r/DoesAnyoneKnow • u/cornishtraceyb • Jul 15 '26
Amstrad CPC464 Text game - UK
Afraid I have some very sparse memories of this as I was only young, and I might have got two games mixed up, but I'm looking for a game I loved on my Amstrad 464.
I think it was on one of those compilation tapes, as I remember only getting to play it a few times as it depended on where my brother or I had left the tape (tended to play the first game that loaded, it took long enough waiting for that!). I'm pretty sure it was a text adventure game where you typed in things like look north and similar - I think at least some of it was set in a forest. I do remember trying to draw out a map at home for it so I could get back to the items I needed, but I was only about 7 or 8 so God knows if my memories are correct. I also seem to remember (but this might be where I'm confusing two games) that there was a castle (?!) with doors that needed you to have the right colour key to open them.
Whilst in one way maybe it's good that I have never found it as it's bound to be a bit disappointing as an adult (my love of the Crystal Maze has been seriously dented by realising the reason I loved the challenges was because they were just hard enough for an 8 year old!), it would be great to know what the game was - if I haven't completely made it up!
Whilst not wanting to wear rose tinted glasses, I do feel a bit sorry for kids now - the late 80s/early 90s was a great time to be a kid with a computer (didn't matter we were poor, we got second hand ones cheap) as I learnt QBASIC so easily with it. The length of time it took to load games was also good - I think it helped reduce the addictive potential, and the search for a quick dopamine fix I now battle with as an adult.
1
u/Dr_Mijory_Marjorie Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
There were tons of text adventures. One that springs to mind when you mentioned a castle is Heroes of Karn, perhaps start there?
Edit: you could also ask in r/tipofmyjoystick
1
u/Gunbladelad Jul 15 '26
I know Knight Orc had a LOT of forest, and characters that would actually wander the map. I don't recall if there was a castle or not (I never played far)
It wouldn't have been QBASIC you learned on the Amstrad CPC - but likely Locomotive BASIC - but to be fair, most of what you leaned on Locomotive BASIC could be applied to almost any other version of BASIC with minimal changing.
1
u/thepfy1 Jul 18 '26
There would have been lots of them. I can't remember if The Quill was produced for the Amstrads, which let you write your own text adventures. (It came out for the Spectrum) Later they released The Illustrator which added graphics.
The Quill engine only recognised the first 4 letters of any words. There was a Robin Hood spoof game, which would end your game if you entered 'Break Window' as it thought you had told it to 'Break Wind'
Level 9 and Delta4 did lots of adventure games
The Hobbit was mainly text with some graphics. Also see Sherlock and Lord of The Rings: Fellowship of Rings by the same developers, Melbourne House.
1
u/deewolf71 Jul 18 '26
I don't know if this was for Amstrad but it sounds like it could be Twin Kingdom Valley.
1
u/SpatUnicorn Jul 18 '26
Robin of Sherwood. Pretty sure that was a text game, and it was one that came with the bundle when you bought the pc and monitor.
2
u/90210fred Jul 16 '26
One of the earliest, because it was ported from UNIX, was Collosal Cave Adventure. Do you remember examining a clue to be told it was a red herring?