numccann@PLAINS.NODAK.EDU ("Lester I. McCann") (02/10/89)
I placed my order for Dungeon Master (for the IIgs; no II version) on Monday, and it arrived at my door this afternoon. I played it for about 10 minutes, enough to give a brief report. (Oh; I ordered from Programs Plus.) There were three stickers on the box. One says that the game requires 1 meg of memory. One says that it has "stereo digital sound." (I don't have a stereo card; I can't vouch for that.) The third says "Free Kid Dungeon included." Inside is one 3.5" disk, the manual, registration card, and card with instructions for the Kid Dungeon. $10 will get you a backup disk. The game WILL NOT boot from a Unidisk; it doesn't say anything about Central Point drives. The game takes the better part of forever to boot. It seems somewhat sluggish play, in comparison to the Atari ST version, which I've played on occasion. The graphics are fantastic; the sounds are good, too. I only played long enough to get into the Hall of Champions, so there isn't much more to say. About the speed of play: The game involves lots of moving around in a dungeon setting, and every time you move, your view is updated. It is this "move and update" process that seems a bit slow to me. However, if you are playing the game as you should, you'll be doing a lot of mapping, and the speed won't matter much at all. Also, if you click on the "move forward" arrow twice, the second click *is* remembered, and it'll do the second move as soon as the first is finished. Personally, I think the game speed is perfectly acceptable. That's all for now. If I discover anything else worth mentioning, I'll mention it. Lester McCann numccann@plains.nodak.edu or numccann@ndsuvax.BITNET (Dungeon Master is copyright 1987 by Software Heaven, Inc.)