The Citadel of Chaos

The Citadel of Chaos
Title screen of the game
Game No.	559
Voting	4.00 points, 1 votes
Developer	Darryl K. Mattocks, Simon J. Ball
Company	Puffin Books Ltd.
Publisher	Puffin Books Ltd.
Musician	B. Robinson
HVSC-File	/GAMES/A-F/Citadel_of_Chaos.sid
Release	1984
Platform	C64, ZX Spectrum
Genre	Adventure
Gamemode	Single player
Operation
Media
Language
Information	Series: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (Forerunner; ZX Spectrum only) The Forest of Doom

Description

In the game *The Citadel of Chaos*, the player takes on the role of a wizard's apprentice tasked with protecting the peaceful Vale of Willows — ruled by the benevolent King Salomon — by seeking out and defeating the evil wizard Balthus Dire, who is intent on launching an attack from his fortress. The program unfolds the story of this adventure section by section, requiring the player to make repeated decisions regarding the use of spells, the path to take, and how to deal with the mythical creatures and situations encountered in the citadel's various rooms.

If the player character succeeds in reaching Balthus Dire and defeating him, the mission is successfully completed and peace is restored to the Vale of Willows. Otherwise, the player must try their luck again at a later time.

The narrative, beginning with the ascent to the citadel, appears gradually on a scroll.

At the start of the game, the player character's abilities are determined by rolling dice.

A battle against an evenly matched opponent consumes a great deal of time and energy.

Backstory

The game begins immediately with the player character — clad in leather armor, armed with a sword, and equipped with a torch and a backpack — setting off for the citadel of the evil wizard Balthus Dire. The backstory is not narrated within the game itself but can be found in a separate program named "THE STORY" on the disk:

The lawful goodfolk of the Vale of Willow have lived for some eight years in awe and fear of the demi-sorcerer Balthus Dire. In awe - since his power is truly awesome - and in fear since word leaked from his domain that his ambitious plans of conquest were to commence with the vale itself. A faithful half-elf sent on a spying mission to the Black Tower came galloping back to the vale three days ago with a frantic warning. From within the caverns of Craggen Rock, Balthus Dire had recruited an army of chaotics and was preparing them to attack the vale within the week.

The good king Salamon was a man of action. Messengers were sent throughout the vale that day to prepare defences and to summon the menfolk to action. Riders had also been sent to the great forest of Yore to warn the half-elves that lived there and to make an appeal to allied forces. King Salamon was also a wise man. He knew well that the news would inevitably reach the grand wizard of Yore, a white sorcerer of great power, who lived deep within the forest. The wizard was old, and would not last through a battle of this magnitude. But he schooled a number of young magicians, and perhaps one of his students in the magic arts with courage and ambition would aid the king and his subjects...

You are the star pupil of the grand wizard of Yore. He has been a difficult master and your own impatience has often got the better of you. Perhaps a little too headstrong, you left immediately for the court of king Salamon. The king welcomed you enthusiastically and explained his plan. The battle could be avoided without bloodshed if Balthus were to be assassinated before his army could be amassed.

The mission ahead of you is extremely perilous. Balthus Dire is surrounded, in his citadel, by a multitude of appalling creatures. Although magic is your strongest weapon, there will be times when you must rely on your sword to survive. King Salamon has briefed you on your mission and warned you of the dangers that lie ahead. One way through the citadel is the best for you to take. If you discover it, you will be successful with a minimum of personal risk. It may take you several trips to find the easiest way through. You leave the Vale of Willow on your long hike to the Black Tower. At the foot of the hill of Craggen Rock, you can see its outline against the dark sky.

A spell must be entered quickly and without error to take effect.

Subsequently, the player character's characteristics are determined — partly by rolling dice and partly by the player. The amount of magic allocated in this process can subsequently be exchanged for various spells, which can be invoked later in the game using their three-letter designations (listed at the start of each line below):

• "COP": CREATURE COPY: Duplicates a monster and places the mirror image under the player's control
• "ESP": E.S.P. (Extrasensory Perception): Grants the powers of mind-reading and clairvoyance
• "FIR": FIRE: Creates fire of any shape or size
• "FLG": FOOL'S GOLD: Temporarily transforms ordinary rock into gold
• "ILL": ILLUSION: Briefly creates an illusion, such as transforming the player character's appearance
• "LEV": LEVITATION: Causes objects, enemies, or the player character to float
• "LUK": LUCK: Increases the "LUCK" attribute by half of its initial value
• "SHD": SHIELDING: Protects against visible threats, particularly enemies and their weapons
• "SKL": SKILL: Increases the "SKILL" attribute by half of its initial value
• "STM": STAMINA: Increases the "STAMINA" attribute by half its initial value
• "STR": STRENGTH: Increases strength for a single action, though potentially to excess
• "WKN": WEAKNESS: Drains some of the strength from most monsters

Once the player has fully assembled their collection of spells, the continuation of the story appears on the screen:

The sun sets. As twilight turns to darkness you start your climb up the hill towards that forbidding shape silhouetted against the night sky. The citadel is less than an hours climb. Some distance from its walls you stop to rest - a mistake, as it seems a fearful spectre from which there is no escape. The hairs on your neck prickle as you look towards it. But you are ashamed of your fears. With grim resolve you march onwards towards the main gate, where you know guards will be waiting. You consider your options. You have already thought about claiming to be a herbalist, come to treat a guard with a fever. You could pose as a trader or an artisan - perhaps a carpenter. You could even be a nomad seeking shelter for the night.

As you ponder the possibilities, and the yarns you will have to spin to the guards, you reach the main trail leading up to the gates. Two lanterns burn on either side of the portcullis. You hear muffled grunts as you approach, and two mis-shapen creatures step forward. On the left stands an ugly creature with the head of a dog and the body of a great ape, flexing its powerful arms. Its opposite number is indeed its opposite, with the head of an ape on the body of a large dog. This latter guard approaches you on all fours. It stops some metres in front of you, raises itself on its hind legs and addresses you.

The game proper begins once you choose one of the three possible stories your character can tell the guard.

The first decision on the path to the evil wizard Balthus Dire

Daring or caution — that is the question here

In the various corridors of the castle tower, there may be up to three paths to choose from

Background

The game is an almost exact adaptation of the book of the same name by author Steve Jackson. The reader — like the player of the computer game — must make decisions from time to time and continue reading at different points depending on those choices: The book's 400 sections are numbered sequentially, allowing the reader to be directed to the next section via a specific number — based, for instance, on a decision made or the outcome of a battle.

The book and game correspond closely. The method of determining the outcome of confrontations and tricky situations using dice is also identical in both the book and the game; however, in the electronic version, the computer handles the dice rolling and the calculation of Skill, Luck, Stamina, and Magic, whereas the reader of the book must perform these tasks manually using two dice, a pencil, and paper.

One of the details distinguishing the book from the computer game is that, in the printed edition, the apprentice wizard must find his own way back out of the wizard's citadel after successfully completing his mission, whereas in the game, a magical flying carpet awaits to carry him to safety.

Design

The individual episodes of the adventure — which the player experiences and influences through their choices — are gradually narrated on a scroll that occupies the top two-thirds of the screen. The bottom third is reserved for displaying the alternative courses of action among which the player must repeatedly choose.

Whenever the player's inventory changes — whether through acquiring or losing an item, eating a meal, or drinking a magic potion — the screen display switches to show the game character's attributes. This switch also occurs whenever a new section of the program loads.

If an encounter with a mythical creature from the citadel leads to combat, a dedicated screen appears for this as well: Briefly, the display shows an image of the opponent, the attributes of both combatants, and information regarding the progress of the fight.

Sound

Numerous game situations are accompanied by pleasant, polyphonic melodies. In addition, specific events are underscored by short, simple sound effects — for instance, a change in the inventory is marked by the audio sequence shown in the left-hand illustration of the gallery below, while the casting of a spell is represented by the waveform shown on the right.

Sound effect upon acquiring an item (2.9 s)

Menacing wail during the casting of a spell (10.5 s). The jumps in the audio waveform indicate the moments when a letter of the spell was entered.

Hints

The game begins with the player ascending to the citadel of the wizard Balthus Dire — in accordance with the backstory — to defeat him before he can launch his campaign of conquest against the peaceful Vale of Willows.

The program then determines the player character's attributes by "rolling dice": Skill is calculated as the sum of 6 and the result of a single die roll (a value between 7 and 12); Stamina (or energy) as the sum of 12 and the results of two dice (a range of 14 to 24); Luck again as the sum of 6 and a single die roll (between 7 and 12); and finally, Magic as the sum of 12 and a single die roll (between 13 and 18). The values ​​determined in this way not only establish the character's initial attributes but also set the maximum limits that the character cannot exceed throughout the game.

Finally, the player can name their character and choose a bottle containing a magic potion — which will later provide a one-time boost to Stamina, Skill, or Luck — before the mission begins.

The story of this adventure is then told in segments. After each section of text, the player makes a choice from the available options by pressing a number key; often, only a single course of action is offered — such as "CONTINUE" or "YOU MUST FIGHT THE..."

Screen Layout

The following illustration shows the screen layout while navigating the citadel: the story unfolds on a scroll, with the player's available actions for the current situation listed below. The numbers preceding each option indicate the key to press to select that action.

Typical scene while navigating the citadel

The next image shows the screen layout when casting a spell. The player wishes to cast a fire spell and has already entered the first two characters, `FI`, of the required code.

Typical scene while casting a spell — in this case, a fire spell

Finally, the last image in this section shows a typical combat scene — specifically, a fight against the Rhino-Man, who is just as skilled as the player (both opponents have a "Skill" rating of 8). Round by round, the computer rolls two dice for each combatant and calculates the sum of their Skill rating and the dice result. Comparing these sums (in this case, 8 + (2 + 4) = 14 for the player and 8 + (2 + 1) = 11 for the opponent) determines the outcome of the round (here: "YOU HIT IT, IT LOSES 2 STAMINA POINTS").

A typical scene during combat — in this instance, against the Rhino-Man.

Situations that hinge on luck are also resolved using dice. Two dice are rolled, and the player's current Luck score is compared to the total of the numbers rolled. If the Luck score is equal to or higher than the rolled total, the player is lucky; otherwise, they are unlucky. After any such resolution — regardless of the outcome — the player's Luck score decreases by 1. The table below shows the probability of the player being lucky in such a situation, based on their current Luck score:

Luck points of the player	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2
Probability for being lucky	100%	97,2 %	91,7%	83,3%	72,2%	58,3%	41,7%	27,8%	16,7%	8,3%	2,8%

Enemies

Many of the creatures dwelling within the citadel are hostile toward the player-controlled apprentice wizard. In some cases, an encounter can be avoided by quickly passing through the room or by appeasing the opponent with a gift. However, combat sometimes ensues; the outcome depends on the player's own Stamina and Skill (STAMINA and SKILL scores) as well as the number, stamina, and skill of their opponents.

The following gallery displays all the adversaries lurking within the citadel. If the player character must face a group of identical enemies, the number is indicated beforehand; the values ​​for Stamina and Skill appear in parentheses after the name. Groups of opponents do not always share uniform attributes; in such cases, the minimum and maximum values ​​are listed within the parentheses.

Dogape and Apedog (4, 5)

Dwarf, Goblin and Orc (4–9, 6–8)

Gark (8, 7)

Clawbeast (7, 9)

Balthus Dire (16, 12)

2× Wheelies (5–6, 6–7)

Golem (10, 8)

Sewer snake (7, 6) Pool snake

Black elf (4, 8) Night elf

Spider man (5, 7) Spider dwarf

Controls

In addition to the number keys used to select an action, the following keys are active during the game — though not during active combat:

• D : Drop and leave behind an item currently in your inventory
• F : Consume a meal from your inventory and — provided the maximum limit is not exceeded — gain 4 stamina points
• M : Configure sound output: full (music and sound effects) / partial (sound effects only) / no sound; loud / quiet; one-time / continuous
• S : Cast the spell chosen during initial setup (for Skill, Stamina, or Luck)
• I : Cast a Skill spell ("SKL")
• O : Cast a Strength spell ("STM")
• P : Cast a Luck spell ("LUK")
• A : Display spells useful in the current situation; costs one spell usage
• Q : Toggle between slow and fast text display
• SPACE : Temporarily toggle text display speed while the key is held down — for example, to quickly scan a familiar passage of text when the display is otherwise set to slow.
  Additionally, pressing this key switches from the character stats screen back to the scroll where the story narrative continues.
• F1 : Return to the scroll — especially after completing a battle — and resume the game
• F3 : Switch to the page displaying character attributes and carried items
• F5 : Switch to the spellcasting page
• F7 : Switch to a notepad for recording important details during the game

Tips

• Both the paths through the citadel and the locations of all characters remain the same in every game. To solve the adventure, it is therefore helpful to gradually create a map of the castle, marking down all paths, encounters, and discoveries. Alternatively, a complete map without any gameplay hints can be found here: File:CitadelOfChaos Map noHint.pdf.
• The journey begins at the castle gate guard and proceeds step-by-step to the wizard Balthus Dire, located in the tower room at the very top of the castle. The program offers no way to backtrack along the route. Consequently, parallel paths represent alternatives, only one of which can be chosen.
• In most cases, you will only discover when the spells offered at the start are useful through trial and error. It is therefore advisable — especially when first getting to know the game — to learn spells on a hunch and note down where they prove useful. This allows you to determine later which spells are actually required to complete the adventure.
• The importance of the Luck, Stamina, and Skill stats cannot be objectively defined. It is up to the player to decide whether the initially assigned attributes are sufficient for the planned undertaking or whether it is better to restart the game in hopes of getting better stats. However, since some crucial decisions in the game's final stages hinge on luck, the author of this article prioritizes a high LUCK value — and, ideally, a high SKILL value as well.
• Since the "LUK" luck spell (triggered by the P  key) does not function correctly — at least in the only version of the game available online — it is advisable to select the "FORTUNE" potion at the start of the game that can be used once using the S  key; this ensures you are prepared for decisions that rely on luck.

Solution

Beating the game involves learning the right spells, choosing the correct paths at every junction while navigating the citadel, and reacting appropriately when encountering mythical creatures. There are multiple alternative routes to victory at various points; the following sections therefore provide a detailed description of the shortest possible path to success, requiring the minimum number of combat encounters determined by dice rolls.

Map

The following illustration shows the complete map of the game; a PDF version can be found here: File:CitadelOfChaos Map PDF.pdf. Broad horizontal and vertical lines represent paths through the citadel; characters and locations are marked as rectangular text boxes. Characters and locations that are inevitably encountered along a path are marked directly on the line in question, whereas avoidable encounters are indicated by a text box beside the path. Opponents that can be fought are also depicted above the text box. To clearly link the various paths to specific choices, boxes containing numbers on a light-green background indicate the answer to be selected.

The solution path is marked by a red line. It begins at the bottom edge (at the castle gate guard) and ends at the top edge (at the top of the tower, in the wizard Balthus Dire's room). Only horizontal lines and lines leading upwards may be traversed. Since the citadel's dungeon can be reached from several points, it is positioned centrally; paths leading to it terminate at a grey-shaded box labeled "Dungeon", indicated by an arrow.

Step by Step

When equipping your character, you should aim for a high LUCK score; if the value is very low, you might consider restarting the game. This is because, even if you follow the instructions below, the attempt to complete the game could still fail simply because your character lacks luck in two crucial situations in succession. Therefore, among the three spells offered to the character at the start of the game, you should choose the "SPELL OF FORTUNE".

The following spells — some of which are needed more than once — are required for the solution to the game described below:

• 3 × "COP" (CREATURE COPY)
• 1 × "ESP" (E.S.P, EXTRASENSORY PERCEPTION)
• 1 × "LEV" (LEVITATION)
• 1 × "SHD" (SHIELDING)
• 1 × "WKN" (WEAKNESS)
• 1 × "STR" (STRENGTH)

After learning these essential spells, any remaining magic can be used to equip yourself with Stamina ("STM") or Skill ("SKL") spells. A "FLG" (FOOL'S GOLD) spell can be useful for bribing the castle inhabitants later with the counterfeit gold.

Next, make your way to the citadel and the evil wizard Balthus Dire. To do this, you must make the specific choices listed in the table below.

Taste	Beschreibung	Bemerkungen
1	POSE AT A HERBALIST	There is indeed a guard named "KYLLTROG"; the other names are unknown to the guards or at least seem suspicious to them. Alternatively, you can pose as a craftsman or a wanderer, though in either case you will need the spell "FLG" (FOOL'S GOLD) to bribe the guards with counterfeit gold.
1	KYLLTROG
3	TIPTOE THROUGH THE SHADOWS.	By talking to the creatures at the campfire, you learn the password "SCIMITAR" for the castle tower. Combat earns you a jar of ointment, which you will need later to bribe the otherwise invincible Ganjees.
2	APPROACH THE FIRESIDE GROUP.
1	SIT DOWN BY THE FIRE.
1	PRESS THEM ABOUT THE VIAL.
2	DRAW YOUR SWORD.
1	GO TOWARDS THE CITADEL.	If you learned the optional "FLG" (FOOL'S GOLD) spell at the start of the game, you can alternatively make a detour to the two men and use the fake gold to acquire a magic dagger that boosts your combat strength. This requires using the selection keys: 2 = "HEAD TOWARDS THE TWO MEN.", 3 = "10 GOLD PIECES.", 1+"FLG" = "USE A SPELL."
1	IGNORE HER AND CONTINUE.	The female whirlwind delights in annoying passing figures and leaves them alone once she has succeeded.
1	MAKE YOUR ANGER OBVIOUS.
1	KNOCK 3 TIMES FOR THE GUARD.	The password "SCIMITAR" is known from the conversation with the characters by the fire in the courtyard.
1	GIVE IT THE PASSWORD.
1	SCIMITAR.
1	GO FORWARDS TO THE DOOR.	If you open the door instead of ringing for the butler, it triggers an alarm bell that summons two knife-wielding Wheelies.
1	RING THE BELL.
1	TAKE THE RIGHT FORK.
2	CONTINUE UP THE PASSAGE.
2	GO RIGHT.	You have an unlimited number of attempts to force the door open, so the Spell of Fortune (key S ) should only be used in the event of persistent failure. The strength expended during the attempt can be regained afterwards by eating a strengthening meal in the pantry — or, if necessary, by consuming a meal in the meantime (key F ).
1	CHARGE THE DOOR.
ggf. 1	TRY AGAIN.
1	TRY SOME FOOD.	The overripe cheese is the only food item that provides the game character with a boost without any risk.
3	TRY A SLICE OF CHEESE.
2	TAKE THE OPPOSITE DOOR.
3	TRY TO START A CONVERSATION.	In the source material, the otherwise invincible Ganjees can be intimidated by the protection offered by the scouts (an amulet with a sun jewel); however, this is not the case in the game. Therefore, if the player character has not yet regained their maximum potential abilities, asking for a boost is the best choice.
1	TAKE UP THEIR OFFER.
3 or 4	ASK HOW TO AVOID THE GANJEES. or REQUEST RELIEF FROM FATIGUE.
3	GIVE HIM NOTHING.
2	TAKE THE OTHER DOOR.	The staircase on the left leads to the castle dungeon.
2	TAKE THE RIGHT-HAND STAIRS.
1	TRY THE DOOR TO THE LEFT.
2+"STR"	CAST A SPELL TO OPEN IT.	Forcing the door open using the "STR" (STRENGTH) spell costs two Stamina points but saves Luck points for later situations. If the player character's Luck points are not at their maximum value, one should activate the Fortune spell at this point using the S  key.
3	TELL HER YOU HAVE A GIFT.	The fleece, which can potentially be stolen while the elf is busy with the hairbrush, later distracts the hydra.
2	A HAIRBRUSH.
1	TAKE THE LEFT-HAND DOOR.	The chest is extremely difficult to reach, but contains only a few worthless shotgun pellets.
1	WALK AROUND TO THE OTHER DOOR.
2	LOOK FOR AN ARTEFACT TO USE.	The Ganjees are immune to weapons and spells but can be bribed with healing ointment — and, in the book, intimidated by an amulet containing a sun jewel.
3	A JAR OF OINTMENT.
3	USE AN ITEM FROM YOUR PACK.	If the theft of the Golden Fleece from the elf's room was successful, it can be used to distract the hydra.
2	A GOLDEN FLEECE.
2+"COP"	USE A SPELL.	If the theft of the Golden Fleece from the elf's room was unsuccessful, the hydra can — with a bit of luck — be defeated by a double. If you haven't already done so, you should now activate the luck spell using the S  key.
1+"COP"	CAST ANOTHER SPELL.
1+"COP"	CAST ANOTHER SPELL.
1	ENTER THE COMBINATION.	The code "217" mentioned in a book in the library is valid only within the underlying book. In the game, however, Balthus Dire changed the combination on that very day.
3	444.
1+"SHD"	CAST A SPELL.	—
2+"WKN"	CAST A SPELL.
1+"ESP"	CAST A SPELL.	The "LEV" spell does not work in this situation without the preceding "ESP" spell.
1+"LEV"	CAST A SPELL.
3	OVER TO THE WINDOW.	The sunlight streaming into the room after the curtain is torn down weakens Balthus Dire and ultimately kills him. Details about this vulnerability of the wizard can be found in a book in the library.
2	THROW A DRAPE OVER HIS HEAD.

Ending

Once the player has reached Balthus Dire's tower room and defeated the evil wizard, the adventure draws to a happy conclusion:

The happy ending of the story

Balthus Dire lying at your feet, is dead. Your mission has been completed! The Vale of Willow is safe from attack - for the time being at least. To make sure his plan is destroyed, you take the drapes from the window and spread them across the table on which his battle plan is laid out. Taking a candle, you set fire to the rich curtains. as the flames lick the table you consider your own escape. After a cursory inspection of the room you are glad to see that a magnificent rug lying on the floor is identified by the cabalistic symbols woven into it as a magical flying carpet. Jumping on to it you utter a word of command and float out through the window to the safety of the ground below.

Congratulations! You have defeated Balthus Dire and saved the vale of willow. You may now retire victorious. Yet there are many dimensions of fantasy and perhaps in one Balthus Dire still makes his dastardly plans of conquest.

Cheats

With an initial SKILL of only 7, a battle against the Fire Demon is difficult to win.

There are no cheats available online. However, if you prefer not to rely on luck — hoping for at least halfway decent stats for your character at the start of each game — you can choose the crack by Thundercats from CSDb or from "c64.com", load the main program "CIT*", and then proceed as follows:

• The machine code is compressed, so it cannot be directly manipulated via POKE commands immediately after loading. Instead, you can ensure the program merely unpacks the machine code and then returns control to the user by entering the following BASIC commands and pressing RETURN  after each:

POKE 41676,55 : POKE 41679,0 : RUN

• As soon as you exit the cracktro by pressing the SPACE  key, the machine code is unpacked. The program then performs a warm start and displays "READY.". Now, enter one or more of the following command lines:

POKE 36771,169 : POKE 36772,18 : REM SET SKILL ALWAYS TO 12 (BCD) AT THE START INSTEAD OF RANDOM
POKE 36823,169 : POKE 36824,36 : REM SET STAMINA ALWAYS TO 24 (BCD) AT THE START INSTEAD OF RANDOM
POKE 36885,169 : POKE 36886,18 : REM SET SKILL ALWAYS TO 12 (BCD) AT THE START INSTEAD OF RANDOM
POKE 36941,169 : POKE 36942,24 : REM SET MAGIC ALWAYS TO 18 (BCD) AT THE START INSTEAD OF RANDOM

If you also wish to influence the course of the game in ways that would not occur naturally, you can opt for one or more of the following manipulations:

POKE 47219,0 : POKE 47220,234  : REM DO NOT REDUCE THE NUMBER OF MEALS; EAT EVEN IF THE COUNT IS 0
POKE 51123,37 : POKE 51135,44  : REM SPELLS ARE NOT CONSUMED

• Finally, start the game using the command SYS 33424.

Internal Data Structures

Knowledge of memory layout and internal operations is helpful for developing your own trainer functions and for analyzing or manipulating the data used by the game. The following table therefore compiles a range of information about "The Citadel of Chaos".

Adresse	Inhalt	Wertebereich	Bemerkungen
$919F	maximum Magic	13..18	BCD format, calculated at the start of the game as 12 + the roll of a die
$91A0	current Magic	0..18	BCD format, determined at the start of the game along with the maximum magic
$97BA	maximum Skill	7..12	BCD format, calculated at the start of the game as 6 + the roll of a die
$97BC	maximum Stamina	14..24	BCD format, calculated at the start of the game as 12 + the sum of two dice
$97BE	maximum Luck	7..12	BCD format, calculated at the start of the game as 6 + the roll of a die
$97C0	current Skill	0..12	BCD format, determined at the start of the game along with maximum dexterity.
$97C2	current Stamina	0..24	BCD format, determined at the start of the game together with maximum stamina
$97C4	current Luck	0..12	BCD format, determined at the start of the game along with maximum luck.
$97C7	number of gold pieces	0..99	BCD format
$97C8	number of meals	0..9	—
$C625..$C638	available spells	$00..$0C	$00=none, $01="COP", $02="ESP", $03="FIR", $04="FLG", $05="ILL" $06="LEV", $07="LUK", $08="SHD", $09="SKL", $0A="STM", $0B="STR", $0C="WKN"

Votes

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
4.00 points at 1 vote. You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
Lemon 64	6,17	August 15, 2026 - 6 votes

Critics

Stephan64: "The Citadel of Chaos is a continuous brawl with various monsters along a chaotic path through a castle. The backstory — which could have given the game purpose and a coherent narrative thread — takes a back seat; consequently, upon successfully completing the mission, the hero does not return to the quest giver king Salomon awaiting him anxiously, but instead flies off on a magic carpet. I give it 4 points for a poorly narrated role-playing game lacking atmosphere, where the only positive aspect is the consistently lovely background music."

Miscellaneous

Cover

The cover image resembles that of the English edition of the book; this can be found, for example, on Wikipedia (see section "Links"). It depicts a monster with black fur and glowing red eyes in front of a castle circled by birds, set against a bright red sky.

Theme

The musical accompaniment consists of the theme tune and five additional polyphonic melodies, all of which are quite lovely. The gallery below displays a selection of these musical pieces in standard musical notation. For creative reuse, the sheet music for all the melodies is also available as a PDF document (File:CitadelOfChaos Theme PDF.pdf) and in ABC music notation (File:CitadelOfChaos Theme.abc.txt).

Accompaniment melody for the intro, reconstructed by logging all write operations to the SID

Accompaniment melodies during the game

Accompaniment melody during the game

Video Recording

Longplay of the game

Bugs

• When you finally say goodbye to the prank-loving goblin in the basement and exit through the door with the bronze handle, the program enters an infinite loop, repeatedly reloading all data blocks in sequence.
• Display errors appear in several places on the screen depicting battles with the citadel's inhabitants. The screenshot gallery below documents an undefined special character and an incorrect abbreviation:

Undefined special character before the description of the combat

"CL;BEAST" instead of a valid abbreviation

• Several minor typos can also be found in the text output. The screenshots below show two linguistic errors and a missing space:

"THEIR" instead of "THERE" in a description (last line)

"THE IT" instead of either "THE DAGGER" or "IT" (last line)

"2SKILL" without a separating space (fifth-to-last line)

Accesories

The book upon which the game is based contains numerous drawings depicting specific scenes from the plot. The following gallery displays these illustrations alongside their original captions. The order is based not on their appearance in the book, but on the sequence of events in the game. For instance, the first illustration in the gallery shows the two guards at the castle gate, while the next two depict scenes in the citadel's courtyard. Some of the subsequent images relate to situations one does not encounter when following the correct walkthrough.

As you approach, you hear a deep grunt and spot two misshapen creatures watching you intently.

As you approach, they pause and turn towards you with unfriendly expressions.

As you draw near, you hear them loudly arguing over the price of a dagger.

​​"Yes, sir — what can I do for you?" he croaks. "I am expected", you reply, walking confidently past him toward the door.

The pattering sound you heard comes from three round creatures rolling towards you along the corridor.

It has two heads engaged in animated conversation, and on one paw, it carries a tray holding a steaming bowl.

Ahead of you, you spot a woman kneeling by the water's edge, washing clothes.

Three small monsters are squatting in the middle of the floor, glaring mockingly at you.

One of the women looks at you and remarks, "Aha, so you must be the new servant... or perhaps the next meal?" At this, all three burst into shrill, cackling laughter.

"How dare you intrude here?" she snaps at you.

Suddenly, a ghostly, glowing white face flutters towards you.

Balthus Dire is standing beside the table, piercing you with his gaze!

Technical Details

Random Numbers

To generate random numbers for the dice rolls, the oscillator of SID Voice 3 is used; its current state can be read from the register at address $D41B. For this purpose, Voice 3 is muted, and the noise generator is activated at a high frequency. The assembler routine responsible for this can be found starting at address $98F8:

98F8: LDA $D41B ; Read the oscillator state of voice 3
98FB: AND #$07  ; and map it to the value range 0–7
98FD: BEQ 98F8  ; Return and get a new random value if 0 (because it is too low)
98FF: CMP #$07  ; Compare against the upper limit of 7
9901: BEQ 98F8  ; Return and get a new random value if 7 (because it is too high)
9903: RTS       ; Return a random number between 1 and 6

The routine is called at the start of the die roll, fixing the result of the throw from that moment on. The generated random numbers are simply incremented a few times within the 1–6 range during the rolling animation itself. Ultimately, the face value for the first die is the random number from the routine minus 1 (where a random number of 1 becomes a face value of 6); if a second die is used, the value is the random number from the routine plus 1 (where a random number of 6 results in a face value of 1).

When equipping the game character, this calculation method assigns attributes independently of one another; a low value in one area is not necessarily balanced out by superior performance elsewhere. Instead, it is possible to have either a hero with maximum stats (Stamina 24, Skill and Luck 12 each, Magic 18) or a weakling (Stamina 14, Skill and Luck 7 each, Magic 13).

Text

The narrative that gradually appears on the scroll is not stored on the data medium as continuous text. Instead, the data blocks loaded during the game contain lists of words that are assembled at runtime. In this way, similar text segments — such as two encounters with the same adversary, one with and one without an object appropriate for the situation — can be stored very efficiently.

Graphics

The screen display is implemented in a remarkably simple manner: the scrolling text and action choices are displayed in monochrome text mode, while the list of abilities and carried items, as well as combat sequences, are shown in multicolor text mode. In all cases, screen memory begins at address $0400 and the character set at $0800.

Highscore

A high score serves no purpose in this game.

Links

Citadel of Chaos Wikipedia: The Citadel of Chaos

• Gamebase64.com - Game No. 13660
• CSDb - Release No. 73754
• Lemon64 - Game No. 5747
• C64.com - Game No. 1958
• ready64 - Game No. 3431
• The Citadel of Chaos at MobyGames

• solutionarchive
• Game review and comparison with the printed version