Akalabeth FAQ(Apple IIe)
Version 1.0.0
by Andrew Schultz(schultza@earthlink.net)

Akalabeth is originally copyright 1977 Richard Garriott and California 
Pacific. 

Please do not distribute this document for profit without my permission. 
Note however that a poilte request, asking me by name, will probably 
result in permission to use this FAQ. It is part of my efforts to help 
preserve memories of Apple games that I feel are noteworthy.

****AD SPACE****

My page for other classic apple games is at: 
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762/games/games.htm 

****************

OVERVIEW

CHARACTERS

  CREATION

  WEAPONS

  IMPROVEMENT

MAPS

  INSIDE(WITH MAP KEY)

  OUTSIDE(WITH MAP KEY)

  MAP GRAPHICS

WALKTHROUGH

  OVERWORLD

  UNDERWORLD

  GETTING BETTER QUICK

VERSIONS/CREDITS

****************

OVERVIEW

    You must traverse the land of Akalabeth and go into dungeons to 
defeat monsters as ordered by Lord British.

CHARACTERS

  CREATION

    The terrain depends on the "lucky number" you choose(I used five 
throughout.)  If you die and play again, choosing the same number gives 
the same terrain.  Also, you will get the same character attributes for 
each successive roll.  The best quick option I've seen is to type 5, N, 
Y, especially since I have map number five below.  It's also worth 
noting that the median attribute is about 19, while the average is 18.

    Proof:  the code shows that Attribute = 21*square root(rnd(1))+4.  
Integral of x^.5 from 0 to 1 is (2/3)(x^1.5) from 0 to 1, or 2/3.  So 
the average is 21*2/3 + 4 = 18.  The median is 19 since 21*(.5^.5) is 
about 15.  Who said you'd never use calculus? :)

    I recommend the mage over the fighter, since the mage can control 
magic amulets.  They allow you to leave dungeons quickly if you've got 
the amulets, which is nice if you are low on food--gremlins, combined 
with getting lost, can be dangerous.  The amulet is also nice on lower 
levels since it does more damage the lower you go.

  WEAPONS

    Costs are in parentheses.
    Food(1 for 10 units):  not really a weapon, but very cheap at one 
gold per ten units.  Don't get caught without it or you'll die.  You 
lose .1 food for each dungeon move and 1 food for exiting/entering or 
moving a square in the outside world.
    Rapier(8):  damage 1-10, but only a fighter may use it.
    Axe(5):  damage 1-5
    Shield(6):  damage 1
    Bow(3):  damage 1-4
    Magic amulet(15):  casts 1)Ladder up, 2)Ladder down, 3)missile or 
4)bad??  Option 4 has equal probability of turning you into a toad(all 
stats 3), backfiring(lose half your hit points), or turning you into a 
lizard man(all stats +150%.)  If you are a fighter, you randomly cast 
one of 1-4, but a mage gets a choice.

  IMPROVEMENT

    You can gain hit points by beating monsters and leaving a dungeon.
    You can gain attributes by seeing Lord British before and after a 
quest.
    The wand can give you a chance for big statistical improvements, but 
one goof-up and you're back to all 3's.
    At first, just stay on the top levels and beat up easy monsters.  
Build up your food supply to get to the lower dungeons.

MAPS

  INSIDE(WITH MAP KEY)

--------
. = open square that cannot be changed
X = wall by default, can be changed
[space] = open space by default, can be changed, but you can still pass 
through it
^ = stairs up
v = stairs down
--------

Level 1:
***********
*^ .X.X.X.*
* . . . . *
*.X.X.X.X.*
* . . . . *
*.X.X.X.X.*
* .v. . . *
*.X.X.X.X.*
* . . . . *
*.X.X.X.X.*
***********

Level 2x:
***********
*^ .X.X.X.*
* . . .v. *
*.X.X.X.X.*
* . . . . *
*.X.X.X.X.*
* .^. . . *
*.X.X.X.X.*
* . . . . *
*.X.X.X.X.*
***********

Level 2x+1:
***********
*  .X.X.X.*
* . . .^. *
*.X.X.X.X.*
* . . . . *
*.X.X.X.X.*
* .v. . . *
*.X.X.X.X.*
* . . . . *
*.X.X.X.X.*
***********

Probability that any square may be...

A chest:  .06
A portal down:  .03*.94
A door:  .4*.97*.94
A secret door:  .4*.6*.97*.94
A trap:  .05*.6*.6*.97*.94
Untouched:  .94*.97*.6*.6*.95

  OUTSIDE(WITH MAP KEY) FOR "LUCKY NUMBER" 5.

.: town
&: town where you start the game
o: ????
*: mountain
+: Lord British's

*********************
*    o**  *+     * x*
*     o        oo * *
*      o o * *   .  *
*           x       *
*        x      .   *
*o          o       *
*x*    *o  .*x**    *
*   o. . o  oo  o   *
*   *   x  *.       *
***   *o     *     **
*     x       *  *  *
*    o * *  xo  *   *
*o**     .  * x  o &*
*x   .    *       . *
** * o **          **
***      ox o  *    *
* o x    o    .     *
*   o  .     *o   o *
*     o     .* oox  *
*********************

  MAP GRAPHICS

  There are only six map graphics, and as one is blank, it doesn't 
count.

  Mountains:
    *     *
    *     *
  ***   *****
    *   *
    *** *
      * *
      *****
     *    *
  ***     ***
    *     *
    *     *

  Lord British's:
  ***********
  *         *
  * ******* *
  * **   ** *
  * * * * * *
  * *  *  * *
  * * * * * *
  * **   ** *
  * ******* *
  *         *
  ***********

  Town:
  *** ***
  * * * *
  *******
    * *
  *******
  * * * *
  *** ***

  Hole:
  ***
  * *
  ***

  Dungeon:
  * *
   *
  * *

MONSTERS

  There are ten monsters in the game, each a bit tougher than the next.  
Hit points are a linear function of dungeon level and difficulty level.  
Monsters are listed below in order of increasing difficulty.

  Skeleton
  Thief(can steal items)
  Giant Rat
  Orc
  Viper
  Carrion Crawler
  Gremlin(steals 1/2 your food, first quest)
  Mimic(disguised as chest, but you can't tell until you step on it)
  Daemon
  Balrog

WALKTHROUGH

  GETTING BETTER QUICK

    Without a game-saving ability, you can't expect to be able to edit 
your character.  What you can do, however, is return to places that must 
reset.  When you exit and re-enter a dungeon, all chests are returned to 
their former spots.  This makes things a lot easier.  You can find a 
dungeon you like and just go to work entering, pillaging, and exiting.  
Just make sure you save up your food.  Monsters are also pre-determined, 
so beating them up may also improve your hit points, since you gain hit 
points by defeating monsters and leaving a dungeon.

  OVERWORLD

    The only thing to do, really, is to find Lord British's castle.  
There are plenty of towns throughout the land where you can buy 
stuff(food and magic amulets are the most useful, but some backup 
weapons may also be useful.)  As the terrain is 19x19 a map should not 
be hard.  A few horizontal sweeps shouldn't be too hard.  Monsters will 
not attack you above ground.  All you need to do is visit Lord 
British(with each quest he gives you, all your stats increase by one) 
and return after defeating a tough monster(gremlin, mimic, daemon and 
balron.)

  UNDERWORLD

    Ahh, this is a bit tougher.  Once you realize there are secret 
doors, and the locations for the up/down ladders are the same on each 
level below the top, where the up ladder is in the corner, navigation up 
and down is easy--unless you get into a fight while you are moving 
around.  From the start you can turn left, go forward twice, turn right, 
and go forward to the stairs.  From there, you can go forward, go left, 
go forward four, go left, and go forward five before you climb down.  
You can follow this spiral all the way down to whichever level holds the 
monsters you want to kill.  Leaving the underworld follows the same 
pattern, although taking your chance with the amulets can also work(keep 
casting "ladder up" spells, and be aware that an amulet has a 25% chance 
of vanishing after any use) if you are a mage.  It takes a bit of faith 
to walk through walls, and combat may be exasperating, but it gets 
simple pretty quick.  Amulets make it much easier.  Note that you can go 
down ad absurdum, and the monsters will get tougher, and it'll be 
impossible to get out.

  TIPPING THE ODDS IN YOUR FAVOR

    Akalabeth slightly favors the monsters--not like Wizardry, which 
takes an even longer time to solve, but it can be annoying.  If you have 
an Apple emulator, you can eliminate this advantage.  Once you've bought 
a few magic amulets, save the emulator state, and cast 4 for "BAD??"  
Most of the time, the results are bad, but if you are turned into a 
lizard man, save the state.  You can turn yourself into a lizard man 
again.  After a few times you will have 300 or so strength, which will 
be enough to club even a level 10 monster.

    As for the ending, it's a bit different for level 10 than for the 
first nine.  I won't spoil it.

(end FAQ proper)

****************

VERSIONS/CREDITS

1.0.0:  4/2/2001 Submitted original version to GameFAQs.com.

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/7430/akalabeth.html had the 
source code for Akalabeth, which I found fascinating and hope others 
interested in gaming history will enjoy, too.
The author for submitting this game to the public domain.
ftp://ftp.apple.asimov.net for the Apple disk images.
Caroline Spector and Rusel DeMaria's fun book, _Ultima: the Avatar 
Adventures_, that made me aware this game existed.