Talk:Gauntlet (1985 video game)

Untitled

Beautiful! Kudos for all the great work throughout 2004, excellent editing and standardization. Thank you! -64.218.239.57 00:11, 12 November 2004‎ (UTC)

Two Types

I really feel it should be mentioned somewhere, but can't figure out how to without disturbing the formatting...could someone add that there were two-player cabinets as well? Thanks. Original source is Midway Arcade Treasures for PS2, but this site should do nicely: http://www.mameworld.net/maws/romset/gauntlet Has some other interesting trivia too that may or may not be worth adding. -Trent Arms 05:39, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Gauntlet (arcade game)

Would Gauntlet (video games) be a better choice for the title of the article? I came looking for information about the NES port rather than the arcade game.

Gameplay

I'd like to see a comprehensive list of the narrator's comments (e.g., "Shots do not hurt other players...yet," "Use keys to open doors," etc.).

As of the time of this writing, I can't turn up a list or table anywhere Google can take me. Despite the fact that I can't recall all the phrases, they may be the most distinctive feature of anyone's memory of the game; true of mine anyway.

Cheers,

Josh (Tampa, FL, US)

There is an incomplete list here:

http://www.basementarcade.com/arcade/sounds/sounds.html#gaunt

Didn't want to link to it in the article due to questionable fair use? 1001001 01:50, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

Standing still to make the doors open is not a cheat. it's a feature of the game! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.213.228.15 (talk) 20:02, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

agreed, it was required on certain levels that were door-heavy and key-light (especially if you were playing solo and hoarding potions as the Elf or Wizard, thus holding few keys). It was called "stalling", but the exact time was not declared (and in fact, is around 30 ticks of health IIRC, or maybe it was 30 seconds and thus depended on how fast the machine was set?) I am surprised the article says "many cheats" when only two are mentioned and neither are actual "cheats"... Plus no mention of the "wrap-around" levels when you have Elf with Extra Speed (you could almost play "offscreen" vs. other players) 199.214.26.41 (talk) 19:52, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Also, it says a skilled player could go hypothetically forever on one credit. But, I remember you actually lose life for killing enemies, narrator says "lose X life touch or fight (yes fight) ghosts/demons/whatever" So, no matter what you do, you will eventually have to insert more coins to play. And, what about the fact that the arcade version has no ending (I'm guessing it loops back to first level after the final) so it could take all your money. The snare (talk) 00:16, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

104.129.196.76 (talk) 15:25, 27 July 2016 (UTC) Responding to above: The way that ghosts worked is you would lose life (10,20,30 depending on the level of ghost) each time you touched a ghost. You could still kill a ghost without losing life by shooting it or using magic. Before they updated the ROM, it was possible to play indefinitely on one quarter. There was some luck involved as there were certain mazes above level 7 that were really bad for each class. To play indefinitely, you would have to get your health high enough to survive these.

A combination of the message box when hit by a type of enemy for the first time and sometimes instructions when starting a level informs what can and cannot be done. While level 1 may show Player loses <x> health, shoot or fight Ghosts, level 2 shows that Ghosts must be shot. (This also automatically applies if Exit to 4 or Exit to 8 is used from level 1.) Other instructions apply such as Fight Grunts hand to hand by running into them (first seen on Level 4, but fighting by running into enemies other than Ghosts and Death applies to all enemy types, not just Grunts). Fighting an enemy by running into it (including player fight animation that is easier to see if the player has a weapon) and successfully eliminating it shows a quick sparkle of enemy disappearance and the player moves in the direction they are fighting; otherwise, the enemy attack animation to the player (Grunts clubbing audibly, Demons biting at close range rather than shooting, Sorcerers hand waving rather than throwing magic fireballs, Lobbers usually just run away and throw at a distance) as the player makes no motion means they are losing health points. (Health always deducts at a rate of 1 unit per second when otherwise not getting hit and losing additional health.) 76.122.221.218 (talk) 15:41, 8 January 2019 (UTC)

Legacy

This sentence from the Legacy section is argumentative:

The historic influence of Gauntlet can be seen in later games such as Cadash, Dungeon Explorer, Dark Seal, Diablo and Everquest to name just a select few.

How do we know it inspired these games? Rogue is often cited as an inspiration for Diablo. The other games are typical CRPGs, which probably got inspiration from several RPGs and CRPGs. Saying Gauntlet was their sole inspiration—without sources—is a gross overstatement IMHO. I move to delete the sentence as speculative. Any objections? — Frecklefoot | Talk 21:04, September 7, 2005 (UTC)

I vote for deletion. --Pelladon 00:45, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

Nobody is saying that Gauntlet is their only influence. It's just one of them, quite clearly. If the sentence needs to be clarified, we can do so, however, I do not believe it should be removed. Andre (talk) 01:07, September 13, 2005 (UTC)

Put it to a vote. No one person should have a say in this. --Pelladon 01:18, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

On Wikipedia, we discuss things first before voting on them. See m:Don't vote on everything and m:Voting is evil. Though these represent extreme points of view, clearly the time is not yet right for a vote. Andre (talk) 01:22, September 13, 2005 (UTC)

Fine. I believe that statement is argumentative. It should be deleted because it's speculative in nature and needs more facts. --Pelladon 01:30, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean by argumentative. However, it could use some sources. I will try to find some. Andre (talk) 01:35, September 13, 2005 (UTC)

Argumentative - given to debate, dispute. Until you find the sources, it needs to be removed. And not relocating to another section (Impact).--Pelladon 02:03, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

That isn't policy. It remains until there is consensus to keep or remove it, which I think we will have once I find the sources. Andre (talk) 14:30, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

How can *you* put that statement in without sources?? Where did you get it from in the first place??? --Pelladon 17:16, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

I didn't add the statement. Please calm down. I just think it's valid. Andre (talk) 19:51, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

Okay I apologize for attributing you to that statement. But there's no facts or sources to back it up. I want to put a dispute or NPOV banner on that section. --Pelladon 20:09, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

To what end? We're already in the midst of a dispute discussion. Why not just wait a day or two to see if there are sources for it? Andre (talk) 20:22, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

Maybe it should be reworded so that people know it wasn't the SOLE influence. I think the person who wrote that is ignorant of the existance of Rogue and Rogue-like, and their online counterparts called MUD's, those have more influence to MMORPG's, in my opinion. Actually you could say they're the grandparents of today's MMORPG's. FistOfFury 21:47, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

Disputed

The historic influence of Gauntlet can be seen in later dungeon crawler games such as Cadash, Dungeon Explorer, Dark Seal, and Diablo to name just a select few. Though by no means was Gauntlet the only influence on these games, it clearly left a mark on them. Additionally, Gauntlet and its brethren arguably laid the foundation for the MMORPG genre.

No sources or facts. Recommend deletion. --Pelladon 20:20, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

Um, me too. While it was a groundbreaking game, I think the statements are unfounded (as I said originally). — Frecklefoot | Talk 21:25, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

Frecklefoot was right. Gauntlet was a successful game, but after GII, it faded fast. Why put this section in with no basis or facts? Influence Cadash? Cadash was a platform game, no resemblance at all. Diablo really came from the Warcraft engine, Blizzard did things in-house. Blizzard didn't need Gauntlet. Andre, if you want to wait for sources, you're in for a very long wait. --Pelladon 02:15, 16 September 2005 (UTC)

Why did you write this all again? Andre (talk) 21:28, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

it was good game, but change it so dat ppl think that it was inspiration eg "it is often said in the gothic community that its magic"

Per this discussion, I removed the following section:

===History===

Gauntlet is based on the Dungeons and Dragons inspired video game Dandy, created for the Atari 8-bit family of computers by then-student John Howard Palevich, and published by the Atari Program Exchange in 1983. From the game's title screen: "Dandy is a user extendable real time animated adventure game for a team of one to four players." Dandy was later released as "Dark Chambers" for the Atari 2600, Atari 7800 and XEGS video game systems in 1988 (although it retained the 1983 copyright).

Once again, no citations, no source, just an unfounded claim. While it probably was inspired by Dungeons and Dragons, as were tons of things in the 80s, there is no evidence it was inpired by another video game which was inspired by D&D. Unless it's cited from somewhere, it should remain out, IMHO. — Frecklefoot | Talk 15:00, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

NOTE: User 65.35.133.189 deleted my discussion in the History section (why??) — Pelladon 02:36, 18 May 2006 (UTC):

How come there's no mention of Gauntlet's origins. Ed Logg was inspired by John Palevich's game called Dandy. When Palevich saw Gauntlet, he considered litigation but settled for a free Gauntlet machine. In 1988 Atari re-published Dandy for the 2600, 7800 and XE as Dark Chambers.--Pelladon 21:02, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

Frecklfoot, Dandy was in fact inspired by D&D. Proving this is as simple as saying "Dandy" and "D&D" out loud. And Gauntlet was directly inspired by Dandy. Both these facts are matters of public record, and easily verifiable via Google. Clayhalliwell 06:09, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Geez, fine, but find a reputable source for it and link to it. You can't say "Look on Google to verify this" in the article. Find it, link to it (as a cite), and then we'll be done with it. But you can't just link to any old thing (like someone's blog or The Weekly World News). You have to link to something that actually has some veracity. — Frecklefoot | Talk 17:08, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Here you go:

http://www.arcade-history.com/index.php?page=detail&id=938

http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/50

http://www.dadgum.com/giantlist/older-news.html

http://www.atariprotos.com/7800/software/darkchambers/darkchambers.htm

Also, the guy who wrote Dandy has a blog here-- http://spaces.msn.com/grammerjack/, in case anyone with an MS Passport account feels like contacting him. Clayhalliwell 15:28, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Although there was a threatened lawsuit surrounding the origins of this game, the dispute was settled without a suit actually being filed. It's more than a bit of a stretch to say that Gauntlet was re-released as Dark Chambers, considering Gauntlet II was released prior to this release. Further, John Palovich has not been credited on any Gauntlet title. Longobord 17:20, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

clones?

Given the popularity of this game, I'm very surprised that there aren't a number of Gauntlet clones. Or are there? They should be mentioned. ⇔ ChristTrekker 17:35, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

There was a rash of Gauntlet clones for home computers shortly before and parallel with the official home computer conversions - a notable case was the Electric Dreams version of Dandy, a Gauntlet clone based on the pre-Gauntlet game that Gauntlet was itself a clone of. Apart from dross such as Storm and Mr Weems and the She Vampires the only notable one that springs to mind was Garrison,[1] which isn't really all that notable. I think a single sentence to the effect of e.g. "there were several unofficial home computer clones, including TITLE X and TITLE Y" would be enough. Gauntlet-style games were presumably easy to program, although without the multi-player aspect they all died a death within a couple of years. The only vaguely similar arcade title was Sega's Quartet, and then only because it had four-player support. -Ashley Pomeroy (talk) 19:52, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

The ZX Spectrum magazine CRASH did a feature on "Gauntlet Clones" [2], mentioning Dandy, Druid, Storm, Avenger, Ranarama, How to Be a Hero and Into the Eagle's Nest. This is a useful source for expanding the article. (I also fondly remember a slick Codemasters clone called Ninja Massacre [3]). Marasmusine (talk) 19:50, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Soundtrack

The computer game version I used to own used portions of Basil Poledouris' score for Conan the Barbarian, the 1982 fantasy film. Was this music also used in the arcade version, and if so was it officially licensed? -Ashley Pomeroy (talk) 17:33, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

There was no music in the arcade versions other than the title screen music and the level-intermission music which itself is a shortened version of the title theme. The only other peice for music is the music used int he treasure rooms if I remember right. Other than that the game was sound effects only. - Usx9 (talk) 10:00, 16 December 2011 (UTC)

True, but soundtrack of several original compositions was added to Gauntlet IV for the Sega Genesis. Gauntlet IV is a port of the original Gauntlet plus an added Quest Mode of separate mazes. The soundtrack plays in both classic Gauntlet game mode and in Quest mode. It can optionally be toggled off, but is on by default. Tengen published Gauntlet IV. 76.122.221.218 (talk) 16:04, 18 January 2019 (UTC)

Speech

While I'm at it, the article states that the speech was produced by a Texas Instruments TMS5220C speech chip. Reading that article I am unsure as to whether the speech was computer-generated, or resampled from a human voiceover; in the latter case, it would be an impressive coup if someone could track down the original narrator, and provide a reference. Presumably he was a chap who worked at Atari (I'm guessing that the Elf's voice was the narrator's voice at a higher pitch). -Ashley Pomeroy (talk) 17:53, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

The first line in the article you linked contains this line: "The Texas Instruments LPC Speech Chips are a series of speech synthesizer DSP ICs created by Texas Instruments beginning in 1978". Synthesized, thus meaning there isn't a voice actor. The LPC Speach used synthesis to make the voices, not waveforms. - Usx9 (talk) 10:02, 16 December 2011 (UTC)

Factual error

"It is noted as the first class-based multiplayer game as well as the first arcade game that could support four players playing simultaneously" This is clearly wrong. Indy 800 (1975) and Sprint 8 (1977) supported up to (including 4) 8 players at the same time. If we talk about strict 4 player games, how about Sprint 4 from 1977? I don't know what game was the first to do this, but it certainly wasn't Gauntlet. 83.248.40.112 (talk) 02:15, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

Reworded it per what's actually in the reference - that's it the first cooperative multiplayer game. Though technically this might be out as well becuase there were earlier two player cooperative games. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 03:34, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

Near-death messages

While NetHack normally warns "You hear the howling of the CwnAnnwn" or "You hear the wailing of the Banshee", if you are playing one of the classes that also exists in Gauntlet (Valkyrie, Wizard or Elf) it uses the Gauntlet equivalents, i.e. "... your life force is running out" (low health) "... all of your powers will be lost" (low health with extra ability) "... is about to die". --82.18.68.176 (talk) 18:38, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

Edit regarding origin dispute

I am no Gauntlet historian, but I was surprised to read about the origin dispute - it said that while Ed Logg was originally credited as creator, he later was bumped to just "special thanks" and then removed entirely from the credits of subsequent releases, including the NES version, and that he currently denies any involvement with the Gauntlet series. A quick Google search turned up tons of articles crediting him as designer of the original (which of course didn't contradict anything in the wiki page), so I decided to go straight to the source and read the article cited regarding his denial of involvement with the series. This article actually said no such thing, actually crediting him in its introduction as having helped him create the original Gauntlet, and he specifically denies involvement with the NES version, which is very different from never working on any version of the game - changed that sentence to reflect this. I don't know Ed Logg personally so obviously evidence to the contrary can and should override this change, but at least the wiki article now accurately reflects its own sources - and every other source I could find in ~15 mins of Googling/reading (admittedly no expert here). 72.229.22.173 (talk) 05:47, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

Cabinet width

I don't like this statement as written: "To accommodate up to four players, the cabinet is wider than other standard uprights." -- The control panel is a couple inches wider, but that's all. The cabinet width is normal. The fact that 4 players should be allowed enough floor space in order to comfortably stand around 3 different sides of the cabinet does not make the cabinet wider than normal. In fact, I recall seeing somewehere, (perhaps even in the manual?), that the cabinet was touted to operators as being of normal width after the control panel is removed, to facilitate transportation. - Dave H., Feb 25, 2014.

It's fine to add that if you can find a reference. I remember seeing this in the arcade when it first came out and it sure seemed wider. There is a chance that the initial games were wider, but then modified into slimmer cabinets for later releases. It's something worth looking into.

A couple of things:

1. When posting on the talk page, add new topics at the bottom of the page (I moved this discussion for you).
2. To sign your posts, type four tildes (~~~~). This automatically signs your name and adds a timestamp.

Thanks, and happy editing! — Frεcklεfσσt | Talk 13:51, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

OK. But I already know there is no chance of varied 4-player cabinet sizes. "Seemed wider", as you say, is a design illusion. I own one, and my base cabinet width is a standard 25 1/4" wide. Atari's spec is 29 1/8" wide, as the control panel adds approx 2" overhang on each side. I'm going to change "cabinet" to "control panel" for now. As a current hands-on contributor to classic arcade game events, shows and media, I believe it is important to respect Atari's accomplishment with its design of this cabinet... accomodating 4 players while still maintaining a standard base cabinet width. The original statement just doesn't respect that at all. 72.95.161.130 (talk) 12:06, 27 February 2014 (UTC)

That's fine with me, since the previous statement was unreferenced as well. If you're going to continue contributing to Wikipedia (and I hope you do!), please create a (free) user account. It gives you more privacy that the bare IP address you get now. Thanks! — Frεcklεfσσt | Talk 15:12, 27 February 2014 (UTC)

2014 remake

Has anyone read much about the remake that's coming this summer? Here's a link [4], although I haven't read much of interest about it yet. --Papa November (talk) 16:52, 30 March 2014 (UTC)

Suggestions for adding to the pop culture section

In Minecraft, one of the splashes that appears on the main menu is "Blue warrior shot the food!" I think this would make a nice addition, perhaps with a note adding that the splash is incorrect, because the Warrior's signature color is red, not blue. Kyleundercofler (talk) 01:43, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

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