# Dungeon Master Java

## About

Dungeon Master Java is a remake of the classic game Dungeon Master by FTL/Software Heaven. It is not an exact clone, but retains most of the same gameplay. It is coded entirely in Java, and is therefore able to run on any platform supporting Java version 1.4 with an installed runtime environment (virtual machine). It is designed to run in 800x600 or greater desktop resolution with 16 bit high color or better. The editor should be run at 1024x768 or greater resolution.

## Running

Mac OSX:

- Double-click the "Dungeon Master Java" or "DMJ Editor" applications.

Windows:

- Double-click the "dmj.jar" or "editor.jar" executable jar files.

Linux:

- As Windows, or type "java -jar dmj.jar" or "java -jar editor.jar".

Note: these assume Java version 1.4.2 or later is installed.

## Background

The game is a sequel to Dungeon Master (DM) and Chaos Strikes Back (CSB), by FTL/Software Heaven. A brief summary of their story lines follows. You may wish to skip this part if you have not played these games. For more information, you can find their manuals online (see links below).

In Dungeon Master, a great wizard named the Grey Lord was searching for the Power Gem, a magical artifact that thawed the ice of creation and freed the races. He finds it, but makes a mistake when trying to obtain it with his Firestaff. As a result he was split into 2 pieces, 2 separate beings: Lord Order and Lord Chaos. The evil and insane Chaos sought to destroy the world. The Grey Lord's apprentice, Theron (the player), went into Mount Anaias to stop him. Theron had also been affected by the mistake, and no longer had a physical body. To stop Chaos, he had to use champions saved from imprisonment in mirrors. The champions went through the dungeon, obtained the Firestaff and joined it with the Power Gem. The resulting Staff had the power to put Chaos and Order back together. This was done by surrounding Chaos with Fluxcages and then Fusing him. Balance was thus restored to the world.

In Chaos Strikes Back, we learn the Chaos foresaw his defeat and put a plan into effect to return. He did this through the use of powerfully magical Corbum Ore mined from a Ful Ya Pit. He had gathered a separate army of demons and monsters in a secret dungeon to aid him. Yet his plans were again foiled, as the champions defeated him once again by destroying the 4 pieces of Ore before he was fully separated again.

This new quest takes place about 1000 years after the time of CSB. See the intro animation for the basic storyline. Be aware that the default included dungeon is very difficult! If you are new to DM, you may wish to try an easier dungeon first.

## Gameplay

Gameplay is much like the original games, and uses the mouse and keyboard. The following keys are used:

- Movement
  - '7' or 'q' -> turn left 90 degrees
  - '9' or 'e' -> turn right 90 degrees
  - '8' or 'w' -> move forward one square
  - '5' or 's' -> move back one square
  - '4' or 'a' -> sidestep left one square
  - '6' or 'd' -> sidestep right one square

- Function keys F1-F4 access champion inventories
- ESC pauses the game
- F9 brings up the option menu
- F5 quick save (overwrites last saved game, shows dialog if none exists yet)
- F7 quick load (loads last saved game, shows dialog if none exists yet)

The mouse is used for all other activities.

You can access your heroes' inventories using the mouse by clicking their portraits. On the inventory screen, in addition to items you can see current food/water levels along with health, stamina, and mana. Other statistics can be seen by clicking on the eye icon. If you have an item in your hand (the "player" hand), you can hold down the button over the eye icon to examine it. If it is edible or drinkable, you can click on the mouth icon with it in hand to consume it. In the upper right of the screen, the disk icon will pop up a dialog with game properties and options to save, load, start over, or quit the game. The zzz icon will cause the party to rest. A map icon will appear here if you have enabled the automap (off by default). Close the inventory view by either clicking the currently selected heroe's portrait again, or right click the mouse, or click on the X icon.

On the main dungeon view, you see a 3D first-person perspective of the current area, along with any items or monsters visible. You can click on items when beside them to pick them up. You can then put them in one of your hero's pack, hands, or even throw them by clicking in the air with them in hand. Switches are used by clicking on them when directly in front of them. Some switches (like keyholes) require the proper item be in the player hand. Movement is grid-based, with turns always 90 degrees. You can use the keys or the arrow icons in the lower right.

The party formation control in the upper right. You can use this to arrange your heroes in the party. This affects who can be reached by attacks, and which side of the squares spells and projectiles will fly down.

The current leader has his/her name shown in yellow. You can change the leader by clicking a different heroe's name above the portrait. It is the leader who will drink from fountains when clicked on, and who will throw items from the player hand. As a convenient shortcut, right-clicking the mouse anywhere in the dungeon view will switch to your current leader's inventory.

The spell panel is located below the formation control. It includes tabs at the top for each champion. The currently selected champion has his/her/its name displayed in the tab. Below the tabs are buttons with runes. These runes are composed in different combinations to form spells. Each rune has its own unique name. The first rune in a spell is for power, and ranges from LO (lowest) to MON (highest). Higher power spells cost more mana and are more difficult (require higher skill level) to cast. Not all combinations of runes make a spell. A starting spell list is given below that includes some of the spells in the game.

The weapon panel is below the spell panel. It shows the weapon hand of each champion. For the currently selected champion, the available functions of the item in hand are displayed (or the functions of the empty hand, if no item). Only weapons have functions, any other type of item will disable the controls for the champion. Functions are used by clicking them with the mouse. Most attack functions require that a monster be directly in front of the party. Some functions may have magical or other effects.

The weapon panel is also used to access and use champion special abilities. Simply right-click the panel to show available abilities for the selected champion. If there are too many, scrolling arrows will appear to cycle through the list. To use, simply click on the desired ability. Right click on the panel to return to weapons.

See these (slightly modified) instructions for the original Dungeon Master for more information.

## Editor

The editor is capable of building complete maps from scratch, modifying existing maps, and editing saved games. Documentation is available in html format.

## Spell List

Here is a list of spells to start the game with. There are some others but you will have to experiment or find scrolls in the dungeon to learn them.

- Priest
  - Health Potion - VI
  - Stamina Potion - YA
  - Mana Potion - ZO BRO RA
  - Antidote - VI BRO
  - Strength Potion - FUL BRO KU
  - Dexterity Potion - OH BRO ROS
  - Vitality Potion - OH BRO NETA
  - Intelligence Potion - OH BRO DAIN
  - Wisdom Potion - YA BRO NETA
  - Defense Potion - YA BRO
  - Magic Resist Potion - ZO BRO DAIN
  - Magic Vision - OH EW RA
- Wizard
  - Magic Torch - FUL
  - Open Some Doors - ZO
  - Dispell Non-Material - DES EW
  - Fireball - FUL IR
  - Poison Cloud - OH VEN
  - Poison Bolt - DES VEN
  - Lightning - OH KATH RA
  - Ven Bomb - ZO VEN
  - Plasma - ZO KATH RA

## Links

Dungeon Master Java Homepage - www.cs.pitt.edu/~alandale/dmjava

- News, latest version and further information

Dungeon Master Java Message Board - pub54.ezboard.com/bdungeonmasterjava

- Latest news, bug reports, questions, comments, etc.

Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back Encyclopedia - dmweb.free.fr

- Very complete site, with information and manuals for the original games and various clones, including DMJ

Alternative Graphics for Dungeon Master Java - http://www.germanja.de

- Many new graphics and some custom dungeon downloads. (The front page is in German, but the DMJ stuff is in English.)

Java Homepage - java.sun.com

- Sun's Java page, with free JREs and SDKs for Windows and Linux

## Changes

- v2.0.1
  - Editor now working on Tiger.

- v2.0
  - Adjustments and bug workarounds for Mac version.
  - Reorganized directory structure (less messy).
  - Repackaged into jar and application bundles.
  - Movement keys can now be specified in config file.
  - Added 2 buttons to editor for Square Locking and Square Editing.
  - Fullscreen support removed (too buggy).

## Compatability

This version is compatible with dungeons and saved games from 1.04 and 1.05, with one small caveat. The 3 subdirectories under the Heroes directory were renamed slightly. This could cause a dungeon or saved game using those portraits to not display them. To fix, load the dungeon/game in the editor and reassign the portrait.

## Finally

This game is freeware. Use at your own risk. It may redistributed, but only if free of any charge. No part of this may be used in any commercial product without permission.

It would be nice if people send me (or make publicly available online) any dungeons, items, monsters, or graphics they create for it. That way, I can have more fun with the game myself! I hope you enjoy it.

Alan Berfield
alandale@hotmail.com
September 22, 2005