on their own. Kind of reminds me I had a suggestion a while back to holding a "live" Swordquest event. Just get a set of office cubicles. Then just get a bunch of random items (like a watermelon or baseball) and scatter them around the various cubicle tables. Then you just get some contestant to walk around and see if he can figure out what items to put on what table using an old Batman comic book as a guide and it will be just like Swordquest! Of course there would be other details like having to solve some puzzle or task (crossword puzzle, hopscotch, whatever) before the guy can enter a room to get the chance to put his items in the cubicle. And maybe some cubicles would be blocked or unblocked depending on the item placement. But hey, it'd work right? This totally kicks Pac-Manhattan's ass! Or, what about E. T. live? Just dig a bunch of holes, grease up the ground so everyone falls in often, and place parts of a Flintstones telephone in three of them. 
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AtariDude
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Posted Sat Jun 26, 2004 8:24 AM
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People were not supposed to figure things out using the comic book or the manual. It was a contest so they purposefully left information out. That is part of the reason that as far as a game goes, they are not a lot of fun to play.
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Vic George 2K3
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Posted Sat Jun 26, 2004 10:04 AM
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The comics that came with the games were a lot more fun than the games themselves.
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ATARIPITBULL
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Posted Sat Jun 26, 2004 10:28 AM
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I read along time ago that the person who won the Fireworld contest did it because the design of the game was close to something called the Joshuas wheel or something like that and he recognized it when he played fireworld and was able to win it using his knowledge of the wheel.
They also say that the winner of Earthworld, "Steve Bell" was a total asshole at the contest and acted like he was better than every one else, but later had to pawn the prize for money. What ever!!! I just liked the idea of winning a prize and the story line way more than the game play its self.  :!:
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Paul Slocum
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Posted Sat Jun 26, 2004 11:24 PM
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I'm convinced the person who figured out Earthworld dumped and disassembled the ROM. There were a LOT of people who knew 6502 assembly at that time.
Has anyone ever tried this? I'm curious how difficult it would be to find the solution this way. -paul |
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Paul Slocum
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Posted Sat Jun 26, 2004 11:55 PM
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I took a quick look at the ROM and I quickly found the clues, however they are in the wrong order and the last clue is replaced with a different one. It appears they anticipated people trying to hack the ROM! Also, this data is in the upper bank which would be tricky to access.
Here's what I found in the ROM: 01 0a 02 01 0b 01 03 01 0a 02 02 06 08 05 03 0a 07 07 05 05 07 01 04 04 06 03 0c 03 05 04 03 02 01 These correspond to the clues, but two are out of order and the last one 21-1 is not a real clue according to the solution. The real last clue is 47-5 which isn't present here. The fake 21-1 points to this page in the comic, where I guess the prominent word is "revenge"? http://www.atariage....&CurrentPage=23 Here's the solution page: http://www.yosemite-...quest/Earth.htm |
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NE146
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Posted Sun Jun 27, 2004 12:16 AM
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Paul Slocum said: I took a quick look at the ROM and I quickly found the clues, however they are in the wrong order and the last clue is replaced with a different one. It appears they anticipated people trying to hack the ROM! Very very interesting! Makes sense though when you think about it... |
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nester
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Posted Sun Jun 27, 2004 12:56 AM
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Well I'm sure the Swordquest games are easier than Haunted House! I still don't understand that game. You just push the button and your body disapears. That's about all I can figure.
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StanJr
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Posted Sun Jun 27, 2004 8:17 PM
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Haunted House, your body disappears? You are nothing more than a set of eyes, you press the button and the match light surrounds your eyes to guide you around the mansion.
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nester
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Posted Sun Jun 27, 2004 8:22 PM
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Well I know you don't really have a body but I couldn't think of what to call it. I guess I should have said aura. Also, I guess I had it backwards but that still doesn't mean I understand it.
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Doc Sigma
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Posted Sun Jun 27, 2004 8:30 PM
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NE146 said: Forget about it.. there's no way as far as I'm concerned that those things could be figured out on their own. Kind of reminds me I had a suggestion a while back to holding a "live" Swordquest event. Just get a set of office cubicles. Then just get a bunch of random items (like a watermelon or baseball) and scatter them around the various cubicle tables. Then you just get some contestant to walk around and see if he can figure out what items to put on what table using an old Batman comic book as a guide and it will be just like Swordquest! Of course there would be other details like having to solve some puzzle or task (crossword puzzle, hopscotch, whatever) before the guy can enter a room to get the chance to put his items in the cubicle. And maybe some cubicles would be blocked or unblocked depending on the item placement. But hey, it'd work right? You'd also have to solve a ridiculous physical challenge just to be allowed to move to the next cubicle. (Or, if emulating SQ:WW, you could move to the next cube but the stapler/underpants/hairspray/whatever would be missing.) |
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NE146
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Posted Sun Jun 27, 2004 9:54 PM
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Doc Sigma said: You'd also have to solve a ridiculous physical challenge just to be allowed to move to the next cubicle. Well.. I did suggest Hopscotch  But yeah maybe to truly emulate SQ it'd have to be much more inane.. maybe 50 pushups?
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Doc Sigma
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Posted Sun Jun 27, 2004 11:11 PM
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Yes! 120 pullups, and if you "mess up" on one of them you have to do them over again. And you have a limited amount of time, say, 8 seconds. And fat bald men who scream "OH NANCY NANCY NANCY" are tied to your legs.
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Big Player
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Posted Mon Jun 28, 2004 7:40 AM
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nester said: Well I'm sure the Swordquest games are easier than Haunted House! I still don't understand that game. You just push the button and your body disapears. That's about all I can figure. Reading the instructions can help. http://www.atariage....wareLabelID=233 |
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meatlog
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Posted Mon Jun 28, 2004 8:26 AM
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So, does anyone know what Steven Bell is up to these days? The two contest pictures of him that I could find are interesting, and I wonder if any information on the guy is available other than what was available around the time of the Earthworld contest and the Rideout interview.
Look at that mustache. His overall appearance sums up everything I remember about the design of the Atari 2600's peripherals and literature, even better than mugshots of Larry Kaplan. Anyone got a yearbook picture of this guy or something? I tried looking for information in that part of Michigan, but didn't come up with anything. |
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Cootster
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Posted Mon Jun 28, 2004 9:49 AM
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Yes, I wonder if Bell would tell us his secret. Did he hack it or figure it out because he caught on to the material that inspired the programmers as the FW winner did?
I vote for the latter, because although 6502 assembly was common knowledge for C64/Apple ][/Atari 8-bit aficionados, the 2600 itself was still an arcane platform. I have no doubt that Paul, a highly skilled 2600 programmer, can eventually find it, but someone w/o intimate knowledge of the system, its limitations, and the ways one works around them could not. Also, now, we have the solution, and so know what we are looking for. Someone then may have stopped and not dug past the red herrings. |
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