B O N E S

BONES is a text-based dungeon crawler RPG where players explore a haunted mansion, fight skeletal enemies, collect treasure, and attempt to escape with a magical Transportal Globe. Originally developed in 1981 on a DECSYSTEM 10 using Extended BASIC, then ported to MS-DOS using Microsoft QuickC 2.0 and MASM 5.0.

WIN CONDITION

Find the Transportal Globe and use it to escape the mansion alive.

LOSE CONDITIONS

• Life Force reaches zero (death)
• Suffocation in trapped rooms
• Lethal potion consumption

TECHNICAL STACK

Component	Technology
Compiler	Microsoft QuickC 2.0
Assembler	MASM 5.0
Memory Model	Large
Build Date	November 25, 1991
Target Platform	MS-DOS (VGA/EGA)

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY

Year	Event
1981	Original concept on DECSYSTEM 10 (Extended BASIC)
1987	Revived using Desmet C and ASM88
1988	Converted to MS QuickC 1.0 + MASM 5.0
1989	Upgraded to QuickC 2.0; removed assembly libraries
1990	Version 3.0 in large memory model
1991	Version 3.8c; mansion mapper; VGA intro

The game uses direct memory access throughout. Key addresses identified via Ghidra analysis:

PLAYER POSITION

Address	Variable	Description
0x5330	PLAYER_COLUMN	Current column (1-7)
0xa03a	PLAYER_ROW	Current row (1-7)
0x50d8	CURRENT_ROOM	Room number (1-49)
0xd282	ROOM_INDEX	Room index (0-48)
0xd214	CURRENT_LEVEL	Mansion level (0-3)

PLAYER STATS

Address	Variable	Description
0xd1c6	LIFE_FORCE	Player health
0x57e8	ARMOR_VALUE	Defense modifier
0xd42a	ATTACK_FORCE	Attack power
0xd63c	EXPERIENCE	XP points
0xd1c4	USER_LEVEL	Player level
0xd446	SCORE	Current score (32-bit)
0x5332	GOLD_COUNT	Gold collected
0x50c0	JEWEL_COUNT	Jewels collected

INVENTORY FLAGS

Address	Variable	Description
0x50c4	SWORD_FLAG	Has sword
0xd27e	MACE_FLAG	Has mace
0xd41a	SHIELD_FLAG	Has Warlock's Shield
0xd20e	LASER_FLAG	Has helium laser
0x50c2	UZI_FLAG	Has UZI
0xd428	GLOBE_FLAG	Has Transportal Globe (WIN!)
0xa02a	SPELL_FLAG	Has spell book
0xd418	EXPLOSIVES	Plastic explosives count

ROOM DATA ARRAYS

Room data indexed by: level * 0x62 + room * 2

Base	Data
0x54d0	Room visited flags
0x5348	Gold amounts per room
0x57fa	Jewel amounts per room
0x4f38	Skeleton counts per room
0x50da	East/West wall blocked
0x565e	Mist room flags

The mansion is procedurally generated using a seeded RNG. The same "mansion number" produces identical layouts, allowing reproducible gameplay.

GRID STRUCTURE

Each level uses a 7x7 coordinate grid (49 rooms):

       Col 0   Col 1   Col 2   Col 3   Col 4   Col 5   Col 6
Row 0  [0]     [1]     [2]     [3]     [4]     [5]     [6]
Row 1  [7]     [8]     [9]     [10]    [11]    [12]    [13]
Row 2  [14]    [15]    [16]    [17]    [18]    [19]    [20]
Row 3  [21]    [22]    [23]    [24]    [25]    [26]    [27]
Row 4  [28]    [29]    [30]    [31]    [32]    [33]    [34]
Row 5  [35]    [36]    [37]    [38]    [39]    [40]    [41]
Row 6  [42]    [43]    [44]    [45]    [46]    [47]    [48]

STARTING POSITION (FUN_1534_0ac0)

; Player starts at random inner grid position
int startRow = rand(6) + 1;      ; 1-6
int startCol = rand(6) + 1;      ; 1-6
int startRoom = (startRow - 1) * 7 + startCol;

GOLD CALCULATION

rand(level^5 + level^2 + 5) * rand(2) * rand(2)

Level	Max Gold	Formula
0 (Main)	0-4	rand(5) * rand(2) * rand(2)
1	0-7	rand(8) * rand(2) * rand(2)
2	0-40	rand(41) * rand(2) * rand(2)
3 (Deep)	0-256	rand(257) * rand(2) * rand(2)

JEWEL CALCULATION

rand(2) * rand(level^3 + level^2 + 3) * rand(2) * rand(2)

Level	Max Jewels
0	0-2
1	0-4
2	0-14
3	0-38

HAZARD GENERATION

; Skeleton presence - ~25% chance
skeletonCount = rand(2) * rand(2);

; One-way room - 10% chance (can enter, can't exit)
oneWay = (rand(10) == 1);

; Mist room - MORE COMMON on higher levels!
; Level 0: 1/15 (6.7%),  Level 3: 1/9 (11.1%)
mistChance = 15 - (level * 2);
mist = (rand(mistChance) == 1);

; Wall blocking - 25% per direction
wallBlocked = (rand(4) == 0);

ITEM PLACEMENT

Each level places items in unique rooms (no overlaps):

• Stairway (level transition)
• Sword room / Mace room
• Shield room / UZI room
• Potion room / Laser room
• Globe room (win item)
• Boost room (life force)
• Spell book room
• Clip room (UZI ammo)
• Explosives room

DIRECTION CONSTANTS

Direction	Value	Room Delta	Coordinate
West	1	-1	col - 1
East	2	+1	col + 1
North	3	-7	row - 1
South	4	+7	row + 1

MOVEMENT LOGIC (FUN_1000_0c26)

void movePlayer(int direction) {
    int canMove = 0;

    ; WEST: column > 1, wall not blocked
    if (direction == 1 && playerColumn > 1 &&
        wallBlockedEW[currentLevel][roomIndex] == 0)
        canMove = 1;

    ; EAST: column < 7, wall not blocked
    if (direction == 2 && playerColumn < 7 &&
        wallBlockedEW[currentLevel][roomIndex] == 0)
        canMove = 1;

    ; NORTH: row > 1, wall not blocked
    if (direction == 3 && playerRow > 1 &&
        wallBlockedNS[currentLevel][roomIndex] == 0)
        canMove = 1;

    ; SOUTH: row < 7, wall not blocked
    if (direction == 4 && playerRow < 7 &&
        wallBlockedNS[currentLevel][roomIndex] == 0)
        canMove = 1;

    if (canMove) {
        switch(direction) {
            case 1: playerColumn--; currentRoom--; break;
            case 2: playerColumn++; currentRoom++; break;
            case 3: playerRow--; currentRoom -= 7; break;
            case 4: playerRow++; currentRoom += 7; break;
        }
        roomIndex = currentRoom - 1;
    }
}

WEAPON HIERARCHY

Attack strength from weakest to strongest:

Hand < Bones < Sword < Mace < Laser < Spell < UZI

SKELETON TYPES

Type	Special Ability	Strategy
Warrior	None	Standard combat
Thief	Steals items/gold, flees	Kill quickly
Electric	MULTIPLIES with laser!	No laser attacks
Mystic	Blocks spells easily	Use physical weapons
Warlock	Casts spells, steals shield	High priority
Phase	Immune to physical	Use magic/laser
Vapor	Immune to some attacks	Experiment

UZI FIRE MODES

60 shots per clip with 4 fire rate options:

Mode	Shots	Effect
1/4 Clip	15	Light damage, conserves ammo
1/2 Clip	30	Moderate damage
3/4 Clip	45	Heavy damage
Full Clip	60	Maximum group damage

Text loaded from BONE.D1, BONE.D2, or BONE.D3 files (different variants, same structure).

FILE FORMAT

<count>           ; Number of strings in section
String 1|         ; Each string ends with '|'
String 2|
...
                  ; Blank line separates sections
<count>
String 1|
...
end               ; Literal "end" terminates file

STRING CATEGORIES (28 total)

#	Count	Category
1-4	49 each	Room descriptions (one per level)
5	12	Blocked exit messages
6-7	12 each	Hand attack hits (single/group)
8-9	12 each	Skeleton hits player
10	12	Successful room exit
11	12	Exit blocked by skeleton
12	12	Escape past skeleton
13	12	Gold discovered
14	12	Skeleton activity noticed
15	12	Jewels discovered
16-19	12 each	Sword/Mace hits
20-21	10 each	Communication success
22	9	Thief skeleton warnings
23-24	10 each	Communication rejected
25-26	12 each	Skeleton killed
27	12	Player attack misses
28	11	Skeleton attack misses

SAMPLE ROOM DESCRIPTIONS

"Your in the study. You see lots of broken furniture."
"It's a torture chamber, you can see a rack."
"Pots and Pans everywhere, your in the kitchen."
"There's blood dripping down the wall."
"Sparks fly from a Tesla Coil."
"A pot is boiling and you see a hand floating in it."
"A note on the wall says 'Prepare to die'."

COMBAT STATE

Address	Variable	Description
0xd284	SKELETONS_SEEN	Skeletons in room
0xa016	SKELETON_WOUND	Skeleton damage
0x4f36	SKELETON_ARMOR	Skeleton defense
0xd200	SKELETON_POWER	Skeleton attack
0x5334	IN_COMBAT	Combat flag

ITEM ROOM LOCATIONS (per level)

Offset	Item
-0x2bd2	Stairway room
-0x5fe6	Globe room (WIN)
-0x29ce	Sword room
-0x2e34	Mace room
0x50c8	Shield room
0x57f2	Potion room
-0x2be4	UZI room
-0x2d8c	Laser room

ACHIEVEMENT TITLES (Score-based)

1. Mansion Master - Highest
2. Bone Tycoon
3. Bone Master
4. Mansion Maniac
5. Bone Buster
6. Bone Hunter
7. Apprentice
8. Common Tramp - Lowest

CONFIG FILE FORMAT (bones.cfg)

Format: %d %d %d %d %d %d %d (7 integers)

1. Menu text color
2. Selected text color
3. Menu box color
4. Sound on/off
5. Monitor type
6. (Unknown)
7. (Unknown)