Conan: Hall of Volta (or simply Conan on the box cover and title screen) is a platform game from American developers Eric Robinson and Eric Parker and published by Datasoft in 1984. It is based on the character Conan created by Robert E. Howard. This game was originally written for the Apple II and ported to the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers.
Released in 1984, the game's launch coincided with the debut of the film Conan the Destroyer. The box shows a painting of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the muscular warrior with his new costume for Destroyer. Despite this attempted tie-in, the game has little to do with the film besides the Cimmerian in the title role, having originally been designed as a boomerang-throwing game titled Visigoth. One of the screenshots on the back of the box is from a prototype version and shows a boomerang instead of a sword.Digital Press Easter Eggs
Gameplay
The player controls Conan as he attacks the evil Volta in his castle fortress. Conan is armed with 10 boomerang swords. From time to time, Conan may be aided by an "Avian Ally" as he tries to defeat Volta's sinister hordes, which includes bats, scorpions, giant ants, fire-breathing dragons and floating eyeballs.
The game includes seven diverse levels requiring the player to navigate lava pits, geysers, spike pits, and floating platforms. Along the way, the player often needs to collect magic gems or keys in order to progress.
In the game, Conan does not jump, he somersaults. If he falls, he launches into a dive.
One innovate and original feature of the game's time was a random close-up picture that would be shown upon the player's last death. For example, dying in the first level might show a close-up picture of a bat with the caption "Bats in your Belfry". Deaths in other levels would yield a picture of a hazard unique to that level. Each level has 4 possible random death messages that can be shown:
1a: Back to Cimmeria barbarian!! 1b: Bats in your belfry 1c: Your Struggles are in Vain 1d: Your odyssey has ended before it had begun 2a: A watery barrier 2b: Quest terminated 2c: There is no glory for you here 2d: You withdraw battered and torn 3a: Death at thy feet, life from above... 3b: You beat a heated retreat... 3c: Only a cleric can help you now 3d: You Succumb to Lassitude 4a: Thus, the story ended... 4b: Conan's Bane! 4c: The End 4d: You sink slowly into a peaceful bliss 5a: You shuffle off defeated for now 5b: To be continued... 5c: Adveture's End... [NOTE: Adventure is misspelt.] 5d: The glow from the pyre lights the room 6a: The eyes have it 6b: Thy fate is sealed 6c: A Shocking End 6d Crom awaits 7a: Volta's minions take you to the Loph-ka slave pits 7b: Volta is victorious 7c: You retire more dead than alive 7d: The Crimson Orb recedes on your horizon
Technical Information
Conan was one of the earliest games to use a software 1-bit Stencil buffer for masking foreground and background objects.
Release In Bulgaria, where Conan the Barbarian was generally unknown, the Apple II version was translated into Bulgarian and distributed by ZMD Pazarjik under the name "Добрия рицар" (The Good Knight).
Reception
References