Avatar (1979 video game)

Template:Otheruses2 Avatar is a text-based & graphics-based multi-user highly interactive role-playing computer game, created on the University of Illinois's Control Data Corporation PLATO system in the late 1970s. It has graphics for navigating through a dungeon, and text for player status and communication with others. It can currently be played online via Cyber1 or the NovaNET system. What makes this game popular is the high level of interactivity with other players and the sense of community that develops. Development on Avatar began on the University of Illinois PLATO system around 1977; the first version was released by Bruce Maggs, Andrew Shapira, and David Sides in 1979.

Different Versions of Avatar

Avatar exists (and has existed) as several different versions, which are most often referred to by the year they were released (or scheduled for release). Each version is a bit different from its predecessors. The first version of Avatar was actually called 'Avathar'. Next up came the 'Man 60' version (in this case the 60 does not refer to a year). Later came 'Avatar 84', which included many new features, and is arguably the most popular version. Next up was 'Avatar 90', an ambitious departure from previous versions. The game data in this version was considerably more vast, and death was replaced by an 'afterlife' mode. The most recent version is 'Avatar 95', which has no afterlife, but introduced an Immortal class.

Currently, classic versions of Avatar 84 are operating on Cyber1. Novanet hosts Avatar 95, as well as Avatar 90. It is also possible to play versions of Avatar 84 and Man 60 Avatar on Novanet. These last two games operate with the old game data on the Avatar 95 engine, which is not quite the same as playing the original versions.

Basic gameplay

The user interface includes icons of monsters; statistic displays; information about the character's status; the status of the current encounter; and items being carried, worn, and used. Maps show the character's current direction. The player starts the game by choosing a character, which involves choosing a race, gender, alignment, ability scores and pseudonym.

Avatar is inherently a multi player game. A full chat interface is built into the game, allowing players to communicate. Characters often choose to team up and form parties as a safer means of exploring the dungeon. Spells (such as healing) can be cast on other players, or affect all members of a group, as do teleportation spells.

The movement keys in Avatar are a, w, d, and x for turn left, go forward, turn right, and turn around respectively. W (shift-w) will both go forward and go through a door (if there is one). Shifted versions of the "turning" keys (A, D, and X) will turn and move 1 step in that direction, also going through doors. f is used to fight, and s for spells. It often takes three or more hits to kill a monster. It takes from two to five seconds for a turn to finish. The O key is used to open boxes. Pressing a number key invokes the spell, potion, or scroll loaded there.

Gold is used as a currency amongst players and to buy items and weapons from the store in the city. Gold can be banked or carried. Players can buy, sell, and trade items with each other.

There are several types of terrain in the dungeon. Rotators turn the character around to a random direction. TP squares teleport characters to specific or random places. Anti-magic rooms make spells and magic items ineffective, and some rooms render their occupants blind. There is also water, which the character can drown in if too much time is spent. There is quicksand, which can rob a character of items. In addition, there is an unusual type of square that shows a false image of the dungeon in front of the character, which can be quite disorienting.

Mainly because of these dangers, Avatar players have made maps, marking locations of walls and doors, and different terrain types, so as to not get lost the next time they venture to that part of the dungeon. Mapping is rather important, as getting lost can be a very bad thing -- dying while lost on a lower level, for example, does not make it easy for other players to rescue you. Dungeon maps are available online at avatar.mikomi.org; however, many Avatar players find that creating their own maps adds a new level of challenge and enjoyment to the game.

Avatar is set up as a cooperative game, so it is not designed for pvp. There are a few exceptions to this however. One way a player can harm another is to cast a spell from the back of a large party, damaging the players in front. Alternatively, a party leader could teleport the party into solid rock, but when a party rocks, all characters involved are severely affected.

Guilds and Quests

There are a number of Guilds in the game, which represent the different roles or character classes that a player's character can assume. Most of these have parallels in other RPGs, such as Warriors, Thieves, Ninjas, and so on. A character can join a Guild, presuming the character meets the minimum stat requirements, alignment strictures, and race requirements of that Guild. Once a character has joined a Guild, they can make levels in that Guild to become more proficient at that particular role. Characters may belong to more than one Guild, but they can only be "acquainted" (be playing as) one at any given time.

Players can be "quested" by their Guild, setting them a mission to complete in order to achieve the next character level. One can be quested for items, to kill monsters, or for gold. Finding a monster for a quest can be simple or very difficult; a common request of other players is to, for example, "S/R Golem": the sender asks that someone who has found a Golem save and report it so that a quested character can come and kill it, satisfying his quest. Asking for items is usually seen as begging and beneath the dignity of serious players, but asking for an item to satisfy a quest is acceptable, and it is considered noble to offer such an item. As a character rises in a guild the items and monsters quested become more difficult and costly. Eventually, one may need help to satisfy a quest, and this leads to the most remarkable feature of Avatar: teams and cooperative play.

Death

There are several ways to die in Avatar, including being injured by a monster, being poisoned, diseased, suffering from a spell, being turned into stone and teleporting into solid rock. In most versions of Avatar, when a character dies, it can be resurrected by another character, either in the dungeon or at the morgue. Potions and items can be used to aid in this task, but all resurrections cost a character age and in some cases stats.

If a "raise" is successful, the cost to the raised character is fairly minimal. The alternative to a successful raise is a "comp", as the game will tell the raised player, "There were complications". Comping generally results in the loss of many stats and more age than a successful raise, plus the character's maximum hit points are often reduced. Low-level characters often find it easier to start over than to try to recover from a comp. Teleporting into solid rock (or, in most versions, above level 1) will always lead to a raise with a 0% chance of success and hence an instant comp.

In Avatar 95, the Necromancer class was able to cast a self resurrection spell.

In Avatar 90, when a character died he or she was sent to an afterlife. In this version each level had its own afterlife and a portal somewhere within it that would send a character back to the city steps if he or she managed to survive all the undead creatures that lived there. The level one afterlife was called Purgatory and the level fifteen one was called Hades. Warlocks were able to cast a spell called "silver cord" that could transfer characters to and from each Afterlife, so long as they were not dead themselves.

Character Parties

An important aspect of Avatar is developing a group of other players one can count on to help out. Whether for a quest, more gold or experience, or just the thrill of killing monsters you would never see otherwise, joining parties is the height of Avatar.

Parties of characters can be created by "tracking" a leader. All the characters in the party follow their selected leader wherever they travel. A party composed of Ninja, Seeker, Healer, and Sorcerer characters can successfully fight almost any monster, open almost any box, and heal its members after combat. Monsters that are immune to weapons can be overcome with spells. Other combinations can be more successful depending on the situation. Parties also allow beginners to tag along with more experienced players, sharing experience and treasure. Some objectives are impossible for a single player, making parties required. Level 15 of the dungeon is unsafe for all but a few characters when alone, and even they might be overcome by the most powerful monsters.

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