Solutions to the Dragonstar Trilogy
These games were written by Fergus McNeill, later to become famous
(and infamous) for his spoofs of, amongst others, Tolkien. Don't expect
the same level of quality, or humour, here though.
The entire trilogy gives me the impression of being not so much three
games, as three related settings for a roleplaying campaign. They're
sparse, inflexible, and lacking in any real gameplaying interest. In
several places there is an opportunity to get involved in combat,
sometimes randomised, sometimes points-based, sometimes not; but this
is never actually required (not even in the first game, where this
walkthrough does get you to kill the dragon - had I taken another,
longer route, even that could have been avoided).
Part 1 is grid-based, massive, but empty; parts 2 and 3 are smaller,
but still devoid of things to do, unless you count the aforementioned
combat, or the odd boat you can climb (yes, climb). Clearly, Fergus was
still learning how to write an adventure game; these were probably his
very first published games. Luckily, he later did learn.
-- Richard Bos, September 2014
Part 1
s 5 times, e 3, s, e, s 3, e 3, s, w 2, s, e 2, s, w.
take key. w 2, n, w, d 2, n. take shield.
w, n, u, n, e 6, n 2, e 6, n, e, s 2, e, d, s.
hit dragon. e. take princess. w, n, u, n 2, w, s, w 3.
Yes, that really is all there is to it. Well, you can kill two more
monsters and eat some food; there are no more puzzles.
Part 2
South twice, east, take rope, west, north, east, throw rope, climb up.
East, take axe, south, dig, down, south, west, north, take key.
South, east, north, up twice, north, west, climb down, west, north.
Drop key.
In contrast to part 1, there _is_ more to this part, but nothing that is
necessary. As far as I can tell, this is the shortest solution, but not
quite the lowest scoring one.
Part 3
Unlike parts 1 and 2, which were written in the Quill, this one was
hand-made in Basic. This doesn't improve matters. Input is slow, and
command recognition is very exacting.
s 4, w 2, s, hit cliff, e, s, e, take crystal, w, s 2, drop crystal.
Here, too, there is a bit more to do, but nothing relevant.
