Hillsfar (C64)

Hillsfar

Platform: Commodore 64 Year: 1988 Developer: Westwood Studios Buy: Amazon

For other games in the series, see Dungeons & Dragons.

Hillsfar is an action-adventure RPG developed by Westwood Associates and published by Strategic Simulations, and is a part of the ever-growing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons series. It was released for many home computers at the time, and received one console port when it was made for the NES.

In the game, players create a character (or transfer one from the prequels) and rides on horseback to the titular city of Hillsfar. When in the city, the player must visit the guild of their respective class. At the guild, the player must speak with the guildmaster, who gives the player various missions to perform.

The game is divided into several gameplay mechanics, which was revolutionary for a game of its time:

• Horse Riding: The player must travel on their horse to get to various locations to and from Hillsfar. The player must jump and duck to avoid various obstacles, which are more frequent as the game progresses.
• Hillsfar: When in the city, the player walks around both a 3D first-person view, as well as a map of the city of Hillsfar. Here, the player can do many different things like go to guilds, taverns, and even the bank. The player can also go to practice archery, as well as beat opponents in the arena.
• Dungeons: When in the dungeons, the game switches to a top-down perspective. The player must find various treasures and items. The player can step on floor traps, which teleports them to different locations in the dungeon. These traps are at first invisible, but a chest in the dungeon can reveal all of them. When the timer gets low, guards are sent after the player, in which the player must look for the hidden exit, which appears as a staircase on the map. If the player successfully gets to the exit, they keep anything they found in the dungeon. If the timer runs out and the player is touched by the guards, the player is thrown out, and they lose any belongings they collected at that dungeon.
• Lockpicking: Most doors and chests require lockpicking, which can only be done with a thief. The player selects from a series of tumblers and must match the shapes of the tumblers with the locks. Each tumbler has two sides, and the right side must be used in order to pick the lock. If the wrong tumbler or wrong side of the tumbler is used, the tumbler breaks, and the player must return to the Thieves Guild to buy replacements. If the player has a Knock Ring, they can usually open the chests.

The game was originally created as a way to transfer your characters from games like Pool of Radiance, level them up in this game, and then transfer them into sequels such as Curse of the Azure Bonds. The game received lukewarm reviews from critics. While the game received praise for having many different gameplay styles, none of them were executed particularly well, and the game suffers as a result. The game was also criticized for the main point of the game, which felt like just running fetch-quests for your guildmaster.

Screenshots

This page needs more screenshots.

Music

As traditional with most of the Gold Box/AD&D games at the time, Hillsfar sports only a single piece of music which plays at the title screen. The song is a ballad in the 6/8 time signature, which has a medieval and adventurous feel, and sounds like it is performed by either a string symphony or harpsichord, or perhaps even a piano.

The song was composed by Paul Mudra, who had composed several games for Westwood, and would later become their audio director. This title music was also used in most other versions of the game, including the NES version.

Mudra most likely wrote the music in code, as traditional with most Commodore 64 music.

Recording

#	Title	Composer	Arranger	Length	Listen	Download
01	Title	Paul Mudra	Paul Mudra	1:32		Download

Credits

• Ripper: High Voltage SID Collection
• Recorder: Doommaster1994
• Game Credits:
  • Not Credited Composer: Paul Mudra

(Verification from composer; Game lacks credits)

The game's credits can be found in the instruction manual. However, there is no audio personnel listed in the manual's credits. We have contacted the only known composer for Westwood around the time, Paul Mudra, who confirmed doing the music. Paul has received credit in other games by the same developer at that time for the same system, including DragonStrike and A Nightmare on Elm Street.

In addition, there is a small Easter egg on the back of the game's packaging; the bull in the arena is named Moodra, no doubt referencing Paul's surname.

Game Rip

Format	Download
	Download (Info)

Ripping Commodore 64 music is a very complex process that is beyond the scope of this site.

Releases

USA Title: Hillsfar Platform: Commodore 64 Released: 1989-??-?? Publisher: Strategic Simulations, Inc.     UK Title: Hillsfar Platform: Commodore 64 Released: 1989-??-?? Publisher: U.S. Gold Ltd.