Tunnels of Doom

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Tunnels of Doom is a computer game programmed by Kevin Kenney in 1982 for the TI-99/4A computer system.

The game is remembered as one of the first graphical computer fantasy RPG games. Based loosely on the pencil & paper RPG Dungeons & Dragons, it was a standard dungeon crawl adventure in which a player or number of players controlled the fates of 1-4 characters as they journeyed into the depths of the Tunnels of Doom. Despite not having a progressive storyline, it had many elements which would be duplicated by other later successful fantasy RPGs and, with its 3D hallways, can even be seen as a very early precursor to FPS games such as Wolfenstein 3D and Doom.

The features of the game included:

The ability to control from 1 to 4 characters, which could be renamed to the player's wishes. Alternatively, four players could sit and each control a character during the combat encounters.
4 character classes -- fighter, rogue, wizard for games started with 2-4 characters, while the "hero" class was available (in addition to the others) for games starting with 1 character only.
An encounter area that used turn-based combat sequences.
A dungeon crawl through various dungeon rooms in 3D, with a map display.
A display of all of the characters' health and damage which could be monitored in combat.
A variety of monsters which got progressively difficult as the characters moved through the dungeon levels.
Random encounters with monsters throughout each level.
A variety of weapons and armor which could be purchased at stores within the dungeon or picked up as treasure.
A variety of magical treasures, which the players were required to figure out how to use.
Auto-mapping was included.
Characters that are 'killed' (have their health reduced to 0 or even below 0) remain part of the group. These dead characters can still perform (or be made to perform) certain tasks including holding weapons and drinking from fountains. This feature is rare for in most video games, once a player dies, they are out of the game.
Fountains on each level. Characters can drink from fountains. The 'water' can increase or decrease a players total hit points, health, luck, etc. A 'dead' character can be brought back to 'life' if they drink the water (they also can be made to be 'more dead').
Time is not a factor in the game. The game does not progress until a player's turn is completed.
1 to 10 levels. The higher the number, the more powerful the creatures.
A lost king and his orb. Find the king and his orb and return them to the surface to win. Both the king and orb had to be found with a time limit, or they would be destroyed.
Once the king is found, the players will be attacked in the hallways by wandering creatures.

The music for Tunnels of Doom was composed by Hank Mishkoff, a TI programmer who also wrote the music for the TI-99/4 Demonstration program and other early TI-99/4 programs. Mishkoff originally created the music for The Attack, an earlier program; however, TI rejected the composition for that game, using it later with Tunnels of Doom instead.

Tunnels of Doom is consistently listed by TI-99/4A fans as one of the top games available for the system. Using a piece of emulation software, it is possible to play Tunnels of Doom in Windows.