Kyrandia (Major BBS)
Encyclopedia
Kyrandia is an adventure
/role-playing game or MUD
for Major BBS
and Worldgroup BBS
software. It was among the earliest games developed for that system.
in games such as Fazuul
and Quest for Magic
.
of magic
and dragons. The player is tasked with becoming the "Arch-Mage of Legends", a goal achieved by exploring the environment, interacting with it and with other players, and casting spells to increase the player's level and abilities.
s and in games like Zork
. Items can be carried, manipulated and dropped, and players can interact with other players logged into the game.
Whilst the game works very well for social interaction and offers a fairly good degree of immersion for the genre, the required steps to complete the game are contrived. The puzzles are, for the most part, solved by performing unique (and sometimes obscure) actions in particular locations. The puzzles are logically inconsistent.
For example, to progress from level two to level three, the player must stand in a specific location and enter the command, chant glory be to tashanna. Nothing in the game leads the player towards this action. Towards the end of the game the actions required to progress are substantially more difficult, often requiring copy and paste techniques to enter the commands quickly enough to avoid being killed.
Other elements of the game are very repetitive and time-consuming. For example, to generate magic scrolls (some of which are required to progress through the game), the player must carry pine cones from a tree and throw them into a fountain
a short distance away. For every three pine cones, a random scroll appears within the forest. Due to the maze-like structure of the forest, locating the scrolls can be difficult, and getting the specific scrolls needed to progress can take a very long time.
When the first player managed to complete the game and become Arch-Mage, the sysop
was notified of this feat and had the opportunity to offer a prize to the lucky player.
Despite its flaws the game is atmospheric, fun to play with multiple players, and offers a reasonable sense of satisfaction from progression. Playing to win undoubtedly requires a walkthrough
guide, however.
, waterfalls, caves and clearings.
Navigating the forest can be very tricky due to the similarity between locations. This is complicated further by the fact that movement out of the rectangular forest boundary causes the player to be moved to a random located within the forest. Playing without a map is not advised.
Various objects can be located within the game, mostly gemstone
s. The different types of stone, in ascending order of value as allocated by the game, are the garnet
, pearl
, aquamarine, amethyst
, opal
, sapphire
, bloodstone
, ruby
, emerald
, onyx
, diamond
and moonstone. These may be sold to the gem cutter in the village for gold, and are also needed to solve several of the level progressions within the game.
As further progress is made, the player eventually gets to travel to a golden forest, and finally to a castle
inside which a vicious dragon resides. The game is completed within this final area by entering a tortuous series of commands inside various castle locations, allowing the player to ascend to the final goal of becoming Arch-Mage.
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
/role-playing game or MUD
MUD
A MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
for Major BBS
Major BBS
The Major BBS was bulletin board software developed between 1986 and 1999 by Galacticomm. In 1995 it was renamed Worldgroup Server and bundled with a user client interface program named Worldgroup Manager for Microsoft Windows...
and Worldgroup BBS
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
software. It was among the earliest games developed for that system.
History
Kyrandia was originally programmed by Scott Brinker and Richard Skurnick in March-June 1988, and is based on the multi-player interactive game concepts originated by Tim StrykerTim Stryker
Timothy J. Stryker, better known as Tim Stryker or Stryker to friends was a computer programmer, best known as the creator of MajorBBS, a computer bulletin board software package.- Education :...
in games such as Fazuul
Fazuul
Fazuul is a text-based multi-player online interactive adventure game available as an add-on to The Major BBS and Worldgroup.-History:Fazuul was written in 1984 by Tim Stryker, who would later found Galacticomm...
and Quest for Magic
Quest for Magic
Quest for Magic is an adventure/role-playing game or MUD for Major BBS and Worldgroup BBS software. It was among the earliest games developed for that system.-History:...
.
Story
The game is set in a classic fantasy worldFantasy world
A fantasy world is a fictional universe used in fantasy novels and games. Typical worlds involve magic or magical abilities and often, but not always, either a medieval or futuristic theme...
of magic
Magic (fantasy)
Magic in fiction is the endowing of fictional characters or objects with magical powers.Such magic often serves as a plot device, the source of magical artifacts and their quests...
and dragons. The player is tasked with becoming the "Arch-Mage of Legends", a goal achieved by exploring the environment, interacting with it and with other players, and casting spells to increase the player's level and abilities.
Gameplay
Kyrandia uses a command line interface and command set similar to those seen in MUDMUD
A MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
s and in games like Zork
Zork
Zork was one of the first interactive fiction computer games and an early descendant of Colossal Cave Adventure. The first version of Zork was written in 1977–1979 on a DEC PDP-10 computer by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling, and implemented in the MDL programming language...
. Items can be carried, manipulated and dropped, and players can interact with other players logged into the game.
Whilst the game works very well for social interaction and offers a fairly good degree of immersion for the genre, the required steps to complete the game are contrived. The puzzles are, for the most part, solved by performing unique (and sometimes obscure) actions in particular locations. The puzzles are logically inconsistent.
For example, to progress from level two to level three, the player must stand in a specific location and enter the command, chant glory be to tashanna. Nothing in the game leads the player towards this action. Towards the end of the game the actions required to progress are substantially more difficult, often requiring copy and paste techniques to enter the commands quickly enough to avoid being killed.
Other elements of the game are very repetitive and time-consuming. For example, to generate magic scrolls (some of which are required to progress through the game), the player must carry pine cones from a tree and throw them into a fountain
Fountain
A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....
a short distance away. For every three pine cones, a random scroll appears within the forest. Due to the maze-like structure of the forest, locating the scrolls can be difficult, and getting the specific scrolls needed to progress can take a very long time.
When the first player managed to complete the game and become Arch-Mage, the sysop
SysOp
A sysop is an administrator of a multi-user computer system, such as a bulletin board system or an online service virtual community. It may also be used to refer to administrators of other Internet-based network services....
was notified of this feat and had the opportunity to offer a prize to the lucky player.
Despite its flaws the game is atmospheric, fun to play with multiple players, and offers a reasonable sense of satisfaction from progression. Playing to win undoubtedly requires a walkthrough
Walkthrough
A walkthrough may refer to one of the following topics:* Strategy guide* Software walkthrough* Tutoring* Rehearsal* Audit* Virtual tour-See also:* Classroom walkthrough* Cognitive walkthrough* List of gaming topics...
guide, however.
Environment
The game begins with the player standing beside a mystical willow tree, on a road winding through the forest. Following the road leads to a small village located centrally in the main game map. Surrounding this area are approximately 150 forest locations forming a rectangular shape. Many of these locations are indistinct, offering no identifying factors at all. Other locations do provide some welcome landmarks, including a fountainFountain
A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....
, waterfalls, caves and clearings.
Navigating the forest can be very tricky due to the similarity between locations. This is complicated further by the fact that movement out of the rectangular forest boundary causes the player to be moved to a random located within the forest. Playing without a map is not advised.
Various objects can be located within the game, mostly gemstone
Gemstone
A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...
s. The different types of stone, in ascending order of value as allocated by the game, are the garnet
Garnet
The garnet group includes a group of minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. The name "garnet" may come from either the Middle English word gernet meaning 'dark red', or the Latin granatus , possibly a reference to the Punica granatum , a plant with red seeds...
, pearl
Pearl
A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is made up of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other...
, aquamarine, amethyst
Amethyst
Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz often used in jewelry. The name comes from the Ancient Greek ἀ a- and μέθυστος methustos , a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness; the ancient Greeks and Romans wore amethyst and made drinking vessels of it in the belief...
, opal
Opal
Opal is an amorphous form of silica related to quartz, a mineraloid form, not a mineral. 3% to 21% of the total weight is water, but the content is usually between 6% to 10%. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most...
, sapphire
Sapphire
Sapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide , when it is a color other than red or dark pink; in which case the gem would instead be called a ruby, considered to be a different gemstone. Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, or chromium can give...
, bloodstone
Heliotrope (mineral)
The mineral heliotrope, also known as bloodstone, is a form of chalcedony . The "classic" bloodstone is green chalcedony with red inclusions of iron oxide or red jasper...
, ruby
Ruby
A ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum . The red color is caused mainly by the presence of the element chromium. Its name comes from ruber, Latin for red. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires...
, emerald
Emerald
Emerald is a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5–8 on the 10 point Mohs scale of mineral hardness...
, onyx
Onyx
Onyx is a banded variety of chalcedony. The colors of its bands range from white to almost every color . Commonly, specimens of onyx contain bands of black and/or white.-Etymology:...
, diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
and moonstone. These may be sold to the gem cutter in the village for gold, and are also needed to solve several of the level progressions within the game.
As further progress is made, the player eventually gets to travel to a golden forest, and finally to a castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
inside which a vicious dragon resides. The game is completed within this final area by entering a tortuous series of commands inside various castle locations, allowing the player to ascend to the final goal of becoming Arch-Mage.
External links
- Discussion of how Kyrandia appears to have inspired elements of The Legend of KyrandiaThe Legend of KyrandiaThe Legend of Kyrandia is a fantasy point-and-click adventure game trilogy with comedy elements, created by Westwood Studios, and released for DOS, Amiga, FM Towns and Apple Macintosh...
- Rick Gush, designer of The Legend of KyrandiaThe Legend of KyrandiaThe Legend of Kyrandia is a fantasy point-and-click adventure game trilogy with comedy elements, created by Westwood Studios, and released for DOS, Amiga, FM Towns and Apple Macintosh...
, comments on the connection between the names of the two games - Information and the Elwynor BBS
- Kyrandia maps and walkthrough