Castle Quest (Early Demo Version, 1984)

This is an early version of John Wolstencroft’s Castle Quest, not the one Kuma released. The released game is in the library as Castle Quest & Quest; this is what came before it.

It was found on a plain, hand-labelled disc that turned up in a Kuma Castle Quest case. The program’s own remarks say where it comes from:

710 REM BT JOHN WOLSTENCROFT
720 REM COPYRIGHT (C) 1982 AND TATUNG
725 REM VERSION COPYRIGHT (C) 1983

Tatung is named alongside the author, which the Kuma release does not do.

The Other Demos on the Disc

The same side of the disc held three more programs, each an early copy of a game that is already in the library. Each has its own entry:

• Quest (Early Demo Version, 1984), the companion adventure, released in Castle Quest & Quest.
• Quadrax (Early Demo Version, 1984), “Copyright A J & S E Pack 1983”, released in Xanagrams & Quadrax.
• Pelmanism (Early Demo Version, 1984), also by A.J. & S.E. Pack, released in Tycoon & Pelmanism.

Quadrax and Pelmanism both open with the line “DEMO VERSION 001 16/4/84”, which places the disc in spring 1984, before Kuma’s edition of Castle Quest.

How It Differs

Its title screen reads “Castle Quest, Copyright (c) 1983, John Wolstencroft” on a grey background, where the released game’s is black. The program is shorter, 28,928 bytes against 31,872, and about ninety lines differ, mostly in how it starts up, handles errors and sets up the screen. The adventure itself is there and plays: find the treasures hidden in the wizard’s castle.

Running It

The disc image holds just this program and boots XtalDOS. XBAS.COM is not on it; with XBAS available, type XBAS CQUEST.

Files in the Package

About this File

Dumped on 26 September 2026 with a Greaseweazle V4 and an original Einstein 3″ drive; every sector read cleanly on the first pass. TatungBytes can send the full flux capture (.scp) of the disc on request: get in touch.