BladeMaster

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BladeMaster is a 1990 BBS game. According to the instruction file, the program was written by Don Arnel and the creatures/treasure design was by Adab Horowitz. It was known to have run on The Gaming Center BBS, which utilized Galacticomm's Major BBS/Worldgroup software. It was not a door game but a Worldgroup module.

BladeMaster is labeled "an arena combat simulation." It is very akin to a RPG, in which you have items and gain experience through killing enemies to gain levels. However, unlike traditional RPGS, you do not travel around a world, instead you only inhabit an arena. There is a hierarchy of enemies (such as Ruffians, Mercenaries, etc.). The game has a real-time gaming environment, in which you only possess a few lives per day. Wise players exert self-control, only letting themselves die once or twice a day, avoiding permanent death. Much of the thrill of BladeMaster comes from this aspect of it as it is tempting to keep playing and progressing despite the increasing risk.

BladeMaster's uniqueness comes in its actual execution. The game is not straightforward like many RPGs, instead, it can only be won by learning the 'tricks' of it. There are certain weapons with each group of enemies that enable you to progress rapidly (otherwise leveling would be unbearably slow and perhaps at some points impossible) if used against the right enemy. The 'trick' to BladeMaster is to get a weapon in a lower-class of enemies that is super-effective against a higher-class enemy. This also emphasizes the thrill of it, as you will have to face higher-level enemies that could easily kill you in one attack, hoping to flee until you find the right one without death.

A rewrite of this game was attempted under the name Blademaster 2, but never got beyond rudimentary development. The program was written in C++ and is still available on SourceForge. The creator searched unsuccessfully for the original Blademaster creators, hoping to obtain the code.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

seabreeze.servegame.com (telnet) - a place to play Blademaster

syncterm - a useful client to telnet