Doomcastle
United States
Independently developed; published by Sunshine Software and Futura Software
Released 1982 for TI-99Rejected for: Too much of a pain in the neck
This brief BRIEF is technically crossing a line that I haven't crossed in 14 years, but perhaps it's time. I cannot argue that Doomcastle is not an RPG, and I can't argue that I can't play it, as El Explorador de RPG not only played it but offered detailed instructions on how to play it. The issue is more that I'm not willing to follow those instructions, which involve downloading a gigabyte of files onto my computer and installing some new dashboard software, all to play a simple variant of Quest 1 that El Explorador already played in sufficient detail that I barely need to play it myself.
The game has a curious publication history. It was written by Samuel Pincus, an occasional editor of 99'er Home Computer magazine, who also wrote Starship Concord (1982) and Newton's Revenge (1983). Advertisements show it released by Sunshine Software of Hoffman Estates,
Illinois, as early as March 1982 for $15.00. By the following year, it
was being offered by Futura Software of Fort Worth, Texas, for $19.95. A 1984 TI-99 user's guide has it offered by "Ehninger Associates," which given its Fort Worth address is, I guess, just Futura under a new name.
 |
| An action shot, courtesy of El Explorador. |
As El Explorador's coverage shows, the game involves a quest to recover 4 royal sapphires from a dungeon of 58 rooms. It has all of the features of this line of games, including a small number of monsters, each of which responds best to one of the game's combat options: melee, normal arrows, magic arrows, and holy water. This one adds a "death curse" to the list. Things happen in quasi-real time. Attributes are strength and dexterity. There's a shop to which you can retreat from the first room and stock up on items, plus purchase potions that permanently increase your attributes. You find treasures in the rooms. Yada yada yada. We've seen it all before with Quest 1 (1981), Super Quest (1983), Dragon Quest (1983), Dungeons, Dragons, and Other Perils (1984), and Cavequest (1985), not to mention the entire Dunjonquest line, of which these games are a simplification.
I don't know. If someone can find a .dsk version that I can play in Classic99, I might look at it. That isn't a challenge. I swear if the first comment is a link to one, or I get an email four hours after I post this, this blog is finished. Wait like three months, at least.
****
 |
| This is a DOS port of an Amiga adaptation of a mainframe variant of another mainframe game. |
Hack Lite
Rejected for: Insufficiently distinguished from its base gameAKA HackLite, later version known as Hack Lite II
United States
Independently developed; Home Brew Software (publisher)
Released 1989 for Amiga; continually updated into the 1990s; DOS version released in 1992.Look, I can't keep playing every roguelike out there. Compared to the world of RPGs at large, Moria and Rogue are basically the same game, let alone all the minute variances of Rogue, Hack, and Angband. A few new monsters and items of equipment do not make a brand new game.
This one has been on my list forever. I've attempted and failed to emulate the Amiga version in the past despite help from several commenters. I only recently found out that the Amiga version had been ported to DOS by the same author, Alan Beale of Raleigh, North Carolina.
 |
| Starting out as a gangster. Is a gat too much to ask for? |
The name is a bit confusing, as it plays less like Hack (1984; link to my coverage) and more like an early release of NetHack (1987; link to the first version I covered); it has clearly taken some influence from the latter. We see it first in the character classes. Hack gave you six (cave-man, fighter, knight, spelelogist, tourist, and wizard); early versions of NetHack got up to 12 (archaeologist, barbarian, cave-man, elf, healer, knight, ninja, priest, samurai, tourist, valkyrie, and wizard); Hack Lite uses NetHack's list but adds "gangster." I guess the game is a bit more generous with equipment, as my gangster started with a Ring of Strength, a Ring of Regeneration, and a Ring of Fire Resistance.
MobyGames's summary indicates that the first version of Hack Lite didn't have these "enhancements" from NetHack, but I apparently stumbled on version 2. That means that the two versions of Hack Lite are likely more different from each other than Hack Lite is from NetHack..
 |
| The game is not kidding about the death screen looking nicer on the Amiga. |
I couldn't really detect any differences in gameplay between Lite and NetHack. The keyboard commands seemed the same; the types of enemies I encountered on early levels and the types of equipment I found seemed the same. I had a little dog following me. The difficulty seemed about the same. There was some more color in this version of Lite, but nothing like the Amiga version, which replaces the ASCII characters with actual (if small graphics). I'm still trying to win NetHack 3.1 legitimately, though. I can't have every game focused on the Amulet of Yendor.
*****
 |
| I'm already confused. |
Time Warrior
United KingdomIndependently developed; published by Zenobi
Released 1991 for ZX Spectrum
Rejected for: No character attributes or development
This game is part of an ambitious but ultimately little-known fantasy universe by author Frank Oliver. It includes the self-published novels Axe: A Tale of Carthelion (1985) and Shades of Evil (1985), a 1987 graphical adventure game for the ZX Spectrum called Axe, this game, another Time Warrior that's either a port of this or a remake for the Amiga, several accompanying soundtracks, and a variety of short stories and re-issues of the two original books. If you want to try to straighten it out, have a look at the Shades of Evil web site, where most of the material is offered for free.
 |
| You have to admire a book called Axe that puts a picture of a halberd on the cover. |
I don't quite understand the common themes; I'm frankly not even sure that they're all part of the same universe. I started trying to untangle it but stopped when I saw that Time Warrior isn't really an RPG. It's a text adventure with occasional graphics in which the character has an inventory but no attributes or leveling.
 |
| The beginning of the game, I think. |
The title screen is as confusing as the makeup of the so-called universe. I guess maybe Time Warrior was supposed to be a series title and this game was called Dark Staff. A second part called The Door to Knowledge was supposed to be released later, but I can't find any evidence that it was. I have no idea what the "Day of the Druiand" business at the top of the title screen is about.
I had trouble emulating the game so I didn't get very far. I was relieved to be able to reject it.
****
Sorry for the short post, but I'm finishing up my New Orleans vacation and didn't have time to put anything else together. I'm heading back home today (Sunday) and should have some time to get back into Enchantasy tomorrow.
Given that Syndicate wasn't on this list can we hope that the borderline RPG gets more than one entry?
ReplyDeleteWell, only 15 years or so until you retire. These games here can be put on a retirement pile ;)
ReplyDeleteBrillant suggestion, Alex, I never thought about it that way - when Chet retires, he's going full-time CRPGaddict.
Delete'Baldur's Gate' inching closer, everyone :)
"That isn't a challenge. I swear if the first comment is a link to one, or I get an email four hours after I post this, this blog is finished. Wait like three months, at least."
ReplyDeleteThanks for that!!!!! It made my day. (laughter)
Wow, a TI game that I didn't recommend! No judgment on skipping that one.
ReplyDeleteTbh this entry seems to have been made in a rather foul mood. If those obscure 80s games are getting unbearable maybe put them on hold...or just take a break from the blog before getting in the mood to giving it up for good as threatened.
ReplyDeleteIn defense of The CRPG Addict I will say that if I knew how similar Doomcastle was to Quest 1 (they even use the same map with the same treasures in the same positions, but inverted on the vertical axis), I would have mentioned it as a variant in my analysis of Quest 1 and I would not have dedicated its own entry to it.
DeleteThe problem is that when you start analyzing these games for the first time, you don't know to what extent they are similar to the original until you have already dedicated enough time and effort to dedicate their own entry to them.
In fact, I'm sure there are variants of the same game between different platforms that we've only played one of, that are more different from each other than Quest 1 is from Doomcastle.
And the same can surely be said about Hack Lite. I was about to include it as a Hack variant, but I wasn't sure if they were similar enough, so I left it on "standby" until its year arrived.
This anonymous is more than a little hyperbolic, sheesh...
DeleteI think it's just Chet's kind of humor which sometimes is difficult to notice if you're not used to it. I assume he's having a good time despite expressing a bit of exasperation sometimes.
DeleteI see no reason to waste time on the zillions of shareware / shovelware level variants that are out there... BRIEF them and move on! It's only going to drag down the progress when the games from here on out are typically going to be longer in any case.
DeleteI mean... I'll read whatever Chet prefers to publish even if he modifies his criteria at some point!
I think it's just Chet's kind of humor which sometimes is difficult to notice if you're not used to it. I assume he's having a good time despite expressing a bit of exasperation sometimes.
DeleteReading since the blog's early days, my impression has always been that he's both joking and serious, because "getting out" of playing a game is a relief that's ruined by well-meaning help.
It's sort of like saying to your boss "I've been invited to a wedding I don't want to attend. Please tell me I'm needed that day and absolutely can't miss work." Sometimes we cherish the illusion of circumstances beyond our control, because a direct "I would prefer not to" à la Bartleby would force a confrontation with another person or just our own self-image.
Anyway, I'd think any game that ports another game with minimal changes can be BRIEFed or skipped with no twinges of conscience, especially if it's been documented elsewhere.
Reading since the blog's early days, my impression has always been that he's both joking and serious, because "getting out" of playing a game is a relief that's ruined by well-meaning help.
DeleteI was reading an archive post recently where he was saying similar about how if someone reconstructed a game especially for him, he wouldn't look at it. Some commenters took umbrage somehow and Chet had to explain that he was not deathly serious. Even using a similar metaphor about a bunch of people helpfully offering you a ride to a function that you don't want to attend.
Anyway I would like to thank Wonko for leaving the first comment and not providing a .dsk image, and hope Chet had a great time in New Orleans!
Chet had to explain that he was not deathly serious. Even using a similar metaphor about a bunch of people helpfully offering you a ride to a function that you don't want to attend.
DeleteI was probably channeling that with my own metaphor!
(Though I was also thinking of a real-life experience of my own, where I really did ask my boss to say I couldn't go. Love the friend, their spouse is great, and I wanted to go in principle...but the ceremony was 8 hours away, and I really did have a work conflict that would've meant missing something that was a labor of love for me.)
Honestly, I wrote each of those brief BRIEFs at different times over the last 6 months, none of them this week. So if they all sounded cranky, that was a coincidence. I probably wrote the Doomcastle one in January.
DeleteWhat a great comment from PK, though. He nailed my psychology precisely.
You should not feel bad at all to "outsource" some of your posts to other blogs -- I've been playing early console RPGs and I linked to your blog for Dragon Slayer and Zombie Hunter as an excuse not to write as much about them. If it's a major game that everyone is waiting for maybe you need to write your own post but otherwise, link away!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSorry for the deleted posts spam I just can't get it right for some reason.
DeleteYup, I, too, think that's the way to do it. Of course getting the blog hosts opinion is always preferred, but there is just so much stuff out there, as Chet said playing every rogue/(net)hack version or small variant is too much for a blog focused on the whole spectrum of CRPGs. This would be better served on something like a roguelike addict blog.
I was going to leave a joking remark about "The Day of the Druiand" (it appears to be an important event in Oliver's universe), but I did dig up an ad for "Dark Staff" and "Door to Knowledge" [Guild Adventure Software ad on p. 26 of the February 1993 issue of Adventure Probe, here]. I guess "Dark Staff" is part I and "Door to Knowledge" is also on Oliver's site as Part II. My first attempts at searching for it were foiled because he dropped the "the."
ReplyDeleteI'm happy that these types of games get a very quick mention, but there's no point in putting much effort in trying to play a hard-to-emulate game someone else has covered in-depth (El Explorador, YouTube, etc.) or one that is simply a copy of an already covered game. You have enough on your list AND these aren't the diamonds in the rough we get excited for :-)
ReplyDeleteI know you've held back, but maybe these could also be a good reason for guest posts? (I know the FAQ on guests posts indicates you'd still want to play all the games, but were you considering THESE games when you wrote that!?).
In any case, hope you had an awesome time in New Orleans!
This is totally irrelevant to anything else here, so please forgive my self-indulgence, but seeing your fondness for the city, I thought you might find some of this interesting...
ReplyDeleteMy own family has some history with New Orleans, and there are a few anecdotes in particular that come to mind:
My great grandfather was an insurance executive and, along with my great grandmother and (then quite young) grandfather was transferred to New Orleans in the late 1920s. They lived in a big old house on the corner of Prytania and Audubon. I remember one particular story about the house that my great grandmother used to tell was that whenever there was a thunderstorm coming (which seemed to be often), the servants would start running around wildly and covering up all the mirrors in the house with sheets. This greatly puzzled her, but they explained that if lighting flashed in a mirror, then an evil spirit could pass through, or something along those lines. In a similarly macabre vein, the nuns who ran the school where my grandfather was sent used to try to "scare straight" the students by relating all sorts of strange things, including that the knots in the pine of the school walls were actually the eyes of the Devil, who was always watching them...
After a few years, they returned north (they were from Maine, and my great grandmother's health was suffering due to the hot and humid climate), but before then, my great grandmother's younger brother, intrigued by her letters of the city's "exotic" nature, decided to also move down there and attend Tulane. He ended up staying longer, met a local girl, and had a son, who grew up to be the noted cinematographer Alan Daviau (most people know him for E.T. or Empire of the Sun, but I prefer his early psychedelic stuff, like The Trip). Alan's first cousin, his aunt's daughter, who he was quite close with both there in New Orleans and later when they had both settled in California, was none other than Anne Rice.
All of the family stories, letters and photos relating to this had always intrigued my mother, and in the 80s, when she had a career as a meetings planner in the medical research industry, she had the opportunity to travel to New Orleans frequently, which like you, she fell in love with. She eventually got to visit and photograph the old house and other spots of family interest, but that was all overshadowed (in a good way) by one particular incident... Her mother (who was Swedish and otherwise had nothing to do with any of this), had a long-running obsession with New Orleans' own Pete Fountain. My mother, knowing this, made a special trip to the Hilton on Poydras, where he was playing at the time. After his set, she approached him, and he was gracious enough to present her with a large, framed photograph of himself playing, signed and personally dedicated to my grandmother. When she brought it home after her trip and surprised my grandmother with it, I don't know if we had ever seen her so overjoyed. She hung it on the dining room wall, and it remained there until my grandfather died and the house was sold. We still have that picture somewhere, and it remains a fond memory.
Well, there's my New Orleans story. Sorry to bore everyone to death!
Rob, I care zero about the city, but found your anecdotes interesting to say the least. You tell an interesting story, sir.
DeleteAgreed. I'll never tire of hearing stories about the city. I particularly like the Pete Fountain story because that so sounds like something he would do.
DeleteThis was a particularly good visit. I got to hang with a lot of musician friends and say hi to the owner of a club that I really like, who I haven't seen in several years. I spent most of the festival indoors listening to the lectures. Ricky Riccardi, the director or research at the Louis Armstrong museum in Queens, is one of my favorite people in the world--not least because he got his position thanks to his blog.
these are so american replies :)
Delete