Doriath Dungeon: Frequently Asked Questions

The program code for Doriath was written by Ian Gray and Lee Braine. Music was done by Chris Cox. Sprite graphics were made by Richard Murray. Labyrinth layout was done by Dom Ashworth. The title graphic was created by Chris Haines. For a screenshot of the credits screen from the game, visit the credits page.

Can I play Doriath on my pc?

Yes. Just download an emulator (such as VICE) and the Doriath game file from www.c64.com . I also have the game file in the downloads section.

What are the game controls for Doriath?

F1 changes which item you have selected, and F7 uses the selected item. Press the fire button to jump. To use a spell, press down and hold down the fire button. Then you can guide the spell wherever you want. Read the text from (and see scans) of the original rulebook here.

What is the name of 'X' monster/spell/item/miscellanea?

Please see the comprehensive glossary.

What are the names of the sixteen rows/levels?

Each room is designated a letter (specifying the corresponding row) and a number (specifying the corresponding column). So the room at row two, column three is room B3. In Doriath, each row is also given a name whose first letter corresponds to the row number, so B3 is designated as Hall 03 of Beren's Deep. The complete list of rows is as follows: Atelan's Deep, Beren's Deep, Cerim's Deep, Darin's Deep, Elidaan's Deep, Feanor's Deep, Galoth's Deep, Haldir's Deep, Istar's Deep, Jetar's Deep, Khadim's Deep, Lental's Deep, Maglor's Deep, Nerid's Deep, Orlic's Deep, and finally Pentar's Deep.

How exactly did you make those maps?

Using the VICE c64 emulator and the Doriath game file from www.c64.com, I revisited the world of Doriath. After experience a frustration remarkably similar to the one I had felt ten years prior, I decided to map every last detail in my efforts to finally solve the game of Doriath. So I took a screenshot of every room and positioned them together in Microsoft Publisher. However, that was just the beginning. I blotted out the figure of the hero in every room (except for room A2, where the game starts) and put a letter above each chest, indicating what was inside, as well as putting a colour outline around certain rooms of importance. Think this all sounds easy? Believe me, it wasn't.

Why did you do all this for an ancient commodore 64 game?

Ever since a very young age I've always loved games, and this is a tribute of sorts to one that has received very little recognition. (Plus, I wanted other people to see all the hard work I went through :) Secondly, besides being a work of passion, I wanted to try out my web-making skills on something. Particularly, I was eager to find out if I could create, publish, and manage a website using Microsoft Frontpage. And if you're reading this, then I guess I've succeeded.

How long did it take you to do all this?

It took me less than a week to put this website together, and that was only utilizing my spare time. The map was created several months earlier, and took about a good solid week to finish. Of course, after the great response I've received from fans, I have continued to make further updates.

What are your favourite computer/video games?

Although I no longer have time for gaming, I do have many fond memories of games from all these years past. My favourites include: Warcraft series (pc), Starcraft (pc), M.U.L.E. (c64), Archon (c64), Archon II (c64), Ultima series (c64/pc), Shadow of the Beast series (amiga), Bioforge (pc), Out of this World (pc), Super Smash Bros. (N64), Comet Busters (pc), and of course Doriath!

What is the name of the music played in Doriath?

The piece is called "In the Halls of the Mountain King", written by classical composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907), and adapted by Chris Cox for Doriath. You can find an mp3 of this song in the downloads section.

What does the original box art or instruction manual look like?

Check them out right here!

What does the word Doriath mean? What was "borrowed" from Tolkien?

In the English language, there is no definition of the word Doriath, though you might find it of interest to know that J.R.R. Tolkien (author of the wonderful Hobbit and Lord of the Rings), used it as a place name. Perhaps one of the game designers was a fan?

Sasami delved further into the comparisons between Tolkien and Doriath (see below). Thanks Sasami!

Atelan's Deep   Not likely. There is the plant Athelas, but we'll give the benefit of a doubt.

Beren's Deep   Beren is the hero of the Lay of Leithian, a story of love between a Man and an Elf-maiden, Lúthien Tinúviel. They were ancestors to Elrond Half-elven and Arwen Evenstar, Aragorn's betrothed.

Cerim's Deep   Not quite: Cerin Amroth is a hill in Lothlorien that the Fellowship visited, and which held significance for Aragorn and Arwen. Cerin means "circular enclosure."

Darin's Deep   There's a Daeron, but this is more likely corrupted from the name Durin, a hereditary name of the Dwarves. There were at least seven royal Durins, as well as Durin's Bane, Durin's Day, and Durin's Folk (the dwarves themselves).

Elidaan's Deep   Elidaan? The wizard gets a level named after him before he even gets there? Both the level and the character probably come from Elladan, half-elven son of Elrond and brother to Arwen.

Feanor's Deep   Fëanor is a major player in Middle-Earth prehistory. Greatest of the Deep Elves, he made the Silmarils (as in "The Silmarillion") before rebelling against the Valar and causing more misery in Middle Earth than anyone but Sauron and Morgoth themselves. Anyway, why doesn't Fianna get a Deep?

Galoth's Deep   Not likely. There's a Glamhoth, but eh.

Haldir's Deep   There were two Haldirs in Middle-Earth. One was a minor Elf who led the Fellowship to Lórien. The other was a human lord in prehistory who fostered a couple of tragic heroes.

Istar's Deep   "Istari" is another name for Wizards: Gandalf the Grey, Saruman the White, Radagast the Brown, and two others. The singular, "Istar," is rarely used for some reason.

Jetar's Deep   Nothing. Apparently there aren't a lot of J's in Middle-Earth.

Khadim's Deep   Probably shortened from Khazad-dûm, the Dwarven name for the Mines of Moria.

Lental's Deep   Even with lots of L's to choose from, apparently this one was made up.

Maglor's Deep   Maglor was one of Fëanor's sons. Like all of them, he came to a sticky end for his role in hoarding the Silmarils.

Nerid's Deep   Nope. Probably from Nereid, a non-Tolkien type of water nymph.

Orlic's Deep   Nope.

Pentar's Deep   And nope. Guess they finally started getting creative with names near the end.

So out of 16 levels, half of them are from Tolkien names.

Also, here's why the Original Story was Not Found On Boxart:

"...the Peoples of the Dawn sailed from over the eastern seas..." well, in Tolkien it was from Numenor in the West, but let's not pick nits.

"For the gods remained in Valanaar, the land beyond the Sunrise..." In Tolkien, the Valar (gods, just not given that name) lived in Valinor, to the West of Numenor. So, that'd be the land beyond the Sunset. Rather blatant, isn't it?

However, all the actual aspects of gameplay are original: none of the monsters or spells show up in Tolkien. So that's groovy.

What do you do with those fungata mushrooms?

You need to use fungata potions (the red potion, not the green, which is the cloronar potion) in certain rooms to enable you to cast spells and open chests. Using a fungata potion on purple mushrooms allows you to cast spells in that room, while using it on red mushrooms allows you to open the chest in that room. You must be standing on the mushroom for the potion to work (either fall onto the mushroom or jump onto it).

How do you get to the right side of the map?

The easiest way is to jump from the rope or ladder over one of the Quasilin monsters at C10, H10, or J9.

Why are there only stamina potions on the right side of the map?

Doriath fan Chris has done a wonderful job answering why the game designers may have simply chosen to not use the entire map. I'll offer you his theory:

I think the answer to this question might be found in the way the game was programmed. The map is on a grid of letters A-P and numbers 1-16. The letter P is the sixteenth letter of the alphabet, so the map is on a 16x16 grid, which is 256 rooms. Once you have allocated memory for this kind of layout, even if you remove a room, there will still be memory dedicated for it. It is possible that the designers originally intended for all rooms to be used in a way central to the game, and then had to change the plan for some reason. Three possible reasons for this are:

A) They ran out of memory on the Commodore 64 and had to change their original plan to work around this limitation. I somehow doubt this was the case, since proper memory seems to have been allocated for all rooms ahead of time. It may be possible, however, that the memory reserved for monsters and their placement was insufficient to stock any more rooms, leaving the programmers with no choice but to change their plans. The two lone dragons in this "blocked" area, could have just been the programmers using up that last bit of memory for something (maybe they thought, well, if anybody manages to get back here, at least there'll be something besides stamina potions).

B) They fulfilled their plan for the game, but didn't need the extra map space.

C) They realized the game was difficult and long enough without the added gameplay.

What's the purpose of the wisdom score?

Each chest you obtain increases your wisdom by 2%. You'll receive full stamina after obtaining the following wisdom scores: 20, 25, 30, 40?, 50, 80, and 100%. Also, you will need 100% wisdom to defeat the ice dragon, as the line about the "totally wise" in the completed scroll (see the next question) suggests.

What is written on the completed scroll?

Once you have all eight scroll fragments, press "S" to read the scroll. The text is as follows:

This is the choice of the totally wise,

In the cave of the dragon that lives in the ice.

For death is a gateway that wizards may choose:

To lose is to win, and he who wins shall lose.

Visit the walkthrough page for a screenshot.

How do you defeat the Ice Dragon?

After collecting all eight scroll fragments, walk into the Ice Dragon. For more information, visit the Ice Dragon page or the walkthrough page.

How do you get the Quasilin amulet?

As far as I know (and as you can probably judge from this website, I am the person who should know if ever there was one to know) there is no Quasilin amulet in the game. Some believe it is in the chest in Room A10 below the Quasilin monster guarding it. Alas, there is only a stamina potion in that chest. Don't believe me? Watch the avi movie file on the Room A11 page. You can, however, use a cheat to obtain the Quasilin amulet. Please refer to the next question of this FAQ.

Are there any cheats for Doriath?

Yes. (In actual fact, you need to access the machine code monitor/assembler during the game, which even allows you to obtain the Quasilin amulet.) A very nice website has been set up, outlining how to go about doing this, including getting any spell, item, or unlimited stamina. Please visit the Doriath Cheats Site .

How do you get to room A11?

After opening the portcullis in room A10, you have to jump over the Quasilin monster behind it. You you will inevitably hit the monster, so you need to use stamina potions as fast as you can, repeatedly hitting F7 as though your life depends on it (and in the case of the Doriath hero, it does). For further info, visit the Room A11 page.

Weren't you absolutely devastated/enraged/exasperated at finding nothing in room A11?

Yes, you could say that.

So is there any way to beat Doriath?

The closest you can get is defeating the Ice Dragon. If you get that far, consider yourself a true gamer. If you also manage to get into Room A11, give yourself an extra pat on the back. One other faint possibility (though faint probably isn't an extreme enough word) is the room A15. As you can see on the maps page, there is a way going up in this room. The only other place going up on the top 'A' level is room A2, where you start the game, falling down from the opening. But since there is no ladder or rope going up in room A15, is this just a design flaw? Or was it perhaps purposefully done to further torment us, the gamers?

Update: Read what co-creator Lee Braine has to say about beating Doriath in my Question and Answer session with him. Also, Doriath fans Eugenio and Flavio pointed out that the rock wall/ceiling connecting rooms A11, B11, and B12 has something missing: in the top right corner of room B11, there is no rock. Is this simply another minor design flaw, or does it indicate that room A11 was supposed to be set in a different part of the labyrinth? Or perhaps another room was supposed to go here, one that possibly contained the Quasilin amulet? One can't help but wonder...