A multiplayer BBS door game written in BASIC — preserved from 1989.

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Welcome to...D U N G E O N   S T O M P E R S
  Created By: Mark Longo...`The Ultimate Dungeon Master!'
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Dungeon Stompers is a real-time, multiplayer dungeon-crawl BBS door game developed in the summer of 1988 and released on April 24, 1989. Players connected to a bulletin board system (BBS) via modem, chose a race and class, and explored a shared dungeon — fighting monsters, collecting weapons, casting spells, and battling each other in real time.

This repository preserves the original source code exactly as distributed, as a piece of early online gaming history.

Original documentation: DS.DOC is the original Version 1.02 manual dated April 24, 1989. It covers installation, system requirements, BBS door setup, multi-node operation, events, editor and map tools, and the full file reference.

• Screenshots
• Features
• Gameplay
• Character System
• Technical Details
• File Reference
• Running the Game
• Historical Context
• Credits

• Multiplayer — multiple BBS callers share the same dungeon world simultaneously (multi-node support)
• Four playable races — Human, Elf, Dwarf, Halfling, each with race-specific weapons and magic items
• Two character classes — Fighter and Magic-User, with distinct abilities
• Turn-based exploration on a grid map with ASCII/ANSI dungeon rendering
• Combat system — fight monsters that roam the dungeon or challenge other players
• Item economy — weapons, magic items, potions, scrolls, gold, and a barter merchant
• ANSI color graphics support for callers with ANSI-capable terminals
• Sysop admin tools — dungeon editor, monster insertion, player management, event scheduling
• Modem speed support — 300 through 38400 baud
• PCBoard BBS compatibility included

Players navigate the dungeon using cardinal direction commands. Each session has a move limit set by the sysop.

• Fighter — Can acquire Magic Armour and the Gauntlet of Strength
• Magic-User — Can cast spells and read magic scrolls

• Language: GW-BASIC / QuickBASIC (line-numbered BASIC)
• Platform: MS-DOS
• BBS Interface: Serial COM port via modem (COM1/COM2), 300–38400 baud
• BBS Software: PCBoard compatible (see PCB/)
• Multi-node: Shares dungeon state via flat .DAT files
• ANSI: Optional ANSI escape code color rendering

The game is split across several chained BASIC modules:

LOGON.BAS    → Entry point: modem handshake, player login
STOMP.BAS    → Main game loop: dungeon movement, items, combat
MONSTER.BAS  → Monster encounter logic
MAP.BAS      → Dungeon map renderer (ANSI/ASCII)
EVENT.BAS    → Scheduled daily events
ORDER.BAS    → Sysop ordering / registration
SETUP.BAS    → Sysop admin menu
DS-MAIN.BAS  → Maintenance: daily cleanup, player expiry
EDITOR.BAS   → Dungeon map editor
PASS.BAS     → Password management
RATE.BAS     → Player rating / leaderboard
BEST.BAS     → Hall of fame / best players
TIME.BAS     → Move/time limit management
MDM.BAS      → Modem carrier detection
LOCAL.BAS    → Local (non-modem) play mode
SAFE.BAS     → Safe-mode fallback
CLEAN.BAS    → File cleanup utilities
SEEK/        → File search utilities

Dungeon Stompers requires a DOS environment and a BASIC runtime. The most practical approach today is emulation.

1. Install DOSBox or DOSBox-X
2. Mount the STOMP/ directory:

   MOUNT C C:\path\to\DungeonStompers\STOMP
   C:
   

3. Start Dungeon Stomp:

   LOGON.EXE
   

4. For local (non-modem) play, set baud to 0 in BAUD.DAT — this chains to LOCAL.BAS

On a live BBS, the sysop would configure a door entry in their BBS software pointing to DS.BAT, which launched LOGON.BAS and passed the active COM port and baud rate via COM.DAT and BAUD.DAT.

BBS door games were the multiplayer online games of the 1980s and early 1990s. Before the World Wide Web, players dialed into bulletin board systems over telephone lines and took turns playing shared games. Dungeon Stompers was notable for supporting true simultaneous multi-node play — multiple callers could occupy the same dungeon at the same time and interact.

This was released the same year as other landmark BBS doors. The game was distributed as shareware from Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, with a support BBS at 1-519-658-6433.

If you ran a BBS in the late 1980s or called one that hosted Dungeon Stompers, this repository is for you.

Programming & Documentation: Mark Longo
Version: 1.02
Released: April 24, 1989
Origin: Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

Preserved for retro gaming history. If you have memories of playing Dungeon Stompers on a BBS, open an Issue — we'd love to hear your story.