Valhalla (computer game)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Valhalla

Developer(s)	Movisoft
Publisher(s)	Legend
Release date(s)	1983
Genre(s)	Adventure game / Interactive fiction
Mode(s)	Single player
Platform(s)	ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64
Media	cassette
Input	Keyboard

Valhalla was a ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 adventure game published in 1983 by Legend. The game was produced by Movisoft (Richard Edwards, Graham Asher, Charles Goodwin, Andrew Owen). It was mainly text-based with some graphics showing the location and the characters there. It was set mainly in Asgard and Midgard, though when your character died you would reappear in Hell (Niflheim under another name) and be able to walk out.

Within its limits, the parser for the game was very good and would understand multi-part sentences, so long as they were written using the words it understood, which (unlike in many other games) were helpfully listed in the manual.

The aim was to collect six mythical objects, for which you needed the help of other characters, who were taken from Norse mythology and would wander around randomly. To help with this, your character had an alignment (between good and evil) that would change depending on which other characters you helped. Thus, the more you helped good characters, the more other good characters would help you. Some players preferred to ignore the quest and travel around starting fights - type "Ask Thor to throw the rock at Loki" and sit back to watch the fun.

[edit] Trivia

Typing in a swear word will generate the message "Mary is not amused..." and a small figure will dash onto the screen to punch the player. Mary could be found in El Vinos but killing her achieved little as she would return within a minute.
The game engine had a limit of eight objects that could be left on the ground in any one location. If the player dropped an object when the limit had been reached, a character called Klepto appeared to "Steal" the item, removing it from the game.
The cover of the game as well as the loading screen featured a drawing of a ceremonial helmet from the 7th century found in an Anglo-Saxon burial site at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, UK.