<!--
	Title: Infocom's first RPG: Quarterstaff
	Author: Stephen Payne
	Source: QuestBusters, v6(2)
	Date: Feburary 1989
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

<div class="article-sidebar-box float-left" style="border: 3px solid;">
<strong>Type:</strong> Fantasy Role-playing<br>
<strong>Systems:</strong> Macintosh, Mac II (1 megabyte and one 8OOK
	drive required for both; color graphics disk for Mac II costs
	$10; owners of original game can upgrade for $20 with
	proof of purchase)<br>
<strong>Planned Conversions:</strong> GS , IBM
</div>

More than a year ago, a modest brown envelope from Simulated
Environment Systems arrived on my doorstep. Inside
was *Quarterstaff*, ready for review. Since the program
required at least lMB of memory, it sat forlornly on
my desk for another month, till Santa replaced my Mac
512K with an SE. Once up and running, however, *Quarterstaff*
turned out to be a fantasy role-playing game of the
usual "explore an underground world and defeat the
forces of evil" variety, yet with enough surprises to keep
me interested.

In this case you are leading a party of adventurers into the
complex, three-level subterranean "Tree Druid colony" to
discover the fate of its recently vanished inhabitants.
You begin at the cave entrance with a character named Titus and
pick up additional companions, weapons and supplies along
the way as you move slowly from room to room.

<img class="float-right" src="/public/img/articles/questbusters-quarterstaff-review/quarterstaff-screen-shot.jpg" alt="Quarterstaff screen shot">

## *Serendipitously Seeking Setmoth*

In the course of the adventure you discover monsters
and magical items galore, along with traps and secret
doors. Gradually you learn that the source of all this evil
and devastation is Setmoth, a bloodthirsty demi-god from
an alternate astral plane whom you must search out
and destroy. He lies securely imprisoned in a special tomb
on the lowest level, hence the new subtitle.

The plot will sound familiar enough to seasoned
gamers, but the original *Quarterstaff* featured perhaps the
most extensive and innovative use of the Mac interface I've
yet seen in a role-playing game. Almost everything imaginable
could be done with menus and mouse-clicks. On
the negative side, however, the original program was slow
and bug-infested. It seemed that every few weeks I would
hit an unsalvageable glitch, just about the time that a new
upgrade would arrive, supposedly correcting earlier problems.
Sad to say, none of the upgrades could use saved
games from previous versions, so I kept having to restart
from scratch. Since I always try to complete a game
before rendering any opinion, the review never got done
(though I ended up with the beginnings of a nice collection
of master disks).

On their behalf, I must say that authors Scott Schmitz
and Ken Updike at Simulated Environment Systems were
always most gracious and cooperative when I phoned
them with the latest bug reports. The game, for them,
was obviously no quick rip-off, but a labor of love that
they kept improving. Meanwhile, favorable mini-reviews began
appearing in other journals like MacUser (though I find it
hard to believe the reviewers actually finished
it).

Now the game has been taken under Infocom's wing and re-released as *Quarterstaff:
The Tomb of Setmoth*, the company's first true fantasy role-playing
adventure. Though the essentials remain intact, the Infocom version contains some
major improvements. Unfortunately, it also contains a few major new bugs and
eliminates my favorite glitches (the ones that worked in the player's favor and allowed
me to cheat!).

Though I'm no expert on the subject, I've heard from others that *Quarterstaff*
does a good job capturing the mood and feel of non-computerized fantasy role
playing. Certainly its progress is more open-ended than most computer adventures.
Weapons, food, magical items-all sorts of characters and objects are scattered
throughout the various levels, yet only a few are truly necessary to complete
the adventure. From the rest, you can pick and choose at will.

Whole sections of the Tree Druid colony need not be visited at all, and you can
spend a lot of time exploring areas that have no essential relation to your objectives.
Non-party characters seem to have goals and motives of their own (though
these are often obscure, since there is no communication, and you have to guess
what they want). I particularly liked some of the clever puzzles that had to be
solved to open hidden doors or travel to other planes, as well as the magical objects
with peculiar effects (such as a potion that sends a character's mind into the
body of a grue, or a scarab that changes the wearer's sex). The sound effects,
though few, are excellent I only wish there were more of these things in the
game!

## *An Outstanding Mac Interface*

But the really outstanding feature of *Quarterstaff* is its use of the Macintosh
interface. The game offers automatic tiling of the different on-screen windows, as
well as automatic mapping in both "hot" and "cold" modes, which means that your
party can move around either by typing in directional commands or by clicking directly
on the map. All of the characters you enlist (by bribes or smiles) can be either
group leaders or followers, and every leader has a separate text window, shared
by his or her followers. At each round of play, the commands of all leaders are entered
first, and then those of the followers. You can split and regroup your
parties any way you like, even making each character totally independent (not always
a good idea, since the rush of appearing and disappearing text windows
gets a little confusing). Scrolling back on your next turn will show the results of
your recent actions.

<blockquote class="center" style="font-size: 1.5em; border-top: 8px double; border-bottom: 8px double; padding: 0.5em;">
"...<em>Quarterstaff</em> does a good job capturing the mood and
feel of noncomputerized fantasy role playing."
</blockquote>

From time to time, graphics suddenly pop up as you examine certain rooms, objects
and creatures. Infocom has expanded these (though the one shown on the
back of the box is no longer in the game!) and included color capabilities for the
Mac II. They added a "Help" window (where you can obtain useful hints at crucial
points) as well as a special menu for choosing various fonts, automatic saves,
automatic carriage returns, macro options and other commands.

Infocom has also switched the game to hierarchical menus, a major improvement
Now you no longer have to go through a tedious series of "examine" commands to
discover what an object contains or what a person is holding; you can find out directly
from the pull-down character and location menus by simply clicking on
what you want in order to filch it for your swag bag. In addition, there are menus
for the verbs, prepositions and exits available during each turn. In other words,
you could construct a "throw thick potion at south door" command simply by pointing
and clicking; since I am a fair typist, however, I usually found it easier to enter
commands from the keyboard.

A "vital statistics" menu shows the character's proficiencies (blunt, cold,
etc.), resistances (heat, poison and so on), experience, health, weight and bulk. Unfortunately,
while experience increases with combat, your maximum allowable
weight and bulk (as well as maximum possible hit points) remain basically constant.
Since each object also has weight and bulk, inventory management becomes
critical; characters often have to drop items or put them inside others in
order to pick up new objects or enter cramped spaces. Some important objects
in the game are visible only to certain party members, so you shouldn't always
trust your leader's eyesight. Also, characters eventually become hungry, thirsty
and sleepy, and begin to lose health points if they don't attend to their needs.

Most monster and non-player characters are tied to the same locations in every
game, though a few roam about. This makes it fairly easy to avoid the ones you
don't want to meet (ordinarily, they won't pursue you) and to find safe places
to sleep. During combat, every activated player in the vicinity gets a shot at the enemy.
You can enter individual commands or have everyone "mimic" the
leader's "attack." There is no animation or sound during combat itself, but you
can read the results after each round and can retreat at any time.

## *A Few Tips*

Several monsters (such as the granite statue) are virtually indestructible, so
save often and don't waste time trying to "fight the unbeatable foe." Sometimes it
is better to attack with missile fire from a neighboring room, so the enemy cannot
reach you. Unfortunately, there is usually no way to resurrect a dead party member.
Still, when a character dies, you are rewarded with a wonderful death scream!

In earlier versions, certain potions allowed you to "teleport" to any room you
could name; this was an especially handy cheating device for getting past locked
doors, since the program would graciously mention the name of the room you had
"failed to enter." You could also set fire to most enemies, then simply retreat for a
few turns while their health points burned away. Both of these options have been
eliminated by Infocom, but the changes have caused at least two major bugs in the
new version.

## *The "New Improved" Bugs*

Now, for example, if you forget that you're carrying a torch and successfully
"attack" an opponent, he may be set alight but your program will probably
crash. If you 're lucky, you get a "system error" message; if not, the screen freezes
up entirely. The same thing can happen if a character who just joined your party
tries to use a teleport potion; since the game now allows you to teleport only to
places you've already been, the new version gets confused by players who haven't
yet done any traveling. These bugs will no doubt be fixed soon, but they can
destroy the saved game you are currently playing, so be forewarned!

Infocom added a new item to *Quarterstaff*: an "identify wand" that reveals the
function of the scrolls, keys, wands and potions you find along the way. This is
the only kind of copy-protection involved, since you need a parchment and
disk from the game package to know the magic words to use with the identify
wand. Too bad that they didn't put in spell words for the many rings and other
magic items you come across! I never figured out a use for many of them. The
game package also comes with a reference guide, user's manual and color poster.
The game itself comes on two disks, with a third color graphics disk for the
Mac II.

My biggest disappointment is that the final confrontation with Setmoth turned
out to be just one more combat encounter, albeit much longer and more difficult.
For all my troubles, I was expecting more than a victory fanfare and congratulatory
message. Even though the game essentially ends after disposing of Setmoth,
you can still wander around the colony, but so far as I can tell nothing much
seems to have changed. I certainly would have appreciated some scoring system
that at least tallied the value of all the loot I so painstakingly accumulated.<br>
**Conclusions:** Nevertheless, *Quarterstaff* could well become a hit, especially with
those who love traditional pen, paper and dice fantasy role-playing. I know it gave
me many hours of entertainment. The game is not easy, but even beginners can
make steady progress by using the online hints. I look forward to the authors'
next project.

<hr style="border-top: 4px double;">

**Skill Level:** Difficult<br>
**Copy Protection:** In manual<br>
**Price: $49.95** (owners of original game may upgrade for $20 with proof of purchase)<br>
**Company:** Infocom/Mediagenic
