Chameleon Software They were located at 4733 N. Mitchner, Indianapolis, IN 46226, USA. They are or have been distributed by Adventure International. Maces and Magic Advertised as a "thinking person's dungeon". The three Maces and Magics games (Balrog, Stone of Sisyphus, and Morton's Fork) were adventure games where a player chose one of multiple choices to navigate around a puzzle-filled world. The games were available on the TRS-80, Apple II, and Atari 800. All games required disk drives. The player typically wandered around the world gathering items; to solve puzzles, the player had to "use" found items by naming a one-word action to perform. For example, in a room with a dartboard, the player might choose to use the dart, then would type "THROW" as the action. With a pile of lumber, the player would type "LADDER" to build a ladder. Unfortunately, memory constraints limited the number of synonyms, making the process of solving some of the puzzles annoying. Each game usually provided hints about appropriate words inside some of its messages displayed when starting up each game. The games are probably best known for having a good sense of humor and great setting. Unlike other many other adventure games of the time, most of the descriptions were kept off on disk, and only the current messages were loaded into memory. This allowed for much more descriptive text than the Scott Adams adventures. Monsters and fighting were present, but usually only as a way to slow a player down (or kill the player off) while scuttling between puzzles. The games also tended to be less likely to maintain a realistic world, instead sticking together creative, but disparate puzzles into a world. Balrog represented a dungeon crawl with outdoor and indoor adventures. Stone of Sisyphus represented a mostly internal dungeon crawl. Morton's Fork involved searching around a castle. AS YOU APPROACH THE MANTICORE, THE MONSTER PHOTOS FALL FROM YOUR PACK. HIS EYES BUG OUT AND HE BEGINS TO SALIVATE. 'I MUST HAVE THOSE PHOTOS', HE GRUNTS. YOU MAY OFFER TO SELL THEM (1) OR REFUSE (2). FEW ADVENTURERS HAVE HAD THE EXPERIENCE OF FIGHTING A MANTICORE BARE HANDED. I'LL BE SURE TO TAKE NOTES. Strangely, even though the multiple choice options would conceivably be frustrating by forcing the player into only following certain actions, the outlandish choices (and results) kept the game fun. Example from "Morton's Fork": When the player chooses to gaze into a mirror in a bedroom, the following action happens: ...THE MIRROR SHATTERS... & ACCORDING TO TRADITION, YOUR LUCK IS DOWN 7 FOR 7 YEARS. AS YOU HURRIEDLY LEAVE THE ROOM, A DWARF FROM THE GLAZIERS' UNION PUSHES PAST YOU MUTTERING ABOUT UGLY ADVENTURERS. From "Stone of Sisyphus": A SEARING BLAST OF HEAT RAISES RIVULETS OF PERSPIRATION ON YOUR HEROIC FOREHEAD AS YOU CONFRONT THE DUNGEON HEATING PLANT. THE FIERY TENTACLES OF THE PLANT REACH FOR YOU.... Balrog was the first game; on both the TRS-80 and Apple, the data files for the game alone filled one disk, and thus the game required a two drive machine to run. The later games had smaller adventures, and couple be run on single player machines. One of the interesting technical features of the game is that the game doesn't really have rooms, but "situations" providing a description and a set of options. 1: Balrog Type: Text only Written before 1982. Runs on: Apple II Atari 8-bit TRS-80 2: The Stone of Sisyphus Type: Text only Written before 1982. Runs on: Apple II Atari 8-bit TRS-80 3: Morton's Fork Type: Text only Written 1981 or 1982 by Chameleon Software. Runs on: Apple II Atari 8-bit TRS-80 [Model I and III.] Notes: The release date is a bit difficult to determine. From one copy of the game the following can be determined: It has a package library stamp of "05-04-82", presumably day/month/year. The package is copyright 1981 (a date which seems to be the same on all the games distributed on original styrofoam packages distributed by Adventure International. The front cover artwork is copyright 1981. Disk 1 has copyright 1980 on it, but that seems to be the same on all older-style disk labels. This copy of the game also had a Morton's Fork disk label stuck on top of a Balrog disk label. The game came on two disks for both Apple II and TRS-80 Model I and Model III. Side one of both disks is the TRS-80 version. Side two of both is the Apple II one. Package blurb: Many have tried to find the secret of the Wizard's Fortress... None have survived! Now its your turn... The wait is over! The third voyage into the sorcerous realms of the highly lauded "Maces & Magic" series is here. MORTON'S FORK continues the grand tradition birthed by its predecessors, BALROG SAMPLER and THE STONE OF SISYPHUS. MORTON'S FORK -- an incredibly powerful adventure which allows the participant to penetrate an arcane world bereft of natural laws and rationality. Where a man's worth is measured against the dark wars he must continually wage, and a life often possesses no more value than discarded chaff. The scenario is set within the confines of an ancient wizard's fortress. Through your keyboard input, you equip your warrior with armor, weapons, gold, as well as with desirable personal attributes. These attributes should include strength, intellegence [sic!] dexterity, charisma, and verily -- even a little luck! You will find yourself searching for both fame and fortune, and alas, neither status is easily attainable! MORTON'S FORK unique features include multiple skill levels corresponding to actual levels in the wizard's castle, increased usage of three dimensional relationships, and even craftier use of traps and snares over those found in BALROG and SISYPHUS. If you have met and surpassed the challenge of other software entertainment, or if you truly yearn for a diverse, novel experience in conjunction with your microcomputer, your search is now at an end. MORTON'S FORK -- power beyond belief.

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