Dragon's Lair : Escape from Singe's Castle
© 1983, Sullivan Bluth
Dirk the Daring stepped back and let his head hang low. Before him lay the still body of his beloved, the fair Princess Daphne, fallen into a deep sleep. The brave warrior had battled horrific monsters, escaped near impossible traps and had even killed the evil dragon Singe, all for naught. With his dying breath Singe had cast a spell on the beautiful princess, placing her into the death like sleep. Dirk's heart was shattered. Exhaustion overcoming him, the knight slumped to his knees and laid his head upon Daphne's chest.
Even as Dirk closed his eyes, a tiny breath escaped Daphne's lips. Dirk's heart soared and the knight jumped up and stared down at the princess; he might still save her. Dirk bent his head close to Daphne's, kissing her lips. For a moment nothing happened, but with a sudden breath of air Daphne awoke. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, the princess rose up from her resting place and reached out her arms.
Dirk could hardly believe his eyes, Daphne was alive and sitting before him! He raised his hand and moved towards his beloved princess, but her image began to shimmer. The brave knight's hand passed through Daphne's arm as if she were nothing but a ghost and as he watched she disappeared. A laugh rang out filling the room, loud and sinister. A twisting shape appeared in the air where the princess had sat, a hooded figure with two amber glowing eyes.
"You thought yourself victorious, but I steal from you the prize you sought." The image of the head moved back and forth, wisps of greenish smoke trailing its motion. Dirk drew his sword and waved it through the phantom, slicing nothing but the air, "Who are you?! What do you want?" "I am the Shapeshifter, servant to the wizard who inhabits this castle and the dragon you defeated was the guardian of his treasure. The princess you tried to rescue is to be the wizard's bride and you cannot have her." The shifter's eyes flared a glowing red, and a hot wind began to blow, "You are doomed, valiant hero. This castle is vast and you will not get out alive."
The apparition began to glow and Dirk was forced to turn away from the blinding light. When he looked back the hooded figure was gone and only wisps of the green smoke remained. Dirk looked about, Daphne was gone, wisked away by the shapeshifter's magical powers. On the far wall a door creaked slowly open and from its darkened depths Dirk faintly heard the princess's muted cry, "Dirk, save me...." Leaping forward, the brave knight ran through the door, ready to face Singe's Castle.
Even as Dirk closed his eyes, a tiny breath escaped Daphne's lips. Dirk's heart soared and the knight jumped up and stared down at the princess; he might still save her. Dirk bent his head close to Daphne's, kissing her lips. For a moment nothing happened, but with a sudden breath of air Daphne awoke. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, the princess rose up from her resting place and reached out her arms.
Dirk could hardly believe his eyes, Daphne was alive and sitting before him! He raised his hand and moved towards his beloved princess, but her image began to shimmer. The brave knight's hand passed through Daphne's arm as if she were nothing but a ghost and as he watched she disappeared. A laugh rang out filling the room, loud and sinister. A twisting shape appeared in the air where the princess had sat, a hooded figure with two amber glowing eyes.
"You thought yourself victorious, but I steal from you the prize you sought." The image of the head moved back and forth, wisps of greenish smoke trailing its motion. Dirk drew his sword and waved it through the phantom, slicing nothing but the air, "Who are you?! What do you want?" "I am the Shapeshifter, servant to the wizard who inhabits this castle and the dragon you defeated was the guardian of his treasure. The princess you tried to rescue is to be the wizard's bride and you cannot have her." The shifter's eyes flared a glowing red, and a hot wind began to blow, "You are doomed, valiant hero. This castle is vast and you will not get out alive."
The apparition began to glow and Dirk was forced to turn away from the blinding light. When he looked back the hooded figure was gone and only wisps of the green smoke remained. Dirk looked about, Daphne was gone, wisked away by the shapeshifter's magical powers. On the far wall a door creaked slowly open and from its darkened depths Dirk faintly heard the princess's muted cry, "Dirk, save me...." Leaping forward, the brave knight ran through the door, ready to face Singe's Castle.
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After booting your Apple IIgs with a system disk, or autobooting from a hard drive, insert Dragon's Lair 1 disk #1 and double click the DragonsLair1 icon to begin the game. To install Dragon's Lair 1 on a hard drive, create a DragonsLair1 folder on your hard drive and copy the content of the 8 disks into it. To run Dragon's Lair 1 from your hard drive, double click on the DragonsLair1 directory icon on your hard drive then double click on the DragonsLair1 Icon. |
STARTING THE GAME
| After the game has loaded the demo mode will automatically begin. The demo runs through couple of scenes from the first disk and then returns to the title screen and credits. To start playing the game simply press RETURN at any time. You will know the game has started when the choose game difficulty screen appears. |
SELECTING DIFFICULTY LEVEL
You will have to choose the level of difficulty that you want to face:
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You do not directly control all of Dirk's actions, rather you control his reactions to the events that happen around him. As you watch the animation, you must decide in which direction Dirk should move on the screen and when. To finish a scene successfully you must make a move (UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT) or press the FIRE button when Dirk is in danger. Timing is very critical and often you may make the correct move but at the wrong time. Also, many scenes require more than one move. If you are having trouble, watch the animation carefully and move Dirk in the safest direction or if no direction is safe press the fire button to use Dirk's sword. If you're sure you have the correct move try varying the time when you make the move, a little sooner or a little later. Don't be surprised if Dirk doesn't move immediately after you have made a move. You must wait for the animation to finish and if you made the correct move(s) you will continue on to the next scene. You have three lives and the game will end if you lose all of your lives or when you have completed all of the scenes. From time to time it will be necessary to change the disk in the drive. After you have finished all the animations on a disk you will be asked to insert the next disk so that the game can continue. NEVER eject one of the game disks while you are playing, unless you are prompted, or you may damage the disk! |
CONTROLS
| The way to control Dirk is by using the numeric keypad on the keyboard or the arrow keys. The directions you will need are UP (8), DOWN (5), LEFT (4) and RIGHT (6). To use Dirk's sword you may press the '0' on the keypad or press ENTER or SPACE keys. |
ENDING THE GAME
| The game will come to end after you have lost three lives or if you press ESC key. To quit the game, simply press OpenApple-Q to go back to the Finder. |
SAVING YOUR POSITION
| To save your position press the 'S' key during a scene and after you have successfully completed the scene. A disk icon will be displayed on the top left of the screen to let you know that your request has been taken into account. If you are playing from the disk, You will be prompted for Disk #1 and your position will be saved. You will be prompted again for the current game disk. |
LOADING A SAVED GAME
| To load a saved game press the 'L' key during a scene. If you are playing from the disks, you will be prompted for Disk #1. Remove the game disk from the internal drive and replace it with the Disk #1. The last saved position will be loaded and you will be prompted for the appropriate game disk. |
PAUSING THE GAME
| You can pause the game at any time by pressing the 'P' key on the keyboard. To continue to play, press any key and the game will resume. |
TURNING THE AUDIO OFF/ON
| You can toggle the audio off and on by pressing the 'A' key on the keyboard. |
PLAYING SCENE ONE
| Dirk stands at the end of a corridor in front of three doors. As he looks around the roof starts to fall in and the floor to his left begins to crumble away. Dirk must move right out the remaining door as the floor falls away and the roof comes in. |
IN MEMORIAM
| The game is dedicated to the memory of our dear friend Tony DIAZ (1967-2021), who passed away while this game was being programmed. We miss him. |
| System Requirements: | Apple IIgs ROM 01/3 with 1.5 MB RAM, one 3.5" disk drive, System 5.0.4 |
| Recommended: | Apple IIgs ROM 01/3 with 4 MB RAM, accelerator card, hard drive, System 6.0.1 |
.PO/.2MG Hard Drive image (6 MB)
.PO/.2MG Floppy Disks (8 x 800 KB)
