Avatar (1979 video game)
Avatar is a text-based & graphics-based multi-user highly interactive role-playing computer game, created on the Control Data Corporation PLATO computer system. It has graphics for navigating through a dungeon, and text for player status and communication with others. It can be played online via Cyber1 or the NovaNET system. What makes this game popular is the high level of interactivity with other players and the sense of community that develops. Development on Avatar began on the PLATO system around 1977; the first version was released by Bruce Maggs, Dave Sides, and Andrew Shapira in 1979.
Basic gameplay
The user interface includes icons of monsters; statistic displays; information about the character's status; the status of the current encounter; and items being carried, worn, and used. Maps show the character's current direction. The player starts the game by choosing a character, which involves choosing a race, gender, guild, weapons, and general abilities.
The movement keys in Avatar are a, w, d, and x for turn left, go forward, turn right, and turn around respectively. W (shift-w) will both go forward and go through a door (if there is one). Shifted versions of the "turning" keys (A, D, and X) will turn and move 1 step in that direction, also going through doors. f is used to fight, and s for spells. It often takes three or more hits to kill a monster. It takes from two to five seconds for a turn to finish. The O key is used to open boxes. Pressing a number key invokes the spell, potion, or scroll loaded there.
Gold is used as a currency to buy items and weapons in stores located in the city. Gold can be banked or carried.
The only way a player can harm another is to cast a spell from the back of a party and damage players in front of him.
There are several types of terrain in the dungeon. Rotators turn the character around to a random direction. TP squares teleport characters to specific or random places. Anti-magic rooms make spells and magic items ineffective, and some rooms render their occupants blind. There is also water, which the character can drown in if too much time is spent. There is quicksand, which can rob a character of items. In addition, there is an unusual type of square that shows a false image of the dungeon in front of the character, which can be quite disorienting.
Mainly because of these dangers, Avatar players have made maps, marking locations of walls and doors, and different terrain types, so as to not get lost the next time they venture to that part of the dungeon. Mapping is rather important, as getting lost can be a very bad thing -- dying while lost on a lower level, for example, does not make it easy for other players to rescue you. There is even a Web site with these maps online at http://avatar.mikomi.org/about.html .
Quests
Players who join a guild can be "quested," helping them to achieve higher levels and to use better items, spells, etc. One can be quested for items, to kill monsters, or for gold. Finding a monster for a quest can be simple or very difficult; a common request of other players is to, for example, "S/R Golem": the sender asks that someone who has found a Golem save and report it so that a quested character can come and kill it, satisfying his quest. Asking for items is usually seen as begging and beneath the dignity of serious players, but asking for an item to satisfy a quest is acceptable, and it is considered noble to offer such an item. As a character rises in a guild the items and monsters quested become more difficult and costly. Eventually, one may need help to satisfy a quest, and this leads to the most remarkable feature of Avatar: teams and cooperative play.
Death
There are several ways to die in Avatar, including being injured by a monster, being poisoned, suffering from a spell, being turned into stone (think Medusa) and teleporting into solid rock. Monsters can poison, paralyze, blind, and attack characters. When a character dies, it can be resurrected by another character, either in the dungeon or at the city. Potions and items can be used to aid in this task, but all resurrections cost a character age and stats.
In the early 90s, there was a version of Avatar where if the character died (he/she) was sent to an afterlife. In this version each level had its own afterlife and a portal somewhere within it that would send a character back to the city steps if (he/she) managed to survive all the undead creatures that lived there. The level one afterlife was called Purgatory and the level fifteen one was called Hades. Warlocks were able to cast a spell called "Silverline" that could transfer characters to and from each Afterlife.
Character Parties
An important aspect of Avatar is developing a group of other players one can count on to help out. Whether for a quest, more gold or experience, or just the thrill of killing monsters you would never see otherwise, joining parties is the height of Avatar.
Parties of characters can be created by "tracking" a leader. All the characters in the party follow their selected leader wherever they travel. A party composed of Ninja, Seeker, Healer, and Sorcerer characters can successfully fight almost any monster, open almost any box, and heal its members after combat. Monsters that are immune to weapons can be overcome with spells. Other combinations can be more successful depending on the situation. Parties also allow beginners to tag along with more experienced players, sharing experience and treasure. Some objectives are impossible for a single player, making parties required. Level 15 of the dungeon is unsafe for all but a few characters when alone, and even they might be overcome by the most powerful monsters.