Game 38: Conquests of Camelot - Final Rating

As is often the case, I’m not completely sure where Conquests of Camelot will end up as far as a PISSED rating goes. It was a solid adventure game which I enjoyed, but there are some undeniable flaws that will likely bring it down a bit. I assume it will scrape into the 50’s, but can’t see it going much higher. Let’s find out...

Puzzles and Solvability
Conquests of Camelot is a pretty classic adventure game, albeit one that has quite a few action based mini games built into it. There are lots of puzzles to be solved through various means, including traditional item-based puzzles, riddles, piracy protection checks, mazes and parser challenges (ie. talking to the right person about the right topic). It would be easy to punish the game for falling into all the typical traps that are associated with these types of puzzles, but that would actually be a little unfair. The mazes are easily surpassed if you have certain items (the crystal, the rose, the lodestone etc.), the player is still required to use their brain while answering the piracy protection style questions, and there are quite a few alternate solutions to be found throughout the game too. That being said, I think the general level of the puzzles in Conquests of Camelot is a bit too easy. Some literally seem to have been included to tick off something that Christy Marx wanted to include in the game (for example, passing Widdershins requires only giving him a coin, which he straight out asks for). In the end I enjoyed the puzzles in the game (the Jerusalem market section was particularly fun), but was rarely challenged. There are quite a few possible dead ends too, which shouldn’t be ignored.
Rating: 5

The puzzles can be described as fun but easy.

Interface and Inventory
I’ll start with the inventory, since it’s very simplistic. It’s just a list which the player can select items in to see an image of it. Nothing to get excited or too riled up about! As for the interface, well I’ll start with the positives. General movement is handled well enough, even when a horse and trailing mule is involved (I’m not sure what purpose they served though!). The parser was adequate too, although I did have some minor struggles with it from time to time. One particular example occurred when I tried to use the elixir on Galahad in the catacombs, only for Arthur to drink it himself despite my pretty direct instruction. Another occurred when I simply wasn’t able to find a way to get back onto my horse, even though I was using the same commands I’d used previously. I faced a few bugs during my travels too (such as getting stuck behind the pillar in the treasury), but they were pretty minor compared to the game breaking error I was hit with in the catacombs. I’m not sure how much I should punish the game for the Out of Memory Heap error, since it seems I could have run into it during other games too. On the one hand, I just happened to be unlucky this time around, but on the other hand, there seem to be an abnormally high number of players that have commented about this error in relation to Conquests of Camelot. Finally, there are the controls for the mini games. I liked the idea of these mini games, but they were terribly executed, particularly the jousting and sword combat sections, which were impossible to master and relied on either blind luck or cheap tactics. We’re in 1990 now, so I have to get a tougher in these technical categories.
Rating: 3

More like "slain by the Black Interface"

Story and Setting
It’s always great when you get to play a game that has subject matter that you’re genuinely interested in. That was the case with Conquests of Camelot, since I have a general fondness for both medieval fantasy and historically important figures. Christy Marx obviously has a real love of all things Arthur, and must have put a lot of time into learning everything she could to give a realistic flavour to proceedings. There is quite a bit of superfluous information for the player to uncover, and while this occasionally creates red herrings, for the most part it helped to create a vivid and satisfying world to spend time in. I’m personally not well versed in the story of King Arthur, so I have little idea how well it’s encapsulated in Conquests of Camelot. A few readers have questioned some of the decisions made, but I don’t see any reason why Christy should have to do everything “by the book”. One thing the game does have going for it is the memorable characters that Arthur runs into throughout his quest. The Lady of the Lake, the Black Knight, the Forest Witch that transforms into the Lady Elayne, the Mad Monk and the Old Ones that were pissed at his death, the Thing trapped in the sarcophagus in the catacombs, are all strong, memorable characters. Then there’s the seductive Fatima, who may already have her name on the most memorable TAG for the end of 1990! Probably my biggest criticism of the game is the way the Six Guardians were handled. It was confusing enough to have Six Guardians and Six Goddesses, all of which represent Aphrodite in same form or another, but I couldn’t even tell you who the Six Guardians were now that I’ve completed the game (yes, I’m sure I could figure it out).
Rating: 6

King Arthur focused intently on the water so as to ignore the heavenly woman that was now lying spread eagle on the floor in anticipation.

Sound and Graphics
I often whinge about the large sections of silence that I have to endure while playing these old adventure games. Even the games at the top of the leaderboard have used music and sound sparingly to this point. I’m happy to announce that Conquests of Camelot finally has background sound effects and music throughout pretty much every section of the game. Not only that, Mark Seibert did a really great job with it, managing to create reasonably authentic music while making it enjoyable and atmospheric too. It’s not hugely memorable in the way the music for games like Space Quest and Leisure Suit Larry is, but it has a huge influence on the feel of Conquests of Camelot, and I never once turned to playing my own albums over the top (which I often do). I should point out that the sound effects are fairly minimal though, limited to specific events rather than general movement, but I guess you can’t have everything at this stage. When it comes to the visuals, my first thought was “Boy, is this ugly!” I now realise that this reaction was more about coming down from Loom than it was a fair assessment of Conquests of Camelot. In comparison to LucasArts, the graphics and animation are pretty average here, but it doesn’t fare too badly when compared to other recent Sierra games. There is plenty of detail, and the colour choices were decent, even if they were a bit too haphazard in their use (who knew catacombs would be so colourful!). The animation is probably where games like Hero’s Quest and The Colonel’s Bequest are much stronger, but this wasn’t a bad effort.
Rating: 5

Hey, I can't help it if the SCI0 technology is aging rapidly!

Environment and Atmosphere
I always appreciate adventure games that have varied and distinct environments. Loom did this really well, and I think Conquests of Camelot does a pretty good job too. Ot Moor is filled with ice and snow, to get to the hill of Glastonbury Tor I had to travel through the Forest Perilous, and finally I had to cross both ocean and desert to reach the walled city of Jerusalem. All of these areas were well represented, and the characters within each had distinctive personalities and traits. My biggest complaint is the way the game designers faked a bigger environment, the same way the makers of Deja Vu II did. It’s one thing convincing the player that they are experiencing only a small portion of a bigger world, but it’s another entirely to give them actual options that turn out to be fake. I could select stacks of locations on the map to travel to, and could also pay a fare to travel to many different lands by sea, but there were only a small handful of places I could actually go. When it comes to atmosphere, I think Conquests of Camelot does a pretty good job. There’s no doubting the importance of the quest, and the many environments, characters and dangerous situations make it pretty compelling. It’s difficult to say why it doesn’t reach the heady heights of Hero’s Quest, but I’d have to put it down to the linearity of it, despite its attempts to suggest otherwise, and the technical flaws that pop up from time to time marring the experience.
Rating: 6

Lies I tell you! Lies!

Dialogue and Acting
I’ve already mentioned the vast amount of research Christy must have put in prior to making the game, and this also comes across in the dialogue and language used by the characters. In its most basic form, the dialogue isn’t far removed from what you might find in a King’s Quest game, but there’s less silliness and a focus on historical and cultural accuracy. There’s good distinctions between groups of characters (the characters in Jerusalem speak very differently to those found in Camelot for example), but I do think individual characters lack memorable personas. One thing I think deserves credit is the innovative way the designers handled parser communication. The player isn’t talking to some unknown intelligence, they’re communicating directly to Merlin! It doesn’t change anything as far as gameplay goes, but it was a nice touch, particularly when Merlin starts to talk unrequested at certain times. When I think about other games, I’ve often thought of the writers when reading parser responses, such as Al Lowe when playing a Larry game. That probably takes me a little bit out of the game world, whereas in Conquests of Camelot I always communicated with a character within the game itself.
Rating: 6

Not since Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess has a narrator been an in-game personality.

So, what have we got here? 5 + 3 + 6 + 5 + 6 + 6 = 31, divided by 60 equals 51.666666, which is 52 when rounded up. That would leave it equal with a bunch of other games, including Space Quest II, Police Quest and King’s Quest III. I don’t really feel any pressing reason to push it up or down in comparison to those games, so I’m going to leave it right there. 52 it is!

Did anyone guess 52? Yes, our favourite Canadian geek did! Well done Canageek, you’ve won yourself a copy of the King’s Quest Collection from Steam. If Canageek decides he doesn’t want it (which he often does), then TBD is next in line with 53. Congratulations!

100 CAPs for Charles
• Olav Challenge Winner Award – 50 CAPs – For winning the Olav & the Lute Challenge
• Normality Award – 20 CAPs – For solving my Ken Knutson riddle
• Legend Award – 20 CAPs – For playing the game with me and completing it without assistance
• Widdershins Award – 10 CAPs – For informing me that I’d left out Widdershins completely!

85 CAPs for Lars-Erik
• Sponsor Award - 20 CAPs - For sponsoring the blog with free games
• True Companion Award – 10 CAPs – For playing the game with me and completing it
• Sharing the Pain Award – 10 CAPs – For sharing the immense pain that comes with an (unnecessary) restart
• Genre Support Award – 10 CAPs – For announcing an enormous adventure game sale on Steam
• Technical Assistance Award – 10 CAPs – For assisting me with my Memory Heap error
• Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For announcing a new adventure game on GOG
• Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For announcing an adventure game sale on GOG
• Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For announcing a new adventure game on GOG
• Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For announcing a new adventure game on Steam
• Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For announcing an adventure game sale on GOG

35 CAPs for Ilmari
• Major Technical Assistance Award – 20 CAPs – For assisting me with my Memory Heap error
• Riddle Lister Award – 10 CAPs – For linking to a list of all the possible riddles
• Employee Demand Award – 5 CAPs – For reminding me of the admin work I’d not yet completed

31 CAPs for Draconius
• Australian Award – 10 CAPs – For bagging out the poms and referencing Bundaberg Rum ads
• Death Award – 666 CAPs (well, how about 6) – For picking my Death Leprosy reference
• Mahna Mahna Award – 5 CAPs – Do doo do do do
• Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For announcing an adventure game sale on GOG
• Sympathy Award – 5 CAPs – For having the best excuse ever for not playing along

30 CAPs for Kenny McCormick
• Kickstarter Award – 10 CAPs – For announcing a new adventure game project on Kickstarter
• Caption Contest Award – 10 CAPs – For rapidly becoming our TAG Court Jester
• Christy Mack Award – 5 CAPs – For taking my inappropriate joke to its logical conclusion
• Minstrel Award – 5 CAPs – For spreading fear among ye olde peasantry.

30 CAPs for Laukku
• Grim Reaper Award – 10 CAPs – For linking to a video showing all possible deaths in the game
• Technical Assistance Award – 10 CAPs – For assisting me with my Memory Heap error
• Horse Mounting Award – 5 CAPs – For teaching me to mount a horse.
• Alternate Solution Award – 5 CAPs – For explaining what happens if you choose to kill the thief

30 CAPs for Corey Cole
• Insider Info Award – 20 CAPs – For sharing his inside knowledge of all things Sierra
• Technical Assistance Award – 10 CAPs – For assisting me with my Memory Heap error

20 CAPs for Canageek
• Psychic Prediction Award – 10 CAPs – For predicting the score I would give the game
• Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For announcing an adventure game sale on Steam
• Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For announcing an adventure game sale on Steam

15 CAPs for TBD
• Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For announcing an adventure game sale on GOG
• Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For announcing a new adventure game on GOG
• Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For announcing a new adventure game on Steam

10 CAPs for Cush1978
• Book Sale Award – 10 CAPs – For announcing an adventure game related book sale

10 CAPs for Splitting Image
• Technical Assistance Award – 10 CAPs – For assisting me with my Memory Heap error

5 CAPs for Jarikith
• The Wrong Man Award – 5 CAPs – For correcting my embarrassing knight related mistake

Game 38: Conquests of Camelot - Won!

King Arthur Journal Entry 7: "My quest is complete and I have the Grail! After thinking my way through the catacombs underneath Jerusalem, where I found and healed Galahad, I emerged in a the Temple of Aphrodite. There I defeated a Saracen in combat to win an audience with Aphrodite herself! She directed me to the Grail, and after a small altercation with that pesky thief, returned to Camelot with Galahad to cleanse it of the curse. All is now right in my kingdom....well, it would be, if only I could truly have the heart of my beloved Gwenhyver. At least my people are now happy, even if I may never find true happiness."

My points totals at the time the trouble started.

It should be obvious, given that the word Won appears in the title for this post, that I managed to overcome the technical issue I was facing at the end of my last post. You may remember that I started receiving Out of Heap Space errors as soon as I entered the catacombs beneath Jerusalem, and this was made worse by my inability to restore save games made from this point onwards. I’d discovered that other players had experienced similar problems when searching for a solution, but the only solutions seemed to involve either restarting or using someone else’s save game. I’d chosen the latter option, but was struggling to find a save game file that would work with the version of the game I was playing. Many readers offered their assistance, which I really appreciate, but it was Ilmari that came up with the goods, supplying a link that gave me access to exactly what I needed. The first thing I did when I successfully loaded up a save game and entered the catacombs, was to compare the Skill, Wisdom and Soul points the player had scored with my own. They weren’t different by much, with the Soul Points in both games being 175 out of 358, but I’d actually done a little better on the other two. I’d had 172 out of 268 Skill Points and 137 out of 293 Wisdom Points when things turned pear shaped, whereas the creator of the save game only had 167 Skill Points and 121 Wisdom Points. I’ll have to add 5 Skill Points and 16 Wisdom Points to my final score.

My points totals after restoring to a downloaded save game.

The second thing I did was check my inventory to make sure I had the green apple, the elixir and the lodestone that I’d possessed in my original game. The lodestone wasn’t there!!!!! I already knew from reader comments that Lars-Erik had restarted as he’d missed the lodestone during his game. Could it be that I’d overcome the Heap errors, but was now in a dead end situation?! I decided to push on, hoping against hope that the lodestone might not actually be necessary. I’d purposely not described much of my experience in the Catacombs in my last post, as the errors were taking up all my energy, so I’ll start from the beginning here. I’d entered them through the door the leper had opened in the wall on the surface, and emerged underground through a doorway in a mural showing a boar attacking a man. A closer look revealed that it displayed the death of Adonis (killed by Ares who had transformed into a boar), and that the legend was written in the Liber ex Doctrina (the manual). I’d read through all of the stories previously, so waited to see if a puzzle arrived that required revisiting them. Exploring the room further revealed a few bones and broken pottery, and a bunch of mummies in cavities on the walls. If I got too close to the mummies, I was warned that rats would bite me if I got any closer. I recalled that the leper had given me an elixir as protection against these rat bites, but I also knew I could only use it once, so left them alone.

At least Lars-Erik will know he wasn't the only person to miss the lodestone.

I’ll say straight up that the whole catacombs area had a total of eight screens, and that moving from one to another could be confusing at times. There was no guarantee that exiting one screen to the right would enter the next one from the left (and vice versa), so I decided early on to create a map in Excel (included below).This map should help you follow my movements as it helped me keep my bearings. I left the first screen to the left, reappearing in another room with a mural on the wall. This one showed the death of Hippolytus, who was killed by Poseidon, who in turn had been called upon by Theseus. I turned my attention to the swirling pattern near the doorway, and received a heap of likely important information. “There are lunar and solar spirals here. A solar spiral goes in the sunwise direction. Sunwise is the direction that the shadow of the sun moves around a sundial. A lunar spiral moves to the left, in the opposite or counter-sunwise direction. Solar spirals are signs of a God, while lunar spirals are signs of a Goddess.” It wouldn’t be the first time Christy Marx had shown off her knowledge for no apparent reason, but I planned to keep a lookout for any spiral patterns in future. I could find no further items worth checking out in the room, so took the exit on the far wall. This is where my game had continually crashed previously, so I was thrilled when I reappeared in a room containing a large sarcophagus.

I really enjoy mapping. The early Might and Magic games were heaven to me!

This stuff was too detailed not to be important.

How exactly are these rooms lit?

As I approached it, there was a loud grating noise. The lid of the sarcophagus began sliding open, and a ghastly green hand appeared from within! The Thing inside, as that is what it was called, then spoke to me: “I smell warm blood and live flesh. Come closer. I have golden treasure. Come closer and see.” This was very obviously a trap, so I was going to have to be careful. I could see that there were words written on the sarcophagus lid, so I read them without getting to close to The Thing. “Cursed is the priest who lives here. He betrayed the Goddess and stole her treasures. Sacred objects of gold he has stolen. By the sign of the pentacle, he is imprisoned. The star of the Goddess rules him. Take heed, you who reads these words of warning.” I noted there was also a pentacle above the door I entered through, so right clicked on it. “It is the five-pointed star or pentacle that is associated with the Goddess, and because it is formed of the one unbroken line, it is used to keep out harmful spirits. Or to lock them in.” Clearly whatever was in the sarcophagus was very dangerous, but the curiosity in me really wanted to know what would happen if I got too close. I saved my game, and then approached the tomb. The hand reached out, grabbed me, and pulled me inside! This wasn’t the way I wanted to things to end for King Arthur, so I restored.

Oh man! Not The Thing! It'll be running around looking just like me in no time!

Arthur could have least told me what he could see in there before he died.

This time I ignored the sarcophagus entirely and exited the room to the right. This brought me to yet another room with a large mural on the wall. This one displayed the sculptor Pygmalion, who had been rewarded for his loyalty to Aphrodite when she turned his most beautiful statue into flesh. There was an inverted cross above one of the doors in the room (representing the Apostle Peter, who was crucified upside-down), but otherwise there appeared to be nothing of interest. I took the exit at the bottom of the screen and soon found myself standing in a room containing nothing but a statue of a woman. Could this be the same statue that Aphrodite had brought to life for Pygamlion? I quickly noted that she had a dove in one hand, but that the other was empty. The screen border on the rooms in the catacombs appeared to be a hint here, containing as they did both a dove and an apple. I just so happened to have an apple in my possession, so I typed “put apple in hand”. I was stoked when Arthur did indeed place the apple in the open-palmed hand, but my joy was short lived as nothing happened. In fact, the apple reappeared in my inventory, suggesting it wasn’t the correct item to put in the statue’s hand. I couldn’t think of anything else to try, so continued my exploration and mapping of the catacombs.

Satyrs really love to dance around and play instruments. It's all they ever seem to do!

My what a long arm you have my lady!

I made my way back to the sarcophagus and went left instead of right, arriving in yet another room filled with broken jars, bones and mummies. There was a symbol of a sun above one door which apparently represents “the universe with the dome of heaven in the center”) and a mushroom above another (apparently there are “many mushroom cults in the Far East”). Going left out of this room took me back to the starting screen, so I went right instead. There were a few things of interest in this room, being a small mummy with a necklace on, a symbol of a star above it, and another oddly shaped symbol above the door. Investigating these symbols revealed that the star was a pentacle, and that this shape was associated with apples since the shape can be seen “if one cuts an apple open lengthwise”, and that the other symbol represented Mithras. I was most interested in the necklace though, which was described as a “round copper medallion around the neck of what may be a mummy of a child”. As with all the other mummies in the catacombs, I couldn’t get to it due to the infected rats swarming around. I had a growing number of puzzles to solve (the statue, the sarcophagus and now the medallion), but decided to finish my exploration before spending too much time on them. Perhaps I would find an item that would cause a bit of a domino effect?

I pondered whether I should grab the medallion and then use the elixir, but luckily I didn't...

The door to the right led me to the final room in the catacombs, and there I found Galahad lying on some sort of slab. Before I could see if he was ok, a rat jumped up and bit me! I would have restored my game, since I was now infected, but I was told “there was nothing you could do to avoid it”. Should I use the elixir now? How long would I live before the infection took me? I couldn’t answer these questions, so ignored them and checked out Galahad. “It appears that Galahad has fallen prey to the rats, for there he lies upon a bier, unaware even of your presence.” He was in bad shape, so I decided to use the elixir on him instead of myself. A small amount of health returned to him: “Arthur....my king. I knew....you would....come. Only way out....the gift....for Aphrodite....you must....bring her....bring her the....” Galahad collapsed, but I was informed that he was merely in a “healing coma” and would be alright. My only chance of surviving now was to find the Grail quickly, so I set about trying to solve the outstanding puzzles. I had success straight away too, when I typed “get necklace with sword” while standing near the mummified child. Arthur used the sword to scoop the medallion over its head, and taking a closer look at it revealed a pentacle like the symbol on the wall. I recalled The Thing in the sarcophagus was being kept there by the pentacle in the room, so perhaps the medallion could be used there?

There's actually a rat attached to the back of my head here, while I stand still and let it chew away.

Bring her the what? Oh come on you big wuss! Be out with it!

Take that you small dead child!

I walked up to the opened sarcophagus, and once again the hand reached out to grab me. This time however, it stopped short: “Screeeeaaaagh! The accursed pentacle!” The Thing couldn’t touch me, which meant I could now look inside the sarcophagus to see what treasure awaited me there. I found... a golden apple! It was pretty obvious how I was supposed to use it, so I raced back to the statue and put the apple in her hand. Just as I’d hoped, the statue came to life and spoke to me. “You have brought the gift by which I am made complete. For this, I will tell you what you must do to escape the catacombs. First, be warned. From this moment on, every door within the catacombs is a possible trap. If you leave the safety of this room too soon, you may be trapped forever within a tomb.” I was then tested on my knowledge of Aphrodite, being asked six questions that basically required reading the stories in the manual to find the answer. The first one was “What did Aphrodite give to the statue to reward Pygmalion?” I figured the answer was “life”, so I typed that in and was correct. After five more similar questions, I’d passed! “You have given the six answers I require and earned your chance at freedom.” As a reward, I was allowed to take the dove from the statue’s left hand, and told that I would be able to use it when I had proven myself by sword and shield.

The power of Christ compels you!

You've brought me the gift that makes me complete! In return I shall give you another part of me, therefore making myself incomplete once again!

The statue informed me that I must pass through six doors to escape the catacombs, but that I must do so exactly as instructed. If I were to choose the wrong door at any stage, I would be trapped forever! Doors suddenly appeared on the three walls where there were previously none, and I was told the following order: “West, east, south, east, south, north.” Oh crap! This was obviously where I needed the lodestone! The final thing the statue told me was that Galahad would be set free as soon as he was healed, so to concentrate on my task. I of course had no idea which way was west, but decided to take the exit to the right of screen to see what would happen. It closed behind me, trapping me “within a pitch black hole scarcely larger than a coffin”. I restored and tried another. The screen went black, but I was informed that I inched my way forward and eventually pushed a stone slab out of a wall. I reappeared in the room with the mural of the death of Hippolytus. I’d clearly taken the correct path, and figured it was just a matter of saving my game after each success, and restoring after each failure. The only problem I faced while taking this approach was that my strength was fading rapidly. I eventually was forced to eat my apple, which relieved my hunger and thirst and gave me a new surge of strength. Shortly afterwards I was leaving the catacombs through a secret doorway in the centre of the mural of Hippolytus!

I don't suppose I could trouble you and ask which way is west could I?

These text descriptions were intended to make it so the player has little idea what way they're facing when they resurfaced, but it's not difficult to figure it out if you've mapped it out.

So I'm afraid you didn't have to restart after all Lars-Erik!

I emerged into sunlight and found myself standing in some sort of circular temple. There were broken pillars around the edge, and on the bottom left quadrant, I discovered a stairway leading down. More notable was the symbol in front of it, which was a left facing swirl! I’d learnt in the catacombs that swirl symbols had meaning, but I decided to check out the last quadrant before giving it any thought. There I found a Saracen, who told me that I must defeat him in combat if I wished to win the Grail! He claimed to want an equal fight, so threw a helmet to me to wear. I did so, and then set about trying to defend myself with my shield while making contact with my sword. I had some quick successes, as I thrust my sword madly in his direction, trying to hit him wherever his shield wasn’t positioned. Unfortunately, this rapid fire approach resulted in me running out of strength, at which point I was only able to thrust once in every ten seconds or so. The game seemed to suggest that I could spend some time blocking while my strength returned, but I soon found my game was pretty much over once I ran out of strength, either through the rat poisoning catching up with me, or the Saracen finally hitting me one too many times for my body to take. With just a little bit of practice though, I got a bit better at it (although the interface was too clunky to gain any sort of expertise) and eventually defeated the Saracen.

Peekaboo!

Ah, the swirl I'd been waiting for!

The interface made using the sword very hit and miss...ahem...sorry.

I'm not sure how my thrust to the head removed his leg, but I'll take it.

Oddly, as the Saracen died, his soul transformed into a dove and rose into the sky, but nothing else happened. Was this when I was supposed to release the dove the statue had given me? Perhaps, but I thought I’d check out what was beyond the stairs before I did anything. It turned out there wasn’t much! An alleyway led to an alcove with the head of a large statue barely showing above the ground, and there was an open window high up on the wall. I tried everything I could think of in both the alley and the alcove but could achieve nothing. I therefore made my way back to the temple and typed “use dove”. It flew around before transforming into Aphrodite herself, standing upon the swirl symbol. “You have won the Sacred Cup by your determination and persistence, by cleverness and skill of arms. I surrender it to you. But beware, the power of the Grail itself will pass final judgement upon your worthiness to possess it. Start where you should start, turn as you should turn and count the places of the pillars until you reach my sacred number. Beneath that pillar you shall find what you seek.” I was confident that I could figure out what this meant, given what I knew of the swirls. Looking back at an old screenshot, I found that left facing swirls represent the counter clockwise direction, so the only question was around where I should start counting pillars.

I couldn't believe that this section could serve no purpose.

OK. What's the catch!?

I spent ages at this section, despite being pretty much correct straight up! The first thing I did was count six pillars counter clockwise from where Aphrodite was standing, then thinking I had the correct pillar, typed “look beneath pillar”. It didn’t work, so I tried typing a heap of other alternatives. I began to doubt myself, and tried counting pillars from what would be twelve o’clock, then a bunch of other illogical solutions (including spending more time in the alley and alcove). Eventually I came back to that first pillar and typed “push pillar”, and watched as Arthur moved it aside and collected the Grail from within! I was instantly healed, and determined to save Camelot from the curse that had put my quest in motion to begin with. I was in the motion of sitting back in victorious reflection, when that damn thief that stole my purse in Jerusalem returned to steal the Grail! I chased him into the alley (so it did have a purpose after all!) and watched in horror as he went for a rope leading up to the window. Fortunately, it broke as he grabbed it, causing him to fall to the ground with nowhere to go. “Mercy, master, mercy! I am only a poor, miserable wretch! Have mercy!” I then had the choice as to whether I would kill the thief or not, so I decided to let him live, taking the Grail and turning to leave him. He lunged at me as if to stab me in the back!

If only I'd trusted my instincts, I would have saved about twenty minutes of failed attempts.

Best...heist...ever!

Did anyone slay him? What happens if you do?

Thankfully my mail tunic saved me, and Arthur now decided to let the Grail decide the wretch’s fate. It chose death for him, and an unseeable power ripped the flesh from his bones, leaving only a skeleton. I hadn’t expected this scene, given the general forgiveness preached by Christianity, but was happy that I could now get back to Camelot. Galahad was waiting for me in the temple, and we were both teleported to the chapel in Camelot by the Grail. On arrival, Sir Galahad commented that only one god could rule the kingdom now, and that the “altar of the Christ god awaits its vessel”. I placed the Grail beneath the cross, and it shone with a bright light. The symbol of Mithra disappeared, and the outro of Conquests of Camelot kicked in. A view of the city showed that it was now full of life and vitality once again, and scenes showed the knights I’d saved and the people of Camelot bowing to me in adoration and praise. It looked as though everything was going to end on a happy note, particularly as Gwenhyver could be scene clutching my arm with apparent love, but that was not to be. “But though your land is healed, your heart is not. Perhaps it never shall be.” The final scene confirmed that my wife’s love for Launcelot remained, and that true happiness might never come to me again. A fairly depressing ending to an interesting game! As usual, I’ll save further comments for the Final Rating post, which should be up within a day or two.

The Grail has decided?! The Grail is my bitch now isn't it?!

My eyes! My eyes!!!

Surely you love me more than him now!

Has anyone told you that you come across as downright evil Merlin?!

Seriously, what has this guy got that I don't have!? Don't answer that!!!

Hmmmm...time to figure out what I missed.

Session Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time: 8 hours 00 minutes

Game 38: Conquests of Camelot - A Heap of Trouble

King Arthur Journal Entry 6: "It took a long time, but I've finally satisfied all the needs of the folk of Jerusalem. Thankfully I managed to get a meal and a night's rest out of one of them, which was unexpected to say the least. As good as my progress has been though, I have faced a challenge harder than even the Black Knight! A woman named Fatima, although she transcends what I previously knew of all that is woman, offered herself to me completely. Declining was shamefully difficult, but then it wouldn't have been much of a test if it had not been. I now know that Galahad went into the catacombs in search of the Grail. I will follow him now, with an elixir that he does not possess, and which will likely be useful. I am close now!"

Always having to prove my worthiness! Don't you Guardians talk to each other!?

I’ve run into a significant problem while playing Conquests of Camelot. I fear I will have no other option than to start again, but perhaps one of you can figure out a way that can be avoided. Rather than jump straight to the issue, I’ll post my way right up to the incident. My last post finished with the seeress selling me an apple that would make everyone I spoke to in Jerusalem express their “most secret and urgent need”. With this in mind, I set out to speak to all of the inhabitants, and to try to fulfil whatever it is they desired. The Lucernae shopkeeper was the first I visited, and he would be happier if his cousin Achmed “had not broken his oath to me and ruined our friendship”. I knew from my screenshots that Achmed owned the inn, so it would be interesting to see what he had to say about the situation. I moved onto the very aggressive butcher, who’d earlier called me a heathen and suggested he didn’t feel like serving anyone today. It turned out the reason for his anger was the horrible smell of fish caused by the fishmonger a couple of stores down. I was going to have to find a way to solve that little problem too. The third person I spoke to was Ismail from Antiquarius Rex, and for the first time I received an honest word from him: “Truly if I could have anything in the world, I would have your money.”

Why, that is odd! An honest salesman!

I guess they wouldn't be very good salesmen if they were completely honest.

I continued my way around the marketplace, with the next person I ran into being the leprous beggar. “At night, I suffer from the cold. I have only this brazier in which to burn charcoal, my only source of warmth. I must rely upon the goodness of stranger, such as yourself, to bring me charcoal so I will not suffer in the night.” I recalled that charcoal was for sale in Lucernae, but decided to talk to everyone before trying to cross anyone off the list. Next was Achmed, who explained the situation that had ruined the relationship between him and his cousin. The whole argument was over a broom, which Achmed needed to clean his shop, but Tariq refused to sell it to him for some unknown reason. I would have to go back to Tariq and find out why he was reluctant for the sale to go ahead. I moved onto the grain merchant, but surprisingly he still appeared too agitated to speak to me. Perhaps that had something to do with the fishmonger being right next door! I spoke to this fishmonger, aware that quite a few Jerusalem shopkeepers seemed a bit pissed by the smell his store was creating. “I want only to sell my fish in peace without the snarls and threats of my neighbours, Ali and Fawaz. What can I do?! Fish smell like fish.” I had a fair idea how to solve his problem, but there were still a few more people I needed to speak to.

I'm sure you can make your own broom without too much trouble mate! There's no excuse for untidiness.

The fish stench must be really something!!!

The owner of Fictilia had two wishes; although the first of these was that the wind would not change direction and blow the stench of fish over his shop. The second wish was simply that someone would purchase something from his shop. I figured I’d wait and see what items I might need before I fulfilled this wish, and instead moved onto the final two shopkeepers. Sarah the cook wanted nothing more than a fresh cut of lamb, since she was totally sick of eating nothing but felafel, but the story of Ibrahim the textile merchant was much more interesting! “What shall I do? I have been betrayed by Mari the wicked, Mari the vain. For my brief moment of weakness, I shall lose my beloved wife. You are a man. You will understand. I dallied but once with the woman, Mari, who lives above the shop of Mohammed. But I left behind a silken veil. Not any veil. A veil supreme in the mastery of the weaver’s art, of glorious color and pattern. Mari refuses to return it to me. I promised this veil to my wife as proof of my devotion. If I fail to bring it to her, she will leave me.” Really?! I have to help a man cover up the fact he cheated on his wife to be shown as worthy to the Goddess? I wondered if this was a test, so decided to look out for any way I might be able to avoid returning the veil.

Lamb and felafel at 3:00 AM really does sound like paradise!

You suggest that only men could do such a thing!? Have you met my wife?

Right, so I now knew all the things I was supposed to collect and do. Where to start? I bought charcoal and herbs from Lucernae for the beggar and the fishmonger respectively. The beggar was extremely grateful, blessing me a thousand times over. Giving the herbs to the fishmonger had the desired result too. “Eh, what is this? Why are you – ah, what a wonderful smell these herbs have! How very potent and aromatic! I shall hang them up at once.” This seemed to please his previously agitated neighbour and the angry butcher, which was just as well since I wanted to purchase some of his lamb for Sarah. On my way back to her store, I stopped in to talk to Tariq about the broom his cousin so desperately wanted. It turned out that Tariq had a grudge against his cousin since he’d not brought a holy relic back from his pilgrimage as he’d promised. I knew where I could purchase a relic, so I stopped in at Antiquarious Rex to buy one. The only problem was that he asked me to name the saint that I wanted a relic for. I had no idea, so had to go back to Tariq to find out. “Any relic would satisfy me, though a relic of the holy Elzer would make me truly joyous.” It cost me my last remaining gold coin to purchase the Elzer relic, so I hoped it would be worth it. Before I left the relic shop, the dodgy owner offered to sell me the Holy Grail! I ignored the offer, knowing the man for the crook he was.

This is a lesson a few of your fellow townsfolk could also learn.

This is possibly my favourite line in the game so far.

Giving the lamb to Sarah resulted in a bit more development than I’d expected. “You... you have brought this for me simply because I wanted it? No-one has ever shown me a kindness like this before. Your good example makes me ashamed!” She decided to honour my generosity by taking the starving child in as her own, which I thought was pretty cool. With that done, I took the relic of Elzer to Tariq, who was suitably impressed: “Good sir, I am speechless! Surely my cousin, Achmed, has sent this through you as an offering of peace between us.” He gave me the broom to deliver to Achmed, which I did immediately. “Ya’Allah! You have managed to part Tariq from his broom. And you give this to me? But surely... why, this can only mean it is an offering of peace from my cousin through you. He has forgiven me!” All is well that ends well I guess! Achmed offered me food and a room in his inn, so I accepted. Night time came and passed, and despite getting bitten by fleas all night, I awoke refreshed and ready to continue my quest. So who did I still have to satisfy in Jerusalem? I hadn’t purchased anything from the earthenware shop and I hadn’t recovered the veil for the adulterous tailor. The former seemed the easier of the two, so I tried buying bowls, plates, jugs and vases from Farabi. The game told me I didn’t need any of them! His only wish was that I purchase something, yet I appeared unable. Hmmm...

This may be a biblical reference??

I asked for a mirror! Not a picture of an unnaturally handsome man!

Looking through my screenshots, I noticed that when I’d originally spoken to him he’d mentioned he had a mirror for sale. I couldn’t think of a reason why I would want it, but I tried buying it anyway. I was able to, meaning I could focus all of my attention on finding this Mari chick for the tailor. He’d told me that this woman lived above Mohammed’s, which was the guy I sold my mule to, so I went to see if I could find a way inside. The front door to Mohammed’s was locked, and was unlikely to get me up to Mari’s anyway. Climbing failed, and there didn’t appear to be any way to get up there from other screens either. In the end I typed “call Mari”, although I was by no means confident that this would work. The window on the second floor opened, and Mari looked out! “Mmmmm, so who are you, with lungs like the hamsin, the all-powerful wind? I see you are a foreigner, but from the look of you, not a very rich one. I only have time for rich men.” I spoke to her again, and found her to be a far from humble woman. “I am very unhappy right now. I know I am very beautiful, but I have no way to see my own beauty as others see it. And curse that wretched Ibrahim. He left me for his wife of all things! At least I have kept his precious veil for revenge.”

What a shame! I just gave away a bloodied leg of lamb that was the spitting image!

I of course had just purchased a mirror, so figured giving it to her might just convince her to hand over the veil. I tried, yet Mari was up too high to reach it. I typed “throw mirror to Mari”, and was thrilled when it worked as planned! She caught it, and then dropped the veil down to me, completing all of my tasks...or so I thought! I gave the veil to Ibrahim, who was suitably thrilled to have it back. He promised to “never be unfaithful to my beloved wife again”, and then went upstairs and made love to her (no, I wasn’t witness to the entire act!). I made my way back to the seeress for further instructions, only to be rejected! “Nothing more will I say or give until you have completed every task.” Huh? Whose wishes had I not yet fulfilled?! I wandered around, talking to each shopkeeper, hoping to find something I’d failed to notice. I paid particular attention to the grain merchant, since he’d never told me what he wished for. I tried buying some grain, since the game seemed to tell me whenever I tried to buy something I didn’t need. Strangely, I was able to buy the grain, but for what purpose? When I walked past Mohammed and Mari’s building, the answer became obvious! There was now a young girl crying in the street. “I dropped the cage and all my mistress’ doves escaped. They will not come back and they are prize doves, hand fed by my mistress from hatchlings!”

Uh...yes...if you say so!

Oh what delight! Another damsel in distress!

I can’t be certain whether the girl only appears once the ordeal with Mari is over or whether the player must complete all the other tasks first, but I knew what to do regardless. Giving her the grain didn’t work, but putting it in the cage did. The doves flew down, ate all the grain, and then hopped back into the cage for the girl to close it. The girl’s name was Ione, and I soon discovered she was no ordinary girl! “You thought me only a simple girl, but I am an initiate of the Goddess sent to watch and test you. King Arthur, you have finished your tasks with this act of cleverness. Return to the Seeress for her judgment.” I did exactly that, excited to find out what was in store for me next! After showering me with praise, the seeress had the following to say: “Seek the star and crescent where Fatima dwells. Now that you are ready, she will admit you. She is the most powerful, though not the last, of the Guardians of the Sacred Cup.” Before I went on my way, she gave me the apple “that ends hunger, slakes thirst, and eases weariness”. I assume a time will come where I will require its sustenance. I knew exactly where Fatima would be of course, since I’d not yet been able to enter the house with a “star and crescent” above the door at the edge of Jerusalem. This time when I knocked, the door opened and I entered, wondering what could possibly await me inside.

Right...so it's an ordinary apple then. Thanks!

I entered Fatima. No...wait...that's not how it happened!

The answer was one of the more memorable moments I’ve experienced for the blog thus far! Fatima was all but naked, thrusting her hips sexually and swinging her hair around wildly in a dance that would make a pimp blush! I watched fascinated, forgetting how creepy it is for a middle aged man to stare at a few pixels moving around the screen in a shape somewhat resembling a woman. “O’ handsome stranger from a distant land, this is my dance of love. I offer you pleasures such as you have never known. I offer you my body and soul and sensual delights beyond imagining. In this enchanted place, we will take our endless fill of one another. I offer you the sweetest wine and the most succulent fruits and meats. I offer you complete freedom from all weariness and care. Kiss me and I will give you forgetfulness and bliss in an earthly paradise. All the pains of your heart and soul will be cured. Will you kiss me and be my cherished lover?” I was absolutely one hundred percent certain that declining her offer was the path to success, but my fingers had typed “yes” before my brain had any time to consider the situation. Merlin screamed at me: “No, Arthur, no!” It was too late though. Fatima kissed me, forced me onto the bed and... smothered me to death with a perfumed pillow! Thankfully I’d saved my game on entering Fatima’s abode, so was able to replay through the scenario, declining her tempting offer this time round. I soon found out that it was not her final offer though...

Um...well...if that's how it has to be!

I think you mean "Yes, Arthur, yes!".

“Then if the delights of the flesh are not enough for you, I can offer more powerful gifts, for I serve the Goddess herself and I have drunk from her sacred cup. Behold! A vision of the Holy Grail!” An image of the Grail appeared in front of Fatima, after which she once again offered herself to me, promising me immortality. “Will you kiss me and become a god in human form?” I declined again, at which point the test was over. “Then I find you worthy, King Arthur, and will help you to find what you seek. You have trials of body, spirit and heart yet to face if you are to wrest the Cup of Regeneration from the Goddess and take it with you as the Grail. From here, your path must lie through the deadly catacombs, as it did for the man who came here before you, the one called Galahad.” Fatimah then told me I must pass another test, named the Test of Symbols, which awaited me behind the door to the right. Before I was allowed to go through, the woman demanded I give her my remaining coin, as “a gesture to show that you are not bound by material possessions”. I gave them to her, and then walked through the doorway to take the test. The name of it had already given away what would be expected of me in the Test of Symbols. I was to be asked six questions, with the answer to each being one of the six Goddesses I’d read about in the manual.

I'm not sure there's anything you haven't already offered to me!

The Test of Symbols was pretty much a piracy protection attempt, in that it required me to read through each of the Goddess descriptions in the manual to figure out which one Fatima was talking about in each instance. It was important that I’d found out what each of the Goddess’ symbols were from the first Guardian I met, as otherwise it would have taken a lot of trial and error to get through. I won’t go through all the questions and answers, but I’ll give an example of how it worked. The first “question” was “She had a great shrine at Aphaca”. Looking through the manual, I found that the description for the Goddess Astarte included “her shrines were at Byblos and Aphaca”, so clearly Astarte was the answer. I’d learnt from the first Guardian that the symbol for Astarte is a circle on a triangle, with what appear to be horns on top. I selected that symbol on the “board”, and then clicked on the first cavity to move it into place. I repeated this process for all six symbols, at which point I received a message telling me that my wisdom is great and that I’d passed the test! Fatima was impressed: “Truly you are the most worthy of all men who have passed my door. Go with my blessings and find the hierophant.” Who was this hierophant and where would I find them? I thought to ask Fatima before leaving, and just as well I did!

Ooohhh I know this one! It's Mari the Goddess of Fertility right!?

Excuse me madam. Can you tell me where I can find this F6 thing I'm supposed to press?

I learnt that Galahad had entered the catacombs without passing the Test of Symbols, which could very well have resulted in his death. When questioned about the hierophant, Fatima gave me a riddle: “Ancient he is, and he is wise, yet shunned by fools who fear his guise.” Obviously the beggar with leprosy was the hierophant, so I left Fatima to go and talk to him. “Sa’alam aleikem King Arthur. You have passed many trials, yet more Guardians of the Sacred Cup wait to test you. If you are ready to follow Galahad, ask of me “open the catacombs”, and I will do so.” I did, and part of the wall moved away to reveal a passage. Before I entered, the beggar gave my reward for passing the Test of Symbols. “Because you have passed the Test of Symbols, I will give you a gift that could save your life. Within the catacombs are cursed rats whose bite is poison. One bite from these rats and you will die slowly. If bitten again, the end comes more quickly and with great agony.” He gave me a vial of elixir which held but one dosage. I would have to use it wisely! Now, you’re probably wondering what the big issue was that I talked about at the beginning of this post. Well, things got nasty after I entered the catacombs. I was able to enter ok, and to explore the first room, but then I got an error that I’m hoping someone out there can help me get past.

Are you Wonder Woman?!

Thank you! I would shake your hand...but well...(ahem)...bye now.

After taking the western exit out of the starting room and then going north, I received an “Out of heap space” error. I hoped it was just a one off, and tried to restore back to the first room. On selecting my save game, I got another error. “Oops! You tried something we didn’t think of. Try taking a different approach to the situation. SCI Version 0.000.685.” That’s ok I thought! I’ll restore back to Fatima and then make my way to the catacomb again. This worked, but as soon as I took the northern exit, I got the “Out of heap space” error again. To make matters worse, a bit of experimentation told me that trying to restore any saved game created in the catacombs resulted in the “Oops!” error message. I can only assume that my game has somehow corrupted, and searching the net has turned up others that faced the exact same error, yet in other places. None of them have found a solution to the problem, so they’ve either had to start all over again and hope it doesn’t reoccur, or use someone else’s save game to progress. I’ve found some save games online, but none of them are close to where I am. They’re either way back or right at the end of the game. Does anyone have any idea what I can do? I’ll restart if I have to, but I’m very concerned that the same thing might happen again.

Googling the error only told me that I wasn't alone in my pain.

I did something you didn't think of? I think you need to have a good look at yourself!

Session Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Total Time: 6 hours 30 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: I've written a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!