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cave noire (or the dungeon, the crab, and the flaming sword)

 
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dessgeega
loves your favorite videogame
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 11:11 am    Post subject: cave noire (or the dungeon, the crab, and the flaming sword) Reply with quote



for all the love i have for shiren, no console* roguelike is as well-suited to its platform as konami's cave noire, released in 1991 for the nintendo gameboy.

although some pedants might not consider it a roguelike for its lack of an item identification game and the fact that its dungeons seem more randomly assembled than procedurally generated, cave noire has all the features i associate with a roguelike: an emphasis on careful maneuvering and using items cleverly to get through deadly situations, ever-transforming dungeons, and a fairly remorseless difficulty.

it also has gorgeous four-color sprites and rad music.

the japanese text might stop some western players from approaching the game, which is a shame as it's a very visual game. since i've never been able to find any significant english-language resource for the game, i offer the following as a guide to help new english-speaking players to approach the game.

* by which i mean non-pc.



getting started: when you first start the game, you'll see a menu with two options. choose the bottom option. then choose the bottom option again to choose a name and gender for your new character. the top option on that first menu will take you to the dungeon selection screen, seen above.

one of the biggest differences between cave noire and most conventional roguelikes is that dungeon expeditions ending in success are much more common. this is because the game is played as a series of small missions of increasing difficulty. there are four different dungeons, each with a different goal. each time you complete a dungeon, it levels up, allowing you to play a more difficult version of it. (you can replay any level you've beaten at any time; the dungeons are randomized, what changes between the levels is which elements appear and how many goal items you have to recover.)

clockwise from the hilighted dungeon in the screenshot up top: monster dungeon, gold dungeon, goblet dungeon, and fairy dungeon. in the monster dungeon your goal is to kill a certain number of monsters, the gold dungeon, to collect a certain number of gold coins. the goblet dungeon requires you to collect a number of those snake goblets - this one's interesting because the goblets are inventory objects, effectively reducing the amount of items you can carry as you pick them up. the fairy dungeon requires you to rescue fairies from cages found throughout its floors, using keys found throughout the dungeon.

in the dungeon, a number at the bottom of the screen (next to the stick figure) tracks how close you are to your goal. the "8 / 18" below, for example, means i've slain eight monsters out of a total eighteen i need to finish the dungeon.



controls in the dungeon: the d-pad, predictably, moves (move into an enemy to target it; then press A to confirm or B to cancel.) the A button interacts with what's under your feet: picking up an item, using a teleporter, or taking the stairs or exit. if there's nothing under your feet, it'll open up the inventory. the B button skips a turn, allowing monsters to move. (if you've played a roguelike before, you know how important this key is.) the start button brings up a menu from which you can access your stats and a map of the dungeon floor.

your inventory (below) contains useful items like healing potions, spells like "light" and "teleport", keys, and weapons and armor. you can carry up to eight items, and you receive four upon entering a dungeon. most items' functions are fairly obvious from their pictures. (a triangular potion with a picture of a skull on it cures poison, should one of the insect monsters bite you.) the first option on this menu is "use"; the second is "drop". the third is quit.

to raise your attack or defense, find a sword or shield. it just has to be in your inventory in order for it to function - there's no "equip" or "wield" function - but swords and shields aren't accumulative; if you find two shields, you only need to carry around the stronger one.



unlike most roguelikes, avoiding monsters is critical in cave noire. most monsters move in predictable patterns that you'll learn quickly: crabs always move left and right between walls, for example. the important thing to keep in mind is that monsters can only attack at the beginning of their "turn": if you end your turn next to a monster, or attack it, it'll get a chance to attack you next. if a monster moves next to you, though, you'll have a chance to move (or attack first) before it attacks. keep this in mind and you can minimize the time you spend in combat - which is crucial with how rare healing items are.

also keep in mind that enemies move even when they're not onscreen. this means you can sometimes avoid an enemy by ducking off-screen and waiting a few turns for it to move out of the way. it also means the skeleton who was chasing you in the last room might be waiting in the doorway when you go back.

a few interesting monsters to be aware of. this guy looks like the bubble in zelda. he'll follow you around, but won't attack you. you won't be able to hurt him either; his goal is to make maneuvering (around other enemies!) more difficult, and to scare you by coming towards you in a dark room. killing the flame monster (pictured below) will instantly light up the entire room. similiarly, killing that zombie guy (same picture), who will usually run away from you, will turn the entire room dark.



light: some rooms are dark. you can see the locations of enemies as eyes in the dark, but not their identities. whenever you take a step, all the spaces around the one you're standing on are revealed. or you can use a "light" spell (picture of a candle) or kill a fire monster to make the whole room visible.

as you move around the dungeon, you may also see a question mark? appear over your character's head. this means that one of the adjacent walls to you contains a secret passage! bump into the wall to make the passage appear. you might also see a picture of someone walking appear above your character's head: this means one of the pits next to your character is actually an invisible platform. and a double exclamation point!! means the space you're standing on is about to collapse into a pit - better move!

walking over a pit (or having one open underneath you) causes you to fall to the next floor and take some damage. usually you want to avoid this, but there are some situations where the hasty escape might be worth it. stepping into a pool of lava is instant death.



when you complete your objective, a faster song will play and an exit, which looks like a door, will appear somewhere on the floor you're on. find it and it'll launch you into the air and out of the dungeon. (if you go downstairs, one will appear on the next floor too.) you'll receive an assessment of your victory, your game will be saved, and you'll be able to play the next, harder level of the dungeon. (the menu that appears allows you to either "continue" or "quit" to the title screen.)

when you level up each of the four dungeons to level six, you'll see the credit roll for the first time. but that's not the end - more dungeons and harder levels wait to be challenged!

konami's cave noire!
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Last edited by dessgeega on Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:24 am; edited 1 time in total
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D-A-I-S
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Joined: 26 Nov 2006
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 7:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The problem with Cave Noire is that it's so simple and self-contained that there's hardly anything to talk about.

One thing - have you ever run into a level that seems a bit too intentional to be randomized? While in the monster hunting dungeon (I think), I went on after killing enough monsters, and I ended up on a rather large level that had at least four rooms which were 2-4 hallways leading out from a large central room in which dangerous creatures (mostly dragons) were circling (and required dodging). Or I might be get my memory mixed up, but it definitely seemed like a "challenge" kind of level.
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Redeye
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Joined: 02 Oct 2006
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 11:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I love the name.

reminds me of the beer in Repo Man


That last picture looks like the guy is going to walk up the wall towards the viewer.



"I too have dwelt in that dark cave"
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Harveyjames
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 4:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good post, but how do you decide whether to post this to here or to your blog?
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parkbench
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Going to try and import a cart and report my experience itt. I really don't want to play it in emulator.

Where to go? Sad
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dessgeega
loves your favorite videogame
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

don't ask me. i havn't been able to find a single copy of the game for sale.
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parkbench
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I found one on chinese ebay and it's A LOT OF MONEY guys. maybe i can get some japanese connects to pick it up for me.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm going to go out on a limb and say you don't lose a whole lot if you emulate it to at least see if you like how it plays.

It'd be pretty ideal as one of those 5-minute games for your desktop during lunch breaks.

Do people still make those? Or are they all casual games now?
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dessgeega
loves your favorite videogame
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Joined: 16 Jun 2005
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Location: bohan

PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

it gets to be a fantastic i have fifteen minutes game once you get around level six in each of the dungeons. it also gets pleasingly strategic by that point. you are forced to consider your actions very carefully.
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PostPosted: Tue May 03, 2011 3:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

this is what i love about dess, im all ready to download this game and give it a try and i google it and hey here's a nice little preview, 3 years ago!
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