Suggested Improvements for this Awesome Game

[timws]

I know this game is 37 years old and by today's standards a relic, but it may be the most challenging, brilliant dungeon crawl ever created. As much as I love this game (first played it way back in 1988 on Amiga 500) there are numerous improvements to the game which would greatly enhance it, such as:

(1) Revealing more item statistics and special properties of items when viewing it instead of just the weight.

(2) An auto-map feature akin to Bard's Tale, as every level is the same, not in layout but in graphical detail and color, so it is very difficult to identify
which level one is on.

(3) Improving the effectiveness of weapons like Maces, which don't seem to inflict much if any damage and ranged ones where it is a painstaking
process having to pickup each one after every launch\throw.

I know there are games similar now which have these features such as Grimrock, but I still think Dungeon Master is unsurpassed in its execution and real-time combat. The level with the materializers and Armoured Knights was especially difficult too as you had to change weapons on the fly. Finally, better graphic and sound effects for the Dragon, it just looked like a large lizard and had the same attack sound as the Pain Rat!

[Ameena]

I dunno, the lack of info on some stuff is kind of what adds to the mystery. It also gives people stuff to try and work out if they are so inclined, as clearly plenty of people are as you can see from the various in-depth conversations in this very forum where people have tried to work out exact stats for things and see which item is better and such.
For the level appearance, in DM I don't think it's too hard to figure out where you are, because the dungon is linear so all you need to do is keep track of which stairs/pits you've been using. In CSB being lost and confused is kind of the point,and once you've got the hang of the layout the various areas are fairly small and also recogniseable (eg "No Fireballs", the DDD, etc) once you've been there a few times to, well, recognise them when they come up again .
I wouldn't want new graphics on the Dragon (or anything else) because at this point, that's what it looks like so that's what it is and it wouldn't be that any more if you tried to change it. What does a dragon need wings for anyway, at the bottom of a dungeon with stairways to narrow for him to apparently climb up?

[Gambit37]

All these things can be done In the DSB version of DM if you have the time, ability and inclination.

[Ian Clark]

Just a few I can think of, some of which are corrected errors or have since been implemented in DM2 or clones:

- fix the compass as in some versions of the game, east and west are reversed
- move some of the riddle room items to the Treasure Stores level so that the player has to visit there
- give the solid key to a Giggler in the arena, meaning it can appear anywhere on the level rather than just being stuck in one place
- something a bit less confusing than the "Clockwise" puzzle
- fix the "Enlarge My View" puzzle so that the magnifying glass must be used
- the Firestaff could be a bit more guarded. It's too easy to run away from the Stone Golems either side of it
- a quiver for arrows
- the ability to place items directly into the inventory without having to right-click first
- the dragon carries the square key so must be killed to obtain it
- swap the Oitus and Scorpions. The latter are more difficult and would make the Knight level truly terrifying for first time players
- some sort of container for keys would be nice

[ChristopheF]

fix the compass as in some versions of the game, east and west are reversed

I never noticed that. Do you know which version(s) have this bug ?

[Ameena]

I always thought the compass pointed the wrong way too, because it points east when you're facing west, and vice-versa...until someone somewhere on the forum pointed out that compasses don't point east or west, they point north. So the compass pointing leftwards when you're facing east makes sense, because that's where north is .

[terkio]

The marine compass and the land compass are two different instruments. Their purpose is the same, but they do not work the same.

[Ian Clark]

fix the compass as in some versions of the game, east and west are reversed

I never noticed that. Do you know which version(s) have this bug ?

I'm not sure but I definitely remember a version whereby north and south were fine but if you were facing east or west, the arrow and the compass description would show the opposite of the direction you were actually facing.

I agree with Ameena's comments but that should only affect the arrow, not the description. The compass was also "fixed" for DM2.

There is a whole topic on this forum viewtopic.php?t=29564

[ChristopheF]

I did not remember that topic. Its conclusion was that there was no bug, and that only my item list was wrong (and then fixed).