Akalabeth

What is Akalabeth anyway?

Akalabeth is the very first Ultima. It was made by Richard Garriot in 1980 for Apple ][ and he sold it in zip lock bags. It has been referred to as Ultima 0. All die hard Ultima fans must take a look at it.

How do I play Akalabeth?

Boot the Akalabeth disk image in an Apple ][ emulator. Than, basically, you explore the Akalabeth, World of Doom and do quests for Lord British.

Here is what Malicious Dragon says:

Here's what I've found out about Akalabeth: Once it sets your stats, you start in a town. Press 'Q' to exit. Use:

<CR> for North

<- for west

-> for east

/ for south

In dungeons, those keys mean forward, left, right, and turn around, respectivly.

'A' to attack in dungeons. No combat outside of dungeons.

Food is consumed at 1 unit per step on the outside, and .1 unit per movement in dungeons. And I thought starvation was a problem in other Ultimas... sheesh.

'S' to check your current stats.

No savegame feature that I can see. Symbols that look like giant 'x's are dungeons, single boxes are trees, five linked boxes are towns (all with the same thing in them). I haven't found Lord British's castle yet (Archon Dragon: it exists, it's a big square, you get quests there). Everything of note that can be entered can be entered by pressing 'x'.

Climbing up and down ladders and dungeons can be accomplished by pressing x

There is no difference between Fighters and Mages, except that Mages have weaker combat abilities, but can use the mysterious Magic Amulet as a weapon. Items in dungeons can be picked up simply by walking on them.

It's amazing how much Questron dungeon sequences resemble Akalabeth dungeon sequences. Garriot really DID set the standard.

Can I play Akalabeth on other computers too ?

Finire Dragon replies:

Here is a new version (23-Nov-96) of Akalabeth for PC. New features: dungeon maps stay the same within one game, introduction text, some bad bugs ...

The new version (27-Oct-97): minor bug fixes.

I have also included a Quick-Basic (compiled) version along with the Qbasic. You don't need QuickBasic to run it, only a 8088 or better computer with a CGA or better graphics.

• aklabeth.bas (QBASIC source)
• aklabeth.exe (QBASIC compiled)

Here's some instructions:

• Walk with Cursor keys.
• A - Attack
• U - Use (same as A, but makes more sense when thinking of the Amulet)
• E or ENTER - Enter
• K - Klimb (same as E, but again makes more sense on Ladders...)
• I - Inventory
• Z - Ztats (same as Inventory)
• P - Pause on / off
• SPACE - Pass a turn
• Cursor down turns around in dungeons.
• Other than the Keyboard commands it is just like the Apple version.
• If you want to quit, let yourself be killed, then press CTRL-BREAK at the LUCKY NUMBER prompt. Or play it in a (OS/2, Linux "dosemu" or Windows "Prompt") DOS Box and use the Box's mechanism for quitting.

Thou shouldst send Bug Reports to me, ticmani@reze-1.rz.rwth-aachen.de

How can I win Akalabeth ?

Here is what Archon Dragon says:

The game really never ends, Lord British just tells you that you solved all quests to be a knight.

The greatest danger of dying is starvation, so I suggest playing a mage. Mages can teleport away by using a Magic Amulet when attacked by those food-stealing gremlins. It isn't that difficult to win if you take your time to build up a strong character (with huge amounts of food and a load of magic amulets) in the upper dungeon levels first. But it might be fun to play against others for time.

Last modified: Wed Aug 10 23:20:54 CEST 2005