This is a collection of maps to the interactive fiction game Acheton by John Thackray, David Seal, and Jonathan Partington.  This game came out around 1978 on the Phoenix mainframe at the University of Cambridge, later released commercially by Acornsoft in 1984 and again by Topologika in 1987.  It is speculated that this was the first adventure game released outside of the U.S.A.  At its time, Adventure/Colossal Cave and Dungeon (later known as Zork) were Acheton's major contemporaries, but Acheton is notable for having been the largest IF game out there for some time.  Even by today's standards, it is a huge game - there have been only a few games since Acheton with larger room counts - Zork Zero (only because of its 400-floor FrobozzCo Building), Time Zone, and I believe also Hezarin.

These maps were made using Microsoft Powerpoint, of all things.  It was actually relatively easy, though time-consuming because of the appalling complexity of the game.  There were things I wanted to do with the room layouts that were well beyond the capabilities of the usual IF mapping programs out there, and I felt obliged to do the best job possible at giving this piece of history proper justice.  I have spent some time checking the accuracy of these maps, but given the size and scope of this game, I would not be surprised if there are some mistakes.  I am very interested in hearing about any you might find.  Note that these maps were made from the PC version of the game available on the Interactive Fiction Archive at www.ifarchive.org.  There are some differences between this and the original Phoenix version.

Years ago I posted similar maps for Zork Zero.  At this rate, my next set of maps will be ready some time in 2012.  Sigh.  For my next project I'm planning on doing either Spiritwrack or PolyAdventure version number whatever it is they're up to now.  At least that one has source code available.

Marco Cavagna
19 August 2006

cavagna.mg@gmail.com


Archive Contents:

Readme.TXT      this file
Notes.DOC       explanatory notes on the maps
0_Legend.PNG    map legend
1_Forest.PNG    forest, Hades
2_Main.PNG      central regions including slab room, lodestone room, wizard's lair, endgame
3_Colossal.PNG  colossal cave, pillar maze
4_Mine.PNG      mine maze
5_Ice.PNG       regions above the slab room
6_Garden.PNG    wizard's greenhouse, privet maze, roc's nest
7_Sea.PNG       sea, coral island
8_Desert.PNG    desert canyons, pyramid, dusty trail rooms

These images are very large, and will be hard to read if your viewing program automatically resizes them for the screen.

version 1   8/19/2006

version 2   8/26/2006
	fixed error at entrance to endgame region
	fixed various transient passages previously marked ordinary
	cleaned up appearance of various rooms with complex exits (eg, Ningy Room)
	color-coded cold rooms
	color-coded danger rooms
	color-coded magic word passages
	added locations of endgame weapons
	added shortcut into caves from Miner's Hut
	added magic word passages from Hades
	added "virtual room" north of Giant's Prison
	added monster pathways
	added "jump" exits from Sailing in the Dinghy
	added colored stars
	added several "instant death" exits (eg, jumping from trees)
	added "down" alternatives for entering pillar in Colossal Cave
	added path to Middle of the Beach from Lost in the Desert
	labeled some Sea rooms (those with unique descriptions)
	replaced "DEAD" with skull and crossbones image
	added and changed some clipart

version 3   4/14/2007
	changed exits from Hades (1-6) to one-way exits
	changed magic word passages from Hades (1-7) to transient exits
	cleaned up map key page and changed some notation (eg, virtual rooms)
	added "virtual room" down from Balrog's Pit
	differentiated Roc Fledgling routes from Winged Serpent routes
	added "instant death" notations in Long Thin E/W Passage
	cleaned up other monster routes
	added more "instant death" exits (jumping from ends of stone bridge, Giant's Prison)
	added "up" and "down" exits from rooms in the wizard's dungeons
	changed Gladiator's Arena to a "danger room"
	added two missing gnome pathways in Privet Maze
	added and changed some more clipart
	cleaned up grammar and clarified things in "Notes.doc" file

version 4    2/9/2020
	fixed mistake in Privet Maze (thanks to Richard Bos)
	fixed mistake in mummy's route (thanks to Richard Bos)
	completely revamped map of the mine maze
	color-coded different types of danger rooms
	added path to West End of the Beach from Lost in the Desert (thanks to Richard Bos)
	added several alternate connections around the desert canyons and pyramid
	added snake pathways in Dusty Trail Room network
	changed rooms in Dusty Trail Room maze to "danger rooms"
	changed Primitive Shrine to "danger room"
	changed Timeless Cavern to "danger room"
	changed notation around Harbour Cave
	changed notation at Dinghy at the Water's Edge
	changed notation at Inside the Wizard's Laboratory
	changed notation in the Wizard's Dungeons
	changed notation around Toll Hole
	changed one Junction of Passages room to "danger room"
	more clarifications in "Notes.doc" file
	minor cosmetic changes
	changed fonts after realizing sans serif looks much better after conversion to image files
	clarified things in "Notes.DOC" file

