tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post6395910342727952028..comments2024-03-28T10:19:08.172-04:00Comments on The CRPG Addict: Game 305: Shadowlands (1992)CRPG Addicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-19940806747083197732018-10-08T13:15:09.070-04:002018-10-08T13:15:09.070-04:00it was if you concidering leaving the game, you go...it was if you concidering leaving the game, you got an idea of how much you have left and you could make a decicion without to much spoilersstmpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-16679854434183296052018-10-08T05:55:56.581-04:002018-10-08T05:55:56.581-04:00> That sounds like a reason TO give up on this ...> That sounds like a reason TO give up on this game and save my energy for the second one.<br /><br />Well, either that or the first one can become a training ground for assimilating (read tolerating) the interface better, in order to smoothen the experience with the inevitable sequel.<br /><br />At least that one doesn't have rats or equally annoying "leech" enemies, as far as I can remember.Alex A.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-71045696590038277672018-10-08T02:42:21.720-04:002018-10-08T02:42:21.720-04:00"An isometric Dungeon Master" gives it t..."An isometric Dungeon Master" gives it too much credit. DM had a meaningful combat and character development system alongside the puzzles. That's entirely lacking here. Anyway, since isometric puzzle games were coming out of the UK back to 1984, I'd question whether DM had really any influence on this one.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-64135992607286481372018-10-08T02:39:10.820-04:002018-10-08T02:39:10.820-04:00OH, and the rats, which I'll talk about next t...OH, and the rats, which I'll talk about next time, are just unforgivable.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-43201510577092010142018-10-08T02:38:41.738-04:002018-10-08T02:38:41.738-04:00That sounds like a reason TO give up on this game ...That sounds like a reason TO give up on this game and save my energy for the second one.<br /><br />I'd challenge anyone who wants me to continue playing this game to spend just five minutes trying to get the four characters through a doorway and see how you feel after that.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-23089159667007322162018-10-08T02:36:50.809-04:002018-10-08T02:36:50.809-04:00It hasn't quite been difficult enough to requi...It hasn't quite been difficult enough to require help yet, but thanks.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-50973521323348640972018-10-08T02:36:00.508-04:002018-10-08T02:36:00.508-04:00I hadn't really experimented with it at the en...I hadn't really experimented with it at the end of this first entry, so I didn't talk about it. But Carlos is right. If you want to make two parties, you move the appropriate characters over to the second checkerboard. Meanwhile, the positioning of the characters on each checkerboard set the default formation when the characters walk together.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-65749360490348734252018-10-07T17:55:21.109-04:002018-10-07T17:55:21.109-04:00Chet, I would advise not to give up on this game y...Chet, I would advise not to give up on this game yet, for one reason if anything: Shadoworlds (I believe it is spelled this way, with the two "w"s elided).<br /><br />The sequel is largely more of the same, barring the new setting, with only a few tweaks (e.g. one nutrition factor to worry about instead of two) and many of its problems carried over: no pathfinding, short range for issuing commands... If these are reason enough to give up on Shadowlands, they might kill off the sequel before it has even appeared on these pages.<br /><br />I know that I might not be doing this blog a favour by pointing out issues of a game that hasn't been played yet, but on the other hand better safe than sorry. Perhaps it might work as a form of reverse psychology and actually become an encouragement.<br /><br />Chances are Worlds of Legend / Son of the Empire is about to suffer this fate for similar reasons, though I must say I liked it slightly better than Legend.Alex A.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-12452436344197267492018-10-07T13:26:00.521-04:002018-10-07T13:26:00.521-04:00Indeed, that was my point :) Chet is right that Kn...Indeed, that was my point :) Chet is right that Knight Lore did it first and attracted game designers to that style. Head over Heels made the style famous because it's a masterpiece.Pedro Q.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03572150497835442981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-72246961745525250252018-10-07T11:22:11.167-04:002018-10-07T11:22:11.167-04:00That's the way the game represents splitting y...That's the way the game represents splitting your party in two.Risingson Carloshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08915480026187953569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-35461253579354900812018-10-06T12:24:20.852-04:002018-10-06T12:24:20.852-04:00I barely remember this from a compilation CD back ...I barely remember this from a compilation CD back in the early 1990's. It was on the same disc as Bard's Tale 3 and The Summoning among other games, and must have been 94 or so since it was on my grandfather's 486, which was given away in 1995 when he downgraded to a Win95 machine. <br /><br />I had largely forgotten it, with just the memories of the light mechanics sticking in my head after all these years. I must not have liked it much, since I never tried to track it down. DRGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03101990235685120060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-75839874857003233412018-10-06T07:28:11.017-04:002018-10-06T07:28:11.017-04:00In the last screenshot, what do the two checkered ...In the last screenshot, what do the two checkered boards represent? I thought F1 through F5 might be formations, but then why are there two boards beneath it?Mirnaianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-84219717668456302482018-10-06T07:11:53.954-04:002018-10-06T07:11:53.954-04:00When I bought EotB as an 8 year old, the guy at th...When I bought EotB as an 8 year old, the guy at the game store said: "You can use the keyboard, or the mouse, but definitely use the mouse". At the time I thought his suggestion was needless, of course I'd use the mouse! So that's how I played, frantically trying to click the move arrows.<br /><br />But DM-family games are more like the antecedants of the modern shooter - mouse with the right, keyboard with the left.Tristan Gallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16769219573533545742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-50477953032137129662018-10-06T05:36:23.371-04:002018-10-06T05:36:23.371-04:00I'm all for moving on to the next title. Shado...I'm all for moving on to the next title. Shadowlands is one of the games that were capable of capturing your imagination in concept and marketing but were such chores to play that I doubt many people persevered.<br /><br />There was a positive review in Pelit -magazine, by a reviewer who liked RPGs and loved Dungeon Master. I was really excited to play the game. I was not excited for long after actually playing the game. <br /><br />I managed to find an online copy of the review, and reading it some 25 years later is quite interesting. The review states it's an isometric Dungeon Master, lists a bunch of things which are annoying or problematic about the game and finishes with saying the positives outweigh the negativesand gives it a 90 out of 100. Oh, and the review states you can create dead man walking situations. I don't remember that, personally, but it would be totally in keeping with the spirit of these British puzzle games.<br /><br />The archived review in Finnish is here: https://www.pelit.fi/artikkelit/shadowlands/<br /><br />Google translate produces something mostly understandable but bizzare.<br /><br />I never played the follow-up Shadowworlds, but I recall it being a scifi-reskin of the same game.unimuralhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06987909304909067445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-73899387146040101752018-10-06T05:27:18.726-04:002018-10-06T05:27:18.726-04:00There is a guide in Amiga Power http://amr.abime.n...There is a guide in Amiga Power http://amr.abime.net/issue_14_pagesstmpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-24691999862547575492018-10-06T01:19:03.108-04:002018-10-06T01:19:03.108-04:00I remember when I was in Germany in 1985 and a lot...I remember when I was in Germany in 1985 and a lot of the English magazines talked about how the British gaming market was so different because: they looked at figuring OUT the game as PART of the game. If you couldn't figure it out without the manual, or it was weird, or the game did bizarre stuff... that was just "part of the game". It's NOT the way we do things these days, but back in the 80's, EVERYTHING was an adventure.williamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13165046805752023823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-15569972136879841972018-10-05T15:57:22.259-04:002018-10-05T15:57:22.259-04:00I think there was something of a 'mouse-cultur...I think there was something of a 'mouse-culture' with the Amiga, in that it was more of a default than on many computers. Just looking back, keyboard control seems to have been relatively rare.<br /><br />Of course the mouse is dying now to the touch-screen, to some extent. Obviously you can emulate a touch screen with the mouse, but a touch screen doesn't have mouse-over or a right mouse button, so these options (which are usually used for informational purposes) are starting to get left out.Gerry Quinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04078394659680797175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-35415841542312163732018-10-05T15:48:31.667-04:002018-10-05T15:48:31.667-04:00Growing up we had a lot of point and click adventu...Growing up we had a lot of point and click adventures, which functioned pretty well with just the mouse. As I got older and wanted to explore games more, I was put off by adventure games with text parsers at first. I suspect part of the mouse only choice was meant to appeal to my younger demographic at the time. If I had seen pictures of this in a magazine it definitely would have sparked my imagination, and I doubt I would have cared if it was playable.Joet88https://www.blogger.com/profile/06298640825880372478noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-66205664199125321892018-10-05T15:22:15.400-04:002018-10-05T15:22:15.400-04:00Pure mouse *wasn't* the future. I can't th...Pure mouse *wasn't* the future. I can't think of any modern games outside of point-and-click adventures that don't have extensive keyboard controls. Not, perhaps, to the point where they can be played without the mouse at all, but to the point where a huge percentage of commands can be entered with either device.Gnomanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13920812227941556716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-37615788934694343732018-10-05T15:11:08.661-04:002018-10-05T15:11:08.661-04:00I'm really looking forward to Chet documenting...I'm really looking forward to Chet documenting every game on his list, even the ones that aren't RPGs...<br /><br />It does seem like quite a few people played yet didn't finish this one. Maybe there's a good reason for that though, and other games abandoned by youth.Zenic Reveriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16441583549326102945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-26034724945242835212018-10-05T14:51:44.997-04:002018-10-05T14:51:44.997-04:00*makes a mental note to post something like that w...*makes a mental note to post something like that when it comes to Worlds of Legend*<br />(it won't even be untrue)VKnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-51885738599089938662018-10-05T13:07:06.175-04:002018-10-05T13:07:06.175-04:00God, I was hoping no one would say that. I just sp...God, I was hoping no one would say that. I just spent a few hours with it last night and I don't know if I can physically force myself to continue. CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-56722612624737628322018-10-05T13:06:05.421-04:002018-10-05T13:06:05.421-04:00I agree. They really aren't classes in any mea...I agree. They really aren't classes in any meaningful sense, and I guess what I took for classes were in fact just the default names.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-62202911871220642772018-10-05T13:05:23.135-04:002018-10-05T13:05:23.135-04:00Your two statements aren't incompatible. Knigh...Your two statements aren't incompatible. <i>Knight Lore</i> did it first, <i>Head over Heels</i> made it something of a standard. At least, that's how I read it after reviewing the DA article.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-66197086570687694852018-10-05T11:15:51.008-04:002018-10-05T11:15:51.008-04:00YAY! Been waiting for this one for a while now. I ...YAY! Been waiting for this one for a while now. I was super excited when I got it for my Atari ST, Although I never got too far into it.<br />Regarding the controls I remember feeling that keyboard controls were archaic and weird at the time, I used to laugh at my DOS friends for their keyboard based games. Mouse control was the future and keyboards were for accountants!<br /><br />Loved the graphics and atmosphere but it still felt like an unintuitive Dungeon Master, so I think I pretty swiftly went back to (re)playing DM.<br /><br />Hope you stick with it though, would love to see how it ends...Mayhaymnoreply@blogger.com