ARROWBRIDGE I - QUEST FOR THE ORB

Arrowbridge began in 1987 on a Commodore 64 machine.  I was running a
small BBS in Sydney, Australia, and decided to write an on-line game for
Commodore 64 BBS's.  I was 18 years old and, at the time, I was in my
final year at school.  D&D adventure games such as the Ultima series
ruled my life and I decided to adapt the D&D concept to the BBS
world.

Arrowbridge was born.  It was very crude at this stage - there was no
actual map and players simply wandered around in the "fields" looking
for monsters to battle.  The game was written in Commodore 64 basic and
was totally text.  A land map was soon introduced and the game became an
instant hit on the BBS.  It was only months after this that I purchased
my first 386SX and began running the BBS on this machine.  With some
minor modifications, Arrowbridge moved quite nicely into the IBM PC
scene with the help of MS Quickbasic V4.5.

At this stage, I was undertaking an Electrical Engineering degree at
Sydney University, and was finding it very difficult to devote much time
to the game.  Finally, in 1991, the first version of Arrowbridge was
released to the public.  Since then, I have worked continually on the
game, molding it into what it is today.  The shell of the game is still
written in basic, but many of the critical routines have been written in
assembler or in C to increase the game speed.

The game is designed to be as realistic as possible without sacrificing
"playability".  Many events can take place and in no particular order.
For example, there are currently five quests for magical items which can
be completed at any time throughout the game.  Dragons lairs,
maidens/blacksmiths, priests, beggars, the evil wizard Zombre Bryan,
NPC's and much more can be encountered at any time in the game.  When
you add the tax collectors and assassins sent by other players, you get
a collections of events, which I believe, gives the game a truly unique
flavor for every player.  To make things more interesting, I have
designed elaborate dungeons which the players must explore before
advancing to the higher levels.  Some other games automatically advance
characters when a certain level of experience is reached - but why?  I
like the players working hard for their advancements.

The game has the ability to operate in an Inter-BBS mode.  This
currently features Top 100 player lists, assassins, messages, and
destructors.  I am planning more additions in the near future.

Most consider the game to be a serious challenge as many puzzles must be
solved and you must use your brain!  The game may be difficult, but I have
attempted to keep it simple by limiting the number of different objects that
can be carried and by having only four classes - Knight, Thief, Wizard and
Ranger.  I believe that giving the player too many items to arrange makes the
game unnecessarily complex.  The challenge is in the game scenario itself,
and not in the way in which the character dresses.

I am currently working on Arrowbridge V1.14 which will have several new
features including the quest for the Ring of Fire.  This is a very
powerful weapon and only obtainable to characters that have reached
level 15.  Without revealing too much, the creature from which the ring
must be obtained is perhaps the most feared throughout the land!  Have
fun one and all!  This version is due for release around the end of
August, 1995.

Additionally, I am in the process of planning Arrowbridge II, which I
hope to release in the near future.  This sequel will be set several
thousand years after Arrowbridge I, and will complement the existing
game rather than replace it.  Arrowbridge I has built up quite a
following and I trust that the sequel will bring many more hours of
pleasure to the adventuring community.

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