tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post2985813877745409538..comments2024-03-29T02:34:55.592-04:00Comments on The CRPG Addict: Revisiting: Alternate Reality: The City (1985)CRPG Addicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-35258435694758223702021-09-10T12:25:30.717-04:002021-09-10T12:25:30.717-04:00I asked for (and received) this game as a birthday...I asked for (and received) this game as a birthday present when I was a kid and it was new for the Apple II. I loved the opening of stepping through the door, and the 3d animation of movement was neat... and that was it. The game was ridiculously hard, inscrutable, goal-less. All the talk about the plans and what would come after - now! - is interesting to hear, but completely irrelevant to the experience of someone who bought this new expecting a self-contained game. It didn't say on the box that another game was coming, or that I should expect this game to not offer something solid or completeable on its own. I don't know whose fault it was that it was published in this manner, but I experienced The City as one of the few true rip-offs of computer software purchasing in the 1980s, and I felt kind of embarrassed I'd asked for it. At least the box is great, which I still have.Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12865175113451722306noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-8297013346010793832020-05-17T02:36:17.363-04:002020-05-17T02:36:17.363-04:00Good review and I felt that you tried to give it a...Good review and I felt that you tried to give it a fair shake. There is appeal in the world exploration that went undermentioned. Trying to find star wizard's guild (okay, pratically impossible),etc.. I agree the game can be boring and tedious but at the same time it was such a different game experience. As you said, there is a genuine feeling of reward and accomplishment if/as you succeed. It's a really flawed but top notch gem. Each character played tells a story. The loot can be game changing (dopamine rush). The time of day affecting foes, the disease system, the potions, the stats, the exploration, the music. It's all so immersive (and crude). All the flawed pieces come together in a brilliantly engaging and immersive way. It absolutely needs a modern remake from a well funded and patient studio who unabashedly agrees with its design and direction. The fact that Datasoft paid him only $15k/yr is very sad! Why didn't Price hire a lawyer to review the contract?!? It's a true classic that I can't think of a modern equivalent. Is there one?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-82232627432736082132018-05-07T13:27:53.863-04:002018-05-07T13:27:53.863-04:00I might humbly advise changing 'sound' to ...I might humbly advise changing 'sound' to 'sound effects,' then, for clarity's sake.<br /><br />Great blog, incidentally. Been binging on it as I take my own trip down memory lane (just beat Ultima 5, now giving Ultima 6 my first real go).Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06565883975144072328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-33485879668111418782018-05-04T21:37:13.684-04:002018-05-04T21:37:13.684-04:00In almost everyone's opinion but mine, music c...In almost everyone's opinion but mine, music can make a huge difference in a game's atmosphere. However, I don't care how good the music is; I don't like background music. Hence, the "sound" part of graphics, sound, and interface is based purely on non-musical sound.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-68836620726465283522018-05-04T19:14:11.184-04:002018-05-04T19:14:11.184-04:00>You want me to give points for the music, but ...>You want me to give points for the music, but I don't care about music, and the other sound effects are primitive.<br /><br />This seems like an odd comment to me. So is the rating for all games based entirely on sound effects, with no weight given to quality of music? Maybe that should be clarified, if it's the case.<br /><br />IMO music can make a huge difference in an RPG's atmosphere -- it's no small part of why Ultima III (C64 version) made such a big impression.Gordon Cameronhttp://picturesup.typepad.com/star_comma_eight/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-63150380969400303292016-09-01T02:44:33.818-04:002016-09-01T02:44:33.818-04:00That is a really good point. Modern games don'...That is a really good point. Modern games don't offer the same life-or-death tension, and I could see that bringing a kind of thrill that's hard to recapture with emulators and save states.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-71527964641192097932016-08-10T02:31:02.861-04:002016-08-10T02:31:02.861-04:00Sounds a lot like Shenmue for the Dreamcast- very ...Sounds a lot like Shenmue for the Dreamcast- very ambitious, very original, got two installments, and has a huge cult following. I'm sure Mr. Hater of Rhythm Games can tell you more about it.Canageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-48547885821780181382016-08-06T22:42:17.229-04:002016-08-06T22:42:17.229-04:00I think one thing missed in all the reviews of thi...I think one thing missed in all the reviews of this game was the real anxiety/excitement that one had walking through the streets of the City. If you were lucky enough to develop a character to level 5 or higher, it was a huge risk to walk around without a backup of your character disk. I remember how long it took make backups of the character disk, and that risk was taken a lot. This added to the excitment when encountering a troll, or the horror of encountering a dragon, knowing death would result in the loss of weeks of work to develop that character. There was always a sigh of relief if you could get through a day in the City without getting diseased, poisoned, or killed. <br /><br />Now playing the game, a backup takes only a few seconds, so the risk of roaming around is never an issue. That aspect of the game would be hard to recreate from our modern perspective.<br /><br />I still hear those tavern song in my head.ED Cnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-80111338494200306132016-03-18T23:22:20.973-04:002016-03-18T23:22:20.973-04:00I was looking forward to your review of Alternate ...I was looking forward to your review of Alternate Reality when i saw it coming up in the list. This game still holds a special place in my heart, despite all its flaws and frustrations. At the age of 10, i was cutting my teeth on RPGs like Ultima III, Temple of Apshi and Alternate Reality on the Atari 800xl, before Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy heh. While sadly i don't have the box of AR anymore, i still somehow managed to hold onto the manual and the hint book (which talks about the other future planned games). Good review sir!ActionVestAdventurehttps://www.tumblr.com/blog/actionvestadventurenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-76661901271566464292016-03-17T13:09:28.837-04:002016-03-17T13:09:28.837-04:00"It's not something that can be appreciat..."It's not something that can be appreciated after years of modern games because it was a product of its time." Very true--and true of a lot of the games I play. I'm always glad when someone who remembers that original experience is able to post about it. It really helps fill in the gaps that my posts can't cover.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-90312418106805904062016-03-17T08:57:10.115-04:002016-03-17T08:57:10.115-04:00Being an Atari owner in the 1980s was being a seco...Being an Atari owner in the 1980s was being a second-class citizen. When AR:C came out, there wasn't anything like it on the Atari; we never did get the Wizardry series and we wouldn't get Bard's Tale. <br /><br />Even though we did get Ultima I-IV, there wasn't anything like a first person RPG that took advantage of the graphic and sound capabilities of the Atari 8-bit line. Booting up The City for the first time in 1985, well, it was an experience. It's not something that can be appreciated after years of modern games because it was a product of its time, even if it was a bit ahead of it.<br /><br />Reading about it now, and what it was doing technology-wise, just makes it more interesting when taken in context of when it was released. <br /><br />It may not make it a good game, but it does make it interesting from a historical perspective. <br /><br />I would love it if someone would 're-boot' this series using a modern engine, though, with all the planned areas. I always liked the background story, even though it didn't get much mention in the actual game. <br /><br />Austinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04392929433544603494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-38158684251335975362016-03-06T09:58:13.377-05:002016-03-06T09:58:13.377-05:00I must admit the vision is really exciting- I pers...I must admit the vision is really exciting- I personally have no connection to this game, but sometimes it's not about what has or hasn't been done. Look at Pillars of Eternity- obviously it's been done, and if it was just a rehash of Baldur's Gate no one would be interested. But it clearly has a strong storytelling vision behind it, which sucks you in. Maybe it's not so much the promise of the future modules that captured people's imagination, but the promise of an ambitious and visionary storyteller, regardless of game design. Too bad it didn't work out.Joet88https://www.blogger.com/profile/06298640825880372478noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-66147533501878299842016-03-04T15:17:34.992-05:002016-03-04T15:17:34.992-05:00I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this...I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this, but from a "getting historical RPGs from defunct hardware platforms to run correctly, effortlessly, on modern hardware" perspective (one that troubles Chet on the daily), it's worth noting (it might even be worth signal-boosting by announcing it, so influential are you among CRPG circles!) that as part of the Summer of Code initiative, the SCUMMVM project (traditionally devoted to keeping adventure games playable) is officially courting work increasing their ability to support CRPG engines.<br /><br />http://scummvm.org/news/20160301/Rowan Lipkovitshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-1030053158322064092016-03-02T18:49:25.975-05:002016-03-02T18:49:25.975-05:00Apology accepted, mate. I don't like to argue ...Apology accepted, mate. I don't like to argue about viewpoints either so I didn't participate in their "debate". Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, it's a b!tch to change someone's and it hurts when someone tries to change it; like nipples (unnecessary non-sequitur).Kenny McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01553499727945099493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-71604716781014249832016-03-02T18:42:44.576-05:002016-03-02T18:42:44.576-05:00Oh, I'm sure there will be great console games...Oh, I'm sure there will be great console games that I missed but believe you me that it's not refusal but choice between lesser evils; get a PC or 2 consoles?<br /><br />Had I chosen to play Skyrim or Fallout 4 on console, I wouldn't have nudity galore and extra campaigns & content to play on. Also, there are also great PC games that do not exist (or as a very watered-down version) on consoles either.<br /><br />For instance, I'd rather cut my balls off with a rusty spoon than to play Ultima 7 on SNES again.Kenny McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01553499727945099493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-39568248677302730842016-03-02T15:20:18.011-05:002016-03-02T15:20:18.011-05:00Thanks for mentioning my remake. I think your comm...Thanks for mentioning my remake. I think your comments and review were fair and balanced. A lot of people seem to rate the City a lot more highly than the Dungeon, possibly because it was the original or because Philip Price wrote it (he apparently only provided notes and some input to the Dungeon). The PC, Amiga and ST versions aren't as difficult but as there are no 16bit versions of the Dungeon there's still nowhere for your character to go. <br /><br />For me though the Dungeon is a much better and complete game and the one I played extensively on my C64 when I was growing up - a clear set of quests and ending, lower difficulty, easily save and revive your characters and a wide variety of unique treasures and special locations to find. Equipment and weapons are much easier to come by and there are sometimes alternatives to fighting in encounters. I'd say it builds on the best features from the City and adds some new ones. I'm doubtful if you'll necessarily like it but hopefully you'll find it a bit more enjoyable.<br /><br />I have a C64 version of the Dungeon that has the full game as a single load without any virtual disk swapping if you'd like to try that when the Dungeon comes up for review. There's very little difference between the C64 and Atari versions of the game. Starting stats for Dungeon characters are much higher than starting stats in the City.<br />Acrin1https://www.blogger.com/profile/02424198775294748644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-12141726689639489442016-03-02T12:36:00.698-05:002016-03-02T12:36:00.698-05:00Well, it wasn't that simple last time I tried ...Well, it wasn't that simple last time I tried it. The controller itself came with its own application and I somehow wasn't able to get it working productively with DOSBox. I'll stop by a Staples and pick up another one when I think of it.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-9507821676785880572016-03-02T12:33:38.484-05:002016-03-02T12:33:38.484-05:00I'm sorry, Kenny; I didn't mean to make it...I'm sorry, Kenny; I didn't mean to make it sound like I was coming down so hard on you, but any simile that uses the term "politically correct" is bound to provoke a long and contentious chain of comments. I don't necessarily mind when it's based on something I wrote in the posting, but in this thread people are literally arguing about nothing. They're batting about terms like "PC" and "SJW" without an actual example to argue whether those things are actually happening. This kind of thing drives me crazy.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-77378837067702063472016-03-02T11:39:08.370-05:002016-03-02T11:39:08.370-05:00I don't think killing neutral creatures is evi...I don't think killing neutral creatures is evil as long as you don't initiate the combat. I'm relying on online sources for that, though, since I was never able to personally observe my karma meter.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-32876399411995957772016-03-02T11:38:04.195-05:002016-03-02T11:38:04.195-05:00Ha. I wish I'd found that. That's about a ...Ha. I wish I'd found that. That's about a damning rating as you can imagine.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-27487680479268178022016-03-02T09:37:23.483-05:002016-03-02T09:37:23.483-05:00Sometimes I find in various cultural media the ide...Sometimes I find in various cultural media the idea of "what might have been" obscures "what has been done". I confess to being a fan of this game from way back, but playing again, in a DOS mode, confirms all that you said. Excellent work as always!JJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-10672183561843878682016-03-02T08:17:12.849-05:002016-03-02T08:17:12.849-05:00"I don't want to make anyone feel badly a..."I don't want to make anyone feel badly about supporting Hero-U."<br /><br />Having played all five Quest for Glory games over and over and over I doubt there's anything you can say that would make me feel badly about supporting Hero-U.Raifieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08478524519453417677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-38336325159900914242016-03-02T01:40:10.636-05:002016-03-02T01:40:10.636-05:00You can tell this wasn't a great game, the rev...You can tell this wasn't a great game, the review in Dragon only gave it a 3/5Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-58572080725857463542016-03-02T00:47:29.887-05:002016-03-02T00:47:29.887-05:00@Chet - My initial comment was filled with Matrix,...@Chet - My initial comment was filled with Matrix, superheroes, aliens, guns and freaking Kickstarter.<br /><br />And if me drawing parallels between two very similar mediums because they share one very striking flaw as well (Reference 1 - http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/23/5640678/playing-with-privilege-the-invisible-benefits-of-gaming-while-male & Reference 2 - http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/03/oscar-voters-94-white-76-men-and-an-average-of-63-years-old/284163/) is considered "unnecessary", very sorry for that. I thought it's a rather normal human thing to do; as in branching out dialogues.<br /><br />Even then, I did not at any point of time wish to go further than to point out something that should be fact-checked. I dunno what I did to rub you the wrong way.Kenny McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01553499727945099493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-77955534460361384132016-03-01T19:33:29.062-05:002016-03-01T19:33:29.062-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Kenny McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01553499727945099493noreply@blogger.com