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Dungeon Keeper is a PC strategy game released by Bullfrog Productions in July . The game puts the player into the role of the "dungeon keeper": instead of valiantly storming a dungeon like a hero, killing monsters and taking the treasures, the player builds the dungeons, recruits the monsters, sets the traps, and fends off the (computer-controlled) heroes that regularly attempt to come in.
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Interface
The game interface is reminiscent of normal real-time strategy games: the player uses a mouse, represented in-game as a hand, to interact with a bar on the left-hand side of the screen, allowing him to select which rooms to build and which spells to cast. Rather uniquely, the player can use the hand to pick up creatures and objects in the dungeon and carry them around, allowing for tactics such as gathering an assault force and dropping off the creatures en masse once a beachhead has been established. Giving the player this ability has been criticised for being unrealistic. It removes from the game the strategic element of the player slowly deploying and advancing his forces when he can just pick up and drop his units anywhere on his part of the map at will.
The hand also allows the player to "slap" objects and thereby interact with them: creatures will hurry up when slapped, chickens in a Hatchery will "splat," and some traps will be triggered. Prisoners in the Torture Chamber can thus be treated with a hands-on approach.
The main game view is in isometric perspective. This view can be zoomed and rotated. The player also has the option of possessing one of his creatures, and seeing the dungeon from that creature's first-person perspective.
The map is divided into a grid of (mostly invisible) rectangles: an arbitrary number of monsters can be on any element of the grid, but only one trap or room section. A smaller part of the map is shown as a minimap in the top left corner of the screen.
The world map demonstrates the programmers' detailed work: at the beginning of the game, the player is allocated one of the 20 regions of a fictional, idyllic country. As the player progresses through these regions (each of which represents a level), the areas previously conquered will appear ransacked, twisted, and evil. On completing the game, the whole map will look like Hell.
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Concepts
The Dungeon Heart represents the Dungeon Keeper's own life. If it is destroyed, the player loses the level, and must re-start. Along with the heart, the player begins with a small number of imps, the generic work force for all dungeon activities: they can dig tunnels into the surrounding soil, capture enemy rooms and Portals, mine gold and gems, set traps, and even attack when desperate or threatened. Slapping creatures forces them to work faster for a while, but removes some of their health.
Once the Imps are busily working, the player must then set up a basic infrastructure: Lairs for monsters, a Hatchery (where chickens, which serve as food for the minions, are bred), and a Treasury for storing gold. After connecting your dungeon to a "Portal", monsters will arrive. The types of monster that will arrive depends on the rooms you have, and how large they are: the Bile Demon, for example, requires both a Lair and a Hatchery of at least 25 (5x5) units. As the game progresses, the player moves along a technology tree, unlocking further rooms, such as:
The Bridge, allows you to claim land across water and transport creatures across lava.
The Guard Post, where creature will look for and attack enemies, it is a favourite for Orcs.
The Library, wherein certain creatures (most often Warlocks) can conduct research in order to upgrade spells.
The Workshop, which allows creatures (usually Trolls and Bile Demons) to produce traps and doors.
The Temple, wherein creatures are sacrificed to the Dark Gods. Different combinations of sacrifices lead to varying outcomes (some will produce positive effects, others various omens). Creatures dropped in the temple (though not sacrificed) are cured of Disease, Chicken and Scavenging effects.
The Training Room, which allows creatures to gain experience, making them stronger and sometimes (depending on the creature type) giving them new spells to be used in combat.
The Torture Chamber, the favoured room of the Dark Mistress and also a place where captured enemy prisoners may be converted. Also, if a captured enemy is tortured to death, they become ghosts under player control.
The Graveyard. Imps will drag corpses to this room, where they will decompose. Once enough bodies have broken down, a Vampire will rise.
The Scavenger Room, vampires work there to scavenge other vampires on the map but if there are no others, the portal attraction rate will go down causing disaster. Any creature may work in the Scavenger room to attract other creatures of their type from enemy Keepers. The other Keepers may also Scavenge creatures off of you.
The Prison, where enemy creatures will be taken when rendered unconscious in combat' and if an enemy starves in a prison they will serve their captors as skeletons.
The dungeon has a fleshed-out ecology: some creatures are natural enemies. Flies and Spiders are often found at odds with one another, while a Horned Reaper may randomly attack any creatures in its path. The Horned Reaper does have one natural enemy though. If a lord of the land is seen by the Horned reaper, the horned reaper will, without any sort of regard for his allies (or his health for that matter), rush straight at him. At the same time, warlocks find it incredibly annoying if other races are cashing in on their research time, which often ends up in them attacking.
The goals for each level are fairly straightforward: they generally fall along the lines of eliminating the heroic force or destroying all other Dungeon Keepers on the level.
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Bestiary
A game such as Dungeon Keeper is reliant on its creatures:
Imp: By far the most important creature in the game. They are unsalaried minions who take no breaks, working ceaselessly to extract rocks for rooms and mine gold / rubies. Without them the dungeon would not work.
Beetle: This creature will be one of the first inhabitants of the dungeon. As a consequence, it is weak and easily defeated. It is also lazy, spending its free time sleeping or eating.
Bile Demon: A fat, legless but tough creature that utilises his flatulence and flails attached to his horns to attack enemy forces. These creatures will automatically pick fights with Skeletons. The only creature in the game that knows Fart. It is immune to poison gas and cannot be blown by the Whirlwind move due to its extreme weight.
Demon Spawn: The "grunt," a basic fighting creature. One of the first monsters available to players; given enough training (20k EPs), it will evolve into a 4th level Dragon (on early single player levels this transformation is disabled). Picks fights with Hellhounds.
Dragon: A strong monster with research capabilities and, with training, a wide array of spells. It gains experience if its lair is near lava.
Fly: This natural enemy of the Spider will automatically scout any available area, revealing sections of the map to you.
Ghost: When a victim is killed in the Torture Chamber, they will rise from the dead as this creature. If a Ghost is killed in the Torture Chamber, it will rise from the dead as a Ghost with full health and happiness. Is immune to poison gas, can see invisible creatures, it doesn't bleed and it also doesn't eat.
Hellhound: A lava-resistant two-headed dog that will wander around the dungeon searching for enemies, similar to the Flies. The Hellhound picks fights with Demon Spawn (but not Dragons). Will sometimes loyally follow creatures much stronger than itself. A Hellhound's urine accelerates the creation of Vampires from dead enemies.
Horned Reaper (Horny): The strongest monster in the game, but very difficult to manage. The Horned Reaper is a demon wielding a very large scythe; he will pick fights with friends and enemies alike. The Horned Reaper doesn't manufacture. The Horned Reaper has eyes in the back of his head.
Orc: A monster of slightly above average strength with guarding capabilities. The Orc doesn't research.
Skeleton: When a prisoner dies, they rise as a skeleton. These creatures will automatically pick fights with Bile Demons. Immune to gas, and doesn't bleed.
Spider: An arachnid creature with basic fighting skills that dislikes Flies. At later levels Spiders develop the ability to freeze other creatures. If a player owns a prison they can often be found freezing the prisoners for amusement.
Tentacle: This creature finds its home in watery areas around the dungeon. You may often find several groups of tentacles fighting for the Heroes in the last few levels of the game. Will gain experience if it has a lair next to water.
Troll: A prolific trap and door creator in the workshop, the troll is only mediocre in combat.
Vampire: A powerful creature that has gained immortality; every time it dies, it returns to its lair, having lost a level. If it is below level 4 when it dies, the death is permanent. Is proficient with both spells and close combat, and has the fastest self-healing in the game at level 10. They do not like Warlocks. The Vampire is immune to gas and can see invisible creatures. Having a Vampire in the scavenger room improves the power of the room to draw creatures.
Warlock: Spell-casting humans with evil intentions. These men research new spells and are also devastating spell-casters, extremely useful in battle when backed up by close-quarter fighters. They do not like Vampires. They gain experience if their lair is next to an unmined gold tile.
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Heroes
Heroes are the natural enemy of the Keeper; often one of your objectives is to defeat an invading Hero force or destroy their Dungeon Heart. Heroes are convertable with the use of the Torture Chamber and the use of healing (either feeding chickens or using the spell Heal), or by using a hidden spell found in some levels.
Fairy: Extremely weak but with a wide array of spells.
Giant: Few spells and the slowest creature/hero in the game but also one of the strongest (The strongest common character). The Giant relies on the brute force of its club.
Knight: Once a Lord of the Land is converted to the Keeper's cause, he becomes a Knight. Very strong and a good fighter.
Sorceress / Priestess/ Dark witch: A more well-rounded version of the Fairy, capable of withstanding much more direct combat but with what some would consider to be a weaker array of spells.
Samurai: A strong, fast, and fierce warrior. Will fight Dark Mistresses on sight.
Thief: Evolves into a Knight, once trained past level 10. Otherwise, a fairly weak and pointless hero, although he converts extremely easily.
Archer: A moderately weak hero who fires arrows. Can be hard to defeat due to their propensity to use Speed on themselves and back away whilst firing arrows and spells.
Monk: A holy icon who can heal a group of heroes in his surrounding area. Other than that, he is quite strong but very slow - however, most of his attacks are based on slowing the enemy and draining him of health rather than direct damage.
Wizard: The most proficient spellcaster in the game, these can often take out creatures much stronger than themselves, owing to being the only creature or hero able to both freeze its opponents and heal itself.
Barbarian: Good, strong and agile physical fighter with few skills.
Avatar: Easily the strongest underling you will ever have, you only ever fight these on the final level. With the attacking strength of a Horned Reaper, a defense more than three times any other creature or hero, and with healing capabilities and freezing spells, it is a formidable opponent, and it is inadvisable to fight an Avatar without a team of at least ten very strong creatures capable of healing. Once killed for the first time, he will be resurrected by his hero followers and the Keeper will fight the final battle, where large groups of heroes attack at once, including another Avatar. It is possible to convert the first Avatar instead of killing him, (which is highly advised), therefore enabling the two Avatars to fight it out while you deal with the rest of the army. Unlike other creatures and heroes, Avatars cannot be killed by boulder traps. The Avatar is, curiously enough, the Avatar (player character) from the Ultima series; in Dungeon Keeper, his appearance is based on that of the Avatar in Ultima VIII.
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Spells
In addition to the existence of creatures and rooms, the Keeper can use an array of spells. In Dungeon Keeper 1, spells cost gold which is directly subtracted from the Treasury.
Armageddon: Actives a counter, which, when it reaches zero, teleports all creatures - both the Keeper's and of his enemies - to the Dungeon Heart for a decisive fight.
Call to Arms: Calls creatures to a certain point and can be used to mark a rally point for offensive or defensive actions. This spell draws gold only when cast on enemy territory.
Cave In: An offensive spell. Causes surface of the cave to collapse on creatures beneath and damage them. Damage from Cave In causes victims to flee; creatures run to their lairs, heroes run to the portal or spawn point they came from.
Chicken: Transforms enemy into a chicken. Though retaining his regular health and defensive capabilities, the enemy loses the ability to attack. Transformed creatures can be cured by placing them at Temple.
Conceal Monster: Makes your minion invisible to the enemies eyes for a short time. Will not work against ghosts.
Destroy Wall: Destroys wall fortifications, or walls altogether. Though expensive, the spell is useful as it allows the imps to break into another dungeon despite its fortifications.
Disease: Plagues creatures with contagious disease. The plagued creatures be cured at the Temple.
Heal: Restores health of a creature.
Hold Audience: Calls all creatures to the Dungeon Heart.
Lightning: The basic offensive spell, strikes enemy target with a lightning bolt. Holding the cursor for longer "loads" the spell, costing more money but dealing more damage.
Must Obey: A spell that remains in effect until you turn it off, it drains gold while forcing your creatures to work regardless of their inclinations.
Possess Monster: Allows direct control of a monster from first person perspective. Various monsters have a different view, for example the fly's vision corresponds to the eye structure of insects (other changes include, for example, a blood-red vision of vampires). This spell is one of the "trademark" features of Dungeon Keeper series, and similar features have been implemented to some other games by Bullfrog (for example, Theme Park World).
Protect Monster: Temporarily increases defensive capabilities of a monster.
Sight of Evil: Reveals a location through the fog of war for a limited time.
Speed Monster: Increases the movement and attack speed of a monster for a limited time.
Summon Imp: Creates Imps. The spell cost depends on the amount of Imps in the dungeon and can also be changed further through sacrificing Imps in the Temple.
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Multiplayer features
Dungeon Keeper was created when multiplayer games were fairly young: as such, it does have basic networking capabilities, but is fairly limited as to its options:
It does not feature any kind of multiplayer network mode that can be played over the Internet.
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Gameplay Secrets
On full moon days and on Halloween, a secret level is available
Capturing the Lord of the Land brings you a bonus screen after finishing the level
Hounds aid the decomposition of bodies in a Cemetery by urinating on them. In fact, they will urinate on bodies wherever they appear.
To get a Skirmish mode put ' -1player' in a shortcut, at the end of the shortcuts target property. This will make Multiplayer 1 Player available.
Pressing Ctrl & the + key will make things go very fast, very useful for training creatures quickly. Pressing Ctrl & the - key repeatedly will slow the game down again. Make sure "Num Lock" is turned ON on the keyboard.
You can edit many of the games files as they are in .txt format. With editing you can change many things including room costs and starting gold.
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The Deeper Dungeons
The Deeper Dungeons is an expansion pack that was released in November . It features about 15 new levels and an improved artificial intelligence for the enemies.
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Dungeon Keeper Gold Edition
Dungeon Keeper Gold Edition was not a sequel, as much as a repackaging. It contained the original game, Deeper Dungeons, the 3D patches, & a game editor. It also came with an additional novella of sorts, recounting the dismal account of a hero killed while exploring the dungeons. Ironically, most of the additions were put on Bullfrog's website & the Gold Edition was discontinued.
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Dungeon Keeper 2
Dungeon Keeper 2 is a sequel released in June . It featured an entirely new game engine that natively supported hardware acceleration, Dungeon Keeper (the original) supported Direct3D via an alternative executable, but not out of the box. DK2 also used fully 3D models for the creatures and enemies, rather than sprites.
DK2 included a number of modifications to make the game easier and more accessible; to purist fans of the first game, DK2 was a weaker and less strategic experience. DK2 featured a simplified user interface. It also included mana (spellcasting power) as a distinct resource. DK1 used only one resource, gold, both for buying and for casting spells, and had no concept of mana. In DK2, mana was obtained by seizing control of mana vaults, locations in the landscape that produced mana, and also by claiming large areas of land. Another difference was that the Horned Reaper was not an ordinary character who had to be fed and paid like any other character (as in DK1), but only showed up in a special cut-scene at the end of each level, or as a summoning spell.
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Dungeon Keeper 3
Dungeon Keeper 3 wasn't released. However, some Dungeon Keeper 2 CDs contained a trailer showing some features of Dungeon Keeper 3, amongst them above-land battles. One member of Bullfrog stated on his personal website that Dungeon Keeper 3 was going to be named: War for the Overworld. This project was discontinued because (according to Ernest W. Adams, one of the developers) Bullfrog had decided not to do any other RTS of any kind. This decision was in effect the end of Bullfrog as a brand; the company had already been owned by EA for several years, and EA laid off some employees and put the remainder onto other projects such as the Harry Potter line. Dungeon Keeper still retains a loyal fan base, however, who hope that Lionhead Studios will eventually revive the franchise.
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See also
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