tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post8515848869541871408..comments2024-03-28T10:19:08.172-04:00Comments on The CRPG Addict: BRIEF: Fire King (1989)CRPG Addicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-64106415312034252882022-01-30T12:01:13.515-05:002022-01-30T12:01:13.515-05:00Daggerfall was real-time just like Diablo. What m...Daggerfall was real-time just like Diablo. What made Diablo was it being simple and fast paced. You didn't need to be an RPG veteran to play it. Blacbraunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798086823277087151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-17113830641019641952022-01-26T21:48:34.791-05:002022-01-26T21:48:34.791-05:00Ah, Gauntlet Dark Legacy! Now that was a fun game....Ah, Gauntlet Dark Legacy! Now that was a fun game. Most of the other Gauntlet entries didn't quite do it for me, mostly because the hunger mechanic felt too aggressive, and the gameplay a little too bland and repetitive. Dark Legacy had a really varied set of game worlds, engaging and visually captivating (for the graphical standards of the time). I particularly liked the pyramid levels, which I played more than any others just for the looks of them. Regular classes plus prestige classes, leveling up, some power-ups to collect, some light switch puzzles to solve, and you weren't constantly starving to death. It was tied with Dynasty Warriors for the most fun I had on my PS2.Quirkzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16409671254311123117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-15891372348568435902022-01-26T20:22:24.920-05:002022-01-26T20:22:24.920-05:00You have to recognize that if I allow equipment (w...You have to recognize that if I allow equipment (whether purchased or found) to sub for character development, almost every action game becomes an RPG.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-10741234919843850502022-01-26T20:19:21.182-05:002022-01-26T20:19:21.182-05:00Aside from the ancillary issue raised here, it sou...Aside from the ancillary issue raised here, it sounds like I got my answer: <i>Diablo</i> doesn't really owe anything to <i>Gauntlet</i>.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-16970681678208297242022-01-26T17:52:40.614-05:002022-01-26T17:52:40.614-05:00I found it at playclassic dot games! It's just...I found it at playclassic dot games! It's just like I remember it. ima420rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07889119176460931015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-17041225894042662592022-01-26T17:35:25.990-05:002022-01-26T17:35:25.990-05:00I think I'd be willing to bet that the majorit...I think I'd be willing to bet that the majority of PC gamers in 1996 had virtually no awareness of roguelikes being a full-blown game genre and that if they even knew Rogue at all, it was likely only in the context of "that quaint ASCII-based dungeon crawler Epyx released back in 1980".<br /><br />I've always had the impression that, at least in that era, you pretty much had to be a FOSS and/or Linux enthusiast to know that the Rogue lineage of games was still being actively developed and maintained.<br /><br />It's certainly not something I'd expect of a random games reviewer for a magazine.Reiskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09444824451578560746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-10540816909796585152022-01-25T23:14:34.680-05:002022-01-25T23:14:34.680-05:00Thank you stepped pyramids. Harland is sounding ve...Thank you stepped pyramids. Harland is sounding very Gamer Gate-y at the moment, although I'm sure he's not wrong that many game critics probably entered the industry with the intention to create rather than critique, it's folly to expect every reviewer to be familiar with every genre/game series. Especially in the mid-90s. Also, back in the day the official Diablo strategy guide had an article in it talking about the decision to switch from turn based to real time and how they had to rework most of the game as a result. But enough about that, back to a brief discussion of Gauntlet clones.Alexander Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10100095032496713664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-4525638578228786402022-01-25T07:32:25.943-05:002022-01-25T07:32:25.943-05:00It could be soft as in piano, and then it makes se...It could be soft as in piano, and then it makes sense. But I admit this is also a stretch.Mirnaiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10817941432768803717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-32356035678147884112022-01-25T06:52:14.232-05:002022-01-25T06:52:14.232-05:00That's sad to hear, Joaquim, I loved the '...That's sad to hear, Joaquim, I loved the 'Valerian and Veronique' series back in school, it was one of the staples in most public libraries. Mézières was known for his very inviting and inventive art style, rest in peace, sir.BESTIEunlmtnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-26441092510374287052022-01-24T18:25:35.725-05:002022-01-24T18:25:35.725-05:00"It's just a roguelike, but in real time&..."It's just a roguelike, but in real time" is kind of like saying "it's just a sailboat, but powered by steam". Changing from turn-based to real-time is an enormous difference, and there are many more ways to do it wrong than right. stepped pyramidsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-32763975926727368772022-01-24T14:48:09.680-05:002022-01-24T14:48:09.680-05:00One of you made reference to Valerian, a comic boo...One of you made reference to Valerian, a comic book hero who became quite well known worldwide due to the movie "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" and which is mainly based on his 6th graphic novel "Ambassador of the Shadows" and not on his 2nd graphic novel "Empire of a Thousand Planets", as the name of the movie might lead one to assume.<br />I just want to give the information that the illustrator of this series, Jean-Claude Mezieres died in Paris, at the age of 83, last Saturday, January 22.<br />Joaquim Nogueirahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10653845250432128753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-71086015369302061082022-01-24T14:11:12.632-05:002022-01-24T14:11:12.632-05:00This seems like a stretch. If it were something li...This seems like a stretch. If it were something like "Micro Hard" then that would be pretty obvious, but "forte" doesn't fit well as antonym for "soft," and "micro" is a pretty generic branding for a computer-related company. There were also companies like "Microdeal," "MicroIllusions," and of course "MicroProse" at the time.<br /><br />This article claims that by 1983, Lotus Software was the <i>second</i> biggest software house, behind Microsoft.<br />http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/lotus-development-corporation-history/<br /><br />Also consider their 1986 IPO was one of the most hugely successful yet, selling 3.5 million shares and generating market cap of $777 million. Obviously that's nothing compared to the the 90%+ market share of a skyrocketing industry, but I'd still be surprised if this wasn't a better IPO performance than Lotus and Sierra's put together.Ahabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04131989140638867919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-66938172844430285072022-01-24T13:46:48.404-05:002022-01-24T13:46:48.404-05:00Yeah! TG-16 Dungeon Explorer had 5 player co-op!Yeah! TG-16 Dungeon Explorer had 5 player co-op!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02550166377919057349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-21477166669610912492022-01-24T12:59:31.996-05:002022-01-24T12:59:31.996-05:00Binding of Isaac was a major influence on Rogue Le...Binding of Isaac was a major influence on Rogue Legacy, although it didn't have character upgrades (it has unlockable characters, items, and dungeon features, though). The structure of Hades overall feels like a slimmed-down version of Binding of Isaac (no backtracking within levels, fewer upgrades, fewer room and enemy types, no random bosses). Obviously all of these games had many influences, though.stepped pyramidsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-27227628376152120862022-01-24T10:53:26.918-05:002022-01-24T10:53:26.918-05:00Yeah arcades were always a kinda weird space, too ...Yeah arcades were always a kinda weird space, too sleazy for kids but too childish for grownups - actually perfect for teenagers - my favourite arcade in Reykjavik (Spilatorg) was a smoke filled hellhole jam-packed with juvenile delinquents ;) - apparently when they moved the cabs they sometimes found hash or other drugs underneath them, since the kids that were dealing used to throw their stash behind the machines when the cops raided the place.<br /><br />Good times.Mayhaymhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10379607747655676744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-60263567239437092642022-01-24T09:02:00.921-05:002022-01-24T09:02:00.921-05:00MIcrosoft was a big back-end player, but they real...MIcrosoft was a big back-end player, but they really were not the titan-class company they would become. This is particularly clear because a lot of their impact was invisible - most of their non-IBM BASIC products were branded with the name of the microcomputer company that was using it, with Microsoft relegated to the copyright notices. <br /><br />They were just a moderately software house, and probably less prominent than companies like Lotus or the big game studios. Gnomanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13920812227941556716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-30230073868277539032022-01-24T07:40:42.505-05:002022-01-24T07:40:42.505-05:00Italy also always had cool arcadesItaly also always had cool arcadesMarc Sthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08732120014575394311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-34990236400602476982022-01-24T04:48:05.472-05:002022-01-24T04:48:05.472-05:00Yes the lead Diablo programmer described this in a...Yes the lead Diablo programmer described this in a very cool indepth video in YouTube called "How One Gameplay Decision Changed Diablo Forever | War Stories | Ars Technica". The roots were Angband but they simplified the gui and made it real-time and it was a change made during the development under the pressure of the Warcraft rts success.massohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07825199541904221955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-8717387158617285142022-01-24T04:10:13.478-05:002022-01-24T04:10:13.478-05:00The Asterix comics are dirty cheap in used conditi...The Asterix comics are dirty cheap in used condition, I bought my kids the whole set of the old ones for like 30€. Nothing which a collector would put in his shelf but right for kids reading them. <br /><br />Too bad the Duck Tales Pocket-Books from the Italian Disney comic artists are still expensice in used condition, those were my favourites as child. However the kids love the DonRosa stories too, which they still sell new Marc Sthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08732120014575394311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-8133220248010332902022-01-24T02:06:13.620-05:002022-01-24T02:06:13.620-05:00This is why Windows bootup screens started to read...This is why Windows bootup screens started to read like "Microsoft presents: Microsoft Windows, by Microsoft. A Microsoft product". They were important in the early 90s but really craved more name recognition.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-69667661988847904872022-01-24T02:02:06.328-05:002022-01-24T02:02:06.328-05:00It's probably fair to say that back in 1989, t...It's probably fair to say that back in 1989, the vast majority of players AND reviewers had never heard of the term "roguelike". This is well before the time where the internet provided a neatly categorized index of every topic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-24658136642492361182022-01-23T22:30:10.050-05:002022-01-23T22:30:10.050-05:00Wasn't anybody special? You mean the company t...Wasn't anybody special? You mean the company that:<br /><br />- Was one of the players during the very start or the microcomputer revolution (specially with Microsoft Basic)<br />- Landed one of the craziest contracts with IBM. Considered the incoming big player<br />- In 1989, the IBM+clones were selling around 4 million units (according to CGW report from the same year), 10 times more than all the microcomputers combined. Most of these were running MS-DOS or some other Microsoft product<br /><br />For sure, they got even bigger in the 90's in the mainstream perception, but they were already a big force in the 80's tooshankaohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06194425920878224732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-30330362979237721902022-01-23T22:18:16.194-05:002022-01-23T22:18:16.194-05:00It exposes the reviewer as being naive and unquali...It exposes the reviewer as being naive and unqualified. It was immediately obvious that Diablo was a roguelike, only mashed together with real-time strategy. Warcraft 2 + Rogue = success. Good artists borrow, great artists steal. <br /><br />For a reviewer not to recognize this immediately (and celebrate it) means he shouldn't have been reviewing games. It's no secret that games journalism has long been a toilet for people who couldn't get the jobs they wanted and settled for what was available. Harlandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-60423346260304286082022-01-23T22:13:13.754-05:002022-01-23T22:13:13.754-05:00Actually, looks like Gamebase 64 doesn't have ...Actually, looks like Gamebase 64 doesn't have it. The Old Computer has it but you have to be registered to download it. It seems like many other sites may have it but they're ones I've never used. T.O.C. I've used and trust, but it's been easily 10 years. Back then you didn't have to register. Hope this helps Ima420r. I had Demon Stalkers on disk for my trusty C64 back in the day and really enjoyed it (and won!). I had no idea there was a more structured sequel until the 2000s when I got into emulation.Digital Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11782507961551502030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-17138613045859630422022-01-23T21:25:39.609-05:002022-01-23T21:25:39.609-05:00I think people here are underselling how influenti...I think people here are underselling how influential the switch to real-time in Diablo was. There's a reason the 90s were full of Diablo-clones and not Daggerfall-clones. Imagine if Dune 2 stuck to turn-based. I mean it's basically a faster war game, how original can that be?Alexander Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10100095032496713664noreply@blogger.com