Question about Dungeon game on the PDP 30

OK; well, a first move (I want to encourage you to help yourself, because there's no enjoyment in playing a game merely by following someone else's list of moves) would be to create your OWN map of that maze (and, later, of some other maze-like structures one will encounter).

"You are in a maze of twisty-turney pbuttages, all alike".

So make them *different* from each other; as you walk into a new room (keeping track of the direction you used to reach it), *drop* some artefact that you're carrying (try not to drop anything particularly useful, like the sword, or the lamp:-). There are plenty of such artefacts available to you even so early in the game, such as the leaflet (from the mailbox), the newspaper (from the living room), the lunch (from the brown sack from the kitchen), etc.

By thus dropping things, you'll find that, when you re-enter a room that you've already visited, that the description will have changed: as well as the sentence quoted above will also say "There is a leaflet lying here". That way, you'll know that a certain route brings you back to that particular room: more usefully, you'll know to explore in a different direction next time, as you continue the mapping process.

Remember to try all ten possible directions from any room: n, ne, e, se, s, sw, w, nw, up, down.

Beware however, that you cannot spend too long mapping the dungeon; there's an awkward thief who wanders around, so you might find reports saying "In the distance you hear a voice saying 'My, what's this fine leaflet doing here'". After his depradations, you can't rely upon finding the artefacts1 where you left them (or at all, if they're valuable). So you'll probably want to save and restore the game a few times whilst mapping out the maze.

I'm interested to hear that you're still playing this game on a VAX; I myself first played it thereon. However, I've now got an OS-2 implementation of it, and am renewing my acquaintance with it on a PC instead.

Let me know when you get as far as the Cyclops, when you might need a hint as to how to deal with him. (Especially since this opens up a useful short-cut that you'll want to use later in the game.)

1 There are 15 rooms in the maze that are designated as indistinguish- able from each other, plus a "Dead-end", a "Below grate", and the Cyclops room. However, the first five (plus the dead-end) form one multiply- connected cluster; there are two other similar clusters, each with different exit points. Therefore, once you know the route through to room 5, you need not remap those first rooms again.

-- "Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte." Blaise Pascal,Lettres Provinciales-, 1657