1975-1979 数字入侵的开始 1975-1979 The beginning of the digital invasion p.36

苹果园之下

Beneath Apple Manor

有所谓的老游戏，也有所谓的古老的游戏。《苹果园之下》（Apple Manor）就是款古老的游戏。它诞生于 1978 年，是第一款，或者说是最早一款家用电脑上的 RPG 游戏。是的，个人电脑的历史可以追溯到这么久远。

它的磁带版只需要 16K 内存就可以运行，而磁碟版，也就是我拥有的版本，则需要 32K 或以上的内存。当你深入地牢时，关卡会即时创建。怪物仅限下面五种：绿色史莱姆，幽灵，巨魔，紫虫和红龙。但是，随着你的深入，他们会越来越强大。

每种怪物都有独特的能力：史莱姆能够溶解盔甲，巨魔能够再生，幽灵会永久性地削弱你的力量，紫虫可以一击杀死你，龙当然也可以，而且它还有坚韧的外皮保护。

《苹果园之下》（BAM ）还支持自定义设置。玩家可以选择每层地牢的房间数量（4-7个，取决于你的内存大小）、难度以及你是希望显示成黑白画面还是彩色画面。使用彩色画面时，游戏里的每样事物都会表现为不同的色块。

There are old games, and there are ancient games. Beneath Apple Manor is ancient. Arriving in 1978, it was the first, or one of the very first, RPG-like games for home computers. Yes, personal computing goes back that far.

It could run in as little as 16K RAM (tape version) or in 32K+ (disk version, which I had). Levels were created on the fly as you went deeper in the dungeon. Monsters were limited to five: green slime, ghost, troll, purple worm, and red dragon. However, they increased in power the further down you went.

Each had its own type of nastiness. Slimes could dissolve armour. Trolls regenerated. Ghosts reduced your Strength permanently. Worms could kill you in one hit, as could Dragons, who had tough hides.

BAM could be customised, too. You chose the number of rooms per level (4-7, depending on RAM), the difficulty factor, and whether you wanted black-and-white or colour graphics. With colour, everything was a different coloured block.

*1982年，BAM 以特别版本重新发布，拥有了更精致的画面，多平台的移植版本以及保存功能（使得游戏可以分成几次来玩）。

*BAM was re-released in a Special Edition in 1982, with fancier graphics, multiple ports and the ability to save the game to play in multiple sessions.

我个人更喜欢以ASCII 字符显示的黑白画面，怪物（以及玩家）都用字母来表示，宝藏则使用$ 符号。

你拥有四种属性：力量、敏捷、体质和智力。战斗会耗尽力量，因此战斗后应当稍作喘息来恢复力量。类似的，移动会降低敏捷，施法会损害智力。休息可以恢复这些状态，但只有治疗法术才能恢复生命值。这并非一款可以快速移动，疯狂输出的游戏——需要玩家谨慎行事。

你可以杀死怪物或者将宝藏带回楼梯口（即每层地牢的入口）来获取经验（地图上没有任何标注，所以你最好自己记住它的位置）。

抵达楼梯口时，你可以用 10 点经验来换取 1 点属性值，将其永久提升。黄金可以用来购买武器和盔甲的升级。最重要的是，你还可以在那里购买脑部扫描（“brain scan”）。它可以用来保存你的角色存档。

I much preferred the ASCII black-and-white, where the monsters (and player, too) were represented by letters and treasure by $.

You had four stats: Strength, Dexterity, Body and Intelligence. Fighting depleted Strength, so a breather after combat was necessary to restore it. Likewise, movement reduced Dexterity and spellcasting lowered Intelligence. Resting brought those back up, but only a Heal spell could restore hit points. This was not a game of fast movement and rapid-fire combat – caution was needed.

Experience was earned by killing monsters and bringing treasure back to the main staircase – the starting point of each level (it wasn't marked on the map, either, so you'd better remember its location).

There you traded points at 10 XP for 1 stat point, increasing it permanently. Gold could buy upgrades to weapons and armour. Most important of all, there you could purchase a "brain scan". It was your character save.