This program is a text-only game, originally developed under MSDOS. However, it's not just a simplistic port of a text based program; a conscious effort has been made to take advantage of the Macintosh's window system, and some features (such as cut-and-paste text editing and the movement compass) have been added to make it more convenient to use. See below for more details.
Please note, though, that the basic interface is still text-oriented. It is the belief of the author that there (currently) is no interface better suited for interactive fiction; there are some good games with graphic point-and-click interfaces (such as Uninvited), but these games have quite a different flavour than text based games such as Zork.
Contents:
1 What is Dunjin?
1.1 Scenario
1.2 How to play
2 Copyright, copying, registration
2.1 Getting a complete copy
2.2 How to register
2.3 Why register?
2.4 What happens if you don't register?
3 Installation
3.1 Contents of distribution archive
3.2 System requirements
3.3 Installing Dunjin
3.4 Starting Dunjin
4 Playing
4.1 The basics
4.1.1 Starting the program
4.1.2 Windows
4.1.3 Entering commands
4.1.3.1 What commands look like
4.1.3.2 "It"
4.1.3.3 The command line editor
4.2 Some Common Commands
4.2.1 Getting around the cave
4.2.1.1 Movement
4.2.1.2 "Look"
4.2.2 Objects
4.2.2.1 "Take", "drop"
4.2.2.2 "Inventory"
4.2.2.3 "Examine"
4.2.3 Creatures
4.2.4 Administrative commands
4.2.4.1 "Save", "restore", "restart"
4.2.4.2 "Brief", "Verbose"
4.2.4.3 "Score"
4.2.4.4 "Quit"
4.2.4.5 "Help"
4.3 What to do if stuck
4.3.1 Some general hints
4.3.1.1 Mapping
4.3.1.2 Mazes
4.3.1.3 Examine everything!
4.3.2 Asking the author
5 Some trivia - in Q&A form.
6 Acknowledgements
7 Disclaimers
1 What is Dunjin?
Dunjin (pronounced like "dungeon") is a text adventure game in the tradition of the classic ADVENT and Zork games. (The user interface should be familiar to anyone who has played Zork or another Infocom game). Like in these games, the program provides you with a "simulated universe" - a small world with its own laws and logic, which you can move about in and manipulate in various ways.
The game contains more than 180 different locations and several hundred objects.
1.1 Scenario
In your quest for the Holy Grail you have found an obscure reference to the forgotten kingdom of Dunjin. You've never heard of this kingdom before - however, you have heard of a famous tourist attraction, the Dungeons of Dunjin.
At the start of the game, you will find yourself in a forest, looking for the entrance to the Dungeon of Dunjin. Your objective is to enter and explore the Dungeon, ultimately to find the Holy Grail. Many obstacles will be in your way, and you'll have to face many dangers, all of which you'll have to overcome with your wit alone (and possibly some information and objects you'll pick up on your way).
1.2 How to play
Like in other adventure games, you play by giving commands to the program in (an approximation of) natural English. (In the Macintosh version, it is also possible to give the most common commands by clicking on buttons in the command palette, and to move around by clicking on the movement compass). Typical commands could be "take the sword", "examine it", "go to the north", "look inside the box". The program will describe your immediate surroundings, and the consequences of your actions.
Scattered throughout the dungeon are various objects which you may pick up and carry with you. Some of these are worthless, while others are valuable treasures and others have no intrinsic value but may prove useful as tools. One of the problems facing you is to find out which of the objects actually are useful, and how to use them.
You may also meet people, animals, monsters and supernatural beings inside the dungeon. Some of these are friendly while others are dangerous enemies.
The object of the game is to find the Holy Grail (don't worry if you've never seen one before - you'll know it when you find it) and bring it to the adventure office. On your way, you'll face many dangers - the grail is not only hidden, but also well guarded.
You will get points for overcoming the various obstacles. In addition, you will get a 10 point bonus for each treasure you bring to the office and hand over to the clerk (you'll have to find out for yourself how to do this).
The maximum score is 350. Don't despair if your score seems to be stuck far below that value - the game is large!
This means that if you like this program you are expected to register your copy by sending US $20 or the exchange equivalent to the author or his agent(s). Registered users are entitled to a certain amount of help from the author in case they get stuck. See below for details.
You're under no legal obligation to pay, just a moral one. I do want you to register, however. If you don't think that this program is worth $20, please don't use it, but give your copy away.
Whether you register or not, you are allowed to make as many copies as you like of this program, give it away to friends, upload it to BBS's and FTP sites, put it on readable network partitions, etc, provided the following conditions are met:
a) All the files mentioned in the "contents" list below must be distributed together, in the form of a Compact Pro archive file, or an archive file produced by a similar archiving program (you may re-pack the archive using another archive program, as long as none of the constituent files are modified or deleted from the archive).
b) None of the files may be modified in any way whatsoever. No file may be deleted from or added to the archive.
c) The program or documentation may not be sold or leased for profit without the prior written consent of the author. No fee of any kind may be charged for the distribution, with the single exception for a reasonable fee to cover the costs of the distribution.
2.1 Getting a complete copy
If you have received an incomplete copy of this program, for example one where the documentation file is missing, you may get the latest version of the complete distribution from the following sources:
Modem download or FidoNet FReq fromThe Coffee Club BBS (US phone # (301) 353-9315, FidoNet node 109/426.0)(Bark or Wazoo FReq using the magic name MACDUN)
Anonymous FTP from Leif.thep.lu.se [130.235.92.55].
When registering, you may order Dunjin on diskette by mail order from the author or his agent (see below under "How to register"). An extra $5 will be charged to cover copying costs.
2.2 How to register
To register as a Dunjin user, please send your full name and address (and email address if you have one) together with US $20 or the exchange equivalent in Scandinavian, German or British currency to
Especially American users are encouraged to use the latteraddress.
If you want a Dunjin disk, please add $5 to the above amount to cover the costs of copying and postage.
Your registration will be confirmed by mail (or email).
When sending money to the author's address, please use either an international money order or a cheque drawn on a Swedish bank. Swedish banks charge large fees for cashing foreign cheques, and don't accept non-Swedish personal cheques at all. Users in some European countries will probably find it most convenient to transfer the amount directly to the author's Postal Giro account, Stockholm 475 78 21-6. Sending cash by mail is convenient and cheap but may be dangerous (mail does get lost). Several users have done it, however.
Similar considerations apply when sending the registration fee to Jerry Andrews.
2.3 Why register?
Registering is a way of encouraging me, the author, to write more nice software for your enjoyment, and to fix any minor lingering bugs in Dunjin. If sufficiently many people register, I may even find the time to write a sequel...
Also, if and only if you register, you'll get the option of ask me for help if you get stuck on a problem. Requests for help from unregistered users (unless they are to report a genuine bug of the program) will in general not be answered. (See below for more details).
2.4 What happens if you don't register?
Apart from the fact that your conscience will haunt you forthe rest of your life, that all shareware authors will thinkbadly about you, and that some dark night you'll probably be eaten by a grue, nothing at all will happen.
You won't be sued. The police will not harass your family. Your computer won't be confiscated by the Secret Service, nor will you be arrested, summarily sentenced and shot at daybreak. You won't even get any hate mail.
Also, you won't get any support. And if nobody registers, I probably won't find it worthwhile to write any more games. (And you wouldn't want that to happen, would you?)
So, what I write above just means that I have no way of forcing anyone to register, and NOT that I think it's OK not to register.
3 Installation
3.1 Contents of distribution archive
The distribution archive should contain the following files:
Dunjin Docs - this documentation file (in MS Word, MacWrite and plain text formats)
Dunjin - the application file
Dunjin Data
Dunjin Text
Dunjin Help - command summary (displayed when you type 'help' inside Dunjin)
3.2 System requirements
Not quite known, since I’ve only tested this program under system 7 on machines with rather much memory. It needs 733 kB of RAM.
3.3 Starting Dunjin
To start the Dunjin program, just double-click on the Dunjin application icon.
If the program crashes with an error message, it's probably because
a) It can't find one or more of the required files. Maybe you're in the wrong folder?
b) It's run out of memory.
If it still doesn't work, you may have found a genuime bug, or received a corrupted copy of the program.
4 Playing
4.1 The basics
4.1.1 Starting the program
To start the program, just double-click on the Dunjin application icon.
Note that all the data files must be present in the current directory so the program can find them.
4.1.2 Windows
Most interaction takes place through the text window (which is always visible). If you wish, you can
play the game just as you would play a text adventure on a text-only machine, using the text window for all input and output.
Macintosh users may find it more convenient to use the movement compass for moving around. To open the movement compass, select "movement compass" on the Options menu. Clicking on one of the directions is equivalent to typing the corresponding movement command.
There is also a command palette which will save you some typing by allowing you to enter some of the most common commands just by clicking on them. The command palette is also available from the Options menu. For people with small screens these commands are also available from the Game menu.
Please note that there is one non-standard feature of the user interface: everything you type will end up in the text window, even if you have selected one of the other windows (such as the movement compass). This is a feature (not a bug!) which was added for your convenience.
4.1.3 Entering commands
4.1.3.1 What commands look like
You enter commands in the form of simple English sentences. Usually, the simpler your command is, the better. The parser (the part of the program that tries to understand your commands) is not very smart, and may be confused by complicated sentences.
Most commands consist of a verb and a direct object, like "take the sword", "ring the bell", "examine the key". The definite article "the" may be safely omitted; you may thus say just "take key" instead of "take the key". Some verbs take two objects, like "unlock the door with the key", and others don't take any objects at all.
If there is there are, say, more than one key present, you'll have to use some adjective to distinguish between them, or the program will ask which key you mean.
Sometimes, the parser will not be able to figure out what you mean. In most cases, the program will then tell you that it didn't understand. In some exceptional cases, the program will misunderstand you completely.
In both these cases, the best advice for you is to reformulate your command in simpler terms, or possibly by using different words. A rather silly example would be if you wanted to unlock a door, and tried to do this by saying "Put the key in the keyhole", which the program doesn't understand. Instead, you should say simply "unlock the door with the key".
Note: case is not significant, i.e., you may mix UPPER and lower case LeTtERs at will.
4.1.3.2 "It"
The parser has some sense for the meaning of the word "it". Usually, this means the last object referenced to by you; for example, if you give the command "Take the letter", you may then say "read it" and the program will understand that by "it" you mean the letter.
Sometimes, the parser is confused, though, and thinks you mean something different than you actually meant. To avoid misunderstandings, the program will always tell you what it thought you meant, like 'By "it", I suppose you mean the letter'.
4.1.3.3 Editing your commands
While entering commands, you may use the standard Macintosh cut and paste commands, either from the Edit menu or as command-key sequences (listed in the Edit menu). Note that you can only edit the text you’re entering; the text written by the computer (e.g. room descriptions) can only be copied, not edited.
To simplify things even further, some commands are accessible from menus as well as from the keyboard. These are the commands for starting, ending, saving and restoring games (on the File menu) and the commands to switch between verbose and brief room descriptions (on the Options menu); see below.
4.2 Some Common Commands
Below is a summary of some of the more common commands understood by Dunjin. Note that this is just intended to get you started; Dunjin understands lots of other verbs - it's part of the game to find out exactly what it can do...
4.2.1 Getting around the cave
4.2.1.1 Movement
To move in any of the directions north, south, east, west, up or down, just type the direction in which you want to go. Directions may be abbreviated to the first letter, so typing either "north" or "n" will move you to the north.
Note that there is no way of moving in intermediate directions like northeast or southwest.
Usually, it will be obvious in which directions you may move. Note, however, that hidden doors are not uncommon in dungeons! Also note that cave passages may be long, twisting tunnels -the fact that you exited one room going north doesn't necessarily mean that you'll enter the next one from the south!
4.2.1.2 "Look"
Typing just "look" will give you a description of your immediate surroundings (the same as you got when you first entered that particular location). If you want to examine some specific thing, you may use "look" with an object, like "look at the key" and "look under the bed".
Since "look" is such a commonly used command, you may abbreviate it to just a single letter "l".
4.2.2 Objects
Inside the dungeon (and outside it too) are lots of different objects. Some of these are obviously valuable (like diamonds) or useful (like keys), while others are of more dubious utility and some are totally useless.
Some objects are lying in full view (maybe some careless adventurer has just dropped them on the ground), while others are hidden. You must always look carefully in all possible hiding places so you don't miss anything important.
4.2.2.1 "Take", "drop"
When you find an objects that you think you may need, you can pick it up. To take, say, a diamond, you type "take the diamond". You may use "get" as a synonym for "take". To drop the diamond again, type "drop diamond".
You may also give the commands "take all" (that will try to pick up all movable objects you can see) and "drop all" (which will of course drop all that you're carrying).
Note: You may not carry more than 18 different objects at any time.
4.2.2.2 "Inventory"
To see what you're carrying, type "inventory". This verb may be abbreviated as "invent" or just "i".
4.2.2.3 "Examine"
It is recommended that you take a closer look at the objects you find - things aren't always what they seem to be. You can do that by typing "look at the key", or "examine the key". The verb "examine" can be abbreviated as "x".
4.2.3 Creatures
In this game, you may meet other people, animals and even mythological beasts. You may want to talk to them with the "say" command, like "say hello".
Important: This is one of the instances where it's easy to fool the parser. The program won't understand you properly if you for example give the command "say hello to guard" -instead, you should just type "say hello" and let the program figure out to whom you're saying it (it will always be clear from the context, trust me).
4.2.4 Administrative commands
This section contains some "metacommands" that don't influence the game itself, but are useful for controlling the program.
4.2.4.1 "Save", "restore", "restart"
At any point in the game, you may save the current position to a file. This is done by the "save" command, or by selecting ”Save game” on the File menu.
You can then use the "restore" or "load” command (or the Restore game command on the File menu) to load the position from disk. Provided a saved position exists, everything will be restored to the state it was in when you saved the position.
This is of course very useful if you want to interrupt the game, witch off the computer and come back later (even though the game is fascinating, you may want to do things like eat, sleep, work or perform various bodily functions).
It is also recommended that you save your game before attempting something potentially dangerous, like go swimming in a river full of crocodiles. If you should fail (and, believe me, such things do happen in adventure games), you can always restore the game to the previous position. Whether this should be considered cheating is a matter of taste.
The command "restart" (”New game” on the File menu) is used to restart the game from the beginning, if things should go completely wrong.
4.2.4.2 "Brief", "Verbose"
The first time you enter a location, you will get a description of what you see. Normally, the program will assume that you'll remember this, so the next time you enter the same location, you'll only get a short message like "You're in the kitchen". To get the full description again, type "look".
If you prefer always to get the full description every time you move, you can tell the program your preferences by the command "verbose". The command "brief" will take you back to getting just short descriptions.
These commands can also be accessed from the Options menu.
4.2.4.3 "Score"
The command "score" will print out your current score. Note that this score will not include the bonus for any treasure you've found - to get the bonus, you must present the treasures at the adventure office (just outside the entrance).
4.2.4.4 "Quit"
The command "quit" is used to exit the program. You can also select ”Quit” on the File menu.
4.2.4.5 "Help"
This command gives you a short summary of the most common commands.
Note: unlike the MS-DOS version, the Macintosh version has no built-in hint facility.
4.3 What to do if stuck
This game contains some quite difficult puzzles. Sooner or later, you will come to a point where you feel that you're stuck and that you've exhausted your possibilities (if you're able to solve the game in one session, at least I wouldn't hesitate to call you a genius at adventure games).
In such a case, a some good advice is to let it rest. If you have some more exploring to do in another part of the cave, then do it - you may find a new angle of attack, or perhaps some useful object, or a way of circumventing the problem. Otherwise, it may be a good idea to call it a day and try again later - in my experience, you can only solve so many problems in a session.
4.3.1 Some general hints
4.3.1.1 Mapping
Generally, it's important to draw a map as you move about -cave passages are notoriously twisting, and some parts of the dungeon can be quite confusing! Often, but not always, it is possible to keep he map inside your head, as it were, but there's always a risk of missing something important that way!
4.3.1.2 Mazes
The dungeon contains some quite nasty mazes. If you should find yourself lost inside one, the number one rule is: Don't Panic!
To enable you to make a map of the maze, you should drop things on the floor. That will make it possible to tell the rooms apart.
4.3.1.3 Examine everything!
One very good piece of advice is that you should examine everything - things aren't always what they seem. Make it a rule to examine every object you find, however ordinary it may seem, and to look under furniture, behind curtains, etc.
4.3.2 Asking the author
As a last resort, registered users may ask the author for help. In that case, send a letter or an electronic mail message and state your problem.
Email is greatly preferred - if you must use ordinary mail, please enclose return postage or an international reply coupon. Phone calls are definitely not welcome.
Note that this service is available for registered users only.
5 Some trivia - in Q&A form.
Q: Why is it called Dunjin? Does it mean anything?
A: No, Dunjin doesn't mean anything in particular; it's sort of a pormanteau word formed from "dungeon" + "djinn".
Q: Is there a version for IBM PC compatibles? For Unix? For the Amiga, Atari, ZX 80, etc?
A: An MS-DOS version was released last year. I'm currently working on a 'C' port for Unix.
No other ports are currently planned.
Q: In what language is Dunjin written?
A: The MS-DOS version was written in Turbo Pascal 3.0, with some assembler routines thrown in for speed. The Macintosh port was done with the help of Think Pascal.
Q: Why on earth did you use that bagbiting language, and not C (or Basic, Ada, Lisp, Fortran, Modula,...)? And if you had to use Pascal, why not use a newer version?
A: Because when I started to write the program, TP 3.0 was the only compiler available to me. The alternative would have been to write it in GWBasic (yecch!). The program quickly grew so compiler-dependent that converting to a newer and better version would have meant rewriting a largish amount of code, which I was too lazy to do.
This doesn't mean that I wouldn't use a different language if I were to start from the beginning today - in fact, I'd definitely use an object-oriented language, probably C++.
Q: How many lines of source code is there?
A: Together with the support programs, more than 7000 lines.
Q: How can I get a copy of the source to play around with?
A: At the moment (August, 1993), you can't. The source may be released sometime in the future. Please contact the author for details.
Q: How long did it take to write Dunjin?
A: I first got inspired in 1984, when I found the source code of ADVENT on the ND-100 where I was doing some coursework at the time (unfortunately, the machine was too small to compile and run it). I thought a lot about writing my own adventure game, but didn't have access to any big enough machine (I wrote an extremely small one in 10K on my Acorn Atom).
I started writing Dunjin in early 1986, when I had bought a PC compatible. Most of the game was outlined a year later (version 2.1). Several friends playtested it and suggested lots of changes and additions. I got to the point of publishing then (thought it was only a matter of polishing off a few details), but didn't have the energy.
Dunjin was then lying dormant on a floppy for quite some time. Every now and then I would work a little on it, add a few features, remove a few bugs, and so on.
Then catastrophe struck: I accidentally deleted the clear text of the database - only the encoded version was left. Only several months later did I dare do anything about it. It proved surprisingly easy to reconstruct everything by decoding the data file.
In early 1990, version 3.0 was finished. I began toying with the idea of publishing it on Usenet, but first I needed to iron out all the bugs. This was done (I thought) in March 1991, when I asked some people to do a final, short beta test - or so I thought.
It quickly turned out that the program had lots of misfeatures, warts and outright bugs. The entire parser was rewritten from scratch in version 4.0. Lots of new problems were added, and old ones rewritten. Eight months, and several thousand lines of code, later, it was finally finished.
Q: Will there be any more adventure games from the same author?
A: Well, possibly. I've started thinking about another one, tentatively called WOMBAT (for Waste Of Money, Brains And Time), but I'm not quite certain when and how I'll find the time to write it.
Q: And, finally, who on Earth is Tom A. Crona? Am I supposed to know this guy?
A: Tom A. Crona is sort of an internal joke. You’re not supposed to get it, but I couldn’t resist throwing it in. The name is an anagram of "Acorn Atom" - a British, 6502 based hobby computer from the early eighties, which it was my pleasure to own in high school.
6 Acknowledgements
I'd like to thank the following people:
Fredrik Kilander,
Göran Sandberg,
Jerry Andrews,
Anssi Saari,
Staffan Skogvall
for their invaluable contributions to Dunjin. Without their criticism, suggestions and bug reports, Dunjin would have been a rather different (and much less interesting) game.
This Macintosh port would probably never have come to existence without the help of our local Macitnosh guru, Lars Gislén, who’s taken the time to explain much obscure Macintosh arcana.
The following test players have also provided valuable comments: Liz Jones, Anders Robertsson, Ashwin Hirschi, Duke McMullan, Gudmundir B. Josepsson, Sigurgeir Jónsson and Sixten Borg. Thanks to all of you!
Thanks also to Peter Forsberg for providing the first inspiration by making his ADVENT sources world readable on the old CAESAR system.
7 Disclaimers
Dunjin is believed to be a correct and well-behaved program. It has been tested and found to work on several different computers.
This program is delivered as is, without any warranty, expressed or implied. The author does not accept any responsibility whatsoever for any loss or damage caused by any intentional or unintentional use or misuse of this software.
All characters and events depicted in this game are entirely fictional. Any similarities with real people, places, names or events are entirely unintentional and coincidental.
No special measures have been taken to make this game politically, religiously or philosophically "correct". Small children and very sensitive and/or neurotic adults may conceivably take offense to some of its features. However, the game was written with the sole purpose of entertainment, and not to be offensive. The world depicted is a fairy tale world, and does not necessarily reflect the author's views of the real world. Actions and events happening in the game are _not_ meant to set any kind of example for actions in the real world.
