*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* = CRYSTALS OF ZONG = * COMMODORE 64 * = FAQ / STRATEGY GUIDE = *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* Author: Sashanan Date: 21 September 2005 Version: 1.2 DISCLAIMER This document is a copyright of Peter "Sashanan" Butter, 2003-2005. All rights reserved. You are granted permission to make copies of this FAQ (electronical or physical) for your own, personal use. Furthermore, non-commercial, freely accessible websites are allowed to upload a copy of this FAQ as long as it is posted in its full, original form (including this disclaimer) and credited to Sashanan. You are not authorized to upload this FAQ on a commercial website and/or charge for its viewing, or make money off it in any other imaginable way, without my explicit written permission. Furthermore, you are not allowed to edit this guide in any way, use it as a basis for your own guide, or post it without giving proper credit. This is considered plagiarism. This FAQ is protected by international copyright laws and failure to comply with the terms in this disclaimer will result in legal prosecution. ================= TABLE OF CONTENTS ================= [1] About this FAQ [2] The basics [2.1] Level layout [2.2] Items [2.3] Monsters [2.4] Controls [3] Treasures [4] Scoring [5] Playing tips [6] Revision history [7] Final words =========================================================================== [1] ABOUT THIS FAQ =========================================================================== If it's a treasure hunting game you're after, the Commodore 64 offers few better titles than Crystals of Zong. It's an easy enough game to pick up, but actually mastering it takes a lot more effort. There'll be a lot of hours spent between first playing and finally "mastering the mummies", as the game puts it, in the eighth and final level. Never fear, though! Unlike those who went before you, you're not going in without help. This FAQ will familiarize you with all of the game's basics and rules, give an overview of the treasures, their values and their effects (if any), and then tops it off with a supply of valuable playing tips which are bound to improve your performance. I'll also be welcoming any user input on the playing tips, so if you're out there and reading this, be sure to share what works for you, as well. =========================================================================== [2] THE BASICS =========================================================================== "I *prefer* the term 'treasure hunter'!" -- Locke, Final Fantasy 6 This chapter describes the basics of Crystals of Zong: the layout of the levels and the items and monsters that will be found there. ------------------ [2.1] Level layout ------------------ Every level in Crystals of Zong consists of nine rooms arranged in a 3x3 square. The upper left room is numbered 1, and the numbers increment from left to right. The bottom right room is 9. At the beginning of each level, the player starts out in the center room, 5. ------- |1|2|3| ------- |4|5|6| ------- |7|8|9| ------- Level layout Every room covers one screen, and has exits to all adjacent rooms. For instance, from room 1 you can go right to room 2 or down to room 4. From room 5, you can go up to room 2, down to room 8, left to room 4 or right to room 6. Each room consists of several walls and passages, and a treasure vault in the middle. The treasure vaults are all locked, and you must find the key to each of them if you wish to enter them. Every room has one sword in it and one key, which randomly fits one of the treasure vaults. Furthermore, each room is populated by four monsters. More details on the items and monsters follow in a bit. One randomly chosen room has a torch in it as well. This torch is replaced when taken. Monsters respawn whenever you leave a room. Swords and keys disappear for good after you pick them up. The actual layout of each of the nine rooms is exactly the same, although the number of exits varies between 2-4. If there is no adjacent room in any direction, there's a blind wall where the exit would be. ----------- [2.2] Items ----------- Not counting the treasures, there are only three items to be found in Crystals of Zong. SWORD At the start of each level, a sword is placed in a random location in every room. Picking up the sword gives you a limited time (roughly ten seconds) to fight the monsters in that room. Every slain monster yields points, however, once you leave the room all slain monsters will respawn when you enter the room again. So it only gives you temporary respite, and most of the time you will have to evade your enemies instead. When you pick up the sword, all enemies will turn bright red to indicate they are now vulnerable. For once, *you* are deadly to the touch now. When the sword is about to run out, the enemies will turn dark red. You can still kill them now, but be quick about it, and don't risk it if you're not so sure of yourself. The enemies will revert to their original colours without further warning when the sword time runs out. Note: level 4 and 8, the stages with the mummies, have no swords except for the Magic Sword treasure (see chapter 3). You will have to rely completely on your wits to evade the enemies in these chapters. KEY Every room has a key placed in it which fits one of the nine treasure vaults. In order to collect the treasures, you will have to find these keys. As soon as you pick up a key, a number appears in your 'keys' inventory at the bottom of the screen indicating which keys you have collected. You can open the vaults of the corresponding room numbers. For example, if you have the keys to the vaults in rooms 1, 4, 7 and 8, your keys display would read: KEYS: 1 4 78 Which key is in which room is completely random. Sometimes the key might fit the vault in the same room, but usually it will be another one, sometimes completely on the other side of the level. TORCH You start each level with a fresh torch which gradually burns out. This is indicated by the "Torch time" indicator at the bottom of the screen. As your torch starts to burn up, the white bar gradually fills with black, and when it is fully black, the torch burns out. The only effect of this is that all monsters lose their original colour and now become a dark grey. This doesn't seem so bad initially, but you'll soon notice that it costs you a lot of your general awareness. You tend to notice monsters much later now, when they come close to you. Sometimes too close. In order to keep your torch from running out, there are two things you can do. The temporary solution is to find a new torch. There is always one in any of the nine rooms, placed randomly. As soon as you collect it, your torch time is completely refilled, and a new torch is placed randomly in any of the other eight rooms. Note that if you die while the torch is in the same room, it will disappear, but in this case it will also respawn in any of the other rooms. There is always a torch waiting to be picked up. The permanent solution to your light problem is to collect the Lantern, one of the nine treasures (see chapter 3). It will provide limitless torch time for the duration of the level. -------------- [2.3] Monsters -------------- Treasure hunting is tricky business, as the treasures in Crystals of Zong are all guarded by monsters. Every room in the game has four monsters of the same type in it, and what type that is depends on the level. In the first four levels, you will face four different monster types in the following order: snakes, bats, spiders and mummies. In level 5-8, you will go through the same monster types again, except this time they all move twice as fast, making them a lot nastier. If you manage to complete level 8 - a very challenging task as the fast mummies are extremely deadly - this level will repeat itself endlessly until you lose your last life. Contact with any monster is deadly, as is being hit by a mummy's fireball. If killed, you will be picked up by a passing angel, and assuming you have any lives left (you start with five), you will reappear just under the treasure vault. The game is merciful and only lets you reappear if no monsters are nearby. If there are, you will not reappear until they move away to a safe distance. Here follows a closer look at the monster types: SNAKES The basic snakes are fairly slow and big, and easy to spot out of the corner of your eye. Assuming you don't allow them to surround you or get too close, you shouldn't have any real trouble evading them. They also have a lot of randomness in their movements, and will often break away and not take the opportunity to attack. BATS Definitely trickier, the bats aren't any quicker than the spiders but they seem to be a notch up in AI. They are more likely to cut you off or to surround you, and because they're so much smaller, you might overlook them until they get close. This is especially true if your torch runs out, so in this level specifically, try to keep that from happening. SPIDERS Spiders are quicker than snakes and bats, which makes them a lot more dangerous. You will need to see them coming and act accordingly, because they are also smart and work well together. Often, one spider will try to chase you right into the arms of one or two of its brothers, and somehow it seems like it's always the purple one doing this. It might be just me, or it actually has different AI from the others. (This was, for example, true in the original PacMan arcade game: the red monster "Shadow" would always stalk you while the purple one would always try to cut you off, and they made a deadly combo.) Imagined or not, the spiders are definitely a bit smarter than the bats again, and quicker as well. Beware. MUMMIES The ultimate challenge, mummies are every bit as quick and devious as the spiders, and have the added ability to hurl balls of fire at you. Whenever a mummy is moving in your direction, he will do so, and unless there are any walls to block it you should move out of the way at once. Fireballs travel quite a bit more quickly than you do, at least until you pick up the Fairy Boots treasure (see chapter 3), and often when you see a fireball coming it is already too late. You should watch the mummies closely and evade them before they get a chance to fire. Of course, this gets increasingly difficult when there is more than one after you, and becomes a true nightmare in level 8 where they all move so disgustingly fast (and their fireballs do as well). To top it off, there are no swords in the mummy stages except for the Magic Sword treasure, and even if you have that, you can still be killed by fireballs. All in all, the mummy stages have a very different feel from the first three, and you'll spend most of your time running and hiding, and hoping you'll find the key to the exit soon. -------------- [2.3] Controls -------------- Crystals of Zong is played with the joystick in port one. Controls are as follows: Starting a new game: fire button Moving around: push the joystick once in the desired direction. Your character will start moving in that direction and keep moving until you give new input, or until he hits a wall. You can turn around in the middle of a corridor, but you cannot stop moving unless you hit a wall. Entering a vault: only if you have the proper key (the locks on the vault with flash with a blue light if this is the case), you can enter the vault by holding down the fire button and tapping the joystick in the proper direction. Leaving the vault is done in the same way. Touching: the game considers you to have touched an item, treasure or monster if you come into direct contact, even with a light brush. - If you touch an item or treasure, you will automatically pick it up. - If you touch the exit, the level instantly ends and the next one begins as soon as you press the fire button on the level intro screen. - If you touch an enemy and you are currently wielding a sword (a regular one or the Magic Sword treasure), the enemy is killed. - If you touch an enemy without a sword, but you are currently under the effect of the Green Potion, the touch is not counted and you can pass through the enemy unharmed. - If you touch an enemy without a sword and without the protection of the Green Potion, you die. An angel will come down from the top of the screen to carry you to heaven, and if you have any lives left, you will reappear just below the treasure vault. - If you touch a mummy's fireball, it will pass through you harmlessly if you're under the effect of the Green Potion, and kill you if you aren't. A sword offers no protection. =========================================================================== [3] TREASURES =========================================================================== "Someone stole your treasure? How awful! Was it gold or gems?" -- Valanice of Daventry, King's Quest VII Every key you collect fits the treasure vault in one of the nine rooms, allowing you to get at the contents. One of the treasure vaults contains the exit to the next level, but the other 8 all contain a treasure of sorts. Some of these have special effects which will help you complete the level safely. Others don't actually *do* anything, but are valuable (in other words, you get many points for them). Depending on if you wish to score as many points as possible or to reach the highest level you can, you might wish to make for the exit right away, or do your best to collect all treasures first. In either case, it will be good to know which treasures have what special effects to bestow on you. The nine treasures (including the exit) are placed randomly, so you will have to find out for yourself which is where in every level. BROWN POTION The Brown Potion gives you one shot at teleporting to any room you desire. After you have collected it, you can activate the potion using the function keys. Press F3 and keep pressing it to cycle through the nine rooms of the level - you will be able to see which treasure lies in each, and if you have the key to this room. Once you find the room you want to teleport to, press F7 and you will instantly appear in that room, directly under the treasure vault. The Brown Potion can help you to get to the exit or a desired treasure quickly and safely. If it isn't used, it is lost when you reach the next level. There is no visual indicator of having collected the Brown Potion. CHEST The Chest is undoubtedly full of gold and other valuables, as it gives your score a huge boost. It does not have any special effects, however. CROWN The Crown is the second of three treasures which give good points, but bestow no special effects. DIAMOND Third and last of the score-boosting but otherwise useless treasures. EXIT This is where you'll want to go eventually, as this will lead you to the next level. Whether you want to go for it right away or after you have collected all the treasures (and used all the swords to slaughter as many monsters as possible) is up to you. FAIRY BOOTS Definitely the most useful item among all the treasures, the Fairy Boots double your walking speed. Among other things, this allows you to: - Get through rooms much more quickly; - Evade monsters easily and snatch items; - Catch up with and defeat monsters with the sword before time runs out. Your life is made significantly easier by finding the Fairy Boots, so you should locate them as soon as possible and then head for them straight away when you find the proper key. Especially in the last four levels when the monsters are as fast or even faster than you, finding the Boots is essential. GREEN POTION The Green Potion temporarily makes you invulnerable. Until you leave the room you collected it in, no monsters can harm you; you can pass right through them. The Green Potion is not as useful as it sounds as it only works until you leave the room, but it *is* fun to just wander through your enemies for a while, particularly if it's the mummies you're up against. Their fireballs are also completely harmless while you're under the Green Potion's effect. There is no visual indicator of the Green Potion being in effect, but trust me, it works. :) LANTERN The Lantern is a much more reliable source of light than torches are, and once you collect it, your "torch time" will stand still and no longer run out, regardless of how long you take to complete the level. You will need a torch to light the lantern, however, so it will not light up the room if your torch has run out completely when you collect it. Soon as you pick up a new torch, though, all's fine. The Lantern is only moderately useful because you will usually find enough torches to last you, and even if they do run out, being in the dark is only a minor nuisance. It's not as though the entire room blacks out (if you ask me, missed opportunity). MAGIC SWORD If you want your one minute of pure vengeance, this is your treasure. As soon as you collect the Magic Sword, you can slay the enemies in the room just like you can with a normal sword; except the Magic Sword doesn't have the ten second time limit on it, so you can take as long as you like to hunt them all down and chop 'em to pieces. The Magic Sword is also the only sword you will find in the mummy levels, so if you feel like unravelling a couple of them, this is your chance. But do so carefully, as they still have their fireballs and the Magic Sword does nothing to protect you from those. =========================================================================== [4] SCORING =========================================================================== Reaching the highest score possible in Crystals of Zong is the main goal of the game, unless you set a different goal for yourself (such as passing as many levels as possible). Points don't actually *do* anything on the gameplay level. There are no bonus lives to be gained, for instance. The following activities give you the following number of points: - Completing the level by reaching the exit yields 2000 points. - Collecting any of the "valuable" treasures (the Crown, the Chest or the Diamond) nets 1500 points. - Collecting any of the "utility" treasures (Brown Potion, Green Potion, Lantern, Magic Sword, Fairy Boots) gets you 500 points. - Defeating an enemy with a regular sword or the Magic Sword earns you 200 points. - Picking up a sword or a key is worth 100 points. A torch is worth 50. A little math gets us the potential points to be gained in each level: - 2000 for completing the level; - 3 x 1500 + 5 x 500 = 4500 + 2500 = 7000 points for collecting all treasures; - 9 x 100 for all keys and another 9 x 100 for all swords, 1800 points; - 40 is the maximum number of monsters we can kill (4 with each of the 9 regular swords, and another 4 with the Magic Sword), for 40 x 200 = 8000 points; - any number of torches for 50 points each, the number is unlimited. Not counting the torches, which won't have such a huge impact, we come to 18800 points per level. This does require you to kill all enemies every time. A more realistic figure is killing an average of 3 enemies with every regular sword. This can be easily done if you time picking up the swords right (i.e. enemies are near) and you collect the Fairy Boots before you start picking up swords and slaying enemies. You miss out on 200 points (1 enemy) with every regular sword then; with the Magic Sword, getting all four is easy. Our realistic score per level, then, comes to 18800 - (200 x 9) = 17000. This figure is good for the snake, bat and spider stages, but you won't have any swords against the mummies (subtract 900 points), won't be able to kill those 3 enemies per sword (subtract 3 x 9 x 200 = 5400 points), and it's really not worth the risk to try and kill any with the Magic Sword (subtract another 800). So even if we're going to be brave and collect all the treasures even in the hazardous mummies stage, our realistic score for that level would be 17000 - 900 - 5400 - 800 = 9900. So, our final figures for realistic score, if you don't skip any treasures and do your best to hunt your enemies, are as follows: LEVEL SCORE 1 17000 2 34000 3 51000 4 60900 5 77900 6 94900 7 111900 8 121800 Few people indeed will be able to finish level 8 and collect all the treasures there - most will be able, with enough practice, to complete level 7. Any score over 100000 suggests a good Crystals of Zong player, but only an expert will be able to reach 120000 or more. (This *can* be done before reaching level 8 if you do a good job with defeating as many enemies as possible.) =========================================================================== [5] PLAYING TIPS =========================================================================== "When in doubt, appear professional." -- Source unknown - First and foremost, take it slow and play carefully. There is no time limit (apart from your torch time, but that's only a minor worry), but you only have five lives and there's no way to get any more. If you need a few minutes to get through a room safely, take a few minutes. - Choose if you wish to set a high score or reach the highest level you can, and act accordingly. If you're going for points, milk every level for the treasures before you exit. Also pick up the swords to kill your enemies, as this is also a good source of points. If you're going for the highest level, pick up the swords for self defense but don't go after the enemies with them, and take the exit as soon as you can. - Even if you're playing for points, you may find it is a good idea to go for the exit straight away in the mummy level. Many players are quite capable of defeating the snakes, bats and spiders even in the high speed levels 5-7, but lose their lives quickly against the mummies in level 4 (not to mention 8). If you're one of them, better to go through the 4th level quickly so you have enough lives left to face the next three levels. Of course, if you're a die hard and/or you have friends nearby to impress, feel free to school the mummies as well. - The most deadly spots in every room are the corners and the isolated corridors near the southwest and southeast corners. This is where you'll get surrounded most easily. Also, being near a wall where there's no exit to another room is risky. Whenever you go to a spot like this, keep a close eye on the enemies and make sure you don't put yourself in a position where they could surround you. Snakes might, bats could, and spiders will. - Against the mummies you need to be even more aware of their relative position. Just giving one a line of sight to you is a death warrant if you can't dodge around a corner immediately. And just because they're deadly individually doesn't mean the mummies don't work together as well as the spiders do! - Level 8 is next to impossible to complete. If you're going for points, you'll want to maximize your profits in level 1-7. Learn to destroy as many monsters as possible in every level, and to collect all the treasures even in the first mummy stage, level 4. You'll manage that long before you become good enough to get through level 8 and live to tell to tale. - Your first priority in any level, apart from reaching the exit if that's what you're after, is to locate and secure the Fairy Boots. They make everything a lot easier. - I prefer to collect only the key on the first visit to a room, and leave the sword for when I come back for the treasure. This is not always possible because the sword and the key might spawn together in one spot, but usually you can do it. It's also a good idea to leave the swords until you have the Fairy Boots, as well - with them, it is much easier to chase the monsters down and kill them. - Try to let the monsters come close before you grab the sword, so you can kill most or all of them before your sword time runs out. Don't take too many risks hunting after monsters when they've already turned dark red and your sword is about to run out. They are worth some points, but not nearly enough to risk losing a life over. - The Magic Sword can be collected at any time, whether or not you have the Fairy Boots. You have unlimited time to kill the monsters with it, so get them all. - Obviously, don't collect the Sword and the Magic Sword on the same visit to the room. Get one, kill monsters, come back so they respawn, get the other one and kill them again. - In the mummy stage, think twice about going after them with the Magic sword. Their fireballs can still kill. If you want to be brave (or you have an audience to impress), the best way to kill mummies is to ambush them at a corner. Chasing after them is risky as they might turn around, and attacking head on equals fiery suicide. - Don't forget the Brown Potion! Teleportation is extremely handy to reach the exit or the Fairy Boots quickly, and you can also use it when you are surrounded and about to be killed. Keep in mind, though, that you can only teleport once. You'll find this item to be particularly useful in the mummy stages where just getting from one room to another can be quite hazardous. - If you enter a room and the monsters are uncomfortably close, leave through the same door you came and come back immediately (do allow the rooms to "load" completely, i.e. wait for the monsters to come in view). Every time you enter the room, the monsters appear in random locations, so you should exit and reenter until they are in favorable positions. - Monsters getting uncomfortably close and you're nowhere near an exit? If you have the key to the treasure vault, you can pass through it to put some distance between you and them. You can also keep hiding in the treasure vault until the monsters move away, as they can't enter it. Note, however, that the spiders and the mummies in particular will probably start circling around the vault and not move away as easily as the more erratic snakes and bats will. =========================================================================== [6] REVISION HISTORY =========================================================================== v1.0: (31 Mar '03) First version of the FAQ. v1.1: (8 Apr '03) Scoring section added, and some minor updates to the Basics and Playing Tips chapters. v1.2: (21 Sep '05) Updated contact info. I've pretty much exhausted my knowledge on the topic, I believe. However, if I receive any reader input (one can always dream!), I will certainly add any useful insights. If you got something for me, drop me a line. =========================================================================== [7] FINAL WORDS =========================================================================== Well, another Commodore 64 FAQ sees the light, and undoubtedly it will have as small an audience as the ones that went before it. That's quite alright, though. Were I to write for a Metroid or Zelda title, then many more people would read it, but I'd also have a dozen or more other FAQs to compete with, and quite possibly better ones. What use to write something that several other people have already written? A FAQ like this one, at least, fills a gap. I've never seen a Crystals of Zong FAQ anywhere, and if by providing one I help only one gamer out there somewhere on this planet, my duty is done. For this document, thanks go to my sister Ineke, with whom I have spent quite a few hours on this rare gem of a game, as well as my brother René and my father. All of us remember the effects of the Green Potion and the trickiness of mastering the mummies, and it's the great memories of all playing the same game that brought this FAQ about. In addition, thanks go to old school reviewers and FAQ writers Andrew Schultz and Falsehead, for showing me that I'm not the only one who still remembers the Commodore 64 fondly. Their example has, as always, been inspiring. For questions, comments, suggestions, praise and criticism, please contact the author, Sashanan, at sashanan.faqs@gmail.com. This e-mail address is for FAQ feedback only. Whatever you wish to share about this document or Ace, chances are I'll want to hear it. Any serious mail will be answered. Additions to the playing tips section in particular are always welcome. If you have something to share, please mail it in. Any usable reader suggestion will be added and, of course, fully credited. If you wish to do anything with this FAQ except for just reading it, check the Disclaimer section at the top of the FAQ to find out what you can and can't do. When in doubt, you can always mail me. This document is a copyright of Peter "Sashanan" Butter, 2003-2005. All rights reserved. Disclaimer at top of document.