Castle of the Winds
Encyclopedia
Castle of the Winds is a tile-based roguelike
computer game for Windows 3.x
. It was developed by SaadaSoft and published by Epic MegaGames
in 1989.
, and Lifthransir's Bane, sold commercially
. A combined license for both parts was also sold.
In 1998, the game's author, Rick Saada
, decided to distribute the entirety of Castle of the Winds free of charge.
As a 16 bit application, the program will not run natively under 64 bit versions of the Windows operating system.
-dependent, but supports keyboard shortcuts (such as 'g' to get an item). Castle of the Winds also allows the player to restore saved games after dying.
automatically gains a spell with each experience level
, and can permanently gain others using corresponding books, until all thirty spells available are learned. There are two opposing pairs of elements: cold vs. fire
and lightning
vs. acid
/poison
. Spells are divided into six categories: attack, defense, healing, movement, divination, and miscellaneous.
. Although items do not break with use, they may already be broken or rusted when found. Most objects that the character currently carries can be renamed.
's Champions" in the order of time taken, from fastest to slowest. If the player dies, they are still put on the list, but are categorized as "Dead", with their experience point total listed as at the final killing blow. The amount of time spent also determines the difficulty of the last boss.
gameplay, Castle of the Winds has a plot loosely based on Norse mythology
, told with setting changes, unique items, and occasional passages of text.
The player begins in a tiny hamlet
, near which he used to live. His farm
has been destroyed and his godparent
s killed. After clearing out an abandoned mine, the player finds a scrap of parchment that reveals the death of the player's godparents as having been ordered. The player then returns to the hamlet to find it pillaged, and decides to travel to Bjarnarhaven.
Once in Bjarnarhaven, the player explores the levels beneath a nearby fortress, eventually facing Hrungnir, the Hill Giant Lord, the one responsible for ordering the player's godparents death. Hrungnir carries the Enchanted Amulet of Kings. Upon activating the amulet, the player is informed of his past by his dead father, after which the player is transported to the town of Crossroads, and Part I ends. The game can be imported or started over in Part II.
The town of Crossroads is run by a Jarl who at first does not admit the player, but later (on up to three occasions) provides advice, money (first time, if the player rescues a farmer from the dungeons), and two enchanted items (each after a certain boss has been beaten). The player then enters the nearby ruined titular Castle of the Winds. There the player meets his deceased grandfather, who instructs him to venture into the dungeons below, defeat Surtur, and reclaim his birthright. Venturing deeper, the player encounters monsters run rampant, a desecrated crypt, a necromancer, and the installation of various special rooms for elementals. The player eventually meets and defeats the Wolf-Man leader, Bear-Man leader, the four Jotun kings, a Demon Lord, and finally Surtur. Upon defeating Surtur, the player seats themselves upon the throne, completing the game.
The map view is identical to the playing-field view, except for scaling to fit on one screen. A simplified map view is available to improve performance on slower computers. The latter functionality also presents a cleaner display, as the aforementioned scaling routine does not always work correctly.
Roguelike
The roguelike is a sub-genre of role-playing video games, characterized by randomization for replayability, permanent death, and turn-based movement. Most roguelikes feature ASCII graphics, with newer ones increasingly offering tile-based graphics. Games are typically dungeon crawls, with many...
computer game for Windows 3.x
Windows 3.1x
Windows 3.1x is a series of 16-bit operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers. The series began with Windows 3.1, which was first sold during March 1992 as a successor to Windows 3.0...
. It was developed by SaadaSoft and published by Epic MegaGames
Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., also known as Epic and formerly Epic MegaGames, is an American video game development company based in Cary, North Carolina. Its most recent success has been the Gears of War series of games, although it is also known for its Unreal Engine technology. It is the parent company of...
in 1989.
Release history
The game is composed of two parts: A Question of Vengeance, released as sharewareShareware
The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...
, and Lifthransir's Bane, sold commercially
Commercial software
Commercial software, or less commonly, payware, is computer software that is produced for sale or that serves commercial purposes.Commercial software is most often proprietary software, but free software packages may also be commercial software....
. A combined license for both parts was also sold.
In 1998, the game's author, Rick Saada
Rick Saada
Richard A. Saada is a game programmer, the author of Castle of the Winds. He is also one of the principals and software developers of Flying Lab Software, author of MMORPG Pirates of the Burning Sea.- External links :*...
, decided to distribute the entirety of Castle of the Winds free of charge.
As a 16 bit application, the program will not run natively under 64 bit versions of the Windows operating system.
Gameplay
The game differs from most roguelikes in a number of ways. Its interface is mouseMouse (computing)
In computing, a mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of an object held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons...
-dependent, but supports keyboard shortcuts (such as 'g' to get an item). Castle of the Winds also allows the player to restore saved games after dying.
Magic
The game favors the use of magic in combat, as spells are the only weapons that work from a distance. The player characterPlayer character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
automatically gains a spell with each experience level
Experience point
An experience point is a unit of measurement used in many role-playing games and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's progression through the game...
, and can permanently gain others using corresponding books, until all thirty spells available are learned. There are two opposing pairs of elements: cold vs. fire
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
and lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
vs. acid
Acid
An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...
/poison
Poison
In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
. Spells are divided into six categories: attack, defense, healing, movement, divination, and miscellaneous.
Items
Castle of the Winds possesses an inventory system that limits a player's load based on weight and bulk, rather than by number of items. It allows the character to use different containers, including packs, belts, chests, and bags. Other items include weapons, armor, protective clothing, purses, and ornamental jewellery. Almost every item in the game can be normal, cursed, or enchanted, with curses and enchantments working in a manner similar to NetHackNetHack
NetHack is a single-player roguelike video game originally released in 1987. It is a descendant of an earlier game called Hack , which is a descendant of Rogue...
. Although items do not break with use, they may already be broken or rusted when found. Most objects that the character currently carries can be renamed.
Time
The game tracks how much time has been spent playing the game. Although story events are not triggered by the passage of time, it does determine when merchants rotate their stock. Victorious players are listed as "ValhallaValhalla
In Norse mythology, Valhalla is a majestic, enormous hall located in Asgard, ruled over by the god Odin. Chosen by Odin, half of those that die in combat travel to Valhalla upon death, led by valkyries, while the other half go to the goddess Freyja's field Fólkvangr...
's Champions" in the order of time taken, from fastest to slowest. If the player dies, they are still put on the list, but are categorized as "Dead", with their experience point total listed as at the final killing blow. The amount of time spent also determines the difficulty of the last boss.
Plot
Although secondary to its hack and slashHack and slash
Hack and slash or hack and slay, abbreviated H&S or HnS, refers to a type of gameplay that emphasizes combat. "Hack and slash" was originally used to describe an aspect of pen-and-paper role-playing games , carrying over from there to MUDs, MMORPGs, and video games in general...
gameplay, Castle of the Winds has a plot loosely based on Norse mythology
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
, told with setting changes, unique items, and occasional passages of text.
The player begins in a tiny hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
, near which he used to live. His farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
has been destroyed and his godparent
Godparent
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
s killed. After clearing out an abandoned mine, the player finds a scrap of parchment that reveals the death of the player's godparents as having been ordered. The player then returns to the hamlet to find it pillaged, and decides to travel to Bjarnarhaven.
Once in Bjarnarhaven, the player explores the levels beneath a nearby fortress, eventually facing Hrungnir, the Hill Giant Lord, the one responsible for ordering the player's godparents death. Hrungnir carries the Enchanted Amulet of Kings. Upon activating the amulet, the player is informed of his past by his dead father, after which the player is transported to the town of Crossroads, and Part I ends. The game can be imported or started over in Part II.
The town of Crossroads is run by a Jarl who at first does not admit the player, but later (on up to three occasions) provides advice, money (first time, if the player rescues a farmer from the dungeons), and two enchanted items (each after a certain boss has been beaten). The player then enters the nearby ruined titular Castle of the Winds. There the player meets his deceased grandfather, who instructs him to venture into the dungeons below, defeat Surtur, and reclaim his birthright. Venturing deeper, the player encounters monsters run rampant, a desecrated crypt, a necromancer, and the installation of various special rooms for elementals. The player eventually meets and defeats the Wolf-Man leader, Bear-Man leader, the four Jotun kings, a Demon Lord, and finally Surtur. Upon defeating Surtur, the player seats themselves upon the throne, completing the game.
Graphics
All terrain tiles, some landscape features, all monsters and objects, and some spell/effect graphics take the form of Windows 3.1 icons. Multi-tile graphics, such as ball spells and town buildings, are bitmaps included in the executable file. No graphics use colors other than the Windows-standard 16-color palette, plus transparency. They exist in monochrome versions as well, meaning that the game will display well on monochrome monitors.The map view is identical to the playing-field view, except for scaling to fit on one screen. A simplified map view is available to improve performance on slower computers. The latter functionality also presents a cleaner display, as the aforementioned scaling routine does not always work correctly.
External links
- The Saada Homepage — the game's creator. A full-game download is available.
- The Temple of Odin, with downloads and information about the game.
- Castle of the Winds Forum, featuring a message board for remake projects. For whatever reasons, posts and members were cleared in November 2011.