View source for Dungeons of Daggorath

{{Short description|1982 real-time first-person dungeon game for the TRS-80 Color Computer}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Dungeons of Daggorath
| developer = DynaMicro
| publisher = Tandy Corporation
| platforms = TRS-80 Color Computer; Dragon 32 and 64
| released = 1982
| genre = Role-playing, dungeon crawl
| modes = Single-player
}}
'''''Dungeons of Daggorath''''' is a first-person dungeon game for the Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer, written by DynaMicro and sold on an 8 KB cartridge by Tandy's Radio Shack stores. The game dates itself to 1982 on its title screen, though its manual is dated 1983.{{efn|The cartridge's copyright notice reads 1982 and the Tandy manual is dated 1983. Some references use one year and some the other.}} The player explores five levels of a dungeon in real time, with the walls drawn as lines in perspective, and types commands on the keyboard. Health is shown as a heartbeat.<ref name="manual">{{cite book |title=Dungeons of Daggorath |publisher=Tandy Corporation |year=1983 |url=https://archive.org/details/Dungeons_of_Daggorath_1983_Tandy}}</ref> A 2022 memo of [[Molecular Reality Corporation]] lists it, spelled "Daggaroth", among the inspirations for the planned game ''[[Labyrinth of the Dragon Tyrant]]''.

== Gameplay ==
Play starts at the top level with a few items and leads down toward the fifth level, where a wizard waits. On screen, the corridor ahead is drawn in line perspective, with doors, stairs and monsters in outline. A torch lights the way and burns down, so the picture grows dimmer unless the player finds another. Time does not stop while the player thinks: monsters move whether or not the player types.

Commands are typed as short phrases of a verb and a noun, such as "GET LEFT SHIELD" or "USE RIGHT". Each word can be abbreviated to its first letter or two, so the same commands can be entered as "G L SH" and "U R". The player has a left and a right hand, and an item in each.<ref name="manual" />

== Heartbeat ==
The game shows no number for health. It plays the player's heartbeat, which beats faster when the character fights, runs or is hurt and slows when the character rests. A heart that beats too fast tires the character, and a character pushed past the limit faints and is open to attack.<ref name="manual" /> The manual has a section titled "Your Heartbeat".

== Release and later history ==
The game was one of the best-known programs for the Color Computer, and a version also appeared for the Dragon 32 and 64 computers sold in Britain. Tandy issued a sequel, ''Castle of Tharoggad'', in 1988 without the original team, and it was poorly received. Around 2001 the author regained the copyright from Radio Shack and released the game under a license that allows free copying. Volunteers have since made versions for Windows, Linux and other systems from the source code.

== Influence on Labyrinth of the Dragon Tyrant ==
In the memo ''[[Early Releases on Maxine's Quest]]'', ''Labyrinth of the Dragon Tyrant'' is "Inspired by: 2.5d-rogue-like, with 2d hints of Gauntlet, Ultima, and Pac-Man, and 3d hints of Bard's Tale and Dungeons of Daggaroth"{{sic}}.<ref name="early">{{cite web |title=Early Releases on Maxine's Quest |publisher=Molecular Reality Corporation |year=2022}}</ref> The memo prints the title as "Daggaroth", with an "a" where the game has an "o". ''[[The Bard's Tale (1985 video game)|The Bard's Tale]]'' is the other "3d hint", and it too shows its dungeons in first person. What the company took from either is not stated, and ''Labyrinth of the Dragon Tyrant'' had not been released by October 2026.

== See also ==
* [[Gauntlet (1985 video game)|Gauntlet]]
* [[Ultima (series)|Ultima]]
* [[Maxine's Quest]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:1982 video games]]
[[Category:TRS-80 Color Computer games]]
[[Category:Dungeon crawler video games]]
[[Category:Tandy Corporation games]]