Buffy Oak

Green Keeper
Creature Limit	14
Starting Gold	10,000
Starting Forces	4 Imps; Level 3 Imp; Level 7 Dragon

Blue Keeper
Creature Limit	14
Starting Gold	10,000
Starting Forces	4 Imps

Red Keeper (Human)
Creature Limit	30
Starting Gold	20,000
Starting Forces	8 Imps

Buffy Oak is the 13th level in Dungeon Keeper. This realm pits the player against two allied Keepers. There is great wealth on this map, and such a large bin of creatures and research available to all sides that the battles will be glorious.^{[editorialising]}

At a glance, Red's geography is impressive.^{[editorialising]} The Portals open up into disputed territory, however, and as long as the computer players hold the south shore, their Bridges and greedy Imps will creep across periodically.

Bard Barrie is the leader of this realm,^[1] although there are no heroes on this level.

Breakdown[]

Portal Speed: 400 Turns
Creature Pool:

Hound		50
Fly		40
Warlock		40
Troll		40
Dark Mistress		40
Dragon		20
Bile Demon		20
Orc		20

Specials

Increase Level - behind Gold seam, warded by Lava Traps, west

Reveal Map - behind Gold seam, warded by Gas Traps, east

Transfer Creature - behind Gold seam, far south

Neutral Assets

(Level 1) x4 - roaming, north lava region

Two

Portals - adjacent to Red Heart

Portal - north of Blue Heart

(Green owns its Portal in the beginning, so it is not visible)

Blue & Green[]

The blue and green Keepers have called a truce, and together they turn their efforts against Red. Almost as if he transferred it in from somewhere, Green owns a level 7 Dragon, making him somewhat more dangerous early on.

The AI here builds large-enough rooms to lure out the numerous Bile Demons and Dragons in the creature pool, so if you decline to attract them, expect them.

Green almost always tunnels to Blue's Portal in a belated attempt to claim it (that Portal is neutral, after all), and their territories connect. As allies, they cannot claim one another's tiles. After carving out a Treasure Room, Lair, Hatchery, Library, and a Training Room, and attracting around ten creatures, they tunnel north.

The enemy Keepers will be aiming to claim and hold the open shoreline south of the Red dungeon, and also appear interested in bridging to Red's Portals (the only exposed points in Red's dungeon) and claiming them, too. When an enemy Imp is attacked, the offended AI plants a Call to Arms and throws all available forces in.

Red Keeper[]

The player begins in an already hollowed-out and fortified position. There are two Portals, granting double the creature ingress rate, and all kinds of cash and tech for the taking. Red even has double the Creature Limit of Blue and Green. Finally, Red is the only side with eventual access to the Scavenger Room. Rather than stand around and gawk at all this good fortune, it's best to consider what sort of force you want to train and flesh out your dungeon quickly.

Despite the fully-exposed Gem Seam waiting for 12 full-time miners, training Imps is risky in this match,^[opinion] because the Gem is somewhat exposed to the exit of the Red dungeon and a likely site of battle. The Imps can be killed outright in the blast radius of Keeper Lightning Strike.

A Transferred minion from Elf's Dance or Secret 2 can blitz at least one of the enemy Keepers and wreak havoc (thanks to Green's dragon, Blue is more vulnerable). Alternatively, it can hold enemies off while you raise your army, and then lead your forays into the rival dungeons.

Specials[]

Possess a Fly and make a lap around the lava lake to claim the four neutral Dragons for your side.

It is possible to acquire the Increase Level and Reveal Map specials before enemies arrive. They both lie behind thin Gold seams, as shown in the gallery pictures below. Surrounded by Poison Gas Traps, the Reveal Map is the more dangerous of the two to reach, though once the tile beneath it is claimed it can be popped right where it stands, and the traps can be left for an AI Keeper to deal with.

A Transfer Creature special is hiding deep in enemy territory, behind a fat Gold seam. It may be in one of the enemy libraries by the time you approach that area.

Messages[]

Briefing Text: "The other two Keepers in this region have put aside their differences for the moment and joined forces, in an effort to destroy you. That's almost a compliment. Kill the creeps."

Green and Blue Keepers destroyed: "You have won a magnificent victory, Master. You have a talent for twisted mercilessness that makes other Keepers look well behaved by comparison."

Sound Bytes[]

"Buffy Oak. A small location, where people simply sit around and enjoy each other's company. They talk, laugh, and sing without ever arguing, drawing daggers, and dying in a gurgling rush of blood. Gahh... a truly bizarre place."

— The Mentor, Intro

"Herelyn's Down. The people enjoyed each other's company so much that they'll be together forever now. We've thrown them all into a big pit and piled tons of rocks onto them. A fitting end, we trust you'll agree."

— Canon Outro

Trivia[]

Bard Barrie is possibly a reference to Barrie Parker.
The Word Of Power Trap is supposed to be available for manufacture on this level and have introductory text, but it isn't enabled.
The enemy Keepers are allowed to attract Hellhounds, but cannot build a Scavenger Room. Therefore, Red has exclusive access to the pool of 50 (!) Hounds.
This realm's outtro speech file, BAD13.WAV, makes more sense if renamed to BAD12.WAV to correspond with Elf's Dance. Sleepiburgh's outro file, BAD14.WAV (Herelyn's Down), makes more sense if renamed to 13 to match up with Buffy Oak. These files are in the game subdirectory \SOUND\ATLAS\.

Mismatched OC soundbytes
Intro	Matching File	Reasoning
GOOD01.WAV	BAD01.WAV	Anthrax
GOOD02.WAV	BAD02.WAV	Mention of Demon Spawn
GOOD03.WAV	BAD03.WAV	Inhabitants' altered viewpoints
GOOD04.WAV	BAD18.WAV	Mention of Trolls
GOOD05.WAV	BAD05.WAV	The quietude broken by screams
GOOD06.WAV	BAD07.WAV	What became of the bunnies
GOOD07.WAV	BAD08.WAV	~~Lady~~ Catherine
GOOD08.WAV	BAD09.WAV	War arrived
GOOD09.WAV	BAD10.WAV	The legions of Hell rode in
GOOD10.WAV	BAD11.WAV	Inhabitants' violent death
GOOD11.WAV	BAD06.WAV	Feeding on the dead?
GOOD12.WAV	BAD13.WAV	Fairy ring
GOOD13.WAV	BAD14.WAV	Being together, in a mass grave
GOOD14.WAV	BAD15.WAV	Sleepy farms got "developed"
GOOD15.WAV	BAD16.WAV	Undead massacre
GOOD16.WAV	BAD17.WAV	No more flowers
GOOD17.WAV	BAD12.WAV	Razed completely
GOOD18.WAV	BAD19.WAV	A great battle
GOOD19.WAV	BAD04.WAV	Poisonous fumes
GOOD20.WAV	BAD20.WAV	Skybird Trill named

The names for this level in other languages are as follows:

Translations: Buffy Oak
Language	Translation
French	Chêne-Fauve
Italian	Quercia Splendente
German	Badenerland
Dutch	Zelootskerke
Polish	Dąbrowa Imprezowa
Czech	Hmyzí buk
Swedish	FYLLEKEN
Russian	Баффи-Оук
Japanese	バフィー・オーク
Chinese	黄色橡树 / 醉橡国

Buffy Oak is depicted as having a Stonehenge-like structure.

Other versions[]

There is a .FLG file, which is an older format for the levels. In this file is a blueprint for a version of the level with three enemy Keepers.
In another prototype of this level (modified 15 May 1997), there is no Transfer Creature special.

New Game Plus[]

In the New Game+ version of Buffy Oak, the Transfer Creature special is removed and is bizarrely replaced with a level 8 Dwarf.

Gallery[]

References[]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Prima's Official Guide To Dungeon Keeper Gold Edition. pp. 190-193. Prima Publishing. (1998). ISBN 978-0-7615-1581-4.

[Prima-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Prima's Official Guide To Dungeon Keeper Gold Edition. pp. 190-193. Prima Publishing. (1998). ISBN 978-0-7615-1581-4.

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