Odyssey: The Compleat Apventure <!---Do NOT change the spelling on this title; both Compleat and Apventure are exactly how the game title is spelled.-->is a video game written by Robert Clardy and released by Synergistic Software in 1980. It was created for the Apple II platform and is considered one of the first microcomputer-based role-playing video games. The title was intentionally misspelled; Apventure is a reference to the Apple computer while "Compleat" is simply an Archaic spelling of the word "complete" meant to match the feel and setting of the game.
A forerunner of Akalabeth and Ultima, Odyssey was a multi-part adventure game that placed the player in the role of the leader of an army who sets out to vanquish the Caliph, an evil wizard. Elements of Dungeons & Dragons can be found within the game, which combines elements of two earlier games written by Clardy: Dungeon Campaign and Wilderness Campaign.
Game overview
In the game, the player is tasked with recovering a magic orb wielded years ago by the High One and restoring it to his fortress; since the High One was defeated, the Caliph has seized power and installed himself in the fortress of the High One. In order to save the human race, the player also must defeat the Caliph and earn the right to be the next High One.
The game features several major sections. Except for the endgame section, the game play is presented in a top-down map format with limited animation and sound effects.
Part 1
The game starts on an uncharted island in the fictional Sargalo Sea, where the player and a small party of recruits have to search the island for castles, ruins and temples, wherein they can find randomly placed treasure and valuable magical items. Along the way, the game generates random encounters with monsters, warriors, rogues, and wizards. Some wizards and warlocks encountered might be kindly disposed towards the player and provide magical items, while others may attack on sight. Similarly, some groups of rogues and warriors encountered might choose to join the player's group rather than fight. This segment is similar to the earlier Synergistic Software game Wilderness Campaign.
Combat is conducted using a random number generator - the party with the higher number during a round inflicts damage on the enemy, with damage gauged by the number of people or creatures killed. When a group reaches zero members, the team is defeated. The player's "roll" is determined by the number of recruits, their strength and experience, and the type and quantity of weapons and armor carried.
For the player, maintaining a large army is necessary in order to continue to carry gold, treasure, and necessities such as weapons. The fewer recruits in a party, the fewer items that can be carried. Recruits can be added to the team by having groups of warriors and rogues agree to join; a more expensive way of adding recruits is to purchase contracts that periodically become available for sale. Three randomly scattered towns allow the player to purchase food (which must be replenished) and goods such as lockpicks that allow access to some structures. The type and quantity of goods available for purchase are randomly generated. The player also encounters the occasional caravan from which goods can be purchased - or, the player may choose to attack the caravan; if the caravan is defeated, the team receives the spoils which consists of a number of random items that may or may not be useful.
The towns are not explored. Instead, the player is automatically taken to the market where bartering for goods occurs. The player can choose to pay the full price, or can negotiate for a lower fee. Depending on the player's charisma level (set at the start of the game), the merchants may agree to charge less, or they may get upset at a low bid and remove an item from sale completely (which can be hazardous to the player if the item removed for sale happens to be badly needed food). Merchants are replenished after the player leaves the town and has an encounter of some sort. Caravans work the same ways as towns, except as they are randomly encountered one has only a single chance to strike a deal. Occasionally, huts are encountered in the wilderness where the player can gamble a (usually large) amount of gold for an alleged magic item that may or may not be any good.
Gold is accumulated from chests and other sources, including magical scrolls; the higher the party's wisdom score is, the more gold is obtained from a scroll.
thumb|left|300px|The opening gameplay screen from Odyssey. The purple crosses represent towns. The player's avatar can be seen top-centre.
Travel around the island can be slow and dangerous, and items purchased by the player may be necessary to pass through obstacles or avoid loss of recruits. (For example, if the player has a shovel, recruits can be rescued from avalanches and cave-ins; a machete may be needed to pass through dense jungle; an amulet is needed to cure swamp fever, etc.) If a player is lucky, a magic carpet might be found in a chest or be obtained from a friendly wizard or warlock. This allows quick travel across the island; riding a magic carpet avoids monster battles but also skips over buildings and ruins that may contain treasure. Horses can also be obtained with a similar effect; however, the player must have a sufficient quantity of horses to carry the team, while only one magic carpet is required.
The ultimate goal of the island section of the game is to collect enough gold to purchase a ship, which is usually available only at "Port Karre", the town closest to the northwest corner of the island, Deirdre L. Maloy reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World, stating that "Odyssey was the program that sold me on an Apple computer. At that time, the graphics were the best I had seen on a computer game. Odyssey and its predecessors, 'Wilderness Campaign' and 'Dungeon Campaign', are still very good programs, although Odyssey is undoubtedly the best (as well as the most time-consuming) of the three". Softalk called it "a fun and canny fantasy game" in 1980.
Scorpia of Computer Gaming World in 1991 described the trio of Synergistic Software games (Wilderness Campaign, Odyssey, and Atlantis) collectively as pioneering computer role-playing games, stating that they offered on a 48K Apple II several wilderness environments; multiple forms of transportation, including sailing by the wind; non-hostile NPCs; a variety of areas to explore; and region-specific monsters. In 1993 she wrote the three games were "some of the finest of the early CRPGs", with "an astonishing range of features", especially for a 48K Apple II.