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DarkSpyre

Whisper

Arcane
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Anyone played this?
What are your impressions?



Also looking for full manual for this game.
 

Crooked Bee

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I've played it. I even owned a copy many years ago, but then lost the box and stuff. It's one of my favourite games of this kind, or maybe even the favourite one. Unfortunately, I haven't replayed it in quite some time, so if you're looking for gameplay advice or other particulars, I'm afraid I can't help you there. The only impression I can share is that it's great fun, and the puzzles are good.

I too have been looking for a good pdf copy of the manual everywhere, but to no avail. I've also been looking for the official Strategy Guide, but it seems to be impossible to find as well. I posted a request on Underground Gamer a while ago, but nobody replied. Must be really rare stuff.
 

Whisper

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Thank you for answering, i like story of this game a lot, since i played its sequel - Summoning.

I found manual on net http://www.lemonamiga.com/games/docs.php?id=430, but author cut out "17 pages of total garbage at the start which I have left out.".

Have many questions unanswered, for example - who is Lord Borel and why was he hated, what is story behind Chesschantra etc. All in this "17 pages of total garbage"...
 

Crooked Bee

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Yeah, that's the only version of the manual I can find too. And I hate whoever did that. :P
 

Fowyr

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Ages ago I finished it. Was pretty OK game, but not as good as Summoning. Still have somewhere several maps for Darkspyre.
 

Whisper

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Ages ago I finished it. Was pretty OK game, but not as good as Summoning. Still have somewhere several maps for Darkspyre.

Well, i enjoy it more than Summoning atm, though storyline being unclear (thanks to omitting this "17 pages of total gargabe" to only person who posted manual for it).
 

DStich87

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I joined today just for this topic.

20 years ago (give or take) I owned the original game and never beat it. 1 year ago, I downloaded and tried to complete the game (I even created a guide for it) but the download had issues - if I tried to save the game on either of the last 2 levels, the save would be corrupted (and the 2nd to last level is ridiculously hard). 3 other sites having the game had similar issues. I've been on the look out for the cheat guide or any descriptions of the ending ever since. I would love to know all that's in the last level and the games end.
 

Whisper

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There is some info on ending in Summoning, sequel to this game.

Do you still have manual or did you read story at start of it, at least?

About game, i will try finish it, maybe i can beat 2nd to last level without saving.

But currently stuck in level 5 ("this door is closed by order of war").
 

Fowyr

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Oh, these words bring back some memories. I assure you, however, game is finishable. Just always save before new level. They are randomly selected, so you can pick level what you like.
 

DStich87

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There is some info on ending in Summoning, sequel to this game.

Do you still have manual or did you read story at start of it, at least?

About game, i will try finish it, maybe i can beat 2nd to last level without saving.

But currently stuck in level 5 ("this door is closed by order of war").

I have nothing from the original game. Someone had the original game with the manual on ebay (under Dark Spyre) but they wanted $50.

If i'm thinking of the right thing, you need to use a rune that represents War to open the door.
 

DStich87

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Oh, these words bring back some memories. I assure you, however, game is finishable. Just always save before new level. They are randomly selected, so you can pick level what you like.

Not the levels were you get a specific Rune (strength, agility, etc) nor the last 3 (War, Intelligence, Magic). The problem wasn't beating them, but that I couldn't die during the last 2 levels. Intelligence is just 1 giant puzzle of 20+ levers, and a dozen weight plates, and 20 gates (with the added fun of monsters triggering gates and gates being triggered off screen). War has puzzles as well. 1st War I got killed by a fireball alley (have to make walls to protect you from the blasts as you move). Made it to another puzzle that was a 3x3 grid of portals that require you to cast knock spell into the correct portals in a certain order. Got that wrong and my save file was corrupted so went back to war and further attempts to complete intelligence resulted in crashes. So I downloaded a different copy and that also would crash so I gave up. However there is someone (on and Amiga board) working on a cracked version of the game (it'll have cheat commands to walk through walls and upgrade your stats manually). I can't find access to that version though.
 

DStich87

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I should say that I've only used dosbox to play the game. I tried using WinUAE today but it kept saying I was missing a file, and the various tutorial vids I watched didn't work (specs didn't match).
 

DStich87

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Thank you for answering, i like story of this game a lot, since i played its sequel - Summoning.

I found manual on net http://www.lemonamiga.com/games/docs.php?id=430, but author cut out "17 pages of total garbage at the start which I have left out.".

Have many questions unanswered, for example - who is Lord Borel and why was he hated, what is story behind Chesschantra etc. All in this "17 pages of total garbage"...


Well now I'm back to playing darkspyre and making a guide as I go along. (got the adf version to work, but the combat speed was way to fast so I'm hoping that upgrades to dosbox via d-fend will mean no bugs). I've picked up Magic Map on level 4 so I'll be able to have maps of all the floors that are possible on levels 5-39.

Borel was a previous hero, I do believe his name is among the hall of the humble (high scores). I think there are 3 mentions in the game about previous individuals who failed while attempting to best darkspyre. If I recall, chesschantra was a puzzle (you have to protect him) where I found the solution, but I don't get how the clue leads to the solution (something about protecting the king, and you have to drop Armor on the floor (near the s.w corner) were it goes through an invisible portal and opens the gate.
 

DStich87

Novice
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Messages
20
There is some info on ending in Summoning, sequel to this game.

Do you still have manual or did you read story at start of it, at least?

About game, i will try finish it, maybe i can beat 2nd to last level without saving.

But currently stuck in level 5 ("this door is closed by order of war").


Is there an edit button i'm missing? I hate "spamming" with my posts.

My previous answer was wrong. That door never opens, however you can teleport into that room. You should have toggled the lever in the room "creatures abound. a key must be found." And this started a ball moving in a room to the west. You'll head west out of the room of Rhyme to the portal that once blocked your path north. The portal is now a series of portals turning on and off that you can (if timed properly) run through. From their you gain access to 3 areas: a token on a trap. some driftwood (which I think you have to keep on you until the end). and a portal "smart as a pin, you found your way in." This portal leads to the room behind the door closes by order of war.
 

Sceptic

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Divinity: Original Sin
I think kofeur has played this, I shall summon him.

Never played it myself but loved The Summoning.
 

kofeur

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Jan 12, 2011
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134
I think kofeur has played this, I shall summon him.

Never played it myself but loved The Summoning.

Neither did I... It was one of the games I really was interested in playing at the time. I think I never managed to find it
 

DStich87

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I think kofeur has played this, I shall summon him.

Never played it myself but loved The Summoning.

Neither did I... It was one of the games I really was interested in playing at the time. I think I never managed to find it


I know there are 2 versions to be found (one is and ADF the other Dosbox) and someone sold the Diskette w/Manueal for $37 on Ebay. The Amiga version needs to be tweaked (which I'm not certain how to do) as the combat is much faster than it should be. Dosbox version, at least 1 year ago, seemed to get corrupted. Aside from being old and rare, Darkspyre has a problem with its name. I've also seen it as "Dark Spyre" or "Dark Spire," which also happens to be the title of a more recent game.


I refuse to play The Summoning until I complete, or at least see the ending to Dark spyre. That's almost the extent of the replay value - my continued failure to complete the game. The puzzles are challenging (some I solved at guessing, others I had to use a kludge - Magic Wall). One of the reasons I made a FAQ was the hopes of finding someone with answers (or, dare I dream, the Solution booklet). Sadly, I only received one reply and they were in a similar boat (ie, playiing the dosbox version). Also, the facebook entry for the game has only 3 likes.

This forum popped up at the same time someone over at the English Amida Board was posting a new hacked version (but I can't figure out where/how to download it).

Anyways, I'm already working on the floors for level 12-17 while writing a walkthrough as I go (and getting maps of all the floors available from level 5 - 39), though I dread trying to find the solutions for the previously mentioned Kludges and Intelligence.
 

DStich87

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Mar 7, 2012
Messages
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The floor "The Path You walk with choose your Fate" (which is between levels 27-34) has a puzzle I can't solve the right way.

Anyone having success with it?

I think the idea is to get a ball to go through a set of gates (and eventually to a plate in the North West corner of the map which un-budges a lever), but a plate that closes the last gate is to close to that gate (so the ball triggers the gate and destroys itself). I've tried standing on the south and north parts of the plate but the ball won't clear me.

The solution i used is to get sage level in Conjury and simply use a magic wall and it last just long enough to get the lever.
 

DStich87

Novice
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
20
The floor "The Path You walk with choose your Fate" (which is between levels 27-34) has a puzzle I can't solve the right way.

Anyone having success with it?

I think the idea is to get a ball to go through a set of gates (and eventually to a plate in the North West corner of the map which un-budges a lever), but a plate that closes the last gate is to close to that gate (so the ball triggers the gate and destroys itself). I've tried standing on the south and north parts of the plate but the ball won't clear me.

The solution i used is to get sage level in Conjury and simply use a magic wall and it last just long enough to get the lever.


I figured it out! All is good. Now gotta figure out "this level is a challenge" without using Sage Level Magic Walls.
 

DStich87

Novice
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Mar 7, 2012
Messages
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Made it to Intellect (thought it was called intelligence), the 2nd to last level and did a test save (and it loaded!!!!) I have to redo war because my Spell points rolled over dropping from 200+ to 47. Have 36 Maps and 37 floors with walk-throughs.
 

DStich87

Novice
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
20
Made it to Intellect (thought it was called intelligence), the 2nd to last level and did a test save (and it loaded!!!!) I have to redo war because my Spell points rolled over dropping from 200+ to 47. Have 36 Maps and 37 floors with walk-throughs.


False hope. During 2nd run through game Intellect started glitching (phantom gates appeared, items on the ground look like I cast Scroll of Sight, and the game play slows down). My graphics card isn't amazing and there's so much going on (27 gates, 10 plates and a lot of monsters).
 

DStich87

Novice
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Mar 7, 2012
Messages
20
I beat it! Need to flesh out some information on Intellect then i'll be submitting my guide to gamefaqs.
 

Whisper

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Feb 29, 2012
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Good job!

What was the ending?

(and you met any NPC? And who was lord Borel?)
 

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